The bright white moon gleamed through the open bathroom window. After closing the door, Lucy slipped her white dress off, standing naked before the bathtub. Her father already left warm water in the tub so she wouldn't wait in the chilly air.

She dipped her left foot in first and swung her other one in. Then she slowly sat down, sighing as the warm water brought her into relaxation.

“Uuuuuuuuuh!” Lucy submerged her entire body down, only keeping her head over the steaming surface while her feet rested at the end of her tub. She will wash soon, but she wanted to relax first in peace for a few moments.

While staring at the white ceiling, Lucy thought about Charles. The first NPC who kidnapped her and kissed her. Strangely, she could still feel his kiss as she rubbed her fingers across her lips. Why did he do that to her? Was he in love with her?

Lucy shook her head while blushing. "No! No! No!"

Charles was only being a pervert. He doesn't respect women, and he was a traitor.

But somehow the kiss felt very good. Addicting good! Like getting one good taste from a candy that would make you ask for more.

What is wrong with me? Lucy submerged her snort into the water while curling her toes. Should I tell my father this strange feeling I'm having? Hmmmmmmmmm….. Maybe not. He will lose his mind.

If Lucy's mother was alive, she could help Lucy conquer her emotion toward Charles’s kiss. But for now, she should keep it to herself.

Charles was in prison, and he might face execution. And the only thing she needed to worry about was work at her father's tavern.

Lucy sat up while placing her bare feet into the warm bathwater. Before she grabbed a bottle of soap, she heard an explosion outside.

“Huh?” She peeped through the open window next to her tub.

She could see the entries seaport far below the buildings toward the bay. In the center of the bay, a large ship drifted through the gate beneath the gleaming moonlight. Lucy couldn’t make out the image of the ship, but its size was odd. Only warships were usually big to last long in battle. Why was there a warship entering the seaport?

On the ship, cannons fired, hitting a few houses near the seaport.

Lucy dropped her mouth. Oh my god! We are under attack!

From the ship, something flew toward Lucy’s window after a cannon fired. She ducked in the tub and heard a scream flew over her head and slapped the floor.

While keeping her naked body submerged in the water, Lucy peeked over the edge. A dwarf-sized penguin rose on his yellow large feet. He wore a red durag and a belt around his tubby waist, equipped with a sword.

He turned around and grinned at Lucy. “What a beauty!”

He dived into the tub and swam toward Lucy. “Kiss me, baby! Kiss me!”

Lucy screamed and kicked the penguin out of her tub. “Pervert!”

The penguin landed flat on his face, but he jumped onto his feet as if nothing has happened. “I like a woman who can kick my face!”

Lucy’s fur shuddered, and her bones turned cold although she sat in warm water.

When the penguin leaped toward her like a cannonball, Lucy grabbed her shampoo bottle and swung it, knocking the pervert back to the floor. He remained still with his tongue hanging out from his mouth.

Lucy sighed and climbed out of the tub. “I need to call the authorities!”

She dried herself in a towel and placed on a spare white dress with a leather belt around her waist. If there wasn’t an attack, she would have dressed in her nightgown and went straight to bed. No time for bed now.

She stepped over the penguin and stared at his back. Then her eyes widen into shock with her mouth hanging.

A white penguin skull on crossbones was on the penguin’s bareback like a tattoo.

Lucy gasped. Pirates? Pirates are attacking?

Her hometown has never been attacked by pirates before; players and NPCs alike. So what was going on now?

Lucy heard screaming outside and bells ringing while more explosions shook the floor. If the town was evacuated, Lucy has to find her father. He said he was at the tavern, cleaning up the place. She has to go there to make sure he was fine.

*****

When Lucy stepped out, hundreds of people raced past her, screaming on the street. Explosions rained behind them and windows shattered. The attack was building up fast.

Lucy dashed down the street toward the conflict. The tavern was close to the seaport. Hopefully, it wasn't destroyed.

