Chapter 14 - Mastermo Wants To Sleep.

"Gamemaster, I think you have a really cruel mind. To create such characters, Just what kind of a life have you been living?"

The Gamemaster never responded to that question. His life had certainly not been the easiest, but it was his choice to keep his sufferings a secret and he'd rather have people thinking he's too blessed then have them pity him. People have always called him that; blessed and talented, without ever knowing the hardships that come with life. In the end what was 'talent'? People would see young people achieve something beyond their age and label it as talent. Wasn't this so-called talent just years of hard work, dedication, and sufferings that people dare not talk about?

Sometimes silence was the best answer and Zhihao wasn't looking forward to intruding the man's privacy; He'd rather be just a fan who'll keep on supporting his idol from afar.

Captain Wilburt looked at the two, cluelessly. This character made from a set of codes could not comprehend this feeling of pity or unspoken words.

The gamemaster, "It's not safe here. Let's keep moving. We'll wait for the rescue team in the captain's room.."

"I agree." The man nodded.

With the additional character, Captain Wilburt, The small group of three made their way towards the captain's room. The journey was not easy, in fact, they had met up with a lot of blood-thirsty sirens on the way there but despite all odds, with the help of this man with innate superhuman strength to defeat the sirens, they safely reached their destination. It would be unfair to give all the credits to him alone tho, The gamemaster and Zhihao had also managed to defeat quite a number of those creatures.

It seemed, the gamemaster was well versed in the art of daggers; Like a trained assassin, he ruthlessly sliced through the throats of the sirens that attacked him or Zhihao and if a siren managed to avoid him and slip through to attack Zhihao, Mastermo wasn't so careless as before. After fighting Sirens for over half an hour, Zhihao had finally managed to get a hold of how to use a dagger, and thanks to his pro-gamer background; he was a quick learner who adapted to the new situation fairly well.

Once inside the Captain's room, Zhihao mentally calculated the remaining time it would take for them to complete the mission. It was their second day inside the game whereas, in real-world timings; They had spent almost four and a half hours inside this level. They had to survive for another Seven and a half hours in order to complete this mission.

"Gamemaster, Why is this level so long?" Zhihao whined.

Gamemaster responded, "Tired?"

"Extremely. You even took a break when we were hiding in the engine room but I was here practicing how to use a dagger the wrong way." Zhihao spoke, bitterly.

"Then take a break. Activate the moon goddess spellbook and go."

"..." Zhihao really didn't want to be sucked into that book again, What if he was swallowed up again by that Siren? Traumatizing!

Zhihao, "Let's interrogate the Captain."

"Hmm."

"Captain Wilburt, Do you know where we are?" Their ship was currently inside the Siren's cave, This piece of information was made clear by the system but Zhihao still asked the question in order to find out if their new ally knew of this as well.

"Not really sure of the exact location but we should be still in the North-Atlantic waters. The ship hit something yesterday night but I believe it's nothing good. It was too dark to see what was outside and there were too many of those creatures waiting outside. Going out would be suicide at this point."

"You're right. Those damn creatures are certainly not to be joked around with." Zhihao sighed, "You are really impressive, Captain Wilburt, To survive on your own like this, Just how did you manage it?", If there was anything Zhihao had learned from Li Ling, it was flattery; A powerful technique that could get you all the right answers in a peaceful manner.

Captain Wilburt, "It was actually easy. Wanna hear the story? It's really long."

Zhihao celebrated in his mind, He had finally gotten the hang of this pacifist method, "We have a lot of time."

"One day, I had some professional people on board, you know those people who study creatures underwater; marine biologists. One of them noticed this weird thing, with half its head out of the water, just staring at us. Could have been a human but its half-visible head looked more like a dead person's head. We all got spooked; this may be a ghost. So you know how our first reaction is to always record such incidents on camera? That's what everyone did. A few days later, this group of people came back with a larger crowd saying that it was a groundbreaking discovery of a new creature: A mermaid. Although I don't believe in such creatures, I agreed to take them, Money was money and they were ready to pay a huge sum of it." The man sneered seeming to recall the certain memory, "At first it was smooth sailing but then one day, we all heard something. It was the voice of a woman, sweet and melodious, Singing; Come here oh sailor. Forget about your worries, leave your past behind, and be reborn. Follow my voice, I'll lead you to the bright side." Zhihao was stunned, This man didn't seem to know something very important.

The man continued, "It was like a curse. The people were bewitched by it, started following the voices. One after another, they were attacked. Their organs..." He sighed, not comfortable with reminiscing the incident, "It was bloody gruesome. I tried to stop them but nobody listened to me. For some reason, the creature never attacked me, maybe because I wasn't bewitched by their magic. At one point, I thought maybe I had also died, that this was all a dream after death but then I got your message and I knew I wasn't alone. You guys managed to avoid its magic as well. I'm really glad."

