Chapter 73: 14th Floor. Great Sea (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 73: 14th Floor. Great Sea (1)
[Title: 14th Floor cleared.]
[Wow, that was intense. But it was nice. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the ocean. I got to swim to my heart's content, too.]
[Pham Minh Duc (24th Floor): It’s a pleasant floor in its own way, though it leaves a bit of a bad aftertaste.]
[Maruima Atsuya (16th Floor): When we caught the whale… its cry sounded so, I don’t know, sorrowful. It made me wonder if we were actually supposed to kill it.]
[Pham Minh Duc (24th Floor): It counted as a quest clear, so there shouldn't be an issue. Even if the achievement rate is abysmal.]
* * *
A vast, Great Sea where nothing but the horizon stretched out in every direction.
Kang Jun-hyeok stood on a small, solitary island in the middle of the expanse. He gazed out blankly.
The blue sea reached far beyond the horizon. The surface of the water sparkled like jewels, reflecting a cloudless, pristine sky. It was a truly beautiful, rare sight.
Since the previous floors had been nothing but a series of hardships, many players found themselves captivated by the scenery, staring at it for hours on end.
Naturally, this did not apply to Kang Jun-hyeok. He calmly organized his thoughts.
The goal of the 14th Floor was to quell the chaos here. However, at this moment, no chaos was visible. It was merely a peaceful, serene ocean.
Which means I have to search the sea.
Kang Jun-hyeok took a deep breath and threw himself in.
Splash!
He dove into the water and began to scout the depths.
He was human. Breathing underwater was impossible. Without training, an ordinary human could only hold their breath for about two minutes at most.
But a Player was no ordinary human. They could operate underwater without the usual restrictions of breathing. Although their movement speed was cut in half, they could move freely enough despite the water resistance.
Of course, it wasn't without penalties.
[You are currently diving. You will take 1 damage every minute.]
One damage per minute. It wasn't much, but it was a level that couldn't be ignored if it accumulated.
He moved along the surface as much as possible to avoid staying submerged. As he traveled across the sea, a massive cry echoed out.
[Bwooooooo!]
A cry that shook the very ocean. Focusing his vision, he spotted a whale in the distance.
The whale was gargantuan—twice the size of a blue whale. Its sheer scale inspired a sense of awe.
[Bwooo! Bwooooooo!]
The whale continued to let out cries, shaking its body violently. Every time it did, the sea trembled. Small fish swimming nearby fled in a frenzy.
[Bwooooooo!]
The thrashing whale swung its tail wildly. The resulting ripple caused the Great Sea to surge.
It was obvious at a glance: that whale was the entity causing chaos in the Great Sea.
The standard strategy was to desperately approach the whale, swing your weapon, and wound it. When your health got low, you would return to the island to recover by eating coconuts.
The more it was wounded, the more the whale would thrash, but that also created openings. Since its movements were fundamentally sluggish, dodging wasn't difficult. By repeating that process and dealing a fatal blow, the whale would eventually fall.
That was the common way to clear the 14th Floor. It wasn't easy, but for a Player who had made it this far, it wasn't overly difficult either.
With Kang Jun-hyeok’s current strength, he could probably handle it in an instant. He could take it down using Sword Ki and Sword Wind from a distance, or even just by using Spear Throw.
No. He didn't even need to do that; he could probably just engage it in a head-on contest of strength. That was the level of difficulty.
However, Kang Jun-hyeok knew better.
The achievement rate gained from killing the whale was 15% at most. This meant that the remaining 85% was hidden somewhere else.
But there’s no information on it.
The whale was openly causing chaos in the sea. From a Player's perspective, they had no choice but to focus on the whale. No one had ever tried an alternative method.
All he knew was that the clear rate was only 15%. He had to find the rest himself.
First, he scouted the surface. Kang Jun-hyeok rose to the top and swam toward the horizon.
He traveled across the vast Great Sea. Although his movement speed was halved in the water, his base stats were so high that he moved at the speed of a decent jet ski.
After swimming for several hours, he managed to acquire a skill.
[You have acquired the Passive Skill: Swimming.]
[Passive Skill: Swimming]
[Rank: Lowest-Grade]
[Proficiency: F]
[The ability to swim through the sea. You have become slightly more proficient at swimming.]
With the acquisition of the Swimming skill, he was able to move a bit faster. Kang Jun-hyeok continued to roam the sea for several more hours until physical fatigue began to set in.
He scoured the ocean relentlessly. He went so far that when he looked back, the island was a mere dot.
But he saw nothing.
No matter how far he went in any direction, there was only the horizon. After wandering for about three days, Kang Jun-hyeok returned to the island.
"Hmm."
Kang Jun-hyeok stroked his chin. He hadn't found anything by roaming the surface.
And it wasn't like he had just been wandering aimlessly. He had used Focus Vision to constantly observe beyond the horizon. He had kept his mind focused to see if there was anything unusual.
Even so, he found nothing. This meant that there was either nothing on the surface, or it was something he couldn't find with his current abilities.
