Chapter 52. Red Zone (2)
‘This bitch… is he saying that he’s going to gain all those materials in the remaining time?’
Yohan was speechless.
It wasn’t that you needed a large amount of materials for a big Ship.
Since though it was called materials, you didn’t make the ship with those materials.
Actually the materials felt more like currency for buying the Ship.
But of course it wasn’t easy just because it was like that.
The more expensive the Ship was, a core for which the difficulty of gaining rose exponentially was added into it.
The Kuron Parasite was the core ingredient for the ships with a capacity of 30 people or less.
The Ships which could hold over 30 people needed the Red Spotted Salamander’s heart and the 2000 man sized Ships which the large clans rode on needed the skull of the Volcanic Bear which there were only two of on all of the fourth floor.
The core item needed for the 500 man Ship was Nokrokrok Lizard’s heart.
The two clans which weren’t part of an alliance and had made this ship received quite a large amount of casualties while hunting this guy.
While Yohan was thinking random things, Hansoo shouted as he flew off.
“Don’t worry. I’ll let you guys ride on it.”
“…What?”
Hansoo smirked at the reply which seemed like that they had misheard.
Why would he let all 100 of them die after making the ship?
These guys couldn’t make the ship during the remaining time.
“If you want to get on then go chop down some Arun Trees and get some Kelk’s Mucus Sac. That’s the fee for the ride. I’ll see you at the entrance.”
“Hey! Hey! Hey wait over there!”
Yohan shouted out in a panic but Hansoo had already disappeared into the distance.
Everyone looked at each other as if they were guarding against each other but then started to speak out one at a time.
There were 2 choices.
To either gain the ride fee like that guy had said.
Or to make the ship and leave like that.
“What do we do?”
“Shall we… group up and fight?”
“We need at least five 20-man ships in order to have enough capacity for 100 people… we need at least 10 Kuron Parasites. We can’t kill 10 of them in 2 hours.”
“Dammit….”
The fact that they had been gathered like had actually become the problem.
They could easily catch three or four since 100 people were gathered like this.
But they couldn’t make ships for all 100 people to get on with that.
There will be a bloody battle.
“…Goddamnit.”
Yohan frowned.
Could that guy really gain all the materials to make the 500 man ship?
Because then there was nothing much more to do.
Since they will be thankful to him too.
‘But if he said that to make us calm down…’
He may just make a 10 man ship and leave like that.
‘Then we won’t simply die.’
If that happened then they will at least break his ship apart.
‘But why is he telling us to bring these?’
Kelk Mucus Sac and Arun Tree weren’t part of the necessary materials.
And the amount he had requested was quite a lot.
If you take into account of the hardness of the Arun Tree than all 100 people still needed to work hard after splitting up.
‘First I’ll move.’
Since it was rather cheap fee for a ride.
‘Please… let us thank you.’
Getting abandoned once was enough.
And soon everyone dispersed into numerous directions.
***
Kuuuuuuu
‘Nokrokrok Lizard.’
Hansoo flew around and then whipped at the lizard’s chin after making a tight tist.
Booooom!
The Dark Golden light that had run up Hansoo’s arm gathered in his hands and then exploded. The lizard got hit in the head, tumbled for a while and then died.
Hansoo started to search around the corpse of the lizard.
‘Let’s see… I should take the part where the great arteries of the three hearts combine right?’
Three hearts.
Which was why they didn’t count.
The part where the arteries of the three hearts combined, which there was only one of, counted.
Hansoo took out the essence of the material and then moved his position to the where he had came in from the outside.
There were people gathering there with the Arun Trees and Kelk Mucus Sac along with anxious expressions.
“Let’s go.”
Everyone’s facial tone changed but made a slightly suspicious expression too.
They could only be sensitive since their lives were on the line.
And they couldn’t believe the fact that he had gained the materials for a 500 man Ship in such a short time.
“Did you really get them?”
Hansoo nodded as Yohan, who had been standing in the front, asked with a slightly suspicious expression.
“Hurry and get over here. There’s less than 30 minutes left now.”
Hansoo then walked towards the toxic waters that had filled up to the lower areas of the fourth floor and started to stack all the materials he had gained.
‘…How do things keep coming out from that small pouch? He killed all them within the two hours?’
