Chapter 220
Chapter 220
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 220
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
【Hwaaaaaah!】
“Hweeeeeh!”
The two leaped away from each other in mutual shock.
After confirming the other’s appearance, Bitan realized what kind of place this was—the one where he’d brought Kang Seol.
【It’s a ghost ship!? The boat’s totally wrecked!】
“Eh? Ghost ship? I’m not a ghost, though?”
【It’s a skeleton!】
“You’re right about the skeleton part. Not a ghost, though.”
Bitan’s expression suddenly relaxed with relief.
【Phew… It’s just a skeleton, huh.】
- lololol Is a skeleton okay?
- What kind of standards are these?
- He bought it?
The skeleton looked at Kang Seol, then asked Bitan.
“Is that a corpse?”
【Corpse? Oh! No! Not a corpse yet!】
Bitan added hastily.
【Wait, no… Might become one soon?】
“Then that’s a big problem, right?”
【A big… problem?】
“Huge problem! It means dying!”
【Can a skeleton even say that?】
“What’s wrong with it?”
【Right? What could be wrong with it! Dying’s a big deal! Save me!】
“Got it! But this ship’s got no crew, see?”
【Eh? Why?】
“They’re dead. Why else would it be a ghost ship?”
【Hwaaaaaah!】
“But don’t worry! Meeting a great pirate like me in this vast ocean means your friend’s not fated to die just yet!”
【Great… pirate?】
Bitan tilted his head, staring at him.
【You’re a pirate?】
“Yeah! I’m a pirate. If you’ve got the guts to venture out on the sea like this, you must’ve heard my name at least once?”
【What’s your name?】
“Not yet! Not yet!”
【Your name’s ‘Not Yet’?】
“No, I need a buddy to help introduce me first.”
【A buddy to help?】
“Come on out, Pupu!”
Swoooooosh…
At that moment, a massive black shadow fell over the ship from below.
It looked just like a scene from a horror movie right now.
Something surged up from beneath the surface.
Splaaaaaaash—!
A gigantic octopus appeared—what folks commonly call a kraken, though this looked like just a baby of that monster.
“Ppuu— ppu!”
Baby or not, it wasn’t small.
The ship Bitan was on qualified as a large vessel, and Pupu was enormous enough to rival it.
【B-Baldy…】
“No! Don’t say that—Pupu hates it!”
“Ppuu—!”
Splat—!
Pupu slapped a massive tentacle onto the deck and snatched Bitan. Covered in sticky slime and dangling upside down, Bitan’s head spun.
“Ppuu puu—!”
“Says he’ll forgive you this once, but next time he tickles you if you say it again.”
Plop.
Bitan was set back down on the deck.
The skeleton started doing weird moves with Pupu.
“Now, time for my intro! Pupu! You know!”
“Ppuu—!”
Suddenly, the two broke into a bizarre song and dance.
“Conquering the seas with one ship~ Loyalty!”
“Pupu—!”
“Friendship!”
“Pupu—!”
“Even love!”
“Ppuu—!”
“We’re the great sea men~ Now! Let me introduce the crew of the mighty Sea Man Ship!”
- What… what song is this…
- Not bad though…
- Why’s the chorus so on point?
- Kraken harmonies wtf.
The weird dance and song didn’t stop.
“Helmsman~ Bridon!”
“Ppuu!”
“Whoops! He’s dead!”
“Ppuu…”
“Deckhand~ Malley!”
“Ppupu!”
“Whoopsie! You’re dead too!”
“Ppuu…”
“Cannon master Jenin! Dead, of course!”
“Ppuu!”
And so on, a string of crew names followed.
“Cook… dead… Surgeon… gone… Navigator… dead, right.”
“Ppuuuuugh…”
Bitan watched the skeleton’s dance and song like he was entranced.
“And finally… the captain of the great Sea Man Ship! Du du du…”
Tap tap! Tap tap!
Pupu drummed the deck precisely with its tentacles, mimicking percussion.
“It’s me, Santos!”
【S-Santos!】
“You know me?”
Kang Seol had indeed mentioned Santos’s name back at Raven’s docks.
【No! Never heard of you!】
“Shock!”
Of course, Bitan had been asleep at the time and missed it.
Bitan was now gazing at Santos with sparkling eyes.
“How’s it feel to be aboard the Sea Man Ship!”
【A-Awesome!】
“Puhahaha! Right! Look! Behold the glory of the flex!”
“Ppuu—!”
Santos flexed with both arms, Pupu with both feet. Then Santos jumped in surprise.
