Chapter 266

Being addicted to something means you’re so deeply ensnared that the thought of stopping is unbearable. Escaping from its grip is far more challenging than imagined. It’s like those cigarettes started out of curiosity, which you swear you’ll quit someday, only to find yourself unable to do so, damaging your health and leaving you filled with regret. Or even those nicotine gums you took up to kick the habit, only to become an even more expensive addiction.

“Should I aim for an uptrend today? Will it hit the jackpot tomorrow?” The thought crosses your mind even while eating, driven by stocks and Bitcoin. Or even that game that, if you don’t play for just three days, invades your dreams with visions of the Summoner’s Rift. All these are prime examples of how addiction affects people.

This truth isn’t spared even in the deep realms of the mermaid kingdom.

“Ah, my whole body aches,” an elderly mermaid grumbled continually. As she massaged her stout forearms, a sound as deep and resonant as drumbeats filled the air. Yet, no trace of satisfaction appeared on her face due to the severe pain in her joints. “Sigh, I did too many dolphin kicks in my prime,” she lamented the days when her skin and muscles were firm enough to challenge even a giant whale in a head-butting contest. She believed her strength would last forever back then.

She thought her robust body would endure through centuries, even millennia. But with time, reality proved otherwise.

At thirty, forty, fifty, and then past sixty, her body began to ache in ways she hadn’t anticipated. The extraordinary muscle strength she had relied on in her youth had overworked her joints, leading to a tormenting joint pain in her later years.

“That’s why those sauna sessions were so delightful, weren’t they, old man?” she remarked. “Ho ho ho, indeed. Especially since I got a break from your nagging,” the elderly merman joked back. “Old man?” “Yes?” “Have you grown tired of living?” he sensed a threatening tone and quickly turned his attention elsewhere.

The elderly mermaid’s face creased with worry. “Alas, both the old man and I… is there no other way for us to enjoy a sauna?” She missed the blissful relief the sauna sessions provided from her relentless joint pain.

All this regret was due to that cunning and miserly human who ran the sauna, Lloyd Fronterra. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed unfair. “Of course, it’s understandable that the sauna couldn’t be run for free indefinitely. Naturally, some form of payment was expected. But why did it have to be labor?” She would have understood if Lloyd had asked for pearls or precious shells instead. But no, he demanded labor in exchange for the luxury of the sauna.

Therefore, she decided, “Pfft! Who needs his sauna anyway?” In a fit of anger, she tore up the seaweed-made sauna membership application and stormed off, swallowing her frustration and resentment.

Days later, she regretted her decision. “I thought I could easily forget about the sauna,” she had convinced herself, sure that the longing would fade in a few days, and that life would go on fine without it. She had been confident. Yet, days without the sauna proved her wrong. Far from forgetting, the sauna occupied her thoughts increasingly. The longing didn’t diminish; it grew stronger until she felt she couldn’t live without it!

“This can’t continue,” she decided, standing up decisively. “Old man, I have to do something about this. Wait here for a moment.” “Eh? Where are you going?” “To the sauna.”

What she planned to do there was unclear, even to herself. But staying cooped up at home, nursing her aching joints, felt wrong. “It’s not like I’m giving in to that human’s demands or anything,” she reasoned. She just wanted to check if there were others like her, unable to resist the allure and lingering near the sauna, hoping for entry. “I’ll just take a quick look, that’s all.” She was sure she’d find the sauna deserted, convinced no one else would be foolish enough to hang around. Or so she thought, until…

“What is this?” She was stunned. The area around the sauna was far from deserted. Instead, it was bustling!

It was as if the water was teeming with mermaids!

And then…

“Ah, elder sister? You’re here too?” Other elderly mermaids in the vicinity noticed her and greeted her warmly, flapping their tails and patting her on the shoulder. They were her peers with whom she often socialized.

“Why are you all here?” “Why? We came for the sauna,” they replied, revealing they had been there since the day before. “…”

“Sister?” “You ungrateful and disloyal lot.”

“Oh, our sister’s upset again. Come here, come here. I’ll scrub your back. So stop pouting. You don’t want to wrinkle that pretty face of yours, do you?”

Her peers teased and nudged the grumpy elderly mermaid toward the sauna. Despite her complaints, she reluctantly followed them. A faint smile had already begun to form on her lips.

She completed the sauna membership registration at the speed of light, and a content smile blossomed on Lloyd’s face as he manned the counter. “Hehehe. Everything is going according to plan.”

It was a successful strategy.

He looked around, pleased with himself. Membership applications were piling up like a mountain.

The sauna was bustling with activity. There wasn’t a single spot without a mermaid.

The clay sauna, the marine forest sauna, the tropical beach sand sauna, and even the extreme bungee jumping sauna were all packed.

Mermaids were so crammed in that they were competing fiercely for spots. The scene was almost identical to before the announcement that ended the open house free event.

Well, there was one slight change.

“Hey, Javier.”

“Yes?”

“Check each sauna room for me.”

“What am I checking for?”

“Glowing coral.”

Lloyd’s eyes sparkled sharply.

“Some mermaids who entered six hours ago should be almost out of light on their wrist-worn glowing corals. Check whether they want to recharge or if they’re done for the day and leaving.”

“Understood. But…”

“But?”

“Are you now employing me as a clerk too?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“Look, look, there it goes again. The flounder eyes. Just a moment, look here. I’m writing a job posting for clerks. ‘Free sauna access during employment.’ With such terms, we’ll have a line of mermaid applicants. Of course, we’ll conduct interviews and only hire the most diligent, but it’ll be sorted quickly, so don’t worry too much.”

