He and Wilson sat by the rudder at the rear of the catamaran. Their sights were set on the future as a light swell slapped the hull of the boat and a stiff wind filled the sail. Timber creaked, and rigging groaned while salt spray coated Darren, cooling him briefly before the tropical sun evaporated the water and left behind the salt to crust his skin.
Endless ocean stretched in all directions, vast and free, filled with life and teeming with adventure. The deep, impenetrable blue of the water contrasted the cerulean sky.
Long-winged birds flew far above, distant white specks making for land. A pod of dolphins chittered as they played in Boaty McHouseboat’s wake.
“—and that’s how I got the exploit, Supercharged Shot,” Darren said, wrapping up the story of how he’d died. “I still have it. Whichever god it was who saved me—Poseidon, I assume—managed to find a way for me to keep it despite Themis being very against me getting the skill in the first place.”
Wilson kept a hand on his bowler to keep it from blowing away. “So lemme get dis straight. You spent your life breakin’ worlds, and finally a god caught up with you and smote you?”
Darren see-sawed his head. “I guess? To be fair, I’ve never run up against a god so powerful as Themis. Gods like her are usually heavily restricted and unable to access someone from my world’s neural interface. Let alone forcefully DC them.”
“Will your world try punish us for that?”
“I’ve been wondering that, actually,” Darren said as he rubbed his chin in thought. “I suspect there’s too much money riding on them being able to successfully send people here for them to fold and say it’s too dangerous. There’ll be an army of lawyers hard at work finding loopholes while their PR team comes up with a plausible story for my situation. They’ll find some little detail and pin the whole thing on me—I didn’t disclose a health issue or some BS.”
“Won’t yer family push back? I mean, that’s grounds to burn the place down.”
Darren scoffed. “Hardly. They thought I wasted my time, even before they disowned me while telling everyone that it was me who cut them all off. This will likely let them bury me in peace and maintain the facade of how deeply they cared about their poor, lost boy. I don’t doubt that Forbidden Worlds Gaming will give them a tidy little payout to ensure they remain peaceable and don’t… rock the boat.”
They lapsed into silence for a while. Darren enjoyed the crisp morning wind, despite it constantly blowing his hair into his eyes. He couldn’t wait for a haircut.
After a few more minutes, he pulled up his in-game map. It didn’t have much to show in this area, as he hadn’t seen a physical map to collect information from. There was at least a marker indicating the direction of Isla Cascadura, so they were currently headed that way.
“Um. Darren?” Wilson said.
The hint of trepidation in the coconut’s voice snapped Darren’s attention from his map. He shut it in an instant as he turned to Wilson.
“I don’t wanna alarm you,’ Wilson said, “but I fink we’re being followed.
Darren turned to follow Wilson’s pointing finger. For a moment, all he saw was the wake from their own boat. Then, about a hundred metres back, something smooth, dark, and glistening broke through the surface, barely above the swell. It dipped below, leaving nothing but a few whitecaps to mark its passing.
Darren sucked his teeth then said. “You wouldn’t awfully mind shimmying up the mast to see if you can spot an island we could swing by, eh? You know, to check for resources and all that.”
“Smashing idea,” Wilson said, scrambling toward the mast. “’S important to check erry island we come across. You never know what you’ll find.”
“Absolutely. Absolutely.” Darren didn’t take his eyes off the sea behind them.
Stolen story; please report.
A minute later, Wilson said, “I see an island!”
“Direction?” Darren called back. A notification pinged in his vision, and he opened it.
<<<<>>>>
New Location Pin
Wilson has shared a location with you. Would you like to add it to your map?
Yes. No.
<<<<>>>>
Darren chose yes and opened his map back up. The area around them was less shrouded in the fog of war; he could now see an island to their north-east, approximately five kilometres away. Looking in that direction, sure enough, he could barely see the peak of a mountain on the horizon. He angled the boat towards it, thankful that the wind was blowing due east, so they still had a solid wind at their backs.
It’d still take about 20-30 minutes to reach the island. He looked over his shoulder in time to see the ominous black shape breach the surface for a moment before vanishing again.
