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I Got a New Skill Every Time I Was Exiled, and After 100 Different Worlds, I Was Unmatched (Web Novel) - Chapter 334: The Standard is Always Set by the Larger Number
Chapter 334: The Standard is Always Set by the Larger Number
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
“Yo… Argh!?”The moment I landed in this new world… or more precisely, without actually landing, my feet cut through the sky, and I plunged into the water.
“Guh, gah!?”
It was an unexpected turn of events, and I ended up swallowing a mouthful of water. Panicking at the discomfort, I resurfaced, pulling out a metal boat I had purchased in Canal’s world from the [Stranger Box].
“Haah, haah… Tia!”
While gripping onto the edge of the boat, I shouted loudly as I scanned my surroundings. I spotted Tia drowning nearby, so I forcefully grabbed her and used the [Limit Break] to toss her onto the boat. There was a loud pop as my shoulder dislocated, but I paid it no mind and climbed onto the boat as well.
“Ugh… Tssuu… Tia, are you okay?”
“Cough, cough… Uhm, yeah. I’m fine…”
As I fitted my shoulder back into place and asked her, Tia replied while spitting out water. It seemed we had managed to avoid the worst possible outcome of drowning during the transition.
“Ah… I see…”
“Huff, huff, huff… What is it, Ed? What’s ‘I see’ supposed to mean?”
“Well, I’ve got a rough idea of where this world is… but before I explain, we should probably dry our clothes, or maybe change them?”
Considering our upcoming activities, wearing regular clothes would be impossible anyway. I opened the storage compartment on the boat and took out two swimsuits.
“Here, Tia. Change into these.”
“What’s this? Replacement underwear… It feels quite strange for underwear, doesn’t it?”
“That’s a swimsuit. It’s what you wear for underwater activities. It’s better than staying wet, right?”
“Yes, you’re right. Then, excuse me… Don’t peek, okay?”
“Quit fooling around and change quickly!”
Ignoring Tia’s cryptic smile, I turned my back to her and discarded my wet underwear, replacing them with black shorts. I had bought these shorts when I purchased the boat, but I never expected them to come in handy so soon.
“I’m ready.”
“Alright.”
When I turned around as instructed, Tia stood before me, clad in a white swimsuit that separated into top and bottom. It was chosen based on vague memories, but it seemed to be a perfect fit.
“How do I look?”
“You look great in it.”
“Fufu, thank you. Ed, you look good too… By the way, what is this boat? I’ve never seen a metal boat before.”
As Tia hung her discarded clothes over the boat’s edge to dry, she curiously examined the boat’s structure, running her hands along it. Normally, boats would be made of wood, but… oh right, I mentioned it briefly before, but this was the first time she saw the real thing.
“Remember when I told you about defeating the Demon King in Rebecca’s world before? This is the boat from that time—”
[Confirming a sufficient amount of light. Disabling sleep mode.]
“What!?”
Upon hearing voices other than our own, Tia looked around in surprise. However, all that could be seen around us was water, and the source of the voices was beneath our feet.
“It’s this boat. It can talk.”
“The boat can talk!?”
[Commencing ship check… No abnormalities detected. Mana remaining at sixty-seven percent, no hindrance to operation. Initiating connection to Maginet… Failed. Current location cannot be determined. Connection to Maginet is required for map update.]
“Wow, wow, it’s really talking! Hey, um, Boat-san?”
“……”
“Oh, huh? Boat-san? Hello?”
“……”
“Waaaah! Ed, the boat is ignoring me!”
As Tia protested by pounding the deck, I couldn’t help but chuckle and respond.
“Hahaha, it’s rare for you to be disliked… Hey.”
[What is it?]
In response to my call, the boat promptly answered. Tia stared at me with a puzzled look, but for now, I continued the conversation without paying it any mind.
“Why aren’t you responding to Tia’s calls?”
[Due to security concerns, the initial settings prevent responses to calls from individuals who are not registered.]
“I see, that makes sense.”
I agreed with the explanation. If it responded to anyone’s commands, it could easily be stolen, so it was a reasonable precaution.
