Ch. 7 - The Skeleton Shop

Bai Wan stood frozen in place.

Based on what he had just seen in the mirror, only a single door — half a meter, no, much less — separating him from the paranormal entity.

In this situation, even breathing could give him away. He was a little thankful for his earlier caution. If he had carelessly assumed the entity was gone and made a sound, he might not have survived the night.

Bai Wan didn’t dare breathe. With limbs still tingling with numbness, he carefully made his way back to bed in silence.

Damn, this thing is cunning. Who would’ve thought the first night would be this dangerous?

Still, he had gained 100 Paranormal Coins. Perhaps this was the price of uncovering valuable information. The key to surviving this dungeon was definitely related to that hidden, ancient wooden door.

At this point, Bai Wan had no intention of resting. Even after hearing the entity move away, he remained upright on the bed, alert and silent.

He stayed like that the entire night.

It wasn’t until daylight began to filter into the room and the sound of footsteps returned that Bai Wan finally crept to the door. Peeking through the peephole and confirming that the entity was gone, he carefully opened the door and stepped out.

“Good morning,” Chen Weiyu greeted him as he emerged.

“Morning.” Bai Wan nodded and glanced around.

Everyone was already gathered at the dining table. Breakfast was laid out, but no one had touched it. Clearly, none of them had much appetite.

Lin Xi’s eyes were red and puffy, and she looked exhausted. It was obvious last night had been a traumatic one for her.

In contrast, Liu Tong looked perfectly composed, lounging in his chair like a veteran. Having survived two games already, he had clearly developed some psychological resilience.

And then... there was Mr. Zhang. He sat calmly at the table as though nothing had happened.

Bai Wan sat down and exchanged a look with Liu Tong. Without a word, the two silently agreed not to mention what they had seen Mr. Zhang doing the previous night. After all, in movies and games, there was a common rule — once a paranormal entity’s disguise was exposed, it would no longer bother pretending. 

So neither of them dared bring up last night. Because they didn’t know whether the Zhang Wen sitting here now... was still human.

Bai Wan could still vividly recall the image of Mr. Zhang crouched outside his door, eavesdropping.

“How did everyone sleep last night?” Liu Tong broke the silence, steering the conversation into safer waters.

“I was pretty scared... kept getting woken up by nightmares,” Chen Weiyu said with a tired voice.

“You didn’t stay up watching dramas last night?” Bai Wan teased her.

“No! I started to, but after a while, I kept feeling like someone in the screen would suddenly reach out and grab me, so I couldn’t keep watching...” Chen Weiyu admitted with a nervous laugh.

Clearly, she was the type to scare herself with her own imagination— timid and prone to overthinking.

“And how did Miss Lin sleep?” Liu Tong turned to Lin Xi, who seemed zoned out.

The moment he addressed her, her eyes welled up with tears again.

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

Bai Wan and Liu Tong both turned toward her at the same time.

She heard them too?

Bai Wan suddenly turned toward the silent Zhang Wen and asked with a grin, “How about you, Mr. Zhang? Did you sleep well?”

The entire table went quiet.

After a pause, Zhang Wen looked up and smiled. “I actually slept peacefully — straight through the night without any trouble.”

Slept peacefully, huh?

Liu Tong’s expression darkened as he recalled Zhang Wen tiptoeing into that eerie wooden door the night before.

Was it really peaceful?

“And you, Bai Wan? How was your sleep?” Zhang Wen asked with a smile.

Bai Wan replied just as cheerfully, “Terrible. I got woken up in the middle of the night by some jackass calling me on my phone. Seriously, what kind of psycho does that?”

Zhang Wen: “……”

Liu Tong: “……”

“Right, Mr. Zhang?” Bai Wan continued. “Isn’t it incredibly rude to call someone in the middle of the night?”

Mr. Zhang blinked for a few seconds, then replied, “Yes... very rude indeed.”

Just then, Chen Weiyu chimed in with a snort. “Ugh, I hate that kind of person too. I used to have a horrible supervisor who’d call people late at night like a maniac. Totally shameless. Sometimes I’d wish he’d just drop dead already. Hahaha—wait, Mr. Zhang, why are you staring at me?”

She’d gotten carried away mid-rant and only noticed Zhang Wen’s gaze partway through. Did she have something on her face?

“Alright, if no one’s going to eat, we should start exploring the ship,” Liu Tong cut in, breaking up the tension.

Since the game had started at night, they’d followed the old woman’s instructions and gone to sleep. But now that it was morning, it was the perfect time to investigate.

The Paranormal Game was already underway — there was no time to waste.

