Chapter 150
Theresa woke up before dawn, shaking her roommate awake while shouting, “Kim Soso, get up! We’re late! Hurry, hurry!”
Half-asleep, Soso opened her eyes, checked the time, and muttered with lethal calm. “I’ll kill you...”
It was five in the morning, and their meeting with Do-Jin was at nine. They still had four hours to spare. Since yesterday, Theresa had been acting like a kindergartner on a field trip, full of excitement and flapping around like she might drown in it.
“Ahhh! Soso, come on, get up, hurry!”
No matter what Soso said, Theresa kept shaking her. Jostled by her friend’s relentless enthusiasm, Soso thought for a moment.
They said this place is by the sea, right?
She seriously considered tossing this noisy menace straight into the ocean.
***
Soso managed to win herself two more hours of sleep through a dramatic compromise. Her bargaining chip was three full-force slaps to Theresa’s back, delivered with no restraint. Because of that, even after logging into the game, Theresa’s shoulders still stung.
Still, she thought it a fair trade. Despite all the fussing and wasted time, they had managed to log in a whole hour early. It was a complete victory.
If I want her out even an hour early, I need to start raising hell at least four hours in advance, she thought.
With a sulky, sleep-deprived Soso trailing behind her, Theresa walked down the docks. They weaved through the crowd of bustling sailors, gazing at the glittering sea and rows of moored ships, until they reached the pier number Do-Jin had mentioned.
He said Pier 32, right?
She looked around, wondering if they were supposed to just wait there, when a familiar voice cut through the ambient noise.
“Is the connection stable?”
Turning toward the sound, Theresa spotted Do-Jin among a group of sailors, checking something on a floating display.
“Huh?” she said, wondering what all the fuss was about.
Hearing her voice at the same time, Do-Jin spun around and greeted them with his usual calm demeanor. “Oh, you two are early.”
“You’re earlier than the time we’re supposed to meet too. Oh—” Theresa stopped herself mid-sentence. She didn’t need to ask why. Anyone could tell from the preparations around him that he had come early to get things ready.
“If there was something to prep, you could’ve told us. We would’ve helped,” she said.
“It’s nothing major. I just wanted to look around before we head out.”
“Is that our ship?” Theresa asked, pointing at a large vessel nearby.
Do-Jin shook his head. “That’s just the guide ship. Ours is the one tied behind it.”
Her gaze followed the direction of his hand. Beyond the large ship floated something much smaller but solid-looking, reinforced with metal plating and shimmering runes. However, there was one glaring detail.
“Wait... the ship’s floating?”
Of course, ships floated on water, but Do-Jin’s ship was hovering in the air.
“I spent a fair bit,” Do-Jin explained. “It has buoyancy and perception-distortion enchantments, plus reinforcement magic woven into the hull.”
At that, even Soso, who had been pretending not to care, wandered over to take a closer look. The floating ship was something even she had never seen before.
“Whoa...” she murmured.
Theresa leaned so far over the edge of the pier to gawk at it that she looked ready to topple into the sea. While the two women were marveling, a broad-shouldered man with bronzed, muscular arms approached Do-Jin. He was the captain of the towing ship that Do-Jin had hired.
“Everything’s hooked up, sir,” the man said. “We’ll depart in two hours. Until then, you and your people should stay aboard your vessel.”
“Two hours. Got it,” Do-Jin replied.
“When the time comes, we’ll head out immediately. We have to leave early to make sure we reach the drop-off point on schedule. Once we hit visual range of the Fog Sea, I’ll cut the tow line. After that, you’re on your own.”
“That’s all we need. Thank you,” Do-Jin said.
The captain glanced toward Theresa and Soso, who were still inspecting the ship from behind, and let out a weary groan. “They’re with you?”
Do-Jin nodded.
“Damn it,” the man muttered. “You sure you don’t want to rethink this? Just dropping you off out there is going to haunt my dreams for a week. Taking girls like that along too... hell, I don’t know what you’re trying to prove, but it’s not too late to walk away. I’ll give you every coin back.”
“Don’t worry. I’m confident I’ll make it back to land,” Do-Jin replied.
The captain gave a low sigh. “The sea’s not like the land, son. On land you can call yourself a mage, a knight, or a priest. Out here, everyone’s just human. That fog-choked stretch you’re headed for is especially unforgiving.”
His name, if Do-Jin remembered correctly, was Baymon. Even after just a short exchange, Do-Jin could tell he was a good man. He didn’t have to warn them so earnestly. Most captains would have taken the money and said nothing.
“I appreciate it,” Do-Jin said. “But there’s something I have to do out there.”
Baymon shook his head. “Figures. Well, if you’re dead set on it, I’ll get you there. Just turn that ship around the moment things look bad. And if you make it back alive, tell the innkeeper where I drink that you’re still breathing. I’d like to know whether to toast or mourn you.”
“I’ll make sure of it,” Do-Jin said, shaking his hand firmly.
Afterward, he led Theresa and Soso to a nearby restaurant for a quick meal. By the time they returned to the pier, someone was already waiting near the ship. A lone figure stood in the shade, wearing a dark cloak and a mask.
What the hell is he doing? Do-Jin thought.
The combination of the mask, the cloak, and the shadowed corner made the man look less like a person and more like a patch of fungus growing in the damp.
“Ah, hello!”
The fungus, Tanto, perked up the moment he spotted them and bowed deeply. “Good to see you again!”
Theresa, who could match anyone in sheer enthusiasm, ran over to greet him. They had fought together during the World Boss Raid, and even without many words, that kind of shared struggle had forged a quiet bond between them.
After a round of greetings, Do-Jin’s party boarded their ship. At the appointed hour, the towing vessel, a large merchant ship, began to move. Tethered behind it, their smaller craft followed smoothly out of the harbor.
