Like any other lucky player who'll ever get to encounter the game master by chance, Zhihao did the most instinctual thing; he equipped his gun and shot him.
[Warning: Invalid action]
[A player cannot attack his teammates unless under special circumstances which the system deems as valid.]
Damn!
Zhihao couldn't help but ask a stupid question, "Do you actually look like that?"
Ever since Zhihao had started playing T.I.A.D., he had always held respect for the man and regarded him as a saint; probably old and knowledgeable but boy was he wrong. The gamemaster who stood in front of him looked like a young man around the same age as Zhihao. And if that wasn't enough, the young man was uselessly handsome! He had facial features that could neither be considered to be too sharp or too soft. Eyes like a phoenix; Beautiful and captivating yet glaring and dangerous. A tall nose bridge and lips that were tinted with a light color of cherry blossoms. His hair, the deepest color of black, appeared soft and shiny; dancing with the light breeze.
Zhihao was skeptical. He didn't want to think he worshiped such a man whom he'd rather hang around with as friends or more like; he refused to believe that this man had actually accomplished so much at such a young age whereas Zhihao still sat around and literally played games all the time at the age of 24. The difference was as clear as day; One was the creator and the other was one of his millions of fans.
"..."
The silence spoke for itself, even Zhihao knew this. All player characters were custom created for the player according to their original appearance, gender, and age. The only changeable characteristics were clothes, hair colors, and hairstyles.
This was probably a look really close to the man's real appearance.
[Welcome to I-ranked level 1853: Survival in the ship of the dead.]
It was an intermediate level, more difficult than the E-ranked and A-ranked levels that Zhihao had experienced playing before but this didn't cause the man any panic as he reassured himself that his partner was the gamemaster; Surely this man had some cards up his sleeves and would be able to beat the level with ease. Maybe Zhihao wouldn't even need to move a single step and could just tag along to gain the rewards but damn... He was wrong!
The ground started shaking terribly, To stable himself, he took a few steps but to no use as he stepped on something lumpy and lost his balance and unlike Li Ling who'd protect him from falling over, the game master couldn't care less of what he did and that was how Zhihao ended up face-planting himself on the wet floor.
Wet?
....Wait!
This wasn't water at all, it was much thicker in consistency, much darker in color, and had a pungent smell; There was no mistaking it, It was blood.
"Stand up if you don't want to roll around in human blood!" The game master spoke to Zhihao for the first time, His voice not having a human tone, rather he was talking through some sort of an electronic voice modifier.
"Yes.... sir?" Zhihao felt awkward with calling the young gamemaster, sir but what else was he supposed to call him? He couldn't just act friendly and call him whatever he liked and he had yet to recover from Li Ling's betrayal so how could his brain function properly at this moment?
"..." The gamemaster seemed to really not like talking.
[You have successfully entered the ship of the dead]
[In the year 2057; A group of marine biologists found a new species of human-like creatures that lived deep inside the North Atlantic ocean. These creatures looked much like the mythical mermaids that were portrayed in children's fictional storybooks and in order to prove the existence of such sea creatures, A ship filled with experts was sent out on an expedition. The ship sailed smoothly for three days and two nights, On the third night, The ship stopped. All anybody could hear was a beautiful angelic voice singing, Nobody heard the cries and screams of the people who were massacred that night.]
[Help is on the way but its running late]
[Your mission is to survive the scenario for the next three days]
[We wish all the best to the game master and his companion.]
"How much would three days be in you know... Real world?" Zhihao asked the gamemaster
"..." Like expected; he got no response.
"What do we do?" Zhihao tried interacting once again but still got no response from his temporary partner.
The gamemaster who acted like Zhihao didn't exist, looked around for a bit and crouched down near the dead corpse of a man in his 30s. One look and Zhihao wanted to puke out his lunch. The man had certainly not received a pretty death; His eyes were still open but the eyeballs were missing. The mouth was opened wide as well suggesting that the last thing the man did was scream for his life but inside that open mouth, there wasn't a tongue. The gamemaster startled Zhihao by stepping on the stomach of the dead man and easily crushed it.
The gamemaster spoke, "An empty shell. Work of a siren."
Zhihao didn't understand what was happening till he looked closer and found out that the eyes and tongue weren't the only things missing; The man had no stomach, no intestines, no organs! It was cleared out! Everything from the inside! The only remnants of the man were the skin that was still attached to his bones.
How could something do such a horrifying thing?!
"Sirens are dangerous. Follow." The gamemaster spoke waking Zhihao up from his horrified state.
"huh?" The gamemaster didn't say anything any further and snatched the walkie-talkie from the dead corpse before turning around and leaving Zhihao behind.
Not a second later, Looking at the man's back, Zhihao suddenly realized that the man meant for him to follow and as he realized this, he ran after him, "D-don't leave me!"