A bloodhound merchant in a red coat crashed into her. Both of them fell as he dropped a small chest of jewels.

"Ah! Look what you made me do!" The merchant rose and collected his belongings.

Lucy got up next. "You ran into me!"

The merchant picked each gem and dropped them into his chest. "Sorry! Sorry! But we must hurry!"

After he filled up his chest, he grabbed her hand and yanked her. "Come on! This way!"

"No!" Lucy pulled back. "I have to find my father!"

"You won't make it! The pirates are down there!"

"So is my father!" Lucy freed herself from the bloodhound's grip and continued to run.

The street became empty while the buildings along the path burned. Lucy heard a window broke and saw two pirate penguins, carrying away a chest from a shop, laughing. Another penguin chased a sheep woman, and another slit a horse sailor's throat.

This is madness! Lucy spotted a pistol on the ground and picked it up. Indeed, she will need a weapon to defend herself with.

Between two buildings, a tower fell and crashed into the middle of the street. Lucy stopped to avoid the burning debris.

"Blasted!" The path to it now blocked the tavern. Lucy has to move around it something.

She checked the left and spotted a clear alleyway. Nothing was burning through the narrow path and no penguins running around.

Lucy sprinted into the alley. She took the right path, leading her past the blockage.

Suddenly three pirate penguins landed in front of her and pulled out their swords, pointing them at her.

"Surrender your booty!" One of them shouted.

Lucy noticed a barrel standing next to her. With a grin, she pushed the barrel down and kicked it. The barrel rolled and knocked the penguins down.

"Yes!" After cheering to herself, Lucy sprinted forward over the bodies. She reached the end of the alley, entering another street. Straight ahead, she spotted the tavern and sighed in relief that it wasn't burning. But two penguins stood in front of the door, looking around.

Lucy hid behind a crate and watched them. "Oh, no….."

If the penguin pirates were attacking the seaport town, then why were they at her father's tavern. To steal his drinks or lounge around like drunken idiots?

Lucy knew her father could take care of himself, but they might outnumber him inside his tavern. Without the guards, nobody could help him, except Lucy. She won't evacuate, not without her father.

Lucy smelled something fishy and stared inside the crate. She found raw fishes, wet and salty. However, an idea flashed inside her head.

She picked up one fish and strolled toward the penguins. They growled at her until she held up the fish by its tail.

"Hungry?" She asked.

The penguins nodded with their tongues out.

Lucy tossed the fish and watched the penguins raced after it. Penguins could never resist a fish unless they were players.

Now she must see if her father was fine inside the tavern.

*****

Lucy rushed through the door and stopped in the middle of the tavern with her mouth wide open. “Father!”

A giant macaroni penguin in a blue coatee with white breeches was holding her father against the wall and pushing a curved sword against his throat. He wore a black bicorne hat that didn't cover his long yellow eyebrows. Fat and bigger than the other penguins who were accompanying him.

Somehow he didn't look like a pirate. More like a royal navy officer who served the Imperial Kingdom. Maybe it was only a style he preferred to look fancy among his crew.

Captain Flipper Level: 30 Race: Penguin HP: 300 Player Character

"Where is the map to Ghost Island?" The penguin captain shouted. "Tell me before I spill your blood across the floor!"

Lucy growled and charged toward the large penguin. "Leave my father alone!"

Before she could reach him, two penguins grabbed her from behind. They held her back since their levels were higher than her.

Captain Flipper glanced at Lucy and smiled. "What do we have here?"

He released her father and waddled toward. He touched her chin, surveying her. "Aaaaaaah, what a cute doggy. You must be his daughter."

Lucy growled. "Keep your sticky flippers off me, or I will bite off your peak, fiend!"

Flipper stepped back and laughed. "She has a good temper too. I like that."

He held his sword across Lucy’s neck while glaring at her father. Lucy shivering as the blade touched her throat.

"I will give you one last chance, you annoying pest!" Captain Flipper shouted. "Show me the map, or I will take your daughter's head and feed her to the fishes!"

