Chapter 21

021. Sol Island

I began by checking the Quest with a light heart.

[The moment you accept the Quest, travel to Sol Island and restore the Guardian’s Shrine within 72 hours.]

[Reward: ???]

[Failure Penalty: ???]

[Would you like to accept the Quest? Y/N]

Restore the Guardian’s Shrine.

I did not think I had ever seen a Quest like this in another Awakened’s video.

“Hmm. It doesn’t show the reward or failure penalty. And restoring a shrine... I’ve repaired buildings before, but can I actually do this?”

I tilted my head.

I had helped Father repair the farm cabin and fish farm facilities since childhood, so basic repairs were not difficult.

But if it was a shrine to the Dragon King...

Wouldn’t it be an old wooden structure?

While I worried alone, Orlan and Daldal stared at the Quest and let out deep sighs.

“The Dragon King truly is something else! To think she personally descended just to give such a simple request... Peep... She could have simply sent a messenger...”

Peet-peep-peep! Peep! Peet-peeeep! Pyoo.

[Translation: Very startled! Heart almost dropped! Please use turn signal before entering! Always like this! Oops.]

It sounded like repairing the shrine might not be as simple as I thought.

Would it really be okay?

“Most likely, nothing you are worrying about will happen, Lord Suho. Peep!”

“Orlan. You think so?”

“Yes. The shrine on Sol Island... Peep. It is a small shrine, and if I remember correctly, someone maintained it until fairly recently. Peep, peep.”

“Really? Then I probably won’t need to do much.”

“Yes, Lord Suho. By human standards, that was only thirty-five years ago. Peep!”

“Thirty-five years. I see. Hoo. I should probably bring quite a few things...”

Apparently Orlan was much older than I had thought.

A wooden building last repaired thirty-five years ago and then abandoned.

I definitely needed my secret weapon toolbox.

Sol Island was the name of an uninhabited island not far from the fish farm.

Would my fishing boat and tools be enough?

It bothered me slightly that both the reward and failure penalty were hidden.

But it said light Quest.

It should be fine.

Good.

“The sea fog worries me a little...”

I lightly pressed Accept.

Flash!

The red Quest Window turned green.

Then it scattered into bright particles of light and disappeared.

The particles floated around me for a while before being absorbed into my body.

Then...

“Whoa. A timer and compass suddenly appeared in the sky.”

A timer showing the Quest’s time limit.

And a compass pointing toward the Quest location.

The time slowly decreased.

But there was still plenty.

If we followed the compass carefully, sailing to Sol Island should be fine.

I had Daldal and Orlan too.

“Good. Let’s get ready. Daldal, Orlan. Help me prepare for the Quest.”

Peet-peet!

[Translation: Depart!]

“Yes, Lord Suho. Peep!”

I first headed to where the boat was docked.

Engine status.

Oil level.

Radar.

Satellite navigation.

Automatic location transmitter.

Navigation lights.

Everything checked.

The boat was in perfect condition.

I packed strong tools that seemed useful for repairing a wooden building.

Just in case, I packed water and a small tent too.

Good.

This should be enough.

Then...

“Shall we go?”

Vroooom!

“Okay. Engine started. Then... Let’s go!”

Believing I was fully prepared, I untied the mooring line and headed toward the sea.

Then...

[Ah! Boat ahead! Can you hear me?! Stop! Stop!]

Hm?

A rough voice came from somewhere.

The speaker was old and full of static.

But I recognized the voice.

“Mr. Manbok!”

I waved toward a bright light in the middle of the fog-covered sea.

A familiar angry shout answered me.

[Suho! Where the hell are you going?!]

At the furious voice of the middle-aged man, Daldal, sitting at the bow, and Orlan, perched on my shoulder, both turned their heads at once.

“It’s fine. He’s just really blunt. Everything he says sounds angry.”

[There’s sea fog everywhere! Why the hell did you come out here?! Trying to die?!]

Daldal and Orlan turned worried eyes toward me.

“He really isn’t angry. I’m going to Sol Island! Where are you going, mister?”

[I came out so I could catch some damn fish and at least pay for the boat fuel! Sol Islaaand?! Why are you going there?!]

“I have something to do! It’s fine!”

[You see sea fog on a day this clear and still don’t understand? The Dragon King is angry! I even fixed the sacred rope at home before coming out! Young punks these days grow up and stop listening! Go straight back home and throw salt everywhere! Don’t even think about coming out again!]

“It’s okay! I checked the boat thoroughly before leaving!”

[Suho! You didn’t even notice a boat coming right toward you! Have you already been enchanted by a water ghost?!]

Ugh...

I had nothing to say.

I hurriedly checked the radar.

His old two-ton fishing boat, Eobok, was really right in front of us.

Once my eyes adjusted to the bright light, the silhouette of the old fishing boat slowly appeared through the fog.

[Suho! Fog like this kills people!]

Hearing his warning made me remember an old story from our hometown.

‘When the Dragon King enshrined on Sol Island becomes angry, strange sea fog covers the entire ocean. Anyone who recklessly sails out will be swallowed by the sea.’

Right.

I remembered that whenever strange fog appeared, the adults always looked uneasy.

It felt too connected to this Quest to simply dismiss as an old story.

