Chapter 376

“I’ve got nothing but a bad feeling about this.”

“Did that Korean Hunter decide our abilities weren’t enough to handle the dungeon?”

The S-ranks standing on the street looked uneasy, fearing that they might end up sharing the fate of that unfortunate hunting dog.

“At this rate, won’t you guys in Imabaet get taken out? We went out of our way to overlook those troublesome people before, but if you keep proving less useful over time, this could become a serious problem.”

“T-taken out? Haha... no way. There’s no way that would happen...”

The woman listening had originally intended to scold him with something like, “Haven’t you been reading too many comics?”

But the things her fellow Hunter was muttering sounded far too serious to dismiss as a joke.

[I’ll let it slide this time. Japan still needs personnel left to manage its gates.]

Something about that statement bothered her.

No.

Not just something.

There were quite a few things that bothered her, actually.

Above all else, Kim Giryeo had an unnaturally terrifying appearance.

“...”

The physical features of that particular Korean were, at the very least, universally intimidating throughout Asia.

And so, one Japanese Hunter soon found herself thinking—

“If it turns out I’m not particularly useful to world peace... would he at least make me pay for my sins retroactively?”

The ones feeling even more anxious at that moment were Iori and his side.

After going through all that chaos to secure civil rights for the Awakened, the consequences they had long since pushed out of mind now seemed ready to catch up with them.

“Alright. Calm down. I’ll ask Kim Giryeo exactly what he means first.”

The young man, who was currently the most unsettled of them all, watched as Iori spoke and raised his cellphone.

He was going to reply to the Hunter from the neighboring country.

Being from a generation accustomed to electronic devices, he quickly began typing with his thumb.

[Send to: Hunter Kim Giryeo]

[Hello. I’ve seen your message.

First of all, I would like to sincerely apologize once again for what happened during the Kagoshima raid.

I completely understand and respect Hunter Kim Giryeo’s judgment that this situation cannot be entrusted to us.

However, if what happened in Kagoshima has suddenly upset you again and you intend to punish the offenders, could I perhaps be excluded since I wasn’t an accomplice?

And of course, to someone at your level, most Awakened probably seem insignificant.

Still, the people who gathered for that raid were among Japan’s elite superhumans, so if all of them were punished, honestly, it would create serious difficulties in maintaining public order.

Therefore, if you could direct your anger solely at the ringleader, Moritaka Ito, I would be sincerely grateful.]

Then how did the recipient react?

...

...

Ding.

A few seconds later, Kim Giryeo, who was still in Korea, was marveling at the technology that allowed people to converse instantly across the sea.

But just as he was enjoying the civilization of another planet, an unexpectedly long message arrived on his phone.

The alien tilted his head.

“What?”

Why had he received such a long-winded reply?

Judging from the context, the Japanese Hunter seemed to have completely misunderstood the meaning of his raid prohibition.

It was a bizarre misunderstanding.

But there was no time to untangle it now.

He did not even know where the misunderstanding had begun.

“What a hassle at this hour. It’s only six in the evening.”

For reference, after finishing his meal with Ahn Yoonseung, Kim Giryeo had gone straight to the nearest branch of the Hunter Association.

Because the department responsible for interdimensional disasters always kept night staff on duty by necessity, he had come here to urgently discuss the newly appeared dungeon and knocked on the door.

“Gasp! H-Hunter Kim Giryeo?”

“If you’ve confirmed my identity, let me in already. Otherwise, at least contact whoever’s in charge of the Association directly.”

The dungeon was not even in South Korea.

So why had the Archmage taken such a keen interest in something that had appeared all the way out over the Pacific?

There was one very important reason.

“A floating territory exactly like that appeared in Alphaut once too.”

He knew the full story from the memories of his previous life.

[BREAKING NEWS] Unprecedented, Severe Dungeon Phenomenon Occurs in the Pacific Ocean near Minamitorishima.]

The report he had first seen on the restaurant’s small television was explained in greater detail.

At the easternmost edge of an Asian country, an unbelievable sight was unfolding.

“Anyway, whether this is the beginning of some cataclysm or whatever...”

