Mastermo doesn't want to be protected by his crush.

In-game time was quite different from how time flew by in real life; every one minute spent in the game would be equal to 10 seconds spent in the real world.

The instructions given to successfully complete this mission were pretty simple; Survive the scenario for three days—72 hours in-game timing which would then be calculated as 12 hours in the real world timing.

Zhihao recalled how the gamemaster had said that they cannot spend their entire time hiding and would soon need to come up with a plan to fight for themselves. The estimated in-game time they'll get to spend hiding here was 16 hours which in the real world timing would be equal to almost 3 hours. Hence, the two had 3 hours tops to come up with a plan but...

Zhihao looked at the sleeping man in front of him. The gamemaster had actually left his character idle here. The in-game player characters were controlled by people from the real world so of course, the game characters would never need to sleep and if a player was tired they could just log out and go to sleep but T.I.A.D. had such a ridiculous option to let the in-game characters sleep. This feature was made for the people who would usually keep on hiding at one place in a battle royale, It helped players spend time to complete their works in the real world while their in-game characters could camp out in a mission. This was an excellent way to let the players achieve a balance between gaming and real life.

But Zhihao was not pleased in the least. He was looking forward to interacting with the gamemaster and strategizing together with him. He wanted to get to know the man better and complete this mission together but just 20 minutes of hiding and the gamemaster had already left him. At this moment he felt like Li Ling was better; If it was him, he'd never leave Zhihao alone like this. Just as Zhihao thought this, he remembered something else. He remembered how Li Ling had actually not picked up his phone or replied to his texts and then Zhihao remembered something else; Just the other day Li Ling was actually not feeling well and had overworked himself. Was he sick? Of course, that was it! That could explain everything. Li Ling had actually overworked himself to the point of falling sick and was lying unconscious in his room and maybe that was why he unintentionally ignored Zhihao. It all made perfect sense. If that was the case not only would Zhihao forgive him without question but he would also apologize for ever doubting Li Ling.

Concluding that this may be the case; Zhihao put his game character to sleep and once again called Li Ling.

This time it rang three times before somebody picked up the phone and from the other side came an unfamiliar female voice, "Hello?"

"Umm... Isn't this Li Ling's phone?"

"Yeah. Who is this?"

"Ah! Zhihao. Huang Zhihao. I'm his... friend." Zhihao answered in confusion.

"Mastermo? Gege is currently busy. Can I take a message?"

"Nothing! Nothing! I was just calling to check up on him."

"Is that so? I'll tell him you called."

"Thank you."

"Anything else?" The girl asked politely

"Is he doing okay? He seemed to be sick a few days ago."

"Ah! Actually, he's still suffering from a cold but he refused to stay at home and insisted on working."

Zhihao felt his heart drop, he had indeed predicted something like this but for the man to actually work even when he was sick? What type of slave job was this?

Zhihao, "Can I know who I am speaking to?" This question had been bugging him for some reason since the beginning of this phone call.

"Ah! Sorry! I forgot to give you my name. This is Li Ying, I'm his sister."

Zhihao didn't know why but he sighed in relief and was shocked to find out that he was actually relieved somehow, "Sister? Is that so. hehe..." He chuckled awkwardly, "I didn't know he had a sister."

"It's understandable. He doesn't like talking about his family." Zhihao wondered if it was just his imagination but the girl's voice actually seemed to carry with it a sense of sadness, "If there is nothing else, I'm hanging up. I'm a bit busy at the moment."

"Yeah, sure! sure!" Zhihao ended the call and re-entered the game.

Zhihao calculated the remaining time which was now cut short to two and a half hours in real-time.

More than enough time to come up with a solution to the current problem; The sirens.

Zhihao didn't really have any equipment to defeat the Siren nor did he have a plan. All he could get from the clue given by the system was that they needed to stab a Siren's throat in order to kill it but how could that be easy? The ship had entered inside the Siren's cave right now, just how many predators roamed outside those doors? He had no idea.

"Hey, system! How many Sirens are waiting outside?"

[Answering players question: There are currently more than 2000 Sirens waiting outside.]

Zhihao calculated. There were two of them and more than two thousand sirens waiting to eat them. What were their chances of winning with such odds? Zhihao once again felt like cursing. Were there any odds that could save them? How were they supposed to survive for three days in this situation? Weren't they just waiting around to be eaten?

"How can we kill a Siren?" the system had answered this question before but what was there to lose in questioning it again, Wouldn't it just make things a bit more clear?

[Answering players question: The only way to kill a Siren is by stabbing its throat where its green colored glowing heart is located.]

[Congratulations! You just attained an important item that could help you defeat the sirens: Silver sharp dagger.]

"..."

It seems this system is really late in helping the players. Was this an added feature used to increase the difficulty level?

"Show item stats."

[Silver sharp dagger: This item is non-transferable and can only be used inside the I-ranked level 1853: Survival in the ship of the dead.]

