After polishing off a bowl of Momo-brand ramen, I pressed the entrance button.
Nothing beats climbing the Tower after a good meal.
[You are entering the 24th Floor of the Tower of Myth, 'The Middle of a Certain Sea.']
"Oh."
A smile naturally formed at the name of the floor that appeared.
Lucky me.
A sea view after a full meal—for once, I felt like complimenting the system.
*Ssshhh.*
The scattered particles merged, and the space materialized.
"It's pitch black."
Should I call it the system after all?
The scene I'd been hoping for didn't unfold.
There was no blue anywhere—not in the sky, not in the sea, not anywhere.
Just as our little Yodel friend had said a moment ago, everything around was black.
And that wasn't all.
*Clunk!*
The ground beneath my feet was annoyingly unstable.
Though we were in the middle of the sea, we weren't on a massive galleon or galley.
It was a tiny raft that wouldn't be strange if it sank right now.
If they were going to take away the scenery, couldn't they at least give us a proper boat?!
"It's sinking."
Kancho's ears twitched, as if he was flustered.
"Sorry, Kancho. I think I messed up."
This was only natural since I'd actually complimented the system, which I usually only curse at.
Kancho looked up at me and narrowed his eyes.
"Did you set a flag?!"
"Yeah, I think I did it properly."
"You're the General, so it's fine! If those old hags had done that, I'd confiscate their pipes right away!"
Kancho climbed up my leg and onto my shoulder as the raft kept sinking.
"How about Momo, who's about to become fish food?!"
"Of course it's bad! Do you even need to ask, Momo-dari?!"
I quickly grabbed Momo, who was about to launch a dropkick.
If that balance broke, we'd really sink.
I looked around at my friends huddled together.
"First, let's all release our manifestations."
Thankfully, the friends had released their manifestations before the ink-like seawater came in.
"Be careful, Master."
Kamela pointed her pipe at the sea.
"This sea has a strange feel to it. It's like it's gathered all sorts of byproducts or dregs."
Without waiting for me to ask more, she shrugged and released her manifestation.
A cold sweat trickled down my back.
It was even scarier when a goddess said something like that and then left.
"General! This is treason! That shaman hag cast a curse on you and left! Summary execution!"
"What curse?! Momo's scared!"
The chubby Momo dangling around my neck and the little giant Kancho perched on my shoulder.
They're light, so it should be fine, right?
*Grrrrr.*
I looked down.
There was one more.
Nia, the sleeping beauty, had manifested and fallen asleep right there.
For emergencies, I'd let her sleep there.
In the darkness, she was the most reliable force.
"Hmm."
I crossed my arms and looked around.
With the reduced weight, the sinking had stopped for now.
So, what next?
I slowly examined the boat.
There wasn't even an oar to row with.
That system bastard was especially unfriendly today.
I took out the snowboard I'd ridden earlier from my inventory.
"Did you ride down on that?!"
"It was a vehicle, but now it's an oar. Momo, do you have anything in the Infinite Storage that could work as an oar?"
"There's nothing like that! But there are marshmallows!"
"Nice. Take them out and eat them with Kancho. Put some in Nia's mouth too."
"Got it!"
I sat in the center and started rowing with the snowboard.
Kamela hadn't said that for nothing.
It definitely had a strange texture, unlike normal water.
It was also much heavier.
"Is that eel thing going to show up again?"
"I love eel! It's sooooo delicious!"
It's delicious, but I'd rather not meet one in this ink-like, boundless sea.
Just as I was rowing endlessly, a strange ripple spread across the sea.
Was the eel flag going to come true again?
I was about to summon Dark to freeze it and fight when, under the faint moonlight, a large ship appeared.
It was the kind of galley-class vessel I'd hoped to be on when I first saw the floor's name.
Even for the Tower, a tiny raft in this vast sea was too much.
Surely there was something on that ship.
*Click!*
"Confirmed an unidentified vessel at 472 Kancho-meters southwest! Should I blow it up?!"
"Blow it up?! You idiot Yodel! We need to steal it!"
"That's a good idea for once! Momo-dari!"
After preparing thoroughly, I waited for the ship to approach.
But why was it so slow?
It felt like it was taking forever to get closer, as if they weren't rowing at all.
When the ship finally got close, I looked up.
They were looking down at us from the railing, as if they found us interesting too.
"Physiognomically, they don't look like villains."
"Kancho, you read faces now?"
"On NewTube, they said physiognomy is science, and even the shaman hag agreed to some extent."
After whispering for a moment, I raised my voice.
"Hello!"
I guess I greeted them too cheerfully in this ink-like sea.
The people looked at each other's faces.
"They don't seem like pirates."
"What pirates would be in this sea? Don't talk nonsense."
"They're really young. There's a child too. And a weird ball of fluff."
"Hey, you over there! Watch your mouth! It's not a weird ball of fluff, it's a Yodel!"
The woman who looked at Kancho smiled kindly.
"They don't seem to have any ulterior motives."
It felt like Kancho's spiciness had worked in our favor.
An old man cleared his throat a few times and leaned over.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I'm a player climbing the Tower. These two... no, three are my friends."
"Is this your first time here?"
"Yes. I don't care where, but I'd like to get to land. Could you give me a ride?"
