The year I hit rock bottom, I got sucked into a game. The rule was to survive a week on 50 dollars, and the winner would walk away with one million dollars.

Everyone else was desperate to win, but I was the only one trying to escape.

What they did not know was that I was the previous round's winner, and killing me meant they could steal my 500 million dollars.

I found myself in a stark white room packed with people.

The system's robotic voice announced, "Welcome, all 100 players, to the Survival of the Poorest. Starting funds: 50 dollars. Objective: Survive 7 days inside the game. The winner gets 1 million dollars in prize money! Overspending, dying, or stepping outside the designated area will be treated as a forfeit, and you will carry one million dollars in debt."

Then, with a sly tone, it continued, "Now then, do any cowards want to back out?"

Just like the last round, no one chose to leave. Every face lit up with excitement, as if the million dollars were already within reach.

"Um..." I slowly raised my hand, and all eyes snapped toward me at once.

The system's threatening voice echoed in my head, saying, "Player 66, a reminder that you were the winner of the previous round, and if you forcefully exit, you will carry a 500 million dollar debt. Only players who win two rounds in a row are allowed to cash out and leave."

I could not help but wonder why they did not mention the rule earlier.

I asked the system in my mind, "What if I lose?"

The system replied, "Your prize will be forfeited, and you will have a debt of one million dollars."

I lowered my hand. "Never mind."

"You're insane!"

"Attention seeker!"

Everyone turned their attention back to the front.

The system announced, "The game rules are now active, and players may not withdraw. All 100 players have been deployed.

"Welcome to the 'Ghost Cruise'. Remember: you are all stowaways, so good luck staying alive."

A flash of white light burst out, and we were all transported onto a cruise ship floating on the open sea.

The system gave each of us a card that we could use to make purchases anywhere on the ship. However, it only had 50 dollars loaded on it.

My interface displayed three stats: hunger, thirst, and energy, and all three were currently in order. Once any of them hit zero, the player would be eliminated immediately.

I was deployed on the third-floor deck and noticed the cruise ship was sailing across pitch-black waters. It meant the sea was unfathomably deep, and anyone thrown overboard would vanish without a trace.

I found a staff member and asked for a map.

The ship had eight levels in total.

The first and second levels were crew quarters and work areas, off-limits to regular passengers.

The third level was the deck and passenger lobby. Meanwhile, the fourth through seventh levels were filled with countless cabins, plus a theater, casino, spa, duty-free shop, movie theater, restaurants, and more. Lastly, the eighth level featured an open sun deck with a large swimming pool, while the other half was a buffet area.

However, the ship actually had a hidden half-level above that. It was where the VIP suites were. VIP guests conducted all their activities up there, separated from the regular passenger areas.

I then checked out the convenience store and saw bottled water for 20 dollars, sandwiches for 55 dollars, and cake for 70 dollars each.

The prices were exactly what I expected for a luxury cruise ship.

Based on my experience, the buffet restaurant had free water available during meal service. Since it was mealtime, I headed to the top-floor restaurant, where a decent line had already formed at the buffet entrance, waiting to scan their cards for entry.

I joined the queue, standing behind two players who were one step ahead of me at the card reader. They pulled out the cards the system had given them and handed them to the attendant, but when she swiped them, the machine started beeping frantically.

The attendant's expression instantly changed, and she told them, "These aren't legitimate room cards. You're not guests."

The two players tried to bolt, but several burly security guards rushed over.

The attendant slammed the restaurant doors shut, blocking the view of the guests inside.

The guards clamped down on the two players with iron grips, and their screams rang out in agony. Two sharp cracks were heard as their arms were twisted at sickeningly unnatural angles. Then, the guards dragged them away from the restaurant entrance.

Moments later, the system announced, "Player 17 and Player 42 have been exposed as stowaways! They were eliminated with a one-million-dollar debt!"

The doors slowly opened again, and the attendant put her professional smile back on.

By then, I had already handed my card to the attendant, but she had not had a chance to scan it yet.

The attendant held my card, moving it toward the machine.

My heart hammered frantically in my chest, and I thought, 'What do I do? What do I do?'

The guards were right there, and scanning the card would expose me instantly. Moreover, the massive crowd behind me had blocked any escape route.

In a flash of panic, I suddenly grabbed the attendant's hand like I was steadying myself, while my other hand flew to my mouth as I gagged loudly.

"I'm so, so sorry..." I mumbled weakly through my hand, looking embarrassed. "I'm going to be sick!"

"Miss, are you alright?" The attendant jerked her hand back like she had been shocked.

The guards stared at me warily. If I had something contagious, they would drag me out, and the system would eliminate me.

Just then, a hand steadied me firmly and smoothly pulled the player card from the attendant's hand.

A voice beside me said, "Sorry, my wife's morning sickness is pretty bad. Where's the restroom?"