Just as when monsters first appeared on Earth, a mysterious light—bright enough to resemble an aurora—rose from the sea.

And from within that light, a dungeon suddenly revealed itself.

This time, however, the dungeon had completely skipped the cumbersome process of emerging through a “gate.”

“I’m not sure, but roughly speaking, it looks about the size of an island called Yeongyeongdo... maybe?”

A rocky nest of monsters, tangled together from crimson and pitch-black stone, had appeared high in the distant sky.

In other words, it was the arrival of a Heavenly Palace Island—the sort of place that should have existed only in fairy tales.

What was more, the island-shaped anomaly floated gently through the atmosphere.

Even now, its position was shifting despite the fact that it possessed no wings.

“Is it being drawn toward land where humans gather?”

To think a nightmare could suddenly take physical form like this...

Yet the newly appeared island dungeon was actually a poor fit for what could be called a “feeding box” for the Gisimche.

“Most importantly, it isn’t square.”

Those cosmic parasites preferred angular structures.

Perfectly rectangular tables.

But this island was strangely round.

And on top of that, it was moving around for no apparent reason.

Then what exactly was the purpose of the island that had just appeared?

“This time, it probably has nothing to do with feeding.”

The Archmage immediately grasped the answer by drawing on the memories accumulated over his previous life.

“They’re showing off. Those insects are flaunting their creation abilities for no reason!”

What had just occurred was nothing other than “practice” in planetary modification for the cosmic parasites.

The [Descent] that the great mage had always feared also involved a catastrophic process in which the entire planet would be transformed into an environment favorable to the enemy.

To alter an alien world until it became suitable for them to inhabit—

Earthlings called such a process terraforming.

Of course, there was little point in worrying about differences in terminology right now.

His attention needed to be elsewhere.

“Fortunately, the toy they made this time doesn’t seem to be the sort of environment where humans would die just by touching it...”

Sigh.

The alien wearing Kim Giryeo’s body casually gazed toward the sky, only to stop abruptly.

“The problem is that this magnificent creation is going to collapse the moment the dungeon is cleared.”

Exactly.

That was the critical problem.

Just as the leaders of Blue Gates always carried the keys to their exits, the core of the Gisimche’s repeated spatial intrusions was invariably the boss entity.

That island undoubtedly contained a creature far stronger than the minions around it.

Once the master of the dungeon died, the island’s entire energy supply would plunge.

With its leader gone, nothing would remain except the dungeon’s collapse.

“Oh, dear. How did a brilliant mage like me forget about that?”

The blond alien bitterly lamented his oversight.

Honestly, in the binary star system where he had originally been born, a creation losing its buoyancy would not have posed any real problem.

After all, buoyancy was exceedingly common there.

For that reason, the old mage of Alphaut had never developed the instinct to stay alert for a phenomenon like this.

“This was bound to happen sooner or later.”

Then what were they supposed to do now?

On a map, the thing would barely register as a tiny dot.

But if that creation of the Gisimche were ever cleared, the resulting damage to humanity would be irreversible.

“Hmm.”

If it fell into the ocean, there would be a tsunami.

If it fell onto land, it would be like a meteor strike.

There was no need to dress it up with technical language.

One thing was certain.

It would be a disaster.

“To the locals, a meteor strike and this would basically be the same thing.”

For now, Kim Giryeo concluded that the best course of action was to prevent anyone from recklessly attempting to clear the dungeon.

The monsters occasionally spilling out of the island were only B-rank.

A single competent A-rank Hunter could probably deal with them.

Therefore, the safest solution was to issue an outright declaration—whether through the Association or through the international community—that no one was to touch the island.

“As expected, I guess I’ll have to handle the raid myself.”

The thought came to him in an instant.

“Well, this is the first time Earth has encountered something like this... It might not be a bad idea for me to step in while collecting data at the same time.”

The alien Archmage wanted to dispose of the island safely before the situation deteriorated any further.

Now that part of another world had already been dragged into reality, there was only one way left to remove it.

“With overwhelming physical force... well, one way or another, I’ll have to manage somehow...”

