Multiverse , Leveling Up in the World I Created

"You must have only met terrible men until now."

"I-is that so? But... we can’t sleep here. Let’s go to my room."

Indeed, my room’s bed was a mess, so it wasn’t good for sleeping. So I moved to her room as she said and rested.

The next day, after showering together, we had breakfast. I secretly cleaned my room with [Life Magic] in case the hotel staff saw it and rumors spread. Since Vermouth was a famous actress, it couldn’t be helped.

After breakfast, Gin and Vodka came by car, so we rode together. But since the thing we were looking for wasn’t here, we moved to the harbor, took a small boat, and headed to a certain deserted island.

The island looked quite unsightly due to the traces of digging everywhere. But I imagined it must have been a beautiful island before it was damaged.

"This is it. The location of the treasure Captain Kidd supposedly hid, which we dug up for 10 years and never found."

Captain Kidd was a pirate active in the 17th century, originally a privateer commissioned by the king to plunder enemy ships. But due to diplomatic issues, he was branded a pirate and eventually captured and executed.

When Gin said that, Vermouth frowned.

"You dug up a beautiful island like barbarians looking for pirate treasure."

"Can’t be helped. We knew the hidden island, but not the exact location."

Gin said that and handed me an old leather book and a red glowing gem.

"This is all we managed to obtain. Before it came to us, it passed through many hands and spilled a lot of blood."

Before looking at the book, I asked them.

"Aren’t you two hot? Wearing black coats in this sweltering Caribbean..."

"Mind your own business!"

These guys really are consistent with their concept. Vermouth was wearing a cool-looking dress.

Anyway, I opened the book and checked the contents. It seemed many people had already tried to find the treasure, as the book was filled with notes on various riddle solutions, and eventually, it led to coming to this island.

"Hmm... Poseidon’s trident, when Apollo is at his weakest, pierce his heart, and the blood that flows will guide the way..."

"That’s the last verse of the riddle. In the end, no one solved it."

"What about this gem?"

"That was with the last guy who had the book. He died without ever saying what kind of gem it was. He was a real tough one. Even after all that torture, he never said a word about the gem."

From the story, it seemed they had tortured the last person who had the book to death. Just like the Black Organization’s way of handling things.

"I see..."

I drew an onmyoji circle on the island’s white sand beach, took out a talisman, and pretended to chant. Then I threw the talisman into the air, and it flew toward the sea and burned away.

Gin watched seriously, while Vodka and Vermouth watched with curiosity.

"The sea... Hey! We need to borrow a boat."

When I said that, Gin signaled Vodka, who immediately started the boat.

We took the boat toward where the talisman flew and threw another talisman. This time it flew backward and burned away.

"We went too far back."

At my words, Vodka turned the boat around, slowly advanced, and stopped where I signaled.

"Wait here."

I said that, immediately took off my clothes, and jumped into the sea. Underwater, I saw three reefs that looked exactly like a trident. I went back up and told them.

"You two should go in and see too. I think we’ve found Poseidon’s trident."

At those words, everyone on the boat seemed surprised.

"Vodka, wait here for a moment. I’ll go check."

Gin said that, took off his coat and hat, jumped into the sea to check the reefs, and came back out. Then with a villainous smile, he told us.

"We finally found it. And I know what the gem is for. Seeing there’s a spot to insert the gem at the tip of the middle reef, that gem must be Apollo’s heart."

But even when Gin took the gem and inserted it, nothing happened. So he asked me.

"What’s going on? Nothing’s happening!"

"Hmm... The verse clearly said ’when Apollo is at his weakest.’ Apollo was a god equated with the sun, so it must mean the sun. And when he’s at his weakest would probably be midnight or when the full moon rises, don’t you think?"

"The full moon..."

Then Vermouth said.

"The full moon rises in three days."

"Then we’ll have to come back then."

As they said that, I told them one more thing.

"There’s one more thing. Right now it’s high tide. Before coming here, I heard fishermen talking. Judging by the height of the reef, at low tide, the tip of the reef should be above water. Now with global warming the sea level has risen, but in the old days, it would have been visible enough, don’t you think?"

"I see... So low tide, full moon, and midnight all have to align."

"That’s right."

"Vermouth, do you happen to know when low tide is?"

When Gin asked Vermouth, she looked troubled.

"How would I know? I only know when the full moon rises. Low tide and high tide are things only fishermen or anglers care about, right?"