“Ah! I don’t have arms to flex with?”
- What a legend just showed up!
- This ain’t gonna be easy…
- Bitan’s getting outshined! Fight, Bitan!
- Wrong! He’s already converted!
【What’s that…】
“Huh? Don’t like it?”
Bitan gave a surprisingly normal reaction to Santos’s antics.
【It’s super cool…】
The viewers misread that.
“Puhahaha, right!?”
【Me too!】
“Hm?”
【Can I do it too?】
“Hmm… I don’t usually allow it…”
【Please! Let me copy it!】
“Ahem…”
Santos’s shoulders lifted a bit at Bitan’s words.
【You’re the coolest guy I’ve ever seen!】
“Ugh…”
A little more.
【I wanna be like you!】
“Kraaaah!”
Santos’s shoulders nearly hit his head.
“Perfect! You pass! Go ahead!”
【Really? For real!? Then…】
Swoosh…
Bitan struck the pose, mimicking Santos perfectly.
【Glory of the flex!】
“Wha! That’s… a flex!?”
【Ah! I don’t have one~】
- Aaaah! We got tricked!
- Thought he had one!
- Ahahaha! Fooled ya!
Even the viewers were starting to enjoy the madness.
“Uahaha! Perfect! Absolutely perfect! What’s your name, sea urchin?”
【Bitan! Bitan!】
“Great name. You can stay on this ship!”
【Ooh!】
“But! You gotta serve this body as captain!”
【Got it, Captain!】
“Bitan! Deck scrubbed!?”
【No!】
“Good! I like a dirty deck! Malley always polished it too shiny—exhausting! You’ve got talent!”
【Thanks!】
“Then the gunpowder? Keeping it dry?”
【This ship has gunpowder?】
“Good! Let’s toss out that unmanly crap! No gunpowder from now on!”
Santos the skeleton seemed truly unhinged.
Yet Bitan sensed something from him—something the still-immature Bitan couldn’t quite articulate.
“Anyway, island ahead while we chat!”
【Island? An island! Where’s that?】
“Dunno!”
【Eh? That’s fine?】
“Dunno that either! So it’s gotta be okay!”
【Ah! Makes sense!】
- Does “the reverse of reverse is truth” apply here?
- Santos School of Philosophy approves.
- Bitan knows this.
And so they arrived at the nameless island.
* * *
Slither…
Pupu vanished into the sea shortly after the ship anchored.
Looked like it was heading far, but it’d return the moment Santos called.
Crackle…
【Why the fire? Skeletons get cold?】
“Nope!”
【Then why…】
“For your friend—it might be cold!”
Santos was kind.
Bitan glanced at the fallen Kang Seol, then told Santos.
【You! I like you!】
“Really? Well! Never met anyone who doesn’t like this Santos!”
【That’s why I’m definitely gonna corrupt you!】
“Huh? Who? Me?”
【Yup!】
Bitan nodded like an excited kid.
“Why?”
【’Cause that’s why Bitan was born!】
“…….”
【…Why? Don’t like it?】
“No! Just surprised—you’re not just a sea urchin?”
【Not a sea urchin! Bitan’s greater than that!】
“Sea urchins are pretty great!”
【R-Really…? That great, huh?】
“Yup!”
Bitan, the guy who snagged a cool-sounding title somehow.
【Then Bitan’s a sea urchin from now on!】
“Great! I dub thee Sea Urchin henceforth!”
【But corrupting you is still real!】
“What! Why?”
【Huh?】
“Hm?”
Bitan fell into brief confusion.
Corruption.
For a demon spirit, it was a near-certain conviction from birth, but he was different from ordinary ones.
Thanks to the power of the pearl—a holy relic left by Fran and Kang Seol and Montral—his innate demonic energy had been diluted.
Thus, this situation.
【Yeah… why?】
“’Cause it’s fun?”
【Uh… what is it… hmm…】
Bitan came up with an answer.
【’Cause that’s why Bitan was born?】
“Born reason…”
【Bitan was born to corrupt someone. Forget that, and Bitan ain’t Bitan anymore? No reason to exist? Right? Everyone’s like that?】
Santos let his rattling jaw go still for a moment.
Then he spoke.
“Nah, no such thing as a reason you were born.”
【Huh?】
“There’s reasons to live, though.”
【Same thing, right?】
“A great sea urchin would get the difference…”
【Got it! Got it, got it! Bitan just understood! They’re different!】
Splashhhh…
At Bitan’s response, Santos spoke brightly again.
