TL: xLordFifth
ED:
Leeha: Okay, okay, that’s good. Please remind Hyerin about the 100-hour time limit.
Kijung: Don’t worry. Hyein-nim knows about these things better. Don’t worry. What about hyung? Will you arrive at the Dragon Palace tomorrow?
Leeha: We should arrive either close to midnight tomorrow or the day after. I have to log out briefly there.
Kijung: It’s tough, really. Why do you have to go through all this trouble, you foolish thing?
Leeha: Tsk, what else can I do? There’s no one else to do it… No one else.
.
Leeha felt a bitter aftertaste. Surely, he had thought that way only when he volunteered.
‘There seems to be no one else but me. With underwater breathing and believing in the invincible weapon [Electric Shock Device]..’
Kijung: Huh? Why? What’s wrong?
Leeha: No, nothing. Just be careful of the fishmen.
Kijung: Okay. By the way, Rubini-nim reported that the kraken appeared on the map again. The fishmen won’t stop bothering us. Quickly resolve the purification pool, hyung! They keep respawning, so killing them doesn’t end.
Leeha: Got it. Don’t worry, just wait. It’ll be over soon.
Kijung: Okay, hyung!
Leeha cut off the whisper with Gijung and let out a sigh.
He believed in the electric shock device made from Blaugrun’s scales so much.
However, it turned out that it didn’t work in the sea after several more experiments, and now he fully understood the situation. While it wasn’t completely useless, the practical result was essentially as good as useless.
‘To achieve the effect, I have to… be in close combat. But that’s crazy. Do I have to fight in close quarters with a stick-like electric shock device? If I were a sniper?’
Although Leeha wished for area-of-effect damage from the water, the situation was no different from the thin stick-like electric shock device. It was more dangerous than close-quarters combat with a blade. Even for fishmen, it wasn’t easy to handle 1:1. The physical abilities of the fishmen were such that one needed to be at the level of the Commander of the Maritime Guard to capture them.
The reason Team A could handle the fishmen was because it was in the sea. But what if it were underwater? It would be difficult to expect the same results.
Moreover, as someone who wasn’t even in the close combat category, it was absurd for me, Ihawha, to approach the electric shock device close enough to touch the fishmen’s scales.
‘Even if I get close, there’s a problem. Using Force Barrier won’t prevent damage to me. The voltage is definitely not low. I didn’t know seawater would be such a big obstacle.’
Leeha’s hand touched the electric shock device. Despite Bottleneck carefully insulating it to prevent electricity from flowing, the current that flowed out into the seawater came back into Leeha’s hand, shocking him.
Seawater, with its high conductivity, acted as a shield for the fishmen and hindered Leeha. At this point, the electric shock device in the seawater was more like a weapon that tormented its user.
“But if I hesitated and approached slowly, I would be killed by the fishmen’s weapons. Damn it… What should I do now? I planned to solve everything with this electric shock…”
Thinking about pollutants or something, worrying about it felt like a luxury. The area around the purification pool was already guarded by fishmen. Passing through there was the first gate.
‘As predicted by Sea Bream-nim, there’s supposed to be the final defense line inside the Dragon Palace, but we can’t rely on the mermaids there. Eventually, we have to deal with it ourselves…’
The timing was unfortunate. If Blaugrun-ssi could do even half of what juvenile-class can do—
[Kyuuu…]
“What, are you pretending to read my thoughts again? I’m not blaming Blaugrun-ssi, so just grow quickly. Lately, you’ve been eating too much seaweed, and you’ve got a lot to say, huh?
[Kyu!]
In the challenging environment where even feeding was difficult for nearly 20 days, Blaugrun didn’t disappear and held up well. Leeha was once again grateful for such a partner.
‘I have to make it through.’
Team A was progressing safely. Even with the appearance of fishmen and krakens, they would deal with it appropriately. The only reason for accepting the fishmen quest was to find a location to build the mana relay tower.
Already close to the destination, Team A, in a calm manner, no longer needed Leeha.
“It’s not for someone else. I have to make it through for myself.” In other words, the remaining trials were for Leeha himself!
Once again, Leeha began to think about a new pioneering plan, focusing on the challenges ahead.
It was also around that time when fishmen appeared in front of Team A.
“The kraken is larger and there are more of them than last time. Be careful!”
“These damn guys, ever since Hyaha mentioned it last time, they’ve been sneaky, sneaky scouting—”
Looking at the sea surface beyond the deck, Kijung muttered curses. When Team C, led by Leeha, faced three fishmen, the fishmen had come close to Team A’s vicinity.
