Chapter 375: Chapter 375: Treasure Hunter (3)

The Guardian of the Green Mine, the King Slime.

It was a decent essence to have, at least until the mid-game.

Well, none of us would absorb it even if it dropped…

But it didn’t drop anyway.

「King Slime defeated. EXP +4」

「Guardian Kill Bonus: EXP +3」

I clicked my tongue, watching the King Slime disappear into particles of light.

“Wow, it really didn’t drop anything?”

I was hoping for at least a Numbered Item, but…

How can it not even drop a rift stone?

The individual drop rate should be 33.3%…

‘…Come to think of it, we didn’t get any essence drops on the way here either.’

That’s why I had a glimmer of hope.

That the Guardian might drop a decent Numbered Item.

“At least we got one essence.”

I chuckled at Amelia’s attempt to console me.

That’s not an essence, it’s trash.

Slime, a 9th-grade monster.

It decreased your physical stats like Bone Density, Physical Resistance, Strength, and Agility, and gave you a bunch of useless stats like Poison Resistance, Sixth Sense, and Digestion.

And the skill was mediocre.

It was occasionally useful, but…

…it wasn’t worth the penalties, so it was considered one of the worst 9th-grade essences.

Ah, for reference, the essence dropped from one of the trash mobs that appeared while we were fighting the King Slime.

‘Damn it, I’d rather it not drop anything at all.’

Then at least I could hope for a jackpot next time.

“Mister, the portal is open! Are we leaving now?”

“Of course.”

I led my companions towards the portal.

There was no hesitation in my steps.

One Slime essence from a rift?

What a garbage room.

「Entered the 1st-floor Crystal Cave.」

Let’s get out of here.

I don’t want to get any more bad luck.

____________________

We didn’t waste any time after exiting the rift.

We headed straight for the upper floors since we were done with the lower floors, and we reached our target floor on Day 26.

「Entered the Great Ocean of the 6th floor.」

Starting Island Laimia.

It wasn’t crowded with explorers and soldiers like last time. And neither was the coastline filled with warships.

The expedition force had already departed for the Dark Continent on Day 25.

That’s why we deliberately arrived a day late.

“Let’s go to the coast.”

There was no reason to waste time on an empty island, so we headed straight for the coast.

And I took out the ship from my subspace pocket.

It looked completely different from the previous one, which didn’t have a sail and required us to row.

‘This is more like it.’

It was a ship similar in size and shape to the fishing boats you often see in Korea.

It had a large square sail in the center and a mana propulsion device at the rear, so we could increase the speed by adding magic stones.

In other words, it could even sail through windless zones as long as we had enough magic stones.

‘Well, I don’t think we’ll be going to a windless zone without a navigator…’

Amelia stood at the helm, gulping nervously, as we all boarded the ship.

But Erwen seemed uneasy.

“But… can she even sail this ship without a navigator…?”

“She said she had experience sailing a small boat, so she’ll be better than me, who only knows how to row. And she said she learned the basics while buying the ship.”

“Hmm…”

“Right, Amelia?”

“…Don’t talk to me. I’m thinking.”

“…….”

Damn it, this is making me nervous.

Amelia, who had been staring at the helm with a serious expression, as if running a simulation in her head, finally started giving orders.

“First… we have to row away from the island. We need wind to sail.”

“‘We need wind’…?”

“If you’re unhappy, you can—”

“No, I’m not. I’ll do as you say.”

“…….”

I decided to follow her orders instead of micromanaging her.

Of course, I wasn’t going to actually row.

What was the point of buying this expensive ship?

Swoosh!

The ship started moving forward as I inserted a magic stone into the mana propulsion device.

“…Ugh!”

Amelia seemed surprised by the speed, but she quickly regained her composure and turned the wheel.

And…

“N-now! The sail! Unfurl the sail!”

The ship caught the wind and started sailing as soon as the sail was unfurled.

Phew, so she can do it.

“What’s our heading?”

“East. Don’t worry.”

“I see…”

Amelia sighed in relief at my words.

But her hands were still tightly gripping the wheel.

It was a refreshing sight.

The woman who didn’t even flinch when killing people was this nervous about sailing a ship.

“I can see it.”

An island appeared on the horizon after about 15 minutes of sailing east.

It was the closest island to the starting point after Parune Island, where we had fought Stormgush.

Gurka Island.

There was no real reason to visit this island.

The monsters here were low-level, and they all appeared on the lower floors.

I had already gotten all the experience points I needed.

But…

‘We don’t have a navigator, so it can’t be helped.’

We couldn’t sail directly to our destination with our current navigation skills, so we had to island-hop.

