"What do you mean I have to pay a gold coin to board the ship?"
"My ship, my rules. And I won't allow you to board until you pay a gold coin, human."
"If you don't like that, you can go to another ship."
I feel my blood boiling with anger.
"How can I go to another ship if all the other ships are full?"
"That's your problem, not mine."
I can't control myself as I see the annoying smile decorating the face of the bald, wrinkled, blue-skinned bastard.
But realizing that I'll definitely die if I can't board the ship, I grit my teeth while emptying everything in my bag.
"This is all I have. It must be worth a gold coin, isn't it? After all, it's hard to find books on chemistry."
The damn bastard's smile widens as his narrow, snake-like eyes scrutinize the copper coins and books I offered him, ignoring everyone else boarding the ship without being asked for a fare.
"Hmmm, let me see... 34 copper coins, one silver coin, and five books for learning the basics of chemistry... hmmmm, I think this will suffice as the price for your passage."
"Hoooff... Finally."
I sigh in relief, ready to finish boarding the last ship that still had room for more passengers.
'I will never forget this bastard, and I will take revenge on him one day, even if not in this cycle.'
Vowing a harsh revenge against the blue dwarf one day, I continue boarding the ship.
"Hey, wait, human."
"What is it now?"
Before I can even react, I feel a sharp pain in my stomach, followed by a viscous, hot liquid burning my skin like acid.
"Aaaaaah... ugh."
"Hehehehehehe, did you really think I would allow a dirty human to board my ship?"
Feeling a horrific pain in every part of my body, even feeling as if acid is seeping into my mouth and burning me from the inside,
I hear the mocking laughter of the blue dwarf.
"Ugh... ughhh... haah."
Unable to open my mouth due to the pain, I begin swimming towards the shore.
Luckily, the shore was close, as I had only fallen into the shallow water near the beach.
"Cough... cough... cough... aaah."
Feeling the pain fade as I emerge from the sea of pain, and the smell of decaying corpses intensifies,
I can't stop the reflexive reaction from my stomach as I start vomiting.
"Blergh..."
"Akhh... that damned bastard."
Trying to compose myself as I stare at the departing ships,
I feel my heart boiling with hatred and anger.
"When I catch you, you son of a bitch, I will flay your skin and make you eat your own dick..."
Cursing the blue bastard at the top of my voice, I begin to feel something strange in the atmosphere.
"Is the density of spiritual energy rising?"
"This... this... I've seen this before!"
Noticing the rise in spiritual energy density, which was barely perceptible before, to a degree that begins to press on my body as if gravity has increased, I remember where I felt this sensation before.
"Song Jin... No, not just Song Jin, but even the Sect Leader when he was serious."
"This is the pressure of a Foundation Establishment expert!"
Realizing this terrifying truth, I begin to tremble as I remember the nightmare that was the end of the previous cycle.
"Could it be that I was right, and this fog is because of Song Jin?"
While trembling in place from terror, a strange and horrifying sound echoes through the atmosphere.
"Woooooooooooooooooooo"
"..!"
My eyes widen in horror at the bizarre sight unfolding.
A giant form covered in green mist erupts from the sea, smashing one of the ships of Ras Al-Hoot Island's fleet in half.
"Woooooooooooooooo"
The unknown monster continues destroying the wooden ships without the slightest resistance.
"Hahahahahahaha"
Even with the horror and bizarreness of the sight, I can only laugh, remembering the damned bastard who refused to let me board his ship.
"Hahahahaha cough cough cough"
As all the ships are destroyed, the green mist thickens, the corpse smell intensifies, and even the sound of the unknown being grows louder.
"Woooooooooooooooo"
"Cough... cough... that thing..."
Despite the increasing thickness of the green mist, I manage to notice something appearing on the horizon.
Within the endless stream of green mist, a beautiful reddish-orange light appears, resembling the light of sunset.
And in the center of this sunset light is the upper half of a being, split into two parts. The upper part of its body is crucified on a long wooden pole, leaving its entrails dangling freely.
It resembles Li Chen and Yi Kuang from the previous cycle.
With the appearance of the crucified form, a strange feeling of weakness envelops my body as the smell of decaying corpses increases to an unreasonable degree.
"Is this my end?"
As I stare at the crucified form within the sunset,
I feel cold.