After going into the sea, I met the witch.

As Ryan watched the human-bodied eagle-headed statue whose red light had completely dimmed, a smile appeared on his lips.

Including the previous attack that severely injured the silverback shark, the human-bodied eagle-headed statue launched a total of three attacks, which should be their limit.

"Come on, we can go in now."

Ryan jumped back onto the silverback shark, only to be met with its "resentful" gaze.

Ryan pretended not to see it.

Despite the complaints, the silverback sharks continued swimming forward obediently.

Ryan's expression was solemn.

Although he deduced that the human-bodied eagle-headed statue was no longer capable of launching red ray attacks, it was still just speculation. He was prepared to activate [Sanctuary] at any time to defend against attacks.

The silverback sharks swam forward and soon came within range of the human-bodied eagle-headed statue. This time, their eyes only flashed red light slightly, but they did not launch another attack.

Seeing this, Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, and the silverback shark beneath him also seemed quite delighted.

After swimming several dozen meters further along the waterway, the silverback shark stopped.

It wasn't that it didn't want to swim, but the waterway was already quite shallow here, and if it went any further, it would run aground.

Ryan looked ahead and saw a gradually rising ground.

"Leave it to me next."

"If I find anything that suits you, I will bring it to you."

Ryan patted the silverback shark's fin, then jumped down and continued deeper into the water.

Silverback Shark was somewhat unwilling, but there was nothing it could do. It could only watch helplessly as Ryan's figure gradually disappeared.

……

Holding a longsword, Ryan advanced cautiously.

Thanks to the faint light emitted by the algae on the stone wall, his vision was quite clear.

To his surprise, he did not encounter any further dangers along the way.

Finally, Ryan arrived at the entrance to a cave.

Looking at everything inside, a look of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

Stone table, stone chairs, stone shelves, stone bed, and even the stone pot placed in the middle...

Was this place ever inhabited?

Shocked, Ryan walked to the stone table and his gaze fell on a thick notebook with a parchment cover.

There was only this one item on the entire desktop, neatly arranged. Clearly, it was something the laptop's owner had deliberately left behind before leaving.

Curious, Ryan opened the notebook.

Ryan couldn't understand the text recorded above at all, and a large part of it was deliberately smeared.

Fortunately, the gray text appeared before Ryan's eyes at that moment.

[Summer, June 9th: ...After countless hardships and great sacrifices, we have finally arrived at this mysterious island where the legendary "Ancient Dragons" were last said to have disappeared...]

Chapter 13 Relic Azure Medal

[Summer, June 9th: ...After countless hardships and great sacrifices, we have finally arrived at this mysterious island where the legendary "Ancient Dragons" were last said to have disappeared...]

"He" is the beginning of all calamities, and also the death knell that carries on destiny...

[...silver streams flowed like waves, crimson blossoms shrouded in mist; beneath the solitary, lofty shadow, all living beings prostrated themselves...]

Following the trail, we've arrived here, solely to uncover the truth...

The record ended there, with large areas of blacked-out text. Ryan had to flip to the last few pages before the visible text reappeared.

The once-in-a-decade, three-day "Red Sun" is approaching, the only chance to enter the "Central Area" sealed off by the Sea of ​​Fog. However, we must still be wary of the monsters affected by the "Red Sun," which have become exceptionally ferocious and violent.

These monsters affected by the "Red Sun" develop red markings, light spots, or unique organs on their bodies; the "Special Beings" among them possess terrifying power.

Time is running out; we must set off.

[This journey is fraught with uncertainty, so I left this diary. Those who come after me, whether you are a hunter in a hunting party or not, please remember: never enter the "central area" without absolute certainty.]

[At the end of the diary, there is a hand-drawn map. Also, there are some other useful items I couldn't bring with me, left at this campsite. Feel free to take them if you need them.]

If possible, please send the map back to the Hunter's Guild headquarters in the New World.

[Seventh Reconnaissance Hunting Squad, Vice Commander, Loik Froome, to remain.]

Ryan was shaken.

The information described in the diary helped him uncover a corner of the mystery surrounding this isolated island.

The last place where the ancient dragons, addressed with the honorific "He," disappeared... Crimson Sun... a faction in this world called "The Hunting Party"... monsters that have become ferocious and violent under the influence of Crimson Sun...

Especially the last point, the monster affected by the "Red Sun" reminded Ryan of the ferocious posture of the beach crab, with its pale red veins covering its entire shell, which matched the description in a striking way.

However, the diary records that red patterns will appear on the body surface, which is not the case for beach crabs in their normal state. They only show this when they enter a desperate frenzy. In other words, although the beach crabs are currently affected by the so-called "Red Sun", the degree of influence is not very deep.

