Chapter 189. The Unknown’s Land (3)
The Razor-Beaked Bird’s neck drooped limply.
Eun-Ho pried its beak open and carefully poured in a Heat Resistance Potion. “Petrify.”
“Kaaaah...”
[The Razor-Beaked Bird expresses gratitude to you, its lifesaver.]
[It etches your face deep into its eyes.]
Even sprawled out like freshly hauled seaweed, it rolled its eyeballs around, as if trying to show thanks.
“In a desert this big, how are we supposed to find a needle? No matter how I look, there’s nothing here,” he said.
Eun-Ho never thought he’d be doing something on that level of absurdity.
“Do you think this Wailing Needle is an actual needle? It’s not the name of a monster, right?” JI-Eun asked.
He shook his head. “It’s been quiet so far, so probably not.”
Ji-Eun let out a long sigh. “I should’ve brought a magnet.”
“Well, who would have known? No one carries a magnet around under normal circumstances.”
“At this rate, we’ll have to search for days together!”
Ji-Eun and Jae-Hyuk scanned the silent desert with helpless expressions. Aside from the occasional sobbing wind, there was no sign of life anywhere.
“It’s crying again.”
“Haah... I feel like crying myself,” Jae-Hyuk said while sweating buckets. Even with Heat Resistance, the blazing air clearly was not easy on him.
It was 1:00 PM in the afternoon, high noon, and the sun’s heat poured down like a relentless rain.
Sympathetic to Jae-Hyuk’s plight, Ji-Eun snapped her fingers and asked, “Should we divide the area and search?”
“Oh! That’s a great idea, Noonim!”
But we need more clues, Eun-Ho thought.
This wasn’t the time to rush in blindly. There was no time limit, after all.
We’re looking for a needle, but...
Ding!
As he wracked his brain around the idea of “finding,” a cheerful chime rang out.
[The Monarch bestows his blessing upon you, the wanderer of the sands.]
It was a message only he could hear.
[Input ‘To find a needle in the desert’ has been completed.]
[Calculating the fastest route to the destination.]
The Monarch’s blessing? Would it be the one that I met at Corrupted Desert? Eun-Ho thought.
As he traced his memories back, one ghost came to mind.
“You’re all dead anyway. I’m doing you a favor by letting you live,” Cho Bok had said, floating in midair.
“Your Majesty! Please survive! You must live on—”
“No Father! Don’t... Stop...”
A mother and daughter said, flickering akin to a broken fluorescent light while being held captive.
“... ra! Don’t... Please!”
Eun-Ho could not tell, but it felt like it was a memory of a man who’d lost his family, wandering aimlessly until death claimed him.
[The Corrupted Monarch apologizes to you, who avenged his enemy on his behalf.]
[He expresses deep gratitude from the depths of his soul.]
[The Monarch of the Desert bestows his blessing upon you.]
Right, I remember now. But I never knew that blessing was something like this, Eun-Ho thought.
[The Desert Pathfinder has been activated!]
“So this is what it was?”
A blue circle appeared beneath his feet. There was no mistaking the alien, unmistakable marker on that endless, featureless desert.
A circle? Eun-Ho thought.
It was about a meter in diameter, neither particularly big nor small. The blue ring followed each step he took.
Noticing the subtle change in gait, Ji-Eun tilted her head. “Uh, Eun-Ho?”
As long as he stood within the blue circle, the sand didn’t give way beneath him. “My feet aren’t sinking.”
[Your movement speed will not decrease in desert terrain.]
That was what it meant.
Movement speed does not decrease, Eun-Ho thought.
Still, something didn’t add up.
[You will not lose your way in the desert.]
The blue circle stayed put even when he stepped to the right or the left. Even when he jumped in place, it remained a perfect circle.
How is this supposed to keep me from getting lost? Eun-Ho thought.
“Hyungnim! Where are you going?”
“C-Commander. We will follow—”
“Wait.” Suspicious, Eun-Ho walked on for a while for fifty meters.
Only then did the blue circle finally change. A sharp, horn-like triangle protruded from its edge.
It’s probably showing direction like an arrow.
“Haaa.”
So the needle is hiding beneath this spot, right?
The wind sobbed and sand rasped against itself. With each breath, his throat grew drier as he tried to collect his thoughts.
“Hyungnim!”
Jae-Hyuk and Ji-Eun, having finished their own discussion, walked over.