The guards' expressions visibly relaxed.

I covered my mouth again and gagged.

The attendant quickly pointed into the distance, saying, "Over there. The restroom is that way."

A buzz-cut man in his early 20s supported my pale body and hurried me away from the restaurant. Once we had gotten far enough away, we both dropped the performance.

I pulled my arm from his grip and said, "Thanks for that."

He flashed a cocky grin. "Hey, show-off, want to team up? One person playing 'rat' stands out too much. I'm Player 8, Henry Newman."

I hesitated for a moment. Yes, we were stowaways, rats that could not exist in the open on this cruise ship. Surviving with just 50 dollars while pretending to be normal guests meant that two people covering for each other was better than going solo, and he had just proven his skills.

"I'm Player 66, Julia Webb." I made up a name on the spot, agreeing to team up.

Keeping your real name hidden was key in this kind of game, especially when I had a 500-million-dollar bounty on my head. It seemed like sneaking into the buffet was not going to work, and getting free water this round was harder than the last one.

"Come on, let's go get some water." I led Henry as we slipped down to the fourth floor.

The casino was packed with people coming and going, and the staff were busy entertaining guests, so it looked like they only checked chips, not cards.

The air inside was thick with the smell of ozone, mixed with the electronic chirps of slot machines, the spinning clatter of roulette wheels, and the frantic shouts of gamblers.

It was a wall of chaotic noise.

I found an internal phone meant for guest use and picked up the receiver.

A sweet voice from the operator came through. "Hello, how may I help you?"

I spoke in a slightly anxious tone, "I'm a guest in Room 407. Send up four bottles of water. Charge it to the room, just leave them by the door! And hurry!"

I handed the phone to Henry and had him request water the same way.

I said, "At this time, most people are either at the restaurant or just boarded and exploring, so rooms are probably empty. Cruise service is all about efficiency, and they won't question small requests like this, especially when it's charged to the room."

Henry's eyes lit up. "Genius! Let me try!"

We immediately left the casino and headed quickly toward the cabin area on the fourth level. Outside Room 407, four 500ml bottles of water sat on the floor. I quickly grabbed all four bottles and stuffed them into my backpack.

We did not linger and moved on immediately to collect water from the other rooms we had called. In just half an hour, we had scored over 50 bottles of water.

Henry was panting heavily. "Julia, that's way too much water. It's only day one... We won't need this much."

I shook my head. "We have to stockpile all our drinking water today. This method won't work for much longer."

Based on my experience, the system would patch this loophole quickly. However, I did not tell Henry that.

Henry asked in surprise, "Why? How do you know?"

I vaguely answered, "Every bottle we take gets charged to some unlucky person's room account. Once they notice weird charges on their bill, or staff realize the water they deliver keeps disappearing, they'll definitely investigate."

The heavy load of water was both a lifeline and a burden, and we needed to find somewhere to hide it all. This time, I kept my guard up and had Henry hide part of the water separately. Then, I took my share and stashed it in my own spot.

After hiding everything, we met up at the agreed location.

Water was handled, so next came food.

I had tried ordering food to be charged to a room earlier. However, the front desk mentioned they did not provide food delivery and told me to go eat at the restaurant.

Just then, we heard arguing coming from the hallway.

"I found this first!"

"Bullcrap! I clearly saw it first!"

We peeked around the corner and saw two players fighting over half a sandwich in a trash can.

My heart sank. It was only the first day, and people were already digging through garbage.

Their arguing caught the attention of a cleaning lady, who spoke briefly into her walkie-talkie.

Within two minutes, a group of security guards rushed over.

"Show us your room cards."

Naturally, they could not produce any, and the guards quickly hauled them away.

Elimination and debt awaited them.

The restaurants were inaccessible, the convenience store had outrageous prices, room service would not deliver food, and scavenging trash cans would get us caught by security.

What other options were there?

We wandered over to the duty-free shop.

A shop assistant at the chocolate counter was holding out a sample tray, and Henry and I exchanged a glance.

I walked over first with a curious expression. "Excuse me, is this dark chocolate on the bitter side? I'm not a fan of things that are too sweet."

"You can try this one," the shop assistant said, handing me a sample of chocolate. "This is 75% cocoa. It is rich, bittersweet with a lingering finish."

She enthusiastically launched into her pitch, tilting the tray toward me. While her attention was fully on selling the chocolate, Henry's hand casually swept across the sample tray.

Several of the largest chocolate pieces and two thick nut-covered cookies vanished into his palm in an instant.

The shop assistant noticed nothing and kept talking about where the cocoa beans came from.

From a short distance away, Henry flashed me an OK sign.

Just then, the alarm at the entrance started beeping loudly.

A player with bulging pockets had just stepped out of the duty-free shop, and a swarm of guards lunged at him, catching him on the spot and pulling stolen food from his clothes.