Chapter 49

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 49

Chapter Title: Underwater Garden Melip (6)

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After entrusting the materials to the tunnel bug not long ago, Cheisi obtained a dagger with a crimson blade.

It had an attack power of 90 even without any inscriptions. The stats were quite satisfying.

Of course, that wasn't what mattered right now.

"...For now, the performance is just as I expected."

Cheisi threw the dagger at the rooftop of one of the buildings in Meglanapheete.

As soon as the dagger embedded itself, her body was pulled toward it. That was the Hook Dagger's ability.

"The 3-minute cooldown is a bit long, but I can use it right after an ambush for two consecutive moves."

Ambush was instant teleportation, but with a short range. The Hook Dagger covered a longer distance but pulled her body along. There were differences between the two, but either way, they were dash skills. Acquiring two dash abilities was an enormous gain.

"...With this, I'll try skipping Oolian once."

On top of that, she might be able to slip past the massive jellyfish blocking the ceiling of the Underwater Garden by making use of them.

Cheisi changed her stream title.

The viewer count had already reached 110,000.

It was a record high.

Rumors of what Cheisi was about to attempt spread quickly among the players.

"The elite monster in the Underwater Garden? Don't you have to fight through it?"

"She's skipping Oolian?"

"How?"

Players unaware of the situation logged into Abyss out of curiosity, thinking she was trying to find a new area.

Those who had a rough idea were already waiting in Cheisi's stream.

'Something big is coming.'

Cheisi's method, as explained in the stream, was unique but convincing. The thought that it might actually work filled everyone with anticipation.

[Abyss LIVE]

Stream Title: [Skipping the Lv.30 Elite Monster to Find a New Area]

Streamer: Cheisi

Players flocked to the stream at the top of Abyss's rankings.

Even before Cheisi had reached the Underwater Garden, the viewer count had broken 110,000—and it kept climbing steeply.

Countless players' eyes were focused on the cat-eared girl in the stream.

Cheisi equipped Walk in the Water and opened the warp menu.

After warping to the Underwater Garden entrance, she swam toward Oolian blocking the ceiling.

Using Ambush let her glimpse the underside of Oolian's cap for a split second.

It looked taut, ready to burst at any moment, but when her body made contact, the geometric patterns on the cap glowed blue, and she passed right through.

"It's basically phasing into an ethereal state. No mention of it in the info window, though."

Cheisi recalled the elite monsters she'd faced so far and let out a small sigh.

"...Unfriendly enemies aren't anything new."

Some abilities were listed in the info, others weren't. She had no idea what the criteria were.

Cheisi chalked it up to one of Oolian's abilities and left it at that.

'Well, I'm not fighting it, so no need to worry.'

She muttered while staring at Oolian.

"Not sure if it'll work, but let's give it a shot."

Looking up at Oolian, she activated Ambush.

In an instant, Cheisi was teleported above Oolian's cap. Sensing something on its head, the patterns on the cap glowed blue.

If she stayed still, she'd fall back to the Underwater Garden. Before that, she had to throw the Hook Dagger anywhere.

It would pull her along before the dagger could fall.

That was Cheisi's plan to skip Oolian using the Hook Dagger and Ambush.

But when she actually tried it, her body started falling before the dagger even embedded.

"Uwaaack!"

Cheisi's body passed through Oolian and plummeted downward.

'Yup, the speed is slo—uwheeeek...'

The moment she thought the dagger was flying too slowly, she felt a pulling force.

The Hook Dagger had belatedly embedded somewhere and was dragging her in.

'B-but Oolian's in the way...'

Cheisi's body sank deep into Oolian.

Oolian, caught between the Hook Dagger and Cheisi, was interfering with her movement.

With her cheek rubbing against Oolian's taut skin, Cheisi felt her body inching along bit by bit.

It wasn't voluntary. The Hook Dagger was pulling her, so her body was being dragged while pressed tight against Oolian.

"Uwaaaaaack!"

Cheisi saw Oolian's tentacles drawing near.

The same tentacles that had instantly killed Yuwol. Instant death on contact.

"Ambush...!"

She tried calling out the skill name, planning to Ambush past Oolian again.

All she got in response was the cold cooldown notice.

"I-I'm gonna die...!"

-Bye.

-She's gone.

-See ya in an hour bb

The viewers had already given up, assuming death.

Cheisi summoned an item from her inventory.

'C-can't the Explosive Marshmallow work somehow?'

