Chapter 361: Eighty-Fourth Floor, Sea of Lava (2)

[Investigate the Sea of Lava, identify the source of the problem, and resolve it. Time remaining: 119 hours 54 minutes.]

“Sorry?”

Although his explanation had been straightforward, I couldn’t make sense of it. There didn’t seem to be a logical link between the two statements Remtal had made. To someone unfamiliar with this world—like me—his explanation was far too condensed to understand.

I looked at him and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“I meant it literally...” Remtal trailed off before meeting my eyes. “Is there something you’re unclear about?”

“I understand that the lava level is rising. What I don’t understand is how that leads to the destruction of the world.”

A crease formed between Remtal’s brows. “That would be the Chusain Volcano’s great eruption.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly, clearly unconvinced.

Is it that strange that I don’t know about this?

That seemed to be the case.

Truth be told, I wasn’t particularly surprised. I had encountered this sort of reaction before. The tower loved to throw climbers into trials without giving them any background knowledge.

In these situations, I preferred remaining silent instead of explaining myself.

Eventually, Remtal added, “So you don’t believe the legend? The one that says the great eruption of the Chusain Volcano destroyed the world thousands of years ago?”

He let out a quiet sigh, clearly put off by my apparent skepticism.

I quickly clarified my stance, “No, it’s not that I don’t believe it. I’m just wondering whether an eruption is truly imminent. To be honest, I didn’t know much about the Chusen Tribe before being assigned to this.”

Remtal’s eyes widened in realization. “

Ah

, that does make sense. I did hear that you mainly worked in the region far to the west.”

That seemed to smooth things over.

Perhaps this was the tower’s way of giving me some leeway. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

I figured I should take advantage of the situation.

Thinking quickly, I followed up with, “Yes, I was called in rather suddenly. So if you could walk me through it, even the smaller details would help.”

Remtal nodded. “You may know parts of this already, but it’s probably best if I start from the beginning.”

“That would be helpful.”

“According to our tribe’s legends, there’s a massive trench deep beneath the Sea of Lava.”

“A trench?”

“Yes. It’s what keeps the lava level in balance. Lava sinks into the trench, and from there, it resurfaces through the Chusain Volcano.”

Remtal pointed toward the far end of our path. A massive mountain loomed in the distance, spewing thick gray smoke as lava flowed steadily down its slopes. I wasn’t a science expert, but that looked like what I would call an active volcano.

Still, even with the basic science I remembered from school, his explanation was hard to process. Even accounting for the fact that this world was nothing like Earth.

So the lava from the sea drains into a trench and then re-emerges through a volcano?

Now that the sea level was rising, they were saying the volcano would erupt.

As far as I knew, volcanic eruptions occurred when pressure built up from magma deep underground.

It didn’t quite add up.

Am I wrong?

Possibly.

To be fair, I had never been that interested in science, and my memory of it was spotty at best.

Or maybe it doesn’t really matter.

As soon as I entered the Tower of Ordeal, all my preconceived notions of “common sense” had been shattered.

Gods, magic, otherworldly beings, divinity.

Compared to that, the idea of a lava sea cycling through a volcano and triggering an eruption didn’t seem so far-fetched.

Besides, the mountain was massive. It was far larger than any I had ever seen on Earth. If a volcano that size erupted, it was reasonable to think the world could be destroyed in the process.

I noticed Remtal watching me. I pushed the thought aside and gave him a small nod. “I see.”

“Are you familiar with the great earthquake from forty years ago? The one that shook the entire world?”

“I wasn’t born yet, so I didn’t experience it myself, but I’ve heard of it.”

From the way he mentioned it, it had to have been a major event. One so well-known that not knowing would seem far too strange.

“The epicenter was beneath the Sea of Lava. A massive lava tsunami swept through the area, and our people suffered heavy losses.”

“Wait, you mean...?”

“Yes. That was when the sea level began rising. At first, we thought it was just a temporary fluctuation.” He sighed again. “But as time passed, the sea only grew. Eventually, entire villages along the coast had to relocate.”

“Then it’s likely that the trench was damaged during the quake.”

“Exactly.” Remtal nodded.

Based on the information so far, that was the most plausible explanation I could piece together.

“You’re concerned that a major eruption will occur because the trench is blocked and the lava has stopped circulating?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any solid evidence?”

“The Chusain Volcano has been behaving abnormally. It’s been showing signs of eruption for the past thirty years.”

Thirty years. That would be ten years after the trench was likely damaged. There seemed to be a connection, though it wasn’t conclusive.

As I considered the new information, Remtal continued, “The volcano has rumbled from time to time, often accompanied by mild tremors. But recently, things have escalated. The vibrations have grown strong enough to be felt not just here, but in the surrounding kingdoms farther away.”

“But couldn’t that just mean something is wrong inside the volcano itself? Maybe the flow of lava inside is blocked or unstable.”

He shook his head. “You’re right that it’s not definitive. But right now, it’s the most likely explanation we have. It’s not as if we’ve been doing nothing all this time.”

“You brought others before me, right?”

“That’s right. In fact, both our kingdom and the neighboring realms are treating the situation very seriously. It’s been quite some time since royal researchers from across the continent arrived to investigate. We’ve made efforts on multiple fronts—”

“But nothing has worked. Which is why I’ve been called in.”

“Exactly. We reached out to an adventurer from the west only because no other path remained.”

“I understand.”

I still had some doubts.

Remtal seemed to have based a lot of his understanding on the legend, which meant that nothing from it could be confirmed.

