Welcome to Rule City

The front row was missing people, yet the movie screen remained unchanged, still showing the endless sea and the leisurely cruise ship moving at a steady pace. Mu Ai scrutinized the scene; even the two birds on the horizon hadn’t changed, circling like they were on a fixed path, as if remote-controlled.

Emmm, it seems it’s not a PPT but a GIF, Mu Ai calmly popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth, once again cursing the creator who refused to add more butter or sugar.

Ugh! Who wants to eat unsweetened popcorn? Garbage, refund!

In the darkness, there was no tool to measure time, and Mu Ai had already turned off her phone beforehand. Without a luminous watch or anything similar, she could only rely on her pulse and heartbeat to judge the passage of time.

The movie was 1 hour and 30 minutes long, divided into different phases by various GIFs. Each phase would select people to enter; those who died were gone, while the survivors would proceed to the next phase.

It was hard to say whether entering first was better than entering later. Those who entered first might experience the entire film, while those who entered later might avoid initial troubles but could be caught off guard by the current phase, being unprepared and losing the initiative.

Mu Ai hoped to be brought in during the first phase. The longer she stayed in the film, the more segments she experienced, the more tasks she would have, and the richer the rewards would be. Risk and opportunity always go hand in hand; even if a pie falls from the sky, one must ensure their body is sturdy enough not to be flattened by it.

Just as she was thinking, Mu Ai felt a blur before her eyes, and when she could see clearly again, she found herself sitting on a deck chair on the top deck of the cruise ship, with her purchased soda and popcorn set placed on the small table beside her.

Nice-very considerate.

Mu Ai ate another bland chicken-flavored popcorn, stood up, and surveyed the cruise ship. There were quite a few people on the deck: children chasing and playing, travelers taking fancy photos, and couples whispering sweet nothings.

Everything seemed normal, as if this was just an ordinary cruise ship, unrelated to any horror or accident.

Mu Ai’s mind conjured up the most classic image of a ship, instinctively walking to the front of the deck to look around, but she didn’t see any icebergs. She only vaguely saw the outline of an island in the distance, separated by an unknown stretch of sea.

-Quest Radar (Passive)

Side Quests in This Map (0/5)

Secret of the Ship – Timed (Incomplete)

Achievements Available (0/6)

Prophet (Incomplete)
Survivor (Incomplete)
Lone Wolf (Incomplete)
I am a Civilized Person (Incomplete)
Return to the Primitive (Incomplete)
Double Agent (Incomplete)

-Treasure Chest Radar (Passive)

Items Available in This Map (0/1)

-Mini Map (Enabled)

Exploration Level 4%

“Five side quests with only one unlocked and it’s timed, yet there are six achievements, including some that are clearly opposed… This instance’s difficulty is at least C-level.”

Mu Ai raised an eyebrow at the Rulebook. Only players could see this thing, so there was no need to worry about NPCs being surprised when they saw someone pull out a book from thin air.

After reviewing the hints from her Talent Skill, Mu Ai noticed that her crossbody bag was missing, or rather, the bag was still there but had merged with her clothes, as if it were merely decorative rather than a real container full of items and supplies.

“Item lock.” Mu Ai wasn’t panicked; this situation was within her expectations. According to Meng Hao and others, some instances would impose restrictions on players, and the items brought into the instance would be sealed, with only those carded in the Rulebook remaining usable.

However, the cards in the Rulebook had position limits: a maximum of three weapon cards and five item cards. It’s said that slots can be expanded through various channels, but like the Small Badge, they are rare and hard to come by.

Mu Ai’s Rulebook currently contained only one bottle of Lemonade, one Mischievous Child card, and three ex-girlfriend series items-better than nothing.

“Sealing personal items suggests a scarcity of resources.” Mu Ai leaned against the ship’s railing, pretending to be like other tourists, gazing at the sea view while quietly muttering to herself, “But the cruise ship offers meals and accommodations, even if not included, one can buy them. Why would resources be scarce?”

“Unless-” Mu Ai, combining her achievements and tasks, thought of a possibility, “This ship is doomed, and everyone will be struggling for survival at sea, certainly lacking resources.”

The current task was only “Secret of the Ship,” and the achievements included a foreboding “Survivor”-without a disaster, where would the survivors come from?

Having sorted out her thoughts, Mu Ai wasted no time. The situation was clear now; the time limit was likely for her to solve it before the ship sank. Otherwise, when the cruise ship went under, the secret would sink to the bottom of the sea with it. She couldn’t exactly transform into a mermaid or something to retrieve it.

The cruise ship had a total of twelve levels, and Mu Ai was currently on the top deck. After wandering around, she began descending level by level, avoiding blocked areas by going downstairs first, then turning to the other side to explore, determined to follow the levels to avoid missing any clues.

-Mini Map (Enabled)

Exploration Level 21%

“The only dark areas left on the ship are the crew rest area and the engine room.”

Standing on the first level of the cruise ship, Mu Ai was wearing a life jacket and carrying several sealed bags filled with collected food and water. Ignoring the curious and pointing fingers of passing tourists, she calmly analyzed the current situation.

“The crew rest area can be visited under the guise of a tour, but the engine room is definitely off-limits. If the secret truly lies there, it’s purely a challenge… the probability is low, at least not as high as the crew rest area.”

