Bai Wan yanked the steering wheel hard to the left.
The ghost ship, which had been cruising in a straight line, began veering to the left.
“Nice!” Bai Wan exclaimed. He had always wanted to pilot a ship. He never expected to fulfill that dream in this dungeon of all places.
Onward—faster and faster!
The most amusing part was the main quest progress bar displayed in his mind.
It had originally shown that the ship would reach Four Seasons Island in three days—72:59, indicating seventy-two hours and fifty-nine minutes remaining.
Now, however, the timer was doing something bizarre. It ticked up from 72:59 to 73:59… then to 90 hours… and finally, absurdly, it displayed a single symbol: ∞.
The timer was now infinite. They would never reach their destination. Because Bai Wan had completely left the intended route, turning the ship into unknown waters.
The system's voice finally kicked in, a step too late.
[Player Bai Wan, stop piloting the Ghost Cruise immediately! Exit the game! Exit now!!!]
Bai Wan averted his gaze, whistling as he stared innocently at the ceiling.
[Player Bai Wan, you are instructed to exit the game at once! Immediately!]
A hint of fear crossed Bai Wan’s face as he muttered, “Huh? Did something just speak? Creepy… Don’t tell me the ghost’s come back to life again…”
Then, in a whisper, he added, “Don’t make a sound, don’t make a sound. Pretend the room is empty… empty…”
The ship sped up. No intention of stopping.
[Stop immediately or your rewards and final score will be affected!]
It seemed that the game system was helpless now. All it could do was threaten to dock his score.
But Bai Wan simply grinned.
“Score? Rewards? You think I care? Listen up, system…”
“A man’s dreams never end!!”
With that, he slammed the throttle to full speed, determined to see just how far the sea stretched. The more flustered the system became, the more amused he was.
Eventually, an answer came into view.
Staring out the window, Bai Wan’s expression froze… then cracked into laughter.
Far ahead, plastered across the sea like a stage backdrop… was an enormous painted mural of the ocean.
Turns out, the entire map had been fake. Just a big animated wallpaper.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Bai Wan said, expression blank. “So this ultra-mysterious ghost game is actually this half-assed?”
But thinking it over further, he understood why. After all, in the intended plotline, the ship was supposed to follow a straight course. No player would ever veer this far off course to see this.
So then… What was behind the painting?
A rare spark of genuine curiosity flared in Bai Wan’s chest. He steered the ship straight toward it. He half-expected to hit some invisible wall—but to his surprise, the ship passed through it without resistance.
Even the ocean vanished. The ship drifted into a vast black void.
Seeing this, Bai Wan burst out laughing.
Are you serious? A flying ghost ship? The ship is flying now?
Does your mom know how messed up you are, buddy?
The whole scene had gone completely off the rails. In the pitch-black void, the ghost ship soared like a jet through space.
“Unreal…” Bai Wan muttered, taking in the utter darkness. It didn’t take him long to realize—he had reached the outer boundary of the game’s map. This place had never been programmed.
He had clipped out of the dungeon world.
As he drifted through the void, a glint caught his eye.
Floating in the blackness… was the Guanyin statue. The terrifying one from before, glowing faintly in the dark.
“Wait, isn’t that the creepy statue from the ship earlier?” Bai Wan stared, stunned. “What the hell is it doing here? Did the devs just leave it floating out here because they haven’t cleaned the props up yet?”
[Player Bai Wan, exit immediately or your rating will be reduced to the lowest tier!!!]
More score threats. This system’s really got nothing else.
Like hell I’m passing up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity .
He cracked open the ship’s windshield and, as they zipped past the statue, reached out—
The memory of that terrifying encounter still lingered. This cursed god-statue was no ordinary item. Now that it was in hand and the ship had come this far, Bai Wan figured it was time to leave.
But then, the blackness ahead of him stirred. A glow shimmered into view. The ship shot forward—and pierced through the darkness. Suddenly, the night sky lit up with graceful, silvery moonlight.
Before Bai Wan could take in the scenery—BAM!
The ship slammed into something solid.
Brick and plaster exploded from the wall it struck, and the ship screeched to a halt.
Bai Wan stumbled out of the cabin and glanced around.
His mouth fell open in disbelief.
He recognized the shops.
The familiar concrete tiles.
“…Wait a damn minute. Isn’t this my apartment complex?!” He spun in place, recognizing everything.
There was no doubt about it. He had driven the ghost ship straight out of the game… and into the real world.
No way. This has got to be another bug, right?
Still stunned, he stared at the wrecked ghost ship beside him.
The system’s voice returned.
[Player Bai Wan has successfully cleared the Ghost Cruise dungeon. Beginning Final Evaluation…
Achievements unlocked:
Overall Rating: S. Reward: 300 ghost coins.]
At first, Bai Wan was pretty pleased. An S rating and 300 coins wasn’t bad at all.
[Due to an excessive number of in-game reports against Player Bai Wan, your score has been adjusted accordingly.
Testimony from “Chen Weiyu”: Player Bai Wan violated standard procedure, used despicable tactics like impersonating a caring older brother to trap me in a wall, twice, disrupting the game’s intended flow and seriously violating women’s rights. I, Chen Weiyu, hereby file an official report.]
Rating adjustment: (S → B)
Bai Wan’s face darkened.
You’ve got to be kidding me. A ghost filing an official complaint?
You think you’re really Chen Weiyu? You got some screws loose or what?
Then things got even worse.
[Testimony from the Black Skeleton: “Ughhhhhh…Ugh Ugh..UGH”]
Rating adjustment: (B → C)
“The hell?! Fine, I can deal with Chen Weiyu’s nonsense, but you’re telling me you people can interpret that?!”
Bai Wan’s expression twisted in disbelief.
Slander. Utter slander.
And the absurdity wasn’t over yet…