“I was actually nobility.”
【Beeh… Liar!】
“True! Heir to a super historic noble house, succession locked in!”
【Doesn’t suit you!】
“Yeah! Thanks!”
If Kang Seol had been awake, he’d have empathized with Santos’s tale.
He knew the skeleton’s life story, after all.
“One day, whole family poisoned.”
【Suddenly?】
“They pinned it on me.”
【No way… You did it?】
“Nope. Loved my family.”
【Family… Bitan’s got none.】
“Really?”
【Yup, really! So what next?】
“Left the fief. Couldn’t take it anymore.”
【That’s running away, right?】
“Yup! Smart cookie?”
【Sea urchin’s gotta be!】
“Tried to die. Seemed easier. Headed to sea—noose too scary, heights hurt.”
【Scaredy-cat?】
“Yup! Total coward!”
【Rookie! You ain’t fit to sail that ship!】
“This a mutiny? Then punishment…”
【Gonna punish?】
“Mutiny?”
【Nah.】
“Then me neither.”
- Uh, sorry to interrupt, but what are you two even talking about?
- Language got emergency patched. Missed the notice? lol
- Sounds like super low-IQ convo.
Santos reminisced about that time.
“Plunged in, splash.”
【Died? That’s why skeleton?】
“Nope! Couldn’t drown—lungs burned!”
【What!】
“Looked around—everyone else peaceful, not me.”
【…Peaceful?】
“Yup. Felt unfair, didn’t wanna die. So I didn’t. Instead, burned with passion in my chest. That’s when Sea Man Santos was born!”
【Strong… passion?】
“Yeah, like a dream.”
【What’s Santos’s dream?】
Swoosh…
Santos shot up, pointing at the sea.
“Owning the ocean!”
【Possible?】
“Only seawater cools this Sea Man Santos’s burning heart!”
【Ooh…】
“Bitan got a dream?”
【…Nah?】
“Think now.”
Bitan squinted, pondered, pointed at Kang Seol.
【Corrupting this guy?】
“Nope! Lame!”
【Gotta be cool?】
“Yup! Sea Man Ship crew all got cool dreams! You do too!”
Bitan tilted his head, gave another answer.
【…Becoming an even cooler sea urchin?】
“Perfect!”
- I’m out.
- Wake up, Snowman! Wake up, Snowman! Wake up, Snowman!
- On Bitan the demon becoming the ultimate sea urchin…
Santos praised Bitan’s hasty dream, but Bitan’s face wasn’t bright.
Noticing, Santos asked.
“What’s wrong?”
【Just… hate it…】
“Hate what?”
【Don’t know my dream. Dream’s reason to live, right? Bitan’s got none.】
“Hahaha! Easy fix! Dreams don’t gotta be grand! Start small—they grow! What do you want most right now?”
【What I want now…】
“Yup! Short-term dream! Sea men chase close ones first!”
Bitan glanced at Kang Seol.
Kept nagging at him, over and over.
“…Worried ’bout your friend?”
【Not friend… This guy I gotta corrupt…】
“…….”
【Was a person… Now just close?】
“Bitan, what do you want?”
【…Want this guy to wake up.】
“And?”
The fairy yanking his cheeks, the smart spirit making dizzy faces when spoken to, the human who petted him sometimes.
Bitan sorted his thoughts and realized.
【Captain!】
“Yeah.”
【Bitan’s got family. Remembered!】
“Really?”
【Yup! Bitan’s family’s in here!】
Bitan pointed at Kang Seol.
Santos didn’t quite get it but nodded anyway.
“Then what Bitan wants…”
【Back to… noisy again! Sometimes too noisy… But…】
“But?”
【When everyone’s noisy, naps come easy! Bitan likes that!】
Santos thrust his right arm skyward.
“Great! Let’s make Bitan’s short-term dream come true!”
【Yeah!】
“But you gotta help mine first!”
【Captain’s short-term dream?】
Santos’s bright vibe vanished.
【Captain?】
“Get my crew… back.”
【That’s it?】
“Yeah. More precious than owning the sea right now.”
【Then we gotta do it! How?】
“Help me?”
【Yup!】
“Sweet. Truth is, this ship was headed there from the start!”
【There?】
“Yeah! Where my crew is.”
【Where’s that?】
The Sea Man Ship crew, souls stolen by Vitona.
Santos alone escaped, body sans soul.
He planned to return.
To the soul harvester, Vitona.
“Alfrina Strait.”
To the Alfrina Strait, where she awaited.