Trouble Follows Us Everywhere

The ship carrying me and Yena cut a path across the vast open sea. It was a sailing vessel more than twice the size of even the grandest ships we'd seen back at the harbor, and nothing dared to block its way — which meant a steady string of rather disappointing scenes for the viewers who'd been hoping for some kind of event.

Yena, apparently bored out of her mind after spending the first stretch sightseeing over the water, had even dug out a couple of balls and proposed a game of catch with me.

A ball came flying at me, soaring high into the sky. I pushed off lightly from the deck, caught it, then threw it back with just enough force for Yena to handle. She returned it at an ordinary, easygoing pace — nothing like an assassin's speed.

Another ball sailed my way.

"So pirates don't usually show up, huh?"

"Every once in a while? But the sea's so enormous that unless some special condition's met, they almost never do. What shows up more often is sea monsters."

Yena caught the ball calmly, then, declaring that one ball wasn't fun enough, brought a second one and hurled both at me in succession.

"Usually it's sharks, or schools of flying fish. If you head up north, you get Crab Turtles, Silver Piranhas..."

"Those sound more like plain fish than monsters."

If that were the case, I couldn't imagine them doing much damage to a ship this size, let alone its crew. A smaller vessel might be another story, but this one was genuinely massive.

The moment I snatched both balls out of the air at high speed, Yena flicked her hand. Two balls splayed out toward the left and right flanks of the ship, and she caught them both with ridiculous precision.

"See for yourself when you meet one. They're monsters, not fish — insanely strong."

"Hmm..."

"And since they're sea monsters, fighting them in the water is a straight-up stat boost for them."

Trouble on multiple fronts, then. Yena and I were a spearman and an assassin — classes specialized for one-on-one duels. Hardly the ideal job set for taking on something lurking beneath the hull. And it wasn't as if I could use holy magic or ordinary spellcraft like I used to.

Does Yena have something up her sleeve?

Still, she was a ranker inside the top 100, and she'd apparently raked in plenty of first-clear rewards and the like back in the day. Surely she'd have a weapon or two that could handle a situation like this.

Then, as I caught the ball mid-flight, a question suddenly occurred to me.

"...Wait. What about something like a Kraken?"

"A Kraken?"

The Kraken. The angels and demons had faced no rivals beyond each other, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so they'd split the world between them — but the sea had never been their domain.

Strictly speaking, that was because they were winged races and disliked touching the water.

Either way, the sea lay beyond the reach of angels and demons, which meant the ancient monsters of the deep had been free to grow without a single enemy to check them. Chief among them was the octopus colossus known as the Kraken, which flaunted overwhelming mass and strength.

The Kraken devoured ships at sea and marine life alike, earning itself an infamous reputation as the Disaster of the Sea.

Of course, after stirring up so much chaos that it eventually smacked a baby angel who'd wandered out to sightsee flat into the ocean floor, it ended up demoted to a platter of boiled octopus.

The funny part? All the baby angel got out of it was a broken arm or two — and even that was patched right back up under a high angel's restoration.

Thinking back on it, that's absolutely ridiculous.

The Disaster of the Sea, reduced to dinner in a single moment. Not that I'm saying the Kraken was weak. It hadn't even tried to kill the baby angel it slammed down — it was, at most, a mistake born of a body far too enormous for its own good.

The high angels, for the record, spent a full ten seconds or so subjugating it...

Even in my past life, I couldn't have sworn to a hundred percent victory against the Kraken.

"The Kraken shows up in plenty of other books and stories outside Deo­en, too. One thing's for sure — if it appeared right now, we'd be wiped out. All of us."

"Is that so?"

"Yep. Something like that's called a World Boss — unlike other bosses, it doesn't spawn on a fixed schedule or in a set location. It shows up with a tiny random chance, and when it does, a server-wide message goes out."

A Kraken has appeared in Zone X, Channel Y!

"Like that."

"So everyone teams up to take it down."

"Right. World Bosses work like dungeons system-wise — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠usually the first discoverer and whoever racks up the highest contribution take the best loot."

With my current body and strength, that was clearly out of the question. Though how different the Kraken of that world was from the Kraken of this one remained to be seen.

"Definitely dangerous, then."

"Let's just pray it doesn't spawn."

Whump—! The ball shot high into the air, drifting on a current that had nothing to do with my will. Yena's straw hat went flying skyward, and the great sails began snapping madly in the wind. The ship lurched all at once, and everything on deck slid toward a single point — chairs, drinks, the canopy, the balls, all of it tumbling into chaotic disarray.

The only ones who kept their footing on the ship were Yena and me.

"What's appeared?"

"Hold on."

Yena swapped out of her beachwear for combat gear in a blink, snatched up her daggers, and climbed atop the bow. Her brow furrowed.

I drew my spear and moved up beside her — and there, within the howling storm of wind, I glimpsed something faint.

"...A person?"

The wind raged on, but no rain fell, no lightning struck. The storm was churning around a single point — and the heart of it was utterly still.

Standing there untouched was the silhouette of a figure hauling a huge pile of something small. Whether it wore a robe or was simply built that way, the whole body looked heavy and shapeless.

Wrapped up in something, maybe.

One thing was certain: that faint silhouette was the culprit behind this wind.

"Not a person."

A crimson aura flooded into Yena's dagger. With a sharp crack—!, the blade's keen edge tore clean through the silhouette.

Hahahaha—!

But the pierced figure only burst out laughing, as if amused, mended the wound in an instant, and rose high into the sky. The wind shifted with it, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the ship rocked once more.

Hahaha—!

Hahahaha—!

Hahaha—!

Hahahahaha—!

The winds spilling out of the storm filled the sky in the blink of an eye. The gusts — tiny hands brimming with mischief — began poking and prodding at the ship's sails, and Yena shrieked in something close to panic.

"Hey! Hands off! Do you have any idea how expensive that is!"

A short, clipped telepathic voice, ringing out like a whisper in the mind.

In that instant, two round green eyes flashed open amid the silhouettes. Warmer than the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sight of them suggested, they fixed their gaze on me — no, on my wrist.

"Is it because of this?"

The emerald Sylphid Bracelet on my wrist began to glow, whining and shaking violently. The moment it emerged fully into view, the silhouette's two eyes quivered.

Then a translucent membrane spread outward, swallowing the ship and the surrounding stretch of sea, and the system windows I'd seen in the dungeon appeared before Yena and me.

A dungeon — and a tip. My confusion at the dungeon's sudden generation lasted only a moment before the true identity of the figure behind the silhouette was laid completely bare.

A rust-brown robe draped in a whole crowd of translucent green animals. And within it...

"...Holy. A high spirit."