Chapter 6

Joseph still hesitated.

“I’m the officer on duty! (I'm the duty officer.) Stop engine!”

I gestured to Joseph while looking at him.

‘If it weren’t for me, you would have died today.’

He understood my signals as if he were a mind reader.

Joseph glanced at me, then tightly closed his eyes.

“S, Stop engine, sir!”

Joseph loudly repeated my command and manipulated the engine control lever to bring the engine to a stop.

The rumbling engine sound began to fade.

“Hey, you bastards!”

The first mate, his face flushed, released my collar and quickly ran towards Joseph.

Joseph looked at me with a frightened expression.

“Joseph! Pull the ignition key!”

I quickly shouted at Joseph.

Joseph followed my instructions and pulled the ignition key, then quickly locked the steering key to prevent the engine from being restarted.

Joseph’s face was still frightened.

Although he was doing as I told him, his hands were trembling violently while holding the ignition key.

“Joseph!”

When I shouted, Joseph turned his head to look at me.

“Run to the captain’s cabin! Hurry!”

“Huh? Yes, sir!”

Joseph shouted loudly and quickly ran out of the bridge before the first mate could catch up.

Joseph was the fastest man on the ship. It was surprising that an asthma patient could be so agile.

The first mate and the captain, who had never seen such an unprecedented event, stared at me with bewildered expressions.

“You, you little—”

The flustered first mate stuttered, unable to continue his sentence.

I glanced around.

I noticed the captain, Lee Hee-yeong, and the second mate staring at me with bewildered faces.

‘I feel a bit guilty for causing all this chaos.’

I lightly bowed to the captain.

Then I shouted loudly.

“I’m sorry for causing a disturbance. I’ll explain later.”

I shouted and quickly left the bridge.

I started running towards the captain’s cabin, chasing after Joseph. I was the second-fastest man on this ship after Joseph.

On the deck, I could rival Usain Bolt.

Ah, not quite!

< Ding! >

+

<Starting side quest (#01-1)>

Proceeding with a side quest based on the scenario.

“Tsunami will occur in one hour. Just hold on for one hour!”

Sub-quest: Defend the Captain’s Cabin

Clear condition: Hold for one hour

Time limit: 1 hour

Reward: Title (Master of Defense)

Failure: ???

+

Mutiny on Board

– M.V. Venus Captain’s Cabin

I quickly entered the captain’s cabin, following Joseph, and locked the door.

Joseph approached me with a flushed and excited face.

“Sir, we’re in big trouble. We’re in big trouble now.”

“Why?”

“We’re in deep shit with the captain.”

Joseph’s face, despite his poor Korean, looked quite serious.

“We’re in deep shit. Deep shit.”

“Hahaha.”

I suddenly chuckled at Joseph’s words. Joseph’s expression became even more tense as he continued.

“Sir, are you crazy? Are you crazy?”

He pointed to his head, making a circular motion, and I burst out laughing even more.

Locking the ship’s key and fleeing to the captain’s cabin was not a pre-planned action.

It was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

“Joseph, don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Joseph nodded vigorously, looking at me as if trying to brainwash himself.

Joseph said that I had saved his life and called me his savior.

Although he called me his savior, it couldn’t have been easy for him to follow my orders, defying the captain’s command.

For some reason, it was clear that Joseph trusted me.

However, I had managed to buy some time, but I still needed about an hour.

According to my past memories, the company would send updated weather information in about an hour.

In the past, when we received the weather information, it was already too late to turn the ship around.

But now, if we received a call from the headquarters, we could avoid the situation.

Bang, bang, bang!

The sound of someone pounding on the door came from outside.

“Jangbo! Jangbo! You bastard, open the door quickly!”

It was the second mate, Kim Ho-young.

“Bro, I don’t want to. I want to be alone.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Are you crazy?”

“I’m not crazy, so don’t worry. If I were crazy, I would say so.”

“Then why are you doing this? Do you know how much we’ve lost by taking a detour because of you?”

“How much have we lost?”

“Eh? I don’t know! You bastard!”

“If you don’t know, why are you blaming me?”

