by Yoo Seong
An old man approached with a bittersweet expression. He was the highest ranked prisoner in the Royal Guards after Ark called Mellin. Mellin looked at Hegel and said.
“Of course I’m hoping that Ark returned. I didn’t properly realize it when he was with us at the barracks but Ark is the centre of our group. But I realized it after Ark was gone. His presence wasn’t that simple. He gave us both comfort and hope. All the members are sincerely wishing that he returns.”
Mellin sighed and shook his head.
“But Ark has already been gone for 12 days. Even if it was different from Berad’s testimony and he somehow managed to survive, it has been 12 days. I’ve been here for 1 year. I’ve seen a lot of situations. I’ve seen many people who gave up resurrecting and chose death. Maybe Ark……”
“That is impossible!”
Someone interrupted Mellin’s words. Mellin and Hegel flinched and looked at the group around him. They were Berad, Ralph, Kalliben and the other members of the Royal Guards. The Royal Guards looked different from their appearances 12 days ago. They didn’t have to worry about food when Ark was there. However, the circumstances changed after Ark disappeared. Their food supply relied on Ark so there were serious problems after he was gone. Valencia also began to disturb the Royal Guards when they were finding the Iridium. The food situation of the Royal Guards worsened and they died many times of starvation during the last 12 days. Therefore the Royal Guards returned to their previous zombie like appearances…..
“Hyung-nim wouldn’t desert us!”
Berad nodded at Ralph’s head and said.
“Yes, I still remember the last time I saw Hyung-nim. Hyung-nim held the body of the enemy and threw himself into the crevasse! He has the fortitude of a warrior! Hyung-nim wouldn’t abandon us when we’re like blood brothers to him!”
“He might have some difficulties but Hyung-nim will definitely return!”
“Hyung-nim even laughed and took a bullet for me on the battlefield! I believe in Hyung-nim!”
“Me too! One month. No, I will even wait 1 year for Hyung-nim!”
“Y-you guys…..”
Mellin looked at them with shocked eyes. Then he shed tears from his wrinkled eyes and said.
“Ugh! Y-yes. Yes. My heart feels the same as well. It is like you said. It is impossible for Ark to desert us.He will return no matter what. I believe it. Now I need to gather my courage. I’ll wait for him without losing hope. We are Ark’s Royal Guards.”
“Oh, Grandfather Mellin!”
The Royal Guards clamoured as they ran up to Mellin. They embraced each other and shed a fountain of tears.
Buuuuong!
Suddenly the Fairy in the central square vibrated and emitted a light.
“F-Fairy!”
“There hasn’t been any battles for the last few days so why is the Fairy activating? Perhaps?”
“Hyung-nim! Hyung-nim has returned!”
The Royal Guards looked at the Fairy with expectant eyes after hearing Hegel’s words. Meanwhile the light from the Fairy produced the shape of a person like a 3D printer. The biological tissue overlapped over molecules and formed a person!
“……Cupa?”
Cupa was a member of the Royal Guards. The expectant looks on the members’ faces turned disappointed.
“You……did you starve and die again?”
“I was hungry so I sat down and ended up dying.”
Cupa said while looking at his thin stomach with a melancholy expression. In fact, there were two other aliens in the Royal Guards apart from Hegel. Kalliben was from the Unkara clan and resembled a human but with 3 eyes. The 3 eyes of the Unkara clan meant they had excellent eyesight and were a species specialized in sniping. And Cupa was from the Tobil clan and his size was twice the size of humans. Their large frame meant the Tobil clan’s energy consumption was twice as much! While the other members had died three or four times, Cupa had died 8 times from starvation. As soon as Cupa was resurrected, he grabbed his growling stomach and was in tears.
“I-I’m hungry. Am I going to die again?”
The members looked at Cupa and sighed painfully.
“If only we could definitely know whether Hyung-nim died or not……”
———————————————————————————
“No!”
Ark raised his upper body.
“I won’t! I can’t die like this!”
He had no other methods and no hope. Ark had tried to give up and humbly accepted death but……
“How did I get this far? I can’t just die like this!”
His regret at the thought of dying exploded into anger. If he was going to die then he should’ve just died when he exited the pyramid. But he had grabbed his stomach and walked for several days through the storm. If he died then it would’ve been a waste of all that time! Ark shook his head wildly and forcibly woke up his body.
“Live! I’m going to live! Even if I have to hit dirt!”
Ark took out his shovel with a spellbound expression. And he started shovelling like crazy.
Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
The dirt flew around as he continued digging.
Tang-!
-You have discovered Iridium!
It was a huge chunk of Iridium. It was approximately 3~4 kg so such a huge chunk of Iridium was a jackpot.
“Dammit, I don’t need a chunk of stone!”
But Ark couldn’t throw it away. 100 grams of Iridium was worth 10 copper worth of Space Food so 1 kg of Iridium was worth 1 silver of food. The actual value of 3~4 kg wasn’t just 3~4 silver. The only way for prisoners to get food was to find Iridium. It was worth as much of their lives on Beltana. But Ark couldn’t eat it so it had no meaning to him now. Ark’s bag was also full of the Zaliman ore worth 2~3 gold. There was no point putting the Iridium worth 3~4 silver in his bag, It was also the same afterwards.
Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
-You have discovered Iridium!
Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
-You have discovered Iridium!
A curse naturally emerged. Normally he would’ve been happy to find Iridium. However, it was pointless when there was no room in his bag. It was to the extent that he felt like screaming. Ark ignored the overflowing Iridium and continued digging. After digging for 20 minutes, something started moving in the earth. Ark’s eyes shone brilliantly at the sight. He threw the shovel and running like a savage beast to grab it.
“Pant pant pant! I-I got it!”
Ark shouted as he lifted his hands.
Pal pal pal pal. Pal pal pal pal.
It was a small and black bug with 8 legs. Beltana was a frigid planet with -50 degrees weather. But some life forms had adapted to this environment. Right now Ark was holding a bug similar to a cockroach. He didn’t care about the name of the bug. No, he didn’t know the name but he had often seen the bug when digging for Iridium. This bug was what appeared in Ark’s mind when he was about to give up.
‘It is also a creature. And if it is a creature then it is possible to eat it!’
That was why Ark shovelled like crazy.
Pal pal pal pal. Pal pal pal pal.
The reason he caught it……He hesitated as he looked at the black insect in his hand……But Ark clenched his teeth tightly and shook his head.
‘No, I need to do this. If I die then I’ll lose 10 days’ worth of experience and a 5 star rated skill. Eating this guy is the only way to raise my satiety! After all, Space Food is also created from space bugs. This isn’t the time to hesitate.’
However, eating pork was different from eating an actual live pig. It was difficult to raise his hands and bring the bug to his mouth. But 13 levels! The special 5 star rated skill!
“Waaahhhhhhhh!”
Ark yelled and placed the bug in his mouth. And….munch, munch, munch, gulp!
“Eh? This doesn’t taste as bad as I thought?”
Close your eyes and chewed the string be swallowed down tha
t blue arc eye and muttered. Ark muttered after closing his eyes and chewing.
-Satiety has increased by 5%.
“My satiety increased!”
The message was like a ray of light! It was only 5% but his satiety still increased. He had shuddered at the sight but the taste actually wasn’t that bad. And couldn’t he keep on finding bugs in the land? The motivated Ark started actively hunting for bugs.
“That’s it! I found a way to live! If I collect the bugs…..ouch!”
He suddenly experienced stomach pain! Ark grabbed his stomach and a message he never expected showed up.
-You have eaten unrefined food and received ‘Food Poisoning.’
* If you’re hungry then don’t just pick anything up and eat it!
“F-food poisoning?”
Sweat dripped down Ark’s face as he muttered. The stomach ache was so realistic it was hard to believe he got food poisoning in a game. It was a pain that twisted his stomach. It was so painful Ark couldn’t move for a while and just stood there dripping sweat! But Ark was more worried about the food poisoning than the stomach ache.
‘Ugh! In the end the bug wasn’t edible after all…..’
He couldn’t eat the bugs. It was like a death penalty for Ark. However, Ark realized there was no reason for despair.
‘Wait? I received food poisoning but my satiety was still increased by 5%. My health and mental power decreased after that but not my satiety. As long as my mental power and health doesn’t reach 0 then I won’t die. In other words, I can eat the bugs until my health reaches 0. And health can recover faster compared to the speed that satiety falls. My health also automatically recovers so isn’t it worth losing some health to recover my satiety?’
The decrease in health meant he couldn’t eat excessively. Because he could die from the food poisoning. However, he could raise his satiety as long as his health didn’t fall to 0. And health recovered faster so he could still eat bugs to restore his satiety and not worry about starving to death.
‘The problem is the stomach ache……’
He had found a way to live when he was on the verge of dying. But it hurt! It was enough to clog his breath! Was being afraid of the stomach ache worth dying?
‘Yes, that’s it! There is only this! I can’t be scared off by the stomach ache!’
Ark wiped off the sweat and started digging. His tearful struggle for survival then began.
Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
It was the intermediate Dig skill that he polished in Beltana! Every time the shovel moved through the frozen earth, a large pit was formed. If he saw any bugs squirming in the dirt then he would quickly snatch it and eat it!
-Satiety has increased by 5%!
-Food poisoning! Health -50, Mental Power -100, you have a stomach ache!
-Satiety increased by 5%……you have a stomach ache!
-Satiety……you have a stomach ache!
-Stomach……stomach ache……!
“Ohhh, not yet! Not yet! I won’t die from a stomach ache!”
He shovelled for 3 hours while suffering pain in his stomach! Ark managed to increase his satiety from 10% to 60%. He had to sit down for a while from the pain in his stomach.
“Phew, now I don’t have to worry about my satiety for a while.”
Ark slightly recovered from the stomach ache and got up. He had gotten over his starvation crisis. But it was too early to sigh with relief. There was still 290 km until he could reach the federation’s base. There was also a huge mountain blocking him.
