CH 10

The trophies were large clams and their pearls located in the middle of the cliff. Yet, they were only a few, and most of them were hiding in secluded places, but none of them could stay out of Yongno’s sight since he was blinded by money. 

/Warning. The high-pressure underwater is damaging your body!/

/Your status has been updated: 'Serious Injury.'/

Did I dive too deep? 

Yongno didn’t perform Body Strengthening since he was already consuming a lot of internal energy on Enhanced Eyesight and diving. Plus, he had to put as much strain on his body as he could to increase his maximum health. This reckless way of cultivation could tear his body apart, so Yongno wouldn’t use it outside the game, but in the world of D.I.O, overtaxing his strength was likely to make him much stronger.

Hmm, my internal energy is draining out, so should I return to the surface now?

Yongno checked the soil near the clam to see if it was firm, then he opened the bag on his back. It was a woven container, made of water buffalo that he got as a Drop and seaweed. He didn’t know the name of this marine plant, but it was as sturdy as a thick rope. Inside the bag were three large stones.

THUD!

Yongno took out one of the stones and put it on the surface of the soil, next to the clam. It was a sort of indication and pendulum of how deep he had dived. Once he placed the stone down, his body began to slowly rise from deep water. 

I’ve reached 500 meters, but the water pressure is indeed too high. If I don't perform Body Strengthening, it would be too hard to go down deeper.

/Your status has been updated: 'Minor Injury.'/

The closer he came to the surface, the lower the water pressure. Yongno was astonished to see his body condition quickly getting better.

Well, it seems like I already have a beast-like body. 

He was almost 500 meters below the ocean surface without any protective equipment. Besides, he barely reached 40 HP. Even if he added 50 points to health by applying the title buff, Yongno would still have less than 100 HP. 

And didn't Mari tell him that the user's stats were doubled in their effects starting from 100 points? If having 90 health points were this powerful, how overwhelming would Yongno become if he gained 500-600 health points? He could go out into space naked or get just a few scratches from a gunshot. 

Splash.

Yongno didn't want to get injured again from a sudden change of water pressure, so he came up to the surface at a slow pace. When he finally got out of the water, a message appeared before his eyes.

/Your HP, Regen, and Spiritual Power have all increased by 1 point!/

/You have reached Rank 3 in Swimming!/

/You have gained the title of Master-Level Swimmer!/

/You have gained a special ability - Water-friendly!/

"Geez, I've earned another special ability when I’m still unclear of what the special ability 'Diving' is.”

Yongno was constantly developing his skills. Enhanced Eyesight was his second most improved skill after Swimming, which had already reached Rank 5 and provided him the Telescopic Vision and Aura Vision. In fact, Yongno could use both visions even before he reached the current rank. Telescopic Vision was the ability to see things from a distance up close, while Aura Vision was a technique to read and view the invisible energy of objects. 

Yongno knew how to dive, but once he gained the Diving skill, he could much extend his dive time. Likewise, Yongno could roughly use the two vision skills ever since he began to perform Enhanced Eyesight, but he could see further and reduce more of his internal energy consumption when he actually gained these skills. 

"Weird. Both Swimming and Enhanced Eyesight are progressing so quickly, but what about the rest of the skills? Why aren't they going up?"

However, it was no surprise since Yongno seldom used other skills except for Swimming and Enhanced Eyesight. Body Strengthening was his second most frequently used skill, which had barely reached Rank 7; it made him gain Adding Strength which was an ability to strengthen his muscles when using Body Strengthening.

Mari murmured, "You have no idea how challenging it is for other users to reach Rank 7 outside the game..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing. You're doing great."

"...?" Yongno couldn’t understand what Mari was trying to say.

Nonetheless, Mari uttered, "Never mind. Just come here and have some fruits. I traveled farther inland to get these.”

"Oh, thanks, but let me first dry myself for a second. I don’t mind having sand on my skin, but I can’t stand being wet and dripping water when I'm grilling meat..."

Splash.

At that moment, something unbelievable happened. Before Yongno finished his words, the moisture on his body slipped down on the ground at a stroke. His damp hair was neatly dried, and there weren’t any drops of water on his skin. Even his pants had become dry and soft.

"... What is going on...?" asked Yongno.

Mari explained, "That's the power of the special ability 'Water-friendly' that you just earned. You can now control water as you want. It's called 'Attributes' which is also on the stats window."

"Attributes..."

Yongno then grabbed his left ear for two seconds to open the stats window.

"Water has reached 40 points. Is that high?" asked Yongno.

