10-Quad. The Other Ships Go Pop.
A single ship floated proudly above the sea, its bow shaped like a dragon's head and its ceiling covered in iron armor that resembled a turtle's shell. Watching this sight, Seowoon and Kichan could barely contain their excitement.
Seeing their enthusiasm, Limin asked,
"Is it a good ship?"
"Of course," Seowoon replied, his voice full of conviction.
"But the iron ceiling blocks visibility, and it doesn't seem all that agile," Jinryung noted.
kichan smiled in response.
"We'll know for sure once we test it."
"There are a lot of cannons," said Juriel, focusing on the weapons mounted on the Turtle Ship.
"The defense must be top-notch," Dump added, clearly pleased with the ship's appearance.
His smile deepened as he took in the countless sharp spikes protruding from the iron armor.
They opened a sliding door next to the gunports and boarded the vessel. Then, a system notification rang out.
Ding! Advanced Magic Turtle Ship. Extremely durable and fast. Equipped with Iron Barrier, Deadly Charge, and Sea Mist skills.
"Advanced magic!" Limin, who had been steering ships this whole time, shouted in excitement.
"A ship with actual skills!"
Dump also excitedly explored the vessel.
"Magic cannon operation is super easy!" kichan noted as he examined the artillery. Meanwhile, Limin discovered a switch labeled "Vision Open."
Curious about the cryptic label, his hand moved to the switch.
"Wow."
"Ooh."
"No more worries about blocked vision now."
As the ceiling and walls became illusionarily transparent through vision magic, an expansive view opened in every direction.
"This is amazing," Limin said with genuine admiration.
Seowoon called out to kichan.
"kichan."
As kichan looked away from the artillery and toward Seowoon, he saw him smiling.
"Pour it all in."
With that one command, kichan pulled out all the items they had been saving and tossed them onto the deck.
Clang!
Ding! Turtle Ship mobility increased by 5%.
Ding! Turtle Ship durability increased by 5%.
Ding! Turtle Ship magic resistance increased by 10%.
Ding! …
As the upgrade notifications ended, Limin looked at Seowoon and urged him to issue the next order.
When you get your hands on good items, it's only natural to want to try them out.
"Aren't you tired? We fought all night."
"The sun's already high. One sleepless night is nothing."
And it seemed he wasn't the only one itching to go.
The rest of the team looked eager to test out the Turtle Ship's capabilities.
With a smirk, Seowoon gave the order while looking at his crew.
"Set out! Check your pings!"
Since the core of the anomaly had shifted overnight, the ship started sailing toward the large central island, cutting through the sea with exhilarating speed.
Despite its bulk, the Turtle Ship moved faster than a Caravel, and its enclosed, wind-free interior provided surprising comfort, brightening everyone's mood.
Siren-like creatures swam alongside them, leaping out of the water as if excited.
They cruised along happily for a while—until a distant Caravel appeared beyond the island's edge.
BOOM!
A loud blast rang out as a red magic shell shot straight toward them.
THUD!
A heavy impact followed by a notification:
Iron Barrier damaged. Hull damage: 0%.
"Ram it straight on!"
Despite the distance, the Turtle Ship accelerated toward the Caravel. kichan fired a magic cannon from the dragon-mouth figurehead to suppress the enemy.
BOOM! BOOM!
As the enemy fired back in a direct clash, it quickly turned its bow, seemingly flustered, to avoid the frontal engagement.
"Don't let them escape!"
"No chance," Limin replied with a grin.
With overwhelming speed, the Turtle Ship easily closed the distance. It wasn't even a challenge catching a basic, unupgraded Caravel.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Suddenly, the ship shook with a loud vibration throughout the hull.
"Left side!"
From behind a small rocky island, a Panokseon appeared and began firing magic shells.
"Looks like they're together."
"There's another on the right!"
Now being fired on from both flanks, they realized this was a classic pincer strategy—simple, but effective.
"What do we do?" Limin asked, torn, watching the coordinated shelling from both sides.
It was a straightforward but undeniably powerful tactic.
Had they not been on the Turtle Ship, this situation could have been a disaster—a perfect ambush.
But Seowoon didn't hesitate.
"Charge! Use the skills too!"
Limin activated the Deadly Charge skill.
Initiating Deadly Charge. Steering responsiveness reduced until the skill ends.
Iron Barrier destroyed. Hull damage: 5%. No mobility loss due to Deadly Charge.
