Bug (4)
“Sorry for wasting your time.”
I apologized as soon as I returned.
Because they had never met Dwarkey.
I thought it was only natural to apologize since I had taken away from our exploration time for a personal matter.
Of course, my companions were understanding.
“What’s there to be sorry about? What do you take us for?”
“Right, Raven is right. You’re worrying about strange things. We could also be in his situation someday.”
Uh, I don’t think it’s a good idea to say that…
That’s when, as I was thinking that……Raven spoke to the bear-like man on my behalf.
“…Mr. Urikfrit, can you please not say that? It’s a jinx.”
“Raven, you don’t even believe in superstitions.”
“I’m an explorer now.”
“Ah, right.”
The bear-like man chuckled, and the slightly heavy atmosphere lightened.
‘Was he intentionally joking?’
“What are you looking at?”
‘…No way.’
I chuckled at Raven’s arrogant gaze. And then I got to the point.
“Alright, we’ve rested enough, so let’s go sightseeing.”
It was time to start exploring.
_________________
Starting Island Laimia.
The island you arrive at first, regardless of which path you choose on the 5th floor. But Laimia wasn’t called the Starting Island just because of its symbolism.
It had the basic materials needed for 6th-floor exploration.
Well, at least in theory.
“It’s already been cleared.”
We looked around with disappointed eyes after climbing to the top of the mountain that was located in the center of the island.
Originally, a special type of tree grew here.
It was a tree with a hardness of 3rd-tier metal, and it was light and buoyant.
But…
“Well, no matter how fast trees grow, they can’t grow back in just a month.”
…all that greeted us when we reached the summit were thousands of stumps. Well, there were some trees that had grown to some extent…
“Most of them are unusable.”
“But there are some that are big enough. Let’s take these.”
…so we took out the axes we brought.
And we carefully selected and cut down the trees that were big enough to be processed into materials, storing them in our subspace pockets.
Did it take about 30 minutes?
“Maybe we can get this much next month too.”
“Yes. If there’s no one here like this time.”
Phew, I wish the 6th floor was also reset every month.
It was a shame.
The 1st to 5th floors were reset every month, no matter what you did, but it wasn’t the case from the 6th floor onwards.
Time flowed continuously here.
Just like how the marks on that giant rock over there weren’t erased.
“Wow, there’s something written on the rock! It looks like letters… what the hell does it say?”
“Weren’t you going to the sanctuary every day to learn how to read?”
“Haha, I gave up on that!”
I sighed at Ainar’s carefree attitude and then approached the rock and read the letters.
Most of them were just nonsense.
So-and-so was here, please let me earn a lot of money, I really like you, so-and-so, and so on.
‘People in this world are also the same when it comes to graffiti.’
I chuckled and looked away.
Towards the vast ocean below.
Although we couldn’t get many trees, I could see an island that wasn’t visible from below, perhaps because we were on a high ground.
“Oh, so that’s Parune Island.”
Parune, the second island located north of the Starting Island.
It was also the place we were going to next.
“Avman, just in case, can you sense the portal’s location?”
“No, I can only sense the one on this island.”
“I see.”
Raven spoke up as I nodded, as if to defend the bear-like man.
“Don’t be too disappointed. It’s only natural since this floor is so vast. He said he would be able to sense it again once we get closer to the portal.”
Geez, disappointed my ass.
In the first place, there wasn’t much a Guide could do on the 6th floor, unlike the lower floors.
Especially not at this early stage.
“Anyway, we’ve got everything we need, so let’s go down.”
I went back down to the shore with my companions after finishing our business at the summit. And I took out the boat I had prepared from my subspace pocket and launched it into the water. It was a boat we bought with the clan funds we collected as soon as we formed the clan.
Although we used most of the funds…
‘I wouldn’t have been able to get it at this price if it weren’t for the current situation.’
The timing was good in many ways.
We could use the trees we would obtain later to upgrade the boat or sell them as lumber and buy a better boat.
“Bjorn… th, this won’t sink, right?”
Geez, we even went fishing on a boat in Gnometree.
‘…Ah, the boat capsized back then.’
“Don’t worry, I already tested it in the city. It will be fine as long as you don’t move too much.”
“Bu, but… ugh! It’s, it’s shaking!! Is, is there something wrong with the boat?! It’s so different from back then!!”
“That was a lake, and this is the sea.”
Actually, the biggest problem was that this boat was twice as small as the one we rode back then.
Anyway, we all got on the boat after the commotion.
And…
“Alright, let’s set sail!”
…we diligently rowed and sailed against the waves, just like we practiced on land in the city.
Because our boat didn’t have a sail.
We wouldn’t have even been able to fit four people if we had bought one with a sail.
And we didn’t have enough money to buy a bigger one.
After all, there’s a certain charm to being a newbie.
“I, I think the boat is going backwards…”
“It’s just your imagination! Row harder!”
“One, two. One, two!”
Although there were some trial and error since it was our first time rowing in real life, we quickly adapted, as expected of explorers who overcome adversity with sheer willpower.
“Oh, the island is getting closer!”
Raven, as if the sailing content stimulated her emotions, reacted unusually even to small things.
But her excitement didn’t last long.
‘But it’s taking much longer than I thought…’
It didn’t seem that far when we saw it from the summit, but the boat was moving at a snail’s pace.
No, was it just me who felt that way?
I can’t believe we’re encountering a hurdle this early after entering the 6th floor.
“Ugh.”
“Bjo, Bjorn? What’s wrong?!”
“Sea… sick…”
Bjorn Yandel wasn’t made for the sea.
_____________________
“Sea, seasick? Isn’t that something that happens when you ride a carriage?”
Misha asked worriedly, looking at me dying from seasickness.