"True. Let’s go back for now. We need to find out the low tide time on the day the full moon rises in three days."

After returning, Gin and Vodka decided to go around asking fishermen about low tide times. Meanwhile, Vermouth and I didn’t bother following and went back to the hotel.

I had already figured out the location of Captain Kidd’s treasure the moment I saw the book and the gem. With the [Treasure Detection] and [Jack Sparrow’s Compass] abilities, finding a treasure like this wasn’t difficult at all.

But I couldn’t just say I found it immediately. So I put on a show of solving the riddle using onmyoji arts.

"How about we develop our relationship into something better?"

That day too, after enjoying a long time with Vermouth, we lay in bed resting, when Vermouth suddenly made that suggestion.

"Why bring that up suddenly?"

"It’s the first time I’ve met someone with such good sexual compatibility. I want to ask the men I’ve slept with so far what they were doing. Besides, Jin, you’re quite attractive. You’re capable, and how should I put it... mature for your age... no, should I say you’re like an older brother?"

I don’t know if Vermouth is sharp or if it’s a woman’s intuition, but she seemed to sense that I was someone who had lived a long time.

"In the onmyoji world, you end up seeing many things you shouldn’t. So I guess I grew up fast."

"Well... you said there are things worse than the yokai you’ve seen, so that makes sense. Anyway, aren’t I better than young kids?"

"Sorry, but we’re not meant to be."

"Really? Fate... That’s a shame."

I said it firmly, but Vermouth accepted it surprisingly easily.

"Then can I visit you once in a while when I think of you?"

"Yeah. That should be fine."

"You allow this too. Can I interpret that as meaning you enjoyed being with me that much?"

"I can’t say no."

While staying at the hotel with Vermouth like that, the promised three days passed. But when we came out of the hotel, there were quite a few people in black suits. It was a small island with few harbors, so they stood out.

"Looks like they called in more people. Since we don’t know how much treasure there is."

"Are you really not hot? It’s the Caribbean and summer."

"Black suits are good for hiding things. As for the heat, well, you manage."

"Goodness, the benefits aren’t good."

When I said that, Vermouth chuckled as if amused.

When night came, we moved to the island again. This time they brought a very large fishing boat and a lot of organization members.

"Check the equipment for problems and don’t let your guard down since time is tight!"

"Yes!"

Gin and Vodka were busy commanding the members. Vermouth and I just watched the night sea regardless of what they were doing.

Then at 10 PM, we set sail and moved to the island where Captain Kidd’s treasure was hidden. As they said, it was still low tide, so the tip of Poseidon’s trident was visible, but looking at the water level, it seemed a bit tight.

"This is going to be close."

"Indeed. From what I heard, if not this time, we’d have to wait two more months."

"Really? That’s troublesome."

As time passed and it approached 11:30 PM, Gin took a small boat and personally inserted Apollo’s heart into the tip of Poseidon’s trident.

Then something amazing happened as time passed. The gem called Apollo’s heart began to shine as it received moonlight.

"Wow... It’s beautiful? Like stars falling into the sea."

"Indeed."

Then at midnight, the light suddenly gathered in one place and began pointing in a certain direction. But it immediately sank into the sea and disappeared. We were really lucky to barely see its position.

Gin urgently unfolded a map and began searching for the island the light pointed to, so we went to check too.

"Oh dear, it’s a British territory island. This could cause problems if we’re not careful."

When Vermouth said that, Gin chuckled and said.

"When have we ever cared about that? Depart!"

"Yes!"

So we headed to a deserted island in British territory. It was a place with quite a lot of natural caves. The Black Organization began searching the island under Gin and Vodka’s orders, but after a long time, no member found anything.

Of course, if it were somewhere that could be found normally, it would have already been plundered, so it wouldn’t be left in plain sight.

So, frustrated, I went down to the shore, drew another onmyoji circle, and began guiding toward the treasure.

"The sea again... I’m going crazy. I don’t want to go into the sea at night... Hey, bring underwater lanterns and prepare blankets."

The place where the talisman last burned was at the edge of the coast with cliffs, toward the sea, and I grumbled that I had to go into the sea again. Then Gin also prepared equipment and said.

"I’ll come too."

We jumped into the sea with equipment, and right below the cliff, an underwater cave revealed itself. It was a narrow cave barely big enough for two people to enter, but Gin entered without hesitation. I followed right behind him.

