ICSST Ch1: Setting Sail [Arc 1]

From a completely ordinary little house, a woman’s impatient voice rang out repeatedly.

“Auntie Wang introduced you to so many nice girls, how come you didn’t fancy a single one of them?” The woman speaking narrowed her eyes dangerously. “Don’t tell me you’re following some trendy nonsense and refusing to get married?”

Her slightly curly hair moved inexplicably even without a breeze, like squirming little snakes.

Zhou Qi’an didn’t know how such a terrifying comparison could be applied to his own mother who raised him, but he managed to force a twitch at the corner of his mouth. “How could I?”

Mother Zhou grew impatient. “Then what kind of person are you exactly looking for?”

Zhou Qi’an openly spread his hands. “Someone presentable in the living room and capable in the kitchen. No matter how late I come back, she can cook for me, working tirelessly without asking for anything in return, bearing hardship without complaint… and she must never question my relationships with others, even ambiguous ones.”

His boss called right at that moment. Zhou Qi’an picked up immediately, his tone ingratiating, “Hello, boss…”

“The client says they still prefer the first version of the proposal. Just to be safe, make another version over the weekend so we can send them both on Monday to show our utmost sincerity. That way, they won’t have anything to complain about…”

Zhou Qi’an agreed repeatedly. Once he finally ended the call with his boss, he turned back to his mother. “Anyway, if you can find someone who meets all those conditions, I’ll marry her immediately.”

With that, he turned and went back to his room, ignoring his mother’s silence.

As soon as he entered the room, Zhou Qi’an let out a long sigh of relief. Any normal girl hearing those demands would probably smash his head in, so how could anyone possibly agree to a blind date? Dropping a scumbag speech of that magnitude should buy him some peace for a while.

Zhou Qi’an was indeed a non-marriage advocate. His mother had sensed it in the past, but both tacitly avoided the topic. But ever since the great fog three years ago, everything had changed. Those originally tiny hopes were magnified infinitely into obsessions. And once you went against these people’s obsessions… Zhou Qi’an couldn’t help but shiver, trying his best to suppress certain memories from surfacing.

Fortunately, according to his observations, only a very few individuals ended up like that; most citizens remained normal.

That night, Zhou Qi’an worked overtime on his proposal. Around one in the morning, a knock came at his door. Mother Zhou walked in smiling, carrying a glass of warm milk. “Working late, you must be tired.”

Zhou Qi’an had just picked up the glass.

“Mom found your ideal partner.”

“Cough, cough…” Zhou Qi’an nearly choked, reflexively checking the time. It had been less than five hours.

Mother Zhou smiled. “Go to sleep early, find some time to get married tomorrow.” She said it as casually as a boss demanding weekend overtime.

Just as Zhou Qi’an opened his mouth, Mother Zhou gently cut him off. “The other party has no objections. We’ll host the banquet first so I can collect all the wedding cash gifts I’ve given out over the years.”

“Marriage isn’t a game…”

At that moment, another person walked into the room. It was Mother Zhou’s good friend, Auntie Wang, who lived downstairs and often chatted with his mother late into the night. Looking at Zhou Qi’an, Auntie Wang said pointedly, “Qi’an, get married early. That way, your mother’s greatest wish will be fulfilled.”

Zhou Qi’an instantly understood her underlying hint. Once he got married, his mother’s obsession would be resolved—would she return to normal? Anyway, they didn’t have to actually register the marriage. He could just talk to the girl later and see if he could hire her to play along for the day.

Thinking like this, Zhou Qi’an agreed to this absurd wedding. Before falling asleep, he couldn’t help but wonder: what kind of girl was so desperate that she’d still agree to marry him after hearing those ridiculous demands?

The groom was informed of the wedding at night, the guests received their electronic invitations at 2:00 AM, and the bride… Even after arriving at the hotel the next day, Zhou Qi’an hadn’t caught a single glimpse of her.

Calling it a hotel was generous; it was really just a large restaurant, lacking both the decor and facilities to be considered a proper hotel.

