Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: "You're the Firstborn?"
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"You're the firstborn?"
"Yes."
Hae-jin stared at the mermaid prince in disbelief.
He was more than a little surprised.
The one who had guided him here was claiming to be the firstborn prince.
He had no choice but to react that way.
Hae-jin possessed information based on Joo-hyuk's memories from countless regressions.
But according to that information—and Hae-jin's own intel—the firstborn prince of the mermaid kingdom wasn't this guy.
With that in mind, Hae-jin glanced around.
And that's when he saw it.
[But no, the firstborn is that guy?]
A gaze directed toward Hae-jin.
The end point of that gaze led to a mermaid prince standing beside the Grand Sorcerer.
That was definitely him.
In Joo-hyuk's memories, the firstborn prince of the mermaid kingdom.
Even though Joo-hyuk had tried all sorts of things, changing the island he stayed on and being guided by various mermaid princes, the firstborn was always the one next to the Grand Sorcerer.
Yet suddenly, the mermaid prince who had guided him was claiming to be the firstborn.
What was this about?
In the process, Hae-jin picked up one more piece of information.
The mermaids who came to the Trials' Arena in the tenth trial were system-assigned to match the player's gender.
[The Grand Sorcerer's male, huh? So he met a prince too.]
In truth, the Grand Sorcerer was a peculiar figure when you thought about it.
Everything about him was shrouded in mystery.
If there was one person about whom Joo-hyuk had no information despite all those regressions, it was him.
And then Hae-jin realized something odd.
"Huh?"
What Hae-jin noticed was none other than...
[The gender of the escort mermaids attached as guards keeps changing?]
Having confirmed that the Grand Sorcerer's escort was male, Hae-jin reflected on Joo-hyuk's memories and felt astonishment.
The gender of the mermaid beside the Grand Sorcerer had been switching constantly.
[What the...?]
As he pondered this, the mermaid prince asked Hae-jin.
"Shall we proceed, then?"
The mermaid prince was saying he'd go fetch his father, the Mermaid King, and his mother, the Mermaid Queen.
Hae-jin waved him off dismissively.
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Yes."
After that, the mermaid prince went off to summon his parents, the Mermaid King and Mermaid Queen. Meanwhile, Hae-jin's companions approached him.
Kwon Na-ye was the first to speak.
"First time seeing you in the Trials' Arena, right?"
"Yeah. Our zones only merged recently."
"By the way, why did your escort mermaid head into the palace?"
Lee Sang, whom he'd met in the Trials' Arena, skipped the pleasantries and got straight to gathering intel.
He was asking why the mermaid prince assigned to Hae-jin had entered the royal palace.
Hae-jin explained.
"Oh, he says he's the firstborn."
"The firstborn?"
"Yeah, the firstborn prince."
Lee Sang nodded in understanding upon hearing that the mermaid prince who had guided Hae-jin was the firstborn.
"Ah, so that's why the firstborn prince went to fetch the king and queen himself."
"Exactly."
Lee Sang spoke up as they were told the Mermaid King and Queen would arrive soon.
"Hmm. Wonder how we'll handle the war with the mermen."
This trial in the arena involved helping the mermaids fight a war against the mermen.
Hae-jin responded to Lee Sang, who was mulling over the strategy.
"Well, it won't be much different from fighting on land. The mermaids will provide support since they can battle on the surface. Fire attributes will be weakened a bit, though, so stick to water or wind for melee, and use targeted lightning magic to deal heavy damage to the mermen."
"Hmm, just as I figured."
Hae-jin had given a brief rundown before entering this trial about how the battles would go, but not the fine details.
You could fight normally with mermaid support anyway.
Lee Sang had thought there'd be no issues after hearing Hae-jin's explanation, but when it turned out they'd be fighting deep underwater, he'd asked for confirmation.
There had been some unease, but now he felt confident just following the plan.
They were wrapping up their brief chat when a mermaid soldier at the entrance to the mermaid palace shouted.
"His Majesty and Her Majesty are entering!"
At the cry, the mermaid princess and prince who had guided Kwon Na-ye and Lee Sang approached and spoke.
"Hero, please return to your position."
"Hero, we need to go back to ours too."
"Ah, got it."
"Very well."
At the words of the guiding mermaid princess and prince, Kwon Na-ye and Lee Sang returned to their original spots.
Just as they did, the doors to the mermaid palace swung open.
Creaaaaak—!
Out emerged the Mermaid King and Mermaid Queen, far larger than any mermaids Hae-jin had seen so far.
Seeing their massive builds, Hae-jin recalled information inherited from Joo-hyuk.
[Mermaids inherit power upon becoming king or queen, which makes them grow that huge.]
Recalling that as he watched them quietly.
The pair who had just exited the palace.
The mermaid prince who had guided Hae-jin was in front of the Mermaid King and Queen, and he returned to Hae-jin's side.
No, that wasn't all.
Hae-jin had expected the Mermaid King to step out and give a speech, but he followed his firstborn prince straight to Hae-jin.
Then the Mermaid King approached and looked down at Hae-jin.
