Apocalypse Forecast

As an Alchemy Apprentice, although Huai Shi's academic focus was extremely skewed, he still knew a thing or two about the famous historical figures in Alchemy.

Speaking of more recent ones, there was Newton, one of the most outstanding Creators. Going further back, there was the oldest of Scholars, Socrates... and then, a bit more recently, undoubtedly the most famous was the target of his current mission—Paracelsus.

—The Alchemy grandmaster known worldwide for creating the artificial Philosopher's Stone!

The name Paracelsus was actually a self-appointed moniker, while his real name was both obnoxious and long.

Huai Shi only vaguely remembered it started with 'Philips' and ended with 'Hohenheim'.

Hohenheim.

The first letter is H! If this isn't Hohenheim, what is it then? Could it be Hermes!?

"Ai Qing, I have a bold idea!"

"Please, put away your bold idea," Ai Qing said indifferently. "This isn't a mobile game or some fantasy world, and the historical Paracelsus never changed gender. Right up until he was killed by the Holy Spirit Cult for blaspheming against Creationism, he was a man. His portrait, despite his old age, shows him to be quite handsome."

Huai Shi was stunned for a moment but then retorted, "Maybe he's a convincing crossdresser! Look, she also has white hair..."

"..."

Ai Qing seemed stunned by his bizarre train of thought and, after a long while, sighed helplessly. "There's a guest list at the reception desk by the entrance of the restaurant. You can see her name by looking at the table number."

"Really?"

Huai Shi got up, signaling that he needed to use the restroom, and headed towards the entrance. He casually exchanged a few words with the attendant there before glancing at the list on the table.

After the dice roll sounded, he saw a name.

"Hel?" Huai Shi asked in confusion. "Hela?"

After a moment of silence, Ai Qing corrected, "No, it should be... Hela."

Both were essentially the same name, and both carried extraordinarily inauspicious connotations.

The Nordic Goddess of Death—Hela.

"Could it be an alias?" Huai Shi still wasn't convinced. After all, the name had a certain alchemical flair to it, no matter how he looked at it.

Ai Qing became more resigned. "Then what do you want to do?"

"Test the waters?"

Huai Shi hesitated for a moment, then walked right up, stood politely before the table, and greeted the girl who was dining, extending his hand with a smile. "Hey, hello there."

KP, I want to charm her!

"Wait!" Ai Qing exclaimed in surprise, but KP didn't give Huai Shi a chance to retreat, eagerly rolling the dice for him. And Huai Shi's actions were not hidden from the other players either; in an instant, all the Inspectors' eyes fell on the two ten-sided dice spinning endlessly on the tabletop.

The first one stopped—0.

OK, I've got this in the bag!

Before Huai Shi could rejoice, the second die came to a halt... also at 0.

00? This number seems somewhat ominous. And besides, how do you judge two zeros?

"Ah, two zeros make a hundred!"

After a brief moment of surprise, KP revealed a gloating expression and decreed, "Congratulations, this isn't just a Skill failure—it's a Critical Failure!"

It wasn't until then that Ai Qing finally flipped to the section on 'Critical Failures' in the Rule Book.

No matter how high the Skill points were, absolute success was never guaranteed. During a check, rolling a 100 would inevitably lead to the punishment of a Critical Failure.

This meant that not only would the player's Skill fail, but they would also suffer unexpected negative consequences due to their abysmal failure. For instance, a lockpick might break and stab into their flesh, or they might fall while climbing and hit the back of their head on a stone...

Simply put, he aimed for a tiger but ended up drawing a dog.

Upon a Player's Critical Failure, KP seemed to get excited, saying with a hint of malice, "Just as Huai Shi approached this strange lady to chat her up, the corner of his eye inadvertently caught sight of her plate..."

And in that instant, Huai Shi saw it.

In that perfectly, terrifyingly circular dish, myriad slender objects were densely piled and intertwined in a way that defied the laws of physics, casting bizarre shadows of non-Euclidean space.

And from the dark gaps between them, viscous, plasma-colored fluid slowly seeped out, sluggishly yet relentlessly submerging the dark green remnants...

This composition, seemingly logical yet utterly beyond comprehension, gave Huai Shi a bizarre illusion: as if the maw of the Abyss had opened before him, poised to devour.

In his daze, a buzzing sounded in his ears. Countless frenzied chants arose chaotically, finally converging into a chilling shriek.

"RAmen! RAmen! RAmen!"

In the end, KP coldly announced, "Having witnessed this unimaginable and cruel scene, Huai Shi loses one Sanity Point."

Instantly, Huai Shi's vision darkened. He felt a chill envelop him, nearly causing him to lose his footing and cry out in horror at the sight before him.

