chapter 194

Chapter 194

“So what did you answer...?”

Even with both shoulders grabbed, Gio answered calmly to Yoo Seongun’s trembling question.

“Of course I refused.”

“I’m really glad you have enough common sense to call it ‘of course’...”

“How were you seeing me?”

“A portrait that, if it finds something interesting, it charges in first.”

“That’s not entirely wrong, but I feel wronged.”

Gio did have that level of ordinary preference.

“Where in the world is there someone who likes being kidnapped?”

“There could be. There are too many crazy bastards in this world.”

“If you put it that way, I have nothing to say, but I don’t think I’m that kind of crazy bastard.”

“Hearing you say that doesn’t reassure me at all.”

Only then did Yoo Seongun let out a deep breath and remove his hand from Gio’s shoulder.

“Those mermaid friends are really unique too. Who asks the person before kidnapping them?”

“They aren’t friends with an ordinary bond with me.”

“Why did they even say they’d kidnap you in the first place?”

“They didn’t tell me the details about that.”

“You don’t have any guesses of your own?”

“It seems they don’t want me to get directly involved in this fight.”

In his platinum-blond, blue-eyed appearance, Gio continued in his usual blunt face.

“Because this is not my fight.”

“Not your fight?”

“I was never always connected to the mermaids’ incident.”

“If you say that, wouldn’t there be quite a lot of people who’d think it’s absurd?”

“Strictly speaking, my bond with the mermaid disciples ended on the planet of the sea.”

It was a relationship that ended when “Giovanni” died.

“To put it simply, the current me is like an extra chapter of a story. The mermaids came to despise humans because of Giovanni’s death, and so they have ruined many planets up until now, and Earth would be no different.”

It was only that the story had been diverted for a moment after meeting ‘Gio’s portrait’ here.

“It seems they intend to take responsibility by doing the same thing they’ve done until now.”

“So they’re trying to exclude you from this fight? Because if you get involved, their responsibility gets blurred?”

“If not, then perhaps they simply wanted to try kidnapping me once.”

“How can you say that so refreshingly...”

“I don’t think my tone was very refreshing. Your voice is trembling, Mr. Yoo Seongun.”

“Do you think I wouldn’t be trembling?”

His precious Origin had nearly been kidnapped by seawater bandits. Even knowing that it wouldn’t harm Gio, it couldn’t help but make him anxious.

“I was already unsettled because the sea has been a mess lately.”

“Has the sea been very turbulent?”

“Looks like those mermaids really can affect the sea. I’ve been feeling big and small vibrations in the deep sea, so I checked, and it looks like a gigantic native monster that had been sleeping is moving.”

“Oh dear—do we need to worry about tsunamis?”

“We have to prepare for that too. Damn it, I’m not very friendly with the sea...”

“Yet I understand you were often dispatched to the sea.”

“It’s true that ice-type hunters have an advantage at sea.”

At least you can preserve your own life.

“The East Sea coast has been extremely noisy lately.”

“That’s where the ‘Nation of the Deep Sea’ entrance was.”

“I already delivered the mermaids’ declaration of war to the guild master, so other guilds are probably preparing in broad terms too. The Association and Justitia are especially noisy, so it looks like they’re preparing for casualties.”

“Did they declare they won’t attempt a raid?”

“Rather than a declaration... it’s closer to keeping watch until things get to the worst.”

They would be watching this side closely.

“The sea level has risen a lot. There aren’t many areas along the coast where people live anyway, so it won’t be hard to prepare, but the problem is what exactly the mermaids are going to do to the sea.”

Yoo Seongun glanced at Gio.

“As their old teacher, do you have anything to say?”

“Not sure. My disciples back then were still immature...”

They couldn’t move like this, fully assimilated with the sea.

“But mermaids are known to be children of the sea. To be exact, they are said to be descendants of the deep sea, and so their sea-related authority is diverse.”

“What kind of authority?”

“Becoming one with the sea.”

“My head already hurts.”

“Or changing ocean currents...”

“Are they crazy?”

If even one of those were possible, Earth’s lifeline would be cut. Just changing ocean currents could ruin the planet called Earth in any number of ways.

Gio propped his chin.

“If the deep sea is turbulent, then the possibility of causing a tsunami is not small. Basically, the sea contains natural disasters. It is very suitable for sweeping away many people.”

“Is it that easy, like breathing?”

“It is not. Because Earth’s sea is not their family. No matter how hard mermaids who still do not hold divinity try, they cannot handle the sea of an unfamiliar dimension like catching mice.”

“Then?”

“It will take time. But since they have authority accumulated so far, I do not think it will take very long. It seems they have already finished preparing themselves.”

“So to summarize, it’s a battle of time.”

They had to strike first before it became like the planets the mermaids had passed through.

“We need to gather a raid team quickly.”

“Will hunters gather like with the Four-Legged Rainforest last time?”

“Since it’s a sudden situation with a big risk burden and unclear rewards, I don’t know how many guilds will participate, but well—people won’t be that uncooperative.”

Koreans had a national trait.

“Even if they fight like crazy normally, when a national disaster comes they gather strength—that’s this country’s nature...”

As Yoo Seongun said, quite a lot of guilds expressed their intent to participate.

Basically, high-profile guilds had no choice but to participate, even just to be conscious of the citizens’ gaze. Seoul’s Sun Church and Moon Church had long since stated they would participate, and Justitia also declared it would assist with saving lives.

“The coastal zone has already issued evacuation notices.”

“I heard Justitia is standing by over there.”

“I hope this commotion can be calmed down somehow in the coastal area...”

“How is the residents’ pushback?”

“Thanks to separate support from the Association, they say there are no issues aside from people being anxious.”

