Chapter 39

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the orb in Blaine’s hand. It glowed with a jade-like light, clearly no ordinary object. Father took it from him and turned it over in her hands, examining it carefully.

“Where did you get this?”

Blaine shook his head, looking just as confused as the rest.

“Did you pick it up when you fell into the water?”

Theo followed up, but again Blaine shook his head.

“No…”

With no clear answer, everyone glanced at one another. Still, no explanation surfaced. That was when Holanghee, chin resting on her hand as she thought hard, murmured quietly.

“Then… didn’t you bring it out from Haraban’s stomach?”

All eyes turned to her. Then to the orb. From Haraban’s stomach? It was a convincing theory. Nodding along, Noquia tapped the orb with her finger and asked.

“Fine, let’s say it came from inside Haraban. But what the hell is it?”

“It doesn’t look like a useless item.”

Theo muttered as he picked up the orb. With her hands now free, Father crossed her arms and added in a low, meaningful tone.

“…What if it’s a treasure?”

Everyone stared at her. The silence stretched until Noquia snorted.

“Come on… who hides treasure inside a monster’s stomach?”

“Have you ever heard of anyone finding treasure in the Visitor of the Deep Sea?”

“…No.”

Another silence fell.

“If this really is treasure, and it’s been inside the monster’s belly all along… that would explain why nobody’s ever found it.”

Theo’s voice was calm.

“See?” Father backed him up.

“You two are insane. Who hides treasure in a monster’s guts? That’s basically saying, don’t even try to find it!”

Holanghee was practically shouting by now.

“Let’s just clear the stage first. Once we do, we’ll know what it is.”

Noquia cut in, wrapping things up.

With the mystery of the orb set aside, the only thing left was repairing the wrecked ship. To get it seaworthy again would require a lot of materials. Using what they had stockpiled, they managed to fix the mast, the plating, and the rudder enough to make it move, then spread the map open.

But to completely restore the ship? That would take far more resources. Fishing and hauling nets alone would be too slow. Theo pointed at a nearby island.

“Let’s head here first and see if we can scavenge supplies.”

They set their course and got the ship moving. Despite the groans and creaks of the battered hull, it sailed smoothly, and soon they arrived at the island Theo had marked. The group disembarked and combed through the area, finding emergency rations and repair supplies.

With the supplies, they were able to fully repair the ship. Only then did they finally breathe in relief, hearts lighter, and set sail once again for their true destination.

The sun dipped westward, dyeing the horizon in red. Night was approaching. Soon, the light vanished completely, but in its place came a breathtaking spectacle they couldn’t have seen by day.

The sky was carpeted with stars and a shimmering Milky Way, while below, schools of glowing jellyfish drifted through the water, bathing the ship in a soft, blue light.

Noquia brought the ship to a stop and quietly descended to the deck. She moved carefully, making no sound, not even a breath. The others were waiting for her, and together, they headed toward the cabin.

At night, Haraban grew even more sensitive to sound. Even the faint noise of the ship cutting through the water would draw it in for an attack. That was why the safest option was to stop everything and stay quiet until dawn.

But the nights in the Visitor of the Deep Sea weren’t peaceful—they were a battle against overwhelming drowsiness. Once the sun set, a crushing sleepiness descended, so strong it was impossible to resist without rest. And yet, they couldn’t sleep freely either; a single murmur in their sleep or the rustle of someone rolling over could be enough for Haraban to notice them.

So the players had come up with a solution: take turns sleeping. While one person slept, the others forced themselves to stay awake and kept watch to make sure the sleeper didn’t talk or thrash around. After a set time, they would wake the sleeper and switch. They repeated this through the night.

With several people awake, it was easier to keep each other from nodding off and to react quickly if anything happened.

The first to sleep was Blaine. He lay down close beside Theo and soon drifted into a steady rhythm of breaths. Theo, leaning against the wall of the cabin, felt strands of Blaine’s hair brushing lightly against his fingertips.

Soft, fluffy, and faintly ticklish—his fingers itched with the sudden urge to touch. He glanced down at Blaine’s sleeping face, then carefully reached out to stroke his hair. The fine strands slipped smoothly between his fingers. After a pause, Theo extended his hand toward Blaine’s wolf ears.

At the first touch, the ears twitched. Startled, Theo pulled his hand back—only to reach out again, this time gently rubbing the soft fur.

