Whoosh––

Yongno felt a stinging sensation in his veins as if he was being pricked by needles, but thanks to one of DIO's systems that decreased users' pain sensitivity, he only experienced a mild ache rather than severe stabbing pain.

"Hmm…."

A lump of energy forcefully traveled through his narrow blood vessels and headed towards his right hand, but since the veins weren’t straight, it would take a detour, then at some point….

"Eh? Are they open?"

"What do you mean?" asked Mari.

Yongno replied, "Have you heard of the conception and governing vessels or the barrier of life and death? I was planning to break through these points, but they are already open. Aren't they usually blocked in martial arts novels? It would be outlandish if beginners had masters unblocking those points for them."

In Mari's eyes, Yongno seemed like he was questioning if his body had limitless internal energy and martial arts potential.

With a snort, she replied, "Come on, your body is what it is. Why would we bother blocking those points?”

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but it’s a little weird since the Golden Pill Immortal Technique doesn’t need the conception and governing vessels yet- Eh?”

"Good to hear that they’re unblocked,” said Yongno.

As he ignored the confused beauty, Yongno released the energy that had now moved to his palm. Then, his hand let off a golden glow, and shortly after, he held a gold marble.

/Your maximum Spiritual Power (Type: Internal Martial Arts) has dropped by ten points!/

As always, this message appeared, but Mari’s jaw dropped to the ground, finding this situation highly abnormal.

She asked in astonishment, "The gold marble... Did you just take the gold marble out of your body?"

"It’s disappointing that I can’t raise my stats anymore due to the limit, so I came up with this plan when I was outside the game,” replied Yongno.

"You don't have to reduce your maximum spiritual power, though..."

Mari covered her forehead, looking puzzled, but Yongno simply put the gold marble in his inventory and jumped into the water.

"Eh? Why is it so deep?" he murmured.

Yongno was surprised to find that the sea’s depth was much greater than he anticipated; he couldn’t even see the bottom of the ocean, nor could he land on it.

Mari explained, "This place is named Kaylow's Fault. A long time ago, there was a war between Kaylow, the king of the Titans, and Zigmund, the ancient dragon. This fracture is the ruins of that battle and is approximately 3,000 meters deep."

Considering that they were right next to land, this depth was unbelievable.

Yongno asked, "Amazing! How wide is it then?"

"About 50 meters? The distance isn’t as high as the depth."

"Aha, so it's like a deep cut on the ground, right?"

Mari replied calmly, "Not only does it look like a cut, but it’s actually a blade scar."

"Eh?" Yongno wondered if she was joking, but he soon nodded in agreement. This was just a game; nothing was strange, even if he shot a 'Kame****ha' and destroyed the moon.

He said, "Well, it doesn't matter. It’s nice that I found this when I needed it."

"Are you gonna dive?" asked Mari.

"Uh-huh, I know it's boring for you, but can you go rest?"

"Yeah, sure."

Mari flopped down on the surface, which was quite a mysterious sight. Although the water wasn’t moving too forcefully, they were still in the ocean. The waves were crashing together, but surprisingly, nothing dared to approach her as she sat on the water’s surface like a big rock. She was entirely dry.

Yongno mumbled, "Hmm, her supernatural power is on an entirely new level; it’s comparable to the ability to walk on water. She would have countless followers in the real world if she displayed her goddess-like beauty and power.”

Mari questioned, "Followers?"

"Nothing, enjoy your break."

Shaking his head, Yongno emptied his lungs by approximately 80 percent. Typically, before diving, people breathed in as much air as they could or, at least, a certain amount of it, but that only applied to ordinary people.

/Activating skill - Diving./

Since Yongno was now used to circulating his qi, he could now consciously control how he consumed his internal energy in place of oxygen. His mastery of the Golden Pill Immortal Technique had also reached 20 percent, so his internal energy recovered faster. In addition, since Yongno’s diving experience had increased, he could stay underwater for about five minutes with just ten points of internal energy. Plus, this wasn’t related to holding his breath, so with another 20 internal energy points, Yongno could remain underwater for more than thirteen minutes.

‘That's a good pace, and if I increase my blood oxygen saturation, I can go without air for ten minutes while not using my internal energy. This means that, within a few days, it’ll be possible to stay underwater for an hour.’

Yongno sank into the water. Since he’d exhaled nearly all the air in his lungs, his body quickly descended from the surface like a huge rock. Having become heavier than water, he naturally plunged to the sea floor without using any strokes or kicks.

‘Beautiful…’

The stunning view of crystal clear water entered his sight. All kinds of fish were flaunting their shades, and colorful coral was vibrantly painting the bottom of the ocean.

‘Oh, isn't it possible to make money from selling coral?’

Yet, Yongno shook his head. He heard that some people treated corals like jewels, but he didn’t know which coral was actually profitable. He couldn’t even scrape off a piece of every coral since there were tons of reefs on the bottom of the ocean.

/Warning: You have reached depths of 200 meters! The pressure of the water begins to push down on you!/

/Your status has been updated: 'Minor Injury.'/

‘Aha, I thought I had no health, but that’s how injuries are handled.’

When Yongnog first opened the stat window, he saw his spiritual power and stamina but not his health. This was the biggest question he had at the time, but now that he thought about it, virtual reality would have different rules from other online games.

If this world used 100 points for health and users took an attack equivalent to 50 damage, it would be questionable to reduce their health to 50 like in other games. After all, what would happen if users broke their arms? How much damage would that be?