“It feels oddly stable,” Theresa said, eyes wide. “I thought a flying ship would sway more.”
Soso leaned over the railing, watching sunlight scatter across the rippling water.
Meanwhile, Tanto sat inside at the table, laying out daggers and vials of poison, inspecting each one with meticulous focus. Do-Jin stood at the bow, staring silently at the horizon. Every so often, when he looked back, he could see the coastline shrinking little by little behind them.
Hours passed in quiet rhythm, the voyage uneventful but strangely calming. Six hours later, a faint gray mist appeared on the horizon, marking the edge of the Fog Sea. The towing ship slowed, and moments later, the towline was released. Baymon’s vessel turned away and began sailing back toward clear waters.
“Looks like it’s our turn from here,” Do-Jin said.
He adjusted the helm and steered the ship toward the fog-covered expanse ahead. From a distance, the Fog Sea looked as if clouds had fallen from the sky to rest upon the surface of the water. The mist was so thick that even sunlight seemed to vanish inside it.
Their mana-powered vessel surged forward faster than it ever had under tow, cutting across the waves until it breached the edge of the fog. The world dimmed in an instant. Their visibility dropped to almost nothing, and the oppressive stillness of the mist pressed down on them like a weight. The air was damp and heavy. Every sound seemed muffled, as though the sea itself had swallowed their voices whole.
Even breathing felt difficult. The fog did more than hide the world. It seemed intent on smothering everything.
“Do you really think we can find our destination in a place like this?” Theresa asked, her voice tense. “We can’t see a thing.”
“Don’t worry,” Do-Jin replied. “We’re not the ones doing the searching. The map will guide us there.”
As he pulled the map out from his inventory, a low hum began to echo through the air. The moment they entered the Fog Sea, the map began pulsing at regular intervals, releasing waves of mana that rippled outward. That was when Do-Jin saw massive mana signatures move beneath the surface of the water, enormous sea creatures gliding toward the ship.
If one of those things decides to hit us, we’ll be a wreck before we can even scream, he thought.
As long as the map remained active, the creatures wouldn’t attack. The map was both key and shield, and the beings beneath the sea seemed to recognize it. Despite knowing that they wouldn’t attack, however, watching those monstrous shapes glide so close beneath the surface still made Do-Jin’s stomach twist a little. The others didn’t seem to notice a thing.
The ship pressed deeper into the fog, the faint vibrations of mana surrounding them like a living pulse. Several times, dark shadows rose from the depths, approaching before veering off again at the last moment. Each pass sent a low shudder through the vessel, as if the sea itself was breathing around them.
Eventually, their ship reached what felt like the heart of the mist-shrouded sea.
“Um... does anyone else feel weird?” Theresa asked suddenly.
There was a strange resistance in the air, as though they had passed through something heavy and sticky.
“I felt it too,” Soso murmured. “It felt... wrong.”
“We just passed through a barrier,” Do-Jin said. “We didn’t even realize it.”
As he spoke, he pointed forward. A startled gasp escaped the group. Through the dense fog ahead, a massive silhouette began to take shape.
“Looks like we’ve arrived,” he said quietly.
Do-Jin steered the ship toward the dark outline. The closer they got, the clearer it became that what loomed before them was no natural formation. It was a colossal fortress made entirely of steel.
Perhaps “fortress” wasn’t the right word. It looked more like an enormous metallic structure, an island forged from steel and anchored in the sea. The fog was too thick to reveal its full size, but its sheer presence was undeniable. Every inch of it radiated power and weight, as though the sea itself had bent to hold it aloft.
“Let’s find a spot to dock first,” Do-Jin said.
He circled the steel island, scanning its jagged surface for a safe place to anchor. After a few minutes, he found a deep alcove suitable for mooring and guided the ship in carefully. He secured it and tied the ropes tightly to the metal moorings that jutted from the wall.
“So where’s this dungeon supposed to be?” Theresa asked, frowning. “Finding the entrance alone looks like it’s going to be a nightmare.”
“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that,” Do-Jin replied, lifting the map.
The parchment pulsed with light. The waves of mana were growing stronger and more frequent, and the glow had intensified so much that the surface almost shimmered. The closer they came to the marked point, the more intense the reaction became.
“Let’s move carefully,” Do-Jin said. “We’re not inside the dungeon yet, but we have no idea what might be waiting out here.”
“Got it,” Theresa acknowledged, raising her shield and moving to the front.
The party advanced slowly across the metallic surface. Whenever the map’s glow dimmed, they changed direction. When it brightened again, they followed its pull. After several careful turns, the map suddenly flared to life, its light so bright that it stung their eyes. The signal was unmistakable, and just to drive it home, a notification appeared before them.
[You have discovered the Hidden Dungeon Forge of the God for the first time!]
More messages followed, announcing minor first-discovery rewards, but no one paid them any attention. Every eye was fixed on the structure ahead, a massive steel temple with a ceiling that rose at least fifty meters high.
The party stepped forward into the vast, tunnel-like corridor that led into the dungeon. The air inside was dense and heavy, every breath thick with the scent of metal and silence. Just when the oppressive stillness was beginning to unsettle them, Do-Jin raised a hand.
“Wait,” he said, extending his arm and pointing ahead.
There, standing side by side in the middle of the passage, were two enormous statues of knights, forged entirely from steel.
“No way,” Theresa muttered with a nervous laugh. “That’s way too obvious, right?”
Do-Jin didn’t laugh. Whether it was obvious to the others or not, he knew exactly what they were looking at: the Twin Knight Statues, the first named bosses of the Forge of the God.
Those things are the reason this dungeon disappeared from the game.
