Chapter 267: Chapter 267 Parune Island (1)

Parune Island (1)

People are fighting each other.

Those words jolted me awake.

Perhaps I had become a bit complacent without realizing it.

Thump!

There were no Noark explorers.

No, there were barely any explorers in the first place.

But even so, anything could happen in the labyrinth.

So I had to confirm the information first.

“How many are there?”

“At least eight.”

Erwen answered immediately, without a moment’s hesitation, as I asked in a low voice.

“So at least two teams are fighting.”

“Presumably.”

“Anything else I should know?”

“…No.”

Hmm, her tone didn’t sound like it.

It wasn’t good to just ignore this.

It’s like in movies, right?

“Anything else I should know?”

I asked again, more forcefully, and Erwen answered cautiously.

“…I have a bad feeling.”

Right, so that’s how it is.

“I’m sorry. For saying something unnecessary…”

I chuckled, looking at Erwen, who trailed off.

“It’s fine.”

Because I felt the same way.

An ominous premonition started to creep up on me as soon as I heard that explorers were fighting each other.

That’s when, as I was contemplating what to do…

“Yandel, what are we going to do?”

“Are we going to save them again…?”

I tilted my head.

“Save them again?”

“You did that on the 1st floor, and when the Imperial City was on fire.”

What is she talking about?

The situation was completely different from back then.

I had the means to help in the Imperial City, and I had also promised to help if I had the strength.

And on the 1st floor…

“I think I know what you’re misunderstanding, but I’ll make it clear now.”

I had ended up being treated like a hero after leading thousands of explorers and opening a path.

Honestly, I was a bit excited.

But…

“The ones I really wanted to save back then were you guys.”

My priorities hadn’t changed.

I was a selfish person who wasn’t worthy of being called a hero.

It was already hard enough to protect myself and my people.

“That means…”

“There’s no need to get involved when I even have a bad feeling. We’re leaving this island.”

“But is that okay? We don’t even know what’s going on, they might need our help.”

The bear-like man spoke with a troubled expression.

It wasn’t like his usual character.

It seemed like he was still drunk on the hero hype he experienced on the 1st floor.

“They’re also explorers. They must have accepted the risks when they chose this job.”

I said firmly, with the authority of a leader, and the bear-like man readily agreed without a word.

But could it be that he was worried about something else?

“Raven, are you okay? It seemed like you knew that guy.”

“Mr. Partslan? Hmm, if they’re fighting, then it’s highly likely that he’s involved…”

Raven trailed off at the bear-like man’s concern.

And she looked at us with a determined gaze and drew a line.

“But I don’t care.”

“You don’t care?”

“We’re not that close. What if something happens to us if we go to help them?”

It was a selfish answer, typical of an explorer.

But we were all speechless at her following words.

“…My team is more important to me.”

Geez, she’s saying that without even blinking.

She’s become shameless after getting a year older.

She still looked like a kid.

“Then it’s decided.”

We turned around and ran towards the shore as soon as the decision was made.

Our estimated arrival time was about an hour.

It wasn’t a big island, so there wouldn’t be any problems if we just left quickly.

‘It’s a shame to leave the hidden piece…’

Well, we could just leave the island and come back later depending on the situation.

‘Right, it’s best to run away when you’re uneasy.’

I discarded my last shred of regret.

After some time…

“It’s the sea!”

…we reached the shore and quickly took out our boat, launching it into the water. And we got on board one by one, rowing away from the island.

That’s when, as I was starting to feel relieved…

“Bjo, Bjorn!”

…Ainar, the valiant barbarian warrior, shouted, her voice filled with fear.

“Wh, what’s going on! The, the sea…! The sea is rising!!”

The calm sea suddenly turned violent, rocking the boat.

「The offering of Parune Island has been destroyed.」

「The wrath of the sea engulfs the island.」

Damn it.

___________________

The hidden piece on Parune Island was simple.

