Yu hurriedly cleared his mind and carefully rolled up the Blueprint.
This was not the time to entertain such thoughts.
He unfolded the Damaged Stream Area Map next.
The leather was rough, its edges badly torn.
Many lines and labels had faded beyond recognition, but the center clearly depicted a winding river, most likely the one before them.
Several points were marked with simple symbols.
Beside them were nearly erased labels that Yu could barely identify as [Shallows] and [River Bend].
Farther downstream, the edge of the map showed a crosshatched area representing soft, muddy terrain.
A blurred label beside it appeared to read [Swamp?].
Upstream, where the river made a sharp turn, someone had painted a large red exclamation mark.
It carried an obvious warning, yet no explanation accompanied it, leaving only an unsettling blank space.
What concerned Yu most was a relatively intact corner in the upper-right section of the map.
A bright red circle had been drawn there, with a clear X at its center.
The symbol immediately made Yu wonder whether it marked buried treasure.
“Treasure…
or danger?”
Yu stared at the circled X and fell into thought.
Although damaged, the map still contained a considerable amount of information.
While Yu focused on analyzing it, a slender pale hand brought a small piece of dense, light-yellow food to his lips.
Deep in thought, Yu instinctively accepted the offered bite.
He opened his mouth and bit down without thinking.
An overwhelming sweetness exploded across his tongue, mixed with the aroma of milk and toasted grain.
It was far sweeter than ordinary candy or pastries.
In peaceful times, Yu would have found it sickening.
However, after so much physical exertion, the concentrated sugar and energy felt like rain after a long drought.
His body rapidly absorbed it, and even his tired mind became sharper.
“Mm!”
Yu finally came back to his senses.
At some point, Marin had opened one of the Emergency Rations.
She was nibbling it in small bites, her eyes narrowed in a satisfied smile.
She had carefully broken off a piece of her own ration and fed it to him.
“Well, Yu-kun?” Marin asked with a smile.
“It is really sweet, right?”
Yu looked at her smiling face and nodded, swallowing the high-energy food after it had completely dissolved in his mouth.
He scooped up a handful of clear river water and rinsed away the lingering sweetness before spitting the water onto the pebbles along the bank.
Although the river looked clean, Yu refused to drink untreated water before boiling it.
Getting a stomach infection in the wilderness would cause far more harm than the momentary thirst was worth.
He turned toward Marin, who was still nibbling her Emergency Ration.
“I am going upstream to investigate the danger zone marked on the map.
Stay here and gather Stone and Clay for me.
You can find the Clay in that muddy patch.”
Yu pointed toward the Moist Clay Deposit they had discovered earlier.
“Okay!
Mission accepted!”
Marin immediately became enthusiastic.
She stuffed the rest of the Emergency Ration into her mouth, making her cheeks bulge like a hamster’s.
She firmly patted her generous chest, looking as though she had been entrusted with a vital mission.
Her golden ponytail swayed with every movement.
Seeing her so motivated put Yu slightly more at ease.
“Remember, if anything dangerous appears, run immediately.”
After giving that final warning, Yu turned upstream and carefully followed the river’s left bank.
The terrain gradually became steeper as he traveled.
The riverbed narrowed, and the current accelerated noticeably.
Water crashed against exposed rocks, producing a constant roar and spraying white foam into the cooler, damper air.
After walking for more than ten minutes, Yu spotted a sharp bend ahead.
A protruding rock wall blocked the river, forcing it into an almost ninety-degree turn and forming a U-shaped curve.
The current became exceptionally violent there, relentlessly battering the inner rock wall and riverbank.
Yu slowed down and raised his guard.
When he reached the corner, the sight before him made him pause.
The current had carved a hollow beneath the inner rock wall, creating a broad pool of deep-green water.
The pool was roughly the size of an ordinary room.
Unlike the raging main current outside the bend, the water within was relatively calm.
Its surface was as smooth as a mirror, without so much as a ripple.
The water was a deep, inky green, completely unlike the crystal-clear shallows downstream.
‘This is it—the danger zone marked on the map.’
Yu carefully examined the seemingly peaceful pool.
‘I wonder why this place was marked as dangerous.
Is it only because of the strong current and the risk of drowning, or is something else hiding here?’
He cautiously approached the water’s edge.
The rocks beneath his feet were covered in slick moss.
Yu crouched and peered into the pool.
What he saw made his heart tighten.
The water itself was extremely clear, yet visibility was terrifyingly poor.
Light seemed to vanish after penetrating only a few feet beneath the surface.
Below lay nothing but bottomless darkness, like a vertical shaft leading into an underground abyss.
Something unknown and unsettling lurked beneath the tranquil surface.
The Eye of Omniscience promptly revealed a new label.
[Shadowy Deep Pool]
[Description: A natural deep pool formed where the river eroded the rock wall.
Its depth far exceeds that of ordinary river sections.]
[Environment: The underwater terrain is complex, and light has difficulty penetrating the depths.]
[Resources: Nutrients and sediment from upstream commonly gather here.
It may contain special Rare resources or unusual aquatic creatures.]
[Warning: Unknown dangers may also be lurking below.
Exercise caution and prepare underwater lighting and an air supply before exploring.]
“Filled with unknowns…
possible treasure and possible danger…”
Yu quietly repeated the important parts of the description. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
His curiosity was instantly aroused.
‘Should I go down and look?
There might be another treasure chest.’
The useful rewards from the Bronze Treasure Chest had awakened his urge to gamble.
Yu gritted his teeth.
‘I am doing it!’
The earlier he acquired valuable items, the greater their effect on his future development would be.
“Constitution…”
Yu remembered the forty points of Constitution available on his status panel.
Strength affected logging, while Dexterity influenced his ability to catch fish and his attack speed.
Constitution might similarly affect underwater activity.
It could extend the time he could hold his breath while improving his resistance to water pressure and cold.
Yu made his decision.
Opportunities often came with danger.
In a world where threats lurked everywhere, excessive caution could make him miss the chance to get ahead.
He looked around and confirmed that nothing else was moving nearby.
Walking behind a flat rock beside the shore, Yu began removing his clothes.
Before long, only a pair of dark boxer briefs remained.
As Yu removed his shirt and prepared to fold it, his gaze happened to pass over his arms, chest, and stomach.
His movements abruptly stopped.
His arms looked much thicker than he remembered.
His upper arms bulged slightly, while his chest and abdomen had become noticeably firmer.
He did not possess sharply defined muscles, but his body was no longer flat.
It clearly showed signs of intense training.
“When did I get this muscular?”
Yu was surprised.
He had never been particularly frail, but he certainly had not possessed a body like this before.
Then he remembered the previous day’s extreme logging.
He had spent hours swinging a heavy axe while repeatedly switching between Strength and Constitution.
The strain placed upon his body had likely surpassed anything an ordinary gym session could achieve.
His maximum output at thirty-one Strength, combined with the extraordinary recovery granted by forty Constitution, had worked together to transform his body overnight.
Under those conditions, such a dramatic physical change no longer seemed impossible.
“Whatever.
It is a good thing.”
Yu shook his head and stopped worrying about it.
In this world, every bit of physical strength increased his chances of survival.
Having more muscle could only benefit him.
No wonder it had been so easy to carry Marin around and toss her up and down last night.
It turned out his muscles had finally developed.
‘Tonight, I’ll use that position again…’
…
It encourages me!