“How about we send a message to the team members?”
“On the shared messenger!”
Relying on the team wasn’t a bad idea. However, if the marker was truly guiding him, it wouldn’t be necessary.
“There’s no need.”
When the Pathfinder beneath his feet was a full circle, the target was directly below. When it sprouted a pointed tip like an arrowhead, the target lay diagonally beneath that direction.
“I think I’ve already found it.”
“What?”
In a desert with no landmarks, where even direction was hard to tell, saying he had a hunch sounded unbelievable.
“Ji-Eun, stand here.” He positioned her at the point where the circle sharpened, then instructed Jae-Hyuk and the Skeleton Knights. “Jae-Hyuk, here. Number One here. Number Two over there.”
Then, he took out water from his inventory. “Summon.”
Eun-Ho trickled it along the ground to connect their positions, like marking boundaries on a school field with white chalk. Finally, a massive square took shape.
“Eun-Ho! This is—”
“It’s inside here.”
“Um...”
That meant, it was inside a square roughly the size of a high school athletic field.
“That’s still huge.”
“It really is.”
***
“Apparently, our manager got into a fight with Manager Jung from another team again.”
“What happened this time?”
“He threw a fit, demanding manpower if they were going to keep dumping grunt work on him.”
“Oh...”
There were leaders who were particularly greedy for people. They were the kind who truly lived by the phrase, “If you want work done, start by hiring people.”
Back then, Eun-Ho’d wondered why they went that far. Now, he finally understood. A leader’s strength didn’t come from himself, but from the capabilities of his team. If one wanted to accomplish something big, one had to cultivate each person’s potential and help them break out of their shells.
[The Puppet Master skill has been activated!]
[Would you like to share the effects of the Desert’s Blessing?]
“Yes.” He shared the blessing with the Skeletons and his team members. “Number One, come here.”
“Yes sir.”
Then, he handed one of the Death Worm’s loots to Number One, who wore the bulky helm. “Take this.”
[Death Orb]
- A sphere formed from condensed death consumed by the Death Worm.
- Upon consumption, it grants the power of death.
- However, you will die.
It was an orb bound by an overwhelming restriction: consume it and you die.
“What is this?”
“It grants the power of death,” Eun-Ho said. “I wish I had more than one, but this is all there is.”
Number One’s finger bones trembled as he asked, “Then why are you giving this to me?”
“Well...”
Truth be told, Eun-Ho wanted to upgrade all ten of them. However, since there was only a single orb, giving it to Number One felt right.
“You’re the squad leader. A little commander,” Eun-Ho said.
Number One’s skull rattled, clearly not understanding. “Sorry?”
Therefore, Eun-Ho explained, “If I’m not around, you’re in charge. You’ll have to look after the others in my place. And to do that, don’t you think you need to be stronger?”
Clack!
Number One’s upper and lower jaws snapped together, separating and reconnecting with a sharp sound. “I-I...”
He started to say something, then stopped. Eun-Ho was about to tell him not to feel pressured, that he should just keep doing what he’d been doing.
Ding!
[You have appointed Skeleton Knight Number One as Deputy Commander!]
What?
Confused, Eun-Ho checked the Skeleton’s status. “Status window.”
[Skeleton Knight Number One]
- Affiliation: Skeleton Knight Order
The former Royal Guard had become the Skeleton Knight Order.
- Rank: Squad Leader Trainee→Deputy Commander
Squad Leader Trainee had been replaced with Deputy Commander.
[Congratulations!]
[You have ascended as Knight Commander of the Skeleton Knight Order!]
[Lead the order with gentle charisma!]
A knight order and a knight commander?! Why is this getting so grand all of a sudden?! Eun-Ho thought.
[Skeleton Knight Number One rattles his bones in joy at his promotion!]
[The Skeleton Knight Order pledges eternal loyalty to its new commander!]
Eun-Ho barely managed to swallow the sigh that rose in his throat.
[The Skeleton Knight Order awaits its first glorious mission!]
Eun-Ho thought it was ridiculous, but if it helped morale, so be it. “Let’s go.”
“Sorry?”
“Skeleton Knight Order. This is your first mission.” He could play along. “Clear the desert.”
***
It was an area about the size of a school athletic field. Calling it a field was misleading, though depending on how deep the sand was piled, the workload could vary drastically.
“Hyungnim! Shouldn’t we start by building a base?” Jae-Hyuk asked.