In that case...
Kang Jun-hyeok looked down past the island's shore. Beneath the transparent surface, the deep sea stretched down endlessly.
If it couldn't be found on the water, it had to be beneath it.
Kang Jun-hyeok took a deep breath.
Splash!
He plunged into the sea. He kicked through the waves and dove deep. Before long, the system window appeared.
[You are currently diving. You will take 1 damage every minute.]
His health was 820. Theoretically, he could last 820 minutes. But considering he had to have enough left to return if he found nothing, that time was cut in half. And more importantly, this wasn't the only damage he would take.
As he descended to a depth where light no longer reached and everything turned pitch black, another system window appeared.
[Water pressure is being applied. You will take 1 damage every minute.]
The deeper he went, the stronger the pressure became. The damage increased accordingly.
Kang Jun-hyeok didn't stop. He dove even deeper, grabbing onto the underwater cliffs to pull himself down and gain momentum.
[Water pressure is being applied. You will take 2 damage every minute.]
His health began to drop rapidly. Kang Jun-hyeok’s descent into the abyss accelerated. Yet, he still saw nothing. In the dark underwater world, there was only the sight of an even deeper abyss.
As he continued his descent, Kang Jun-hyeok realized he had hit the "red line."
[Water pressure is being applied. You will take 5 damage every minute.]
If he went any deeper, he wouldn't be able to return by normal means. He would have to activate both Grace of Benevolence and Royal Blood just to make it back. Since his health and skills would be depleted, clearing the floor would take a considerable amount of time.
But he didn't stop. His intuition told him that this was the right path. He accelerated even further downward.
[Water pressure is being applied. You will take 6 damage every minute.]
His health dropped below 200. Bizarre deep-sea fish began to appear. Deeper and deeper, he plunged toward the bottom.
Then, something caught Kang Jun-hyeok’s eye.
In the infinitely deep and dark abyss, where not a single ray of light could reach, something was glowing.
Kang Jun-hyeok’s body accelerated. As he drew closer to the light, he could gradually make out what it was.
It was a village.
That was the true destination of the 14th Floor.
The problem was that his health was in a critical state. At this rate, it would hit zero before he arrived. He had to activate Grace of Benevolence.
Instead, Kang Jun-hyeok planted his feet against the cliff leading into the abyss.
[Water Walking.]
Water Walking. Its effect allowed him to walk on a surface underwater as if it were flat ground for one minute.
Boom!
He kicked off the wall and sprinted. Thanks to the skill's effect, his movement speed returned to normal. The distance closed in an instant.
And at the end of it...
Thump!
He arrived at the glowing village.
The moment he reached the village, the crushing water pressure vanished. A strange, shimmering veil restored his ability to breathe.
[Swimming proficiency has increased from F to E.]
[Swimming proficiency has increased from E to D.]
[Water Walking proficiency has increased from F to E.]
"…Phew!"
Kang Jun-hyeok exhaled sharply. That was incredibly dangerous.
Checking his health, it was only 42. If he had been even a few minutes later, he would have had to use Grace of Benevolence. He stretched his body, which felt stiff from the pressure, and recovered his health with Grace of Benevolence.
That was ridiculously hard.
It was a depth that was difficult to reach even with his current health and stats. This meant that an ordinary player practically couldn't reach it. Brute-forcing it like this probably wasn't the intended answer; there was likely another way.
But sometimes, overwhelming stats made a brute-force method the correct answer. Kang Jun-hyeok smirked.
He had reached his destination. Now, it was time for the residents to welcome him.
Sure enough, panicked voices and the sound of hurried splashing echoed from the village.
"What is that?!"
"It's an attack! Those bastards have finally started attacking us directly! Everyone, take up arms!"
Amidst the frantic noise, figures began to appear one by one. Seeing them, Kang Jun-hyeok wore an 'I knew it' expression.
A village existing in the deepest parts of the ocean. Who were its residents? The answer was simple.
"…A human?"
"Wh-what? How is a human here?"
"Is it really a human? He has legs!"
The figures' eyes widened as they looked at Kang Jun-hyeok. They had the upper bodies of humans and the lower bodies of fish. They moved freely, swishing their tails. Their upper bodies were half-naked, covered only by shells or their own hair. They possessed beautiful and handsome features.
Merfolk.
Dozens of Merfolk were staring at Kang Jun-hyeok with panicked faces, holding spears.
To think he would encounter Merfolk as early as the 14th Floor. Kang Jun-hyeok was quite surprised.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Merfolk.
After a brief moment of recollection, Kang Jun-hyeok moved his body.
"It is a pleasure to meet you."
He greeted them with courtesy. The wary eyes of the Merfolk went wide. It was because the greeting Kang Jun-hyeok performed was the traditional salutation of the Merfolk.
"I am a traveler. I have come here in the midst of my journey. O dwellers of the sea, I would be grateful if you would show me hospitality."
The real work started now. Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes gleamed.