The Explosive Marshmallow exploded even underwater. She hurled it at the approaching tentacle, and the blast pushed her body back slightly.

-? How?

-Dodging like that?????

-What an idea lololololol

-She survived ㄷㄷ

The viewers, certain she was done for, were stunned.

"...I survived, so celebrate a little!"

Cheisi shouted as she pulled out another Explosive Marshmallow from her inventory.

Discovering that Explosive Marshmallows could dodge tentacles was a huge find.

'If I keep using Explosive Marshmallows to hold out until Ambush's cooldown is up...'

But there was a problem.

She was still being forcibly dragged cheek-to-cheek against Oolian by the dagger's effect.

Touching a tentacle meant instant death.

She could dodge with Explosive Marshmallows, but the blast's recoil drained her health heavily.

She had spare potions from Yorong and newly restocked ones to recover for now, but potions had usage limits, so she couldn't keep this up forever...

"..."

Cheisi realized something crucial. It was after throwing six Explosive Marshmallows and desperately downing a sixth potion.

"...This doesn't count as combat."

Potions could only be used up to five times in combat.

But this bizarre situation didn't register as combat, letting her exceed the limit.

Grinding her teeth and burning through potions and Explosive Marshmallows mercilessly, Cheisi activated Ambush the instant its cooldown ended.

As she teleported above Oolian's head, the dagger pulled her body.

"Guh, kehack... Uwaaaack..."

A white hand extended toward Cheisi, who was coughing and sprawled against the building wall.

"♬~?"

Cheisi looked up.

A person stood before her.

No. Not a person. A beautiful woman draped in blue cloth, smiling gently with pink eyes reminiscent of cherry blossoms.

'An NPC?'

Cheisi soon realized the woman before her was neither player nor NPC.

A monster.

And a legendary-grade one at that.

'Doesn't seem hostile, though...'

Cheisi took the woman's outstretched hand.

"~♪."

The woman let out a soft, joyful sound.

Melip guided Cheisi into one of the buildings.

The interior was empty. Frames and wooden furniture had all decayed away.

What surprised Cheisi was that this hollow shell of a building was the Bard Guild. She never imagined the Bard Guild she'd been searching for would look like this.

The siren led her to the guild counter and gazed at her with pleading eyes.

A quest window appeared.

She must be desperately lonely—no objective even listed.

"...Looks like accepting it completes it right away. Bard, huh..."

-Bard?

-Kinda meh...

-Honestly sucks.

The viewers didn't seem thrilled about the Bard job.

Cheisi wasn't drawn to it either.

"♪~♬-!"

Melip looked pitiful, clasping her hands and gazing desperately.

'I wanted a combat job if possible.'

Ideally, one that used daggers. Something that maximized her strengths.

"Um, I don't want Bard. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Plus, I can't just stay in one place..."

Cheisi spoke in a troubled voice.

"♪..."

Melip grabbed Cheisi's hand tightly.

The job description appeared before Cheisi's eyes.

Pretty persistent.

Cheisi thought, looking at Melip whose eyes seemed to beg her to become a Bard.

'...I need a combat job.'

Cheisi declined the Bard job change quest.

"♪......"

Melip's face fell sharply.

She drooped her head in gloom.

A quest window popped up again before Cheisi.

The description was oddly vague, and the reward ambiguous. It felt like an Easter egg. "Might improve" instead of "will improve"?

Yet seeing the thoroughly dejected siren made it feel like an essential reward.

Cheisi accepted the quest and rummaged through dusty boxes and drawers in the Bard Guild.

A few trivial ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠books, one crafting sheet, and one sheet with musical notes.

"Jellyfish Umbrella?"

An item of unknown use. Maybe for rainy days?

Checking the crafting sheet, Cheisi was appalled by the materials.

"Whoa, whoa... Where did this idea even come from?"

Two unfamiliar materials. And it required a Jellyfish Cap from Oolian, no less.

"This means hunt Oolian, right?"

-lololol how even

-Impossible.

"...Yeah. Doesn't seem usable right now."

Hunting Oolian immediately was impossible. With its absurd recovery passive, no strategy came to mind no matter how hard she thought.

Unless there was another way to get the Jellyfish Cap, but as a drop item, the Jellyfish Umbrella wasn't craftable yet.

'Monsters can give quests too, huh.'

News to her.

Cheisi brought Song: Melody that Calls the Rain to Melip.

The siren took the sheet, scanned it expressionlessly for a moment, then closed her eyes and opened her mouth.