"Hmm, that shouldn't be difficult, but..."
The old man, who was about to say something, shrugged.
"Come on up first. It's better than being down there."
"Thank you!"
"I'll get the rope right..."
*Thump!*
I kicked off the bottom and leaped onto the galley.
Unable to withstand the shock, the tiny raft sank with a gurgle.
Good work, little raft. Rest in peace.
"Well, you're healthy."
"That's why youth is good."
"My name is Eugene Hyuk."
"I'm called Rogadu."
After exchanging greetings, I asked if I could bring my friends aboard.
Rogadu, with a questioning look, readily agreed.
As my friends manifested one by one, the people's eyes sparkled.
"Ohhh. That's fascinating. Is it a summon-type tool?"
"But you didn't use anything? Could it be activated by will alone?!"
"It's not a tool. It's my Awakened ability."
"Oh... an Awakened ability. I've heard of it. They say there are people on other floors who can use abilities without tools. This is my first time seeing it in person. Fascinating."
Rogadu came closer and examined me from all angles.
Elia, beside me, whispered.
"This old man is like my grandpa? His eyes are full of curiosity."
Good thing. At least they weren't full of malice or greed.
Speaking of tools, was it the same as what we knew?
I slowly looked around.
Large wooden boxes were stacked everywhere.
"Is this a merchant ship?"
"Ah, you wouldn't know since you're new. This is an ordinary work vessel. I'm the foreman here."
Rogadu walked over and opened one of the boxes.
Objects spilled out.
Candlesticks, decorative cups, small knives—all sorts of things were packed in haphazardly.
"...Tch."
I turned my head.
For some reason, Kamela's brow was furrowed.
"All of these were once tools. They've lost their power now. The work vessel's job is to return them to the Black Sea."
"You just put them into the sea?"
"Don't worry. They don't cause pollution."
Rogadu hooked a candlestick onto a fishing rod, dipped it into the sea, and pulled it out.
"The candlestick melted!"
"What happened to the half-melted candlestick?!"
At their intense reactions, Rogadu smiled.
"It's a kind of reduction process. We use the water of this Black Sea to create tools, and when their power is exhausted, we send them back."
"Momo-dari! Diving is prohibited! You'll melt!"
"What?! Then you go first, Kancho!"
"I said you can't do it! What kind of crap is that?!"
Rogadu laughed heartily and shook his head.
"It's harmless to humans. You can even soak in it without any problem."
"Oh."
I rubbed my chin and looked down at the ink-like sea.
Visually, it was so unappealing that I'd never go in, but knowing it was harmless was a bit reassuring.
But why wasn't this ship moving?
It felt like nearly ten minutes had passed, but we hadn't gotten far from where the raft sank.
"Uncle Rogadu. Is this ship heading to land?"
"Of course. We have to go. To land. We need to go."
Rogadu made an awkward face.
"Actually, we're stranded too."
A brief silence fell.
I'd been rescued from being stranded, but this ship was also stranded.
*Ding!*
[The clear condition for the 24th Floor of the Tower of Myth, 'Escape from the Middle of a Certain Sea,' has been updated!]
[The method doesn't matter! Rogadu's work vessel must safely escape the sea!]
* * *
I followed Rogadu down below deck.
Fifty or so oars lined both sides.
All the oars were connected to a bizarre sphere in the center.
"It's a galley-exclusive tool that moves the oars. It's been acting up since the last job, and now it's finally given out."
"If it's acting up, you should fix it! What's the point of putting it off?!"
"You're right. But it costs quite a bit."
"You didn't have the money? Then there's nothing we can do. Poverty is scary. You can't even eat chicken."
"I was greedy and stocked up on some good liquor that came in."
"Do you want to get your foreman badge confiscated?"
I approached and examined the galley's power source.
"Don't get too close. It's tainted."
Kamela blew out smoke and pointed her pipe at the power source.
"Those things in the boxes earlier too—they're too polluted to be called tools."
"Polluted?"
"Tools are objects, but they're also like living beings. If they're constantly exposed to impurity, they become polluted."
"What happens normally?"
"Either they were made from polluted materials from the start, the creator harbored evil thoughts or emotions to match, or the tool itself is good but the user used it for evil purposes. Well, it's fortunate, I suppose. In this world, even when tools become heavily polluted, they just lose their function. They don't seem to summon anything else terrible."
"So bad things usually happen?"
"Severe pollution brings famine, war, and plague."
I swallowed hard.
What Kamela said was always interesting, but also scary.
"Kamela, can you fix this?"
"If it were a normal tool, I could do something with my divine power, but if it's polluted, even I can't do anything."
I nodded.
Momo was handy, but she was completely useless when it came to making or fixing things.
The shattered Boom-Boom Units 1 and 2 proved that.
'Fixing it doesn't seem possible.'
There was only one option left.
We'd row there ourselves.
I had plenty of strong friends here, including myself.
"Uncle. Can you tell us the way to land? We'll row ourselves."
A few seconds after I finished speaking.
"That won't work!!"
Foreman Rogadu shouted, his face turning pale.
----------
T/N:
Just for being a free member, you'll get 5 advanced chapters every week!
Access 35 chapters in advance on my Patreon:[email protected]//towerup