Chapter 131 – Episode 17. Island Village and Murder and the Daughter of the Abyss
After a sticky night with Shinoe Misano, I went to Haneda Airport early in the morning and took a flight to Hachijo Island. The distance from Tokyo to Hachijo Island was a little more than half the distance from Seoul to Jeju. So, 20 minutes of flight time was enough.
When I go to Hachijo Island, I have to do something I’ve been putting off. It was time to select characteristics based on the level raised in the rescue mission for Azuma Sawayanagi.
Actually, it’s been a few days since I leveled up, but I forgot about it for a while because of the acquisition of Seryu Military Company. This morning, oh right! After thinking about it, I decided to choose a characteristic from the airplane.
For reference, the stat was made 17 by investing one in Will, and one was made in Agility, the lowest physical stat, to make it 8.
Please select a trait
① Genital modification [Protrusion] ② Shining intelligence ③ Ice affinity
Hmm, it’s all fine, isn’t it? Genital modification was a modification-type trait that came up occasionally, but the problem was that even if I modified it as a property, it was treated as modification, so I couldn’t acquire Pure Praise, which is one of the properties I was aiming for, which is a property exclusive to Noh modification.
If I wanted to use the body change series, I had to select the characteristics of the ○○ evolution series. This is because evolution is not included in modifications.
Shining Intelligence is a good trait that increases intelligence and efficiency, but given the nature of my growth, intelligence was not a very necessary stat. It would be a very good trait to give to Han Yu-kyung, but I couldn’t give it to her because it was a trait that came from my level-up.
Since I was a telekinetic fighter who focused on physical and will stats, I didn’t really need intelligence. Learning a new language requires intelligence, but guess what? Although it was risky, I also thought about investing a little bit into the abyss. We confirmed its overwhelming power during the rescue operation for Azuma Sawayanagi, so if we increase our will enough, we should also increase the abyss.
In conclusion, it would have been nice to have high intelligence, but it wasn’t a necessary stat for me, so I decided to pass.
Lastly, Ice Affinity was an attribute affinity series, which is a soup characteristic, but this was not very good because there were no characteristics or skills that could be applied to the Ice series or the Ice attribute in the first place. Then, since all three characteristics are not good, of course you have to activate Yeouiju’s ability.
With the [Enhance Potential] Option of the item [Yeouiju], You can change the characteristics that can be selected by leveling up to random characteristics of a higher grade. Do you want to change it?
Please select a trait
① Increased regeneration attribute level ② Infinite Bomb Demon ③ Praise of Purity
Oh oh! Finally, the praise of innocence has emerged. Did you just think about the praise of innocence that came to mind? Praise of Purity was a sweet trait that increased the threshold of all physical stats and at the same time raised the effectiveness of all physical stats.
For reference, even if the stat efficiency is the same, if there is an efficiency increase characteristic, the ability can be about 1.15 times higher. Moreover, because efficiency increases overlap, the more efficiency increase characteristics, the better.
Number 1, the regeneration characteristic level increase, was because I was constantly getting shot, so my level was steadily rising, and number 2, Infinite Bomb Demon, was an attribute that amplified the speed of planting and disarming bombs and allowed me to create bombs with higher destructive power when making bombs.
It would be a great trait for Seryu Military Company’s Shinya Sawayanagi to have, but I don’t know why it came to me. Well, there was a lot of chance for random features to appear, so it wasn’t strange that they appeared, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Let us choose the praise of purity. I felt my body getting stronger. I opened the status window to see a detailed explanation of Praise of Innocence.
◆Praise of Purity [Heritage Trait]: Praise for the pure, unmodified body. The threshold of all physical stats increases by 1 and the efficiency of all physical stats increases significantly. This trait disappears when you modify your body.
The increase in stat limits was not felt, but as the efficiency of physical stats increased, muscle fibers became more elastic and tougher, the connection between nerves and brain became stronger, and became more resistant to disease and pain. Of course, what I felt directly was the strength felt in my muscles.
As I was feeling the performance of my muscles by tensing and releasing my forearms and chest for no reason, I heard a whooshing laugh. I was curious and looked to see that in a group of about five men and women who seemed to be college students, there was one woman smiling at me. She was an innocent-looking female college student with dyed light brown hair. At that level, she was probably the prettiest in the department.
It might be funny. Suddenly, it will look like you’re showing off your muscles alone. I made a faint smile and gave a quick bow to the female college student who was smiling at me.
As we exchanged glances, we arrived at Hachijojima Airport. It was definitely fast. Of course, that’s because I came by plane, but if I took a boat, it would have taken at least 3 to 5 hours. Airplanes were the best way to travel even a little distance.
I received a small foldable electric bike and laid it out on the road in front of the airport. Now that I had packed my bags, I just had to go to the port. I placed my phone in front of the small bike, turned on the navigation, set it to port, and started driving.
Riding a bike while feeling the morning sun and the sea breeze at the same time was a new feeling. Since the distance to the port was only about 3.5 kilometers, I was able to arrive in less than 10 minutes. Rather than the joy of arriving quickly, I felt sad that I couldn’t enjoy the sea breeze more.
When I got to the port, there were people other than me going to Chooten Island, and when I looked closely, I saw that it was a group of college students that I had seen on the plane earlier. I saw a gray-haired man who looked like a professor and five men and women getting out of a van taxi.
“Hello. “This is Taira Ryuta, who I made a reservation for today.”
I got off the bike and said hello to the man who seemed to be the captain of today’s boat. He was a large, strong-looking middle-aged man with a beard.