“In that case, please register Tia… this elven lady.”
[To register a new user, a connection to Maginet is required. Initiating connection to Maginet… Failed. Please apply again after moving into Maginet’s coverage area.]
“Oh, I see…”
“Ed? What’s going on?”
“Uh… sorry. It seems this boat can’t communicate with you.”
“Waaaah!”
Tia cried out again, scratching her head in frustration. I didn’t expect there to be such a pitfall… but there was nothing we could do about it.
“All right! Tia, let’s talk about this world instead of worrying about the boat! There are a lot of things I want to explain.”
“Hmm… like what?”
“Well, first… about this. There’s nothing in this world except the sea.”
“That’s right. Whichever way I look, there’s just the horizon.”
“No, it’s not like that. There really is nothing here but the sea. As far as I know, there’s no land.”
“What…?”
In response to my serious words, Tia had a puzzled expression. It was only natural, as the situation we were in was completely different from floating in the middle of a vast sea in a world where there was nothing but water.
“No land… so there are no people here?”
“No, there are people, but they all live beneath us.”
I pointed downward, not to the ship’s hull, but further down – in other words, underwater.
“They look quite different from us in terms of appearance. They live underwater.”
“So, they’re merfolk?”
Merfolk – a species with humanoid forms that live underwater – exist in several worlds. In fact, during our travels through different worlds, Tia and I had encountered about three different species, but I shook my head slowly.
“In our perception, you could say that, but in this world, there are people… in other words, humans, elves, and dwarves, who live on the surface, don’t exist. So, if you really want to define it, they are the ‘standard’ humans in this world, and we would be called something like ‘surface dweller.’ Well, in reality, there are no surface dwellers here, so from their perspective, we would be considered as “strange beings who resemble themselves” with familiar appearances.”
“Well, if we’re fewer in number, I guess it makes sense… But wait a minute. Those people live underwater, right? And in this world, there are only people underwater… What are we going to do, Ed? My spirit magic can’t last that long!”
Among Tia’s usable magic, there was one that allowed underwater breathing. However, its duration was at most about three hours, and it had its limits when dealing with the pressure that tightened the body when diving deep. So, a brief dive might be manageable, but living underwater for months on end was impossible no matter how you looked at it.
“Calm down, Tia. There is a solution, but… it’s not that simple. During the first loop, I easily drowned and lost consciousness here. But someone passing by saved me, and at that time, I was lent a magical device that allows people like us to operate underwater.”
“Oh, I see. So we just need to get our hands on that, right?”
“That’s right, but…”
Relieved, Tia had a hopeful expression, but I hesitated with a bitter face. Yes, that was the problem.
“That magical device is something they consider ‘valuable junk.'”
“Huh? Valuable but junk?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Think about it. Do you really think there’s a use for a ‘magical device that allows you to live underwater’ for those who already live underwater? In a world where there’s no one on the surface and everyone lives underwater?”
“That… doesn’t make sense.”
“Right? Moreover, it seems to be an excavated artifact that’s rarely found in ancient ruins. So, there are very few of them, and since there’s no use for them, they have no value. Because of that, they’re not traded, making them difficult to obtain.”
“I see, so it’s truly ‘valuable junk.'”
It’s rarely found, and even when it is, it has no value. That means it’s a truly valuable item that’s hard to find on your own and can’t be bought due to a lack of demand.
“I know for sure that there’s at least one for me based on my experience in the first loop. But I don’t know if there’s one for you. So, I couldn’t just leave it to chance and drown. If it wasn’t there, I’d die for real.”
“I see… Sorry, Ed. It’s because of me.”
“No, it’s not your fault. I just wanted to take precautions for safety. But now that we can’t follow the first loop’s flow, we need to start by looking for that magical device—huh?”
Splash!
Suddenly, there was a sound right next to the boat, and the water surface stirred. As we turned our gazes towards it, what emerged from there was…
“Gyogyo?! Something really strange is floating… Gyogyo?!”
Covered in shiny green scales from head to toe, it was one of the “humans” in this world.
