Splash—!
Yu’s head finally broke through the surface.
Air rushed into his lungs as he coughed violently and flailed toward the bank.
Grabbing the slick rocks with both hands, he dragged his heavy body out of the water.
“Cough…
Hah…
Hah…”
The moment he reached land, Yu collapsed onto the ground.
He lay there for two or three full minutes before his pounding heart finally began to calm.
Turning his head, he stared at the surface of the pool with lingering fear.
“That was close…
It seemed unwilling to enter the illuminated area at the end.”
Yu recalled how the Bigmouth Catfish King had lingered at the edge of the pillar of light before abandoning its pursuit.
Perhaps its [Abyssal Lurker] trait made it favor absolute darkness, while bright light either repelled or weakened it.
That had been a blessing amid disaster.
Otherwise, Yu might not have escaped alive.
He pushed his weakened body upright and wrung the water from his dripping hair.
Although he had failed to retrieve the Silver Treasure Chest and nearly lost his life, the dive had not been completely fruitless.
He had personally witnessed a LV.10 elite monster and used the Eye of Omniscience to record its complete status.
It possessed 666 HP, 66 Attack, 99 Defense, and three troublesome traits.
“A LV.10 fish king has 66 Attack.
Then how much Attack might the LV.5 Earthshaker Bear—the boss of the Beast Tide—possess?”
Yu quickly began calculating.
Monster attributes could not be converted through level alone.
Its Defense was especially difficult to estimate because [Steel Bones, Iron Stomach] provided an additional bonus.
However, its Attack might still serve as an important reference point.
If level and base Attack shared some positive correlation, then a conservative estimate would place the LV.5 Earthshaker Bear between thirty and forty Attack.
Its value could be even higher, but it probably would not exceed the fish king’s sixty-six by much.
After all, the Bigmouth Catfish King was LV.10 and belonged to a specialized variant.
Yu also lacked enough combat data to determine how his Strength translated into actual Attack.
He silently committed that question to memory for future testing.
He looked down at himself.
His soaked boxer briefs clung uncomfortably to his body, carrying the chill of the pool.
Yu simply removed them and wrung them out until they stopped dripping before putting them back on.
They were still cold and damp, but at least they felt better than before.
He then quickly put on the dry clothes he had left on the rock.
“The Silver Treasure Chest and a LV.10 fish king…
Neither is something I can handle yet.”
Yu took out the [Damaged Stream Area Map] and examined the red exclamation mark again.
He had now confirmed that the location contained a dangerous LV.10 Bigmouth Catfish King.
What could that mark represent?
Anything deliberately marked on a map was unlikely to be meaningless.
Comparing the river’s course with the X’s rough position, Yu decided to continue exploring upstream.
Since the Shadowy Deep Pool was located at the upstream bend, the circled X was likely somewhere even farther upriver.
After putting away the map, Yu resumed his journey.
Seven or eight minutes later, the river’s slope grew steeper, and the roar of the water became increasingly loud.
Something ahead appeared to cut off the riverbank as the terrain suddenly rose.
Yu quickened his pace.
A short natural cliff stood before him.
The river formed a Miniature Waterfall there, dropping roughly two meters into the pool below.
The current was not especially violent, but it struck the lower pool with a constant rush, throwing white spray into the air.
The cliff consisted of gray-brown rock.
Its wet surface was slick and covered in moss.
Yu focused on the Gravel Bank below the cliff, close to the river’s edge.
Comparing the surrounding terrain with the circled X on the map, the marked location seemed to lie somewhere beneath the Gravel Bank at the foot of the cliff.
“Under here?”
Yu approached, crouched down, and brushed aside the surface layer of stones and soil.
The ground was damp and mixed with fine gravel.
Beneath it lay a much harder layer of earth.
Yu scraped at it with his fingers, but only left a few shallow marks.
“I cannot dig through this barehanded.
It is too hard.”
Yu frowned.
If something truly was buried below, retrieving it would not be easy.
He needed a proper digging tool.
The [Crafting] interface immediately came to mind.
While browsing its options earlier, he had seen a [Flint Shovel].
“Looks like I need to gather the materials and make a few shovels before coming back.”
Having reached a decision, Yu stood and looked toward the top of the cliff.
A height of two meters was not impossible to overcome, but the cliff face was slippery and lacked suitable handholds.
Climbing recklessly could easily result in an injury.
Furthermore, the map contained no information about the region above the cliff.
It was completely blank, representing the absolute unknown.
“The cliff has blocked the way for now…”
Yu weighed his options.
His current priorities were gathering Wood and food, reinforcing the Shelter, and preparing for the Beast Tide.
Exploring the unknown region above the cliff could wait.
Whatever lay beneath the circled X required proper tools to excavate, so he would not be able to retrieve it quickly anyway.
Yu quickly organized his next steps.
He stopped lingering and followed the river downstream at a brisk pace.
By the time he returned to the riverbank where they had discovered the Bronze Treasure Chest, noon had already passed, and the sun was beginning to tilt westward.
From a distance, Yu spotted a golden-haired figure crouching beside the muddy Moist Clay Deposit with her back toward him.
She appeared to be struggling with something.
Her skirt was covered in mud spots, while splashes of muck stained her pale legs and arms.
Several streaks of Clay even marked her face.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Marin abruptly stopped working and spun around warily.
The moment she recognized Yu, a delighted smile bloomed across her face.
“Yu-kun!
You are back!”
She immediately abandoned her work and ran toward him.
Yu watched her approach, his gaze falling upon the mud covering her cheeks and the tip of her nose.
“Yeah, I am back.
How much did you collect?”
“Over there!”
Marin immediately turned and pointed toward a cleared area beside the riverbank, sounding rather proud of herself.
“Look!
I found seventeen Stones, and they are all about the same size!
As for Clay…
I dug up twelve portions—no, thirteen!
One of them did not come out very well, so it is a little loose…”
Yu followed her finger.
A neat pile of fist-sized Stones rested on the bank.
Beside it was a heap of dark-brown Clay, separated into portions using large leaves and wet mud.
She had gathered far more than the ten portions he required.
While Yu had been exploring upstream, Marin had not slacked off.
She had worked diligently and even exceeded her assignment.
“You did well.”
Yu nodded and gave her an approving evaluation.
Marin’s eyes immediately curved into crescents at the praise.
Even the remaining streaks of mud across her face somehow made her look more endearing.
She brushed the dirt from her hands and grinned.
“Of course!
I worked really hard!”
…
It encourages me!