Therefore, it can be inferred that at this point in time, "Red Day" is approaching, but has not yet arrived.

"call……"

With a sigh of relief, Ryan turned to the last page of the diary in his hand and saw the map hand-drawn by the diary's owner, "Loyke Froome, Vice Commander of the Seventh Reconnaissance Hunting Group".

Upon seeing this, he immediately frowned.

Sloppy and rough.

A so-called "map" is simply a pattern composed of simple lines and labels.

With the help of the gray text, Ryan managed to make out the map—the island was oval in shape, shorter in the north-south direction and longer in the east-west direction, which resulted in longer coastlines in the south and north.

This isolated island is divided into four areas, from the outside in: the outer area, the forest area, the inner area, and the central area.

As for the distribution of monsters in each area, it is not marked on the map. This is probably because they are worried that with the passage of time, past judgments will affect the plans of today's explorers, so they simply do not write them down.

However, a line of text was marked in the lower right corner of the map, informing those viewing the map that the deeper one goes, the more terrifying the monsters become, and one must be careful.

The diary was small. After closing it, Ryan carefully put it away. Then, he turned his gaze to the stone shelf next to him.

There, gray text is jumping around.

Speaking of which, his eyes, which can see descriptions of spiritual things, are incredibly convenient for treasure hunting. No matter how the treasure is hidden, as long as it enters within ten meters of his body, gray characters will appear on the edge of the location.

"Presumably, this is what the diary's author meant by 'something that can't be taken with you but is still somewhat useful'."

Ryan thought to himself.

He walked up to the stone shelf and reached out to pick it up.

It was a medal covered in dust.

After wiping away the dust left by time, what came into Ryan's eyes was a deep blue radiance, profound and restrained.

-

[Relic - Azure Medal (Slumber)]: A medal that only those who have made outstanding contributions to the hunting party are qualified to receive. It contains magical power and can increase the wearer's physical attributes by one level (level 10 and below). It manifests in the wearer's physical body and requires 500 Spirit Points. —Relic: A sacred object imbued with intense lingering thoughts. After fulfilling those thoughts, the relic will be awakened and take on its complete form.

Clue to the Lost Relic: Azure Star, only the brave can obtain it. — The former owner of this artifact hoped that this badge would fall into the hands of a powerful hunter, who could hunt down a "Special Species," prove their strength, and thus complete the lost relic and awaken it.

-

Looking at the gray text displayed in front of him, Ryan's eyes were filled with surprise.

A sacred relic?!

Its effect is to improve physical fitness by one level?

Ryan was well aware of the significant differences in physical abilities between each level.

A 30% improvement in all-round physical fitness results in a strength increase that is not just 30%, but at least double!

And this is just a "sleeping" relic.

He couldn't imagine how powerful the relic would be after it was "awakened".

Carefully placing the [Sacred Relic - Azure Medal] on the lining of his leather armor, Ryan instantly felt a surge of warmth coursing through his body, making him even stronger.

Strength, physique, speed... and so on are all getting stronger.

At this moment, with the help of the [Sacred Relic - Azure Medal], he has already achieved level 3 physical attributes at only level 2.

The improvement is considerable.

The immense power even gave Ryan the feeling that he could defeat the berserk beach crab by directly confronting it with his strength.

"call……"

Taking a deep breath to calm his agitated emotions, Ryan thought of a way to fulfill his last wish and awaken the sacred relic: to defeat a "special species" alone.

The term "special species" refers to a unique individual among monsters, or a king among them.

"That giant beach crab with a carapace resembling a dragon's head should meet the criteria, right?"

Ryan thought.

Of course, he's not overestimating himself by attempting to conquer the "Dragon Shell Crab" yet.

The "Dragon Shell Crab" is several times the size of the beach crab, and as a "special species," it must possess abilities that the beach crab does not have.

It would be safer to level up a bit more before attempting to defeat the "Dragon Crab".

Inside the cave, Ryan turned his gaze to another object on the stone shelf with gray characters appearing next to it.

This object also possesses spirituality.

Chapter 14 Dead by Daylight

There are only two things in the grotto that possess spiritual power.

One is the [Relic - Azure Medal], and the other is five deep red crystals placed together on the stone shelf.

As Ryan's gaze fell upon it, the gray-text description came into clear view.

【Crimson Crystal: A special crystal extracted and concentrated from the bodies of monsters affected by the "Crimson Sun," used as an ingredient in potions. Successful ingestion by a monster will result in "Crimson Transformation," while failure will lead to immediate death. Due to its unique processing, monsters that successfully undergo "Crimson Transformation" using this crystal are not controlled by any unknown entity and retain their sanity. Manifesting it at the user's location requires 50 Spirit Points per crystal.】