Hae-jin thought.
[Did that punk rat me out to his dad after all?]
Considering the Mermaid King's reaction, Hae-jin pondered his next move.
[If he sides with his son and tries something, I'll have no choice but to fight...]
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, the Mermaid King bowed his head in formal respect.
"I greet the Ruler."
The Mermaid King bowed to Hae-jin.
At that, the Mermaid Queen, who had been watching warily, and even the mermaid prince who had been rude to Hae-jin and gotten beaten for it, followed suit.
"Huh?"
Everyone around was caught off guard.
How could they not be?
With those enormous bodies, the Mermaid King and Queen were bowing to Hae-jin—who could stay calm at such a sight?
Only Hae-jin understood the situation.
[The achievement I got from Joo-hyuk must have kicked in.]
With that thought, Hae-jin spoke.
"Raise your heads, King."
Normally, you'd use honorifics for a king, but Hae-jin knew his position as the superior Ruler of the Seas.
That achievement had come from Joo-hyuk, who had been the Leader.
So Hae-jin couldn't casually downplay it just to play nice.
The reverence they showed Hae-jin was honor originally due to Joo-hyuk.
Thus, he chose not to feign humility and remained a being above even the mermaids' king.
As Hae-jin told him to raise his head, the Mermaid King did so.
Hae-jin asked him.
"But worshiping me isn't what you need to be doing right now, is it? Let's get to business."
"Understood, Ruler."
With that, the Mermaid King stood.
Once upright, the Mermaid King said.
"Then we'll return to our positions."
"Go ahead."
"Yes."
The Mermaid King returned to his spot and began his address to the players and mermaids.
"Thank you all for gathering! As you know, the mermen have kidnapped our princes and princesses. We'll rescue them if they're alive or avenge them if they're dead. And to the heroes who came to aid us, I offer my thanks! Especially to those heroes who captured the merman who kidnapped our princes and princesses and fled into hiding—I thank you all the more!"
Having explained the reason for the gathering and addressed the players summoned as heroes, the Mermaid King raised his trident high.
"Now, to war!"
"Woooooooh!"
The mermaids roared in response to the Mermaid King's call.
Afterward, the mermaid firstborn prince, who had been between the Mermaid King and Queen, approached Hae-jin.
"Ruler."
"Hey, Ruler."
"P-Please forgive my past transgressions... I've already been duly punished..."
The mermaid firstborn prince seemed to have grasped his situation upon realizing Hae-jin's status.
Hae-jin smirked at him.
"Forget it. I'm heading out on my own."
"Pardon?"
The mermaid firstborn prince looked puzzled at Hae-jin's words.
Ignoring him, Hae-jin moved immediately.
"See ya."
With that, Hae-jin shot off swiftly.
Seeing this, the mermaid firstborn prince stared in bewilderment.
"What the heck...?"
It was absurd that a human like Hae-jin moved more freely underwater than they mermaids did.
Nor was he the only one shocked.
The gathered mermaids, players, and even the Mermaid King himself—the master of this place—were stunned by Hae-jin's movement.
But they couldn't delay, so the Mermaid King hurriedly called out.
"Alright! Let's move out!"
"Mooove oooout!"
At the Mermaid King's command to depart, the players boarded the chariots pulled by their assigned mermaids and set off.
Thus began the main mission of this tenth trial in the arena: the war of 'Mermaids vs. Mermen.'
"Hmm, made it."
Hae-jin, who had moved faster than anyone.
He had already arrived at the merman palace.
Looking down from atop the merman palace, Hae-jin thought.
[Usually, only survivors of this war make it to the next trial...]
How to survive the tenth trial in the arena.
It was simple: help the mermaid kingdom win the war against the mermen.
If this trial aimed to halve the survivor count, it would have split players into mermaid and merman factions like the orc-human war.
But this time, all players were allied with the mermaids.
In other words, as long as everyone survived the mermaid-merman war, full survival was possible.
For all players in Hae-jin's current zone.
Hae-jin knew exactly how to maximize those odds.
[The best way to turn the enemy into a disorganized mob is to take their commander's head.]
Take the enemy commander's head.
No force was weaker than one deprived of its leader.
Especially if that leader was the king—the very reason and goal of their war?
The merman kingdom's denizens would surely question whether to keep fighting.
[Of course, they'd realize lives were on the line and resume the war anyway.]
The Mermaid King wasn't just kidnapped by the mermen—he had lost family to them, fueling his intent to wipe them from the seas.
From the mermen's perspective, refusing to fight wouldn't save them, so they'd battle on.
Some might flee, of course.
[But the Mermaid King executed every one he caught.]
Recalling the flow of this trial, Hae-jin spoke.
"For full survival, shall we start by taking out the Merman King?"
Intending to deal with the Merman King, Hae-jin didn't enter the merman kingdom.
He closed his eyes.
Immediately, Hae-jin sensed it.
The auras of living beings within the merman kingdom.
Among them, he pinpointed the one with the largest aura.
Opening his eyes, Hae-jin declared.
"There you are, Chaos Cross!"