The most important factor in strengthening one's forces is the players.

When weaklings clash, nothing is more certain than the power of numbers.

‘It’s impossible to wield a strong player who can take on a hundred opponents on my whim.’

Everyone has their purpose.
The strong’s time and the weak’s time, their values are different.
It’s a waste to use the strong for manual labor.

There are tasks that must be done.
Things necessary to keep the ship moving, but ones that are bothersome to do personally.

That’s why players aren’t killed, but turned into slaves.
The gains from killing an opponent are never great enough to justify it.

Miles, the leader of the 17th division, takes on such tasks.
He attacks the early islands and quickly turns the players who ascend to the 3rd floor into slaves.

‘And he enjoys it too...’

As Miles was chasing after fleeing players, he saw flames suddenly flare up and then die down on the mountain.

Securing a ship is an important task.
Whether you have a big ship or not makes a huge difference on the 3rd floor.

‘Honestly, I just need to find the coordinates.’

Building a ship and finding the coordinates.
These two sections make up the trials of the 3rd floor, and they can be condensed into one.

To do that, I need to execute my plan of stealing a ship.

I understood it in my head, but my heart wasn’t in it.
I didn’t know who these people were, so I was hesitant to move hastily.

But they had triggered my temper.
I couldn’t stand it.

Thud, tap, thud!

I descended the mountain path.
With my agility, I could run quite fast if I put my mind to it.

‘Helmet.’

Now that I knew they were bad people, I didn’t need to show my face.
I pulled the Secutor helmet out of my inventory and put it on.

It slightly obscured my vision, but it gave me a sense of security.
Any stat boost was a welcome benefit.

A large ship was anchored nearby.

Whoosh—!

An arrow flew and lodged itself under my feet.

Thunk—

A warning shot.
A chill ran down my spine.

What if they had aimed for my head?
I would have been dead before I could even speak.

“Who goes there!”

I activated Frozen Prison and aimed it at the Middle-Earth being targeting me from the bow of the ship.

Shhh—!

It was a sailing ship, so the distance was farther than expected, but it still reached.

[Willie (Middle-Earth) Soul absorbed.]
[Strength +0.01.]

Only a 0.01 increase again.
Why?
I didn’t know the reason, and it made me feel irritated and wasteful.

I pulled the Ice Spirit’s raft out of my inventory.
I rowed fiercely, making my way toward their ship.

“Fuck. What is this!”

“Clear this wall!”

“Willie!”

There was a commotion on the ship.
It seemed like they were startled by the Frozen Prison.

“Down below!”

“A madman’s coming!”

It was already too late.
I reached my hand out toward the ship.

‘Can’t I put it in my inventory?’

I focused all my will into my hand.

[You do not own ‘Skull 16th Division’s Miles No. 6.’]

I guess they had prevented tricks like mine.
To store a ship in my inventory, I needed to own it.

‘Of course. If this was possible, it would be ridiculous.’

Everyone would be stealing ships and running away.
It would turn into a ship-guarding game rather than treasure hunting.

Whoosh—!

How could I take the ship?
While I was thinking, a fireball suddenly flew up from above.

A fireball.
A fireball the size of a soccer ball was heading straight for me.

Since I was on a raft, there was no place to dodge nearby.
I could either jump into the sea or block it.

‘Frozen Prison is on cooldown.’

Blocking it was impossible.
Jumping into the sea was also not an option since I couldn’t swim.

‘I’ll take it head-on.’

The normal damage for Frozen Prison is estimated at 50.

That fireball?
It doesn’t seem stronger than Frozen Prison.

“Fuck. Die!”

Boom—!

The fireball hit my body.
Searing pain spread through my left arm.

I gritted my teeth and endured the pain.
What mattered was my health.

【130】

The damage from the fireball was 20.

The pain was hellish, but I could endure it.
I learned that as long as I didn’t take eight hits at once, I could survive.

“Fire!”

The problem was the follow-up attacks.
It seemed they didn’t think a single fireball would kill me, as they began shooting arrows wildly.

Arrows rained down.
It was impossible to dodge them all.

“This, why isn’t it hitting?”

“It hit. It just isn’t sticking!”

“What’s the durability...”

Normally, arrows wouldn’t stick into my body.

【124】

They just grazed and fell off.
But damage still came through.

‘When will Survival Instinct activate?’

The conditions were there.

[Level 4 Regeneration]

Everything had to be done in 3 seconds.
Otherwise, my health would start regenerating.

【150】

Only 3 seconds had passed.
But my health was at 150.

The opponent used mana to fire the fireball, but it was basically useless.

