The Return of the Genius Ranker’s Myth Warehouse - Chapter 194

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 194
Chapter 194
I wondered how I could select proper sailors from among so many territory residents.
But filtering people proved easier than expected.
And for good reason.
“What’s this? Have you ever sailed before?”
“I haven’t sailed, but I thought I might be of some help to the lord…”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but what we need now are experienced sailors. We cannot accept beginners.”
“Weren’t you already retired?”
“For the lord’s sake, I can make a comeback!”
“We all know you developed trauma and couldn’t sail after nearly being killed by a monster. How could I take you along? Go home.”
“For the lord’s sake, I can endure it!”
“You were trembling during the last monster attack too. This journey will be far more dangerous. It’s impossible.”
“Ugh…”
This was thanks to the shipwrights who had built the vessel with me stepping forward to sort through the territory residents.
Being shipwrights themselves, they had a keen eye for identifying sailors.
Since we needed experienced sailors immediately, we turned away all the inexperienced ones and selected only from those with experience.
Finding skilled individuals even among the experienced wasn’t difficult.
“Ah, Shebaran! Will you be taking the helm?”
“The lord is setting sail to defeat a monster for our sake—how could I simply stand by and watch?”
“With you, we can be assured! My lord, Shebaran is truly the finest helmsman in all of Kalbera Territory!”
“My lord, if you permit, might I recommend a few people? They sailed with me before and will surely be of great help.”
“Of course.”
Kalbera Territory, being a coastal settlement, had many sailors—renowned ones at that.
There were those who bore titles like “finest helmsman of Kalbera Territory” and “finest navigator of Kalbera Territory.”
Thanks to this, the important positions were filled quickly, and those they recommended were also selected as crew members.
The remaining positions were subsequently filled with experienced and skilled sailors.
“My lord. I am Urbanta, appointed as captain of the magic ship Black Dragon. I look forward to serving you.”
“The pleasure is mine.”
Though the Black Dragon was my possession, I entrusted the captain’s position to an expert.
It wasn’t as though I would personally sail the ship just because I held the title of captain.
My objective remained the White Water Deity, and once combat commenced, I would need to face the monster rather than maneuver the vessel.
With the ship and crew prepared, I wanted to depart immediately in search of the White Water Deity.
“My lord, might it not be wise to first survey the waters near Kalbera Territory?”
“The nearby waters, you say?”
“Though all the sailors are experienced, they will need time to adapt to this new vessel. Moreover, shouldn’t you yourself become accustomed to sailing, my lord?”
Urbanta, who had been appointed captain, made this suggestion.
‘True, even if we’re fortunate enough to spot the White Water Deity from the start, it would be problematic if the crew hasn’t properly adapted.’
It wasn’t just the crew.
I myself was not particularly accustomed to combat aboard a vessel, so I needed time to familiarize myself beforehand.
Moreover.
“Is this the ship we’ll be sailing on?”
“Wait, you’re saying this ship belongs to the Guild Master?”
“If we sold it right now, we’d make an absolute fortune….”
“Truly worthy of our Guild Master!”
My guild members had never sailed a ship in the game before.
Since I’d decided to bring all the guild members along, they needed time to acclimate to the vessel.
There was no point in dragging things out—with everyone gathered here.
“My lord, we’re ready to set sail!”
“Very well.”
“Hoist anchor!”
“We’re setting sail!”
We immediately began preparations for departure.
Despite boarding the vessel for the first time, they all moved with the practiced efficiency of seasoned sailors, each finding their role instinctively.
They sounded horns to signal, waved flags to communicate with the crew, secured the anchor lines for departure—
Their movements were so skilled it was hard to believe this was their first time.
As I watched them work, Urbanta, our captain, explained with evident pride.
“Since Caldera Village is a coastal settlement, we’re well-versed in maritime work and fishing. Though all our ships were destroyed, every one of these men is a professional who’s spent their entire lives at sea.”
I could see that for myself.
They were all masters of their craft.
Over a hundred sailors moved in coordinated haste, working as one.
With a deep rumble—
The magic ship Black Dragon slowly began to move.
While the sailors knew what they were doing, my guild members and I, unfamiliar with such sights, stood on deck simply admiring the sea.
“Wow, this is incredible!”
“I’ve never sailed a ship this size in the real world.”
“That’s exactly why we play Second. We get to experience things we could never do in reality, right?”
“Still, experiences like this are rare. Only someone like our Guild Master could own a ship of this caliber.”
“That’s true.”
The waters surrounding Kalbera Territory were breathtaking.
Gentle waves and refreshing sea breezes.
The cliff that appeared immediately after leaving the swamp loomed majestically, and the receding Kalbera Territory held a quiet, understated charm.
Most striking was how the spray kicked up by the Black Dragon as it surged forward glimmered in the sunlight—watching it felt as though all my stress simply melted away.
“My lord, what do you think?”
“It’s magnificent.”
“The waters around Kalbera Territory are calm and beautiful. Monster attacks were virtually nonexistent…but I never imagined such powerful creatures would swarm here in such numbers.”
The monsters likely came all the way to Kalbera Territory because of the White Water Deity.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for them to ascend here in such organized groups.
“That peninsula marks the boundary of Caldera Waters. Beyond it lies a beautiful Coral Island—we’ll simply view it and return.”
“Wow, Coral Island!”
“Yes, a fantasy game should have things like this!”
“I’m excited!”
The Guild members grew excited at the captain’s words.
Coral Island.
