Chapter 66 - Chapter 68

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 68

Chapter Title: Treasures in the Sea Depths

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Who could have imagined it?

That enormous treasures lay hidden in these horrific ocean depths.

'There must be dozens just in plain sight.'

Fish might not have their own bathrooms, but strangely enough, the stat shards were all clustered together in one spot.

Of course, the rough currents made them sway and roll a bit here and there, but unlike the bone fragments that scattered everywhere with every wave, these stayed obediently on the seafloor.

'While others are crying their eyes out, refusing to fall into the sea, if they knew about these incredible treasures hidden inside, their eyes would light up.'

Even if they did know, though, they couldn't come in with hundreds of monstrous fish swarming around.

S-Rank Reaper's [Stealth] was cheat-level, no matter how you sliced it.

I swam quickly toward the treasures.

'Ditch the weapons and just grab the stat shards.'

Time was short. Two minutes had already passed. I'd wasted a lot staying on the surface to avoid getting swept away by the rapids.

Swoosh. Swoosh swoosh.

I scooped them up and absorbed them rapidly.

'Damn, the current's too strong.'

There were definitely mountains of stat shards, but swimming close to the bottom to pick them up wasn't easy.

The whirlpool visible from the surface wasn't just for show—even down here, it hindered movement quite a bit.

I flailed around almost desperately to grab them. And soon realized it: picking them up one by one would take too much time.

So I reached out my hand. Instantly, the stat shards flew toward me.

Whirrr!

It was telekinesis. With telekinesis, I didn't need to swim close to collect each shard individually.

However, as the stat shards swam through the water via telekinesis, the Boraqua sensed the flow and swarmed over, thinking it was prey—only to scatter in confusion. This repeated over and over.

'They're ridiculously fast. At my current level, I shouldn't even hope to fend them off.'

I swam along the seafloor, rapidly collecting stat shards.

My stats shot up steadily.

At some point, the massive pile of stat shards started to thin out.

Regretfully, I dug into the sand made of bone dust.

'There are still some buried in the sand.'

The problem was that digging them out one by one took too much time. And with so much bone dust piled up, finding where they were hidden was a chore in itself.

'Digging them out individually will never end.'

So what now?

Time ticked away mercilessly without waiting.

'That's it.'

Suddenly inspired, I pulled out the [Summoner's Letter Envelope]. It sprouted wings and sliced through the water before vanishing.

And soon reappeared.

Grunt grunt.

With a strained face. Unlike when it left, the bloated envelope awkwardly saluted me and opened its mouth. I immediately backed away and flattened myself to the seafloor.

Kaboom!

Something ominous burst from the envelope's mouth.

A colossal body two meters thick and twenty meters long.

Once treated as a raid boss, instilling despair and terror in countless players—the monster from the Lakeside.

Grrraaaawr!

The massive water worm erupted from the envelope's mouth and roared ferociously.

'You came, Lakeworm!'

As if intent on finding and crushing whoever dragged it here, it thrashed its head wildly. The Boraqua fled in panic at the sudden appearance of the giant predator.

No, they fled for just a moment—then judged they could win if they teamed up, turning back en masse to charge the Lakeworm.

The monstrous fish latched on mercilessly, tearing at the Lakeworm's flesh.

Kraaaack!

The Lakeworm screamed, shaking its body violently—like shaking off ants clinging to it.

Kaboom!

A ferocious torrent followed. Far more violent than the natural waves from before!

The water churned wildly, tossing my body around. Heavy bone dust that had settled billowed up, revealing the hidden stat shards beneath—they floated up before starting to sink again.

I reached out toward them.

Whirrr!

The stat shards rapidly returned to my hand. No time to absorb them. Space tore open, and the envelope reappeared.

It wasn't the one I summoned, so it had to be the Saintess or Han So-hee. In other words, time was up. Right on cue, a notification appeared.

'One more at least.'

Creeeak—

The envelope opened its mouth. I frantically switched targets, pulling in shards one by one to grab even one more.

'Just a bit longer!'

There weren't many left anyway. Might as well sweep them all up.

Gulp.

But the envelope swallowed me before I could get the rest.

At least the shards I'd yanked with telekinesis got sucked in along with me, trailing behind.

'Missed about five... Eh, this is plenty.'

The moment I achieved my first goal here.

"Ugh! What the—?! Why's water splashing everywhere?!"

After a brief stay in the envelope's hollow space, I emerged into a familiar area with familiar faces.

I stood up, dripping wet, and looked up.

Flinch.

The envelope, about to spit on me, glanced sideways, then twisted space and fled in a hurry.

'Feels oddly like being eaten by a mimic.'

I could see why Shin Seo-yeon found it creepy. Even after escaping, that peculiar emptiness lingered on my skin.

"Min-jun, you okay?"

"Hey, what the hell were you doing? What's that smell coming off you?"

"...Oppa, you stink."

The three women approaching me hesitated and stepped back.

No wonder. Fish shit, human blood, guts, brains, sewage—all mixed in that water.

For the record, rotting blood smells worse than shit.

Han So-hee pushed through the retreating women, holding out a 2-liter canteen toward my hand.

"Thanks."

"So, was the haul worth the effort?"

I nodded as I washed my hands under the pouring water. Worth it? Absolutely. Way more than the effort.

"Pfft, probably just snagged some accessories again."

Shin Seo-yeon said that while grabbing another canteen and dumping it over my head.

