Chapter 106: 10-Quad. How to Make a Radar
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 106: 10-Quad. How to Make a Radar
Once I realized this map also featured a Blue Zone, I kept a constant watch on the map, never letting my guard down.
Unlike the Blue Dragon from the previous game, this Blue Zone was on an entirely different level; getting caught in it meant an immediate game over.
Days passed as we took the shortest routes possible, doing our best to avoid the islands. Since the incident with the Haesujeong, no enemies had specifically come to attack us.
"Passing 150," Jeong Su-hwa briefed.
The team members habitually glanced in that direction, but there was no tension or preparation for battle. We frequently passed enemies in the distance who went their own way, looking at us with total indifference. Since neither side showed aggression, it didn't stir much emotion.
When we encountered enemies in the distance, we would often turn our prow away to signal that we had no intention of attacking. Consequently, battles didn't break out as often as one might expect.
As stars began to appear in the night sky, looking as if they might come pouring down, Li-min—who had stopped the ship and dropped anchor—stretched his limbs.
"Uuuugh! Manning the helm all day is quite the chore."
"Good work. Get some rest."
It had long been decided that Li-min, who handled the ship's navigation, would be exempt from watch duty.
Watching Li-min enter the tent pitched on the deck, Seo-un climbed the mast to survey the surroundings. Nam Sa-gwang climbed up beside him and spoke.
"We should arrive tomorrow."
"If nothing goes wrong."
"I'm telling you this in advance: conveying the insights of Aura techniques isn't difficult, but digesting them is entirely up to the individual's ability."
Seo-un retorted without missing a beat.
"The same goes for the Insights of the Mad Demon. How much one can digest is purely a matter of individual talent."
"I know."
Nam Sa-gwang turned his head away from Seo-un's gaze, his eyes suddenly sparkling.
"That... it looks like it's coming this way."
Seo-un nodded.
Confirming a swarm of something noisily cutting through the calm, moonlit sea toward them, Seo-un gave the order.
"Everyone, battle stations!"
At those words, the team members resting in the tent rushed out and took their positions. Among them, Ju-riel, who identified the strange creatures approaching from afar, quickly briefed the team.
"It's Sirens! Mirror Silence!"
Finishing her casting simultaneously with the briefing, she swung her staff, and a sensation of deafness washed over everyone.
Seo-un, jumping down to the deck, asked her, "What kind of magic is that?"
"It's magic that blocks out external sound."
Lyle stepped in to provide further explanation.
"From what I've heard, Sirens are demi-human monsters. They use sound to disturb a person's spirit, dragging them into the sea to devour them."
By now, the Sirens had swarmed near the Caravel, poking their upper bodies out of the water, gesturing and playing innocently.
At the sight of such breathtaking beauties, the eyes of every man on board were drawn to the Sirens frolicking near the ship. It wasn't just female Sirens, either. From slender, bishonen-like Sirens to muscular, ruggedly masculine ones, they were all beckoning to the team members on the Caravel.
Dump, the simplest of the lot, was the first to speak.
"They're monsters surrounded by nothing but rumors. Maybe they aren't as sinister as the stories say."
"Yeah. Maybe we should try lifting the magic for a moment..."
Li-min also chimed in, captivated by the innocent appearance of the beautiful Sirens. Ju-riel shook her head, looking at the two of them with pity.
"We martial artists aren't so weak that our spirits would be shaken so easily," Nam Sa-gwang added.
Seo-un finally spoke up. "Well, I wonder if they drop good items?"
"They might. No, there's a high possibility."
With items on his mind, Seo-un asked Ju-riel, "Ju-riel, what's the hunting difficulty for those things?"
"I haven't faced Sirens myself. However, rumors say that the warriors of the Tawa Empire hunt them without much trouble."
After staring at them with a contemplative gaze for a moment, Seo-un gave the order.
"Lift the magic and prepare to attack."
He gave the order while preparing to dive into the water to kill them if necessary. Ju-riel sighed and canceled the magic.
— Kyahaha! You sillies! What are you doing?
— Come down! Let's play together.
Seo-un's expression hardened as he watched the Sirens gesturing and playfully squirting seawater like water guns. He had never imagined it would be possible to communicate with normal monsters.
Dump looked like he was itching to strip off his armor and dive into the sea right then and there.
"Ju-just for a little bit should be fine."
Seeing him starting to unfasten his pauldrons, Seo-un smacked him on the back of the head.
