Finding Objects

The ship looked old but still looks good. The dark brown wood of the ship's body was covered with moss here and there. The bottom of the ship was filled with barnacles.

Some of the inside parts were overgrown with moss in several places. Some parts even had large mushrooms. The ship had a wheelhouse and two passenger cabins.

Ash entered the cabin. Everything was clean, and strangely there was no moss there.

And most importantly, the ship was free from other players or creatures who wanted to kill him.

As soon as he placed his backpack in the cabin, he quickly released the ship's mooring rope and pushed the ship to float further into the middle of the sea.

With gentle swaying from the sea waves, the ship sailed slightly to the open sea.

'Finally, I can rest,' he thought.

All night he had fought with robbers and the assassin, and he was mentally exhausted.

Healing potions could only heal wounds and fatigue, but not mental ones.

Ash changed his clothes and started eating the lunch in the bow.

Once finished, he explored the ship to make sure his safety, and in case there're Special or Rare items.

In the wheelhouse, he did not find any items. The ship's steering wheel still worked well.

'Good, I won't need to worry about direction.'

Down into one of the passenger cabins and he saw many items scattered around, similar to the ones he found in the cave.

The items were strewn across the floor, on the bed, inside the cabinet, and on the wooden table. Ash decided he would sort the items after he had his sleep.

In the second cabin, there was a large wooden chest in the corner of the cabin. Apart from the chest, the cabin was empty.

At the back of the ship, he found a slightly rusty anchor and threw it into the sea.

He didn't want to take the risk of actually floating out to sea, and having difficulty returning to land again.

After done with the exploration and confirmed that the ship was safe, he went to the first passenger cabin.

Using his jacket, he shifted all the items on the bed to the floor.

Ash then fell asleep on the bed.

***

In the afternoon, Ash woke up with a fresher body and mind.

He immediately ate his lunch at the front of the ship, while watching the sun prepare to set.

The atmosphere was so peaceful and quiet, that it was hard to imagine that on land, players who were humans, were killing each other.

Survival and desire to kill are two slightly different things. Both of them have to kill the other player.

Ash exhaled deeply.

He was a little regretful about why his mother used to like this game.

Because this game has a cruel theme. Kill or to be killed.

But there was no point in regretting everything, he had to focus on returning to his mother. He couldn't bear to leave his mother alone in the world.

Ash got up and walked towards the cabin he had been sleeping in.

With a pair of gloves he had taken earlier, he began to rummage through the pile of things.

He started to feel a little calmer because he found items such as food, drinks, clothes, and several other important necessities.

What made him most happy, was that he found rare items such as maps and the ship captain's diary.

The diary contained information about the game 'Finding Objects'! The following map contained all the locations in the game.

Ting.

[You have found the Captain's Diary.]

[Item Rank: Rare.]

[Level: Up 0.2 Level]

[You have found the Captain's Map.]

[Item Rank: Rare.]

[Level: Up 0.2 Level]

Truly Rare Items!

But this game was incredibly stingy, the increase was only 0.2 for Rare Items. Yesterday Special Items rose by 0.1.

Ash could only roll his eyes in slight annoyance.

He removed all the items piled on the table and placed the Rare Items there, and lit the oil lamp.

Accompanied with some snacks, he opened the diary and started reading it.

Day 1,

My name is Jonathan Smith, I am thirty-seven years old today if I am correct in counting the days I have been here.

I found myself trapped inside the fucking game I'd been playing for three months.

At first, I liked this game. Unlike other hidden objects games, this game has MMORPG features. And all the players have different professions and skills, from Finder, Hunter, Robber, and Theft.

The point is in this game, we have to find items and defeat the monsters that become several items, but we also have to be able to protect the items from other players who are after this game.

I chose a Finder, so I can only search for items, without fighting skills. And this is absolutely the wrong choice!

I can only look for items and hide.

Until finally I was defeated by a Hunter and fell into the sea.

But I'm still lucky.

Some dolphins took me to a remote island. There I could survive, and the dolphins accompanied me there.

But all that luck made me long to go home even more.

My son probably is twelve by now, and I haven't seen him in ten years.

Ten years trapped in this fucking shitty game!

The first page stops here.

Ash closed the diary with an uncertain feeling.

This person was trapped in this game for ten years without being able to return.

What about him?

Ash put his hands on the table, rested his head on his hands, and began to cry silently.

***

The calm sea waves rocked the ship that Ash was on slowly.

The atmosphere was quiet and peaceful. The light of the moon is reflected by the surface of the sea.

About fifty meters below the surface, right under the wooden ship, the shadow of something massive with very long tentacles moved slowly past it.

The shadow passed through the ship and disappeared beneath the surface of the deep seawater.