1.
A rectangular card appeared above my left hand.
It was a skill card that I was now used to.
But what I wasn't used to, was the color of the card.
'Violet? Purple?'
The color of a skill card was determined by the level of the skill.
Ranks F to C had the same color. They were often joked about as being poop colored. Most hunters had poop colored skills. But they were also hunters who cried because they didn't even have that much.
Ranks B and A were silver. These skills were commonly called jackpots.
For Rank S and higher, the color was gold. It was usually hard to even find hunters who had gold skills, so it highlighted just how amazing my companions were. But I'd never heard of a [purple] card.
'This couldn't be an error, right…?'
I looked at the words engraved on the card.
+
[Infernal Heavens Formation]
Rank: Undetermined
Effect: This is a formation made based on the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art. This formation embodies an image shared by the casters. The more casters that participate in the formation, and the more proficient the casters are in the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art, the clearer the image shared, and the stronger the power of the formation.
This formation has not been proven to be effective!
You are the one that created this skill. It is up to you to showcase the potential of the Infernal Heavens Formation. When enough data has been collected, the rank and description of the skill will be revised.
※Currently, the skill level is undetermined.
+
'Ahh.'
I finally understood why the card was purple.
It was like a trial period. The skill hadn't been tested yet, so the card color was purple.
'So there was something like this....'
-Awesome!
I was startled. Bae Hu-ryeong had pushed his head right beside my face and shouted loudly right beside my ear.
'What the hell? What's with you all of a sudden?'
-I've never seen a purple skill card before!
Bae Hu-ryeong's eyes shone brightly.
-Hey, so I was able to see something like this too. It's a good thing I became a ghost instead of choosing to die quietly!
'It's just a different color, why are you making such a big fuss…?'
-Zombie. Is there something wrong with your brain? Don't you think this is weird? If it were you, would you make the trial card for skills that haven't been tested yet purple? Usually, it would be white.
Huh.
Now that I heard that, it did seem a bit strange.
'That's true. Purple wouldn't be set as the default color. Usually.'
-Exactly.
'Hmm.'
Maybe the Tower Owner likes purple.
Just as I was thinking about the Tower Owner, who was shrouded in mystery.
"Daddy."
"Ah. Sorry. I got distracted for a while."
"It's fine."
Uburka shook his head. My right hand was still being held by his.
"Instead, I feel that there's a need to explain the current era to Daddy. After all, there must be a reason why Daddy appeared now of all times. Something big is happening on the continent."
"Something big?"
"That's right. Or perhaps I should say that something big is happening in the entire world, not just the continent."
Uburka smiled as he said those mysterious words.
"There are rumors that a new continent has been discovered."
It was at that moment that the quest appeared.
[You have received the quest for the 35th Floor.]
The name of the quest appeared in a window in front of me.
[Age of Discovery].
2.
A new continent.
This new world was first discovered 24 years ago.
"I've stayed on these snowy mountains for 350 years, but occasionally, I would go down to the city to find out about the affairs of the world. An ocean race captain was the first one to find land that wasn't on any map."
The ocean race took the form of mermaids.
They mainly lived in rivers, but there were other subspecies.
That mermaid wondered what the end of the sea looked like. At the same time, they had the ability to make their curiosity a reality, and the courage to stake their lives on their abilities.
「Please support me.」
The mermaid captain spoke before the admirals.
「The goblins dominate the land because it is inscribed into the very bones of their race. The elves are in charge of many things, so they deserve to control the gold coins. But the water is the only domain for mermaids, so there should not be a single place that we don't know the depth and current of!」
It was a speech without logic, but the admirals swept their tails in agreement.
「We will provide you with a ship and 40 sailors, including a vampire.」(TL: How do mermaids use ships? ED: submarine? No?)
Thus, the legendary voyage began.
I wasn't sure how to say it. But perhaps their thinking was freer because they lived in water. It felt like the mermaids were behind all of the unusual developments in the world, including the discovery of sea salt.
"What happened to the captain?"
"His dream came through. After 16 months of sailing, he discovered a new continent."
Uburka's tone became softer.
"But on their way back home, he was eaten by a killer whale at sea."
No.
That was so pitiful.
"It happens surprisingly often. Ugo. The number one cause of death for mermaids is crocodiles, second is killer whales, and third is drowning."
"Mermaids can drown?"
"I don't know the exact details either."
The shroud of mystery thickened.
While we were having our father-son conversation.
"You guys… Transfer."
We heard a sigh from nearby. It was the Black Dragon Master.
She turned her head and looked at us.