Despite saying this, Mu Ai still attempted to head there, only to be politely stopped by the crew on her way to the engine room and sincerely asked if she needed assistance.

After all, not every tourist would look like they were fleeing, wearing a life jacket and carrying so much food and water.

Mu Ai explained she was playing a game with friends and these were props, so the crew didn’t ask further, merely standing by to watch her leave, firmly denying her any chance to sneak in.

Having roughly explored the entire ship, Mu Ai returned to the first floor, standing in the passageway used for evacuation drills, pondering her next move.

“I still need to uncover the secret; the rest can wait.”

Mu Ai thought for a while and decided to head to the crew rest area. Avoiding people wasn’t difficult; it was daytime, and most were on duty, with no one casually returning to rest.

The challenge was how to obtain an Employee ID, as the rest area’s door required either a card swipe or fingerprint to unlock, with no password option. Breaking in was impossible; she had to find another way.

Mu Ai pondered for a few minutes, then took out the Mischievous Child card from the Rulebook, selecting the area dedicated to watching children, and used the card.

“Steal a usable Employee ID for me.” Mu Ai looked at the Blue Vest child in front of her, feeling a sense of familiarity akin to seeing a known partner, “This shouldn’t be hard, right? I believe a ‘Mischievous Child’ can easily handle such a task.”

The Blue Vest nodded. As a tool, it wasn’t as lively as in the instance, seemingly just a puppet of its own, capable of completing simple commands but lacking autonomous consciousness.

Mu Ai found a corner where no one paid attention and quietly waited for the Mischievous Child to return. Although she spoke confidently, she was unsure if stealing an Employee ID fell within the scope of “things a Mischievous Child can accomplish.”

However, considering the combat prowess of Mischievous Children in reality, Mu Ai felt it was entirely plausible. The place had over a dozen children but only two employees to play games with them, clearly overwhelmed and likely unable to notice more.

Mu Ai’s judgment was correct. Before the tool’s time expired, the Blue Vest sneaked back, holding the card she needed.

“Got it, now you can do whatever you want with the remaining time, just don’t mention you stole the card.”

Mu Ai spoke to the Blue Vest, who then showed a happy expression, turning to run towards the play equipment in the room, seemingly wanting to cherish the limited time left to play.

Ignoring the Blue Vest puppet destined to disappear, Mu Ai first hid her life jacket and food, then discreetly headed to the crew rest area. After lighting up the area map, she discovered another employee-only passage leading to the engine room.

Mu Ai looked around to ensure no one was watching, then unhesitatingly swiped the card to open the door and slipped inside. She hadn’t gone far when she heard a faint conversation, immediately holding her breath and tiptoeing closer, straining to hear what was being said.

“Is everything ready?”

“Ready, in 10 minutes.”

“Didn’t forget the lifeboats, right?”

“Rest assured, nothing was overlooked; they’ll all be unusable.”

“Good, this sacrifice will surely please the Deity.”

“The Deity’s will is my will; I am willing to offer everything to the Deity!”

“Rest assured, when the Deity sees the sacrifice, you will surely be rewarded-how envious I am that you can meet the Deity before me.”

“Please rest assured, Priest, I will definitely convey your devotion to the Deity, I swear!”

“Good, next you need to pay attention to…”

The conversation continued, but Mu Ai had no interest in listening further. She exited the way she came, and once out of the crew rest area and engine room range, she switched from walking to running, quickly retrieving her hidden life jacket and sealed food and water.

[Side Quest: Secret of the Ship – Timed (Completed)]

[Side Quest: Reach Sunburn Island (Incomplete)]

[Achievement Unlocked: Prophet]

[Map Exploration Level: 27%]

Putting on the life jacket again, Mu Ai hurried to the second-floor deck at the stern. The view here wasn’t as good as the other two decks, and the bar’s opening hours were from 7 PM, so there were neither crew nor passengers, making it an excellent spot for jumping into the sea.

Moreover, this was the best jumping spot Mu Ai could find in a short time. She couldn’t find a lower one, nor did she have time to find a safer one-the higher the position, the more dangerous, as she had never received any diving training.

When Mu Ai heard the news, only 10 minutes remained, and after running and walking such a distance, she roughly estimated that she had no more than 5 minutes left. She had to jump into the sea before the ship sank and try to swim as far as possible; otherwise, she might be sucked into the whirlpool created by the sinking ship and end up buried at sea.

After one last check of the life jacket’s condition, Mu Ai tightly secured the sealed food and water to herself, then climbed onto the side railing of the deck. Facing down, she looked at the gray-blue sea water, the sun casting her shadow on the surface, which became wrinkled and fragmented with the waves, giving an increasingly eerie feeling.

Mu Ai took a deep breath, knowing she couldn’t wait any longer. Grabbing the secured food and water with one hand and pinching her nose with the other, she steeled herself, closed her eyes, and leapt forward like a diver, plunging vertically into the sea with a “splash.”

Three minutes later, after Mu Ai had swum several hundred meters with all her might, she heard a deafening explosion behind her, followed by waves that swept her dozens of meters away.

Mu Ai turned back to see the cruise ship engulfed in flames.

The ship had sunk.