Although Team A, who was already prepared upon hearing Leeha’s warning, was ready to counterattack, the fishmen did not charge.
They maintained a distance enough to be annoyingly worrying, observing them without rushing.
It was known that the fishmen were preparing for something, but there was no need for Team A to go so far as to turn the ship and catch them as a significant threat. Moreover, Team A, who had no time to spare, ultimately decided to ignore them.
“Don’t tell me they were investigating the logout rotation!”
This was the result.
Alexander appeared with a large group of krakens at the time when he was caught in the logout rotation! Considering it just lucky timing was too much of an oversight regarding Middle Earth.
“Hey, that doesn’t make sense!”
“But it’s perfect. If it were any other time, Alexander wouldn’t be there, and Bailephus said he needed a break—”
“Now, no matter what happened, there’s no captain. We just have to face those fishmen bastards.” Kidd, turning his revolver, spoke the truth.
Whether the fishmen had confirmed the logout rotation for each user, wasn’t important.
“I already told Bailephus-ssi! He’ll be out soon!”
The cheerful voice of the Shin Nara from the Blue Marlin echoed towards the users of the New Serpent. Hook also shouted at the same time.
“We’ll pass through the outskirts of the island! The closest point is in 40 minutes! Sage! Get ready!”
“Got it!”
Already, the New Serpent had materials, including NPCs, moved for the construction of the mana relay tower. Hyein began to draw magic circles around the carefully selected materials.
“All construction workers for the mana relay tower, please go inside! You must not come out!”
Since a considerable number of workers were giants of Shazrashian, the area to draw the magic circle was also large.
“Kraken approaching, about 2 minutes!”
“fishmen emerged on the surface! The number is—uh… many! Over a hundred—no, over a hundred and fifty?”
“Those damn bastards, this time, they mean business!”
[Size, number, and direction of the kraken.]
Aaaaaah——!
The gold dragon flapped its wings, hovering in the airspace above the New Serpent. Rubini quickly provided information to him.
“There are about four of them, around 50 meters in size. The rest are similar to the last time, around 30 meters, and their number is about ten. They are coming up from the underwater direction. In about 57 seconds, one of the 50-meter ones will come straight to the New Serpent!”
“Understood. Let’s block the multiple approaches first.”
Bailephus flew towards the direction Rubini pointed.
“If Bailephus takes care of the majority, then what about the one that pops up from under the ship?”
“In any case, the attack pattern of the kraken is to entwine the ship with its legs and pull it underwater after breaking it. The weak point is the forehead, but… for now, let’s focus on attacking the legs and reinforcing defense.”
“Let’s think positively! We don’t have to fight serpents this time! Leeha-hyung will be near the Dragon Palace soon! Once the pool is purified, the fishmen won’t come out anymore! I need to defend, so I won’t be able to cast the perfect storm, and wind and rain will return, but… it’s manageable!”
Kijung clashed his shield and sword with the kraken’s leg, making a loud noise. If it were in the past, anyone might have come forward and given him orders, but now, within the New Continent expedition, Kijung’s stature had changed significantly.
The confidence given by Kijung’s sturdy back was solid.
“Waaaaaaahhhh—!”
Claaang, claaaang, claaaang!!!
At Kijung’s shout, the kraken’s legs rose to the surface.
The kraken’s legs, which were around 30 meters long, were already as thick as the main mast.
Moreover, the legs of the kraken twice that size were…
“Hmm.. It seems a bit pretentious to just yell at it to come here, isn’t that so, Bobae-ssi?”
“Kek, you always add words that make other people lose their energy.[Electric Arrow]!”
“I’m just trying to ease the tension. Let’s go!”
The kraken’s cry made the sea surface vibrate. The vibration was so strong that it hurt the users’ eardrums and made the ship’s hull creak.
With that cry, the legs of the kraken began to fall toward the deck of the new serpent.
“Ka-Kay!”
“Don’t worry, keep drawing the magic circle, Hyein-hyungnim! [Ahlo’s Guardian], [Guardian Saint’s Shield] !”
It was too small to defend the kraken’s huge legs, but he was confident.
Beyond Gijeong’s shield, a translucent green protective shield spread out as if covering the entire deck.
It was the area of effect defense skill, [Guardian Saint’s Shield].
It was a skill that had a wide defense range but had low defense power.
Baaaaang—!