"While treating another person as a means of transportation. Transfer. Can you not just casually talk to each other? Transfer. Don't you think I'll get annoyed just listening from the side? Transfer."
The reason the Black Dragon Master was saying 'transfer' in the middle of her sentences was we were currently riding the Instant Transfer Bus.
I was being held in Uburka's large arms, and the Black Dragon Master was beside me. Thanks to this, we were able to stably repeat Instant Transfer.
From a distance, we probably looked like a kangaroo and her joeys.
"Hey. You're giving us a comfortable ride."
"You might be comfortable, but I'm not. Transfer. Do you know how annoying it is to use a skill non-stop? Transfer."
"It's fine since we're like family now. Right. Since we're closer now, can I call you Noona*? Since I've entered the Tower, I haven't been close enough with anyone to call them Noona." (*: Should I use 'Noona' or 'Big sis')
"You're the type to endlessly take advantage of those close to you… Transfer."
Beneath our feet, the sea spread out endlessly.
That's right. The sea.
No matter where we looked, not to mention land, we couldn't even see a rocky reef. In our sights, blue stretched endlessly towards the horizon. We were literally cutting across the ocean towards the new continent. (TL: For those confused like I was, seas are part of an ocean usually 'partially' contained by land)
"Don't call me Noona. I hate it."
"Then should I call you Your Majesty? The Black Dragon Queen?"
"Our Death King is so funny."
The Black Dragon Master smiled brightly.
For a moment, I felt like she would smack me across the ears.
"I won't joke around anymore…."
"Smart choice. Transfer. If you really want to change the way you address me, then call me Senior. Transfer. I'll let you do that much."
"Ah, fine. Senior. It's fine for you to call me Gong-ja too."
"...."
The Black Dragon Master didn't respond. She just turned her head and looked forward. With an expressionless face, the Black Dragon Master quietly said 'transfer'. Silence naturally fell.
As I listened to the sound of the crashing waves, I checked the quest window one more time.
+
[Age of Discovery]
Difficulty: A-
Mission Goal: Exploration! Adventure! A new continent has appeared for the seven races. The new route pioneered by the Mermaid Race has attracted the other races as well.
'I want to live somewhere else.'
In every era, there are those in the world with this dream. A desire that seemed impossible to fulfill, a miracle that had never appeared, and an excitement that could never be felt. Explorers board ships with the hopes that they'd find what they hadn't obtained on the other side of the ocean.
But the new continent is only a new world for the seven races.
Others have already created their homes on that land and are living there. Currently, the feud between the natives and the explorers is on the brink of exploding! Perhaps, a one-sided massacre is about to take place.
Invasion. Coexistence. Or maybe expulsion.
The seven races are in danger of extermination. It is up to you to guide them!
※However, failure to deliver could result in the destruction of one or more races.
+
Massacre. Extermination.
Those ugly words poked at my eyes.
That was why we were hurrying to the new continent.
"Are those kids really slaughtering the natives?"
"I don't know. Transfer."
The Black Dragon Master spoke.
"However, it is possible. Even in the outside world, massacres took place whenever new routes were pioneered… Transfer. The people of this world might not be like that, but. Transfer. Our children won't always grow up in the way we want."
"No matter what, we have to prevent a massacre."
"I'm rooting for you."
"Ugor."
Uburka slowly opened his mouth.
"There's something there."
Uburka pointed to the horizon. I couldn't see anything at first. But since I trusted my child, I used aura to strengthen my eyesight.
Something was floating in the open ocean.
"A ship?"
It was a huge ship.
I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Black Dragon Master. No, Senior. There's a ship over there, let's go check it out."
"Why?"
"Because I can see the ship, but I don't see the crew."
"Transfer."
It seemed the Black Dragon Master had also spotted the ship. She quickly brought us to the deck.
When we set foot on the boat, we all noticed something strange.
"The people here…."
The Black Dragon Master looked around.
"...are all asleep?"
The sailors were collapsed on the deck.
The sailors were made up of several races. Most of them were oni or mermaids, but there were also a few humans mixed in. Nevertheless, all the sailors, regardless of race, were asleep.
I walked over to the helmsman, who was asleep beneath the ship's wheel, and held his wrist.
"It's malnutrition."
I used my aura to inspect the condition of the sailor's entire body.
"He is showing signs of severe dehydration. It should be about four or five days since he last had any water. Hmm. He doesn't seem to be injured, and his head is fine…."
I'd become very familiar with dehydration when learning the Sword of Thirst of the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art. Just to be safe, I also checked a few more sailors, but the results were the same.
