Episode 49.
Upon reaching the resting place, the three were coughing up the seawater. Talk about fresh outside air.. all they had was a bunch of seawater.
“I can’t believe that the cemetery was actually in the seabed….”
“Why hadn’t that crossed my mind? The world has a larger ocean than land. Even the retired players for sure would have fallen into the ocean more than the land….”
“More than that…” Jung Si-woo spoke as he wiped the sides of his mouth.
“That thing we saw earlier, it would have been nice if I finished him before we came here.”
“No way, you’re saying there was a monster in the water? Perhaps, you mistook it for a whale?”
“Then, shall we go out now to check?”
“No!”
He might have said that, but Jung Si-woo had no intention of actually going out. It was not like Jung Si-woo was incapable of swimming, but he lacked enough to deal with sea monsters adapted to fighting underwater.
“However, we encountered monsters as soon as we came out to the sea. Could it be that the dungeon liberations in the sea are happening faster than on land?”
“It would be nice if I saw wrong….” Jung Si-woo picked up his phone to check.
Even before they came to the resting place, whether in the sky, mountains, or deep sea, the internet connection was always good. The place that made no sense was the resting place, even more than the Sky Castle.
Of course, there weren’t a lot of news about underwater monsters right now. There were only one or two reports expressing concerns about the sea’s safety, considering the state on land at the moment.
“There’s not much news about it.”
“If you think about it. It hasn’t been long since the monsters started surfacing on land, which means that there would have to be quite complex conditions for them to appear in the sea.
The question was whether or not one could even perform underwater. So far, among the dungeons Soo Ah-rin had explored as a player in the Sky Castle, she encountered not many underwater monsters. So if amongst all the monsters, one were also to counter all of the monsters underwater…
“It might be possible that an incredible amount of monsters could have died in the sea.” Soo Ah-rin stated in a cold sweat.
The more that she visualized, the more she felt its scale. Right now, dungeons were being liberated from all across the world. In Korea alone, dungeons were being liberated, as Jung Si-woo was not going around 24 hours a day.
Even if players caught the monsters and armed police and soldiers were stationed nearby, dungeon liberation could not be prevented. The unavoidable fact was that the monster’s domain on Earth was continually increasing. The best that humans could do now was to prevent the expansion of their power by eliminating boss monsters.
At the very least, on land, humans could quickly catch onto their changes. But what about in the deep sea? Was it even possible to know of the existences inside those liberated dungeons?
Soo Ah-rin could not even begin to guess the amount of goblins, slimes, and monsters of that kind that were released into the Earth’s waters; not to mention those that had been slain in those waters.
“We don’t know about it yet, but there must have been widespread marine pollution.”
“There may be some developed countries that are already exploring the sea. It might be to separate the waste of the corpses of dead monsters,” Jung Si-woo remarked, but skepticism was evident in his voice.
Could these countries really pay attention to the monsters at sea when they couldn’t even manage those appearing on land? Well… he thought it might be possible to some extent if the country had a powerful navy, but still…
“Don’t you think the sea creatures ate them up?”
“Haha, we won’t be able to laugh if a sea creature mutates after eating another monster’s corpse.” As Yong Se-ha laughed bitterly, Jung Si-woo and Soo Ah-rin stared with disapproval.
Eating the flesh of a monster with mana and becoming a new monster, what an alarming idea!
“Yong Se-ha…”
“You…”
“What, what is the matter? There’s no way that something so manga-like would actually happen…”
Jung Si-woo considered the possibility of a monster being born independently under the sea and decided to move. Just for the fact of making feasible assumptions, Yong Se-ha had become the least liked member of the party.
“No fair!”
“Come to think of it, the monster from earlier looks like it grew from eating the corpses of other monsters that were released from the dungeon. It looked like a fish.”
“The retired players from the Serien Cemetary nearby might have fallen into the sea. That might be why the undead dungeon turned into a cemetery, and those undead were released from there into the sea…”
“From the cemetery to fish food.”
Jung Si-woo did not want to imagine fishes feeding off of the flesh of zombies. If there was an undead dungeon, he hoped that it was not yet too late, that the undead had not been released into the water yet. Shaking his head at the thought, Jung Si-woo took off his clothes and threw them.
“I’m going to shower first. Yong Se-ha, you should get it over with as well.”
“Yes, Hyeong-nim.”
“Hey, that’s lame. Wait, don’t just take it off like that!”
Jung Si-woo thoroughly washed the stench of flesh and seawater from his body. He also roughly tidied his equipment. Then, his head started to become a bit clearer. Only Soo Ah-rin, who showered last, was left complaining.
“Deep in the sea…”
“Humans might not be able to utilize the sea anymore.”
“No, in fact, they might hire players to escort sea transport or cruise ships.”
“Things are turning quite fun,” Soo Ah-rin added on with a depressed tone.
She said that knowing how dependent humans were on the sea. If the maritime trade were lost, all countries would be in a state of emergency, and were that to happen…
“Couldn’t the players just cross countries with the items to trade in their inventories? Jung Si-woo commented.
“Wait, that is true.”
