Chapter 40: Shipyard
The time required for the dungeon to begin was almost up.
Everything was as it should be.
The young man had given the necessary orders to the servants who had come to check on him and had continued to wait quietly in his bed.
[Star City Shipyard]
It was a strange name.
It was hard to say whether it was possible to know what would happen.
Dean was hoping that, at the very least, there would be someone he could get in touch with this time; he even wanted to buy a small ship if possible.
I mean... who knows? After all, he had endless wealth. Buying a ship shouldn’t be too difficult.
Time had run out whilst the young man was waiting.
At that moment, he saw the message again:
[The Cosmic Terror, First Beta, Fourth Dungeon!
Title of the Dungeon: Star City Shipyard
Task: Do your work as a ship builder.
Special Note: You cannot leave the dungeon until the job is over.
The dungeon is starting.]
The moment the young man read this message, the blood-red text instantly covered his body and then beamed him from the Earth-Realm to the Nether-Realm.
When the blood surrounding him vanished, Dean could now see clearly and had begun to hear everything:
"Come on! I told you we need twenty planks, not two!"
"We need two forty-metre deck planks; we’re going to cover the ship’s damaged sections."
"Three barrels of beer, I only asked for three barrels of beer! I’ll let you get away with disobeying the captain’s orders, but you can’t even find three barrels of beer, you fools!"
The young man could hear the voices around him perfectly clearly.
There was a heavy scent of fish, seaweed and, of course, the sea in the air.
The sky was a mixture of black and red, but this wasn’t particularly disturbing.
In fact, for the first time, Dean had managed to see a proper light source, that white sunlight, in the Nether-Realm.
This place... was far more enchanting than he’d imagined.
[The Cosmic Terror, First Beta, Fourth Dungeon!
Dungeon Title: Star City Shipyard
Task: Carry out your duties as a shipbuilder.
Special Note: You cannot leave the dungeon until the job is complete.
Players in the Dungeon: 9
Permanent Players in the City: 3]
Dean was clearly taken aback when another information window popped up in front of him.
Not only had he seen the players who were in the dungeon with him, but he’d also come across something called ’permanent players’.
He immediately furrowed his brow.
He tried to work out what it meant.
Of course, he had no idea what it was.
The young man didn’t know what his task was, so he wanted to look around.
And that’s exactly what he was going to do.
He’d started wandering about, and they could see the glances the other ghosts were casting his way.
Even so, Dean could clearly make out one thing.
Each of them seemed, strangely enough... at ease.
The young man still hadn’t quite grasped what was going on, but after a short while he’d managed to find a building called ’Shipyard Management’.
As soon as he went inside, he spotted an assistant.
"Excuse me, madam, could you help me?" Dean asked. He wasn’t expecting a very serious response, but he had to give it a go.
"Welcome to the Shipyard Management building. My name is Seo-ah. How can I help you?"
The moment Dean heard this reply, he blinked a few times rapidly. He couldn’t help but be surprised.
He knew just how crude each ghost was.
The ghosts in the Nether-Realm were, of course, people who had ended up here because they’d been wicked during their lifetimes.
Although some managed to pull themselves together, such individuals were so rare that there was no need even to mention the likelihood of it happening.
"As you can see, I’m a human. I’ve come here to complete my mission, but I don’t know what that mission is. Could you perhaps guide me?" Dean asked.
"Ah! Of course. We have two options for you. The first is to become a Permanent Player and complete your missions gradually; the other, though much more challenging, is to complete them all in one go."
Upon hearing this reply, Dean managed to grasp what this ’Permanent Player’ business was all about.
With great curiosity, he asked, "Could I find out exactly what this ’Permanent Player’ thing is?"
The female ghost, who had introduced herself as Seo-ah, shook her head and said, "Of course," before pulling out a booklet.
Opening the booklet and turning it towards Dean, Seo-ah began running her finger along the pages.
"As you can see, there are a LOT of different roles within this shipyard. That’s why some players, to gain as much experience as possible, split the task or tasks they’ve been given, allowing them to become permanent members of this dungeon. This makes it possible to gain experience within the Nether-Realm whilst also forging connections that are highly valuable to human players."
When Seo-ah finished speaking, Dean pursed his lips; he could now understand why those three players had chosen this option.
What’s more, it was indeed possible to see that there were a great many different roles.
Frankly, it could be described as surprising.
To be honest, there was a wide range of tasks to be seen, from turning logs into planks to shipbuilding, and from accounting to security duties.
Dean hadn’t been this interested in anything for a long time.
When he learnt he was going to a shipyard, he hadn’t expected much.
To be honest, he hadn’t even expected such seas to exist in the Nether-Realm, yet this place was far too detailed, incredibly well-organised.
Seo-ah must have read something in his expression, for she couldn’t help but speak up:
"I can understand your thoughts, sir, but you must realise. The outer regions of the Nether-Realm consist of incredibly crude, backward areas where the worst of the spirits are sent. As you move towards the inner regions, as you progress towards the inner rings of the Nether-Realm, the crimes committed by the spirits during their lifetimes decrease significantly. In short, it becomes possible to find good spirits and ghosts who have led wretched lives."
Dean didn’t know what to say to this.
This... was a perspective he’d never even imagined.
Still, he couldn’t help but ask. Overcome by curiosity, and knowing full well it might come across as rude, he asked:
"Then... why are you here, madame?"
Comments