Ai Qing, empathetically clutching her forehead, groaned in pain, "KP, what on earth is she eating?"

"Uh..."

KP flashed a pleasant smile. "A plate of Italian pasta."

Goddamn Italian pasta!

For the first time in his life, Huai Shi was traumatized by a bowl of pasta. In his daze, his legs went weak. He subconsciously grabbed onto something in front of him to steady himself and finally stood firm, sighing in relief.

Then he realized that everything around him had suddenly gone quiet.

Everyone turned around in astonishment to look at Huai Shi's hand... the hand on the teenage girl's chest.

Subconsciously, Huai Shi's fingers contracted slightly.

Soft.

"Alright," Huai Shi said to Ai Qing. "At least, I can now be sure she's not a convincing crossdresser."

SLAP!

Huai Shi's vision went black as he was slapped to the ground.

The girl named Hela possessed incredible strength. Her blow viciously knocked 3 Health Points off Huai Shi. He only had 24 Health Points in total, so the hit was equivalent to being brutally struck on the back of the head with a stick.

Understandable. If it were Huai Shi, he might have launched a flying kick and punted this bastard straight into the sea.

Immediately after, the teenage girl gave him a cold glance before indignantly leaving her seat and walking away.

She brushed past the elderly captain who was just entering.

By the time Huai Shi finally got up, he heard the captain's voice from the dais at the front of the dining hall, speaking into a microphone.

"According to my employer's prior instructions, on your first day aboard, I am to bring you his greetings.

"Firstly, thank you all for accepting my invitation and embarking on a journey to the New World. I shall prepare a warm welcome for you in the New World and eagerly await your arrival."

After perfunctorily reading the message, the captain put the paper away and smacked his lips. His expression then turned stern. "Next, I will announce a prohibition. After nine o'clock tonight, please return to your cabins to rest. If you have any needs, you can ring for us. However, you are forbidden to leave your rooms before six in the morning, forbidden to enter the cargo hold, and forbidden to start any fights...

"These are the rules set by my employer. Don't ask me why, because I don't know why the hell he's taking you paupers to the New World! If you don't wish to comply, you can leave this ship at any time and swim back to Rome. I won't force you!"

Seemingly dissatisfied with these passengers who looked like they had no money to squeeze out of them, he tucked the paper away and turned to leave, leaving behind several burly, armed crew members, ready to 'reason' with any passengers who voiced dissent.

However, the anticipated commotion, complaints, or even protests did not occur.

Most people obediently finished their dinner and headed towards their cabins. Huai Shi and the others exchanged looks, their expressions filled with confusion.

"This isn't right," even Yin Yan noticed the problem. "If we're not allowed to leave our rooms, why specifically forbid going to the cargo hold or starting fights?"

After pondering for a moment, they remained puzzled.

This wasn't just a prohibition anymore; it was practically an incitement, luring passengers to investigate the cargo hold in the dead of night.

And now it seemed that all the passengers on this ship had been invited by that mysterious employer through letters. What exactly did he want?

Amidst their hushed discussion, only a few people remained in the dining hall.

Noticing the sailors' watchful eyes, the group reluctantly got up and returned to their cabins.

From eight o'clock onwards, it was silent outside the cabins; not a sound could be heard. Looking through the peephole, not a single shadow was in sight.

It was as if everyone was asleep.

This state of affairs lasted until midnight.

Until KP asked, "Alright, it's time to sleep. Does anyone want to make any moves? If you don't get enough rest, your checks on the following day will incur penalties."

The Inspectors fell silent and exchanged glances. No one spoke, except for Yue Jun, who was too stubborn and couldn't suppress his curiosity. "I want to sneak out and take a look."

KP nodded. "What about the others?"

The others hesitated, and no one spoke.

"Let's sleep," Huai Shi sighed. "In dreams, you can have anything."

"Fine then," KP shrugged regretfully. After a moment, he suddenly said, "Then, except for Yue Jun, if anyone else wishes, you can attempt an extremely difficult Listen check with a halved success rate."

The moment 'sleep' was mentioned, Huai Shi had already lain on his bed and fallen asleep, barely registering the sound of a dice roll.

Then, he heard KP's words.

"In your dreams, you hear a faint scream. This disturbs your sleep, and as a result, your Health Point recovery is reduced by one."

What the hell? An unexpected calamity?

RIP.

Suddenly, a crisp sound reached everyone's ears, like paper being torn.

In that instant, Ai Qing suddenly saw Yue Jun, the Inspector, stiffen and then convulse violently.

As if witnessing some unspeakably terrifying shadow, his face contorted in fear, and then he vomited copious amounts of blood.

His figure quickly dimmed and vanished from the table.

Yue Jun, eliminated.