Although I wanted to ask how she could even ask that question…
…it was only natural from her perspective.
She had spent her entire life inside the walls.
It seemed like even Raven only knew about it from books.
“Seasickness refers to dizziness caused by the discrepancy between your vision and your sense of balance. It doesn’t just happen when you ride a carriage.”
“Ah, I see…”
Misha nodded, her voice clueless.
“Come to think of it, I’ve also been feeling a bit nauseous…”
Although Misha was better off, Ainar, a born barbarian warrior, was in a worse state than me.
“Move aside! Ugh!!”
Ainar, forgetting about rowing, grabbed the railing and started vomiting.
“Kyaak!”
“St, stop! Miss Ainar! You can’t move like that!”
The boat rocked violently as she vomited fiercely.
I was seriously worried that it might capsize.
“Ugh, ugh…”
“…St, stop!”
We couldn’t physically stop her since the boat was so small that there wasn’t even enough space to stand properly.
And four of us couldn’t swim.
Everyone except for Erwen and Misha.
We were quite far from the island, so even if I used [Gigantification], my feet wouldn’t reach the ground like last time.
No, wasn’t this a really dangerous situation?
“Raven! Knock her out with magic!”
“Ah, yes!”
I quickly assessed the situation and gave the order, realizing it wasn’t something we could just laugh off.
“Seretara Bairon!”
“Ugh, ugh… huh…? Hmm…”
Fortunately, Ainar hadn’t invested much in Magic Resistance yet, so she quietly lost consciousness after a single spell.
And…
“Um, mister… I, I think I’m going to die.”
“Uh, me too. I need one too.”
My companions, unable to endure the storm that was Ainar, fell one by one.
“But Mr. Urikfrit is unexpectedly fine—”
“…Ugh, ueeeeek!!”
“Uh, uh… Mr. Yandel, are you okay—”
No, there’s no way.
“Uwaaaaaaaaak!!”
I heard a sigh from behind as I was carefully holding onto the railing and vomiting.
“…Why isn’t there a single person who’s fine?”
Surprisingly, Raven wasn’t seasick.
____________________
The concept of the 6th floor was simple.
To sail the vast ocean, pass through various islands, and reach the 7th floor. And because of that, a ‘navigator’ was essential from this floor onwards.
A specialized professional who navigated the ship, recorded the course, and even absorbed essences that were helpful for sailing.
‘Well, there’s no need to rush since there will be many applicants if we just have a proper ship.’
I got off the bow and dragged the boat to the shore with my hands. And I put it in my subspace pocket so that I wouldn’t lose it.
It was a method I could only use while sailing a small boat.
After all, we would need a bigger boat to cross the Windless Zone, the Frozen Sea, and other treacherous seas.
‘And in the first place, that’s why clans are recommended from the 6th floor onwards.’
Since boats were so expensive, it was a burden for teams to explore the 6th floor.
“Phew, it’s land! Land!!”
We arrived at Parune Island, looking half-dead, as the sun began to set in the distance.
We had a simple meal and then immediately started preparing for camp.
“So the sunset can look like that…”
“Really. I thought for the first time today that it was a good thing I became an explorer.”
My companions, who had only ever seen the sun disappear beyond the walls, felt a sense of awe as they watched the sunset over the horizon.
Actually, I felt the same way.
It really felt like we were on an island on Earth, just by being on this sandy beach.
Well, I had never actually been to an island like this.
‘Why didn’t I come sooner…’
I regretted my past self, who was always cooped up in his room, playing games. Back then, I was living in a much wider world without walls.
“Ainar, you go to sleep first. I’ll wake you up last.”
“Is, is that okay?”
“You suffered the most…”
“Thank you, Misha!”
We decided that Ainar, who had suffered from seasickness, would be the last one to keep watch, and then we decided on the order for the rest of us.
“We don’t have to do it in pairs. I heard only monsters below 8th grade appear on this island.”
“Yeah, okay. Let’s take turns, and wake each other up if something happens.”
“Um, but if we’re doing that, wouldn’t it have been better to sleep on the previous island? It seemed like there were no monsters there.”
“We didn’t know we would arrive this late.”
“That’s… true.”
We just spread out our sleeping bags on the sand and lay down since the weather was nice. Although we brought tents since it rained sometimes from here onwards…
“It’s pretty.”
“Yes, it is.”
…we unanimously decided to sleep under the stars after seeing the Milky Way spread out across the sky.
“…My wife would have liked this.”
“No, you’re talking like she’s dead. Are you going to tell her that?”
“…Wh, what are you talking about? I, I meant it’s a shame that she quit being an explorer! That’s what I meant!”
“Stop chattering and go to sleep. We’ll explore the island as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.”
Could it be because it was our first night on the 6th floor?
My companions fell asleep after a long time, as if they were feeling sentimental.
And the next morning…
“We’re going to walk along the coastline and look around before entering the island.”
…we woke up early, packed up our campsite, and walked around the island.
There wasn’t any particular reason.
I just wanted to see it with my own eyes.
How much the size differed between the game and reality.
‘The island is much bigger than I expected.’
That’s when, as we were halfway around the island…
“Oh, Bjorn! There’s a boat!”
…we found a boat anchored at the shore.
Although it wasn’t a large galleon, it was at least three times bigger than ours, and it had everything.
“This is enough to cross the Windless Zone and even the Frozen Sea. Ah, of course, it’s bound to its owner.”
“Uh, so we can’t take it?”
Ainar tilted her head with an innocent look at Raven’s explanation.
And at that moment…
“Hey, barbarian. What are you doing in front of our boat?”
…the boat’s owner appeared from inside the island.
“Wait, aren’t you that barbarian from before?”
“It’s been a while.”
It was a familiar face.
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