Shiori’s vision was obscured by the light emitted by the ghost ship she’d encountered. When her vision returned to normal, she found herself in an unfamiliar room, no longer floating above the sea.

"Hmm... This place... it’s like the inside of a ghost ship..."

Judging from what had happened just before, she was inside a room on the ghost ship. There were windows in the walls, but the fog outside was so thick she couldn’t see anything. All she could tell was that she was somewhere in the middle of the ship.

It seemed to have been used as a warehouse originally—wooden crates and barrels were scattered everywhere, and there was even a bed. However, the crates and barrels were in ruins and empty. The bed was barely usable, but the sheets were in tatters.

Also, the wooden planks on the floor and walls were decayed. There were holes in the floor in several places, so she had to be careful when walking, or she might trip.

"...There’s no sign of enemies... I wonder if this is a safe zone in this dungeon known as the Ghost Ship..."

Because it was inside a normal ship and not underwater, Shiori was equipped with a rapier rather than an air rifle. She kept a watchful eye on her surroundings, but seeing no signs of attack, she decided she wouldn’t be attacked in this location.

She turned her gaze to the only door in this room, directly in front of her.

"Well... from what I can see, that’s the only way in or out."

"We can’t get started unless we move forward... So, let’s go explore."

Looking a little nervous, Shiori gripped her rapier, headed toward the door... and slowly opened it and stepped outside.

"Um... which way should we go...?"

Outside the room was a single corridor stretching to the left and right. To the right, there was a staircase leading upward. To the left, there was a staircase leading downward. Also, there were three doors, excluding the room Shiori had just come from.

Since there was no sign of enemies, Shiori began to carefully consider which way to go... and then turned her gaze to the left.

"Okay... Let’s start by going all the way to the bottom and then explore upwards from there."

"It might turn out like that shipwreck the other day, where we had to search for keys."

As she said this and decided on a route, Shiori immediately started walking... and that’s when it happened.

"Ah...!? What... what was that just now..."

Suddenly, the corridor... no, the ship itself lurched violently to the left. It happened so suddenly that Shiori bumped into the wall, but when she realized what had happened, her expression changed slightly.

"Ah...the previous shipwreck was already at the bottom of the sea and wasn’t moving, so there was nothing like this."

"But this ghost ship is moving on the sea, so it’s designed to simulate the rocking of waves."

"This is... it’s fine if it happens while exploring, but it would be troublesome if it happened during combat... I have to be careful..."

After saying that, Shiori placed her hand on the wall, bracing herself for the swaying, and began to move forward again.

Then, enduring the occasional tremors, she descended the stairs and found another corridor stretching out before her, with four doors that looked like they could be explored. However, since the stairs continued further down, Shiori didn’t explore this corridor and went down again.

The stairs ended here—apparently because the area beyond was the bottom of the ship.

"Phew... Looks like we’ve arrived. Is this... a prison?"

Descending the stairs, she first found a single corridor stretching straight ahead. On either side of that passage were prison cells. The insides of the cells were cluttered with various objects, making it difficult to tell what was inside from a distance.

"I wonder if something’s there...! I just heard a noise..."

Enduring the rocking of the ship, Shiori stepped into the corridor, intending to check the cells from the outside... at that moment.

A distinctly artificial cracking sound echoed from the cell on the right. Therefore, Shiori instinctively raised her rapier and began to observe the situation in the prison.

"...Ah, ahh... mmm..."

"That was..."

While Shiori watched, a shadow began to rise from among the scattered objects inside the cell. In terms of appearance, it was just like any other human. Its attire consisted of a shirt and trousers—a sailor-like outfit. Judging solely by appearance, it looked like someone you might see anywhere, but its exposed skin was pale, almost like that of a corpse.

"...Mmm, ahh...?"

"A monster... huh..."

And above its head, the words "Possessed Crew Member Lv31" were displayed. Seeing this, Shiori kept her rapier ready. Since her opponent was inside the prison, she decided to launch a long-range attack, gripping an air rifle in her free hand and aiming it.

"...! Ahh...!? Oh, no...!"

However, just as she was about to attack... the ship began to rock more violently than ever before. Unable to withstand the impact, Shiori was slammed against the bars of the left-hand cell... and in the process, she dropped her air rifle, which was sent flying into the left-hand cell with a rattling sound.

"Ah...? Oh, oh...! A woman, a woman...!? A new woman...!? Heh heh heh heh!"

While Shiori’s attention was focused on the air rifle she’d let go of, the "Possessed Sailor" seemed to have noticed her presence. It approached with awkward movements... then grabbed the prison door and began shaking it violently.

"Hmm...I’ll deal with you later! Right now I need to retrieve the air rifle..."

The prison door appeared to be locked. The door itself was in tatters and looked like it could break at any moment. However, Shiori judged that it would still hold for a while, so she decided to leave it for now, opened the door to the left cell, went inside, and headed toward where the air rifle had been blown away.

"Now’s the time, come on...!"

"Ah, what, ah!?"

At that moment, another "Possessed Sailor" suddenly appeared from the shadows and tried to attack Shiori. Noticing this, Shiori instinctively tried to intercept with her rapier, but at that moment the ship shook violently again. Although Shiori wasn’t thrown, she stumbled and was unable to intercept.

"Hehehe...! I’ve got you...! Hehehe! Hehehehe!"

"Ah, ahh...! Ugh, let go...!"

Without missing that opportunity, the "Possessed Sailor" grabbed Shiori’s hands and pushed her to the ground. She was grabbed by both wrists and pinned down. Shiori tried to shake him off, but... his strength was surprisingly great, and it seemed impossible for her to break free.

"Hehe, hehehe...! What a beautiful woman...! Hehe, hehe...! So nice, so nice...!"

"Wait...! H-No...! D-Don’t lick me... P-Please...!"

"Ah, ahh... If things continue like this, I’ll be taken advantage of by this ’Possessed Sailor’... ♡"

The Possessed Sailor, with his eyes shining bright red, leaned closer and began licking the nape of Shiori’s neck. Shiori felt a ticklish sensation from being licked. While she could still move her legs freely, she was feeling excited inside.

"Heehee... Whoa!?"

"Ah, ah...!? Ah, there’s another tremor...!"

"It was just getting good... Oh well...! ♡"

But then... an even stronger tremor hit, and the "Possessed Sailor" was thrown off her. Shiori, unwillingly released, was similarly thrown, but managed to stand and picked up the air rifle that had rolled nearby.

"Hehehe, woman, woman..."

"Damn it... I won’t let you get away... woman."

"Phew... ♡"

Even so, I’m not used to this environment... Anyway, let’s get to work...!

She stroked the lingering sensation on her neck, her cheeks slightly flushed. Shiori placed her hand against the wall, bracing herself for the swaying.

Inside the prison where she was now, she opened the door and turned her battle-ready gaze toward the two "Possessed Sailors" who had emerged from the cell on the opposite side.