Well, there was another reason.

“…Mister, are you okay?”

“…….”

Damn it, this seasickness.

It was a bit better than before, but my stomach was still churning.

“Schuitz, we can take a break if you’re not feeling well.”

“Please.”

We anchored the ship and took a break.

That was one of the good things about this barbarian body.

Even though the seasickness was severe, it only lasted for about 10 minutes.

“Alright, let’s set sail again.”

We resumed our voyage after recovering.

Our next destination was Anos, the second island on the eastern route.

“It will take about three hours to get there, can you really do it?”

“…Don’t worry. Just keep sailing northeast.”

“Who said that?”

“…The book.”

Erwen, who had never experienced this kind of haphazard navigation, looked dubious.

But Amelia seemed to have a knack for sailing. An island appeared on the horizon after about three hours.

Amelia clenched her fist.

“We found it.”

“But why is it east of us, not in front?”

“…It’s within the margin of error.”

Damn right, it’s within the margin of error.

Amelia turned the ship, and we soon arrived at Anos Island.

Unlike Gurka Island, which we had skipped, we had business here.

There weren’t any hidden pieces or treasures, but we had to get the remaining experience points.

And it was also getting late, so we were planning to camp here for the night.

But before that…

“Ugh, bleeegh—!”

…I had to empty my stomach.

_____________________

「Ripple Monkey defeated. EXP +3」

「War Snake defeated. EXP +4」

「Nigel Fencer defeated. EXP +4」

「Belgaro defeated. EXP +5」

「Black Tree defeated… 」

「… 」

_____________________

Anos Island, where 99% of the island was covered in jungle, except for the coastline.

We set up camp on the beach and started exploring the next day.

We circled the entire island, killing monsters and gaining experience points, and then it was nighttime again, so we had to camp for another night.

‘Damn it, I thought we could clear it in half a day and move on to the next island.’

The reason for the delay was the last monster we hunted. We had to search for it until nightfall since it didn’t appear even after we circled the entire island.

“Mister, the stars are beautiful, don’t you—?”

Snore!

“He’s asleep…”

We set sail early the next morning and headed for the next island, and thankfully, we arrived safely.

And the process continued…

“This is the seventh island.”

“It’s called Pione Island, right?”

We arrived at the seventh island on the eastern route after ten days of sailing.

Honestly, it was a miracle.

We had made it this far without any problems, even though we had a navigator who only knew how to go forward, stop, and park.

‘I thought we might miss an island or something.’

Is sailing really that easy?

I had been observing Amelia as she sailed, learning the basics.

I was also getting used to the seasickness.

“Wow, it’s a beautiful island, just like they say.”

“Erwen, is this your first time here too?”

“Yes. We usually just passed by.”

“Well, it’s a waste of time if you’re unlucky.”

Pione, the seventh island on the eastern route.

It was often called Treasure Island among explorers.

The terrain was relatively flat compared to the other islands, which had mountains in the center, and it was small enough to circle in about three hours.

For reference, only one type of 4th-grade monster appeared on this island…

“Are we skipping this one too?”

“It’s getting late, so we’ll stay for one night.”

Erwen seemed happy with my answer.

There were practically no monsters on the island.

It would be like winning the lottery if we encountered one.

“Mister! Let’s explore the island! We have some time until nightfall!”

“…Alright.”

“It might be dangerous, so I’ll come with you.”

We put the ship away and explored the island, familiarizing ourselves with the terrain.

Swaaaaaaaaaa!

A refreshing sea breeze.

A vast field filled with colorful flowers.

“It’s not bad.”

Erwen smiled as I unconsciously expressed my admiration.

“Right?”

“Yes, it’s wide open, so we’ll easily notice if a looter approaches while we’re sleeping.”

“…Yes?”

Erwen tilted her head, confused, but it was an important point.

There was a reason why this island was called Treasure Island.

Even though most high-level explorers were participating in the war on the 7th floor, there was no way this island would be empty.

It was the only place, besides rifts, where you could obtain Numbered Items.

“That’s enough reconnaissance. Let’s set up camp over there. I found a good spot earlier.”

“Okay…”

We were all experienced explorers, so setting up camp didn’t take long. We had Amelia’s clone keep watch and then went to sleep.

And after some time…

“Schuitz, wake up.”

Amelia woke me up.

I rubbed my sleepy eyes and looked around. Erwen was already awake and had drawn her bow.

There was only one possibility.

It was much more likely than encountering a monster on this island.

“How many?”

I asked for the necessary information, and Amelia answered curtly.

“Fifteen.”

“A clan.”

We had uninvited guests.