Lord: Sequence Master

In the Blue Whale Guild City, within the Hunter's Guild, Rosen had, a few days ago, spent 1,000 spiritual crystals to purchase a ticket to a special realm.

[Mermen's Tragedy: Special Realm]

[Level: Sequence 8]

[Summary: Once, a tribe of mermen lived in the deep sea. However, the ash curse cast by an alien god, meant to annihilate human civilization, had a devastating effect on the mermen who lived in shallow waters. Pushed to the brink of extinction, the mermen decided to awaken the slumbering Frost Naga...]

While tracing the origin of the Frost Naga, Rosen had stumbled upon this special realm. Despite the Sequence 8 rating, which seemed inconsistent with the powerful Naga species, Rosen initially assumed that this realm was similar to the Spiral Sea Battle, where resource over-exploitation had caused a downgrade in its level.

However, after investigating further, he realized that wasn't the case. The Mermen's Tragedy realm had always been Sequence 8.

For all the special realms discovered by humans, there were generally three fates:

The best outcome: The realm is completely conquered and controlled, becoming a foundation for human supernatural factions. Such realms usually feature stories centered on humans or at least not hostile to them.

The worst outcome is that the realm cannot be fully conquered or controlled, so resources are harvested over time, weakening the realm and eventually causing it to degrade and collapse. Realms of this type often have hostile backgrounds towards humans—like the Spiral Sea Battle with the Gray Rats, or the Mermen's Tragedy realm with the Mermen.

The worst outcome: The realm is too dangerous to conquer, and even resource extraction is a perilous endeavor. These realms grow stronger by claiming the lives of supernatural beings. Such realms either get destroyed or sealed by powerful humans, or they continue to evolve until they break free from the spirit world and merge with reality.

The Mermen's Tragedy realm hovered between the second and third categories.

The realm was extremely dangerous. The mermen had successfully awakened a horde of Frost Naga—even though each was only at Sequence 8, their numbers were vast, with over a hundred of them. For any regular Sequence 8 supernatural being, fighting them head-on would be a suicide mission.

Even after decades, the Blue Whale Kingdom had only been able to cull a portion of the Frost Naga. As a result, the realm had never degraded from its Sequence 8 status.

Due to its high level of danger, tickets to the Mermen's Tragedy were not sold to those below a certain power threshold. Rosen had only been able to secure a ticket thanks to his noble status as collateral.

As more people began arriving at the Hunter's Guild, Rosen noticed that one-third of them were nobles.

Finally, when 100 people had gathered, many of them began forming groups with familiar faces, preparing to tackle the dangers together.

Unlike other realms, in the Mermen's Tragedy, those who ventured alone were as good as dead.

Rosen opened his interface, clicked on the friends list, and sent a message to the one friend he had added.

In no time, he received a reply.

"Lynn, over here!"

A gray-haired young man waved at him from the distance.

"Hello, I'm Lynn Wells, a Pet Hunter," Rosen introduced himself as he quickly approached the group.

"Benny Nash, Gourmet Hunter..." The gray-haired youth introduced himself in return. "Let me introduce the rest of the team: this is Sorin Sarris, a Ghost Assassin; Emilia Rosa, a Plague Doctor; Haimans Rosa, a Magic Knight; and lastly, Wade Tejada, a Sorcerer."

Though Benny made the introductions, Rosen couldn't help but feel a sense of distance from the group.

It was understandable. After all, he was an outsider suddenly joining their team, and their hesitancy was natural. In fact, if it hadn't been for the recent death of their previous hunter, Benny might not have posted the temporary teammate request.

They were supposed to meet earlier, but Benny's team had encountered some complications, delaying their entry into the realm.

Noticing the awkwardness, Benny tried to ease the atmosphere by talking more about his team.

Benny Nash, a Gourmet Hunter, was the leader of a guild called Spirit Fox. On the surface, he seemed friendly and approachable.

Sorin Sarris, the Ghost Assassin, was cold and distant, wearing a half-mask and rarely speaking beyond a simple nod or shake of the head.

Emilia Rosa, the Plague Doctor, was Benny's girlfriend and had a warm, cheerful personality.

Haimans Rosa, the Magic Knight, was Emilia's older brother and appeared to be a simple, straightforward giant of a man.

Lastly, Wade Tejada, the Sorcerer, seemed somewhat at odds with the rest of the team, as if there was a slight disconnect between him and the others.

The Spirit Fox guild had ventured into the Mermen's Tragedy before, and each time they had returned with significant rewards—until their last trip when their previous hunter had died inside the realm.

While Sequence 8 hunters weren't exactly scarce in the Blue Whale Kingdom, finding someone capable of surviving the Mermen's Tragedy was no easy task. Most ambitious hunters began forming teams back at Sequence 9, forging bonds with teammates long before tackling such dangerous realms.

"It's time, let's get moving," Benny announced solemnly as shimmering water ripples began appearing on one of the guild hall's walls.

Rosen glanced at the far wall and saw the flickering light of the water portal, where a whirlpool of shimmering water swirled.

A guild official approached the portal, directing teams to enter in an orderly fashion.

Most of the teams were composed of nobles leading five to ten companions of various supernatural ranks.

After passing through the swirling portal, Rosen found himself plunging into the ocean, landing on an inflatable cushion floating on the surface.

The entire Mermen's Tragedy realm took place underwater, and there was no land for adventurers to stand on.

Luckily, the air cushion had been quickly deployed by Benny, who had pulled it out from his storage ring just in time.

Once on the cushion, Rosen immediately grabbed the supernatural items he had prepared in advance.

First was the underwater breathing mask, which could extract oxygen directly from the seawater.

Next were the deep-sea fins, supernatural items that significantly enhanced mobility underwater.

The breathing mask also came with a built-in communication feature that worked within a 1,000-meter radius. After donning the mask, Rosen tested the communication system with his teammates to ensure everything was functioning correctly, as any malfunction here could be fatal.

Once everyone had geared up, Benny gave the command to descend.

Rosen pulled out a massive iron anchor from his storage ring, tossed it into the sea, and held onto the chain as he jumped into the water, following the anchor's rapid descent toward the ocean floor. In just moments, he sank from the surface to the seabed.

Humans weren't naturally suited for aquatic combat, and even supernatural powers didn't change that fundamental fact.

The difficulty of this realm was largely due to the constant underwater fighting.

However, the Blue Whale Kingdom had developed a mature strategy for dealing with the mermen. The tactic was simple: sink straight to the ocean floor and set up a defensive position. Fight the mermen on the seabed where there was solid footing.

Once Rosen reached the seabed, he stowed the anchor in his storage ring and tested his footing on the sand below. The impact of the water on his movements wasn't as bad as he had anticipated.

(End of Chapter)