Treasure hunt

The situation felt strange to Naomi. This water appeared to be corrosive. In addition to several ships being in the middle of the ocean. Naomi couldn't see any human beings.

'What ships are these?' Naomi couldn't see anyone on these ships. Why would uninhabited ships be here? And she had several of them.

Naomi tried to check the place one more time but found nothing else.

-

"Did you find something in there?" Ryuu asked.

"It doesn't look like a trap; however, I have no idea what that place is. It appears to be a space made to store something or maybe…"

"A place made to store treasure!" Mari completed Naomi's sentence. In Mari's world, there were places where monsters used to store stolen treasures. Adventurers were responsible for finding these treasures.

"Well… That's probably it." Naomi nodded. "Even so… It's still a pretty weird place."

Naomi told them about her experience. The ocean water was completely bizarre, anything that touched the water would corrode. In addition to the many ships with no passengers in the middle of the ocean.

"Ships?..." Ryuu muttered, with a thoughtful expression. He had never seen anything like this place. This situation was completely unknown to them. He preferred not to go inside, but it was difficult to convince Mari otherwise. He feared this girl's adventurous spirit would get out of hand.

"What are we supposed to do? I still think this place isn't safe. We're not sure what will happen if we go inside." Ryuu said.

"I agree with Ryuu, I think we'd better leave." Naomi said. She didn't want to risk entering that portal and getting trapped inside. They had a mission to fulfill in this world. Shin was also waiting for them, in case they get stuck, how will he find them?

"Ehh! We're leaving like this?! But the treasure-"

"Shhhh!!" Naomi covered Mari's mouth suddenly. Mari was confused by Naomi's action.

"Hide." Naomi said. Mari and Ryuu were confused; however, they still obeyed. Mari, Naomi, and Ryuu hid their presence using mana and hid. 1 minute after they went into hiding, two men appeared beside the portal.

"What the hell?! The magical energy this portal is emitting is just frightening!"One of the men commented, with a surprised expression. This man wore heavy silver armor and had a long sword on his back.

"Isn't it better this way? The treasure must be of a high level! Don't you think it's best to talk to the lords about it?" The other man replied. He wore fine leather armor and had a bow and arrow on his back.

"We can get the treasure first. The lords can praise us if we succeed."

"Well, you're right."

They entered the portal without any hesitation.

-

"See? I told you this portal is not dangerous. We need to get this treasure!" Mari said. She thought her treasure hunt would be over, but who knew these two men would show up so suddenly.

"Mari… it looks like there's been a conspiracy for you to acquire that treasure." Naomi said with a complicated expression. Somehow, luck always ended up favoring Mari. Naomi was a little jealous of this cheating ability.

"It seems those men know a lot about these portals. They entered without hesitation, so there shouldn't be any imminent danger; however, we still need to be careful." Ryuu knew that now he couldn't stop Mari, so he decided to be cautious.

"They seem to be someone's subordinates." Mari heard men refer to their superiors by the word "lord". In medieval times, this word could be used to refer to feudal lords or important people. This world had some medieval characteristics despite being more technologically advanced.

"You're right, let's proceed with the utmost caution." Naomi nodded. Leaving Mari alone in that place was a throwaway possibility. In addition to being very reckless, she was unpredictable.

"Come on!"

Naomi, Mari, and Ryuu sneaked into the portal. They decided to follow the men secretly and steal their treasure later. They didn't know about the nature of these men, but they didn't give a damn about it. They were in an unknown world, so they didn't give a damn about it.

-

"What a peculiar place." Mari commented. When they entered the portal, the seemingly endless ocean appeared. They only had a small area where they could walk normally. The uninhabited ships were still under the sea. That was the weirdest part of this place.

"Let's wait and see what those men do." Ryuu wanted to use those guinea pig men. He had already analyzed their strength and they didn't look that strong. If something strange happens to them, Ryuu, Mari, and Naomi would be more cautious.

"Right."

-

"What a strange place…"

"We've been to a lot of Cripts before, but this one feels different. The treasure of this place must be incredible." The archer commented.

"This water is corrosive, let's proceed through the ships." After throwing a stick into the water, they realized that ocean water was corrosive. They had a lot of experience, so it didn't take them long to see the problem in the water.

-

"Crypts?" Mari had never heard that name.

"That must be what they call these portals." Naomi replied.

"We'll keep following them for now."

-

Mari, Ryuu, and Naomi continued following the men for a while. They hid their presence so the men couldn't detect them. Naomi helped Mari and Ryuu, as she was able to blend in with the environment more easily.

They jumped over several ships but found nothing. Everything was so silent… so empty. No sounds other than seawater.

Until strange things started to happen. A dense fog suddenly appeared.

"What's going on? I can't see almost anything." Mari exclaimed.

"Guys?..." When she didn't hear any answers, Mari tried to call them again, but nothing happened.

"Hey! Stop kidding, where are you?" She started to feel insecure. Even though she was a lively girl, she hated feeling lonely. This feeling...

"Folks!!!"

-

'Shit! We fall into a trap.' Ryuu looked around, trying to find Mari and Naomi. The fog was very dense as well as strange. He was on Mari and Naomi's side, but he couldn't find them. He assumed that this fog had other properties.

'Perhaps illusory? Hallucinogenic?'

He checked if something strange tried to enter his body, but found nothing.

-

"Mari? Ryuu? Where are you?" Naomi couldn't understand the situation. They were so close, how did this happen?

'I need to do something about this.' Just thinking about leaving Mari alone made him shiver. She tried to locate them both by their surroundings, but it didn't work. This fog seemed to be limiting its range of detection.

-

"Hey man, what a fog is this- Ahhh!" The man was startled when he saw a skeletal hand grab his foot. Several skeletal hands began to poke out of the ship's floor.

'What the hell is this?' He kicked the skeleton in the head. The skeleton's skull exploded.

"Shit! Swallow this!" He pulled out his sword from his back and began to cut through the skeletons that were appearing so suddenly.