“First I have to cross over the mountain and it will also take time to return to the base……”
Ark looked at the mountain with a troubled expression. The mountain stretched to the left and right like a folding screen. He had no information about the terrain so he was unsure about how far it extended. However, it was better to return by the shortest course even if there were some risks.
‘It is a snow covered mountain so my movement speed might fall……’
Ark used the Swamp Walking skill. It was designed to walk on swampland but it still had some effect on snow. In fact, Ark had completely forgotten about Swamp Walking until not long ago. This was because Beltana was made of snow and ice so there were no chances to use the skill. However, he realized something after walking through the snow for a few days.
Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!
The snow storm was raging at the time. His foot fell into the snow every time he walked. It was very inconvenient when trying to return to the base. He was thinking about how to increase his movement speed when Swamp Walking surfaced in his mind.
‘Snow and swampland are different but the same principle should apply. Although the Swamp Walking skill couldn’t be applied to the snow field…..the core of Swamp Walking is to remove any unnecessary power and to distribute his weight evenly. Even if I can’t use the skill, I can still apply the same principle.’
It was the right answer. He started to walk like he was just training in Swamp Walking from the Charenjok on R-14. It was the secret to how Ark managed to walk 150 km in two days despite the penalty to his stats when satiety fell below 50%. Everything was useful. He once again realized that truth. He was able to cross the snow by applying that point. Ark became resolute and started to climb up the snow covered mountain.
“Phew, it is like I expected.”
Ark took a rest and looked up at the steep incline. He had been climbing the mountain for 10 hours and it was considerable like he expected. Ice and snow covered the ground so if he was careless he would slip a few times. Plus, his stamina and satiety were consumed more quickly than if he was walking on flat land.
“But this is nothing compared to when I was starving and dying.”
Ark had already reached the threshold of hell. Any experience would be trivial compared to that.
“Plus……”
Ark smirked as he opened an information window.
-A new skill (Common Occupation ☆☆) has been learnt.
Steel Stomach (User, Passive): Sometimes you will unexpectedly encounter crises when travelling the galaxy.
The most common crisis situation is a shortage of food. There are places in the galaxy that don’t have abundant food supplies. In that case, it is best to obtain the food from the local area. However, not all animals and plants in the galaxy are edible. Sometimes plants and animals that grow naturally in the environment are poison to the body of humans. Some will cause light food poisoning while some animal and plants contain deadly poisons that will cause instant death. But you don’t need to worry about that. Pioneers who have received body coatings to adapt to the harsh space environment can gradually build up their tolerance by eating the food.
He had been steadily eating the bugs despite the stomach ache. He ate hundreds of worms and received an unexpected skill.
‘Now I can put anything I find in my mouth and not have to worry about starvation.’
It was a 2 star rated skill but the value was terrific. It was a basic skill that would have great use in online games. However, he was just grateful he didn’t have to worry about stomach aches anymore when eating the bugs. Unfortunately, the snow covered mountain contained less bugs. He could only find 4~5 bugs when digging for an hour. And his satiety only recovered by 20%. However, it was possible to maintain his satiety at 50% so he didn’t need to worry.
“I can return! I just need to cross this mountain!”
Ark stood up and started to climb the snow covered mountain again. The snow storm wasn’t enough to stop Ark’s marching. And he finally reached the top of the mountain.
“Oh my god!”
Ark witnessed a sight
that made him despair.
……Cliff! There was a steep cliff on the opposite side of the mountain. First a mountain and now a cliff was blocking his return to the federation base. It was the same when he looked to the left and right. The cliff continued for dozens of metres in all directions without any gaps.
“Dammit, if I can’t continue this way……”
He had been climbing the mountain for 12 hours. He had also been digging until he felt like he was about to die. But what was the point now? Ark stared blankly at the cliff for a while before sighing and was about to return.
-You have received a feeble electromagnetic signal.
The Nymphe shone with a message.
“Electromagnetic signal? My Nymphe received a signal…..?”
His Nymphe was from the galactic federation. It couldn’t receive a signal from the Rama. In other words, the signal was from the federation! He had stumbled the other day on a signal from the Murat so that experience meant Ark couldn’t ignore it. And there was a chance the signal was from the federation.
‘It is 290 km from the federation base but there is a chance there might be a scouting unit nearby. If I join the scouting unit then I can return to the base.’
He checked and the distance also wasn’t that far. Ark checked the Nymphe and followed the signal
He was able to reach the signal place after moving for 30 minutes along the edge of the cliff. He found that the result came from the galactic federation. No, to be exact it came from the wreckage of one of the federation’s bikes. While scouting this area, they had been destroyed by the Rama and the wrecked bikes were buried by the snow. The signal was a feeble request the bike had sent before it was destroyed. The radio wave wasn’t transmitted properly due to the snow storm which was why Ark only received it once he reached the top of the mountain.
“Damn, do I have to dig again?”
Disappointed appeared on Ark’s face.
“This is still the remnants of the federation. I might be able to find some supplies.”
He removed the snow with the shovel and looked around. And he removed the remnants of the bike
Once the bike that was broken in half was taken out, something fell near it. It was a circular object the size of a volleyball. It was a machine he had seen a few times on the base.