The people made expressions of fear.
Numerous parts of different beast’s corpses were coming out endlessly.
“Uuuuhh…”
While the people made scared expressions while watching the toxic waters which seemed like they could rise up at any moment, the fairy appeared in front of their eyes.
“Wow! Congratulations! You gathered all the materials! First I will Congratu…”
“Please hurry with the ship first!”
Somebody shouted loudly.
They had realized that they wouldn’t die even if they talked like that to the fairy.
And the situation where the toxic waters may reach their feet at any time had made them even more anxious.
There were 30 minutes left but this was the time left for the whole fourth floor to get submerged.
If they were even 5 minutes late then the place they were standing at may all be submerged.
The fairy smiled as it spoke.
“Oh my. Sorry. You’re probably anxious. The ship you guys will ride on this…This! <The ship which successfully sailed the Ketil Sea>!”
As soon as the fairy’s words ended all the materials melted and disappeared.
And toxic waters starting boiling as a giant bubble appeared.
Right before the bubble seemed like it would blow up the sea split as a giant Ship appeared.
A Ship the size of a cruiseship.
While everyone was marveling at the high class looking ship, Yohan spat coldly at the fairy.
“You will control that? There isn’t anyone here who knows how to control a ship.”
It was hard enough to control a modern yacht alone, how hard would it be to control that giant Ship.
Since the only ship control they knew was a pirate captain shouting while spinning the steering wheel of a strange-looking ship.
The fairy just smiled at those words.
“Don’t worry. We will sail the ship for you guys as a service the first time so rest comfortably. Heehee. The estimated date of arrival is 3 days! If you leave it alone it will go to the Red Zone but if you want to change the direction then the controls are in the middle of the deck. The controls aren’t hard.”
Everybody sighed in relief.
They were able to barely escape 30 minutes before they were about to get submerged along with the whole island.
But Yohan frowned slightly.
‘…The first sail is free as service?’
And for them to allow them to turn direction.
Doesn’t that mean that there are going to be instances where they might have to change the direction of the ship?
While Yohan was making a rather dirty expression, Hansoo’s voice was heard from above:
“What are you doing. Get on. Bring the Kelk Mucus Sacs and the wood.”
“Hnng?”
Chiiiik
“Uaaak! It got all the way up here!”
“Hurry and get on! Hurry!”
It wasn’t that they were going to melt down right away but they will melt down if they were to be submerged.
As the toxic water started to melt the soles of their shoes, everyone flew their body up to the ship along with the mucus sacs and the wood in a hurry.
Even if they were weak, they were people with superhuman physiques in the normal world.
Getting onto a ship of this height was merely a joke.
And when all the people got onto the ship, the sails of the ship flapped back and forth as it started it move magically.
The giant ship then started to lead them towards the next area, the <Red Zone>.
***
“Let’s all introduce ourselves. I’m called Yohan. Thank you for letting me on.”
Everyone gathered on the deck of the ship and started to introduce themselves.
Since no matter how much they liked or hated each other, they were on the same ship and be with each other for 3 days, or more.
And when it became Hansoo’s turn, everyone started focusing on him.
Since he was the person who got caught in the eye the most.
He didn’t have anything on.
He didn’t have any equipment on him.
But he was strong.
Hansoo spoke as he looked at them.
“I am called Kang Hansoo.”
Everyone nodded their heads.
And a few of the expressions brightened up.
If a strong guy was a crazy guy then it would be extremely dangerous.
They had gotten on the ship due to their anxious minds but if a guy this strong were to go crazy on a ship where they could not run away then it would become very troublesome.
But from the way he was acting he was one of the few people who were still sane.
Yohan nodded his head slightly on the inside.
‘So it was this guy…’
This guy was extremely famous.
Since he had stood out since Central Island.
But there was a question.
‘There hasn’t been anybody who has seen this guy in the Tower.’
Even if they went to different islands they were bound to meet on the 4th floor.
Since that was how it was structured.
But there wasn’t anybody who had seen this guy prior to the 2 hours before the departure.
And because of this they had thought he died but for him to be alive.
‘Well. There is no need to make trouble.’
There was no need to create trouble when they were going to be together for 3 days.
As everyone’s introduction’s ended, everyone looked around the ship with comfortable expressions and spoke out.