“If you want to put that bike on the boat, you’ll have to pay more.”
Even though it is a foldable and small bike, it weighs 50 kilograms, so it was not unfair to pay more. I nodded and gave the captain another 10,000 yen.
“It looks like everyone is gathered, so everyone is Tayu. “It will depend on the sea conditions, but it will take at least an hour.”
At the captain’s words, college students and professors got on the boat first, and I folded the bike and got on the boat holding it in one hand. Because the ship was a small passenger ship, it was large enough for eight people, including the captain. Looking at the chairs in the cabin, it seemed like it could accommodate at least 25 people.
I was not in the cabin, but outside looking at the sea.
“Are you here on a trip?”
“Oh, yes. “I wanted to visit a travel destination that not many people go to, so I searched and found out that Chooten Island is a hidden attraction.”
A gray-haired man who appeared to be a professor spoke to him. In fact, I don’t know if Chooten Island is a hidden attraction or not, but it’s impossible to say that I came because a divine being from another world called the Daughter of the Abyss gave me an invitation, so I gave an easy answer.
“Well, the scenery of Chooten Island is superb. My name is Koga Honmura, and I am a professor in the Department of Folklore Studies at Kanto University. “Those kids are my students.”
“My name is Ryuta Taira, an office worker.”
Professor Koga Honmura and I spoke in unison. If you major in folklore, are there any strange customs on Chooten Island? I’m curious.
“Actually, Hachijo Island is a village created by exiles, so it is an important place in terms of folklore. “The Hachijo dialect retains many traces of ancient Japanese and has many unique customs.”
It seemed like it was wrong. Professor Lee Honmura Koga was a Too Much Talker who gave lectures even to complete strangers. By the way, does it have a similar feel to Australia since it is a village made up of exiles?
“What’s different about Chooten Island?”
“Choten Island has a unique culture that is not found on the Japanese mainland, making it an attractive research topic that is different from Hachijo Island. For example, an annual ritual is held to the sea goddess…”
I was wondering if there was anything I could find out about Chooten Island, so I asked Koga Honmura, who answered with excitement as expected. Hmm, she’s the goddess of the sea… Could she be related to the Daughter of the Abyss? Or is it just a coincidence?
“I heard that the memorial service will be held tomorrow, so I’m going today to capture it on video. If possible, you can look at the shrine’s records and do research.”
“I didn’t know, but I’m lucky. Because you can see such a special event.”
“Yes, in the past, human sacrifices were made, but these days they are made by making human figures out of rice cakes. That change is also interesting. There are very few people in Japan who have seen this ancestral rite, so you can be considered a lucky person.”
Sacrifice… It seemed like things were getting more and more complicated. Is it just a coincidence that the ancestral rites coincide with the date I am visiting?
“Are you doing research with your students?”
“Yes. Three are graduate students and two are college students. Wano, take the two people there and come here.”
Professor Koga Honmura gestured to her students and introduced them to me.
Among the students, the man with a gloomy expression who appeared to be the oldest was a doctoral graduate student named Haruto Wano, and the beautiful female college student who greeted him after getting out of the plane was called Kanimi Uchidate. She said that Uchidate Kanimi had one plain friend who seemed like she would like Kazuhiro, and she was called Saori Hijitani (泥谷紗生里). The other two went into the cabin and were not introduced. Of course, since they were both dark men, it was clear that they would quickly forget their names whether they were introduced or not.
“Hoho, why did you do that on the plane earlier?”
Tekanimi Uchidate seemed curious as she was and asked me what I had done to check muscle performance in an airplane.
“I was just a bit bored on the plane, so I did some stretching.”
“Oh oh! Looking at you again, I see that you have a very well-trained body! “Have you learned any martial arts?”
Before I knew it, it was Professor Koga Honmura who was quietly speaking. I smiled slightly and showed a slight look of pride.
Huh~!
“I trained a little bit in ancient martial arts.”
When the sound of the wind came from my regime, the people gathered around seemed a little surprised. Uchidate Kanimi and Hijitani Saori are great~! I was amazed, and Professor Koga Honmura said that Goryu martial arts was also a topic covered in folklore, and seemed to be asking about this and that. Only Haruto Wano, a graduate student, quickly turned his head and looked at the sea without much interest.
Following Haruto Wano’s gaze, I looked toward the sea and saw Chooten Island appearing in the distance.
“Get ready to get off! “We will arrive at Chooten Island soon!”
At the captain’s roar, we started packing up our belongings. I didn’t need to pack much since I only had to pack my bag and bike, but the professor and his group were busy packing their luggage because they had so much luggage.
Chooten Island, which was in the distance, became increasingly clear and closer. Chooten Island was an island with a not very high mountain in the center. Eventually, the boat arrived at the dock.
“I’ll come pick you up in three days, so rest easy!”
After we unloaded all our luggage, the captain said he would pick us up in three days and went into the captain’s cabin. It seemed like we were going to rest a bit and then head to Hachijo Island.
You have finally arrived at Chooten Island. I was excited because I didn’t know when I would meet the daughter of the abyss. It was a complicated feeling. I felt excited and scared.
—–
I made Iljae’s maknae character using a different model (picture style). Think of it as a parallel world (beware of the swimsuit).
Mrs. Yukiko wearing animal ears. You look very young ㄷㄷ
I don’t know why, but Aris is holding the Ukrainian flag cushion tightly.
Han Yu-kyung doesn’t know why her hand is on her crotch.
It’s fun to make things with different drawing fonts. I’ll have to find another drawing font that I like better haha.