“Is there a wedding more hastily thrown together than this?”

In a dingy little room, Zhou Qi’an, dressed in a sharp dark suit, muttered to himself. The mirror reflected a slightly resigned face. The young man in the glass had brows like distant mountains and long, silver-blue hair. On anyone else, this hair color might look bizarre, but with his pale, lean build and tall stature, the compatibility was extremely high. His eyes were the crowning touch; upon closer inspection, faint ice crystals seemed to form within his pupils, giving him an ethereal, detached aura.

“Qi’an, hurry up. The wedding is about to start,” came the urging from outside the door.

Zhou Qi’an sighed, tied his hair back with an elastic band, then put on a wig to cover the strange silver-blue color, finishing the look with a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. The fake bangs were long, almost covering half his brow ridge, and his thick eyelashes habitually drooped down, making him look entirely spiritless. The otherworldly young man was instantly replaced by the image of a humble corporate drone.

Zhou Qi’an tried curving the corners of his mouth, flashing a harmless smile at the mirror. He hadn’t emerged entirely unchanged from the great fog three years ago. For instance, his hair frequently grew wildly and changed color. Zhou Qi’an had disguised himself to get a medical check-up at the hospital, but the reports showed all indicators were normal. Ultimately, it could only be chalked up to acquired mutation.

“Mom,” Zhou Qi’an opened the door and asked with a standard smile, “Isn’t it a bit too early?” Who chooses 7:00 AM to get married? This wasn’t just impatience; it was racing against lightning.

“I specially had someone calculate it, they said this exact hour is auspicious.”

Zhou Qi’an’s mouth twitched. Looking on the bright side, marriage wasn’t completely without its merits—at least he could take marriage leave. God knows he hadn’t taken annual leave in three years. He had even deliberately sent an electronic invitation to his boss, praising his busy work schedule and stating there was no need to attend in person. A polite hint that the man didn’t need to show up, as long as the cash gift and the vacation approval arrived.

“Is the bride done with her makeup?” Zhou Qi’an asked. Mother Zhou had previously mentioned the bride was a bit shy, so he didn’t need to go pick her up.

“Of course,” Mother Zhou said. “I did her makeup myself.”

She led Zhou Qi’an downstairs.

Three minutes later, Zhou Qi’an stood in the banquet hall. Straight ahead, the hotel pillars had peeling paint, exposing gray-white plaster, and a few waiters lazily arranged tables and chairs. Not far from the pillar, Auntie Wang sat at a small table, responsible for registering and collecting the cash gifts.

With an hour left until the wedding, basically no guests had arrived. Only a colleague who had just gotten off the night shift came over with dark circles under his eyes to congratulate him.

“Happy wedding, where’s the bride?” the colleague looked around.

Good question. Zhou Qi’an wanted to know too, turning a similarly questioning gaze toward his mother.

Mother Zhou replied blankly: “On the table.”

Currently, the table only held a few snacks like jerky. Zhou Qi’an and his colleague both shuddered violently, the colleague instantly scared wide awake. Mother Zhou pointed at the round table at the very front.

All the wedding chairs had white gauze bows tied to the back, so at first, seeing something wrapped in white gauze, Zhou Qi’an didn’t overthink it. Taking a closer look now, there was actually a rice cooker draped in a wedding dress sitting in the front row.

Out of place, and utterly ridiculous.

The colleague lost his voice completely. Whose wedding has a rice cooker at the head table?

Zhou Qi’an’s expression shifted several times, as if realizing something, and he forced his mouth open: “Mom, that wouldn’t be…”

Mother Zhou nodded. “The bride.”

Zhou Qi’an’s face changed slightly. “Are you joking?”

Mother Zhou suddenly turned serious, throwing his own words from last night right back at him: “How can the momentous event of marriage be treated as a game?”

“Well, I still can’t marry a rice cooker!”

Mother Zhou said lightly, “You wouldn’t be the first person in the world to marry a rice cooker, you wouldn’t even rank in the top three. Our mortgage won’t be paid off for another thirty years, plus you made that whole list of demands. Besides it, who else can satisfy them?”