It was warm and pleasant to the touch.

‘Seriously, he really is like a dog.’

A faint, satisfied smile tugged at Theo’s lips as he lost himself in petting Blaine’s hair and ears. He didn’t realize that in the darkness, three pairs of eyes were gleaming at him, watching every move.

By taking turns sleeping, they made it through the night without incident. When dawn rose, they stepped out of the cabin, stretching stiff limbs and filling their bellies with dried fish from the night before. With the sun up, they set sail once more.

Holanghee, hands on the rudder, hummed cheerfully as if the morning breeze itself had put her in a good mood. Theo stood beside her, unfolding the map, while Blaine perched up on the mast. Father and Noquia busied themselves with hauling up the nets.

At each island they passed, they stopped for supplies and emergency rations, and made sure to dry their catch in the sea breeze. The gulls were still relentless, and twice Haraban appeared again, but both times they managed to escape before the ship was destroyed.

They sailed on and on until finally, in the distance, their destination came into view. By then, Haraban no longer pursued. Cheers erupted from the group, and they cracked open a barrel of ale they had been saving to toast their nearing victory.

The ship docked safely at the pier of their destination, and in the next instant everyone was tossed back into the hall of the Survival Dungeon. Fireworks and flower petals burst overhead, and the glowing word Complete appeared above them.

“Good run.”

“Nice work.”

“Man, that was tough.”

Laughter and chatter spilled out as they celebrated. Then, ding! their rewards arrived.

As they opened the reward lists, something strange caught their eyes.

There was an extra reward labeled 《First Achievement》. When they checked the details, the description read,

Everyone exchanged glances. The orb Blaine had brought out really had been a treasure. To think someone hid treasure inside the belly of a monster. Crazy devs.

A string of curses slipped out instinctively, but those curses quickly died off once they saw the experience points. Normally, finding a treasure and clearing a stage multiplied the experience reward by three. But the First Achievement reward wasn’t just a multiplier—it was a fixed amount, precise down to the last digit. And it was exactly the amount needed to rank up from Tier 6 to Tier 5.

Mouths hung open as everyone stared blankly at the reward window. Then, almost in unison, they turned to look at Blaine. This was clearly his luck at work. Just like how his ridiculous fortune had clashed with Theo’s constant bad luck during the night raid, this time Blaine’s luck had finally won out and shone through.

There was no way they were going to let this mood go to waste. Normally, they might have grabbed a bite at the Rest Area near the dungeon. But this time, Father brought everyone back to the guild house and set up a feast grander than a last supper.

They spread the good news to the guild members, sharing the method to obtain the treasure in Visitor of the Deep Sea. Soon, more guildmates gathered, and the hall turned into a noisy festival of drinking and eating that lasted late into the night.

It wasn’t until very late that Theo and Blaine finally left the guild house. Noquia and Holanghee decided to sleep over at the guild lodging.

Taking a public carriage back to Ratteon, Theo walked in silence, glancing now and then at Blaine who quietly followed at his side. It was obvious from his demeanor—he was planning to walk Theo home again.

Theo stopped when they reached the fork in the road. Left led to his house. Right led to Blaine’s.

“You did well today. Go on home.”

Theo pointed right. Blaine blinked, mouth opening and closing wordlessly, then hesitantly pointed left.

“Ah… I’ll walk you to your door.”

“What for? It’s right there.”

“I just… want to.”

Blaine’s wolf ears drooped low as he peeked up at Theo, but his resolve didn’t waver. Theo pushed back, telling him again to head home, but Blaine stood tall, shaking his head stubbornly.

In the end, Theo gave up with a small sigh and nod. Blaine smiled shyly, immediately turning left to walk beside him.

It didn’t take more than a few steps to reach Theo’s place. Blaine stopped, reluctant to go farther, and simply watched Theo climb the short steps. At the door, Theo turned back to him.

“Good work today. Go on.”

“Yeah. You too, Hyung. Go inside first.”

Blaine gave a small bow, stepping back. Theo nodded once before going inside. The moment the door closed, Blaine’s shoulders slumped with relief. He exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. His cheeks were burning bright red.

For a long moment, he stood there, staring at Theo’s door with a flushed face. Then, instead of heading home, he walked over to the flowerbed beneath Theo’s window and sat down. From his pocket, he pulled out a small leather pouch, scooped up a handful of what was inside, and quietly popped it into his mouth.