“If anyone has important items or left someone behind, tell them to bring them in advance. If it progresses further than this, it’ll become difficult to even enter. Make sure there’s no later complaining.”

“We also obtained development consent forms. Now it seems we just have to demolish houses and build defensive walls. Is it correct that we properly secured cooperation from the nearby regions?”

It hadn’t been that long since the Great Catastrophe’s chaos had passed. Even famous, long-established guilds still hadn’t erased their fear of dungeons, and so they had been keeping their wits about them and preparing.

So even when this sudden disaster occurred, they could respond quickly. They were almost grateful the monsters had directly delivered a declaration of war.

“But still, why in the world did the monster come first to talk?”

“I heard they talked to the Collection Merchant staff who were on vacation in Jeju-do...”

“I heard that too. Looking into it, it seems Hunter Seo Gio and Hunter Yoo Seongun were previously dispatched as a rescue force to the ‘Nation of the Deep Sea.’”

“Did they get acquainted back then and announce it in advance? You can’t really understand monsters’ thinking...”

“Did they judge those humans were worth giving that much warning to?”

Around there, talk about ‘Hunter Seo Gio’ also came up.

“Will that hunter named Seo Gio participate this time too?”

“The Collection Merchant hasn’t given a clear answer yet, but would he really not participate?”

“I heard he’s a hunter who really likes helping people—so it would be strange if he didn’t come.”

“He’ll participate unless the guild master detains him.”

“No, why would the guild master detain a guild member...?”

“Haven’t you heard the rumor? They say he’s Visabel’s bloodline that the Collection Merchant locked up and raised.”

“Stop saying pointless things. In a time like this, do you really have to make remarks that can cause discord? Do you want to become enemies with the Collection Merchant?”

“I’m just saying, that’s all. It’s strange, isn’t it.”

And the Collection Merchant also clearly stated their intent to participate.

“They say Hunter Seo Gio will participate too?”

“They say he’ll be in the rear.”

“He’s a tamer, so it can’t be helped.”

“No, but I heard he can fight pretty well...”

“This guy? Are you planning to put a tamer in front? Are you a demon?”

“No, it’s really...”

“They say his position is healer too—are you really going to put a tamer and healer in front unless you’re insane?”

In this era, tamers and healers basically had a big rear-support role. It was because the perception that both were squishy was strong.

People who still didn’t know Hunter Seo Gio’s exact information thought it was natural he was assigned to the rear. Even people who knew the truth couldn’t strongly refute it.

“Well, he is a tamer.”

“Putting a healer up front would be insane.”

That was simply how the world perceived it. No matter how well they fought, they couldn’t accept a rear position being placed in front. Thanks to that, Gio was safely stationed in the safe zone.

Argio was a little dissatisfied, though.

“...”

“Mr. Gio, this isn’t your battlefield.”

Juhyeon, who stopped by briefly to check Gio’s condition before he moved to the safe zone, patted him. Gio nodded at his friend’s words.

“I know.”

“Then why are you grumbling like that?”

“I didn’t even open my mouth—what grumbling are you talking about?”

“I can feel it with my eyes.”

“You seem to know me too well. It’s uncomfortable.”

“I know it’s not what you really think.”

It seemed that Argio, the personality of age twenty-four, was more prone to complaining than the other “Gios.” A personality used to rampaging freely would find it quite the hardship to be tied down in the rear.

And then good news arrived for this Gio.

“I-it’s an attack...!! It’s an attack! All hunters capable of combat, please come to your positions!!”

“What do you mean?! We haven’t even gotten an attack report from the forward coastal team yet!!”

“Monsters are forming from hail falling from the sky—what in the world is going on...!!”

The hunters keeping watch urgently gathered all hunters able to act. The hunters gathered in the rear each came out with their weapons and gear, and soon they understood what it meant that “monsters are forming from hail.”

“What in the...!!”

The moment they came out of the tent, what they felt was an icy, bitter wind, and through that fierce gale, hail of all sizes fell to the ground. Kwa-deudeuk—!! The hail that fell with a huge sound soon melted and turned into grotesque monsters.

“S-s-slime...?!”

“Slimes don’t look like that!!”

“What is that...! It’s disgusting!!”

The monsters, as if made of melted flesh, writhed as they attacked people.

“Request support from the front!!”

“Communications are down—we urgently sent hunters capable of teleportation!”

“There weren’t any monsters coming out of the sea, so why from the sky...!”

Separate from the confused hunters, the battle proceeded.

“Oh dear.”

Kkwajik—...!!

Yoo Seongun, who had driven an ice spear into a monster, smiled awkwardly.

“This is troublesome.”

“Is it an ambush?”

“An ambush, if you want to call it that. This is embarrassing—focusing on the sea and missing the sky...”

“I also did not expect the mermaids to attack like this.”

“Gio, how far can you hold out?”

Shraak!!

After pulling out his spear, Yoo Seongun asked again.

“I’m asking what the limit of your body is right now.”

“It is not as much as when I am at home.”

He meant when he was inside the portrait. Yoo Seongun accepted it.

“There’ll be constraints. Don’t overdo it too much—if you get hurt, it’ll really tear my heart apart.”

“Not ‘like it will tear’—is it already scheduled?”

“That’s what curators are like. If even a faint scratch appears on what’s theirs, the world becomes resentful and tears of blood pour out. Can you understand?”

“You are overreacting.”

“I am overreacting.”

But it was better than creating an irreversible situation.

“So I want you to be careful, okay?”

“I will keep it in mind.”

And whether he really only kept it in mind—several days later, news came that Gio had gone missing.

Yoo Seongun’s sound of resenting the world rang brilliantly across the battlefield.

(To be continued in the next episode)