“What should I do?”
“It hasn’t popped up in the quest window yet, but it definitely feels like it will lead to a quest. “You will have to make a choice.”
“My guide, Mr. Fernand, doesn’t know what to do. And mermaids? What, Eoin? “It must be something under the sea, but what else can we do?”
“It seems like it might be related to the Demon King’s sculpture. It might also have something to do with the monsters becoming stronger. Wouldn’t it be better to stop by?”
“We have to think carefully about our schedule. Speaking of the Devil’s Piece, what if this is also a trap to waste our time? Even at this very moment, Bluebeard may be awakening other pieces of the Demon King in the New World.”
“Well... Besides, the users can survive somehow, but the NPCs only have 100 days worth of food. “The problem may become more serious if we stop by somewhere.”
Users’ opinions varied.
Not only are there two major differences of opinion about whether we should help or not, but even within that, different methods of how to do it are mushrooming.
‘There is a clear possibility that he did this to kill time, like the Faust gun. Damn, when you think like that, it suddenly becomes complicated, doesn’t it?’
There are users who bicker, and there are also users who organize their thoughts.
The cabin of the New Serpent, where various stories and thoughts were exchanged according to each person’s inclinations, suddenly became noisy.
“We have to go first. That much has not changed.”
“yes?”
The situation was summarized below.
“It’s never too late to think about it as you go. We have only sailed for 29 days. If, as Mr. Fernand said, the voyage period is approximately 60 days, we will reach halfway to this sea by tomorrow. “I’ll think about whether to help that mermaid with her work or not, but first of all, wouldn’t it be more important to find a place to build the first mana relay tower?”
Rather than thinking about things that haven’t happened yet, the players talked about the quests they had received and what they had to do right now, and those words were enough to wake up the users.
His head, which had been looking down at the chart, finally lifted up.
“you’re right. Tomorrow is already the 30th day, and now it’s time for the flying monsters to come out. It is not too late to decide on mermaid-related quests when the quest window appears or the story progresses a little further. “First of all, it will be important to find an island to build a mana relay tower.”
Of course, the mana relay tower cannot be made to float on water.
We will arrive at a place that can be judged to be the midpoint of the Sea of Dawn around tomorrow, so now is the time to find a nearby island.
“Okay, but how do we find the island?”
“Was it a speed boat? “Shouldn’t we take it down and have people with flight magic scout it out?”
“I think it would be better for druids, tamers, and summoners to use summons to find it quickly. The rest of you guard the ship.”
“What should I do, Fernand?”
I managed to steer clear of the discussion related to the Mermaid Quest, but if there were too many people, everything would inevitably end up this way.
Users were struggling to find an island to build a mana relay tower and asked Fernand, but even Fernand could not come up with a clear solution.
“I have no choice but to find it first. I’ll even give you a basic telescope, so if you find a small island, you can also build a mana relay tower there-”
“Are you all idiots?”
While Fernand was also scratching his head and thinking, Kidd, leaning against the cabin wall, lifted his hat.
“Eh? Kid? “What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Everyone’s attention was focused on Kid with the following questions.
“There’s a ‘mermaid’ out there now. “Are you thinking of running in front of a being called the water spirit?”
“...ah!”
“This is not the behavior of people who were concerned about the treatment of mermaids just a moment ago-”
“Thank you, Kid! Mr. Fernand! Just go out and ask the mermaid! “Let alone going to their Dragon Palace and helping them, we can at least use the information anyway!”
A mermaid is a spirit of pure water that has become tangible.
And according to Bailippus’s expression that the spirit is an element of the corresponding nature, the mermaid is no different from the sea itself!
In other words, the entire plan of this second New World expedition was shaken to its core.
“Excuse me, what does this conversation mean? Are you saying that the expedition to the New World won’t end in 60 days?”
One user asked, tilting his head.
However, no one could get the answer “Yes” out of their mouth.
To hide their anxiety.
“...If people who are currently on logout rotation come in and hear this, they will think that hidden cameras are being filmed...?”
“Is there a joke in this situation, Mr. Ki-jeong?”
Only Ki Jeong expressed the horror of the current situation with humorous words.
* * *
“Did you know, Mr. Bailipus? Or Hyein... But they are the ones who know the most about space.”
“I have never been beyond the Sea of Dawn. “I don’t know if Lord would have known, but...”
“I don’t know either. “I know that there will be coordinate values in calculations, but that’s literally theoretical anyway... There are problems with mana and stability, so you can’t just move through space without permission.”
Both Bailippus and Hyein shook their heads when asked the following question.
After the conversation with the mermaid ended and the users went to their respective ships, the overall atmosphere was indescribably down.
Lee Ha-man was traveling from ship to ship to conduct additional investigations.
Of course, the reason Lee Ha was walking around like this was because Fernand was stretched out as if he was sick.
The user who worked hard and ran around to form this New World expedition team is now at risk of taking responsibility for all failures...
‘The New World is a place that even Ancient Dragons have never been to. It’s so unreasonable to put the blame on just one person, Fernand, just because he made a mistake in his calculations. To put it bluntly, it was something that no NPC or user could have known.’
Of course, we can’t just wait for that to happen.
We wouldn’t have been able to get this far if it weren’t for Fernand’s experience in the first New World expedition, where he managed to find out information and turn the ship around thanks to the sacrifices of the continent’s resources and NPCs.
Above all, no matter how bad the situation is, this is a game.
It is clear that the management team could have made it this far in vain, but at least from a world view, wasn’t it an event that all countries put in their best effort to create?
Lee Ha’s thoughts were that it couldn’t simply end like this.
‘First of all, we need to recognize what the problem is. Since the original 60-day navigation schedule has been extended indefinitely, the biggest problem in the current situation is... food for NPCs.’
Users must survive by consuming only enough food to maintain stamina.
If your stamina runs out, your HP and MP will not recover, and if your hunger gets worse, natural consumption will begin.
However, no matter how much you save, the food you initially packed was only enough for 100 days.
What if the voyage period increases by more than twice that amount? Not only are there problems for users, but NPCs who only make a living in Middle Earth may die!
‘Even though users are operating at full capacity for fishing and other things, it is doubtful whether this will help the food situation for a few more days. In any case, the maximum in the current situation is about 110 days.’
It was natural that there were suggestions to go back.
To date, the voyage has taken approximately 29 days.
This means that it takes 29 days to go back, replenish food, then set off again and take another 29 days to reach the current location.
‘But it’s too late. Too late.’
Food replenishment cannot be completed in just one day.
If you include that extra time, it will take at least 65 more days just to get back to your current location.
For an expedition to the New World, of which we do not know how long it will take, the period is definitely extended.
In other words, it means that the time period originally planned to reach the New World will be far exceeded. That was enough to make Bluebeard complete all preparations for the Middle Earth system.