Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Emerged (2)
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During the standoff with the merfolk blocking their path.
Suddenly, Ian stepped forward.
"Ah… that's dangerous!"
Lia and Rin hurriedly flanked Ian on both sides.
Flustered by Ian's sudden move, the two prepared to fight the charging merfolk, but the merfolk made no attack.
The merfolk, who had been threatening as if they would strike at any moment, instead backed away from the approaching trio.
"…?"
Lia and Rin glanced at the merfolk with puzzled expressions before turning their eyes toward Ian.
Ian pointed at the merfolk before them—the illusions.
"Don't worry. These aren't real; they're hallucinations."
"Huh? So… they're fakes?"
Ian nodded at Rin's question.
In the thick fog, the merfolk aiming weapons looked utterly real no matter how you sliced it.
When Rin quietly asked Lia what she saw, Lia was seeing the exact same monsters.
Does it make sense for everyone to see the same hallucination at once…?
But sure enough, now that he mentioned it, the merfolk's behavior was off. They hadn't attacked once, just standing there threateningly to block their approach.
A bit suspicious, Rin quietly asked Ian.
"Then… can I test it out?"
"They're fake, so it doesn't matter… What are you planning?"
With permission granted, Rin picked up a stone from the ground.
"Hya!"
The stone Rin threw flew toward the nearest merfolk.
And right before it hit… the merfolk dodged at incredible speed.
"Gasp…."
The merfolk bared its teeth in a threat, and Rin picked up another stone.
But every time she threw one, the merfolk dodged Rin's stones with movements far nimbler than their appearance suggested.
…Even after all this, no counterattack.
Only then did everyone fully sense something was wrong with these monsters.
They retreated if approached, dodged if attacked.
Just threatening from afar, like they were trying to chase away intruders without letting them get close.
Probably because direct contact would reveal them as illusions.
As Rin pondered, she suddenly realized something.
Her experiences in the labyrinth had sparked her imagination.
"…I got it! Only one of them is real, right? They make you drop your guard thinking it's all illusions, then sneak up from behind…!"
Rin declared triumphantly to Ian.
But Ian shook his head with a flat expression.
"…They're all illusions."
"Ah…. Not that?"
Ian muttered toward the sheepish Rin.
"You've got a talent for game dev."
"What's that? Is it good?"
It was serious criticism.
Ian and his crew carefully advanced along the path.
The fog grew thicker the further they went.
It became so dense they couldn't discern directions, but whenever they stopped, the leading fairy flew ahead to show the way.
This fog was another illusion too. Fortunately, illusions didn't affect the fairies.
Ian and his crew soon arrived at a cave by the shore.
-Grrrrr….
"Gasp…."
The cave entrance was guarded by a massive leviathan.
As they drew near, the enormous sea dragon lifted its head and roared.
"Is this an illusion too…?"
"It's showing hallucinations of things that would scare anyone approaching."
"What about the kraken?"
"Probably the scariest thing for sea-faring folk…."
Ignoring the leviathan, Ian entered the cave.
It wasn't very deep, so they quickly found the culprit.
A gigantic clam.
The illusion clam responsible for this mess.
It emitted mana to create hallucinations, scaring off natural predators and making them flee.
It must have settled in this cave recently.
"That's one huge… clam."
Mika muttered absently as she examined it from all angles.
This clam had no attack power and never assaulted people, so it wasn't a monster.
It was a terrain object occasionally seen in 'coastal cave' areas of the labyrinth.
"Never seen one this big before…."
Ian muttered too. It seemed several times larger than what he remembered.
Well, it had projected illusions that far, after all.
He'd figured it wasn't ordinary, but the size exceeded expectations.
"So this is what's been showing the illusions?"
"Yeah. Smash it, and the illusions stop."
"Leave it to us!"
Rin and Lia stepped forward.
The giant clam's shell was incredibly tough, impervious to attacks, but ultimately it had no offensive capabilities beyond illusions.
As the two took turns hammering away, cracks finally formed with a sharp snap.
-Flash!
Suddenly, light burst from the split.
"Wh-what? Is it gonna explode?"
Mika hastily erected a barrier, but no explosion came.
The light came from something glowing inside the cracked shell.
Urged by the fairies, Tanya cautiously approached and picked it up.
"It's… a gem?"
It was a massive chunk too big for one hand.
Seeing the item in Tanya's hand, everyone swallowed hard. Matching the huge clam, its contents were enormous too.
"Wow, whoa…."
They gathered around, admiring the gem.
Too afraid of breaking it to hold directly, they tentatively touched it a few times.
Finally, Ian carefully took it.
[Crystal Aggregate of Domination]
📦 Type:Material Item
🔧 Required Crafting Level:8
It was common for such clam objects or monsters to hold treasures.
And given its special abilities, possessing a powerful gem made sense.
The problem was how good the gem's grade was.
…Could they even use this?
A crafting level 8 material.
It was probably destined to gather dust in storage as a rare unused ingredient until the ending.
Ian immediately returned to the city and reported.
He had fragments of the clam, and the cave wasn't far, so verification was quick.
The city had been on edge like war was imminent, but news of resolution spread, restoring normalcy in a flash.
It hadn't even been a full day, so it was taken as a minor hiccup during vacation.
For the mercenaries, it was like getting paid for doing nothing.
"We truly thank you!"
"You can stop saying that now…."
Unsure when monsters might appear, they'd hired every mercenary in the city for battle prep.
It must have cost a fortune, but fortunately, it turned out not to be real monsters.
If rumors of a monster invasion spread, the city's tourist appeal would be ruined.
Who'd vacation at a beach where merfolk attacked the city and a kraken appeared?
Resolving it before weird rumors circulated was a godsend.
Thus, the city swiftly returned to normal.
"You're not leaving just like that, are you?"
"The merchant guild's planning a festival—stick around a bit longer?"
And for Ian…
People started clinging to him from all sides.
They'd made an unreasonable request amid urgency.
But thanks to him, it ended quickly and cleanly.
Now came time to settle the bill.
Ian had planned to head out soon anyway, so he said he'd take payment and go.
But leaving right after without rest usually meant one of two things: mild displeasure or deep offense—handle it yourselves.
And understandably so. Dumping an excessive request on the last day of vacation.
Everyone nodded, and city hall officials along with merchant guild reps grabbed Ian's clothes and begged.
"…Fine, enough already."
"Really?!"
Ian ultimately agreed to stay a bit longer.
Free lodging, free shopping—everything.
The sea was getting old for everyone, but free vacation? They consented to linger.
A couple days later.
Ian and his crew lounged at the inn as usual.
"Sigh. Nothing fun happening?"
"Saying that always jinxes something weird…."
The sea was boring now.
Instead, gifts from city hall and the merchant guild piled up, so they'd spent the day gorging on Tanya's cooking from pricey ingredients they'd never normally afford.
Suddenly, the inn door burst open.
"Hey. Who's Ian?"
Everyone turned to stare at the intruder.
Short stature, sharp, ill-tempered eyes.
The unexpected guest scanned the room.
"Heard a kraken showed up, came rushing, but it's already handled. Thought you were here."
Ian looked up at the rude visitor.
[Frey] (Lv. 47)
An A-rank mercenary who had just arrived from Labyrinth City.