Chapter 142

Chapter 142

*** The Event Advent ***

With his new flight skill or, to be specific, his utilization of the gravity spells, Merlin moved towards the shuttle docking area. Since there was a swarm of people moving to participate in the next event, Merlin didn’t have any trouble finding the way.

“Let’s see… The next event is south of Starting, at the southern sea… a fishing event, if I recall correctly.”

Merlin confirmed this by manipulating the Beholder to re-read the event announcement. Of course, the only thing related to traditional fishing was the act of catching the fish. The event participants wouldn’t be casting lines to catch real fish; they would be catching gem-made fish using all kinds of skills and abilities.

“Form a line! There will be an infinite number of boats!”

“A maximum of ten users can board one boat! Also, you will be required to navigate and steer yourselves!”

“All boats that have been fully boarded shall set off immediately! There are many users waiting for their turn!”

Many of the guards who were tasked with defending Starting were at the dock, shouting. They were probably ordered to keep things under control.

“Those guards sure have their work cut out for them. Anyway, we’re riding in boats?”

Since his view was blocked by the countless users ahead of him, Merlin slowly made his way to the front. Though he could use Scanning Vision or Telescopic Vision, the gathered players were wearing various magic items and gear, so with such a huge crowd, Merlin’s vision would inevitably be restricted. If needed, Merlin could have seen through this barrier, but this would be an unnecessary drain on his powers. Once Merlin passed through the crowd….

“Woah, a motorboat?”

The motorboat was made of black rubber. It was the type of motorboat that the US military used when landing ashore from the sea. Since the hull was so light, it could overturn or capsize if the center of gravity was slightly misaligned, but it would probably be relatively quick since it had a motor. Moreover, with a capable mage who could use various spells, it was easy to cross the sea with this vessel. Then, one of the guards shouted.

“The ship will only be summoned for 15 hours, so you must return to shore before time runs out!”

Merlin turned to look at the motorboat after hearing the guard’s announcement. Upon closer inspection, he observed that this wasn’t a typical boat. Instead, it was made of spiritual qi. Each of the motorboats was summoned once one of the guards at the dock mumbled a spell chant.

“What kind of summoning skill is needed for something like that? I’d understand if it was to summon some type of unidentified monster, but a spell chant specifically for a motorboat is….”

Merlin grunted as he stepped forward. At first glance, there were hundreds of ships at sea, but an innumerable number of users remained on the docks. There was a constant flow of users boarding the newly-summoned motorboats.

“After entering Starting, I realized something… there sure are a lot of users. Do I have to get in line to board a motorboat?”

In fact, Merlin had no reason to board a motorboat, as he was faster than any boat or ship in existence. Merlin was more comfortable in water than on land, and once submerged, he could easily survive for months without breaking a sweat.

‘Hmm. Still, boarding might be used as proof that I participated in the event, so I should get on one of the boats. I can always get off at an opportune time.’

While he was thinking this, one of the users shouted.

“Hey, Mr. Gane, do we have to get on a motorboat? I’d rather just use my summoned being.”

“Oh, if you have another mode of transport, you don’t have to board. The motorboats are primarily to get users to the event area, so if you can do that yourself, you don’t need to use them.”

A loud buzz arose from the gathered users. Of course, there weren’t many who could summon beings that traveled extensive distances, but players had other means of flying. There were many magic items that possessed flying capabilities, and there were also a fair number of users whose skills specialized in flight.

“Ack! If that was an option, you should have mentioned it earlier! Fly, Asrada!”

One of the users retrieved a carpet from his inventory and threw it in the air. The rolled-up carpet unfurled and stiffened, allowing the user to stand atop it. It was an interesting scene, and many users exclaimed in amazement and started whistling their appreciation; however, a dark mage scoffed after witnessing the scene.

“Hmph! Who still uses such an outdated magic carpet? Look at my beautiful Phantom and drown in envy!”

[Neigh!]

The dark mage jumped as a bluish-black smoke started to gather and take the shape of an armored steed. It was a type of battle ghost horse called a Phantom Steed.

“Hahaha! You guys only have mounts that can carry four people at most – step aside! I summon you, Becalion!”

[Woo!]

A user who seemed to specialize in summoning stepped forward and yelled. Soon, a massive whale about the size of a modern house appeared, though it wasn’t as large as the Moby Dick that Merlin had previously come across.

“Eh, whatever… I’m just going to fly!”

“Sylph Vessel! Fourth formation!”

“I summon you, my cute and kawaii Harperion!”

It didn’t take long before a bunch of other users started flying into the sky. It seemed that everyone wanted to show off and compete. Some players even used water-walking spells to run across the surface of the sea.

“Oh, man. They probably won’t be able to keep that up for long.”

As he mumbled to himself, Merlin waded through the crowd and made his way to the end of the dock. Unlike everyone else who used alternative means to cross the sea, he didn’t want to gain any attention. So, Merlin found a relatively secluded spot underneath a large pillar that rose from the dock.

Plop!

Though Merlin’s frame wasn’t small, especially with his relatively bulky mage robe, he didn’t create a splash when he entered the water. Only a single droplet bounced into the air. The water in DIO was crystal clear, so he’d easily be seen by others if he swam.

‘I should hide under a motorboat.’

