The pirate ship was completely renewed.
Gallow puffed out his chest and said proudly.
Caw Caw!
“Get on quickly.”
He said he knew this sea like the back of his hand.
Since there was plenty of time anyway, we decided to follow Gallow’s guide.
At that moment.
Just as we were about to board the pirate ship, a familiar face peeked out from the water.
A small, round, green head.
It was Mint.
“Mint, what are you doing here?”
Bubu—
I didn’t know how Mint ended up here, but she spoke with a choked voice.
She said she had found something incredible deep underwater.
She had wanted to give it as a gift for me, but a gigantic creature she had never seen before got in the way.
Nothing ever came easy.
A monster deep in the sea?
It was exactly like the beast Gallow mentioned.
What should we do?
We definitely didn’t want to stir up trouble.
We couldn’t just leave an unknown monster lurking in such a peaceful resting place.
Even if it were hostile, like a bandit or a wild bee, there might be some reason behind it.
But there was no way to dive into the sea right now.
At best, only Mint could hold her breath underwater for a long time.
What should we do?
While I was sitting there pondering, the rest of my brothers arrived just in time.
All five of us gathered, including Somi who had just finished her lecture.
We pressed our heads together and planned our next move.
How could we get into the sea?
If only we had a super-large mechanical device right now.
Unfortunately, it was still under repair.
Dusik was gathering materials and planned to start fixing it properly once he had everything.
In the last invention class, we had selected five excellent ground rabbits to work on the project together.
Kind of like graduate students.
Sadly, we had to find another way for now.
Mint was the first to raise her short arm.
“I have a good idea.”
Bubu!
Everyone held their breath and dived.
It was a good idea.
If only we were as good swimmers as Mint.
Bubu.
She was still too young to understand.
I gently stroked Mint’s silent head and listened to the next suggestion.
This time, it was our lightning squirrel, Toto.
Toto spoke confidently.
Pachi!
“You want to strike a massive lightning bolt?”
Since water conducts electricity well.
It wasn’t a bad idea, but it was impossible to avoid harming the monster living deep in the sea.
Hmm, really no good solution?
No matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to mind.
Bbyak hates going into water more than dying, so we passed on his suggestion.
Choco was cheerfully chortling as usual.
The only one left to trust was the genius inventor Somi.
Unfortunately, Somi also shook her head.
Bbiee—
“We could build a submarine.”
But it would take too long.
If it weren’t small and all of us wanted to ride, it would take at least a month.
That’s assuming basic diving capabilities.
The opponent was a colossal monster.
Who knew what might happen underwater?
What if a battle broke out?
Bbyak, who uses flame techniques, couldn’t be expected to help.
Toto could get electrocuted if anything went wrong.
At most, only Mint could survive, but she was still just a baby Black Tortoise.
Maybe we should build a proper submarine eventually.
Just when no better idea emerged,
Gallow, who was nearby, cautiously spoke up.
Caw!
“Really?”
This pirate ship.
It wasn’t just a ship.
It was a special vessel capable of diving.
What’s more, it was already equipped with powerful cannons.
However—
Caw…
It needed parts.
Most of the parts had been lost after being attacked by the sea monster.
We needed to explore the surroundings to find the missing components.
Fortunately, the captain Skeleton still had the needle compass that could locate the items.
Then.
“Summon all Pirate Skeletons.”
Let’s summon them and ask.
Using the undead summoning necklace, I revived all the tattered Skeletons.
The Pirate Skeletons, bewildered at the new opportunity, were first lined up.
“Everyone, line up.”
Clack.
They obeyed my order and lined up by rank.
The one wearing the pirate hat on the far left was apparently the captain Skeleton.
“Are you all ready to find the parts?”
Clack!
There was no need for all of us to move together.
Doing unfamiliar things only led to accidents.
Let’s leave the search for the lost parts to Gallow and the Skeletons.
Always stay cautious.
Safety first. That’s my motto.
“Please take care of it, Gallow.”
Caw!
“Let’s head back to the resting place now.”
The sea around might be dangerous, but the resting place was safe.
I would lie back on the sunbed and enjoy a mojito.
***
The Tower Virus that had spread worldwide.
From the player’s perspective, it was impossible to know when, where, or how they got infected.
Even staying home to avoid infection couldn’t guarantee safety, as family members might transmit it.
It was an invisible threat.
No one could catch it.
But the danger of the Tower Virus ended more easily than expected.
Why?
Thanks to the vaccine replicated by WM Bio.
It wasn’t an injectable vaccine.
It was a sweet honey jelly.
Just eating it quickly granted immunity to the virus.
Because of that, the stock price of WM Bio soared sky-high.
It rose 3000% just one day after the listing.
Among experts, there was even a rumor that the current price was still undervalued.
The initial supply was 100,000 units.
But replication speed was much faster than expected.
All thanks to Professor Honeybee’s academy lectures.
He taught how to replicate the vaccine honey jelly quickly.
Thanks to that, daily supply increased massively.
One batch made about 200 vaccines.
One lecture honeybee typically replicated around 10 batches daily.