Zhou Qi’an argued reasonably, “It’s a cooker, I’m a person.”

“And so?”

“…”

She was so self-righteous that the colleague gulped in terror. Mother Zhou’s kindly gaze shifted. “Young man, don’t swallow your saliva while looking at someone else’s bride.”

Colleague: “S-sorry.”

After giving a few more instructions, Mother Zhou went back to greeting guests. The colleague tugged on Zhou Qi’an’s sleeve, his first reaction being: “If the boss sees your bride, it’s over.”

No matter how you looked at it, this was a farce, and the boss would have to fork over a cash gift for a farce. Surprisingly, the two corporate drones’ first concern was their superior’s thoughts.

Zhou Qi’an stared at the rice cooker, which had two red circles painted on it as blush, his eyelid twitching. “The boss probably won’t come.”

Colleague: “…But I see his step count keeps going up.” That meant he was on his way.

Having worked in the service industry for so long, the colleague had practically seen it all. Calming down, he suggested, “Why don’t you elope with the ‘bride’ first?”

“…” Elope with your own bride at your own wedding venue, you truly are a little genius.

At this time, a few more guests trickled in, chatting with Auntie Wang about the bride while handing over their cash gifts.

“How come there are no photos hung outside?”

“Old Wang, wasn’t it just earlier this year you said Xiao An didn’t have a girlfriend?”

“She must be extremely beautiful to entrance such a steady boy into a flash marriage.”

Auntie Wang said guiltily, “Beautiful isn’t the word, but she cooks very well.”

“Oh my, that’s amazing! A lot of young people nowadays don’t even enter the kitchen.”

“…” Zhou Qi’an finally walked silently next to the rice cooker. “Maybe we really should elope.”

If word got out now, at most it would be considered pulling a disappearing act at the wedding. That was still better than walking up to the stage leading a rice cooker under the watchful eyes of everyone, and then bending down to slip a ring over its power cord. As for his mother’s “illness,” Zhou Qi’an figured it was incurable. She hadn’t just crossed gender lines, she’d completely crossed species lines. This level of delusion absolutely couldn’t be cured just by him getting married.

Just as Zhou Qi’an was contemplating how to quietly escape with the rice cooker, a faint fishy smell drifted in from the window. That unique stench of a seafood market almost made him gag.

The colleague next to him suddenly stood rigid, looking out the window in astonishment. “The fog is rolling in.”

Zhou Qi’an looked up as well. It wasn’t a normal colored fog; the air looked as if some special fluorescent agent had been added, creating an unnatural exposure. Because the smell was truly abhorrent, a waiter hurried to close the windows. However, the fog surged in far faster than the waiter could move.

In an instant, the entire banquet hall turned into a vast expanse of white.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, someone go turn on the lights?”

“What good will turning on the lights do?”

At first, Zhou Qi’an could still hear panicked voices asking what was happening, but eventually, those sounds eerily vanished too. The world became terrifyingly quiet. He was like a night-blind man, groping forward through the fog. Gradually, he couldn’t even feel the tables and chairs. The fog practically enveloped his entire body, and the further he walked, the more he felt a sense of weightlessness.

Something even more absurd than marrying a rice cooker had happened: getting lost at his own wedding banquet.

After stumbling around for an unknown amount of time, the blind-man scenario finally improved a bit as the fog slightly dispersed. Zhou Qi’an breathed a sigh of relief and tentatively called out, “Mom, Auntie Wang… where are you…”

“Mom—”

Shortly after the second “Mom” left his mouth, a voice suddenly rang out from above his head:

“Whose mom? I’m male.”

A gigantic rabbit face materialized before his eyes. Zhou Qi’an staggered in fright, nearly falling over. He bit the tip of his tongue to stay awake, narrowed his eyes, and tried his best to peer through the thick fog at the suddenly appeared monstrosity.

A man in a formal suit with a rabbit’s head, towering over two meters tall, had appeared in front of him at some point. After bending down to observe Zhou Qi’an for a few seconds, it grinned. “Look, the final lucky player has entered.”