The Quest specifically told me to repair the shrine on Sol Island.

“I really have to go to Sol Island! I’m fine! Mister! I’ll keep my head straight and be careful!”

I shouted toward his faint boat.

A long sigh came from the other side.

[You little brat. That damn stubbornness is exactly like your father’s. Completely hopeless!]

Hahaha...

Mr. Manbok had been Father’s drinking friend.

I still clearly remembered him complaining in front of young me that Father’s stubbornness was giving him headaches.

Yet he always helped Father with everything.

Seriously.

He only sounded rough.

Inside, he was extremely kind.

[Then take this!]

His boat carefully approached mine.

Mr. Manbok stood on deck and threw something toward me.

He gave me an LED lantern the size of a human face and an equally huge whistle.

“Thank you! I’ll use them and return them!”

“They’re cheap! Keep them!”

“What? No! I’ll return them after Sol Island!”

“Keep your head straight! If something happens to you, how am I supposed to face your father?!”

His face, which I had not seen in a long time, was covered in wrinkles and white hair left by the years.

After leaving one final worried warning, he turned his boat and headed toward the distant sea.

“Take care!”

Instead of answering, he gave a short blast of the horn.

At the same moment, Daldal and Orlan sighed from both my shoulders.

Peeeeep...

[Translation: Scary mister...]

“I, I thought a fight was about to start... Peep...”

“Come on. I told you he’s a really good person. He just sounds rough. Let’s hurry too.”

I calmed the frightened pair and continued toward Sol Island.

Visibility was poor, so I could not go fast.

And after hearing that old story about the Sol Island fog, I found myself constantly looking around.

“It’s just a legend, right?”

I spoke to myself without thinking.

Daldal, quietly sitting on my shoulder, turned his head.

Peet-pee-woo! Peet-peet-peep!

[Translation: Fog does not appear when Dragon King angry!]

“Really? Right? I knew it. Mister was worrying for nothing...”

Peet-peep-peep, peep-peep! Peep! Tremble...!

[Translation: Sky turns black and lightning strikes until whole world shakes in terror!]

“......”

So fog was actually the mild version?

With growing anxiety, we continued sailing.

Then...

“There it is.”

At last, the tiny uninhabited Sol Island appeared.

Sol Island had no owner.

Other than occasional visitors who came to fish, almost no one visited.

There was no proper place to dock a boat.

The sandy beach was small.

Still, if you sat on the low flat rocks and breathed in the scent of the pine trees covering the island...

“Achoo!”

Yellow pollen made my nose itch.

That ruined the mood.

Peet-peeeep. Peep.

[Translation: Suho. Clear mucus dripping.]

“Good thing I brought a handkerchief, right?”

I quickly wiped my nose and walked around the tiny island.

I could not see anything that looked like a shrine to the Dragon King.

Maybe I had to go farther inside.

But wait.

“Why is there so much trash?”

As I walked around the island, the marine trash scattered everywhere made me uncomfortable.

Styrofoam buoys.

Plastic bags.

Plastic containers.

Small pieces of glass.

I already collected more trash than expected during my morning walks near the fish farm.

Maybe because no one managed Sol Island, there was much more here.

...Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if the Dragon King was watching this from the shrine?

Peet-peep-peep! Peep!

[Translation: Island full of trash!]

“Right, Daldal. We can’t exactly face the Dragon King like this, can we?”

Pee-woo!?

[Translation: Cleaning time!?]

Good.

Time to clean the sea!

“Let’s go. Daldal, Orlan. Cleaning formation!”

With that childish command, I pulled a huge broom and dustpan set from my Status Window Inventory.

They looked ordinary.

But the inside of the dustpan contained a large subspace connected to my Inventory.

No matter how much trash I swept in, it would all be stored inside my Inventory.

Peet-pee-yoi!

[Translation: World’s strongest otter is going!]

With a powerful cry, Daldal shot forward like a storm.

At a speed too fast to see, he gathered the trash from the beach into one place.

“Tsk, tsk. At that speed, how long will this take? Peep? Lord Suho, watch carefully. This is...”

[Skill: Raptor Precision Wing Wind activated.]

Orlan flew into the sky.

With extremely precise wing movements, he created wind that pulled all the scattered trash on the island together like magic.

Plastic.

Buoys.

Discarded fishing nets.

Even heavy garbage was carried by Orlan’s wind and dragged in front of me.

“Hup.”

Then I gathered the trash they collected with a broom filled with all my spirit.

Everything was sent into the subspace.

Around two hours after starting...

“Phew.”

Sol Island returned to the clean and beautiful form I remembered.

Then...

“Whoa! What is that...?”

At the highest hill on the island, a tiny, half-collapsed shrine suddenly revealed itself.

At the same time...

“Kieeeek!”

“Keeeeek! Keeeek!”

Unfamiliar animal cries echoed from across the fog-covered island.

Visibility was terrible.

There was no way animals crying like that naturally lived on Sol Island.

I felt a bad feeling.

And as expected...

Peet-peeeep! Peet!

[Translation: Suho! Look at that!]

“Enemies!! Peep!!”

In the middle of the fog, a Hostile Gate filled with malicious crimson energy appeared.