Ranker Who Lives Twice
chapter-284

Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko (1/12)

Bayluk’s island was surrounded by multiple defense systems, so it was hard to find its exact location.

That was why Yeon-woo had been planning on giving up on finding the island, but he realized that he didn’t have to do that while he was fighting Waltz.

The Sea Water Charm.

It had lost most of its status as an holy item due to the loss of holy power, but it could still do basic functions.

Using the option Song of the Sea, Yeon-woo looked for memories related to Bayluk.

Fortunately, he could find the island’s approximate location with it.

Yeon-woo thought there was no better place than the island for temporary shelter. It was a fortress that Anti Venom Bayluk had created with much care. Outsiders didn’t know of its existence, so Waltz and Duke Ardbad wouldn’t be able to track him.

Then, he gave the coordinates he found directly to the Cannibal Monster Humans.

He was going to spend some time restoring his broken body for the time being.

* * *

“What a sound sleeper even in this situation.”

Yeon-woo slowly opened his eyes at the voice ringing in his ears. Where was this sound coming from? He was focusing all his attention on the Philosopher’s Stone. But when he got himself together, there was a strange world of stars in front of him.

It was a dark world. He didn’t know up from down. He felt like his soul would leave his body just by looking at it.

In the abyss-like darkness, there was someone there.

An ashy form that looked human but had no facial features. There was only a rounded curve on the bottom of his face that looked like a mouth.

He was the one who invited Yeon-woo here.

The Demonism.

The monster that had been inside a cage all this time. The beast.

Looking at him, Yeon-woo asked, “What is it this time?”

“Why? Can’t I call you when I want to? I’m still a part of you. We’re like twins. Your little brother wanted to see his older brother, so what’s the matter?”

Yeon-woo’s face crumpled.

Hwaak—

An intense wind blew around him.

“Don’t say things so easily with that piehole of yours.”

Twins. Little brother. Older brother. It was unpleasant to hear the Demonism speak about these things. Those were words that no one should say lightly in front of Yeon-woo.

The Demonism lightly shrugged.

“Kekekeuk. You got so angry just because of a few words. How can people say you’re cold and logical after this? Cold-blooded? The trait would cry. Am I right?”

It was silent.

“Fine. I got it. I won’t do that. Keekeekeek!”

The Demonism said he was sorry but didn’t stop laughing.

Yeon-woo debated whether he should punch him in the face, but he quietly retracted his wings of fire.

His exhaustion was stacked up from the continued fight with Benteke and Waltz.

If he battled the Demonism here, it would be detrimental to his mental health. In turn, it would influence his body from healing as well, so he had to hold it in.

Instead, he glared at the Demonism that was still laughing.

“Why did you call me here?”

“Oh, this? Oh yeah. I had something to say to you, so I called you. What was it again?”’

Yeon-woo’s face hardened again, but the Demonism suddenly burst out laughing, slapping his knees.

“Oh, that’s what it was. Keekeekeek!”

He covered his mouth as he giggled and spoke with the corners of his mouths, which split violently to his ears.

“Look. Aren’t you too weak?”

Yeon-woo didn’t say anything.

The Demonism continued to criticize him.

“I said so before. I would wait until you became ripe. But what are you doing? You have the Philosopher’s Stone, the Demonic Dragon Body, Vigrid…..you can only do that much even with all that nice stuff? How frustrating, ugh.”

The Demonism shook his finger.

“You can’t do that, okay? Work a little harder. Yeah. Just a bit more. Only then—”

His sharp canines could be seen through his wide-open mouth. They were the teeth of a starved monster.

“—can I fill my empty stomach.”

* * *

‘What a crazy bastard.’

Rubbing his temples, Yeon-woo slowly stood up. He felt like his head was going to burst from his headache. Was it an aftereffect of speaking with the Demonism?

When his pain settled down, Yeon-woo realized that his body felt lighter than when he fainted.

No, it wasn’t just lighter.

The symptoms, which would disappear only if he was bedridden for a few days, even with Regeneration, were healed by 70%.

Just then, the words of the Demonism right before he was kicked out from his world of unconsciousness echoed in his head.

-So I’ll give you another chance. To work harder. You have to use it well.

The Demonism was asleep in the Philosopher’s Stone, so it had probably unlocked a hidden function of the stone to help him recover.

-Don’t forget. This is the last one. Keekeekeek!

The strange laughter was still ringing in Yeon-woo’s ear, and he was irritated by it.

‘But where is this…..?’

Yeon-woo circulated his magic power and chased away the traces of the Demonism as he looked around.

He was lying on a bed. The wooden walls were blank with nothing on them. It was a familiar sight to him.

‘The captain’s quarters.’

Yeon-woo slowly moved the blanket aside and stepped out.

As he did, a white fog swept by him. The fog was so thick that it was hard to take even a single step forward.

The deck was busy with people bustling around.

“Lower the sails first! We have to move at full speed from now on. We can’t be pulled into the fog!”

“Rope! Where’s the rope?!”

“I’m turning the ship northeast. Everyone be careful not to fall!”

Because they were covered by the fog, only their voices rang out loudly. When the bow of the ship turned carefully into another direction, Yeon-woo gripped the rails and activated the Sea Water Charm.

