The first night at sea was doomed to be sleepless. Yang Yi tossed and turned for what felt like an eternity, sweat beading on his forehead, before finally slipping into a fitful slumber. He was plunged into a nightmare.
Meanwhile, in the Nightmare's cabin, the captain's skeleton suddenly stirred. Its bones began to tremble, and a faint flame of spectral light ignited within its cracked skull. Creak! Crunch! The bones clattered and scraped as the skeleton rose to its feet. It shuffled out of the cabin, moving slowly toward the captain's quarters at the bow, and gently pushed open the door.
Inside, Yang Yi thrashed in his sleep, trapped in the grips of his nightmare. The skeleton stared at him for a long moment before its gaze fell on the vine-covered fishing rod beside the bed. It shuffled over, picked up the rod, and without pause, exited the room, making its way to the ship's central deck to fish.
Minutes later, something bit. A pale, bloated hand emerged from the sea, clutching the fishing line.
Yang Yi remained in his dream—no, his nightmare.
"Ah!" He jolted awake, hands flying to his abdomen. Finding it intact, he exhaled sharply. In his dream, a swollen, drowned corpse had silently pushed open the door and shuffled inside. The nightmare had felt eerily real, as if he'd witnessed it with his own eyes. He could still hear the corpse's footsteps: squelch, squelch! Like a wet mop dragging across the floor.
In the dream, the moment Yang Yi reached for his flintlock, it had misfired. The corpse had pinned him to the bed, its rotting hands tearing into his abdomen. He'd felt his warm entrails spill onto the floor.
[You experienced death in a nightmare. Sanity decreases by 15.]
"Thank god it was just a dream." Yang Yi breathed, but then he noticed the captain's cabin door was ajar. He snatched up his flintlock pistol. "Was it the wind? No—there's been no wind tonight!"
Squelch, squelch.
Familiar footsteps approached. A bloated, drowned corpse appeared in the doorway. It had clearly been submerged for days, swollen and putrid, clad in tattered remains of a sailor's uniform tangled with seaweed. Its milky eyes fixed on Yang Yi.
"Fuck!"
[Seeing an unnatural creature, your sanity decreases by 5.]
Yang Yi pulled the trigger. Click. The gun jammed. The corpse grinned, its mouth nearly toothless—except for a crab scuttling out from between its rotted gums. This scene mirrored his nightmare, so Yang Yi was prepared. Instead of fumbling with the pistol, he swung it like a bludgeon, smashing it into the corpse's head.
As the corpse staggered, Yang Yi grabbed his spear and charged—not to kill, but to escape the confined cabin. He needed open space to fight. The force of his charge carried him past the corpse, the stench of rot nearly making him vomit.
[Disgusting odor. Sanity decreases by 5.]
Yang Yi wasn't strong enough to overpower the corpse, but speed was on his side. He sprinted to the bow deck, where he could maneuver freely. Glancing back, he saw the corpse's swollen form lumbering after him—slow, cumbersome, no match for his agility.
"Come on!" Yang Yi panted, adrenaline surging. The deck's raised helm platform provided perfect cover. He ducked behind the wheel, circling it to evade the corpse while mentally counting: "46… 47…"
The spear was still lodged in the corpse's neck, but it seemed unaffected, continuing its relentless advance. "51… 52…" Yang Yi broke from cover, racing back to the cabin door to retrieve his dropped pistol. He aimed, steadying his breath—just meters away, the bloated target was impossible to miss. Please don't misfire.
BOOM!
The shot rang out like a tortured scream, twisting Yang Yi's stomach.
[Strange gunshot. Sanity decreases by 2.]
The bullet veered slightly but struck home. Half the corpse's head exploded, black brain matter oozing onto the deck. It staggered and collapsed face-first. "Yes…" Yang Yi relaxed slightly, approaching to reclaim his spear.
But then, the corpse twitched. Its mangled head lifted, empty eye sockets locking onto him, and a clawed hand shot out, gripping Yang Yi's ankle with shocking strength. Nails dug into his flesh, leaving bloody furrows. "What the hell—even this won't kill it?!"
Yang Yi stabbed downward, driving the spear through the corpse's shattered skull. The grip on his ankle weakened, but as the corpse "died," its head turned toward him, eyes filled with venomous hatred.
Self-destruct!
Yang Yi reacted instantly, leaping over the ship's railing. A muffled crump followed, and the stench of pulverized flesh rained down. The corpse had exploded, but its prone position had directed most of the blast into the deck. Yang Yi hit the floor, avoiding the worst of the debris—though a shard of bone sliced his right foot, and putrid gore splattered across his clothes.
[Corpse fragments. Sanity decreases by 2.]
Grimacing, Yang Yi peeled off his sock to inspect the wound. His status interface flickered: Injured. Both feet glowed yellow on the humanoid diagram.
Sanity: 55/100
Stamina: 40/100
HP: 91/100
He removed his left boot and pried a bloody tooth from his sole—luckily, the penetration had been shallow. "Close call." Standing shakily, he surveyed the deck: only a mangled skeleton remained, its spine vanished (likely blown into the sea), ribs embedded in the wood like arrows.
[Name: Drowned Wretch. Reanimated by hatred of the living. Can be manually repelled.]
"'Monster Scanner'? What the hell is that?" Yang Yi muttered. Then, a chill ran down his spine. The cabin door was open before the corpse arrived.
As the realization hit, he heard a rustling behind him—a sharp pain pierced his shoulde.