Max Talent Player

“There are no waterdrakes,” said Naphthan.

Hyukjin’s Eye of Perception couldn’t sense anything at all. The worst-case scenario was this: after feeding off the Endless Sky’s mana, the waterdrakes evolved into new beings, creatures so strong they transcended detection by the whalekin or Hyukjin’s Eye of Perception. A being like a dragon, for instance.

‘If that was the case, they wouldn’t have just let us be.’

If the worst-case scenario were true, there was no point in trying to calculate or prepare. It would be the end. He decided not to consider the worst-case scenario, since there was no countermeasure anyway.

Natalie tilted her head.

“Maybe they knew we were coming back and ran away?”

“That’s unlikely. If they were going to do that, they wouldn’t have come to the Endless Sky in the first place.”

Hyukjin looked around.

‘The Endless Sky 500 years ago and the Endless Sky now. The waterdrakes that existed in the past. The waterdrakes that don’t exist now.’

Hyukjin asked, “Were there only whalekin in the Endless Sky originally?”

“Yeah, that’s right. The Endless Sky was the nest of the whalekin! Right, Dad?”

Naphthan stroked Natalie’s head.

“So that means 500 years ago, before the waterdrakes came, there were no lifeforms here other than the whalekin.”

“That is correct, Sword Pactee.”

Hyukjin noticed something strange.

“Were the waterdrakes such high-level creatures?”

Hyukjin had seen for his own eyes how the Steel Wyverns that fell into the Sea of Clouds shrank, transforming into mana crystals. Darongi had pocketed the entire catch; the mana crystals sparkling in his Inventory were proof of that.

‘Waterdrakes are a subspecies of dragon, yes, but they can’t be that much stronger than a wyvern.’

The Steel Wyverns disappeared as soon as they fell into the Sea of Clouds, leaving only mana crystals behind.

‘But this place is roiling with even more horrifying mana than the Sea of Clouds.’

If he hadn’t gotten the temporary Whale Physique trait from the Whalekin’s Blessing, he wouldn’t have been able to survive here.

“If you think about it, it’s weird. Why aren’t there any other creatures than the whalekin here?”

“You’re right…”

Only after the passage of 500 years did Naphthan realize something was strange. Hyukjin continued.

“It’s because the mana here is overly clean.”

Fish could not survive in water that was too clear.

“I was also almost consumed by the mana.”

This place might be heaven for the whalekin, but for other creatures, it was hell.

“But the waterdrakes came here.”

He didn’t know how many paths to the Endless Sky there were. But even the extremely powerful whalekin struggled to swim all this way. Then what about the waterdrakes?

“And you’re telling me the same waterdrakes breathed here and chased you guys out?”

In a place with mana like this?

“No matter how you think of it, it’s strange.”

“Yes, now that you say so, it’s indeed strange.”

“Before I pointed it out, none of you thought it was strange.”

The whalekin were a race that had little need of thinking. They had no natural enemies and no hunger to worry about. All they needed to do was float along and simply live. But even considering that, this was odd.

“It’s strange that the waterdrakes were able to come here at all, and it’s strange that they were able to survive here. And it’s even more strange that no one noticed that it was strange. Am I right?”

“You… are.”

“For something as strange as this, there had to have been some outside influence.”

It wasn’t something that could naturally occur.

‘I… already know about the unknown being who is cultivating Predator Trees.’

Before, it would have never in a thousand years occurred to him that the Predator Trees he knew were all cultivated by someone’s hand. But now, he knew that to be true.

‘Then there could be another unknown being raising waterdrakes.’

If that being used something like large-scale Cognitive Dissonance, it would somewhat explain this phenomenon.

‘Someone’s active involvement.’

Then who, exactly, was that someone? Somehow, he could guess who it was. There was someone who had been setting this stage starting 500 years ago.

“Someone called me here.”

“Who?”

“His name among humans is the Demon King. The issue is, I think this is a special field you can’t reach by normal means.”

This was a place permitted solely to the whalekin, a truly unique place that only ‘special beings’ like Isabel knew.

“Getting here is already nearly impossible, but the bigger problem is that if I hadn’t come here prepared, my body would have disintegrated.”

Without the Whalekin’s Blessing, he would be long dead.

“So we can say with certainty that I needed the help of the whalekin to get here.”

“Yes. That does seem to be the case.”

“What if you guys were in the Endless Sky?”

Then Hyukjin would have no quest from the whalekin, and therefore no Whalekin’s Blessing to receive as a reward. He would have no chance to get a quest from them in the first place.

‘So the Demon King sent these guys into the Sea of Clouds.’

Now, he was certain.

‘The Demon King is not a Player.’

This would be impossible if he was. From the very start, he was not a Player, but an ‘unknown existence’.

“He sent you guys down to the Sea of Clouds, and as a result, I became acquainted with you, which allowed me to survive and breathe in this environment.”

Naphtha nodded.

“Your reasoning does sound right. It seems we’ve been used.”