[Used to stab the Siren's heart.]

Non-transferable items were items a player got when they played a certain level, once the level has been completed, they can no longer keep the item with them whereas, Transferable items were items that a player could collect and take out from the level it was found in. The moon goddess spellbook was a transferable item and this new dagger attained by him was a non-transferable item. Zhihao had a lot of Transferable items that were more powerful than this dagger but in order to complete this level, He could not rely on anything but this Silver sharp dagger, and truth be told, Zhihao wasn't so good with daggers. Didn't daggers mean he'll need to get close to those vicious creatures? No way in hell!

But in the end, he would still have to use this item if he were to fight side-by-side with the gamemaster so he had no choice but to learn how to use it.

Another hour and a half passed as Zhihao practiced and got comfortable with the dagger. Just as he started gaining some confidence in himself, An electronic voice interrupted him, "What are you doing?" It was the voice of the gamemaster.

"Ah! I had nothing else to do so I thought I might as well try to get better at this." Zhihao responded, hiding his embarrassment.

"That's a dagger, not a sword. You are doing it wrong."

Zhihao's confidence was crushed underneath his words. He hadn't realized this big problem. To him, a sword was made from a blade and so was a dagger so how could the two be different from one another? The only difference between them was their size, was it not? Zhihao suddenly felt like an idiot; He had been practicing it wrong for the last hour and a half.

"You're holding it wrong." The gamemaster stood up and took a hold of Zhihao's hand and guided his fingers around it, "Like this. You need a firm grip."

Zhihao suddenly felt enlightened, to be taught personally by his idol like this? Just how lucky could he get?

"Do not swing it."

"Isn't it a blade that cuts? I think swinging it around a bit should be fine." Zhihao responded

"No." The gamemaster replied sternly, "Sirens are fast. Only stab."

Zhihao understood the gist of it somehow. All he had to do was have a firm grip over the dagger and use it to stab the Siren.

"Aim for the throat. If you can't stab its throat, then game over."

"Umm... What if I miss?"

"Game over."

"Aiyah, come one now, It can't be that bad... right?"

"Game. Over."

Zhihao was stunned. If the gamemaster said so then there was certainly no other way.

"Siren's aim for the neck and if you are caught by it, there is no escape."

Zhihao could feel a chill go down his spine; These creatures were certainly very fearsome.

For the next whole hour, The gamemaster personally taught Zhihao how to wield a dagger. For Zhihao, this was going to be a precious moment in his life which he'll never forget and would be engraved deep in his memory.

"It's time." The gamemaster spoke first as he moved towards the door.

"A-are we not going to wait here for some more time? We can just leave when they come here." Zhihao was certainly frightened of the unknown that lay behind that door.

"No." The gamemaster replied, "In the next ten minutes, more than ten sirens would head this way and block the door. If we leave now we can deal with them one by one but if we wait here any longer, our chances of survival are zero."

Zhihao was stunned, not at the new information received but at the fact that this was the longest sentence, the gamemaster has spoken to him.

"I have an idea. Let's blow this entrance up so if there are any sirens waiting for us outside, we can just deal with them all at once." Zhihao felt like the idea he came up with was genius but the look he got from the gamemaster proved otherwise.

Just why was he so fixated on blowing things up?

"Noise attracts more Sirens."

This... Zhihao didn't know it. He remembered the total number of Sirens waiting outside. two against an army of two thousand; the odds were scary and so Zhihao immediately discarded any further ideas that included a bomb. "Let's just go then."

"..." The man stared back at Zhihao, "activate the moon goddess spellbook first."

Zhihao didn't know if he should feel touched that the man cared about his well-being or feel humiliated because he was being protected by this man.

"If I'm in danger, I'll activate it. Right now, I don't see any use in activating it."

"It's for your own safety."

"Game master, I admire you and your skills but I think I've said this before; I'm also a player, a professional pro-gamer and this is my job. I can't just hide behind you and let you guide me through this mission. If I were to do that, how would gaming be any fun? If I was scared of a challenge, why would I be playing T.I.A.D."

"...'

"Just trust me, and if there comes a situation where my life is in danger, You can just come and save me. I trust you." Zhihao smiled.

The gamemaster didn't respond and instead just turned to open the door.

The stairs were clear with no signs of any sea monsters. This was a relief however not a second later, there came that haunting melody once again and Zhihao lost control over his game character.

Damn! he had forgotten this.

The gamemaster once again held on to Zhihao's hand and stopped him from following the melody.

"Careful"

Zhihao now understood why the gamemaster had told him to activate the moon goddess spellbook. That item also had the added power to protect the player from the Siren's enchantment. So what about the whole speech he just gave? Didn't he just make a fool out of himself?

But the gamemaster didn't tell Zhihao to activate that item again and instead just held onto Zhihao's hand; This seemed to work as well and Zhihao kinda preferred this method better.