As he walked past Chen Weiyu, Liu Tong’s foot slipped unexpectedly, and he nearly fell. His hand landed right in the bowl of soup on the table, sending it splashing onto Chen Weiyu.

Some of it even got on Zhang Wen, who was seated beside her.

“Oh no! Sorry!” Liu Tong quickly apologized.

“No worries! It’s fine!” Chen Weiyu said, flustered and wiping herself down with napkins. She even smiled nervously, as though the accident had been her fault.

Zhang Wen also wiped his sleeve calmly and said nothing.

“To save time, I’ll explore the second floor with Bai Wan. You three check out the first floor. But stick together, it’s safer in a group,” Liu Tong instructed.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Be careful, everyone.” With that, Liu Tong and Bai Wan headed upstairs, while the others began exploring the first floor.

Lin Xi had hesitated at first, but when she saw Chen Weiyu and Zhang Wen leaving, she quickly followed. There was no way she’d stay alone.

Upstairs, Bai Wan followed Liu Tong and said, “Honestly, the odds of Mr. Zhang being an entity are pretty high. He came out of that creepy door, after all.”

He kept his eyes on Liu Tong’s back as he spoke. This guy looked like a kind-hearted government rep on the surface, but he wasn’t as righteous as he seemed.

Liu Tong had suspected Zhang Wen might be an entity and had deliberately sent the others downstairs, keeping Bai Wan with him.

Then Liu Tong spoke up. “Bai Wan, bleeding hearts don’t survive in the Paranormal Game. I’ve already done plenty to help them — that’s more than enough. If we don’t protect ourselves first, we can’t help anyone else. Sometimes, kindness is a liability in a game like this.”

Bai Wan gave him a sheepish smile. “You’ve got the wrong idea, bro. I was just thinking that the creepy door looks super cursed. Maybe we should let the other three search the second floor instead. We’d be safer down here.”

Liu Tong paused, then turned to look at Bai Wan’s innocent expression.

Several seconds passed before he finally said, “...Sorry.”

“Huh? For what?” Bai Wan blinked.

“I shouldn’t have called you kind.”

“Wait, what?”

“I mean, I shouldn’t have insulted you by calling you kind. My bad.” Liu Tong clapped him on the shoulder, then turned and walked away.

Bai Wan: “...”

“Bro, I think you misunderstood me. Deep down, I’m a good person...” Bai Wan hurried after him.

“Just shut up and focus on searching.”

“Ow!”

The two reached the second floor. It looked different now than it had at night.

The mysterious wooden door between Rooms 201 and 202 had vanished.

“Of course... that room was never going to be easy to find,” Liu Tong muttered, brushing his hand along the now-blank wall. There was no trace it had ever been there.

Still, it was expected. That room was likely the core of this dungeon.

Liu Tong moved to check Room 201, gently pushing it open. It was an ordinary room — unremarkable in every way.

While Liu Tong investigated the rooms, Bai Wan wandered into the upstairs bathroom, noting the drainage pipe in the corner.

In theory, he could access Mario’s Coin Room from there. But his skill could only be used once per dungeon. He couldn’t afford to waste it just to test whether the ship’s drainage system worked.

Suddenly, noise erupted from downstairs.

“Liu-ge! Bai Wan! Come down and look at this!” Chen Weiyu’s voice called out.

Liu Tong and Bai Wan exchanged a glance, silently holding their position. They waited until all three of the others had gathered in the dining room before slowly descending the stairs.

“What happened?” Liu Tong asked as he reached the bottom.

“We went to the kitchen and found this inside the cupboard.” Chen Weiyu led them to the kitchen, pointing to a cabinet.

Inside sat a skull — glowing faintly with a greenish hue.

Whirr...

An eerie green light pulsed from its surface.

Liu Tong visibly relaxed. “Don’t worry. It’s just the Paranormal Shop. You can use this skull to buy life-saving tools.”

Everyone’s eyes lit up. They could buy items?

In a game like this, where death could come at any time, having tools made all the difference.

Bai Wan was especially thrilled. He’d started with the default 40 coins, earned another 40 by dancing, and got 100 from discovering the hidden door. That gave him a total of 180 Paranormal Coins.

Besides Liu Tong, he probably had the most among all the newbies — meaning he could afford more survival gear.

“You can all browse the item catalog first. Then we’ll take turns accessing the shop. Everyone gets two minutes to make their selection.”

As he spoke, Liu Tong reached out and tapped the skull.

A glowing white interface appeared in midair.

Displayed within the shimmering light... was the full list of items for sale.

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