The whalekin didn’t seem very angry after hearing that. It was seriously hard to tell what things aroused their anger and what didn’t. It seemed to Hyukjin that they didn’t get angry about anything, as long as it wasn’t about marriage.

“Then there’s only one important thing.”

Why? Why did the Demon King plan things like this 500 years ago in order to call him here? Why did the Demon King call a Player like himself to this special field peacefully inhabited by only the whalekin? The Demon King had even mentioned the ‘Endless Sky’ by name.

“There should be something here that you guys—the whalekin and the Demon King—can’t do by yourselves. What might that be?”

There was something the whalekin and Demon King could not do here in the Endless Sky, so he, a human, was summoned.

“Something we cannot do…”

Naphthan fell into thought. Something impossible for the whalekin, something they couldn’t do in the Endless Sky.

Natalie’s hand shot up.

“Dad! There’s that one thing you said all the time 250 years ago.”

“What was it again?”

“You said that if I don’t listen to you, the mana hole will get me.”

“Ah.” Naphthan seemed to remember something. “That’s right, the mana hole. That’s a thing.”

Hyukjin smiled. The puzzle pieces were coming together.

“What is a mana hole, exactly?”

* * *

* * *

The mana hole was a black hole-like thing in the Endless Sky. According to the whalekin, it existed at the ‘center of the Endless Sky’, and any whalekin that were sucked in were never seen again.

“Of course, we can feel the energy of the mana hole from afar.”

So in truth, there were very few whalekin who were sucked into the mana hole.

“A setting that swallows whalekin, huh,” Hyukjin mumbled. This field had such a setting. “Would it be possible to go within its vicinity?”

“Mm.”

Naphthan thought for a moment before answering. “I can bring you to the point where it’s still safe.”

“Let’s go then. To the mana hole.”

“It could be dangerous. We are whalekin, but…”

“I know. I know that I’m a human.”

He was innately far weaker than the whalekin. Even if he was high leveled and became a super top Ranker, he would probably still be weaker than the whalekin. The two races began at an entirely different starting point.

“But I think this is a fight between settings.”

That was why the Demon King went to the trouble of using tricks 500 years ago to bring him, a human and a Player, all this way.

“Oh, right.” Before heading to the mana hole, he had to get what he was owed. “Where is your guys’ treasure?”

“Ah. One of our kind has gone to fetch it. It is hidden in the treasure reef.”

They waited. From afar, approached a white light. It was one of the whalekin, and in their hand was a small box called the ‘Treasure of the Whalekin’.

[Distributing the ‘Treasure of the Whalekin’ as a clear reward.]

[Treasure of the Whalekin]

?

He couldn’t check the contents of the box, which was golden and glowed with colorful light.

Hyukjin stowed the treasure in his Inventory, then intentionally said aloud, “I predict this is a scenario where two settings will clash, so this treasure may very well be of great help to me.”

Isabel, who had been unusually quiet, spoke up.

“That item. Give it to me for a moment.”

“The treasure?”

“Yeah.”

Isabel took the box, then closed her eyes. It looked like she was investigating the item.

Some time later, Isabel opened her eyes.

“Whale children. Do you know what this treasure is?”

“It is something we have guarded as our treasure for generations.”

“I’m asking if you know about its use.”

“...”

Hyukjin internally snorted in bewilderment. The whalekin were truly a race that didn’t think much. For them, a treasure was a treasure, no questions asked. It was true that they didn’t need to think, but still, it was a wonder how they could be so oblivious.

Hyukjin asked, “Why? Do you know what this is?”

“It is too lacking of the smell of the whalekin to be called the whalekin’s treasure.”

“Does that mean it’s not their treasure then?”

“--- --- ----.”

Isabel spoke, but Hyukjin wasn’t able to understand what she said. He reframed the question.

“Isabel. In your opinion, is this item something I can keep?”

In that moment—

Isabel disappeared.

He saw her with his eyes, but his brain failed to process the information. She either nodded or shook her head, but no matter how much he strained his eyes, he could not see her. He could also not hear her voice.

‘System interference.’

The System prevented him from not only hearing her, but also seeing her.

“Guess that means I need to make the choice, in the end.”

Hyukjin snatched away the ‘treasure’ in Isabel’s hand. He did so on purpose.

‘If whatever is in here is harmful to me, Isabel wouldn’t have let me take it so easily.’

She had more than enough skill to keep him from taking it, but she had allowed him to grab it. That meant it wasn’t deleterious.

“Let’s go to the mana hole.”

“I think it would be best to go into my mouth for a moment.”

Hyukjin thought that was better, too. The whalekin were so massive that there was nothing for him to grab. Being carried in Naphthan’s mouth was the best way.

Naphthan revealed his true form—a giant white whale, a noble being with a soft white glow. Hyukjin was sucked into Naphthan’s mouth, and time passed. He heard a voice.

“I will slowly spit you out.”

It seemed they had arrived. Hyukjin’s body moved on its own again, pulled by an irresistible force.

“Huh?”

Hyukjin lost balance, and he began to get sucked away.