Chapter 189

“That’s Company B! And that’s Company A!
The delays were disconcerting; everything in sight was either very expensive or unobtainable, including dining tables, TVs, etc.
‘This is all… fake? Fake?’
At first, I thought it was fake.
“No…
But not now.
“Is Ming Hu alive?
Isn’t delay a blessing in disguise? I thought to myself. Ming Hu had the ability to make as much money as Delay, if not more.
Jumbled
“Oh my gosh, those strawberries look so delicious, ho ho ho.”
At that moment, Ming Hu’s mom came out of the kitchen with the strawberries that Jie Yi had bought. With a smile on her face, she took the strawberries and placed them on the table. Then she looked at the furniture and paintings in the living room, including the sofa and table, and opened her mouth carefully.
“Hey, Mom. I was wondering…”
“Huh? Which one!”
“Is this… D’s 10th anniversary couch, right?”
“Oh my!”
Ming Hu’s mom looked surprised at Jie’s question. Then, with a wide smile on her face, she looked at Jianyi and said.
“These kids don’t know any better! Oh, you knew! That’s right, the D’s 10th anniversary couch.”
“Wow. There are only 100 of these in the world, and they’re so fluffy you’d never know they were made 30 years ago!”
“See? I wasn’t going to take it at first, but when I sat down, I loved it!”
Ming Hu’s mother’s words startled Jie Li a little.
“Did you get a gift?”
“Yeah, we know this guy at Company D. He knows someone. Ho ho ho.”
* * * * *
[The helmeted seahorse looks at you].
As Ming Hu walked toward the seahorse, he was stopped in his tracks by a sudden message. He turned to look at the seahorse.
“Is she looking at me?
One seahorse among many was staring at him. Ming Hu saw the walrus staring back at him and started walking again.
-Boo-roo-roo!
As Ming Hu took a step, the seahorse that had been staring at him let out a cry, and all the seahorses around him turned to look at him.
-Burrrrrrrrr!
-Boooooooooooo!
Then the seahorses began to run. Ming Hu saw the seahorses running toward him, and he opened his inventory and pulled out a heavy iron longsword.
“I need to buy some weapons.
His weapon, the completed Ogre Power Gauntlet, was now a glove rather than a weapon due to the current update. Ming Hu decided to finish this quest and match his weapons, so he swung his sword at the walrus that had come in front of him.
Squeak!
-Boo-roo-roo-roo…
A seahorse slashed by a sword, leaving behind a short terminal.
[You have killed Deren’s Seahorse, current kill count: 1]
[Helmeted Seahorses are enraged by the death of an ally, increasing their movement speed by 20%].
“What, kills are recorded?
Ming Hu couldn’t help but be a little puzzled by the message that appeared: the number of seahorses killed was being recorded.
-Boo-roo-roo!
-Boo-roo-roo!
The helmeted seahorses struck at Ming Hu, who was slightly taken aback. Ming Hu continued to swing his sword at the seahorses as they charged at him.
[You have killed Deren’s Seahorse, current kill count: 2]
.
.
[You have killed Deren’s Seahorse, current kill count: 10]
“There were 10 of them.
Soon, after killing all the seahorses, Ming Hu smiled at the quieter atmosphere around him and checked to see if any items had been dropped by the seahorses.
“…the seahorse is a beggar.
He’d caught ten of them, but not a single item had dropped. Ming Hu frowned slightly as he walked away.
[The helmeted seahorse looks at you].
After a while, the message made Ming Hu stop walking and look around. In the distance, he could see a seahorse looking back at him. Ming Hu resumed walking.
-Burururur!
The seahorse that had been gazing at Ming Hu with him let out a cry, and the seahorses around him turned to look at him.
-Bruhruhruh
-Bururururur!
It wasn’t long before the seahorses started running.
Sigh
Ming Hu saw the charging seahorses and picked up his heavy iron longsword again and began to swing.
[You have killed Deren’s Seahorse, current kill count: 11]
.
.
[You have killed Deren’s Seahorse, current kill count: 20]
[You have killed 20 seahorses of Deren].
[Derren is intrigued by your presence].
“…?
After killing all ten of the seahorses that rushed at him, Ming Hu shook his head at the message that appeared when he caught the last one.
“Curious?
The boss monster here, Deren, has taken an interest in you.
“Is this a conditional boss that only comes out if you catch a lot?
Based on the message, it seems that the boss monster here, Deren, is a conditional boss that requires you to fulfill a special condition to appear.
“So I should just keep catching seahorses.
It looked like he would have to keep catching seahorses to meet Deren. Ming Hu opened the quest window to check the quest.
