Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Underwater Garden Melrip (5)
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Cheisi looked around her surroundings.
A small space filled with jagged rocks came into view.
Embedded in spots among the rocks were brilliant red ores. It was exactly those ores she had guessed were red kallium ore.
She had successfully slipped into the space beneath the smeltery floor using Ambush, taking advantage of a brief glimpse.
"This actually worked...?"
She had thought it might be possible, but actually pulling it off left her feeling a bit dazed.
-What the heck lololol
-We can just go in, right...?
Cheisi spotted a small box nestled between the rocks.
Opening it revealed a single potion inside.
｢Lowest-Grade Potion for Adventurers｣
Attack +1
Defense +1
"...Tasty."
Cheisi had skipped all the side quests, focusing solely on discovering new areas. She had achieved the unparalleled feat of three area-discovery titles, but her stats often fell short when it mattered.
So, any chance to boost her stats was always welcome.
Cheisi pulled out the Lowest-Grade Potion for Adventurers and opened her status window.
Her defense had only risen through level-up rewards, and without weapon attack factored in, her attack was barely higher than her defense.
"What are open beta users' stats like right now?"
Curious after checking her own, Cheisi asked her viewers.
-Gear aside, atk/def around 50?
-Sounds about right?
"...Huh?"
Even with the level gap, her stats were lower.
-Side quest grinding is a slog, but it boosts stats a ton.
-Some guy's pure attack build hit 55 atk.
-Open beta users are around lv10-11 too.
"...Hmm."
Memories of her journey so far flashed through Cheisi's mind. Making riebpstar skewers, watching the meteor shower...
She had definitely overlooked growth a bit, but she hadn't expected her stats to be outpaced even at higher levels.
"F-First, let's down this..."
Cheisi quickly gulped the lowest-grade adventurer's potion.
Attack has increased by 1.
Defense has increased by 1.
Her stats had ticked up a little, but she was still behind other open beta users.
"Getting the hook dagger should cover attack power at least. The rest... hmm..."
Exploring new areas first let her snag good items ahead of others—a clear advantage. Plus, she had that level 15 restricted dagger crafting scroll from the Underwater Garden.
That might push her attack beyond others, but vitality and defense remained concerns.
"Well... nothing's been blocked by stats so far!"
Cheisi decided to stay positive. Breaking through new areas wasn't about numbers on a status screen. As long as she wasn't too low to compensate with cooking or weapons, it was fine.
And vitality/defense could be covered by dynamic vision. Her unique Ambush skill helped with both evasion and offense right now.
'No need to worry too much.'
Cheisi's gaze shifted to the jagged, hexagonal red ore protruding sharply.
｢Red Kallium Ore｣
Now close enough, she could finally check its info.
"...Good thing."
Cheisi breathed a sigh of relief.
This was one of the materials for the hook dagger: red kallium ore.
Her guess had panned out. If it wasn't, she'd have wandered Megra Napit for nothing.
After confirming the red kallium ore, Cheisi pulled an explosive marshmallow fish from her inventory.
The description mentioned vulnerability to explosions, so her thoughts went straight there.
-Won't it just turn to dust if you blow it up?
"It's fine."
There was a legendary monster right above that turns ore dust into ingots.
Cheisi used the explosive marshmallow fish to trigger small blasts on the ore, grinding it into dust, then collected every bit.
After diligently gathering the dust, her viewers were distracted elsewhere.
-But what's that over there?
-Not a wall?
"Where?"
Cheisi followed the lens monster's gaze.
Deep darkness shrouded the area.
"...Oh, that's not a shadow."
Approaching the shrouded spot, Cheisi was genuinely surprised.
It looked like a shadowed wall at a glance. But it wasn't a wall.
She had overlooked it despite it being in view—turns out a viewer had spotted it.
"I can go inside."
She tested by sticking her hand into the darkness first, confirming nothing happened, then stepped in.
After three or four steps, her vision went pitch black in an instant.
A bad memory surfaced, panicking her briefly, but seeing the chat and UI clearly let her relax.
Her other senses were fine too. Just her field of view was blocked.
｢Debuff Status｣
Blindness state: You cannot see ahead.
"Blindness...?"
As doubt crept in, a eerie shriek echoed.
Kiyaaaaak!
Then, the sound of something scraping the ground as it charged.
The noise grew louder.
'...!'
In the total blackness, Cheisi felt something rake past her and stumbled back in shock.
Exiting the darkness lifted the blindness immediately.
Looking at her remaining vitality, Cheisi couldn't help but be stunned.
"...Whoa."
Only 10% left.
One attack had shaved off 90%. She might have died right there otherwise.
"Something's definitely inside."