It was so strong that the New Serpent’s anchor line plunged into the water and was subjected to a powerful pressure enough to make it resurface again!
However, the Kraken’s tentacles failed to entwine around the New-Serpent, and the squid-like limbs, appearing somewhat bewildered, once again shot up into the sky.
A smile appeared on Kijung’s lips.
“Bastard, you’re weaker than the serpent!”
For Kijung, who had protected [something more important than life], the attacks of the kraken were not something to be feared anymore.
And that was the beginning.
The tension that had not been relieved until just now suddenly returned to the users.
“Uooyo, it’s falling, it’s falling, it’s falling!”
“Damn it, steer the sail! Ki, port! Port, damn it!”
A kraken leg, as if a felled tree, was falling towards the top of the Blue Marlin.
NPCs were preparing to move along with Hyein, so there were fewer people to operate the ship. Burke tried to avoid it with all his might, but it was already too late.
“[Electric Arrow]!”
“Trap, [Knockback]!”
Fortunately, there were users to defend the Blue Marlin. The Shaman Uncheon placed a totem, and Trapper Snare activated his trap devices. Along with the huge current flowing through the kraken’s legs and the compressed gas spewing from the small treasure chest-like object just before, the attack that seemed to break the New Serpent’s deck into pieces was paralyzed in the air, bounced back, and returned into the sea.
“Hoo, Rubini! Is the kraken still under control?!”
“Bailephus is doing his best, but it’s still— there are still more than five left!”
“Annoying fish heads! Let’s see if you’ll eat fish dishes in the future!”
The fishmen were skillfully controlling the kraken. They knew that as long as they avoided the breath, they could evade and drag it back into the water. Meanwhile, a small number of other fishmen and several large-sized krakens were quickly sinking the ships. Their tactics were easy to read, but preventing them was by no means easy.
“Sage! I’m sorry, but can you go ahead for about 5 minutes?”
“What? B-but going around the closest point is— there’s still about 20 minutes left?”
“I wish I could do that, but the Summoner said that near the buoy, the current is weak! The wind is weak too! Most importantly, Captain Drake is not here! The tanker is amazing, but he doesn’t have the leisure to clear the typhoon during battle!”
“That’s what—”
(To be continued…)
End of Volume 17
TL: xLordFifth
ED:
Leeha: Okay, okay, that’s good. Please remind Hyerin about the 100-hour time limit.
Kijung: Don’t worry. Hyein-nim knows about these things better. Don’t worry. What about hyung? Will you arrive at the Dragon Palace tomorrow?
Leeha: We should arrive either close to midnight tomorrow or the day after. I have to log out briefly there.
Kijung: It’s tough, really. Why do you have to go through all this trouble, you foolish thing?
Leeha: Tsk, what else can I do? There’s no one else to do it… No one else.
.
Leeha felt a bitter aftertaste. Surely, he had thought that way only when he volunteered.
‘There seems to be no one else but me. With underwater breathing and believing in the invincible weapon [Electric Shock Device]..’
Kijung: Huh? Why? What’s wrong?
Leeha: No, nothing. Just be careful of the fishmen.
Kijung: Okay. By the way, Rubini-nim reported that the kraken appeared on the map again. The fishmen won’t stop bothering us. Quickly resolve the purification pool, hyung! They keep respawning, so killing them doesn’t end.
Leeha: Got it. Don’t worry, just wait. It’ll be over soon.
Kijung: Okay, hyung!
Leeha cut off the whisper with Gijung and let out a sigh.
He believed in the electric shock device made from Blaugrun’s scales so much.
However, it turned out that it didn’t work in the sea after several more experiments, and now he fully understood the situation. While it wasn’t completely useless, the practical result was essentially as good as useless.
‘To achieve the effect, I have to… be in close combat. But that’s crazy. Do I have to fight in close quarters with a stick-like electric shock device? If I were a sniper?’
Although Leeha wished for area-of-effect damage from the water, the situation was no different from the thin stick-like electric shock device. It was more dangerous than close-quarters combat with a blade. Even for fishmen, it wasn’t easy to handle 1:1. The physical abilities of the fishmen were such that one needed to be at the level of the Commander of the Maritime Guard to capture them.
The reason Team A could handle the fishmen was because it was in the sea. But what if it were underwater? It would be difficult to expect the same results.
Moreover, as someone who wasn’t even in the close combat category, it was absurd for me, Ihawha, to approach the electric shock device close enough to touch the fishmen’s scales.
