Chapter 25: Mermaids

Saying that, the people laughed heartily.

Paul looked troubled for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders.

‘Well, if that’s the case, does it matter?’

Paul approached Khan.

With all eyes on him, just in case, he carefully pulled the hood of his robe down once more and re-tied the knot below his neck so it wouldn’t come off, then stepped back.

Caravan asked Paul awkwardly.

“Is there anything I can do to help? I’ve only ever… blown on a bottle trumpet when it comes to instruments…”

At that, Paul started with, “Then…” and then handed Caravan an empty basket.

“Go collect some admission fees!”

“Ack, got it! Isn’t this my specialty~!”

Caravan let out a sudden burst of laughter and headed towards the spectators with the basket.

After watching him, Paul soon got back into position.

It seemed things had gotten bigger than he expected, but they were probably just bored like him…

He decided not to worry about it anymore.

He was wearing a mask anyway, so his face wouldn’t be revealed.

And this is when you make money!

“Then, shall we go again?”

A small cheer erupted from the spectators.

Paul grinned and plucked the strings hard with the bow in his hand.

In time with the sound, his feet stamped the deck again.

Thump!

The sound of his heeled shoes, echoing cheerfully without being drowned out by the instrument, became another instrument.

His feet danced and his hands played the instrument as Paul moved across the deck.

Every time he moved, his clothes billowed out and back like they were dancing with him.

They would show the outline of his slender body, then flutter like a blooming flower.

In fact, this was all just a game mechanic.

It was a type of skill.

In reality, Paul had never learned to dance, and the only instrument he had played was the recorder in music class during his school days.

One of the things Paul learned while playing <Arcana Chronicles> was dancing and singing.

There was no grand reason for it.

He just happened to become friends with a bard NPC he met by chance while traveling alone as usual and ended up learning the [Dancing], [Singing], and [Instrument Playing] skills.

Paul didn’t particularly want to choose a class.

Once a class was chosen, players were severely restricted when learning skills outside of their class-related skills.

So Paul took advantage of not having a class to learn everything he could.

In a way, this was a reckless act.

Points were needed to raise skill ranks.

The number of points used to raise a rank varied, and those points were very difficult to obtain.

They were usually received from leveling up or as quest rewards.

The points obtained in that way were limited, so it was right to invest them in class skills.

That way, he would become a useful character.

But as for Paul, the skills he had were a jumble of types and classes, and since there were so many, none of them were outstanding, and all of them were low-ranked.

On top of that, his own level was quite low for someone who had played <Arcana Chronicles> for nearly two years.

The only fortunate thing was that, with the exception of certain skills, the ranks did not drop upon death.

Paul, the epitome of a jack-of-all-trades who would make others shake their heads, didn’t care about such things.

If the rank was low, he would enjoy it as it was, and if the level was low, he would enjoy it as it was.

He didn’t risk his life on the game.

He wasn’t a ranker who made a living off of <Arcana Chronicles>, nor was he a person who invested 24 hours a day in <Arcana Chronicles>.

Paul did everything in moderation.

Of course, he had been playing longer than usual lately… but even that was a significantly shorter time compared to other people.

To him, a game was nothing more than a light amusement.

Tadak. Tadak. Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak!

He jumped up by pushing off the deck with the balls of his feet, then slammed down with his heels and spun around in place.

What was this called, tap dancing?

It was probably a dance similar to that.

Although it had skill correction, it was a rather clumsy dance due to its low rank, and the occasional squeak in the performance was more than enough to capture people’s attention.

People danced with the person next to them to the music and the sound of the heeled shoes, and sometimes they all clapped their hands happily.

That’s why people were a little late in noticing the faint singing that was coming in time with the sound.

[─♪─]

“Huh, singing…?”

At that one muttered word, Paul’s performance came to a halt.

Nevertheless, the sound of singing was echoing from all sides like an echo.

Only then did people notice that something was wrong.

Thud—!

“Whoa!”