Even though the barrier was finally broken by the continued shelling, Seowoon remained completely unfazed.
Juriel and Lyle kept trying to cast protective barriers, but the red magic shells from the enemy shattered the mage defenses in one hit.
By the time they had caught up to the fleeing caravel, its damage rate had already exceeded 15%.
The enemies on both sides, who had been firing relentlessly, naturally fell behind due to the fast speed of the Ghost Ship.
As the enemy's stern came into view, the dragon-head figurehead began to glow red, and the dragon's eyes gleamed.
—KUAANG!
—CRAAACK!
With a deafening roar, the Ghost Ship shook violently.
In that instant, Namsagwang had already launched himself from the armored deck toward the enemy ship.
—You going in alone?
—No problem. I've confirmed everything.
He had already sensed through his qi that there were no strong enemies on the enemy vessel.
"Turn the ship around! Ram the panokseon!"
At Seowoon's order, limin spun the wheel.
—CRRRAACK!
The Ghost Ship rammed the enemy caravel aside and turned its bow. The panokseon that had been chasing and firing magic cannons froze in confusion.
As the panokseon frantically tried to turn around, the Ghost Ship charged at it.
—DING! Skill 'Piercing Charge' is still on cooldown. [30 minutes remaining.]
"Damn."
limin, who was about to use the Piercing Charge again, frowned at the notification.
Although the damage rate had surpassed 20% and mobility had dropped by 10%, it was still no issue catching up to the sluggish panokseon.
Meanwhile, the other panokseon persistently fired cannons from the opposite side, but Seowoon didn't even blink.
Just as they were about to catch up, magical attacks began pouring from the enemy ship as well.
—BOOM! CRACKLE!
The moment the dragon-head figurehead slammed into the flat stern of the panokseon, Seowoon shouted.
"Board it!"
Seowoon opened the side wall door beside the figurehead and charged in first, with Jinryung and Lilingyu following him onto the enemy ship.
Waiting knights blocked their path, and enemy mages unleashed a barrage of spells.
But the team, now quite experienced in shipboard melee combat, overwhelmed their enemies without faltering.
While the others battled, limin—rather than jumping into the fray—turned the wheel forcefully and activated a skill.
—Sea Fog activated.
—FWOOOOSH!
A hazy mist began pouring from the mouth of the figurehead.
The mist quickly engulfed the Ghost Ship and panokseon, spreading out in all directions. The remaining panokseon, now unable to see its target, ceased its bombardment.
They couldn't see the enemy. One wrong shot and they might hit allies. All they could do was pace anxiously from a distance.
They feared the enemy's strength, but they couldn't just stand by and do nothing either.
In the end, they chose to flee.
"It's over! While our allies are tied up, we have to escape!"
As the fleeing panokseon tried to distance itself from the battlefield, someone suddenly shouted in a panicked voice.
"Enemy incoming!"
Following his gaze toward the sea, players widened their eyes.
A lone warrior was charging across the water, exuding murderous intent.
Covered in blood and brandishing a blade in one hand, the sight of Namsagwang sprinting across the sea was sheer terror.
—KUAHAHA!
—CRACK!
—FWOOSH!
All manner of spells flew toward Namsagwang, but nothing could slow him down.
"Knights! Stop him with your lives!"
But stopping a warrior wielding internal energy without matching aura was all but impossible.
Namsagwang ignored the heavily armored knights and focused on eliminating the mages.
He was no stranger to fighting while outnumbered.
Even if the game's difficulty and player skill had increased, wiping out a squad like this solo was child's play for him.
"Gah!"
After slicing down the last knight along with his armor, Namsagwang calmly looked into the fog-shrouded area.
Breaking through the mist, the Ghost Ship with its dragon-head figurehead emerged, still as imposing as ever.
"Already done?"
Standing alone on the blood-soaked deck, Namsagwang looked up as Seowoon stepped onto the figurehead and asked.
"A squad without a single Sword Emperor isn't much."
His casual reply made Seowoon smile.
As an enemy, Namsagwang was fearsome. But as an ally, there was no one more reassuring.
Once the looting was finished, kichan threw the newly acquired repair kit onto the deck and completed the ship's repairs.
"If it weren't for the Ghost Ship, that would've been a nightmare."
The rest of the team nodded at kichan's words.
Without the Ghost Ship's overwhelming mobility and durability, it would've been a difficult battle.
"They weren't even strong enemies."