Even without the bees, over 60,000 vaccines were produced daily.
Since they only made that much, about 120,000 vaccines were made per day.
Considering there were 800,000 players worldwide, complete eradication could be declared within a week.
However, some countries were still biting their nails nervously.
First was Japan.
Because of the Seriyu Corporation, WM Company got a bad reputation there.
They issued an official apology and took a stance, but the situation hadn’t improved.
At least, they managed to secure 3,000 emergency vaccines for patients from a friendly country.
That put out the immediate fire.
Next was North Korea.
As always, they announced they developed the vaccine through media but didn’t offer any help to South Korea.
Rumor had it they banned all players except those from North Korea.
Only North Korean players were left in the cold.
The last remaining place was China.
The World Association had been shaken hard.
They openly criticized South Korea and even defected without permission during the meeting.
Because of that, WM Bio refused to approve any vaccine exports to China.
Couldn’t they just smuggle them from elsewhere?
That used to be the case.
They lost various technologies and many talented individuals to China.
But now, things were different.
They had power.
A strong power no one dared challenge.
Not just money or influence.
Rumors even spread that the U.S. was behind WM Bio.
All countries began watching WM Company closely.
Try to make an enemy here.
Starting from the Flower Bracelet, to the Diet Carrot, to the Magic Power Fruit.
There wasn’t a single trivial item monopolized by WM Company.
They couldn’t be ignored.
They dramatically raised the player level in South Korea.
Take Saudi Arabia as an example.
Compared to other countries, their tower climbing speed was among the slowest.
There was a limit to growing players with money alone.
Legendary items?
Most couldn’t even use them.
Most bought only items that raised stats slightly.
They were one of the countries with a lot of money but few talented players.
But just a few days ago, after starting to lend Flower Bracelets, their climbing began skyrocketing.
They were already eyeing the latter half of the 40th floor.
It was a remarkable growth.
If just the Flower Bracelet had that much effect, imagine being an enemy.
Then you’d truly be left behind.
Because of that, everyone had to watch WM Company’s every move.
Even China was no different.
Players were infected by the virus and couldn’t show their true strength.
Even the once hopeful Flower Bracelet item was no longer lent out.
Eventually, China drew their sword.
There was no choice.
Let’s lower our heads and enter.
And so, today.
Zhang Lin, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Players Association, visited South Korea in person.
His usually arrogant confidence was lowered, showing a humble expression.
Today’s meeting aimed to change the minds of the Korean Association.
Or more precisely, to persuade Dohyun, who had close ties with WM Company.
“Hahaha, nice to see you. Has it been a while since we last met…”
Wearing a black suit, Zhang Lin extended his hand to Dohyun, pretending to be friendly.
Though frustrated because of Wang Zifeng, he forced a smile.
But Dohyun’s attitude was cold.
“I don’t think we have anything to exchange friendly greetings over.”
“Ahem ahem.”
Taken aback by the unexpected response, Zhang Lin sat down awkwardly.
“So, what is the reason for your visit?”
“It’s about the vaccine. I heard your Wang Zifeng management caused trouble.”
It was all because of Wang Zifeng.
I had expected that arrogant attitude to bring great disaster someday, and it finally did, with a proper apology at the very end.
“You know well.”
“So, we came to offer a humble apology and prepared a small gift.”
Zhang Lin spoke evasively and glanced at his accompanying secretary.
Then, the man in the suit pulled out a black case.
“This is the will of our party.”
Inside were 100 blank promissory notes bearing the signature of the Chinese Supreme Chairman.
They only had to write the price they wanted.
You might ask if one note was enough.
That’s ignorant.
One and a hundred felt completely different.
It showed how much they cared.
But Dohyun wasn’t the type to be swayed by mere money.
He had been disrespected a hundred times at meetings and tolerated it.
But to insult a rank 555 player?
He couldn’t let that pass with just a piece of paper.
“You think I’m someone who can be bought with money? Let’s pretend this meeting never happened.”
Dohyun stood up abruptly.
Seeing this, Zhang Lin panicked and tried to stop him.
“No, no. My mistake. Forget it. Haha.”
It was maddening.
Not even this amount could sway him.
Nothing went as expected.
Despite Zhang Lin’s pleas, Dohyun sat back down as if resigned.
Only then did Zhang Lin timidly ask.
“Is there something you want? I will tell our Supreme Chairman and try to accommodate.”
If money couldn’t buy it, what else was there?
Land?
They might give a piece of territory, but they’d just come back for it.
But Dohyun wanted something else.
“An official apology from the Supreme Leader, and a relaxation of the naturalization policy for Chinese players.”
Upon hearing Dohyun’s proposal, Zhang Lin’s expression hardened.
An apology from the Supreme Leader?
Absurd.
And easing the naturalization policy for Chinese players?
It would be chaos.
There might not be any players left in China.
It was one of the countries where players were treated the worst.
After saying his piece, Dohyun stood up.
Then he gave a final warning.
“There are no other conditions.”
The political genius who shook the soul of China’s number two.
He was the Korean Association team leader and Woo Min’s dependable ally—Dohyun in his true form!