Her father rushed toward Flipper, but two other penguins blocked him, restraining him from reaching his daughter. "No! Knot mee daughter! Lit her gold!"

Flipper laughed. "What a dumb accent! My granddad talks better than you! He is Irish."

The penguin definitely sounds like a player from the real world. They usually speak words no NPC could understand sometimes. It was just how they talk.

“Just tell me so I can log off and go to bed! I have school tomorrow!” Captain Flipper shouted.

Lucy’s father snarled until he lowered his head with a deep frown across his face. “If ah tell u, well u leaf mee daughter alone?”

Flipper shrugged. “I’m not a murderhobo. You have my word.”

That sounded ironic since his crew was already attacking the seaport town. If the bastard penguin had mercy, he would have already shown it. Instead, he already murdered countless people.

Lucy’s father sighed. “Follow me.”

The penguin pirates followed the NPC bartender up the staircase behind the bar. They walked through a doorway, lending them into the office room.

Lucy’s father approached his desk beneath a large portrait of a sailing ship, crashing through waves. Beneath his desk, he pulled open an empty drawer, filtered with dust.

Flipper frowned. “This is a joke?”

Lucy’s father shot his glaring eyes at the player. “Ah, hit the mat her!”

“Then get it!”

Lucy’s father pulled a board out of the drawer, and then he picked up a folded piece of yellow paper.

“Give me that!” Flipper grabbed the paper and unfolded it. He glanced at the map while curling a grin. “Yes! This will bring me straight to Ghost Island! After I conquer the dungeon, I will become the best player in this game!”

“Now will you let us go?” Lucy’s father asked.

Captain Flipper folded the map and placed it into his coat. “Sure.”

Suddenly, Flipper swung his sword through the bartender’s neck. His head fell off his body before he blinked out of existence.

Bartender Killed! Captain Flipper received 10 EXP!

Lucy fell to her knees, feeling her heart boiled inside her chest. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Captain Flipper shrugged. “Pathetic! Killing these NPCs are not enough to grow my level higher. But burning this stupid town is satisfying enough.”

“What should we do with the lass?” The penguin asked, holding Lucy.

Flipper glared at Lucy. "Have fun with her if you want, but remember to set up the bomb before we leave. I want this town blazing in the fire! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Wow, I sound messed up!"

Lucy growled.

She won't let that player get away with murdering her father.

While screaming in rage, Lucy elbowed the penguins, freeing her, and she charged toward Flipper. "You bastard!"

Flipper laughed and dodged Lucy’s punch. He ducked and uppercut his fist into her stomach.

Lucy’s breath escaped from her mouth before she landed on the floor, arching in severe pain. At least her health points didn't scroll down to zero, but she felt like a cannonball had impacted her belly.

Bartender crippled!

Flipper pulled her up, glaring into her face as his beak touched her snort. "I said I would let you go. Back to the digital abyss where you belong!"

Lucy snarled. "You said you're not a murderhobo….."

Flipper chuckled. "I lied!"

He lifted her off her bare feet and tossed her through the window. Lucy screamed through the shattering window and falling straight into the black water below the deck.

"Have fun with the fishes!" Flipper shouted, which was the last thing Lucy heard before she splashed into the water.

While sinking toward the depths, Lucy paddled her feet and shook her arms. But she couldn’t swim. She never received the skill to swim, probably because she was only meant to be a bartender. How can she avenge her father if the water was her weakness? She has to try, but she kept sinking as if she was a rock.

A large flash of orange light flashed over the surface. The town must be blowing up.

Not only she lost her father, but she also lost her home and her job. Even the people at the floating town had lost their lives if they didn't evacuate on time.

Why would a player want to destroy everything to grab a map? And why does her father have a map to the mysterious Ghost Island? Was he a quest trigger who was meant to die in vain?

Lucy’s lungs exploded. She continued to struggle to reach the surface. But she kept drifting and drifting down until the ocean darkness swallowed her up.