On land, a squad like that—even with three times the numbers—would be easy work for Seowoon's team if they didn't have a Sword Emperor.
But naval combat came with too many variables.
"As long as we have this ship, we can crush most enemies."
Dump's words rang true.
With the Ghost Ship, they could take on nearly anyone.
—Aaaahhh~
Just then, the song of the siren reached them.
Seowoon quickly opened the side door and stuck his head out.
"What's going on?"
—It's a sign of the Mad Sea! You need to get out of here!
At her warning, Seowoon nodded and looked to limin.
Already understanding the danger of the Mad Sea, limin had taken the wheel and begun moving the ship.
They quickly sailed across the battlefield, now quiet after the fierce combat.
The moment they escaped, a blue zone appeared on the map, marking the area.
Behind them, dark clouds loomed and the sea began to rage violently. Dump shivered at the sight.
"If you get caught in that, they'll never even find your body."
Seowoon nodded grimly and checked the map, his brow twitching.
"So this is how it is."
Hearing his low voice, Juriel was the first to react.
"What is it?"
She instinctively opened the map, and her eyes widened.
"This is…"
"Yeah."
In the direction they were heading, a name that had never been displayed before now appeared on the map.
-Mirage Sea.-
No one could tell why the name of the once-hidden sea had suddenly been revealed.
But one thing was certain.
"It must be related to the main quest—Treasure Island."
The situation was so obvious even someone as simple-minded as Dump could predict it.
A sea that suddenly appeared.
A name like Mirage.
A blatant main quest telling them to find a hidden treasure island and claim the loot.
"Should we avoid the sea?"
limin had a gut feeling that they absolutely should not enter that newly revealed sea.
Up until now, whether out of curiosity or greed, completing a main quest always brought about the appearance of epic monsters that accelerated the game's pace in terrifying ways.
The team knew all too well: the moment they went inside and found the treasure island, some ridiculously difficult epic monster would definitely show up.
As they stared at the map in hesitation, Siren's song echoed, and Jinryung—who had pulled out a monocular to scan the horizon—shouted,
"Priest! Enemies! Not just one or two—it's a fleet!"
When they heard fleet, they looked out and saw more than twenty ships approaching the Mirage Sea from the distance.
Jinryung enhanced his vision with inner energy and peered through the monocular. At the head of the fleet, he spotted a lone figure standing proudly atop a massive sailing ship.
With silver hair and a billowing black cape, the silhouette instantly reminded Seowoon of someone.
'Mad General—Senlurk.'
The moment he recognized him, Seowoon instinctively turned his head to look at Juriel.
She saw the hardened look on Seowoon's face and smiled.
She hadn't said anything yet, but his expression told her everything she needed to know.
Why wouldn't she have checked the survivor list?
"Looks like King Senlurk has made his appearance."
Seowoon nodded grimly in response.
Even Dump stiffened and turned his gaze toward Juriel.
The remaining teammates looked confused, until Dump spoke in a low, tense voice.
"Senlurk is the king of her country—Crescent."
No one said a word. All eyes turned to Juriel.
Receiving their attention, she spoke brightly and firmly:
"Don't worry, everyone. I won't be a burden to the squad. This is a battlefield, and right now, the king and I are enemies."
lilingwi frowned with concern at Juriel's clear stance.
"Will you be okay going up against him? It's not like we don't have another option."
As she finished speaking, lilingwi pulled out a unique mask from her subspace—a red demon-faced mask.
limin cleared his throat awkwardly and glanced at Jinryung.
"The Death Mask of the Venom Valley."
That was the mask's name.
It was a notorious item in their world, said to be worn when killing in the name of the Venom Valley. Wherever the masked warrior appeared, righteous sects spilled blood.
Naturally, Jinryung—a righteous sect warrior himself—would not be pleased to see such a mask.
But he didn't show the slightest concern. The bond among this squad had grown strong enough to overlook such things.
Juriel gave a bitter smile as she accepted the mask.
"Thanks. I'll use it if I feel it's necessary."
Even as they spoke, the enemy fleet continued closing in on the Mirage Sea.
"What are we going to do?"
limin looked to Seowoon.
There weren't many options.
The enemy had overwhelming numbers—over 20 ships.
Seowoon's team had only 10 members.
And right ahead of them was the Mirage Sea, an obvious trap designed to provoke players.
[T/L: Read extra chapters on my ko-fi page "Pokemon1920" : https://ko-fi.com/pokemon1920 ]