Malnutrition. Severe dehydration.
And.
"This… No matter how I look at it, they're simply asleep."
The sailors breathed in a smooth, comfortable manner.
They hadn't gotten drunk or fainted, they were just sleeping.
"Did you try to wake them up with aura?"
"Yeah, but even when I deliberately stimulated them, they didn't wake up. It's really weird."
"Wait a second."
The Black Dragon Master walked up to a sailor and touched their body. Then, black aura fluttered from her fingertips.
After a while, the Black Dragon Master narrowed her eyes.
"...they weren't cursed."
"Maybe it's a drug? Don't they usually eat and drink as a group?"
"That could be it. However, the symptoms are too light for it to be a drug. I can't feel any traces of it. It's possible that there are drugs in this world that I am unaware of, but…."
The Black Dragon Master looked worried.
Meanwhile, Uburka had gathered all the sailors on the deck.
Strangely, the captain was a snail. The snails said that whenever they came into contact with salt, their skin became dry or in severe cases melted, and yet, one had come out to sea. His courage was commendable.
"He deserves an award."
As he put the captain down, Uburka wrinkled his nose.
"These people seemed to have been working right before they fell asleep. It feels like everyone suddenly fell into a deep sleep regardless of what they were doing."
"Do you mean all at once?"
"Ugor."
A total of 32 sailors had fallen asleep at the same time.
As expected, the mystery only deepened.
"...do you think we should go into their dreams for a moment?"
After a while the Black Dragon Master made a suggestion.
"Their dream?"
"Mhm. It would be better to use [Person Possession] but that costs 1000 points. We can't waste our points like that, so we should use [Dream Appearance] instead."
It was a remark that revealed a hint of her personality. Senior was probably the type to save every penny even when deciding on the guild budget.
After contemplating between going to a dessert cafe or buying dessert in a convenience store, she'd probably end up buying the dessert in a convenience store.
'Raviel is the type to rent out the entire dessert cafe if she wants to eat something she likes.'
In fact, she would probably have a private booth permanently available.
Badass.
I nodded after thinking about our Duke's habits.
"Sure. That would be the fastest way."
"Yeah, then I'll go first...."
"You worked hard to climb the mountain and traverse the seas. You took me across land, sea and air without complaint. I will do this."
"...sometimes, you act so admirably that I'm uncertain whether I want to hit you or not."
"You're my senior, so I have to take care of you."
I opened the Civilisation Store.
[Purchased 'Dream Appearance'.]
[100 points have been deducted!]
[You currently have 7012 race points.]
Then I used the item on the snail captain in front of me.
Paaaaht!
My vision blurred.
A whirlpool of light swirled around in front of my eyes. One breath, two breaths… even though I was using my breaths to count, my sense of time was paralyzed. At some point, my eyes had also become closed.
After a while
-Gong-ja.
Someone whispered in my ear.
-Open your eyes. Gong-ja.
I opened my eyes.
In front of me, an unidentified woman who looked like Raviel had her face very close to mine.
"...."
Mm.
I quickly scanned Raviel's white neck and long fingers. No necklace. No wedding ring.
I didn't have anywhere else to spend my money anyway. I couldn't see the wedding ring I'd bought after pouring half of my fortune before going to the 30th floor.
-Huhu.
Just in case, I looked around more carefully.
We were in one of the bedrooms of the Ivansia mansion.
I was lying on a soft bed. The woman who looked like Raviel was looking down on me from above. I saw a flower pot beside the bed, and I saw a chair, but I couldn't see any golden skill cards anywhere.
'Okay.'
Analysis complete.
-What are you looking for?
The woman above me stroked my cheek.
Her eyes that resembled Raviel's shined brightly.
For a moment, I contemplated accepting this bullshit situation, but fortunately, that contemplation only lasted 0.1 seconds.
-Tomorrow is a holiday. My love. Let's have a great time for the first time in a while...
"Hey, you son of a bitch. What do you think you're doing with Raviel's face? Do you want to die?"
The woman's caress stopped.
"I'll give you 10 seconds. If you don't get off of me and get on your knees right away, then I don't care if you are the god of another world, an apostle, or whatever, I will make you regret your existence. I'll be considerate enough to not count the time out. As long as you know to kneel down within 10 seconds."
-.....
The woman's face hardened.
-How...?
Her facial expression was incomprehensible.
-Are you not asleep? No. That's not possible. You are completely immersed in my dream. So how on earth...
"10 seconds are up."
-What?
I chuckled.
"Let's get this over with."