UNLOCK: I CAN SEE MY STATS

chapter 29 : Access restored

The blazing sun cast a pale orange glow over the ship’s wooden deck, tinting the waves below with the color of diluted blood.

The three of them sat near an open crate, sharing simple food. The air was quiet, broken only by the hushed whispers of the sea weaving gently through their scattered conversation.

Marcus did not speak much. His eyes silently watched Erin and Dice, as if weighing each of them without leaving a trace. He ate slowly, cursing inwardly as he saw the food vanish before him at a merciless pace.

"These two monsters... at this rate, I won’t have anything left to eat..." Marcus thought angrily.

Dice raised an eyebrow slightly and whispered to Erin.

"He doesn’t talk much, does he..."

Erin smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, he’s a bit of an oddball... but he said something interesting a while ago..." He turned toward Dice, his tone light.

"He said he wanted to take my head to the guards... to claim the bounty."

"He’s thinking of becoming an adventurer hunter."

Dice almost choked on his food.

"Damn it, why didn’t you tell me that sooner? What if he poisoned the food..." he whispered nervously, glaring at Marcus.

Erin shook his head and whispered back.

"Relax, this man wouldn’t do something like that."

"Haah? How can you say that when you only met him minutes ago?!" Dice hissed under his breath, clearly upset.

Erin laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"I just know!"

"You bastards, I can hear you..." Marcus said with feigned irritation, shooting them a look mixed with annoyance and mockery.

Dice coughed to cover a sudden embarrassment, while Erin simply burst into loud laughter.

Then suddenly, Dice asked as he chewed his last bite.

"...Why? Why do you want to become an adventurer hunter?"

Marcus lifted his eyes to them and answered in a calm, unpretentious tone.

"Money."

Then, after a brief pause, he added with a faint smile.

"I want a decent life, a simple home, food every day... and peace of mind. Nothing more."

Erin smiled and looked out toward the horizon where the sun was slowly sinking.

"As for me... I set sail to become the Lord of the Seas."

"I didn’t ask about your dream," Marcus grumbled in annoyance.

Erin chuckled lightly.

"Not just any adventurer... but the only one who’ll surpass the Lord of the Seas."

Dice laughed and said.

"You never get tired of saying that, do you?"

Erin winked and replied.

"Because I mean every word."

Then he turned to Marcus, eyes shining with genuine enthusiasm.

"Listen... instead of hunting adventurers, why not become one? Adventurers earn money, they own treasures, ships, islands... you could be an adventurer your own way, not like the others."

Marcus’s expression didn’t change.

He slowly set down a piece of bread, looked at Erin, and said in a cold voice.

"Adventurers? Murderers, rapists, thieves without honor."

Then he looked directly into his eyes, his tone growing harder.

"Even if you’re different from them... I won’t be like them. And forget it, I’m not joining you."

A sudden silence fell, even the wind seemed to pause.

Dice raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say a word.

Erin continued to stare at Marcus, then a quiet smile formed on his lips.

"Hmm... so you’re stubborn too."

But Marcus didn’t answer.

He was distracted by something else... something inside him that only he could see.

[3 minutes and 17 seconds left to stabilize the DNA...]

The message appeared in his mind with cold mechanical detachment.

He lowered his eyes to the piece of bread in his hand, then took a slow bite.

"Not much longer now, but..." he thought without letting anything show on his face.

"This clueless fool seems strong, and I’m hesitating to kill him!" Marcus scowled at the thought of feeling reluctant to kill Erin.

"Forget it, I don’t need the money now, and at least I gained another transformation..."

[Scan complete...]

[DNA successfully acquired...]

[Access restored]

A wide smile spread across his face when he heard the bracelet’s voice echo in his mind. Once again he felt he could use the new transformation automatically.

He had asked the bracelet about this, and it had told him their minds were linked, so now he could transform just by thinking about it, without pressing anything.

"Ahh, I’m finally full..." Erin said as he patted his slightly rounded stomach. He turned to look at Marcus, who seemed lost in thought, and added gratefully.

"Man, thanks for the meal..."

Dice also nodded his thanks and asked curiously.

"Where are you headed next?"

Marcus replied, "Hmm, I’m on my way back to my island..." He sighed and looked at Dice, who seemed slightly more capable than Erin.

"But I don’t know anything about navigation, and I see you’re the navigator of this idiot..." he gestured at Erin, "and it looks like you both need a ship."

"How about this, help me get to the nearest inhabited island..." he tapped the ship’s deck, "then this ship will be yours."

Erin’s eyes widened in excitement. He straightened up and quickly moved closer to Marcus, asking in surprise.

"Really!? Are you sure!?"

"You’re not joking, right?" Dice asked from the side.

"Man, you’re too close... back up a bit..." Marcus shoved him back and nodded.

He pointed at the crate and said, "Yes, I’m not joking. Except for that crate and the sack, everything else is yours, including the ship."

"Dice, Dice, come on, let’s check out our ship!!" Erin said excitedly as he dragged Dice like a kid.

Marcus shook his head helplessly before turning his focus to the bracelet. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dice and Erin disappear below deck.

"Let’s check out this new transformation..." he whispered calmly, then with a single thought he summoned the new DNA.

He felt a spark of heat wash over his body then fade as quickly as it came.

"Hmm, what’s going on here!?" He looked at himself in confusion, clear question marks on his face. Nothing had changed in his body, everything remained the same.

He placed a hand over his face and whispered with a bitter laugh.

"What an idiot I am..."

In truth, he’d expected to transform into Erin’s form because the last time the bracelet copied DNA, he had turned into that giant sea creature.

But now it was different, and the proof was when he raised his hand and flames began to rise from it. He stared in astonishment.

"Amazing, I don’t feel any heat at all..." he whispered in disbelief as he played with the fire in his palm, shaping it into different forms.

"Man, it’s chaos inside..."

Marcus quickly snuffed out the flames and turned to look at Erin, who was complaining about all the blood inside the ship.

He shrugged and said, "Not my fault, and since it’s your ship now, that’s your problem..."

Marcus stopped speaking when his sixth sense suddenly kicked in. He turned his head toward the source of the disturbance he felt.

He looked at Dice and gestured toward the spyglass hanging at his waist.

"Hmm, hey Dice, toss me that spyglass for a second..."

"Oh! Here you go..." Dice tossed it to him and asked, "What is it?!"

Marcus didn’t answer. He gripped the spyglass and stared long and hard at the small black dot in the distance, which was slowly becoming clearer.

"Impossible...."

...

Several miles from Marcus’s ship, aboard a large sailing boat.

A woman with an alluring figure and silky black hair that danced in the wind stood on deck.

She lowered the spyglass from her eyes and stared at the paper or letter in her hands.

"Thank God, he’s safe..." she murmured as she pressed the paper to her chest.

"That man was right..."

"I didn’t expect to lose you so suddenly, my dear..." she whispered with a voice filled with bitterness.

"At least our son Marcus is still alive, you must have protected him well..."