"Get a grip. You can barely even swim."
"Ah..."
The Sirens were beautiful enough to make Dump lose his mind. From those boasting voluptuous figures to those like slender maidens, there were enough types to satisfy any preference. It was understandable why a man's eyes would wander.
"Hey. Merfolk. Why did you approach us?"
Honestly, Seo-un didn't ask expecting a straight answer. It was a casual remark thrown out to check their aggression and see how much communication was possible.
— Heehee, because there's a friend like us here. Tell him to come out quickly.
— We heard it all from our sea friends. They said a wonderful man was on this ship.
— You guys come down too. We don't attack friends of friends. Let's play~
Hearing the bright words of the Sirens, Seo-un finally understood exactly why they had come.
It was because of him.
It seemed a passing fish had seen him transform into a merman to attack an enemy ship.
These guys can even talk to fish.
Several thoughts flashed through Seo-un's mind.
"You really won't hurt us?"
— Of course. We're good at lying, but we don't lie to friends. Heehee.
"Dump. Go play."
Dump, who had been twisting his body and looking at the Sirens in ecstasy, threw off his armor at those words. Watching him dive into the sea in a hurry, fearing Seo-un might change his mind, Ju-riel wore a worried expression.
"It could be dangerous."
"On the contrary, it could be an opportunity."
At Seo-un's words, a look of expectation appeared on Ju-riel's face.
"You have something in mind?"
"Watching enemy ships get swept away in the Turbulent Sea regions, I wondered why not a single common fish gets caught in that chaos."
Ju-riel's face brightened instantly. "But if Dump gets hurt..."
"We'll just fish him out and save him."
Ju-riel started to frown at Seo-un for so casually risking a comrade's life for information, but after seeing Dump looking so happy with the Sirens in the water, she simply nodded and accepted it.
"Oops! My hand slipped. Hehehe. I'm not used to swimming. Khehehe."
— Heehee. You naughty human.
The three female team members shook their heads as they watched Dump paddling through the water with a look of pure bliss.
— Beautiful ladies. Join us.
Sirens boasting sculpted bodies, ranging from pretty boys to those exuding raw masculinity, beckoned to the female team members. Even to a man's eyes, their beauty was extraordinary.
However, the women seemed entirely uninterested.
When Li-min and Nam Sa-gwang also dove into the water after confirming Dump was safe and happy, the laughter of the Sirens became incessant.
"Men, honestly," Gi-chan remarked.
Seo-un looked at him, surprised. "Aren't you going in?"
"Not really. I don't like water that much. And it doesn't seem appropriate for a minor to be hanging out with naked Sirens."
"That's unexpected."
When Seo-un spoke his mind, Gi-chan replied as if it were nothing.
"I've been to more pool parties than I can count. I'm sick of being pestered by older girls."
At his words, an image of Gi-chan surrounded by women in bikinis at a pool party flashed through Seo-un's mind.
"Ugh... how annoying."
"Pardon?"
Ignoring the wide-eyed Gi-chan, Seo-un gripped the railing and turned his gaze back to the sea, having once again blurted out his inner thoughts.
It was because the laughter had suddenly cut off, replaced by a sharp surge of killing intent.
— Kyahaaaa!
The beautiful Sirens' teeth grew sharp, and their pupils slit vertically, turning fierce.
Thinking they had finally shown their true colors, Seo-un began sending Internal Power to his fingertips, but the direction of the Sirens' hostility was strange.
The Sirens were agitated and projecting intense malice toward the side opposite the ship. Judging by how the Sirens moved to block the path in front of the team members, shielding Dump, Li-min, and Nam Sa-gwang behind them, it didn't seem like they intended to attack the team.
— Get back on the ship, quickly!
Instead of their beautiful voices, a Siren screamed in a grating, cracked, and hoarse voice.
"What's coming?"
In response to Seo-un's shouted question, one Siren yelled back.
— Sewer Sharks!
Simultaneously with the answer, a shark with a massive maw leaped out of the sea, clutching a screaming Siren in its mouth.
To call it a simple shark was an understatement; its appearance was grotesque. Though it clearly had the body of a shark, it had human arms and legs attached to it—a sight that went beyond ugly and into the realm of revulsion.
— Kieeeee!
The moment the bitten Siren's sharp scream pierced the night sky, Seo-un threw Hamit, which had already transformed into a trident.
The trident, saturated with Internal Power, slammed into the Sewer Shark's torso. The creature, which had leaped above the water, lurched and dropped the Siren.