When you destroyed the ‘offering’ hidden in the center of the island, you could trigger the ‘Wrath of the Sea’ event.

It was a kind of defense event.

Sea monsters would swarm towards the island from the shore, and we had to block them from inland.

And what I was aiming for was the event boss’s essence.

The 4th-grade monster, Elprott.

It was an essence that Misha or Erwen could use until the late game.

Well, whether it dropped was a different matter.

Anyway, it wasn’t something I should be thinking about right now.

‘At least 8 people on that side, and 6 people here…’

The event had started at the highest difficulty.

It meant that our top priority was to escape this island, regardless of the hidden piece.

“Wh, what’s going on?”

“I’ve never heard of the waves suddenly getting this high…”

“Row! Row harder!!”

We hurriedly started rowing after a brief moment of panic at the violent waves that were pushing us back, as if no one could escape this island.

After all, we were almost out of the island’s vicinity.

‘We can get out if we just go a little further.’

Indeed, even in the game, escaping the island after the event was triggered wasn’t blocked by the system.

It was just that most boats would sink before they could get far enough.

“One, two. One, two!!”

We chanted and rowed, overcoming the waves.

But…

‘I should have spent a bit more money and bought a better boat.’

It didn’t feel like we were moving forward.

It felt like we were being pushed back towards the island, even though we were rowing with all our might.

And it wasn’t just a feeling.

“Bjo, Bjorn! The, the island is getting closer!”

The boat was being pushed back even though we were trying to sail against the waves.

I felt a bitter taste in my mouth.

If we had just installed a magic engineering propulsion device on the boat, we might have been able to break through.

“Bjorn! The boat is taking on water…!!”

“Wh, what should we do? Is there a hole somewhere?”

Panic spread among the members as the boat started taking on water.

It was time to make a decision.

“We’re giving up on escaping the island.”

I quickly gave the order after a brief moment of contemplation.

“Everyone, turn around and sit down! We’ll ride the waves and head towards the island!”

It was the advantage of a small boat with a capacity of six people.

Although there was a front and back, it didn’t really matter. Especially not in this situation where the waves were pushing us back so violently.

“Put all your heavy equipment in your subspace pockets!”

I had them take off their equipment to reduce the boat’s weight and prepare for a capsizing.

Okay, then we were done with the preparations.

“Right!!”

I only used the oars to keep the boat from capsizing, not to move it.

That’s when, after about 3 minutes, as the island that was far away started to get closer…

“Lo, look…!”

…the boat, which had been bouncing and moving forward, was swept away by a large wave.

And…n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Kyaaaaaak!!”

…it completely capsized.

“Gasp!”

My body was submerged in water in an instant.

I somehow grabbed onto the overturned boat and held on.

“Is everyone okay?!”

“Uh, for now!”

“I’m okay!”

Everyone except for one person reported that they were alive at my shout.

“Where’s Raven?”

What happened?

Don’t tell me she was swept away?

“Gasp, here! I’m here!”

Phew, that startled me.

We quickly discussed as we clung to the overturned boat and bobbed on the water.

“So what should we do now?”

“Can’t we just stay like this?”

“Uh, it seems like we’re moving in the right direction…”

It wasn’t a bad method.

The boat, made of special buoyant wood, wouldn’t sink even if it was overturned.

‘It actually feels more stable than when we were on board…’

The waves were pushing us towards the island, so the boat would reach the shore even if we didn’t steer it.

“Hold on tight!”

We then endured, holding onto the boat’s handles tightly to avoid being swept away by the waves.

That’s when, after about a minute…

‘Oh, I didn’t think about this…’

…we faced a new crisis.

“Look, rocks! Rocks…!”

A towering reef started to approach the boat as we got closer to the shore.

It was impossible to change course now.

“If we get separated, meet at the center of the island!!”

I hurriedly shouted, assuming the worst.

And at that moment…

Kwaaang!

…the boat crashed into the reef.

______________________

Swaaa!

