Ch. 5 - The First Nightmare

The first night at sea was destined to be sleepless.

Yang Yi didn't know how long he had been lying there before finally drifting off to sleep. He tossed, turned, and had cold sweat constantly breaking out on his forehead.

He was having a nightmare.

At the same time, in the hold of the Nightmare ship, the captain’s skeletal remains suddenly stirred. The bones began to tremble, and a ghostly fire ignited within the shattered skull.

Creak! Creak!

The bones scraped and rattled against each other as the skeleton stood up.

It walked out of the hold, slowly making its way towards the captain's quarters at the bow of the ship, gently pushing the door open.

Inside, Yang Yi was still deep in sleep, occasionally turning over.

The skeleton stared at Yang Yi for a long time before its gaze was drawn to a barnacle-encrusted fishing rod nearby.

It walked over and picked up said fishing rod. Without lingering, it exited the room and headed to the relatively spacious middle deck, where it began to fish.

Several minutes later, something bit the hook.

A pale, swollen hand reached out from the sea and grabbed the fishing line…

Yang Yi was still having a nightmare.

"Ah!"

He suddenly woke up, clutching his abdomen. After confirming there was no injury, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Just moments ago, he had dreamt of a bloated corpse silently pushing open the door and walking in.

The dream was overly vivid, as if he had actually seen it with his own eyes.

He remembered the sound of the corpse moving.

Squish, squish!

It was like a wet mop slapping against the floor.

By the time Yang Yi woke up, the corpse was right in front of him.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the flintlock pistol by his bedside and fired at the corpse.

Click!

The gun misfired.

In the next moment, the corpse pinned him down on the bed, leaving him utterly helpless as it disembowelled him, spilling his hot, red organs onto the floor.

【You experienced death, slaughtered and devoured, losing 15 points of sanity.】

Phew! It was just a dream!

Yang Yi let out a sigh of relief. But suddenly, he noticed the door to the captain’s quarters was actually open. He quickly grabbed the flintlock pistol.

"Was it the wind? No, it couldn't be. There hasn't been much wind at sea today!"

Squish, squish!

The familiar footsteps approached. A bloated corpse appeared at the doorway. It looked like it had been soaking in the sea for a long time, swollen and rotten, still wearing tattered sailor clothes covered in seaweed.

At that moment, it fixed its pale, lifeless eyes on Yang Yi...

"FxxK!"

【Seeing an abomination, you lose 5 points of sanity.】

Yang Yi cursed, immediately firing his gun.

Click.

The gun jammed.

It seemed the corpse still retained some intelligence, for it grinned.

A crab crawled out of its almost toothless mouth.

This scene was eerily similar to the nightmare, so Yang Yi was somewhat prepared. As the gun misfired, he immediately hurled the flintlock pistol like a rock, striking the corpse's head.

Taking advantage of the moment the corpse was hit, Yang Yi grabbed a nearby spear and charged at it, driving it into the corpse's neck.

He wasn’t trying to kill it; he was just desperate to escape the captain's quarters. Only by getting out of this narrow space and onto the deck would he have a chance to fight the corpse!

With considerable force and weight, Yang Yi barely squeezed past the bloated corpse. The stench of decay almost made him vomit.

【The nauseating stench causes you to lose 5 points of sanity.】

Yang Yi wasn’t strong enough to knock the corpse down, so overpowering it in a direct fight was impossible.

He bolted to the deck at the bow. Here, he had enough space to manoeuvre and evade the corpse!

Yang Yi looked back.

Sure enough, the bloated corpse was slow and clumsy, not at all a match for Yang Yi in terms of speed.

"I can win!"

Yang Yi grew excited. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, his breathing quickening.

There was a raised platform at the bow with a ship's wheel on it. All he had to do was imitate the ancient sages, using the large wheel as cover and running circles round it to dodge the corpse's pursuit.

In the meantime, he started counting down in his mind.

"48."

"47."

The wooden spear had pierced through the corpse’s neck, but it chased after Yang Yi as if nothing had happened.

…

"3."

"2."

Yang Yi stopped circling, broke away from the corpse, and dashed back to the captain's quarters. He picked up the flintlock pistol at the door, aimed it at the corpse, and held his breath to steady his aim. The target was big and close; there was no way he could miss unless the gun misfired again!

Bang!

The gunshot was deafening, akin to a sharp wail that made one nauseous.

【The eerie gunshot causes you to lose 2 points of sanity.】

The shot was slightly off, but it still hit.

The corpse's head partially shattered, black pus splattering on the floor, and it toppled forwards, struggling to stay upright.

"I won…"

Yang Yi’s tense nerves slightly relaxed.

He walked towards the corpse, intending to retrieve the spear. However, at that moment, the corpse, which he thought to be dead, suddenly moved again! Even with most of its head shattered, it could move!

A pale hand clamped onto Yang Yi’s ankle, the grip so strong it dug into his flesh. It left deep marks.

“Damn! It’s not dead yet?”

Yang Yi immediately reacted, his eyes flashing with ferocity. He picked up the spear and stabbed it into the corpse again.

This time, the spear went straight through the gaping wound in the corpse's skull. After the strike, the corpse's grip gradually weakened — it seemed effective.

Yet for some reason, just before the corpse died, it turned its head to look at Yang Yi, its eyes filled with malice.

Then, its abdomen began to swell rapidly.

Self-destruction?!

Yang Yi realised it immediately and instinctively threw himself backwards. With a dull thud, putrid flesh and shattered bones sprayed everywhere, like a rain of blood. The corpse had exploded, making quite a mess.

Fortunately, the corpse was lying face down, so most of the explosion’s force was directed at the deck.

Yang Yi had dodged in time, mostly avoiding the flying bones and flesh. His foot was still unlucky enough to get injured. It throbbed in pain as two teeth had pierced through his shoe and stabbed right into it.

His forearm was also grazed by a stray bone shard, although the wound was shallow. As for the falling chunks of flesh, they had lost their lethal force, merely splattering Yang Yi and making him nauseous.

【The disgusting body parts make you nauseous, causing you to lose 2 points of sanity.】

Yang Yi struggled to his feet, prying the corpse's hand off his ankle and checking his status.

Status: Injured (The human diagram shows yellow marks on the left foot and forearm.)

Sanity: 55/100

Energy: 40/100

Health: 91/100

He removed his left shoe, grimacing as he pulled out the teeth embedded in his foot. Thankfully, the force hadn’t been as strong as a bullet. After piercing his shoe, it only barely broke the skin. Otherwise, it could have been deadly!

Yang Yi painfully stood up and looked at the corpse, then gasped.

On the deck, only a broken skeleton remained. The entire spine was missing, likely blasted into the sea. As for the ribs, they were lodged into the deck like arrows, buried deep in the wood.

The explosion was powerful, but Yang Yi had been in the direction with the least force. If he had been hit by one of those rib-like arrows, he wouldn't be alive!

At the same time, new information about the corpse appeared in the log.

【Name: Drowned Revenant】

【Description: A person who drowned at sea, driven by resentment towards the living, rises again as a monster. Can be used in the Monster Vending Machine.】

"Monster Vending Machine? What is that?"

Yang Yi was confused.

But as he calmed down, he realised another troubling detail.

He had noticed the Drowned Revenant just before it entered the captain's quarters.

But what had opened the door to the captain’s quarters?

Before the Drowned Revenant appeared, the door to the captain's quarters was already open!

The thought sent chills down his spine as he heard footsteps approaching from behind. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder.

Something had stabbed him…

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