— Tap!
Seo-un kicked off the railing and flew toward the creature.
The moment his feet touched the monster's belly and he ripped the trident out of its gut, the creature wrapped its two arms around Seo-un and dragged him down into the depths.
— Splash!
Seeing this, the Sirens quickly dove under the surface to help him.
As the team members stood stunned by the sudden turn of events, Gi-chan was the first to act, firing orbs of light into the air to illuminate the area as much as possible and preparing for battle.
— All martial artists confident in their diving, submerge now!
Ju-riel took command in Seo-un's absence.
Jin Long, who had remained on deck, also drew his sword and dove into the water. Ju-riel was busy summoning and throwing orbs of light into the water to provide vision for the players diving in to help Seo-un.
Soon, everyone who had dove in could only stare blankly at the scene before them.
Watching Seo-un, transformed into a merman and slaughtering the swarm of Sewer Sharks with his trident, no one could bring themselves to intervene.
The Sirens were frozen, unable to keep up with such martial prowess, and the remaining team members couldn't move as nimbly as Seo-un in the water even if they wanted to help.
His speed, cutting through the water with a lower body like a fish, was no less than that of the grotesque shark swarm.
Before long, the water was filled with the blood of the shark swarm, turning into a literal bloodbath, and Sewer Sharks began to float to the surface with their bellies upturned.
Even those soon disappeared, leaving only the leather pouches dropped by the Sewer Sharks' corpses bobbing on the waves.
Once the slaughter of every Sewer Shark was complete, the Sirens swarmed around Seo-un, jumping for joy.
— It's the King of Tyrun!
— No! He's the Master of the Turbulent Sea!
— You're wrong! He's the hero of the Tai Sea, Kairens!
Ignoring the creatures swimming frantically around him and shouting all sorts of things, Seo-un poked his head above the water. Ju-riel and Li Lingwei let out sighs of relief and smiled.
However, those smiles didn't last long.
The female Sirens began competing to throw themselves into Seo-un's arms. They clung to his arms, hugged his waist—it was a literal full-body assault from all directions.
For a moment, Li Lingwei and Ju-riel forgot the situation and almost jumped over the railing into the sea.
"No, wait! You can't go down there. You have to hold your positions!"
If not for Lyle's intervention, the two women might have started spamming magic and releasing poison into the sea.
"Hey, let go. I'm not what you think I am."
— You're not the King?
"No."
— You're not the Master of the Turbulent Sea?
"I'm not."
— You're not Kairens?
"I said no."
— Then where did you come from, friend?
"I came from far away. For now, just let go."
Seo-un pushed away the crowding Sirens and approached the one who had been bitten by the Sewer Shark and was bleeding. Carrying the frail creature toward the ship, Seo-un called out to Lyle.
"Lyle! Can you heal her?"
Without hesitation, Lyle cast a heal on the Siren, whose torso was hideously marked by dozens of tooth punctures. A moment later, fully healed, she hugged Seo-un and expressed her gratitude.
— Thank you! Thank you!
After finally prying off the intensely grateful Siren, Seo-un finally got to the point.
"Hey, friends. Can we gather for a second?"
The Sirens naturally gathered around, their eyes fixed on Seo-un's mouth.
"You know the Turbulent Sea, right?"
— We know it.
— Of course, with all that chaos.
"Right. Then you must know how to sense it in advance and avoid it?"
— The currents and water temperature change before the Turbulent Sea acts up, so it's impossible not to know.
— Why? Can't you feel it?
How the hell would I feel that?
"I spend more time on land, so I can't feel it well. Is there a way I could know about the Turbulent Sea in advance?"
— I'll tell you! the Siren saved by Seo-un shouted.
— Yes. We'll tell you. Since you defeated the Sewer Sharks for us.
Naturally, the corners of Seo-un's mouth curled up.
"Is that okay? It won't be a bother?"
Despite his inner thoughts, he asked politely, and the Sirens laughed and gave their consent.
From then on, the Sirens began to follow the Seo-un team's Caravel.
Sometimes they would warn of approaching enemies from afar, and Seo-un would hunt the Sewer Sharks that approached to eat the Sirens.
The Essence of the Sea gathered from hunting the Sewer Sharks was also significant, so for Seo-un, they were both reliable allies and perfect bait.
The ultimate radar.
That was Seo-un's perspective as he watched the Sirens following them.