The cave wasn’t as long as I thought, and we soon arrived at a low-water cavity formed inside. From there, another cave wide enough for a person to walk through continued. And even though it was night, a small gap at the top let moonlight in, providing enough brightness to distinguish the way.

"Pirates are amazing. How did they find a place like this?"

When I pretended to be amazed, Gin chuckled.

"That’s why it’s a legendary treasure no one has found until now."

We continued through the cave connected to the cavity and entered another cavity. And there, we were left speechless by the sight before us.

An enormous amount of gold coins, gold bars, and jewelry made of various gems were piled up like a small hill. Moreover, the treasures, bathed in the moonlight seeping into the cave, shone dazzlingly and brightly illuminated the surroundings.

"We-we finally found it!"

Gin also seemed surprised, as he stammered slightly.

"Hmm... This looks like at least 1 billion dollars (1.4 trillion won)."

"You’re forgetting the historical value. If sold well, it could easily fetch 2 billion dollars. Let’s go out first."

We went back out and informed the members. Then Vodka and Vermouth also went in to check the treasure and came back out.

"My goodness, I didn’t believe the treasure existed, but it really did..."

"I know. Last time I heard it was a waste of time, so I thought it would be the same this time."

They were also surprised to see the enormous treasure.

But actually, there was much more treasure than this. Captain Kidd was a privateer backed by the government, so he must have plundered an enormous amount of treasure.

I had secretly visited this place yesterday and moved about half of it into my inventory, making it look natural as if only this much had remained from the beginning.

If too much treasure fell into the Black Organization’s hands, there was no telling what they would do. But I couldn’t give too little either. It was, after all, the legendary treasure of Captain Kidd. In the end, I adjusted the amount of treasure to a level the Black Organization would accept.

’One Piece Kidd is getting beaten by me and living as a billboard...’

From then on, the members began busily carrying the treasures to the ship.

"Hurry! We need to finish before dawn!"

Bang!

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from the ship. Looking toward the sound, Gin had executed a member who had secretly pocketed gold coins and was throwing his body into the sea.

With that amount of treasure, it was enough to tempt anyone, but Gin didn’t tolerate such defection at all. Besides, the Caribbean is full of sharks, so that corpse would soon become shark food and be impossible to find.

"Sharks will be feasting this morning."

When I said that, Vermouth tilted her head and asked.

"Aren’t you still a student? You’re not shaken at all by gunshots?"

"I was a little startled by the sound, but not enough to be shaken. Compared to the things I deal with, this is nothing."

"I see..."

Thanks to showing her the yokai, persuasion was quick in these matters, which was good.

While carrying things for a long time, one member brought a rusty sword and asked Gin.

"This doesn’t seem to have any value? Let’s just remove the gem attached to it and throw it away."

"Hmm... That would be best. Do that."

Then I stepped in and stopped them.

"It’s better to leave it alone. That sword should be left where the treasure was. It’s imbued with a very powerful grudge. It seems to be the sword Captain Kidd himself used. If you destroy that sword, I doubt you’d last even a year before becoming crippled or dying a tragic death."

When I said that, the member broke into a cold sweat, glanced around, and slowly put the sword down. Pirate curses are a fairly common trope, and since I had demonstrated onmyoji arts, they seemed to believe me.

"Hey you! Put the sword back where it was."

Then the cruel Gin ordered the member who had put the sword down to take it back to its original place.

At those words, the member made a reluctant face and went back to the island to return the sword.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

But when that member tried to enter the water again carrying the sword, a shark suddenly attacked him and began biting him. So the other members urgently shot and killed the shark, but his lower body had already been torn off and he was dying.

"I knew this would happen..."

When I sighed and said that, Gin immediately ordered another member to return the sword to its original place.

But perhaps because of what had just happened, the member who received the order hesitated with a frightened expression. So Gin was merciless again.

Bang!

"Guh!"

"Hey, you’re next."

"What?! A, yes..."

After seeing that, the next member, looking like he was about to cry, barely picked up the sword, went back into the cave, left it, and came out. But this time too, a shark attacked that member, and he lost his life as well. In the end, three people became shark food because of the sword.

Actually, this was a story I made up for fun, but because the sharks had smelled blood from the first body thrown into the sea and gathered, and the members were moving busily underwater carrying treasure, the sharks saw them as good prey, and a real tragedy unfolded.

’Hehehehe... How amusing.’

It was a coincidence, but I couldn’t help thinking that perhaps Captain Kidd’s anger at having his treasure taken had manifested as a curse.