<The Stagnation of Rumors
One day, men who traveled to the coast of Vedrin to collect coral began to disappear. Viscount Samon found this strange and sent investigators to the coast of Vedrin, but they too disappeared. When this became known, rumors began to circulate that a monster had appeared on the shores of Vedrin. Viscount Samon himself believes there is something to it. Travel to the shores of Vedrin and find out what it is!
Difficulty Level: C
Quest Reward: 20 Top Grade Red Coral
Currently, the quest from Viscount Samon could be completed by simply reporting to him.
'The next quest is… "Kill Derren.
Reporting his identity and learning of Deren's existence would not be the end of the quest. There would be a quest to follow, and that quest would most likely be to kill Deren.
"Let's catch them early and break them in one blow.
Ming Hu closed the quest window. He started walking again in search of the seahorse.
[The armored seahorse looks at you].
"Armored seahorse?
The next message made Ming Hu look around. Not far away, an armored seahorse stared back at him.
"…there was a kind.
The helmeted seahorse wasn't the only one in Deren's garden. Ming Hu began to approach the armored seahorse with a smile on his face.
-Boooooooooo!
As Ming Hu approached, the armored seahorse shouted, and the armored seahorses around him came to the armored seahorse who had shouted and stood in a line to face Ming Hu.
"…?
Ming Hu looked at the armored seahorse with a puzzled expression at its different reaction from the helmeted seahorse, and frowned at its subsequent behavior.
-Boooooooooo!
-Boooooooooo!
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
A dangerous-looking bubble of air began to fly out of the armored seahorse's mouth. Without missing a beat, the bubble flew toward Ming Hu and exploded.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Ming Hu checked his health. As expected, he had nothing to worry about. Ming Hu began to approach the armored seahorses, which continued to blow air bubbles.
Squeak!
Soon arriving in front of the armored seahorse, Ming Hu immediately swung his sword.
-Boohoo…
[You have killed Deren's Seahorse, current kill count: 21]
The armored seahorse collapsed and a message appeared.
'It's stacking up. That's good'
He wondered what if they didn't stack, but fortunately, both the armored and helmeted seahorses seemed to stack. Tearing his gaze away from the message, Ming Hu swung his sword at the armored seahorse that was blowing air bubbles right in front of him.
[You have killed Deren's Seahorse, current kill count: 22]
.
.
[You have killed Deren's Seahorse, current kill count: 30]
[You have killed 30 seahorses of Deren].
[Derren feels a little angry at your presence].
"What's the next 20 or so fish to go?
First it was curiosity, now it was anger. It may have said sneakily, but anger is anger. Thinking that it would probably appear in the next twenty or so kills, Myung-hoo smiled and checked to see if any items had dropped.
"Huh? Did you drop it?
He didn't think it would, but to his surprise, this Armored Seahorse dropped an item. Ming Hu reached for the blue orb that had dropped.
-You have acquired Deren's Orb.
"…Deren's orb?
Ming Hu quickly checked the information on the beads.

When used, resets the number of seahorses killed.
‘…Oh, so you hunted while resetting with this.’
After checking the information on the orb, Myung-Hoo remembered Weol-Cha and Luna.
“Better to have it, right?
Ming Hu had no intention of using the orb, but he thought he might need it someday, so he put it in his inventory. Then he started moving again in search of the seahorse.
[The armored seahorse looks at you].
Soon enough, Ming Hu found the message and looked around. Sure enough, an armored seahorse was staring back at him. Ming Hu quickly began to kill the armored seahorse.
“There are 10 of them again. Is there always 10 of them?
I didn’t encounter many, but there were 10 of each, both helmeted and armored seahorses.
Squeak
-BulkRule…
The last walrus died, and a message began to appear.
[You have killed Deren’s Hippocampus, current kill count: 40]
[You have killed 40 seahorses of Deren].
[Derren felt anger at your presence].
“…huh?
But Ming Hu couldn’t pay attention to the message.
Siaak
A magic circle appeared at Ming Hu’s feet, and soon sparks of electricity began to fly from it.
“…Spark?
I wasn’t mistaken; it was definitely a spark of electricity. A tingle of excitement began to run down my sparking foot.
Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
At the same time, electricity began to emanate from the circle of magic, and a message appeared.
[You’ve been electrocuted. All speeds are reduced by 70%].
Ming Hu frowned when he saw the message.
“What the hell.
Is this some kind of magic circle?
“Let’s get out of the way.
Ming Hu slowly began to walk out of the magic circle. With his speed reduced by 70%, it took him quite a while to get out.
Siaak
The magic circle that had been spewing electricity disappeared as soon as Ming Hu broke free. Ming Hu looked at the spot where the magic circle had been and thought to himself.
“Deren?
The electric circle was clearly the work of Deren, the boss monster here. Ming Hu checked to see how much of his health had been drained by the electric circle.
“…huh?
After checking his vitals, Ming Hu couldn’t help but panic.