With the illusion of his body floating up, he could see below from far up above.

‘Is this the right way?’

Fortunately, the ship seemed to have arrived at the coordinates. It was actually faster than he expected. The location of the ship was near Bayluk’s island.

This fog was a defense system of the island that activated once you were closer to the island.

Bayluk wouldn’t have done anything to the fog.

It was probably to turn any ships around that entered without knowing anything.

Usually, ships would try to take a different route if it was hard to see ahead of them.

‘The mighty Anti Venom is letting people who invaded his territory leave easily like this. How ridiculous. Or is that how much he wanted to hide this place?’

Considering his usual personality, he would mix poison into the fog to massacre everyone or capture them alive for experiments.

It seemed like he had left it at this because rumors about the area could spread if he did that.

That meant that there was something important on the island.

If the ship went further, actual defense systems would probably be activated.

‘I should get rid of them ahead of time.’

He could find most of the defenses with his Draconic Eyes, so he was going to remove them before they activated.

As he slowly moved towards the deck, people turned their gaze towards him, feeling a presence.

They all stepped back in surprise. The bustling deck instantly became quieter. Yeon-woo was still a fearsome person to them.

“Are you feeling alright?”

Only Heidi urgently ran up to him. Her face looked tired like she hadn’t been able to rest properly

However, without expressing that she was tired, she just looked at Yeon-woo with concerned eyes.

Yeon-woo nodded and drew his Magic Bayonet out from subspace towards the bow of the ship.

Gasps could be heard from all around the ship.

A few players covered their mouths and quickly ran to the sides.

Heidi sighed looking at them. They were acting like that even knowing that Yeon-woo wouldn’t hurt them. After all they’d been through, they were still scared of Yeon-woo.

But Yeon-woo didn’t seem to care as he drew his sword on the bow.

Black Aura was emitted and then hidden by the fog.

She thought he had just grasped at nothing, but the sound of things being destroyed could be heard from far away.

Pupupung—

Yeon-woo looked around again as he put the Magic Bayonet back and returned to where Heidi was.

“Call for me when we reach land.”

“Okay.”

Hearing her response, Yeon-woo went back to the captain’s room to rest a little more.

* * *

The deeper they moved into the fog, the harder it was to see ahead.

The players were anxious, thinking that they might be trapped in the fog forever, but the fog was suddenly swept away, and they could see clearly again.

Far away, there was an island.

“It’s an island!”

“Land! Get ready to anchor!”

They all looked happy to see land.

From Triton, Benteke, Duke Ardbad, and Waltz. They had been through so many things in a short time, and they were desperate to rest on land. And they had found this island.

It wasn’t the 29th floor, where it was said that there was a new continent, but they were grateful for this place.

Also, from where they were, the island definitely didn’t look unwelcoming. Unlike how the shore on the island that they had come from was so vast and gloomy, this place had weeds and wildflowers, and the overall atmosphere was bright.

Also, there were traces of people. They became hopeful, thinking that it was an island of players who lived on the 28th floor.

There was even a port on one side of the island. The Ghost Ship slowly neared it, and the players finally stepped on firm ground.

On Heidi’s orders, they moved into groups of three. Even though they were glad to see land, they had to be on their guards because something could suddenly jump out. There might’ve been Cannibal Monster Humans as well.

The players all received orders to examine the land in sections and scattered. They needed to know the layout and condition of the land first.

Yeon-woo got off the boat last and looked around.

‘Looks like nothing from what I saw in the diary is left.’

Bayluk’s island was an island that Team Arthia had found together. Memories of it were left in the diary, but other than the landscape, nothing was familiar.

Bayluk had changed it quite a lot.

Yeon-woo entered the island with dark eyes.

The inside of the island was even more changed than the outside.

The lush forest was now bare, and instead, there were buildings along clean-cut paths.

There were even labs, and it looked more like a small city than a village.

The players looked surprised at the unexpected sight.

It definitely wasn’t land that pirates lived on. They wouldn’t be able to make a neat city like this. There were arsenals, labs, parks for breaks, and paths to take walks on as well.

It was clear that a clan had cleaned this place up.

About a thousand people could stay in this place.

However, the problem was that they couldn’t sense anyone.

There were traces of people using this place just a few months ago.

And it wasn’t like there were traces of people moving.

Each house had unfinished cooking or books left open on tables.

If they moved, they would’ve taken what they needed, but the weapons were left in the weapons room, documents and books were in the labs, and lab papers were laid bare for anyone to see.

There weren’t any traces of people invading it either.

It was like only the people on the island had evaporated.

The empty village reminded them of a ghost town, and they shivered.

“What happened here?”

The players who had been happy to find land trembled anxiously.

Then, they saw a tall spire at the northernmost of the village.

The building was familiar, but there was a symbol on it that was slowly being forgotten by the world.

Only

“Huh? That…..?”

“Isn’t that Arthia’s symbol?”

Yeon-woo, who had been following him, saw the sign as well.

It was a symbol of a cross with a sword below it that had wings.

“This island was Arthia’s territory?”

Yeon-woo heard someone mutter to himself. Under his mask, his eyes hardened.