“Still, just the cost of the extra bunker fuel and the charter fee for the detour is more than the third mate’s annual salary! You bastard!”

“...”

The second mate’s words weren’t entirely wrong.

But compared to the costs of the ship’s damage and cargo loss from the past accident, this was a drop in the bucket.

‘This is what they call a drop in the bucket.’

But I was the only one who knew this.

It was frustrating, but I couldn’t tell anyone, even those close to me.

If I told them about my past life, they might try to send me to a mental hospital.

Knock, knock, knock.

This time, it was the captain. His calm voice came from outside.

“Third mate.”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Stop this nonsense and come out now.”

“Captain, I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to be sorry if you don’t do it.”

“I’ll hold out for one more hour.”

“What? Why one hour?”

“Things will work out by then.”

“What things?”

“Good news will come.”

“...”

The usually composed Captain Lee Hee-yeong seemed to be at a loss, unable to continue the conversation.

He must have concluded that I was an impossible lunatic.

At this point, I started to feel a bit anxious.

‘What if things don’t go as I remember from the past?’

No.

The sudden change in course, Joseph’s collapse, and his discovery—all these events were unfolding exactly as they did in the past.

Of course, my involvement could change the future, but so far, there was no sign of that.

The captain eventually gave up and left.

Bang, bang, bang.

The last opponent was, of course, the first mate, a tough guy.

It felt like I was fighting a wheel battle, similar to how Lu Bu fought the three brothers in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which was quite satisfying.

“Hey, you bastard!”

This guy started with insults.

“You bastards!”

“Why?”

I also shouted loudly.

“You, third mate, you bastard! If you come out, you’ll be immediately disciplined. Do you know that a superior’s order can be reported to the disciplinary committee by the captain’s authority?”

The first mate shouted loudly from behind the door.

This was a known fact in the Seafarer’s Law, and I knew it well.

This guy had the strange talent of making known facts seem like his own knowledge.

In the past, I would have played along and given him a chance to show off, but not this time.

There was something that bothered me about this chaos.

Even though I was causing all this trouble and getting scolded, I knew that this guy would benefit greatly in the future, so I couldn’t let him show off.

Thinking about how he would advance to captain faster than in the past thanks to me, I felt a sudden surge of annoyance.

‘Sigh, that bastard. He’ll have to beg me on his hands and knees tomorrow for saving his life.’

It was frustrating, but I had to endure.

Seeing no reaction from me, the first mate changed his strategy.

He changed his target from me to Joseph, trying to persuade him.

“Joseph! Joseph!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Open the door now, or I’ll have to take action.”

“...”

“I’ll let you off if you open the door now. I’ll take responsibility and make sure you’re not reported to the disciplinary committee.”

The first mate’s words made Joseph’s expression turn serious again.

“Joseph! Do you want to keep earning money?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Right, you need to keep earning money! If you don’t open the door quickly, both of you will be disembarked at the next port!”

“...”

“Joseph! Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Joseph showed a conflicted expression at the mention of disembarkation.

He shook his head vigorously and shouted from behind the door.

“I don’t know, sir!”

“You bastards, really!”

“Don’t swear. The first mate is bad!”

“Shut up, you bastard!”

The first mate shouted like a madman.

At this point, it was hard to tell who was the lunatic—me or the first mate.

Joseph looked relieved, raising his hand to cover his mouth and laugh.

I gave him a thumbs up.

‘Joseph, well done!’

Joseph looked at me with an excited expression.

He had suffered a lot from the first mate’s high-handed behavior.

The first mate, who had been hit by Joseph, looked extremely angry. He turned around and shouted loudly.

“Bosun, contact the engine room and bring equipment to break down the door quickly!”

The first mate gestured to the bosun, who hurriedly ran down.

‘We need to hold out a bit longer.’

I anxiously watched the clock inside the captain’s cabin.

Despite my hopes, the sound of large machinery started coming from behind the door. It was a cutting machine.

Vroom.

The engine room crew came up and started cutting the door with a cutting machine.

We needed to buy more time.

Fragments of my past memories flashed through my mind quickly.

I started searching the captain’s cabin frantically.

After some time, the sound of the cutting machine gradually decreased.