Seeing it, the Saintess headed to the tent, returned with washing supplies, and Yi Sera...

"Here."

She sprinkled water on the stat shards that had fallen at my feet, then picked them up one by one.

"Huh, what's that?"

"Stat shards?!"

The women's eyes widened in unison.

They hadn't known about stat shards until I accidentally let it slip while trading at the last rest area, but now they fully grasped their value.

"How many is that? One, two, three, four... twelve?"

Including the ones in my pocket made fifteen, but anyway, the women got all excited and started hopping around.

It was warranted.

Raising a stat even a little made every trial that much easier.

"Sit down there. I'll divvy up your shares."

"Dickhead, these are for us?"

"Yeah."

"Whoa, then we can each get three!"

I glanced over the shards and distributed them.

The only ones worth sorting carefully were Strength.

We had cliff-climbing practice and real combat ahead—couldn't have Strength below 20.

'Yi Sera had the lowest Strength among us.'

So I tried to give her some, but nope.

Name: Oh Ha-eun

Level: 2

She'd already dumped 5 of her 10 level-up bonus stats into Strength to hit 20.

'Then the next lowest Strength was the Saintess.'

So I piled three Strength shards in front of the Saintess.

The rest I divvied up without fussing over types.

"Bringing back so many precious things—you're amazing! I'll put them to good use, Min-jun!"

"Dickhead's the best, as expected."

The Saintess and Shin Seo-yeon beamed as they took their shares.

"You..."

"?"

In contrast, Han So-hee clutched her share, stared down at it hesitantly, then spoke.

"...Is this just because I'm sticking by your side? No strings attached?"

"Why wouldn't there be? Stronger allies mean my safety's more secure."

"Still. Wouldn't hoarding them all for yourself be more reliable?"

True to her thorough, calculating nature. Basically, my actions weren't rational.

Of course, if she knew how many I'd scarfed down, she'd shut up quick.

I shrugged.

"So what's your point?"

"Is there something you want in return from me? If there is..."

Shin Seo-yeon cut in, tapping Han So-hee's shoulder.

"Save it for later. We'll handle personal 'bonuses' at the rest area."

"Oh. That sounds like a great idea, Seo-yeon!"

"Hm... Not a bad notion."

The women nodded in agreement with Shin Seo-yeon.

Funny how their ears were all flushed pink. And their glances kept flicking to my crotch—practically a given.

I pretended not to notice and sorted my thoughts.

'Can't hog everything forever. At minimum, I need to help them grow as much as in the first round. Better yet, more than that.'

That way, they'd avoid dying horribly in trials.

'Getting this thrilled over just three stat shards, though.'

The women grinned ear-to-ear, swapping and absorbing shards. Their occasional glances at me brimmed with loyalty, affection, fondness.

Such fervent emotions couldn't come from cold logic alone.

You had to share even one rice cake to truly feel like family.

'Hm?'

One of the girls approached me then.

Yi Sera, with a slightly pouty expression. Wondering why, I saw her peek at me and mumble in a tiny voice.

"...Oppa, you broke your promise. You ate my Intellect shards."

Ah, that explained the pout.

"How'd you know?"

"I was practicing climbing the cliff, and suddenly power surged through my body."

Ahh, so when I wildly absorbed shards, Yi Sera felt it through [Binding].

Bound targets copied 20% of my stats, after all.

I scratched my head.

"Circumstances left me no choice. Time limit, dangers around... I couldn't even eat them all in time."

Though I pretty much did.

Still, I pulled three extra shards from my pocket and slipped them to her secretly.

"Here, your share."

"!!"

Our little errand girl deserved the extra.

"Got distracted grabbing them, so it's a mix beyond Intellect, but all yours."

Yi Sera snatched them, scanned with her eyes, and her face lit up.

"Oppa's the best! I wanna marry you!"

"Yeah? Sure."

"Yup! You thought about it too, right? You gave me double what the others got!"

What a straightforward way of thinking. It was just three extra, after all.

After the bonus for Yi Sera, I opened my status window to check.

Name: Kang Min-jun

Level: 2

I'd devoured a total of 171 stat shards on my own.

Strength and Stamina both broke 100 as a result. With [Binding] linked to Yi Sera right now, Stamina looked boosted compared to Shin Seo-yeon's time, but still.

'And this is just the second trial—two stats over 100 already.'

More deaths than I'd thought.

Some say it takes a thousand deaths for one stat shard.

True or not, if so, at least 180,000 had plummeted to their deaths here.

'Early rounds have high mortality, huh. That's why you farm shards hard at the start.'

Anyway, my stat farming was solidly on track now.

As I reviewed my status and organized my thoughts, Han So-hee approached.

"Heading out right away?"

"Nah, gonna wash up first, catch my breath, then move."

"...Got it. Thanks anyway. I'll make good use of the shards. And... if you have any ideas, just say the word anytime."

Her face flushed pink, she jiggled her Snowfield Necklace and one earring. It was uncharacteristically undignified for her, making her look awkwardly shy—and kinda cute.

"Ahem. Back to practice, then. Gather up."

"Yes, got it!"

The Saintess absorbed her shards, looked around, came to me for a quick peck on the cheek, then grinned brightly and followed Han So-hee.

"Hee hee. Oppa likes me more."

Yi Sera smirked, thrilled with her extra three, and walked off.

Now, only the Crimson Flame Witch remained by my side.

She looked like she had something to say.

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