Cheisi turned to the lens monster.
The perfect scout for this.
Tooou!
The lens monster let out a fearful cry. But it had no allies here.
-I'll head in real quick.
-Not like we're actually in danger anyway.
Viewers often identified with the lens monster due to shared vision. But no one tried stopping Cheisi from sending it into the dark.
"Just go straight in."
Tooou...
The lens monster flapped into the darkness.
Soon, another strange cry rang out.
Kiyaaaaak!
The lens monster sounded panicked too.
Tooou...!
Moments later, it resummoned on Cheisi's shoulder.
It perched on her shoulder, unable to move or steady its wings. Looked like it had died once.
"What'd you see?"
She asked expectantly, but got disappointing replies.
-Couldn't see shit;
-Blind debuff hits us too apparently.
The debuff applied to the lens monster too, so viewers saw nothing.
"...Guess we can't go there without dealing with the Blindness somehow."
Even with Ambush or the hook dagger, no vision meant nothing.
She considered charging in blindly for a title, but doubted that's how it worked.
Besides, she had her eyes on something else: skipping the Giant Jellyfish Oolian. With materials gathered, she didn't want a death penalty.
"I'll pin it on the map."
Cheisi opened her map, marked the spot, and added a note. She'd return once she could counter blindness.
With all the red kallium ore dust collected, Cheisi headed back to the crevice.
"...Anyone wanna swap into view?"
Using Ambush on a blacksmith user pulled her body back into the smeltery.
"How'd you do that?"
The blacksmith users all stared in shock.
"Got a good skill."
Cheisi gave a curt reply. Curious folks could watch her stream or clips.
Handing the gathered red kallium ore dust to Megra Napit, she waited for ingots—and a thought struck her.
'Does the Underwater Garden have a legendary monster too?'
Every place she'd visited had one.
Runein Village was the only exception, but she hadn't fully explored it—lv200 monsters blocked other paths, leaving the docks as the only exit.
But no legendary here.
'...Feels like there's still a secret.'
Lost in trivial musings, soon several dark red ingots appeared.
"This should be enough."
The blacksmith users watched enviously as Cheisi got the red kallium ingots, clearly coveting the new material.
One stepped forward hesitantly.
"Um, could you lend me just one ingot? I wanna check what gear it makes!"
Cheisi happily handed a red kallium ingot to Earthworm.
Earthworm blinked in confusion.
"...Y-You're just giving it?"
"Got an extra anyway."
She needed five; got six. She could sell it, but hated passing up someone who needed it.
"...Thank you! I'll repay this kindness!"
As Earthworm bowed deeply, Cheisi remembered the crafting scroll needed a blacksmith and asked,
"Got forging skills?"
"Y-Yes, of course! Learned 'em on job change!"
"Could you make this dagger then?"
"You're trusting me with crafting?!"
Earthworm shouted in surprise.
"...Call me anytime, and Earthworm will come running!"
Cheisi, no blacksmith, didn't know—but blacksmiths did: job skills and proficiency existed, and first-time high-level weapon crafts gave massive proficiency.
A lv15 weapon was a huge boon for them.
Earthworm knew it well.
'S-She's a total godcat...!'
Earthworm basked in the obvious truth that cats beat dogs, deeply moved.
Meanwhile, Cheisi pondered what to do after getting the dagger.
'Wonder if I can skip Oolian.'
If the dagger performed as expected, probably.
'Guess I'll find out when I try.'
News of Cheisi using Ambush to enter beneath Megra Napit's smeltery shook the playerbase.
They knew of the skill, but never imagined this use.
"Skills can do that?"
"Bug?"
As bug accusations flew, criticizing Cheisi, developer Kang Yoo-hyun stepped in.
"Impressive skill usage by that player. Fully intended."
No-bug declaration. Ariant World communities buzzed with Ambush talk.
[How do you get Ambush?]
Nobody knows
Not revealed yet
Then how'd that player get it?
Got it playing a game with an NPC, but one-time reward so others can't.
Trash game...
Other acquisition methods exist. Nobody knows yet tho.
It wasn't just communities. Cheisi's clip of Ambush-ing into the hidden space hit Moby Dick instantly, racking up views.
Overseas players buzzed about Ambush too—the ripple was massive.
Videos of how she got Ambush surged in views.
One NPC suffered amid it all.
"Damn it, no more skillbooks!"
Scammer Algeo—the guy who'd once tried conning Cheisi with rock dogs—faced endless players.
No matter how he yelled he had no more skillbooks, they kept coming.
"Stop visiting already!"
But player obsession with Ambush lingered, forcing Algeo to flee and tear his hair until interest finally died down.