“Anyways… are we going to rest like this for 3 days?”
Everyone made blissful expressions.
The three months of the tutorial was constant tensions and fighting.
They could only feel comfortable since they were allowed to rest for 3 days in a rather luxurious ship.
And as they went below the deck, they could see some delicious things as if they were services.
But Hansoo shook his head.
The fairy had told them.
That they don’t really lay their hands on them once the tutorial ends.
But that was basically because there was they was no need to anymore.
‘Tsk. I wanted to make a 2000 man ship originally.’
He wanted to make the biggest ship, and probably could’ve made it with leisure but his plans had been screwed because the difficulty of the third gate was higher than he had thought.
2 hours was far from enough time even for someone like him.
‘Though the 500 man ship isn’t bad…’
It wasn’t that the amount of people the ship could carry was important but rather the defenses and durability of the ship increased as the size got bigger.
And because of this the people here had to do well.
‘They need to pay for their own food.’
Hansoo mumbled as he looked towards the distant sea.
***
“It’s enough to make a 30 man ship right? There’s no reason to make a giant ship right?”
One of the people who had been on the ship that was sailing towards the Red Zone shouted out loudly.
Everyone then chuckled as they nodded.
Their ship was basically a raft compared to the giant ship the alliances had sailed off on but if you take into account that the few hundred of them had run around for a whole month, this ship was much better in terms of efficiency.
‘As I thought… this is better than struggling to make a 100 man or 200 man ship.’
They didn’t really feel like they had spare room since 30 people were riding on a 30 man ship but this discomfort just needed to be held in when they were going to arrive in 3 days.
‘Though the free alliance guys asked us to go with them…’
Those guys were very annoying because they had a lot of things they set limits on.
And joining a clan was a bit unsettling due to the fact that his feelings would get changed by itself.
This was better even if they suffer a little bit.
“Let’s rest a bit for 3 days. Since we struggled hard until now.”
Everyone nodded their heads at these words.
How much had they suffered in order to create this.
They struggled a lot in by going into dangerous hunting grounds and hunting by themselves.
‘But this was still a smart decision.’
They laughed inwardly at the people who were still at the tower or have submerged under the waters.
How would they trust the alliance guys and wait for them.
Their lives were on the line.
Those guys had laughed at them when they were making the ship but the ones who had survived in the end were them.
‘It sounds like the story of the ant and the cicada’. (Note: A Jean de la Fontaine fable)
And now they had to rest well with this as the reward.
Since the life on the place they will arrive at won’t be comfortable.
‘Mountain Range of the World Tree… the name’s really good though.’
While they were thinking of the name of the Red Zone that the fairy had told them, a fearsome sound came from the floor.
Kuzak.
Chew. Chew.
Kududuk.
Everyone made anxious expressions at the strange sounds as they rose up.
“Where’s this coming from?”
“It’s below the ship…”
“I’ll go check.”
One person went below very carefully.
And then came back up while screaming.
“Fuck!! Some bastard is making holes on the bottom of the ship!”
“What!!”
Everybody freaked out as they bounced out of their seats.
How could swimming across 3 days worth of travel on a ship on this toxic waters be possible?
And they had clearly seen the people who tried to cross on rafts.
If this ship sinks then it’ll be a massacre.
Everyone madly ran down.
And then freaked out at the three-pronged spears coming up from below the ship.
Everyone run towards it while swinging their swords crazily at the sight of the toxic waters pouring in.
“Fuck, block it!”
“These bastards won’t come inside! This bitches just keep jabbing from the outside!”
“Goddamit! Somebody go into the sea and get them off while we block them from here!”
Everyone flinched at those words.
‘Jump into the toxic waters?’
They could fight to some degree.
Since their bodies didn’t melt right away even if they were toxic waters.
But the probability of death rose by tens of times.
‘Fuck… we should’ve made a bigger ship.’
Then the holes wouldn’t have been made this easily and they could’ve used long range skills to kill them off during that time.
“Damnit!”
“Ahhhk.”
Everyone made expressions of despair as they looked at the slowly sinking ship.
Almost 10 thousand tutorial areas.
All the ships that started from different tutorial areas, that numbered up to a few tens of thousands if they were all combined, had the same thing occurring to them at the same time.