Chapter 8: Rejecting Destiny
The Geomchi had no choice but to give up on the hunt. The Kraken swam the wide open sea so, lest for a designated time, it was difficult to find.
Only if you had excellent sailing skills you could pursue and catch marine organisms like the Kraken, but trying to catch a Kraken with a boat would take too much time. (T/N: Sea of Life - Name of their ship.)
"Let's just go to Morata."
The Geomchi, holding in their hunger, went to the harbour of Bellona Island, looking for a ship that was heading for Morata.
All of the sailors he met shook their heads.
"I will not go as far as Morata."
"I'll pay twice as much."
"During this time the sea is very dangerous. There are high waves and violent winds blowing around. The access route just north of the continent is blocked by storms as well."
There was also another route from the sea, but a lot of things were depending on the season the boats route to Morata from the Central Continent would be blocked.
If you met a skilled captain even sailing through storms wouldn’t be a problem.
The only problem was that, there weren’t that many good captains, and the chance of them sticking around drinking alcohol and taking a break on an island was low.
A player who was a sailor said that if they wait about a week, a luxury cruiser from the Kingdoms would come.
He also told them that they could go to Morata by passing by 3 kingdoms on the cruise.
More than 400 of the Geomchi found themselves stuck on the harbour.
In order to depart they sold all the small boats that they had.
Waiting for the cruiser would be faster than buying another ship and sailing.
Then one day, Geomchi 405 spoke.
“Though the waves are strong...I think it would be fun to swim, Sahyung!”
Geomchi 405 spoke thoughtlessly due to wanting to play around and swim in the sea on a stormy day.
However, the eyes of the instructors had changed.
“Indeed, sounds like fun.”
“It sure does Sahyung. Instead of talking here, let’s go swim.”
“The reason we came here was to ea…. no, to challenge ourselves against everything, wasn’t it?”
All the while, when fighting monsters in Royal Road the Geomchi had also further improved their sword skills.
Tension, which was hard to experience in real life, Life and death struggles and in spars, reminding of actual battle.
Although it was different from reality, it was possible to find the parts where you were lacking.
The Geomchi, rather than solving Quests requiring to solve mysteries, prefered simple battle so they had been fighting constantly.
In order to strengthen willpower, extreme conditions that were challenging were necessary.
Examining the gathered practitioners, Geomchi spoke.
“Let’s swim to Morata!”
If there was a sailor there, they would have tried to stop them at any costs, even by giving them free sushi.
If anyone had even the slightest information about the sea, they would haven’t done such a reckless act.
Even haenyeo (T/N: Korean traditional divers; generally women, and they are known for being able to dive for extended periods of time as well as being extremely proficient at swimming in general) wouldn’t do such a thing.
“Since the weather’s hot as well, should we do that?”
“Master, that’s a brilliant plan.”
“Let’s hurry over to Morata and have some beer and a roast boar.”
The trainees enthusiastically agreed and joined in.
And then without any other preparations, they jumped into the sea, even when it was pouring.
The people in the harbor could not help but to be awed.
“To do something that crazy, that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Wow, are they really going?”
They saw something which they would never forget.
The first night of the swim towards Morata was easy enough.
It was all due to Geomch i3 and the Priests, as well as the monstrous vitality that the trainees had.
“It’s nice and cool.”
“We should have done this earlier.”
However, the next night, the Priests could no longer keep up with the Geomchi’s Vitality and could no longer send out their support.
At least they got used to and a lot of sailing and swimming in the water of the High Seas.
While swimming, do not go against the flow of the wave and match your breathing with it.
The leading Geomchi had a contest, Geomchi 3 and Geomchi 5 were like fishes
and went together.
When you swim for a long time, your strength and concentration easily deteriorate.
The slightest slip in this deep ocean could turn to a disastrous mistake and lead to drinking seawater and then drowning.
The Geomchis prevented themselves from dying by performing a group dog paddle.
Even the seagulls in the sky could not help but look over the Geomchis as Geomchi 2 ordered the 503 similarly named Humans doing a dog paddle!
‘Fresh fish? I gotta grab it and eat it, shouldn’t I?’
Monster birds hesitated attacking them time and again. Rain suddenly fell from the sky.
The Wind grew stronger and the birds became terrified of the huge waves.
-Vitality has decreased by 15%.
-Body movements are slower due to cold waters.
-You are under attacked by carnivorous fish.
-You are being swept away by waves.
The neverending stream of warnings were a given!
Even though they gained a lot of Vitality from passing extreme martial arts quests, crossing the sea was impossible.
The Geomchi were not exactly in decent condition when they were attacked, despite being tired and exhausted they had to deal with the attacks of the man-eating sharks.
From a distance, pointed shark fins were approaching atop the waves.
Ttudung…. ttudung... ttudung... ttudung.. ttudung. ttudung! (TN: jaws anyone)
It was a scene that could have been taken straight from a horror movie.
Geomchi 3 started to feel ecstatic watching the sharks approach.
“Hey guys, I’ve found something delicious!”
The best dishes could be made from shark fins.
They had heard of this through word of mouth, but never had a chance to taste it.
But were not the shark fins now coming to them?
“Attack!”