The moment he thought of this, he started to move. Although the sea water was clear and everything within visible, Merlin’s quick speed made it seem like a shadow had flashed through the sea. Furthermore, when Merlin swam underwater, he didn’t leave any trail in his wake, so no one saw his movements.

Whoosh!

The motorboat that Merlin chose to hide under made a loud sound as it started to leave the dock. While it was a motorboat, it should have been slowed down by the hefty weight of ten passengers, but it quickly moved through the waves.

Plop.

Suddenly, the motorboat went quiet; however, it wasn’t slowing down. The ship was still moving, and the undulating vibrations continued. It seemed that one of the passengers used a magic spell to silence the sound.

“Ugh, so noisy. It’s not even a real motorboat, so why did they have to make it so loud?”

“Well, maybe they wanted to emulate reality?”

One of the users quickly offered an answer to another’s grumbles.

“It should be noted that we’re akin to medieval people riding a modern motorboat, that in and of itself erases all notions of reality.”

“What nonsense… Can’t you see that the wolf’s outfit is modern? Even the bear’s outfit is sci-fi-ish!”

‘A wolf? A bear?’

Merlin was puzzled after hearing something so unexpected, but he suddenly realized that he had heard one of the user’s voices before. When Merlin first crossed the sea, he met a necromancer called Scorpion in the area called Dead Earth.

‘Aha! Wolf and Bear must be the users’ IDs.’

Since this was likely the case, Merlin started to better understand the users’ conversation. After entering the game, though, it was almost impossible for someone to recognize their colleague solely based on their ID. So, these users must have known each other in real life.

“Uh, you guys. There’s something I want to discuss….”

At that moment, the voice of a young man sitting at the back of the motorboat could be heard. His voice sounded troubled, as if he was deeply contemplating something.

“Eh? Sparrow, you’ve been quiet lately… What’s up?”

“I just wanted to ask you guys… if you had to choose between your girlfriend or a Rank 5 magic item set, what would you all choose?”

It was a bit of a random question, but the answers rolled in immediately.

“Rank 5 magic item set.”

“Rank 5 magic item set.”

“Of course, a Rank 5 magic item set.”

“Rank 5 magic item set.”

“The magic item set.”

“Are you joking? Of course, the Rank 5 magic item set.”

“…”

The users reached a unanimous verdict. No one had any doubts whatsoever. Sparrow became quiet for a moment after hearing the others confidently state their answers. Yet, after a while, Sparrow groaned while thinking, ‘How come I couldn’t come to this conclusion as easily?’

“I may have made a mistake….”

Silence ensued. Merlin guessed that everyone was staring at Sparrow. Eventually, Scorpion broke the silence and asked, “Why?”

“No, it’s nothing serious. It’s just that my girlfriend-”

“What! Wait, you have a girlfriend?”

For a moment, the motorboat chaotically teetered. While Merlin wasn’t certain, he suspected that the user named Bear had stood from his seat.

“Not a lover or anything like that, just a friend that happens to be a girl! My middle school and high school were made up of mixed genders, so I can have a few friends who are girls, right?!”

“I don’t have any such friends like that!”

No one on board seemed to care what was happening to the motorboat due to their movements. It was on the verge of capsizing, so Merlin used his water control ability to stabilize this imbalance and keep the boat upright. In any case, once things started to calm down, Sparrow spoke up.

“A-anyway, I have this friend who’s a girl. Right, so this friend who happens to be a girl wants me to get her a set of gear. Though we’re close, we’re not at the stage where I’d feel comfortable paying a hefty price for some gear that she’s planning to use….”

Despite Sparrow’s earnest request for the other opinions, the replies he received were simple, cold, and final.

“Gold digger.”

“She’s a gold digger.”

“Gold digger.”

“She’s obviously a gold digger, no?”

“Gold digger, for sure.”

“You idiot! She’s obviously a gold digger!”

Another unanimous conclusion. They answered so quickly that it didn’t seem they needed any time to contemplate other possibilities.

“B-but, we’re really close! We’ve been hunting a lot together recently, and we’ve been calling each other all the time! Also-”

“Tsk. Tell me, when did you two start to get close?”

“H-huh? Around the time when I told her that I was Level 7.”

“See! She approached you after hearing about your level! We hang around each other all the time, so it doesn’t seem abnormal for any of us to see a Level 7 user, but normally, these users are hard to find! In my city, there are only two other users, not including me! Even if I count every player in my province, there are less than seven users who’ve reached Level 7!”

“Right! What’s that girl’s level?”

A Rank 5 set was something that only users who were Level 5 or above could equip. Of course, any user could put on whatever set they wished, but to use the magic functions inherent within the gear, one would have to fulfill the gear’s minimum level requirement. Hence, it was essentially pointless to use gear that wasn’t appropriate for one’s level, as it’d just be a shell with little to no utility. Since the girl wanted a Rank 5 set of gear, it seemed that she was at least Level 5 or above, but Sparrow’s expression filled with guilt.

“Well, she’s Level 4. However, her archery rank is Rank 5, so she fulfills the minimum requirements for the condition-lowered gear she wants.”

Though Sparrow stated something that wasn’t false, Bear scoffed.

“What? An item set with lower conditions? Lower conditions~? Hey man, a set of gear means that it’s comprised of at least five different parts. You’re saying that all five parts have lower conditions? Do you know how much that’ll cost? It’d be cheaper if she asked for a designer handbag!”