Accompanied by flickering blue luminescence, Kurose Akira and Ivsa arrived at the location of the special quest.
The site lay on a pale, ashen shoal, where an ancient ship—weathered by countless years—rested in silence.The ship's midsection had clearly been smashed violently against hidden reefs, leaving behind a gaping, horrifying hole. The sails were torn to shreds, the mast snapped cleanly in half. The entire vessel looked like a tragic painting, silently recounting the calamity it had suffered.
As for the crew…
Kurose Akira's gaze grew heavy as he noticed several small skeletons wandering around the shipwreck on the shoal. They were undoubtedly once sailors aboard this ancient vessel. Now, all that remained of them were these scattered bones, drifting aimlessly across the sand.
"If Sister Carrie were here," Ivsa murmured softly as she gazed at the skeletons in the distance, "she would surely purify them all and send them to heaven."
"Sister Carrie?" Kurose Akira asked.
"She is one of the two most respected elder nuns in our church," Ivsa explained. "She was the one who brought me back to the church when I was still an infant."
"Then she must be a very kind person."
"Yes," Ivsa replied quietly, "but sometimes… excessive kindness can turn a person into a puppet, easily manipulated by others."
As she spoke, a trace of cold light flickered through her beautiful eyes.
It seemed certain fixed memories—or perhaps unresolved matters—had stirred her emotions.
Kurose Akira didn't respond to that.
He had no intention of interfering with Ivsa's own judgment. He merely said calmly,"Let's go. We need to finish the task before nightfall."
Ivsa's gaze sharpened for a brief moment.
But soon, she relaxed again, a faint, composed smile returning to her lips."Mm."
As they approached the wreck, the skeletons wandering the shoal began closing in on them.
However, as undead units, they were deeply fearful of Ivsa's holy magic. Before they could even draw near, golden light bloomed in her palm.
In an instant, the approaching undead were purified, collapsing into true piles of lifeless bones.
Thus, without Kurose Akira having to lift a finger, they arrived at the door to the captain's cabin.
Before pushing it open, he deliberately scanned the surroundings to ensure there were no hidden dangers. Then, with utmost caution, he slowly opened the door.
"An empty room?"
Inside the captain's cabin, it was completely bare—except for a single treasure chest sitting quietly in the corner.
This immediately struck Kurose Akira as strange. Although there were indeed some skeletons wandering outside the wreck, they were only level 1 and posed minimal threat.
Yet the recommended level for this quest was level 4.
That clearly didn't add up.
Then…
Kurose Akira's gaze locked tightly onto the treasure chest. He silently reasoned that if there truly was danger here, it most likely originated from that very chest.
"Ivsa, use a holy spell on the chest."
"Alright."
Ivsa immediately began chanting and released holy magic toward the chest.
Golden light poured down upon it. At first, nothing happened. But as the holy radiance gradually enveloped the entire chest, the monster hidden within could no longer withstand the erosion of sacred light.
"Aaaargh!"
The chest mimic—disguised as treasure—burst open, revealing a gaping maw as it lunged toward Ivsa.
"A monster!?" Ivsa's brows knit together.
She finally understood why Kurose Akira had asked her to use holy magic on a treasure chest—it was to force it to reveal its true form.
Facing the mimic as it charged, Ivsa reacted instantly, chanting another spell.
A golden holy sword condensed in midair and then crashed down with explosive force, piercing straight through the chest mimic.
The creature bounced weakly on the ground a few times before falling silent.
Kurose Akira drew his silver longsword and lightly prodded the mimic with the tip. Only after confirming it was truly dead did he begin looting the body.
The inside of the chest mimic was packed with pinkish flesh, coated in slick, viscous fluid. The sensation was bizarre and unsettling.
But for the sake of the quest objective, Kurose Akira still reached inside.
After rummaging around within the mimic's body, he finally pulled out a letter. The envelope bore the crest of a knightly family—most likely the emblem of the family to which the knight Loshia belonged.
In addition, he also found an earring.
However, it was only a common item, so he didn't give it much thought.
"So… that's it? Quest complete already? That was pretty simple,"Kurose Akira muttered to himself.
He was just about to explore the wreck further to see if there was anything hidden—
When suddenly, the entire ship began to shake violently!
"What the hell—?"
Kurose Akira frowned sharply and looked upward.
To his shock, a massive octopus tentacle had attached itself to the ship's hull and was slowly dragging the wreck toward the deep sea.
[Giant Deep-Sea Octopus (Rare)]Level: 40 (1500/20000)Race: Deep-Sea CreatureStrength: 500 / Agility: 200 / Mana: 400 / Constitution: 800Growth: 6 (Gain +6 to all attributes per level)Skills: (Expand)
"A level 40 monster!?"
Kurose Akira's expression darkened as he shouted to Ivsa,"We need to get out of here—now!"
"We won't make it on foot!" Ivsa quickly assessed the situation. She knew full well that escaping the wreck with just their legs was impossible.
She spread her wings at once, scooped Kurose Akira into her arms, and flew away from the sinking ship.
"That was close… we almost ended up underwater,"Kurose Akira exhaled deeply as he looked down from Ivsa's embrace, watching the ship get dragged into the depths by the giant octopus.
From the skeletons still struggling weakly on the surface, it seemed the octopus wasn't particularly interested in them. Its sole target was the ship itself.
In other words—even if they had been dragged underwater, escaping the octopus's attack would have still been possible.
That did line up with the quest's recommended level of 4.
"I never expected a legendary-class monster to appear here," Ivsa said softly. "Thankfully, it didn't take an interest in us."
"What a waste," Kurose Akira mused. "There might've been something valuable in that ship—something important enough for that monster to drag it into the sea."
"Perhaps," Ivsa replied with a calm smile.
Yet her attention wasn't on the sinking wreck at all.
Instead, her gaze lingered on the man in her arms, her eyes shimmering with faint, pink, heart-shaped light.
Only after Kurose Akira reminded her did she flap her wings and return to land.
Once the ship had completely vanished beneath the waves, Kurose Akira finally turned away. Activating the teleportation array, he returned to the guild.
The first thing he did upon returning was submit the quest item.
That letter from home would be delivered—through special means—into the hands of the knight named Loshia.
Completion notifications appeared one after another.
[Silver Coins +5, EXP +500!][You have obtained 1 free trait refresh opportunity.][Congratulations! You have completed the special quest!][Your player evaluation has increased to F+, and you have obtained an Adventurer Recruitment Scroll (White)!]
As a hollow, ethereal sound echoed, a white recruitment scroll silently fell onto the bar counter.
The instant Kurose Akira picked it up, several trait prompts flooded into his vision once again.
But this time, something was different.
One of the traits was glowing with an unusual radiance, irresistibly drawing his attention!
[White Rose and the Oathbound Knight](Rare Trait! Combining with this trait guarantees the recruitment of an Epic-quality adventurer!)(Trigger Condition: Oath Earring…)