Each day brought its own bread. Of course, this would mean that all the players on earth would be firmly bound to their locations. Soo Ah-rin thought this would be a bit of a problem, but now was not the time to worry about it.
“Okay, for now, let the others worry about what’s going to happen at sea, and we worry about our mission. We need to explore the dungeons.”
“By the way, Oppa, if we’re going to a dungeon nearby, won’t it lead to the dungeon underwater again?”
“Well, there’s a high chance it will…”
This was unlucky, but that didn’t mean he would avoid the dungeon. Jung Si-woo and Soo Ah-rin exchanged sighs, and opened the door of the resting place as they consumed the beads.
[Ant Cave Area #127: Serien Cemetery]
[Clear time limit – 12:00:00]
“Ah, of course.”
“Ugh, again…”
“Hyeong-nim, this time the ghost is a grandfather.”
When they opened the door, it was the Serien Cemetery Dungeon. They didn’t know that the third time would also be the same dungeon.
Soo Ah-rin couldn’t help but wonder whether it was lucky that the cemetery’s undead monsters had not yet been released into the sea. It was dreadful how she had to keep encountering the undead she hated.
[You are finally here… The warriors who will help let go of my grudge!]
Of course, it was none of Jung Si-woo’s business. He proceeded to happily clear the dungeon, as he played along with the elderly man, who was actually the Banshee and was unaware that they had already cleared this dungeon before.
This second time, Jung Si-woo chose the best strategy he could think of. Two things were the most important: the first was to strengthen the Banshee as much as possible, and the second was to build up the Giant Ghoul from the boss room by leaving as many zombies and ghouls alive.
In addition, the second strategy Jung Si-woo thought of was stealth. He planned to obediently follow the Banshee’s guidance to find the hidden records and find and release the magic circles that would inflate its power.
He worked hard to avoid killing even those guarding the Banshee’s sealed magic circle, especially if they were zombies or ghouls. Jung Si-woo avoided conflict so well that the Banshee began to think that he was an invertebrate despite his appearance.
“Oh, it’s a wraiths.”
[Kyahak!]
[Son, why are you so obsessed with killing wraiths and skeletons?]
“Oh, just cause they make me feel bad.”
The wraiths and skeleton did not contribute anything, not even a little bit, even so much as a grain of rice to strengthening the Giant Ghoul. His reason didn’t seem to make sense, as the Banshee saw Jung Si-woo ruthlessly kill them. The Banshee was in a state of confusion!
All in all, the party was clearing the dungeon at a quick and steady pace. The Banshee decided not to tackle them until it was able to regain its strength.
After two hours, the party successfully unsealed all the magic circles and restored the Banshee’s powers.
[Kahahahahaha, this stupid human!]
“Good, catching time.”
At the very moment the Banshee transformed and regained its power, Jung Si-woo immediately triggered the Thunder God’s Rifle and shot off more than half of its body. As the Banshee was passed out, he held its body as he initiated Cruel Charge. It all happened instantly.
[Kuhk, kuhh… This, what is this… what!?]
As Jung Si-woo held onto its arm like a vise grip, the Banshee, disoriented from the situation, stuttered while speaking. It had abandoned the appearance of an elderly man, instead revealing itself as a young and innocent lady in her twenties. The situation was a bit saddening, seeing her in excruciating pain.
“How dare you act!”
[Retch!]
However, as long as it was a monster, Jung Si-woo didn’t care whether the sight was pitiful or not. He held onto it and repeatedly slammed the Banshee onto the floor. It started to become troublesome as she started to fly. He ended up grabbing the Banshee to put an end to this.
“Hah! Haaaaaaaa!”
[Retch! Weeeehhkk!]
“Wow, that must hurt.”
“That looks more painful than being smashed with a hammer.”
Of course, it was a wise choice, but it was also a terrible sight for Yong Se-ha and Soo Ah-rin to see, enough to want to cover their eyes.
“It would be better to call your monsters quickly! Before you die!”
[Gaah……. Kyaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!]
The Banshee put all of her remaining mana to fire a curse at Jung Si-woo and let out a shriek, gathering all of the monsters within the dungeon. This was something to be thankful for; it was an excellent opportunity to master his Curse Resistance.
“Se-ha, has the boss room opened?”
“It seems it has, Hyeong-nim!”
“Good.”
[This, human… Did he know all along?!]
Jung Si-woo responded with a refreshing smile. He let her know that he was aware of the fact that she was the Banshee and that the dungeon’s boss was on his way.
“That’s right, I, Jung Si-woo, was planning this all along!”
“You’ve only been in this dungeon once, yet you’re so conceited…”
All the monsters in the dungeon, except for the skeletons and the wraiths, had survived and remained intact. They could not ignore the Banshee’s salvation request, and rushed to her. However, her life was already on the brink of death.
[It, it’s unfair. After being scammed by these humans and facing death…]
“Bye. This being the case, I hope we see each other in the next dungeon.”
[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!]
Jung Si-woo struck the female ghost, who was dripping in blood, with his most forceful left straight. He was beaming.
The Banshee met a vain death, regretting even being released from the magic seal.
Jung Si-woo’s Curse Resistance had risen to Level 2.
