Chapter Seven: The Skeleton Shop

Bai Wan froze completely in place.

According to what he saw in the mirror, there was now only a single door separating him from the eerie presence.

Half a meter... no, even less than half a meter.

In such close quarters, even breathing could be heard.

Bai Wan was somewhat relieved he had been cautious before.

Otherwise, if he had thought the eerie presence had left and inadvertently made a sound, he might have been in real danger today.

Holding his breath, Bai Wan dragged his numb body back to the bed and remained silent.

Truly cunning, that eerie presence.

He hadn’t expected the first night to be so perilous.

Still, he had earned 100 eerie coins, likely the price for uncovering useful information.

The key to survival in this scenario must be connected to that hidden old wooden door.

At this moment, Bai Wan had completely given up on resting. Although he soon heard the sound of the eerie presence moving away, he remained vigilant, sitting on the bed all night.

When dawn arrived, sunlight streaming into the room and footsteps outside, Bai Wan approached the door, peered through the peephole, and saw the eerie presence was long gone. Only then did he gently open the door and step out.

“Good morning.” Chen Weiyu greeted him as she saw him come out.

“Good morning.” Bai Wan nodded and glanced around.

Everyone had already gathered, sitting at the dining table where breakfast was laid out, though no one touched the food—no one had much appetite.

Lin Xi’s eyes were red and puffy, clearly exhausted and badly shaken by last night.

Liu Tong looked quite well, sitting leisurely in her chair. As a veteran of two rounds of the game, she seemed to have built some resistance to the eerie game.

As for... Teacher Zhang Wen, he sat calmly at the table with a neutral expression.

After Bai Wan sat down, he exchanged a glance with Liu Tong; they tacitly avoided mentioning Zhang’s sleepwalking incident the previous night.

Whether in movies or games, there was always a rule: once the eerie presence was discovered, it would stop disguising itself.

So Bai Wan and Liu Tong dared not bring up last night in front of Zhang.

No one knew if Zhang Wen was human or eerie now.

After all, Zhang had been eavesdropping outside Bai Wan’s door last night, and that memory was fresh.

“Did everyone sleep well last night?” Liu Tong broke the silence first.

“I was scared, woke up several times from nightmares,” Chen Weiyu said wearily.

“Didn’t you stay up late watching shows?” Bai Wan teased.

“No... I watched for a bit at first, but kept feeling like someone on the screen would suddenly reach out and grab me, so I stopped,” Chen Weiyu admitted timidly.

Clearly, she was the timid type, prone to overthinking and scaring herself.

“How about Miss Lin?” Liu Tong asked, looking at the dazed Lin Xi.

Lin Xi seemed even more distressed at the question, on the verge of tears.

“I... I heard footsteps, just like Annie in the diary... Please save me, I don’t want to disappear.”

At this, Bai Wan and Liu Tong both looked at Lin Xi.

She heard footsteps too?

Then Bai Wan suddenly turned to Zhang Wen, who had remained silent, and smiled as he asked, “Teacher Zhang, how did you sleep last night?”

At his words, the room fell silent.

After a moment, Zhang Wen looked up and smiled, “I slept well, straight through until dawn. Nothing happened.”

Straight through until dawn?

Liu Tong recalled Zhang tiptoeing through the dangerous wooden door last night.

Was he really unharmed?

“How about you, Bai Wan? How did you sleep?” Zhang asked with a smile.

Bai Wan smiled back, “Not great. In the middle of the night, some idiot called me. Really rude.”

Zhang Wen: “...”

Liu Tong: “...”

“Teacher Zhang, you think it’s rude to call someone in the middle of the night too, right?”

Zhang paused a few seconds, then replied, “Yes, it’s quite rude.”

Chen Weiyu joined in, sounding annoyed, “Ugh, I hate people like that. Called me in the middle of the night once during my internship—such clueless bosses. It’s so annoying I sometimes wished they’d just disappear sooner, haha... Hey, Teacher Zhang, why are you staring at me?”

She apparently found a kindred spirit and started complaining, but noticed Zhang’s intense gaze and wondered if something was on her face.

“Alright, if no one’s eating breakfast, let’s explore the ship. No time to waste,” Liu Tong interrupted Chen’s self-deprecating rant and stood up.

Since last night was nighttime, they had no choice but to sleep as the old woman advised.