Even when I played First, I had never seen anything like Coral Island, so I felt a bit of anticipation.
The moment we rounded that jutting peninsula.
What appeared before our eyes was not a beautiful coral island.
“The Coral Island…!”
“Is that the Coral Island?”
“It seems more like what used to be Coral Island.”
“Since Coral Island serves as a boundary dividing Kalbera Territory along with the peninsula, there’s an unspoken rule that it must never be touched. Who on earth did this!”
The Coral Island was completely destroyed.
If not for the grotesquely remaining base of the coral, I wouldn’t have even known that was supposed to be Coral Island.
More than the disappointment I and the Guild members felt, the captain was startled and trembled with rage, his hands shaking.
Then.
“Captain!”
The Lookout’s voice came from atop the watchtower.
A Lookout is someone who peers around from the watchtower with a telescope, discovers obstacles and such, and alerts everyone in advance.
The fact that such a Lookout had spoken meant something unexpected had been discovered in the vicinity.
“What is it!”
“P-pirates!”
“Pirates? There’s no way pirates would appear in shallow waters like Caldera Waters!”
Even as the captain denied the report, he quickly raised his telescope to examine what lay ahead.
I too couldn’t contain my curiosity and asked Luke to retrieve a telescope.
[ Captain’s Telescope ]
( Non-tradeable )
Type: Tool
Grade: Unique
A far superior grade telescope compared to what the captain beside me was holding.
Raising that telescope and gazing in the same direction as the captain, what entered my vision was.
‘Pirates.’
A skull emblem painted on tattered sails.
They were truly pirates.
“Why would pirates venture to such shallow waters…!”
The captain was startled upon seeing that emblem.
However, with my superior telescope performance, I could see far more than that.
For instance, the pirate crew members moving busily beneath the sails.
In other words, the pirates themselves.
It was the color of their hair.
‘White.’
Every pirate possessed white hair as if they had all been bleached.
That wasn’t all.
‘Gills.’
A detail visible only through a Unique-grade telescope.
Gills fluttered along the necks of the pirates, half-hidden beneath their jackets.
Fish scales sprouted sporadically across their bodies, and between their fingers grew thin membranes that resembled webbing.
And I knew the specifics of monsters with such forms.
‘Merfolk.’
That didn’t mean these pirates were merfolk.
In Second, when people spoke of merfolk, they didn’t simply mean monsters with fish characteristics—they meant half-human, half-fish beings with actual fish heads.
To explain: merfolk weren’t humans with fish features grafted onto them, but rather fish bodies with limbs sprouting from them.
Then what was the true nature of these creatures?
Deducing it wasn’t particularly difficult.
‘The White Water Deity.’
That white hair, those white scales, those white fins.
All were characteristics that appeared in monsters blessed with the White Water Deity’s power.
I couldn’t fathom why humans would bear the White Water Deity’s power, but these creatures were all channeling it.
“My lord! We must retreat to the Territory at once! Our crew hasn’t even grown accustomed to combat yet—engaging the pirates directly would be far too dangerous!”
The captain cried out.
The pirates visible through the telescope gazed toward us and sneered.
Now that I thought about it, something seemed odd.
Typically, pirates would form groups to encircle enemies for plunder on the seas.
Yet the pirate ship visible through the telescope was only a single vessel.
Just as expected, the moment the helmsman turned the wheel to change course—
Splash!
“Gasp!”
Water sprayed erupted around our ship.
And what emerged were pirate ships identical to what I’d seen through the telescope.
Four pirate ships rose up in an instant, surrounding us completely.
Then the voices of the approaching pirates reached us.
“Kekeke, quite a fine ship you’ve got there.”
“How did you build something this impressive in such a short time?”
“We should bring this to our captain. It would suit our Bloody Sea Pirates perfectly.”
“Hey, Bloody Sea Pirates? We’re the White Sea Pirates now.”
“Ah, right. Then we should paint that ship white too, shouldn’t we?”
“Kekeke, I like that.”
Seeing them up close, I understood it clearly.
These creatures were definitely blessed with the White Water Deity’s power.
“Ah, this can’t be…”
I could see the captain’s bewilderment.
Even for a seasoned captain, one who was merely a village leader rather than a military officer would naturally fear being surrounded by pirates.
Given that, I stepped forward from this moment onward.
“Since a perfectly suitable opponent has appeared, I shall commence naval combat training immediately.”
“Y-Your Lordship! Those are the Bloody Sea Pirates—they’re quite notorious and vicious in these waters! This is far too dangerous!”
“Wouldn’t they need to be at least this formidable to serve as a worthy first opponent for the Black Dragon?”
I spoke with complete sincerity.
After carefully assessing the enemy’s military strength.
There was no reason for me to lose against those pirates.
The magic ship Black Dragon was nothing less than a legendary-class vessel, and I had equipped it not only with exceptional durability but also sufficient weaponry in preparation for battle against the White Water Deity.
Normally, such words would instill fear even in ordinary sailors who weren’t soldiers.
But perhaps it was thanks to my territory’s inhabitants’ loyalty, which had now surpassed 150% and was climbing toward 200%?
“Begin combat!”
“The lord has given the order!”
“With our lord, we can win!”
“The one who single-handedly defeated hundreds and thousands of monsters! Pirates are nothing!”
“Indeed, with our lord’s true nature, there’s no way we can lose…!”
“Everyone, take your positions!”
The crew swiftly moved to their stations, preparing for battle.
Thus, the Black Dragon’s first battle commenced.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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