‘If I can’t possess it, I’ll destroy it.’

I had little information on the ownership mechanics.
In this situation, my options were limited.

One of those options?
Destroying the opponent’s ship.

I wielded the Golden Dagger and struck at the ship.

The durability of skills and equipment applies differently.
The durability of Frozen Prison felt like health.

But equipment durability is different.
It doesn’t follow the damage formula of skill damage.

The raft’s durability is 50, but that doesn’t mean it can be destroyed with 50 damage.

Bang—!

I struck the underside of the ship.
It didn’t look like I made any impact.

Well, how hard could I hit with a punch?
I’m just an Earthling.

Bang—! Bang—!

The advantage of an F-rank skill is that, unlike other skills, it has no cooldown.
It’s weak, but other species wouldn’t even give it a glance.

‘I’m not like that.’

The damage for a heavy strike is 150% of physical damage.
For me, it’s 10 times that.

A simple mechanism can be overwhelmingly powerful in certain situations.
For example, when the target is foolishly standing still.

‘Just like this.’

I repeatedly struck the ship.
To avoid the barrage of arrows, I activated Frozen Prison above my head.

Shhh—

The rapid strikes continued.
Heavy strike barrage.

Boom—Boom—Boom!

The battle between humans and the ship didn’t last long.

“F-Fuck. What the hell!”

“The ship is breaking!”

“Jump overboard!”

I used Survival Instinct and quickly trained my forearm muscles.
It was a huge help.

The large ship, which I had to look up at, was collapsing.
I took in the spectacle with my own eyes.

Of course, I didn’t forget to distance myself.
It might capsize, so I hurriedly rowed away.

Splash—!

The ship, which had been a ship just a moment ago, slowly tilted and split in half.

Splash—!

The people who had been on the ship fell into the sea.
They clung to the wreckage, showing off their swimming skills.

Whizz—

I sniped them one by one with Blinding Poison Needle.

[Alex (Middle-Earth) Soul absorbed.]
[Strength +0.01.]

The advantage of the skill is that it always hits when activated.
The accuracy is corrected, you could say.

I had never used poison needles before, so it wasn’t normal for me to hit so well.
Normally, I would miss every shot.

But Blinding Poison Needle doesn’t miss.
It’s a skill, so it’s guaranteed.

Whizz—

The cooldown for Blinding Poison Needle is 10 seconds.

[Elena (Citizen) Soul absorbed.]
[Wisdom +0.01.]

Every 10 seconds, someone dies.

“P-Please, save me!”

It must have been terrifying for them.

“Please!”

They began begging.

‘They were shooting arrows earlier. And now they beg.’

If they had tried talking to me, I might have shown mercy with a wide heart.

But they didn’t even attempt to converse.
The moment they saw me, they drew their bows.

‘What if I were a weak Earthling?’

I would have died from the arrows.
I wouldn’t have even had the chance to plead for my life.

Whizz—

[Palace (Middle-Earth) Soul absorbed.]
[Agility +0.01.]

One down, row the boat.
Another down, row the boat.

I harvested their souls while destroying the pirate ship.

“Stop him!”

They tried to stop me, but they couldn’t.
Dealing 150 damage in one blow wasn’t as easy as it seemed.

Boom—Boom—Boom—!

The ship was destroyed.
The people tumbled off.

I launched Blinding Poison Needle again.
For those who gathered, I used Frozen Prison.

Stats went up.
A question arose.

‘Is the stat increase from soul absorption fixed?’

I had killed quite a few, but it only increased by 0.01 each time.
There was no change.

At this point, I had to assume there were conditions for soul absorption.

“Fuck you!”

I heard a shout from the beach.
A man wearing a pirate hat was glaring at me with a red face.

“Kill that bastard! We don’t need him as a slave. Kill him right now!”

The leader.
It was clear that he was the leader.

‘...There’s something about that hat.’

Earlier, there had been a man from Blanco’s team wearing a similar hat.

‘Ownership.’

A lightning bolt struck my mind.

I didn’t have much time to think.
The opposing leader had summoned and fired a cannon.

Looking at the trajectory, dodging was impossible.
Skill.

I quickly activated Frozen Prison in front of the raft.

Boom—!
【9,903】

I checked how much durability had been reduced.
It was a strong skill, so I was surprised.

‘The ice wall doesn’t have durability, so even though it takes all the skill damage...’

At least it’s at D-rank.
But I’m not one to be afraid.

I trusted Frozen Prison and rowed my boat.
This time, instead of moving forward, I headed toward the beach.

‘That guy might lower my stats even more.’

My heart was full of hope.