“Phew, alright.”

Haviel sighed deeply and moved on.

He made his rounds inside the sauna, and wherever he went, the cheers of the mermaids grew louder.

Each mermaid wore a bracelet that sparkled on their wrist.

It was a bracelet containing a piece of deep-sea glowing coral, calibrated to shine for exactly six hours.

When the light faded, the mermaids had to decide.

Whether to extend their sauna time to the maximum daily limit of 12 hours or to call it a day and leave.

Upon exiting the sauna, they were required to record their sauna time in their membership log.

This was to calculate the sauna fee, or rather, the mandatory labor time.

“Thank you for using the underwater cave sauna today!”

“Yes. So, I need to work within 48 hours according to the contract, right?”

“Exactly.”

A young mermaid, having finished her sauna session, received a warm smile from Lloyd.

“Tomorrow’s work location for those who used the sauna today will be posted on the notice board at the sauna entrance tomorrow morning. You can refer to that for your labor participation.”

“Do I need to bring anything special?”

“Just bring a strong body.”

“A strong… body?”

“Yes. Anything else you’d like to know?”

“…No, that’s okay.”

Lloyd’s smile grew even warmer.

The young mermaid sensed a sinking feeling of foreboding.

The next day, the excavation for the treasure began.

“Ahem! Thank you all for gathering here to pay for your sauna usage. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m Lloyd Fronterra, the owner of the sauna. However, today, I’ll also be the supervisor of this excavation site.”

Excavation site.

As the 120 or so gathered mermaids listened early in the morning, one of them raised a hand.

“Excuse me? Excavation, what does that mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like. From now on, we’re going to dig into the seabed to find something by shoveling.”

“Shoveling?”

“Yes, shoveling.”

Lloyd nodded, picking up a shell shovel prepared in advance.

This shovel was not like the typical ones used on land but more resembled a snow shovel used for clearing snow.

“This will be your shovel for today. Use it to scoop out all the silt from the seabed area I designate.”

“A designated area?”

“Yes, right there.”

As Lloyd pointed towards a section of the seabed…

A blue line began to trace out on the seabed, creating a square.

The lines extended and connected, forming a massive square, each side measuring 1 kilometer.

Thanks to Lloyd’s real-time activation of the spatial guideline option, everyone could see it.

The mermaids’ eyes widened in amazement.

Was this land-dweller actually a wizard?

As murmurs spread among them, Lloyd’s voice resonated clearly.

“You should all see the lines I’ve drawn on the seabed. Just excavate within that square area. Oh, and don’t break your shovels during the work. Remember to check off your labor time on your record cards. If you forget, no matter how hard you work, it won’t count.”

A gulp was heard.

Lloyd’s final words left the mermaids tense.

They firmly resolved to check their labor time on the record cards.

And so, the quest to unearth the true treasure began.

“Let’s get started!”

“Whoa!”

120 mermaids, each wielding a shell shovel, set to work.

The physical prowess of mermaids, true behemoths of the sea, made their seabed digging efforts extraordinary.

They swam with a speed that dolphins couldn’t match, plunging their shovels into the seabed.

The shell shovel plunged deep, tearing through the seabed like a plow through soil.

“Grooo!”

The seabed exploded in a fury as five mermaids made the first dig, creating a trench 50 cm deep and 3 meters wide in an instant.

Then, the next five mermaids followed, deepening the trench further.

The cycle continued, with each group of mermaids aggressively expanding the trench, turning the seabed silt into a spectacle of excavation prowess.

Witnessing this, Lloyd couldn’t help but clench his fists.

“This is insane.”

The speed of their digging was beyond imagination.

Although he knew mermaids were strong and resilient, seeing them work made it clear that they were akin to underwater bulldozers in action.

Lloyd wasn’t just a bystander either.

“Measure!”

The seabed being excavated by the mermaids was now under his scrutiny.

He activated a scanning skill, along with an underground scanning option, revealing up to 5 meters below the seabed.

“Good. I can see deeper than before.”

Thanks to the mermaids clearing the thick layer of silt, the hidden seabed beneath became visible.

However, finding the treasure wasn’t immediate.

“More effort! Sweat through today’s labor, and you can sweat in the sauna tomorrow!”

“Whoa!”

Motivated by Lloyd’s encouragement, the mermaids doubled their efforts.

As they dug and dug, their muscles tired, and the thought crossed their minds.

“Ah, I’m exhausted. Maybe I should hit the sauna before heading home.”

Thus, most mermaids involved in the excavation ended up heading to the sauna after their workday.

There, Lloyd, now playing the role of the sauna’s host, greeted them.

“Welcome, dear guests!”

Despite feeling something was amiss, the mermaids decided to relax their tired bodies in the sauna.

After using the sauna, they had to work again the next day to pay off their sauna fees.

The cycle continued: work led to muscle fatigue, which led to cravings for the sauna, which in turn necessitated more work.

As this cycle repeated, the mermaids realized they were trapped.

“How do we break free from this vicious cycle?”

Using the sauna meant more work as payment.

Work made them tired, which made them long for the sauna again.

Thus, they found themselves in a relentless cycle of work and relaxation.

It was an addiction they couldn’t escape!

Amidst the mermaids’ struggles in this net of labor and leisure, Lloyd’s treasure excavation site thrived.

More and more mermaids became entangled in this cycle, expanding the excavation site and Lloyd’s scanning area.

Then, two months in…

Lloyd’s scans finally detected something.