‘Even if I get close, there’s a problem. Using Force Barrier won’t prevent damage to me. The voltage is definitely not low. I didn’t know seawater would be such a big obstacle.’
Leeha’s hand touched the electric shock device. Despite Bottleneck carefully insulating it to prevent electricity from flowing, the current that flowed out into the seawater came back into Leeha’s hand, shocking him.
Seawater, with its high conductivity, acted as a shield for the fishmen and hindered Leeha. At this point, the electric shock device in the seawater was more like a weapon that tormented its user.
“But if I hesitated and approached slowly, I would be killed by the fishmen’s weapons. Damn it… What should I do now? I planned to solve everything with this electric shock…”
Thinking about pollutants or something, worrying about it felt like a luxury. The area around the purification pool was already guarded by fishmen. Passing through there was the first gate.
‘As predicted by Sea Bream-nim, there’s supposed to be the final defense line inside the Dragon Palace, but we can’t rely on the mermaids there. Eventually, we have to deal with it ourselves…’
The timing was unfortunate. If Blaugrun-ssi could do even half of what juvenile-class can do—
[Kyuuu…]
“What, are you pretending to read my thoughts again? I’m not blaming Blaugrun-ssi, so just grow quickly. Lately, you’ve been eating too much seaweed, and you’ve got a lot to say, huh?
[Kyu!]
In the challenging environment where even feeding was difficult for nearly 20 days, Blaugrun didn’t disappear and held up well. Leeha was once again grateful for such a partner.
‘I have to make it through.’
Team A was progressing safely. Even with the appearance of fishmen and krakens, they would deal with it appropriately. The only reason for accepting the fishmen quest was to find a location to build the mana relay tower.
Already close to the destination, Team A, in a calm manner, no longer needed Leeha.
“It’s not for someone else. I have to make it through for myself.” In other words, the remaining trials were for Leeha himself!
Once again, Leeha began to think about a new pioneering plan, focusing on the challenges ahead.
It was also around that time when fishmen appeared in front of Team A.
“The kraken is larger and there are more of them than last time. Be careful!”
“These damn guys, ever since Hyaha mentioned it last time, they’ve been sneaky, sneaky scouting—”
Looking at the sea surface beyond the deck, Kijung muttered curses. When Team C, led by Leeha, faced three fishmen, the fishmen had come close to Team A’s vicinity.
Although Team A, who was already prepared upon hearing Leeha’s warning, was ready to counterattack, the fishmen did not charge.
They maintained a distance enough to be annoyingly worrying, observing them without rushing.
It was known that the fishmen were preparing for something, but there was no need for Team A to go so far as to turn the ship and catch them as a significant threat. Moreover, Team A, who had no time to spare, ultimately decided to ignore them.
“Don’t tell me they were investigating the logout rotation!”
This was the result.
Alexander appeared with a large group of krakens at the time when he was caught in the logout rotation! Considering it just lucky timing was too much of an oversight regarding Middle Earth.
“Hey, that doesn’t make sense!”
“But it’s perfect. If it were any other time, Alexander wouldn’t be there, and Bailephus said he needed a break—”
“Now, no matter what happened, there’s no captain. We just have to face those fishmen bastards.” Kidd, turning his revolver, spoke the truth.
Whether the fishmen had confirmed the logout rotation for each user, wasn’t important.
“I already told Bailephus-ssi! He’ll be out soon!”
The cheerful voice of the Shin Nara from the Blue Marlin echoed towards the users of the New Serpent. Hook also shouted at the same time.
“We’ll pass through the outskirts of the island! The closest point is in 40 minutes! Sage! Get ready!”
“Got it!”
Already, the New Serpent had materials, including NPCs, moved for the construction of the mana relay tower. Hyein began to draw magic circles around the carefully selected materials.
“All construction workers for the mana relay tower, please go inside! You must not come out!”
Since a considerable number of workers were giants of Shazrashian, the area to draw the magic circle was also large.
“Kraken approaching, about 2 minutes!”
“fishmen emerged on the surface! The number is—uh… many! Over a hundred—no, over a hundred and fifty?”
“Those damn bastards, this time, they mean business!”
[Size, number, and direction of the kraken.]
Aaaaaah——!
The gold dragon flapped its wings, hovering in the airspace above the New Serpent. Rubini quickly provided information to him.
“There are about four of them, around 50 meters in size. The rest are similar to the last time, around 30 meters, and their number is about ten. They are coming up from the underwater direction. In about 57 seconds, one of the 50-meter ones will come straight to the New Serpent!”