“What, what’s happening?!”

Soon after, the ship shook with a loud noise as if it had hit something.

Creak! Squeak!

“Aack!”

“Everyone, grab onto something!”

People fell one after another, losing their balance on the shaking deck.

Khan, who had approached at some point, caught Paul.

Before he could thank Khan, a red warning message popped up in front of all the players on the ship.

Beep-!

[System: You have entered the [Sea of ​​Temptation]!]

[System: Communication with the outside world is temporarily blocked!]

***

[System: Be careful of the singing!]

The blue sky instantly turned cloudy.

Dark clouds gathered and a cool wind swirled around, and then at some point, a thick fog set in.

The strange singing that had been echoing from all sides gradually subsided, and instead, laughter broke the silence and echoed.

Giggle, giggle!

Ahahaha!

“Mermaids, it’s mermaids!”

Someone screamed as if in a shriek.

Unlike the NPCs who were stepping back, the players gathered closely at the ship’s railing.

There was little to confirm due to the thick fog, but dozens of shadows surrounding the ship could be seen.

They were half-submerged in the sea…

‘Are they really mermaids?’

Just as that suspicion arose, an elderly sailor spat out a curse.

“D*mn it, they’re not just mermaids! They’re sirens!”

“Why?! Sirens don’t live in the northern sea…!”

At that moment, the sirens sang and asked.

[Who played the music?]

At that, the NPC sailors all covered their ears at once.

The siren’s voice bewitches people and drags them into the sea.

It was a story that all seafarers knew.

However, the players’ reactions were a little different.

To players, mermaids were one of the event NPCs.

Mermaids appear in the sea with a certain probability when certain conditions are met.

And if you followed the mermaids, you could easily go to the ‘underwater city’.

Of course, the mermaid race was famous for being playful, so they would sometimes drag people into the water right away or get them stranded on their way to the underwater city, but since they were a race for events, following them gave you a chance to get rare items, titles, and even special quests.

You could also achieve the feat of discovering a new area.

“Finally found it!”

“I can’t believe the keyword was playing music during the voyage!”

“From now on, we should either bring any bard or learn an instrument ourselves!”

So it wasn’t strange that people were making such a fuss.

The explorer players grabbed the railing and shouted excitedly.

It was the moment Caravan’s suspicion came true.

They really had a separate purpose.

These explorers had discovered records of mermaids living in the north while exploring remote areas.

They learned that another underwater city existed under the cold sea of ​​the northernmost tip of the north.

However, they didn’t know the way there.

The only thing that was clear was that they had to go to the north.

While searching for a ship, they happened to meet the captain of this ship, Roland Pamp, and after building a friendship by listening to his talkative stories, they brought up a story that would entice any seafarer.

Roland was completely taken in by the story of an unverified new sea route discovered in an old ruin.

After getting a ride on the ship and arriving in Flora, they hadn’t achieved much.

The villagers of Flora and other seafarers had all said they hadn’t even seen a mermaid’s tail in this northern sea.

The explorers were anxious.

They had used the guild’s funds and investigated for days and nights, but with no results!

They were already worried about what the vice guild master would nag them about when they returned.

So they boarded the ship today, hoping for a bit of luck on their last leg of the journey back, but they hadn’t really expected much…!

“Finally found it!”

The other players, excluding the explorer group who were making a fuss in their excitement, finally grasped the situation and were dumbfounded.

“They’ve got some nerve.”

Tsk, someone whispered with a click of their tongue.

[Who played the instrument?]

[You have to come with us!]

[We’ll invite you to our kingdom!]

[You can’t go until you give it to us!]

But the explorers, who were engrossed in the siren’s question, couldn’t possibly have heard those words.

They shouted, each claiming it was them.

“It was me!”

“No, I played it!”

“Look! I’m the one who played. I have an instrument here too!”

“It was me?! Take me!”

At that sight, the people who knew the truth stealthily glanced at Paul, who was standing blankly on one side.