Now that it was daytime, it was perfect for exploration.

The eerie game had begun, and time could not be wasted.

Liu Tong walked past Chen Weiyu but slipped, nearly falling, and her hand pressed into the soup on the table.

Soup spilled onto Chen Weiyu.

Zhang Wen, sitting next to her, had some soup splash on him as well.

“Oh, sorry.” Liu Tong apologized.

“It’s okay, it’s okay...” Chen Weiyu wiped her clothes, nervously waving her hand as if she were the one who spilled the soup.

Zhang Wen silently wiped some off his clothes.

“To save time, Bai Wan and I will check the second floor. You explore the first floor, but remember not to split up—three together is safest,” Liu Tong instructed.

Everyone nodded.

“Be careful.” With that, Liu Tong and Bai Wan headed upstairs; the others explored the first floor.

Lin Xi didn’t want to explore, but seeing Chen Weiyu and Zhang Wen already gone, she didn’t dare stay alone and followed.

On the second floor.

Bai Wan trailed behind Liu Tong, saying, “Speaking of which, Zhang Wen is very likely the eerie one. After all, he came out of that dangerous wooden door.”

He then stared at Liu Tong’s back.

This person seemed like a benevolent official, but wasn’t so kind after all.

After all, Zhang Wen might be the eerie presence, and Liu Tong knew this, so she deliberately had the other three explore the first floor, separating Zhang from the two of them.

Suddenly Liu Tong spoke, “Bai Wan, saints don’t survive in the eerie game. I’ve helped them plenty already—that’s as kind as I can be. You have to protect yourself first to help others. Sometimes kindness is a burden in this game.”

Bai Wan shyly replied, “No, I think you misunderstood me. I just meant that wooden door seems dangerous. How about the three of them explore the second floor, and we take the first? That way we’ll be safer.”

Liu Tong was momentarily stunned, then looked back at the earnest Bai Wan.

After several seconds, she suddenly said, “Sorry.”

Huh? Bai Wan asked, “Sorry for what?”

“For calling you kind just now.”

Liu Tong patted Bai Wan’s shoulder apologetically, then turned and left.

Bai Wan was speechless.

“Hey, I think you misunderstand me. I’m actually quite kind-hearted...” Bai Wan hurried after her.

“Come on, let’s explore. No time for useless talk.”

“Alright!”

...

Bai Wan and Liu Tong went upstairs together. The second floor was different from the night before.

The mysterious wooden door that had been between rooms 201 and 202 was gone.

“As expected, that secret room isn’t so easy to find,” Liu Tong said, touching the now blank wall—no trace of the door remained.

But this was expected.

That room was probably the root of this scenario.

Liu Tong pushed open room 201; it was just an ordinary room with nothing notable.

While Liu Tong inspected the room, Bai Wan went to the second-floor restroom, where a drainage pipe was in the corner.

In theory, his Mario Coin House ability could let him enter through the drain.

But each scenario could only be used once, so he didn’t want to waste it testing whether the ship’s drains led to the Coin House.

Suddenly, loud noises came from the first floor.

“Liu, Bai Mo, come down and see what this is!” Chen Weiyu’s voice called out.

Liu Tong and Bai Wan exchanged a glance and held their positions.

When Chen Weiyu and the others approached, they finally went downstairs.

“What’s going on?” Liu Tong asked.

“We went to the kitchen and found a skull inside a cabinet,” Chen Weiyu said, leading them to the kitchen cabinet.

Inside sat a turquoise skull.

A soft turquoise glow radiated from it.

Seeing this, Liu Tong relaxed and smiled.

“Don’t be afraid. This is the eerie store. Through this skull, you can buy life-saving items.”

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

They could buy survival tools?

In this eerie game, safety was scarce. If they could buy items, their chances of survival would improve greatly.

Bai Wan was especially delighted.

With the 40 eerie coins given at the start, 40 coins from dancing tips, and 100 coins from exploring the wooden door, he now had 180 eerie coins.

Compared to other newcomers, except for veteran Liu Tong, he had a significant advantage and could likely buy more items, giving him more survival options.

“You can look through the item catalog first. Then we’ll open the shop together. Each person gets two minutes to choose items.”

With that, Liu Tong tapped the skull, and a white light screen appeared in the air.

Within the light screen were various items.