"What do you think did that? Oh right, You said something about sirens. Did a siren do that?" Zhihao pestered the gamemaster with questions but only got silence as a response.
They walked through many cabins, passed through many corpses that were in the same condition as the man they previously saw. Whatever killed them was surely having the time of its life. Among all the adults here, there were even corpses of children, the same age as Zhihao's younger brother or maybe even younger. Zhihao really felt thankful that he hadn't eaten anything yet cause if he did, it would have been a waste, and now that he had seen such a horrifying scene, he was sure he wouldn't have an appetite for the next three days.
"Careful."
Zhihao looked in front and found that the gamemaster had stopped walking; He was staring at something...
In front of them was the body of a woman that was blocking the passage. The woman was lying limply on the ground with her hair in a bloody mess, eyes still open, her eyelids fluttering with no strength as it looked up at them and her mouth trying to word a single plea; Help!
She was clearly still alive but clearly beyond the stage where she could be helped. On her stomach was a huge bloody hole from where some of her organs were missing and the organs that were still intact weren't exactly intact, her intestines were hanging out and some other organ which was squashed to the point where it couldn't even be deciphered what it was. She was still alive but for how long? It was clear that she'd stop breathing at any given moment but Zhihao was sure to be traumatized for life from this. The woman tried to crawl up to them but Zhihao stepped back in fear.
No! No! Nope! No way!
Zhihao hid behind the gamemaster who was clearly shorter than him.
Shorter than him?
Zhihao suddenly found himself celebrating his height. Just a few centimeters but Height was still height. He had managed to win against the man at something.
Before he could complete his celebration that distracted him for the moment, The gamemaster pulled out a gun and shot the woman on her head. A clean hit that created a hole in the woman's skull and ended her pitiful life on the spot.
"Keep moving."
"W-where are we going?" Zhihao couldn't hide his fear.
By all means, the whole scenario was scary enough to scare anybody and everybody but there was another feeling that overshadowed this fear; It was the feeling Zhihao got every time he looked at or interacted with the gamemaster. It was the overwhelming feeling of interacting with your long-time idol. He was worried and scared over every little thing; how to act, what to say, how to breathe?? He was afraid he'd annoy the man or cause him to dislike Zhihao.
"Safe spot." This time Zhihao did get a reply and he was overjoyed with the answer, His heart beating so widely, his adrenaline pumping at a speed faster than a race car.
"shh..."
It was a faint sound coming from... everywhere.
It covered them from all sides.
It was the haunting melody of the Sirens.
Suddenly Zhihao lost control over his game character as it started moving on its own but before it could go too far, the gamemaster pulled it back, "Enchantment."
Zhihao didn't know what was happening. All he could hear was the beautiful enchanting melody that made him lose control of his character. No matter how many buttons he pressed or how much he tried to gain back the control; it was futile. The only thing that stopped his character was the gamemaster who was physically holding him back. "W-What's happening?"
"You can't fight against the Siren's enchantment." The reply was short but Zhihao wasn't dumb. His brain had started to recover its senses from earlier as he realized that the mission was to survive not to fight against the sirens or save anybody.
The mission was made so clear but this was an I-ranked level so how could it be so easy? Everything had a catch and he was sure that experiencing the remnants of a ruthless murder scene wasn't the only catch in this case so what else could it be? Of course, it was the sirens that hadn't yet left the ship. But wasn't it alright as long as they didn't follow the song? but how could that be any fun so of course to increase the difficulty level, the maker had to put in an added disadvantage; Enchantment.
[Be careful of the enchantment spell! Unless the player is out of the spell range; The player would be forced to follow the Siren's voice.]
Damn system! Always late!
If the gamemaster wasn't here, wouldn't Zhihao be rendered completely helpless at the moment and be dragged to his possible character death? Wasn't this type of system unfair to the players?
"How are you not affected? Perks of being the Gamemaster?" Zhihao asked bitterly.
"Enchantment breaking crystal."
Of course, that had to be the answer.
Zhihao had mixed feelings. On one hand, he was constantly thinking what if he were here with Li Ling instead? Would they even stand a chance? It would be a miracle if they survived for more than mere ten minutes. He was still mad at Li Ling for ditching him but he also felt glad that the man who was here with him was the gamemaster. Who else could prove to be so useful in this case?
Enchantment breaking crystal was a high-grade artifact that cost more than 10,000 T-points. Not only was it super expensive but it was also an artifact that needed specific requirements to be owned; One needed to have completed at least one S-ranked level and have crossed a skill level of 12. Zhihao's current skill level was 4 and he was still considered the top player of T.I.A.D. and with that being the case; nobody should be able to own the enchantment breaking crystal.
However, there was one player who was never included in that stupid glorified list; It was the gamemaster. The one who reigned over them all.