“Understood. Let’s block the multiple approaches first.”
Bailephus flew towards the direction Rubini pointed.
“If Bailephus takes care of the majority, then what about the one that pops up from under the ship?”
“In any case, the attack pattern of the kraken is to entwine the ship with its legs and pull it underwater after breaking it. The weak point is the forehead, but… for now, let’s focus on attacking the legs and reinforcing defense.”
“Let’s think positively! We don’t have to fight serpents this time! Leeha-hyung will be near the Dragon Palace soon! Once the pool is purified, the fishmen won’t come out anymore! I need to defend, so I won’t be able to cast the perfect storm, and wind and rain will return, but… it’s manageable!”
Kijung clashed his shield and sword with the kraken’s leg, making a loud noise. If it were in the past, anyone might have come forward and given him orders, but now, within the New Continent expedition, Kijung’s stature had changed significantly.
The confidence given by Kijung’s sturdy back was solid.
“Waaaaaaahhhh—!”
Claaang, claaaang, claaaang!!!
At Kijung’s shout, the kraken’s legs rose to the surface.
The kraken’s legs, which were around 30 meters long, were already as thick as the main mast.
Moreover, the legs of the kraken twice that size were…
“Hmm.. It seems a bit pretentious to just yell at it to come here, isn’t that so, Bobae-ssi?”
“Kek, you always add words that make other people lose their energy.[Electric Arrow]!”
“I’m just trying to ease the tension. Let’s go!”
The kraken’s cry made the sea surface vibrate. The vibration was so strong that it hurt the users’ eardrums and made the ship’s hull creak.
With that cry, the legs of the kraken began to fall toward the deck of the new serpent.
“Ka-Kay!”
“Don’t worry, keep drawing the magic circle, Hyein-hyungnim! [Ahlo’s Guardian], [Guardian Saint’s Shield] !”
It was too small to defend the kraken’s huge legs, but he was confident.
Beyond Gijeong’s shield, a translucent green protective shield spread out as if covering the entire deck.
It was the area of effect defense skill, [Guardian Saint’s Shield].
It was a skill that had a wide defense range but had low defense power.
Baaaaang—!
It was so strong that the New Serpent’s anchor line plunged into the water and was subjected to a powerful pressure enough to make it resurface again!
However, the Kraken’s tentacles failed to entwine around the New-Serpent, and the squid-like limbs, appearing somewhat bewildered, once again shot up into the sky.
A smile appeared on Kijung’s lips.
“Bastard, you’re weaker than the serpent!”
For Kijung, who had protected [something more important than life], the attacks of the kraken were not something to be feared anymore.
And that was the beginning.
The tension that had not been relieved until just now suddenly returned to the users.
“Uooyo, it’s falling, it’s falling, it’s falling!”
“Damn it, steer the sail! Ki, port! Port, damn it!”
A kraken leg, as if a felled tree, was falling towards the top of the Blue Marlin.
NPCs were preparing to move along with Hyein, so there were fewer people to operate the ship. Burke tried to avoid it with all his might, but it was already too late.
“[Electric Arrow]!”
“Trap, [Knockback]!”
Fortunately, there were users to defend the Blue Marlin. The Shaman Uncheon placed a totem, and Trapper Snare activated his trap devices. Along with the huge current flowing through the kraken’s legs and the compressed gas spewing from the small treasure chest-like object just before, the attack that seemed to break the New Serpent’s deck into pieces was paralyzed in the air, bounced back, and returned into the sea.
“Hoo, Rubini! Is the kraken still under control?!”
“Bailephus is doing his best, but it’s still— there are still more than five left!”
“Annoying fish heads! Let’s see if you’ll eat fish dishes in the future!”
The fishmen were skillfully controlling the kraken. They knew that as long as they avoided the breath, they could evade and drag it back into the water. Meanwhile, a small number of other fishmen and several large-sized krakens were quickly sinking the ships. Their tactics were easy to read, but preventing them was by no means easy.
“Sage! I’m sorry, but can you go ahead for about 5 minutes?”
“What? B-but going around the closest point is— there’s still about 20 minutes left?”
“I wish I could do that, but the Summoner said that near the buoy, the current is weak! The wind is weak too! Most importantly, Captain Drake is not here! The tanker is amazing, but he doesn’t have the leisure to clear the typhoon during battle!”
“That’s what—”
(To be continued…)
End of Volume 17