Regardless, I didn’t press him. He struck me as somewhat rigid in his beliefs. At this point, it seemed like it would be better for me to see things for myself than to argue.

As we chatted, the city came into view. It was nestled at the base of the towering mountain, and rivers of lava flowed directly through it.

The heat intensified, but the sight itself was remarkable.

The Chusen Tribe clearly lived alongside lava. Here and there, glowing lava streams wove through the city like man-made canals.

“You’ll meet the king shortly, then begin your investigation. For now, you’ll be working with those already stationed here. If there’s anything you need, just let us know. We’ll support you however we can.”

“Okay.”

Just then, the mountain rumbled.

Kruuuung—

A deep roar echoed from afar, followed by a faint tremor that spread through the ground.

When I turned my gaze, I saw thick plumes of ashen smoke rising steadily from the volcano. A flash of lightning streaked through the haze.

I could sense Remtal’s expression growing more serious.

Hmm.

I was now certain that the situation was far more urgent than he had initially described. From the start, the tower had only given me five days.

One hundred and twenty hours wasn’t a generous amount of time. It likely meant that once those five days passed, preventing the volcanic eruption would no longer be possible.

I need to move quickly.

I still didn’t have a clear idea of how the situation would unfold or how I was supposed to investigate the depths of the Sea of Lava.

Ahead of me, Remtal’s pace seemed to quicken slightly.

***

[Investigate the Sea of Lava, identify the source of the problem, and resolve it. Time remaining: 119 hours 21 minutes.]

Just as Remtal had promised, I met with the king of the Chusen Tribe.

“I sincerely thank you for answering our summons. We’ll be relying on you.”

However, that one line was all he offered. The entire meeting lasted less than two minutes.

Perhaps it was due to the looming fear of a catastrophic eruption, but the king, looking pale and worn with exhaustion, dismissed me right after offering his greeting.

Immediately afterward, Remtal led me to the Sea of Lava Countermeasure Headquarters. It was located close to the Sea of Lava, close enough that the lava fields were visible to the naked eye.

It wasn’t so much a majestic sight as it was a terrifying one. The boiling and bubbling lava that stretched to the horizon like a churning sea looked horrifying.

Watching it rise and crash like waves...

Personally, I found the view more unsettling than awe-inspiring. Even the coastline was made up of dark, jagged rock formations, likely the remnants of lava plumes. It gave the landscape a grim and ominous feel.

Still, the building itself was quite large, and dozens of people filled the space within. Some looked like adventurers—like me—while others appeared to be scientists, researchers, or scholars.

Of course, soldiers were also stationed throughout the facility to provide security.

Rental’s role in the royal household seemed to be that of a chief aide. He handled logistics and made sure everything ran smoothly.

Thanks to him, I was able to meet with the overall commander of the base.

“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard that you’re a well-known adventurer from the west. I’m Sokin, chief of the Sea of Lava Countermeasure Headquarters.”

“I’m Kwon Su-Hyeok.”

Time didn’t seem to be on our side, so we skipped the small talk and got straight to the point.

“I hope it’s not too forward of me to ask, but could you give me a rundown of the current situation?”

Sokin waved both hands in a dismissive gesture to reassure me. “Not at all. That’s completely reasonable.”

I had assumed there would be some tension between the representatives from different kingdoms, but apparently not. Just as Remtal had said, the issue with the Sea of Lava was being taken extremely seriously.

Sokin pushed his glasses back up from where they had slipped to the tip of his nose. “Since time is short, I’ll keep the explanation brief. If you have any further questions, I’ll share the research logs with you afterward.”

That was exactly what I had hoped for. What worried me most was having to sit through a long-winded briefing when we had no time to waste.

I nodded eagerly. “Yes, that’s perfectly fine.”

“When we first began investigating, we considered two possibilities—either the Chusain Volcano or the trench. But since the trench is only mentioned in legend, our initial focus was on the volcano.”

That lined up with my own line of thinking.

“Unfortunately, or rather somewhat fortunately, we didn’t find anything wrong with the volcano. In fact, we discovered that the epicenters of the occasional tremors weren’t located in the mountain, but rather in the sea.”

It was similar to what Remtal had told me, but this time, backed by clearer evidence. If they had explained it like this from the beginning, we could have avoided some back-and-forth.

“So we shifted our focus toward the sea. The likelihood that the trench was compromised began to increase.”

“Have there been any developments?”

“Entering the lava is something no one has ever successfully done, so it’s been incredibly difficult. But recently, we did have a breakthrough. One that may surprise you.”

“What is it?”

Sokin’s eyes sparkled as if he’d been waiting for that question. “We’ve built a submersible capable of exploring the Sea of Lava!”

The seriousness Sokin had shown earlier was nowhere to be found. He now spoke with unmistakable pride, visibly brimming with excitement.

I didn’t know what to say.

“Are you not surprised? Or are you too shocked to speak?”

In fact, I was surprised.

A submersible that can enter molten lava.

Anyone would be.

The problem was, we only had five days left. Now wasn’t exactly the time to be celebrating.

“No, it’s impressive. When was the sub built?”

“Our first successful prototype was completed a year ago. After many trials and errors, we’ve had a fully operational model for about three months now.”

“Have you located the trench?”

“

Ah

, no... not yet. We’re still searching.” Sokin’s enthusiasm quickly faded at my question.

He seemed more suited to being a research director than a commander.

Five days remaining, and they still haven’t found the trench.

Ugh.

I sighed internally. A dull ache was beginning to settle in the back of my head.