Chapter 31
Part 30
“Condition's good.”
Yugeon looked around the empty boat.
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary wooden boat, but blue rune letters were engraved all over the hull.
[Item: Lizardman's Magic Boat]
Grade: Advanced
Type: Transportation Item
A means of transportation used by Lizardmen.
It can travel across water at high speed.
However, its durability is poor, so caution is required.
Hummm!
When Yugeon poured mana into it, the boat accelerated.
He turned it around and headed back toward the starting point where the Awakeners were gathered.
Vroooom.
The Awakeners stranded on land widened their eyes when they saw Yugeon returning across the water.
“It's a boat! He came back on a boat!”
“Did he already have one?!”
“If he had one, why would he have walked over the water first?!”
Vroooom.
Bzzz.
Yugeon brought the boat close to land and spoke to the other Awakeners.
“I took this boat from the Lizardmen.”
“...!”
“Once you pass those buildings, you'll find Lizardman Spearmen riding boats. Take their boats. These are actual items, and you'll need one if you want to move around Sector 4.”
“Ah! So that boat is an item!”
“Th-Thank you!”
“But we can't even get to those buildings...”
“Tch.”
Yugeon clicked his tongue.
They now knew what to do, but they still had no way to reach the buildings.
If he simply left them here, some of them would die meaningless deaths.
Ding!
[You have activated Ice Soul Divine Art.]
Hummm.
BOOM!
CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!
Yugeon activated Ice Soul Divine Art as a skill.
The water froze along the path he had traveled.
“This should be enough for you to cross.”
Vroooom.
After creating an ice road all the way to the buildings, Yugeon calmly turned the boat around and left.
“Thank you!!”
“Seriously, thank you! You saved us.”
“Wow. That Great Star actually helps ordinary Awakeners.”
“Right? The others look at us like we're insects.”
“I once got close to a European Great Star and he covered his nose while walking away.”
“Wasn't that racism?”
“And what could we do about it?”
“W-Well... that's true.”
“What was his name again?”
“I saw him on the news. Han Yugeon.”
“Damn. Korea's lucky. Their new Great Star is actually a gentleman.”
Awakeners from several countries gave a thumbs-up toward the Korean-looking man as they crossed the ice road.
Splashhhhh.
Vroooom.
Now that I have the boat, I need to find that.
Most of Sector 4 was submerged like this.
A boat was essential.
But there was something even more important.
Yugeon needed an item that allowed him to move freely underwater.
I need three.
Then...
“Hey! Hey!”
A familiar voice rang out.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Yugeon turned his head.
Someone was moving across the rooftops while waving.
Unlike the filthy appearance from their previous meeting, the long-haired man was now wearing clean leather armor.
It was Hwang Mungi.
“Hwang Mungi. You entered Sector 4 too.”
“Of course. I'm still a climber, you know. A man's gotta make a living.”
Hwang Mungi grinned as he moved through the shadows.
At the same time...
Flash!
His body blurred like a shadow.
In the next instant, he landed on the railing of Yugeon's boat.
It was Shadow Step, the ability of the Legendary item Yugeon had given him, Arachne's Lament.
The moment the boat entered a shadow, Mungi used it to teleport aboard.
“Whoa. Nice boat.”
“Who said you could get on?”
Yugeon asked coldly.
Hwang Mungi ignored him and dropped onto the bow.
“Come on. Don't be so stingy. You've got all this empty space.”
“Get off. You're adding weight.”
“Don't lie.”
Hwang Mungi chuckled and took a map from his clothes.
It looked newly made.
“I'm not asking for a free ride. I'll pay.”
“I don't need money.”
“Then I'll help you find whatever you're looking for. You know I'm useful.”
He shrugged.
After all, he had already successfully found the item Yugeon asked for before.
“You can move without me anyway.”
“There aren't enough shadows around.”
“Hmm.”
Yugeon stared at Hwang Mungi for a moment.
Sector 4 was huge and complicated.
The creature Yugeon was searching for was underwater.
If he focused too much on steering the boat, he might miss it.
Having Mungi act as an extra pair of eyes would be useful.
“Fine. But if I decide you're useless, I'm throwing you off immediately.”
“Tch. You're colder than me. You made an ice road for those random Awakeners, but you're being this stingy with me.”
Yugeon poured mana into the boat again.
VROOOOM!
The boat blasted forward across the water.
“So what exactly are you looking for?”
After traveling for quite some time, Hwang Mungi finally asked.
Broken rooftops rose around them like islands.
Flying Fish flew between them.
“A monster.”
“A monster?”
“A Lizardman.”
“You already killed Lizardman Spearmen earlier.”
Hwang Mungi tilted his head.
They had encountered Lizardmen when taking this boat.
They had also passed several groups on their way here.
More precisely, they had killed around fifty of them.
That was because Hwang Mungi needed his own boat too.
They had eventually obtained one.
After turning into a miniature version, Mungi had stored it away.
“The Lizardman I'm looking for is different.”
“What kind?”
“Did you look underwater when we were still on land?”
“Yeah. I saw something huge moving around.”
“That's what I'm looking for.”
More precisely, a Twisted Lizardman.
It was a mutated version of an ordinary Lizardman.
Several times larger.
And far stronger.
“A boss?”
“No. Just a mutation. You'll start seeing plenty of them after Floor 35. Keep watching the water. If you see something huge moving, tell me.”
“Why not just go back to the starting area and wait for it there?”
“It doesn't come onto land.”
And when there were many people around, it became even more cautious.
The one they had briefly seen near the starting point had only approached out of curiosity after seeing the crowd of humans.
“By the way, what are you looking for? You were scanning the crowd earlier.”
“What? You saw me?”
Hwang Mungi flinched.
He had been standing among hundreds of people.
And Yugeon had been far away.
Yet Yugeon still noticed him?
“I'm looking for someone.”
“Who?”
“Ivan Corden.”
“...!”
Yugeon's eyebrow twitched.
Ivan Corden.
A Russian Awakener.
And in the future...
A murderer known as the Human Hunter.
“Why are you looking for him?”
Yugeon stared at Hwang Mungi.
He did not know exactly how strong Ivan was at this point in time.
But if they fought...
Hwang Mungi would die.
Ivan specifically hunted humans.