Mari replied, "Somewhat. If a certain attribute becomes 100 points, the user can take control of that attribute. You're almost halfway there. Currently, you won't be able to full control it, but 40 points will be enough to handle water as you please. Plus, the attribute of water is of the yin energy, dark and cold, so you'll be able to withstand the cold. If it's like -100 degrees Celsius, that’s kind of hard to endure, but you won't freeze to death even if you sleep naked on the snow."

It was quite a benefit for Yongno. He had been using his Internal Energy to warm up his body since the deeper he dived, the colder he felt. Thanks to the Gold Core Immortal Technique, Yongno could circulate his qi all day, or else, he would have suffered from the cold temperature underwater.

"Let's see... Wow?" Yongno exclaimed, stretching out his hand. 

The absorbed seawater in the sand rose up like soap bubbles, then stopped in the air. Yongno stood still and watched the beads of water, then he clenched his fist. Following his gesture, the water bubbles turned into a two fist sized-water marble. Yongno then struck his hand down. 

BAM!

At that moment, the sand splattered with fearful rapidity, and a 3-meter deep crater appeared in front of Yongno. Although it happened on the sandy beach, the explosion was extremely powerful. Despite this, Yongno collapsed on the ground with a headache before he exclaimed, Awesome! I can use this for aggression!

/Warning. Your body is injured by the use of too much force! Thank god you aren't dead!/

/Your status has been updated: 'Close to Death!'/

"Eh? Close to death?"

Yongno blinked swiftly in bewilderment. He couldn’t even move his finger an inch since he was close to death, a status between Fatal Injury and Death. It indicated that a user's body was temporarily too damaged to activate, which was like being poisoned or cursed.

Mari clicked her tongue at Yongno who had collapsed on the ground.

"Pfft, why are you behaving so reckless when you have less than 30 Willpower points? Although you have a high attribute, if your stats don't support it, your health conditions will be messed up," said Mari.

Yongno asked, "Why didn't you tell me earlier...?"

"I had no chance to explain it."

"I’ve wondered what Willpower was, and now I seem to be aware of it. Does it affect the maximum amount of force I can release at once?"

Nodding, Mari added, "Precisely speaking, it's the ability to control your spiritual power. It's a little different from our concept of willpower, which is about enduring tough things."

"Hmm, then the reason why it's been going up little by little is that I've got more control of it. I've been thinking what's the judging criteria for it to increase... Eh?"

A message suddenly appeared.

/Your Willpower has increased by 3 points!/

Yongno's grim expression lit up like a Christmas tree. His Willpower had increased not only by 2 points but 3 at once. It was such an amazing way to cultivate his abilities. 

"Whoa, this is insane! The skill, Water-friendly, is incredible in many ways," shouted Yongno.

Mari snorted, "Yeah yeah. If you moved just one step forward, you would have died, instead of being 'Close to Death', so in that case, it’s incredible.” 

/Your status has been updated: 'Fatal Injury!'/

Once he recovered from his dying condition, Yongno was able to move a little. He flipped himself and laid on the ground on his back. 

"Ugh... the system here makes me feel less painful, but the stinging sensation is awful. How long does it take for me to recover?" asked Yongno.

Mari replied, "You weren’t heavily injured, so a two-hour break should bring you back to normal."

"What? That's too long!"

It was too long for Yongno to just lay down on the beach and do nothing in the middle of the game, but Mari looked apathetic.

She uttered, "Then just log out. Your body will go into recovery mode."

Logging out from a game worked effectively in any circumstances; it was the best way for users to save their lives. Not to mention, if the user stayed logged out for more than a day, they could fully heal their bodies as long as they weren’t dead. 

Even when players were under a curse or exposed to poison, they could make them ineffective by logging out from the game. Thus, players could hardly die unless they were killed instantly.  

Yongno uttered, "But I have nothing to do when I log out."

"..."

"Eh? Uh, hold on... Don't get me wrong..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Ugh, please don't look at me so miserably..." murmured Yongno. He felt like his status was returning to 'Close to Death' from 'Fatal Injury'. Shortly after, he realized that he could move.

/Your status has been updated: 'Serious Injury!'/

"Eh? I'm getting better this quickly?" he exclaimed.

Yongno sat straight, feeling lighter. His body looked normal and was ready to play the game again, but his status was still 'Serious Injury'.

Mari explained, "It's because you're having a temporary injury."

"Temporary injury?"

"Uh-huh. If you lose your arm, that's a serious injury, but all you have is an injured arm, so as long as you stop the bleeding, there's no problem moving your body. Oppa, right now, you've exercised the power way beyond your level, which eventually damaged your Willpower. It's the same as having brain damage. However, the injured site controls Spiritual Power, and not the part that handles motor nerves or thinking. It’s also the core part of controlling spiritual power in the Spirit Body."

Yongno's eyes widened at Mari's explanation.