I opened my eyes to the sound of crashing waves.

My vision was blurry, as if something was stuck in my eyes, and I could taste the salt of the sea in my mouth.

And for some reason…

Crack, crack, crack.

…I heard a crunching sound.

From my feet.

“……?”

I barely managed to lift my head and check my lower body, and then I froze.

A giant lobster monster the size of a large dog was struggling to eat my feet.

“What the hell.”

No, do you think that would work?

Just how high is my Physical Resistance?

Thwack!

I first kicked the Sterleb away with my free foot. And I quickly got up and smashed its head with the plank I was holding.

「Killed Sterleb. EXP +1」

As expected of a 9th-grade monster, it disappeared into light with a single hit.

‘But what is this plank…?’

I then realized that I had been clutching a plank since I opened my eyes.

Where did it come from?

I didn’t have to think hard, the memory I had forgotten came back to me.

‘Ah, the boat was destroyed…’

The boat shattered when it hit the reef.

And I grabbed the biggest plank and hugged it tightly. I judged that even my barbarian body wouldn’t sink if I held onto this.

‘So I survived because of this…’

I quickly looked around after realizing that. There was no one on the empty sandy beach.

‘I wonder if the others are okay…’

Raven would be fine.

Although she couldn’t swim, I saw her floating in the air using Levitation magic at the last moment. And Misha and Erwen could swim, so I was less worried about them.

The problem was Ainar and the bear-like man, who couldn’t swim.

‘Phew, I hope they were safely washed ashore.’

Although I tried to reassure myself, I couldn’t help but worry.

But my hands moved busily, taking out the equipment I had stored in my subspace pocket and putting it on.

Because a horde of monsters would soon swarm the island.

Judging by how only Sterlebs were roaming around, it seemed like it hadn’t been long since the event started…

…but I had to be prepared.

‘They said explorers were fighting each other, but what kind of situation led to this event being triggered?’

Although I had several questions, they were things I couldn’t answer right now.

Ha, I should have just helped them.

Then I would have known what was going on—

Thud.

I stopped as I was about to enter the forest from the shore.

I heard a presence from beyond the bushes.

Tadat, tadat, tadat.

The sound of someone running.

‘It’s not a monster.’

All the monsters on Parune Island were flying insects.

It meant it wasn’t the sound of a monster running.

And it was also unlikely to be one of my scattered companions.

We had agreed to meet inside the forest.

There was no reason for them to be running in the opposite direction.

‘Then is it one of the explorers who were fighting?’

I slowly raised my mace and waited for the owner of the presence to appear.

The reason I waited was simple.

I only heard one set of footsteps.

I was confident that I could at least escape if it was a one-on-one battle.

So gathering information was the priority.

‘Now.’

I timed it based on the sound of their footsteps and then suddenly reached out.

“Huff, huff. Kyaa, ug—”

My prey was caught and lifted into the air, struggling.

“Stay still. I won’t hurt you.”

My original plan was to swing my mace and subdue her completely, but I decided to put it on hold.

Because she was someone I knew.

Well, it seemed like she didn’t remember me.

“I’ll let you go, so be quiet.”

“Wh, who are you…?”

“I told you to be quiet.”

The priestess in a white robe trembled as I spoke in a menacing voice.

Phew, this makes me feel like a bad guy.

“I’m Bjorn Yandel, Viscount.”

“Ah…!”

The priestess’s face brightened as soon as I revealed my name.

She didn’t seem to doubt my identity.

It seemed like Partslan had told her about me.

“So calm down, Ersina. I’m not your enemy.”

“Ho, how do you know my name…?”

How would I know?

Because I met her once before.

I repeat, it was a memory that was hard to forget.

[Priest Ersina. Can you heal him?]

[I refuse.]

I felt like the world was ending when she refused to treat me.

Tsk, whatever. That wasn’t important now.

“Let’s talk about that later. Explain what happened in the forest.”

Gathering information was the priority.