If DIO lowered a user’s health points for only life-threatening wounds, cutting off the users’ limbs wouldn’t affect their lives, so their health should remain high. In fact, what were the criteria for judging someone’s health in the first place?

That was why DIO's system updated the user's status to Normal, Minor Injury, Serious Injury, Fatal Injury, and Dead accordingly; it also gave different names based on the players’ injured areas. In fact, it wasn’t necessary to check the stat window, as the users could directly observe their physical conditions. Who wouldn’t notice a broken arm or leg?

Anyway, Yongno began to feel the change in water pressure, but he didn’t slow his descent. Due to the toll on his body, Yongno circulated his internal energy through the designated route and used Body Strengthening. However, since his cultivation base was lacking, Yongno performed a weakened version of it by dramatically reducing the amount of internal energy used.

/Your health has increased by 15 points (remaining time: 180 seconds)!/

/Your status has been updated: 'Normal.'/

‘Alright, this is enough.’

At that moment, Yongno stopped sinking as he got close to harming himself. Although he could still descend a bit more before needing to surface, using his internal energy to heal had reduced the duration that Yongno could stay underwater. Besides, the deeper he dived, the higher the water pressure, so it was time to show restraint.

Suddenly, Yongno was reminded that he was inside a virtual world; it was possible to rise from the dead. Yet, he didn’t dare to test that in this hyper-realistic game. Yongno wasn’t the only person who thought that way. Everyone would hesitate to risk their lives.

This situation could be compared to bungee jumping. When looking down from a tower, one would be fearful. Although they knew that the elastic cord stopped them from hitting the ground, they couldn’t deny the fear of injury or death at the breathtaking height.

Likewise, although it was a game, who would dare end their life without any hesitation? This was possible for some, but if those people could truly commit suicide like that, they weren’t fearless. They were out of their minds. If they had experienced death a couple of times, that was another story, but Yongno hadn’t died yet.

‘I’m running out of time; I have less than a minute to look around this place.’

Alas, it was too dark since light couldn’t travel this far under the ocean.

‘Gosh, I wish I had something like a Night Vision... Oh, maybe that could work!’

After a short pause, Yongno circulated his internal force and pooled it together in his eyes. Then, he recalled the night vision goggles that he once saw on his father's desk.

‘Yeah, those night vision goggles were an image intensifier tube.’

The old goggles used during the Korean War or the Vietnam War were active night vision devices that converted the infrared lights reflected from objects and switched them to visible images. However, this method would reveal the wearer’s location, so modern ones were passive night vision devices that utilized automatic scanning technology.

In fact, the night vision goggles were based on a simple theory. The device used an intensifier tube to collect and amplify infrared and visible light. Even when it was pitch-black, these goggles brightened starlight and offered a clear view. Although Yongno had dived into the deep dark ocean, the light wasn’t entirely blocked, so he could gain visibility.

‘Would it be a problem if I descend and go somewhere with no light at all?’

Yongno thought about using the thermal detector system to capture the infrared light, but he soon shook his head.

‘Thermal detectors allow its user to see far, but they’re useless in the rain because infrared light is absorbed by moisture. It makes detecting infrared light underwater almost impossible.’

However, that wasn’t the problem here, so Yongno circulated his internal energy immediately. His pupils began to shine gold, and a new message appeared in the air.

/You gained a new skill - Enhanced Eyesight!/

‘Okay! I can see now.’

While it wasn’t as bright as high noon, Yongno could see objects around him. He let out a huge cheer at his achievement. Meanwhile, time was running out since he was using his internal force to channel Enhanced Eyesight, so he quickly looked around and found….

‘King clam!’

Yongno approached a clam. It was sitting in the middle of a steep, cliff-like surface, opened. The king clam was massive. Its shell was as big as a tire, and there was thick meat and a large pearl inside.

‘Yay!’

Looking at the pearl as big as a child's fist, Yongno felt like he had found a treasure. And the moment he caught it….

Wham!

‘Eek...?!’

All of a sudden, the clam bit his arm. Yongno tried to pull back in fright, but unfortunately, the mollusk had an unbelievably powerful bite force. Yongno’s arm started to release beautiful gold smoke, but the clouds of gleaming fumes were definitely blood.

‘God d*mn it! Ugh, I can’t get free!’

Feeling anxious, he fiercely swung his hand, but the clam didn’t release his arm. Yongno couldn’t stand the pain as the clam’s bite tightened, and he instinctively circulated his internal energy.

/Muscular strength has been strengthened by 100 points, and life force has been strengthened by 60 points (remaining time: five seconds)!/

That was when he stopped bleeding, and the tight clamshell was forcefully opened. It was temporary, but his muscular strength had now reached 145 points with the title effect. Yongno could lift a 500-kilogram rock, so despite the clam’s immense bite force, Yongno opened its shell with ease.

‘Open sesame!’

As soon as he pulled his arm away from the clam, Yongno opened his inventory and shoved the whole king clam into the compartment. It was dark around him, so he had no problem opening the inventory. In fact, the problem was lying elsewhere.

/Internal Energy has dropped! Skill - Diving has been canceled! Skill - Body Strengthening has been canceled! Skill - Enhanced Eyesight has been canceled!/

/Warning: The pressure of the water begins to push down on you!/

/Your status has been updated: 'Minor Injury.'/

Yongno’s face turned grim at the messages appearing one after another.

‘Oh my god!’

Immediately, Yongno kicked the water to rise to the surface. He grabbed and bounced off the precipitous underwater cliff to rise from the ocean’s depths, but he still had 200 meters to go.