Only My Skill Tooltip Is Strange

48 – Third Floor, Coordinate Dungeon.

I rowed.

Back and forth, pushing the seawater away.

Splash! Splash!

The waves crash violently against the raft.

If it weren’t for the ice reinforcement, my clothes would be soaking wet.

“Huff. Huff!”

My arms are tingling.

It feels like I’ve done an intense strength workout.

But I didn’t stop.

‘This isn’t an ordinary raft.’

You could say it’s worth every option.

I’ve never ridden a raft in my life.

But I know it’s impossible to achieve this speed with just a raft.

I remember seeing a challenge to cross the Han River on a variety show.

The raft the celebrity rode and my raft are on a different level.

‘At this rate, I could even beat a boat.’

I wondered what would happen if I increased the speed here.

I got curious.

[Survival Instinct]

I activated the skill.

As my strength increased, so did the power to push through the seawater.

The speed gained momentum.

“Hoo. That was quick.”

I caught the current.

I could smoothly reach the second island.

In the distance, I see Yuki standing on the first island.

She, a tiny dot, celebrates my safe arrival by blooming ice flowers above her head.

Swish-.

It’s as splendid as fireworks.

“…What.”

But it didn’t completely capture my attention.

Because there was an island I’d never seen before next to the first island where I had stayed.

I was as shocked as when I discovered the second island.

‘…In terms of distance, that side is closer than this side. But why didn’t I know?’

Even Yuki, who took a deliberate round this morning, didn’t know about the existence of that island.

Still seemed unaware.

‘Is it completely invisible?’

It might be that the next island becomes visible only after achieving certain conditions.

Just like how I didn’t discover this island yesterday.

“…….”

I stepped onto the second island, but there was nothing.

I thought there would be a message from the Tower of Struggle or something.

It was very quiet.

It seemed that arriving first didn’t mean getting a reward.

Disappointment.

‘Was I too hasty without being sure?’

Knowing that there was no need to move as if being chased, the result itself wasn’t bad.

I looked around the island.

I first checked if there were any differences from the first island.

‘It’s slightly bigger.’

That was the first difference I felt while walking along the sandy beach.

‘The second is….’

The types of natural objects that made up the island were different.

Overall, it was still an uninhabited island, but there was something I hadn’t seen on the first island.

‘Glowing stones?’

Stones emitting light were embedded in the large rock.

It was an unusual sight at a glance, so my gaze naturally focused on it.

‘What should I do with this….’

While I was contemplating.

I felt a presence nearby.

─ Another day of labor begins.

─ Just a little more mining and it’s done. We should be able to leave soon, right?

The sound of people talking.

I could understand the conversation, but it wasn’t a language I knew.

This meant they were likely not Earthlings.

Should I hide?

Looking around, there wasn’t really a place to hide.

‘Pretend to be a martial artist.’

I had lost confidence in my martial artist cosplay after being caught by the sharp-eyed Yuki.

But what else could I do?

If I revealed myself without hiding that I was an Earthling and they looked down on me?

I might get so upset that I would lash out without thinking.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat and revealed my presence.

The group was startled and looked at me.

“Who, who is this guy!”

There were not just one or two.

There were five of them.

I quickly identified their species.

‘Two orcs, two half-human half-beasts, and one elf.’

Considering the tendencies of the species I had encountered so far.

The ones I had to be most cautious of were the orcs.

Orcs often had particularly belligerent personalities.

They would charge without worrying about their own safety, whether they lived or died.

‘Grash from the second floor was an unusual one.’

A standoff situation by chance.

‘Miners?’

They all held pickaxes.

Not exactly weapons suited for combat.

They might have absurd abilities like the golden dagger.

But on the surface, their pickaxes seemed ordinary.

“……”

I quickly realized that their goal was the shining stone.

The eyes that glanced sideways were directed not at me, but at the rock.

“…It definitely wasn’t here yesterday.”

A whisper.

Perhaps due to the orc’s oral structure, the whisper was audible even here.

‘Should I pretend to know? Or not?’

Those who had come up to the third floor earlier than me.

The probability that they have the information I need is very high.