Zhihao pitied the man; If only he knew that what the others could hear wasn't the same as what he heard. The Siren's enchantment was a melody which had no language or to be more specific, it was a melody only sirens could understand and that is why it only affected humans who could hear the hypnotic voices. But for Zhihao and the gamemaster, this could be for the best; Having somebody who could understand a siren's language would prove to be quite helpful for them.

The topic of the conversation, as if on cue, the enchanting melody was heard once more but this time the gamemaster was already holding onto Zhihao's hand so he was safe from it.

The gamemaster, "What are they saying?"

"Can't you hear it for yourselves? They are talking about you."

They definitely could not.

Zhihao nodded, "We can't hear it. Mind translating it for us?"

"Come out and play with us... Be our friend and we'll show you our treasures... We know what you want... Your desires shall be fulfilled... Life is cruel, we'll help you be reborn rich... Say goodbye to your sufferings, they don't deserve you... I'm here to take you to-"

"That's enough." The gamemaster cut him off halfway.

Zhihao, "Who the hell wants their riches? Tell them, I'm content with my life so they can just get lost."

"I cannot possibly communicate back with them." The captain smiled helplessly.

"Gamemaster, How long do you think we can stay here like this?"

"If nothing happens, 5 hours in real-world timing."

"What would happen after that?"

"..." Zhihao didn't get a response as above the gamemaster's character was the floating letters; zzz...

The gamemaster's character had again gone to sleep but this time Zhihao was too tired to wait around for him. In the real-world timings, it was way past midnight, around 4 a.m. and Zhihao was lacking sleep so he was tempted to take a short nap but unfortunately that nap wasn't short enough to wake him up after 5 hours.

When Zhihao finally opened his eyes, His in-game character was sucked inside the moon goddess spellbook; the work of the gamemaster who had the power to activate a player's equipment by force. They had started moving and since Zhihao was sleeping, The gamemaster had forcefully activated the defensive item and was carrying the book a.k.a., Zhihao with him.

"W-What is happening?", Zhihao deactivated the item and woke up in the gamemaster's arms.

"The Ship is sinking." It was the voice of Captain Wilburt who was fighting against a Siren.

The gamemaster spoke as he put Zhihao down, "If we wait around any longer, We'll be underwater."

"Have to fix the leakage spot, ASAP." Captain Wilburt continued as he grabbed the Siren's throat and squeezed it till its heart inside turned into mush. The man seemed to look more different than the last time Zhihao had seen him.

"This...?"

"He's evolving." The gamemaster who had read Zhihao's mind answered.

Captain Wilburt had started to resemble a siren more and more. Previously, he used to just have longer fingers and sharper nails but now it seems, even his skin had started to change color into a lighter translucent grey color, alike that of a siren. The skin had not only changed color but had also changed texture; It was starting to become more rough and scaly.

Zhihao, "Why is this happening?"

[Answering players question: Captain Wilburt is a half-human half-Siren hybrid character. If he continues killing other sirens, he would slowly evolve into a full-fledged siren himself. If he wants to stay human, he'll have to eat a human's heart.]

Zhihao finally understood why the gamemaster had said that they'll be safe for now. But hadn't he also said that the normal players only get to meet this character at the end of the second day? Then was it possible that by that time this man had already started showing signs or had finished evolving into a Siren? Once again, he glanced at the gamemaster for answers.

The gamemaster, "By the end of the second day, he would have already turned into a Siren with a consciousness of a human."

"Would he become dangerous for us?"

"Depends on how much he'll evolve."

Zhihao was once again reminded of the gamemaster's signature creation style of cruel scenarios.

To remain human this man would have to do the most inhumane thing ever and if he does what every human being would, he'll turn into something inhuman. What type of illogical thing was this? Was this man to give up his humanity to become human, if so, what would be the difference between him and those creatures? and if he decides to uphold his morals, he'll become one of those nasty things? The decision was just complete bullshit. Zhihao would refuse to choose either of the two.

"Gamemaster, What happened to him in the initial story draft?" Zhihao asked as he stared at the man who was enthusiastically slaying Sirens.

"He became a Siren and was reunited with his father, the siren king."

Zhihao chuckled in a mocking manner, "So he's a prince? I see. You're stories never fail to amaze me."

The gamemaster, "What do you want his ending to be?"

Before they could ponder over it some more, a siren who had slipped past Captain Wilburt sprang at them with an open mouth aiming straight for the gamemaster's throat. Zhihao who had seemed to change a lot overnight cut in between the attack as he fluidly took out his dagger and thrust it inside the Siren's glowing green heart without missing a beat. His eyes seemed to be glaring with murderous intent as he replied to the gamemaster's question, "I want to save him."

His mind was clear. He wanted to help this poor character even if it was just a game character. He didn't want Captain Wilburt to lose his humanity or become a Siren, He didn't want to choose between the two so he came up with a dangerous idea, to save the man by slaying the Sirens on his behalf. The lesser sirens the man kills the lesser his chances of turning into a Siren.

The gamemaster seemed to be satisfied with Zhihao's decision as he nodded and looked at the man with a proud gaze.

This was the Mastermo, the gamemaster was familiar with. This was the attitude he was looking for.