“A base?”
“Yes! I learned that deserts have huge temperature swings, so at night you need to burrow into the sand!”
That was why Jae-Hyuk suggested it. He was assuming this would take several days and planning a place to spend the night.
“It’s good to be prepared, but we should sleep at home,” Eun-Ho said.
“Huh?”
“We’ll finish today and go back.”
“Uh, but...” Ji-Eun, who’d been listening, widened her eyes. “Wouldn’t it take at least two days?”
“She’s right, Hyungnim! We don’t even know how deep it is!”
“It won’t be that deep.”
“Huh?”
“The Wailing Forest was originally one continuous area. And it’s just been divided by a wall.”
“Well, I suppose so.”
The Wailing Forest measured a thousand by thousand. The moment they crossed the wall, the hidden section appeared on the map, confirming it had once been whole. However, who built that wall and why was still a mystery.
“I think this sand is about as deep as the snow that piled up on the other side of the wall.”
“Oh!”
In other words, he was trying to say that they could clear this sand as quickly as they did the snow.
We won’t get the same buff we had for snow removal, but we’ve got another one, Eun-Ho thought.
“Activate Focused Work Hours,” he said while checking the square icons that appeared above his head.
[Focused Work Hours in progress.]
■■■■■▣
“Hyungnim! Should we buy twelve shovels then?”
“No.”
“Huh? Then how are we clearing the sand?”
“There’s something better than shovels.”
“What? What is it?”
“A rake you mean?” Jae-Hyuk asked. He thought of something wide and large, like the scoop on an excavator. “I don’t think the shop sells anything like that.”
“If they don’t sell it, we make it.”
“Pardon?”
Eun-Ho had just the item in mind. “Summon.”
“T-this is...”
Eun-Ho summoned the Hardwood obtained from the Corrupted Forest Guardian.
[Hardwood]
- A dense wood formed after countless years of drying under scorching sunlight and being worn down by cold winds.
- Infused with the forest’s vitality, its hardness has been further enhanced.
- It does not break easily, even under great force.
- Defense Power: 20
“Oh! Isn’t this what was left over after making the shield?”
“Yeah. The end of the log was curved, so we couldn’t use it.”
It had felt like a waste to throw away. Besides, that curved shape was perfect.
“Do it like when we cleared snow. Channel Sword Aura into it,” Eun-Ho said.
Leaving the Skeletons staring wide-eyed, he demonstrated. This was his first time channeling Sword Aura across something this wide.
“Sword Aura.”
Dark blue mist gathered at his fingertips. It flowed out like a smoky thread of paint. He laid that energy across the rough, solid grain of the wood.
Even with multiple layers, the blue glow was lighter than when coating a blade. Although it wouldn’t slice enemies open, it was more than strong enough to scoop heavy, compacted sand like cotton candy.
“Line up!”
“Yes sir!”
They stood like runners waiting for the starting signal.
“Infuse Sword Aura!”
“Yes sir!”
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!
The violet energy erupted from the Skeletons, blooming into ten shadowy flames. Amid the sweltering heat, a cool sensation spread.
“Dig. Begin!”
“Begin!”
They drove the Sword-Aura-coated wooden boards into the sand. Then, they lifted the sand high and threw it behind them.
■■■■▣□
They drove in, lifted it and threw it. It was Eun-Ho’s first time working in a desert. However, compared to snow, sand was far more temperamental. Even after clearing an area, sand immediately poured back in from the sides, which was infuriating. However, if sand collapsed in, they’d just dig wider.
“Wider!”
“Yes sir!”
■■■▣□□
They had dug down to chest height.
“Pile the sand over there! If it collapses, it’ll be a mess!”
“Yes sir!”
The excavated sand piled up just as high.
■■▣□□□
The original ground level rose until they had to stand on tiptoe. Six continued digging, while five hauled sand above ground. Loose grains compacted by Sword Aura formed a mound.
■▣□□□□
By the time his body felt indistinguishable from sand itself and the pile of displaced sand resembled a small mountain, something struck the hardwood.
“Huh?”
[Congratulations!]
[You have completed finding a needle in the desert.]
That’s the needle? Eun-Ho thought.
He’d imagined something like a sewing needle hidden in a handful of sand, but that was not it.
“Hyungnim! The needle is—”
“Yeah. That’s not the kind of needle I was thinking of.”