As the words fell, the fog completely receded.

Zhou Qi’an’s first thought—the bizarre rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

But reality was clearly no fairy tale. Aside from the grotesque rabbit man, there were five other human-looking people here, not counting himself. Three of them seemed completely unbothered, while of the other two, one was slumped on the ground and the other was desperately trying not to tremble.

“Hah, look at that minimal reaction. Is this last newbie scared stupid, or actually this calm?”

Zhou Qi’an followed the voice. The one who spoke was among the unbothered individuals—according to the bizarre rabbit, let’s call them “players.” It hopped to the center of the area and bowed elegantly. “This instance has three veteran players and three new players. As a qualified seasoned guide, I must first explain the content to the new players. First, let me introduce myself. You may call me Mr. Si.”

“Please rest assured, every instance I participate in is entirely joyful!” It comically spread its noodle-thin arms. “My life’s mission is to create joy for everyone.”

“There are many instance staff members like me, but we all have different focuses… Some of my colleagues love joy, some prefer sorrow, and some… well, they’re only interested in the aesthetics of violence… They continuously escalate the instance’s difficulty.”

Zhou Qi’an listened quietly, summarizing the points amidst Mr. Si’s exaggerated tone: First, he had been selected to participate in a game. Second, every instance is assigned a staff member. Third, the instance themes can be summarized as joy, sorrow, mixed, and intensified.

“You all entered during the Mao hour, so I am in charge.”

The theme of the instance depends on the time the players enter. Players entering during Zi, Chou, and Yin hours will participate in sorrow-themed instances. Mao, Chen, and Si are the exact opposite. If players enter during Wu, Wei, or Shen hours, the instance will contain both sorrow and joy. The first nine time slots were straightforward, but if you happened to enter during You, Xu, or Hai hours, then you were incredibly unlucky—the instance difficulty would increase by a whole tier. Twelve traditional Chinese hours make up exactly one day, representing the game’s abbreviation—[Day].

Zhou Qi’an’s mouth twitched. He knew getting married at 7:00 AM was a bad idea! The “auspicious hour” had indeed arrived.

The bizarre rabbit’s large red eyes swept over the three new players. “To be selected to come here proves that you all possess potential. It is also your honor.”

The latter half of the sentence was debatable, but the former half was true. A normal person suddenly appearing in such an unfamiliar place might be scared to the point of a breakdown. But the three new players at least managed a relative degree of calm.

Mr. Si smiled, “Newbies all receive a welfare gift pack!”

When he said this, Zhou Qi’an astutely noticed the veteran players’ expressions shift. Some smiled ironically, some gloated, and others just watched the show. One pair of veteran players were siblings. The sister, who was tying her hair, said softly, “Brother, it’s so great to have this many newbies in this instance.”

Veteran players all knew what “so great” meant. When necessary, newbies could be pushed out to act as meat shields.

Mr. Si bent down again, his slender arms gathering the three new players together. “Your next choice will directly impact how much newbie welfare you receive. Remember, you must give up something to gain something.”

His tone shifted. “There are three great joys in life: running into an old friend in a distant land, the wedding night in the bridal chamber, and seeing one’s name on the golden list of exam passers… You are all currently experiencing the happiest moments of your lives.”

He turned to a middle-aged man. “If you were asked to abandon an old friend…”

The middle-aged man’s face changed.

Mr. Si then looked at a prospective college student. “If you were asked to sacrifice your mentor…”

The college student clenched his fists tightly.

Finally, Mr. Si stared at Zhou Qi’an. “If you were asked to kill your bride…”

“I accept.”

He didn’t even wait to hear what the choice would bring before blurting out the answer.

Mr. Si froze. For a moment, even the veteran players looked over. Zhou Qi’an looked as solemn as if he were exchanging vows before a priest. Not getting an immediate response, he repeated himself.

“Don’t just say kill, I’ll even dismember her.”

The college student and the middle-aged man beside him had probably never seen such a brute; their jaws practically hit the floor.

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