And I am in a state where I don’t know what the shining stone is used for.

“Do you need this stone?”

“……”

One word was enough.

Their expressions changed drastically.

A sigh of relief?

“You haven’t been on the third floor for long, have you?”

“How many days has it been?”

“Discovering the next island and crossing the sea means roughly two days have passed, right?”

Orcs, despite their ferocious appearance, were quite talkative.

Could they be peculiar ones like Grash?

“Since you’re not our competitor, we’ll tell you specially.”

“……”

The orc babbled on.

So much useful information poured out that it could be called a summary of the third floor.

From noble mtl dot com

“Didn’t you get the map from the first island?”

“This?”

The orc referred to the first island as number one.

The next island as number two.

“The island marked with an X is the final destination. It’s number ten. To get there, you need a ship.”

“Well, that’s obvious.”

“A decent ship won’t do. The raft you came on, for example. Such a shabby ship won’t even get you near number five.”

The orc spoke as if he knew everything about what I had come on.

‘Maybe he crossed over in a similar way.’

My head was spinning.

‘The glowing stone embedded in this rock is a magic stone. A power source, right?’

A raft had its limits.

A bigger, sturdier ship was needed.

The trial on the third floor was to find the treasure.

It was bound to be a rough process, and it was a bit too much to finish it with just a raft.

“What do you mean by saying he’s not a competitor?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. We’re already heading towards the end of this year’s treasure hunt. There’s a huge difference between us and a player who just came up.”

Should I think of it as a different season?

“So, could you step aside?”

The elf spoke bluntly and approached the rock.

Contrary to the reputation of their beautiful race, the elf’s face was dark and dirty.

The two orcs, watching the elf, followed behind.

“Please understand. We haven’t slept properly for the past few days, searching for a way to break through the currents.”

“You’ll understand if you wander the sea on the third floor, it’s quite a tedious task.”

The two half-beasts approached and apologized to me.

The Lunacolis I saw on the second floor were wolves, but these had the heads of cows.

They felt different from the fierce, snarling Lunacolis.

‘Is it because there are no beastmen?’

If there were beastmen here, they might have reacted similarly to the Lunacolis.

‘It’s not something I should worry about.’

After all, Earth had slavery until the early 20th century, so what.

Bang-! Bang-!

“Do you have any questions?”

Whether we were talking or not, the elf started pickaxing.

Magic stones fell with a thud.

Watching that scene, I asked about the question I had earlier.

“The island appeared and disappeared.”

“Island number 1?”

“Next to the island I was on, there was an island I had never seen before.”

Come to think of it, it didn’t seem much different from the one Yuki was on.

“The first island isn’t the only one you stayed on. There are many islands. When a player sets the coordinates and starts sailing from island to island, that’s when the islands appear. Or when certain conditions are met.”

“……”

“It’s a matter of perspective. A person standing at the top of a mountain can see someone climbing up, but the climber cannot see the person at the top. It’s the same principle for sailing on the third floor.”

“There are many islands?”

“The second island, the third island, it’s the same. There are not just one or two. Only the tenth island exists alone.”

The half-human, half-beast resolved my question.

‘Since the conditions to cross over were met, the second island has been revealed.’

To cross over to the third island, you must meet the conditions on the second island.

“Was that helpful?”

“…One more thing.”

“Sure. What are you curious about?”

“The conditions to see the third island.”

“You just need to find the coordinates.”

Each island is said to have a dungeon.

In that dungeon, you acquire the coordinates for the next island and strengthen your ship to move forward.

“Thank you.”

“I hope it was helpful.”

The half-human, half-beast smiled satisfactorily and walked towards the rock with a pickaxe.

The elf tapped his forearm and frowned.

It was a nuance of why he was slacking off and only coming now.

‘A very grumpy elf.’

Still, since I received help, I have no complaints.

As long as they don’t ignore me, I don’t mind.

I gave them the magic stone rock and stepped aside.

‘I don’t have a pickaxe anyway.’

I thought it was possible to cut down trees with a golden dagger, but mining ore was a bit different.

‘I should visit the dungeon first.’