Startled awake, his ocean-blue eyes opened wide, disoriented by his surroundings. All he could see were wooden materials, from the walls to the furniture—and he seemed to be inside a spacious room filled with tons of ale.

  “What the heck,” he mumbled. “Where am I?”

  He noticed his outfit, which looked outdated, with tears in several places on his white shirt. His brown trousers didn’t seem to be in much better condition either. He grew increasingly anxious, not even knowing what had happened to him.

  His mind tried to remember, but he couldn’t recall anything useful except his own name, Xu Haoran. “It doesn’t make any sense! I shouldn’t be here!”

  Light from outside seeped in, filtering through the cracks in the walls. Spiders seemed to be enjoying their life here, as their webs covered every corner. Heck, even Haoran thought he was in an abandoned tavern.

  He forced himself to stand up, though for some reason, he felt incredibly tired. His legs felt weak, to the point where he had to lean on a large barrel beside him. However, as he moved forward, a burning sensation washed over his stomach.

  “Shit! It hurts!” he wailed, clutching his abdomen, unable to hold back the urge to vomit.

  Black liquid spilled from his mouth, splattering onto the dirty floor. It wasn’t ale or coffee, but rather something else entirely. The density, the color, and the way it pooled all pointed to a poisonous substance.

  “I didn’t do this to myself, right?” His eyes remained locked on the fluid. “Or did I?”

  His mind was flooded with countless possibilities, growing heavier as he tried to piece together what had happened. Unable to find an answer, Xu Haoran forced himself to leave the room.

  However, his balance was somehow unsteady. It wasn’t because he was still fragile, but rather because the environment itself seemed to be moving. Faintly, he also heard the sound of water splashing around him.

  “That sound… does that mean this is…” He turned his head, searching for a small gap in the wall to peer through.

  When his eyes landed on a small hole near the corner of the room, he didn’t waste any time checking it. He tried to adjust, positioning his right eye to see while keeping the other shut.

  “This is ridiculous,” he murmured in shock as he saw an ocean stretching across the horizon. “How did I end up in a ship’s cabin?”

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  Xu Haoran turned, spotting a door with iron fittings. “There must be someone else here!”

  He pulled the lever, but it was locked—the worst scenario he had expected. He was trapped here. “Fuck!” he roared, his anxiety rising. “Please, can anyone outside hear me?”

  No one answered, but Xu Haoran kept his determination. “Help me out of here! Whoever you are!”

  After many attempts, he finally heard a voice—a whisper at first, but it soon turned into a scream. “Who’s there?”

  Xu Haoran panicked, swallowing hard. He wanted to respond but hesitated. Who knows what he had been through? Revealing his name could make things worse. He had to be extra cautious.

  “I-I don’t remember who I am or what happened. When I woke up, I was already in here!” he answered. “Please, free me!”

  He heard several voices discussing, until one man finally replied, “Back away from the door! Don’t do anything stupid, or we’ll kill you on sight!”

  Xu Haoran complied, unable to afford risking his life with a foolish action. For now, all he could do was go with the flow. The handlers moved swiftly as the door unlocked, and with a single kick, it swung open wide, revealing a crowd armed with weapons.

  Some of them wielded scimitars, while others carried curved swords like shamshirs. But the most unusual sight was the burst of flame—floating right above the woman’s hand. It dissipated as soon as she clenched her fist.

  “Is that magic?” Xu Haoran thought, awestruck, as he raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, signaling that he wouldn’t resist.

  A muscular man, tall and broad, with scars on his arms, examined Xu Haoran with a serious expression. He looked menacing, removing the cigarette from his mouth and exhaling smoke into the air as he stepped forward.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he said, his voice hoarse and intimidating. “And what are you doing here? Speak!”

  Startled, Xu Haoran stammered, “I-I don't know, I swear! The last thing I remember is… falling asleep at the harbor, and then when I woke up, I was already in here!”

  Xu Haoran added a little lie to make his story more believable, but the man still wasn’t convinced. “Tie him up and bring him to the deck. The captain will decide whether he’ll be killed there or tossed into the ocean. Do it fast!”

  Wide-eyed, Xu Haoran froze, his heart nearly stopping at that moment. But he knew he couldn’t fight back. He let himself be bound and was forced to climb the stairs. Unlike what he had imagined, the crew here wasn’t small in number.

  Xu Haoran was met with hostile glares from the crew, and some even shouted to throw him to the sea monsters. He realized he wasn’t in his world anymore—he was sure of it. After all, magic and monsters couldn’t possibly exist on Earth.

  The bright sunlight blinded him as he stepped out of the cabin. The salty scent of the ocean filled his nose, and a strong wind whipped against the ship’s massive sails. If he looked closely at the flags around him, he noticed a symbol of a snake and a compass.

  “Move to the center, damn it!” A crew member kicked Xu Haoran, causing him to stumble as he was pushed forward until they reached their destination.

  He was forced to kneel when the muscular man reappeared on the upper deck. He seemed to be speaking to someone else up there, and Xu Haoran could see who it was—a blonde woman in a red dress that accentuated her voluptuous curves. A belt rested on her shoulder and around her wide waist, holding a rapier with a rose-shaped hilt.

  Her indifferent, cold eyes gazed down directly at Xu Haoran. “So this is the boy,” she said in a deep voice. “Let’s take a good look at him.”