CH 1

Blue skies and clear waters.

The intense sunlight shone down on the bustling port.

Countless goods were piled up on both sides of the road, arranged neatly like hills. Rows of cranes were working for the cargo ships that had docked, and the sound of the machines was drowned out in the noisy hubbub.

Vehicles and pedestrians passed by from time to time. Fu Anan looked around in bewilderment. Wasn’t she supposed to be on a break from her summer job? How come she was in an unfamiliar port?

This unfamiliar place seemed strange in every way, especially the screen that constantly floated in front of her. It appeared three meters away from her no matter which direction she looked——

“Fu Anan, what are you standing here foolishly for?”

A man in his forties or fifties with a square face[1] walked over in the middle, and the floating screen disappeared.

“We’re about to board the ship. Hurry up and buy whatever you need. This ship will be sailing for at least half a month. Don’t come looking for me if you forget something important.”

“What?” She was still in a daze, her gaze still fixed on the blank space in the air.

“The cargo ship leaves at one o’clock this afternoon. Move quickly,” said the man with the square face, and hurried away.

What cargo ship?

“What ‘Nautical Carnival’?”

Fu Anan frowned, feeling like she was in the midst of a bizarre dream.

At that moment, a large cloud covered the sun in the sky and the surroundings suddenly became dark. A gust of wind blew over, carrying an extremely nauseating smell of decay and putridity. It smelled like a fish that had been rotting and had been infested with maggots for ten to fifteen days.

BANG——

Suddenly, there was a heavy knocking sound from a nearby container, which startled her.

Fu Anan turned around to look. How could there be a sound coming from inside the container? What was inside it?

“Are you alright?” At this moment, a crew member suddenly appeared and apologetically looked at her, “Did a part just fall and hit you?”

As he spoke, the crew member searched around the container and picked up an iron cylinder from the ground.

“N-no, it didn’t.”

It turned out that the sound didn’t come from the container. Fu Anan withdrew her curious gaze, “That scared me. Getting smashed in the head could be deadly.”

“Sorry, we’ll be more careful next time.”

She nodded in agreement, then she suddenly noticed a dark red stain nearby, “Is this container bleeding? What’s inside? It’s already reeks.”

“The weather is too hot, and the frozen salmon inside may have defrosted,” The crew member slightly smiled, “Rest assured, we will clean it up before it’s loaded onto the ship. We won’t let the expensive salmon spoil.”

Is that so?

Fu Anan glanced at the time and remembered about that whatever game. She didn’t want to waste any more time here.

As she was about to leave, the crew member behind called out to her.

“Miss, you dropped something.”

The crew member picked up a silver bracelet from the ground and handed it to her.

Fu Anan was about to tell him that it wasn’t hers, but as soon as she touched it, she immediately shut her mouth.

That strange screen appeared again——