“Stay lookout, yeah?” Darren called up to Wilson.
“On it. Wha’ever is behind us is changin’ direction. It’s definitely following us.”
“Let’s hope that it dislikes the shallow water as we near the island.”
“Yeah…” Wilson said. “’Bout that.”
“Do I wanna know?”
“It’s gettin’ closer.”
Darren swore, craning his neck to try to see over the swell. He swallowed hard. A sea monster that size could utterly destroy their little boat. He’d seen a ship of the line try to take one on and barely make it out.
Of course, he’d then swung in with his 12-gun sloop and finished the ship off. That win had netted him several levels. All it’d taken was baiting the ship into a sea monster’s lair…
He briefly wondered if he could do the same again, but bait the sea monster toward a bigger fish.
“Wilson, you don’t happen to see any other large shapes in the water ahead of us, do you?”
There was a pause that spoke volumes before Wilson said, “Are you bloody insane?”
“Yes. But not about this. If we can bait two monsters together, they’re as likely to fight as go for us.”
“You wanna to go monster baitin’? We could get destroyed in the clash!”
“Just look, okay?” Darren said, trying to coax more speed from the diminutive boat. He glanced over his shoulder in time to catch a glimpse of the beast. It was probably only 80 metres away now. At this rate, it’d catch them shortly before they reached the island.
Seconds crept into minutes, making each one felt as Darren sweat his demise.
“There!” Wilson yelled.
“Where?”
A ping appeared on Darren’s map. A few hundred metres ahead and to starboard. He changed course, the boat slicing through waves as if it sensed his desperation.
“Can you tell what it is we’re sailing toward?” Darren called up to Wilson.
“No, but it’s moving pretty quick. In circles mostly.”
“Just keep the ping updated and pray for a miracle."
The next ten minutes were filled with jaw-clenching anxiety. The beast drew ever closer as they crept up on whatever monster lay ahead.
“Please let this work…” Darren muttered again. The phrase had become his mantra while his heart raced and his hands shook from adrenaline surging through his body.
“It’s comin’ for us!” Wilson yelled from atop the mast. “Da new monster is comin’ straight at us! 40 metres.”
Darren’s knuckles were white as he gripped the rudder, holding the course. They were so close to the island, but not close enough to make a break for it yet. A thunderous sound like a waterfall sounded behind him, and he looked back. The blood drained from his face.
The huge monstrosity behind them was only a dozen metres back, and was now rearing up, water sluicing from its glossy black hide, creating a wash that threatened to overtake the little boat.
It continued to rise until it towered 20 metres in the sky. It had to be absolutely ginormous to support that much weight above the water.
Hundreds of tentacles ran down the underside of the long, serpentine body, an oceanic centipede. Its face—if you could call it that—borrowed from the same centipede aesthetic. Two huge pincers around a thousand-toothed maw. Its dozen eyes seemed locked on Darren.
“Well,” Darren said, trying not to piss himself, “someone won the fugly jackpot…”
He focused on it, and its name appeared.
<<<<>>>>
Death Bringer
The name tells you everything you need to know about this ocean-going centipede. Stay away from it. If it becomes interested in you, just prepare to say hi to Davey Jones.
-
Level: 28
-
HP: 4,312
<<<<>>>>
Darren swallowed on seeing the level and the HP. Insta-death was at hand.
The Death Bringer launched towards them, its movements ponderous to begin with, but rapidly picking up speed as the hulking weight built up momentum.
“Hang on!” Darren yanked the rudder, sending them hard to port, straight toward the island only a couple of hundred metres away.
The giant monster smashed into the ocean. Missing them by a hair’s breadth.
A tsunami of a wave caught the rear of the little boat and picked it up. Darren stared down at the ocean, screaming as he clung for dear life to the rudder. They skidded nose down along the surface. Tipping ever forward as the wave crested.
Gravity and several tons of water finally got a grip of Boaty McHouseboat, capsizing it.
It crashed into the roiling surf on top of Darren and Wilson.
Something hard cracked into Darren’s skull, and the world went black.