Surprisingly enough, if they simply waited too long and exceeded the dungeon’s breaking point, the entire thing would eventually fall on its own.

But imagine what would happen if that enormous rocky nest drifting through the sky happened to stop directly above a densely populated human settlement.

“Judging from its speed, it could even end up stopping near the Korean coast.”

The more he thought about it, the worse it became.

Kim Giryeo clutched his head as visions of catastrophe flashed through his mind.

At least one thing was certain.

Earth currently had no one capable of properly dealing with that island.

“Or maybe I’m wrong? Could they actually shoot it down with something like a nuclear weapon?”

He corrected his own conclusion.

More precisely, it was not that the world lacked scientists or weapons.

It was that there was no real problem-solver among the psychics.

And when he considered what might happen if humanity attempted to resolve the matter with technology alone, the likely outcome did not seem particularly favorable either.

So, for the sake of the planet’s safety, he made up his mind.

It was better for someone powerful to intervene from the beginning than to let the humans fumble their way into a catastrophe.

“This is obviously going to become a massive headache.”

Safely eliminating an enormous floating island large enough to contain an entire village was no simple task.

For an ordinary human on Earth, attempting the kind of spell necessary to erase a terraformed structure of that scale would guarantee catastrophic damage to the lungs.

“If you pretend not to know anything when you’re perfectly capable of helping, there are bound to be consequences...”

Kim Giryeo was just about to think that the situation made him uneasy when he abruptly stopped himself.

“If this comes out later, there’ll definitely be repercussions. At the very least, my reputation will take a hit.”

Then he looked away.

By that point, he had even begun censoring expressions that no one else could possibly hear.

“Hunter Kim Giryeo! The Association President just replied. He’s connecting by video call now, so please check your phone.”

At last, he had managed to reach the person in charge.

***

But now—

After he had gone out of his way to demonstrate the generosity of the strong...

“What the hell?”

About three hours later.

Republic of Korea.

Seoul.

I stood outside in the dead of night, eyes wide open and completely dry.

All for the sake of eliminating the floating island that was drawing closer with every passing moment.

But the instant I said I would head out into the Pacific, that so-called Association President started frantically making calls somewhere...

[International Hunter Federation: That dungeon, handled by a single Korean? Surely that would be inappropriate?]

And before long, that ridiculous response came back.

Here I was, a great Archmage generously offering to use my sorcery for the good of the world.

Yet in the eyes of Earth’s high-ranking officials, my offer apparently looked like nothing more than an attempt to monopolize a valuable dungeon.

One country after another began voicing concerns I had never even considered.

Well, to an Alphaurin, that island was nothing more than a toy.

To Earthlings, however, it was simply a new hunting ground.

Gates had always followed a certain logic.

The stranger the form and the higher the difficulty, the greater the reward.

And since Blue Gates collapsed into nothing once their bosses were killed, the fact that this one had first appeared over the sea only made the situation more complicated.

“I didn’t know that. So the vast Pacific Ocean doesn’t belong to anyone. It belongs to everyone.”

How touching.

Such a beautiful sight of everyone sharing one enormous region so harmoniously.

As someone who had once been a marine creature, I was deeply moved.

But—

“Damn it! Why do these bastards only start talking about public territory when it suits them?!”

“Gasp! P-please calm down, Hunter.”

Had they already forgotten what happened when the world’s very first monster appeared near the Mariana Trench?

Back then, everyone delayed responding because they insisted that the Pacific was not under their jurisdiction.

Only after the creature traveled through the ocean and began threatening Hawaii did the U.S. government finally spring into action.

But reacting after casualties had already occurred was meaningless.

Of course, the most important thing in any disaster was to suppress it early.

“I guess there’s no other choice.”

So I quickly made the relevant information public before any more time could be wasted.

“Even if it ends up sounding a little threatening, they’ll just have to deal with it.”

At best, only B-rank monsters were spilling out of that floating island.

What glory or fortune could I possibly gain from hunting creatures like that?

And every Blue Gate collapsed once its boss was slain.

Was it really so unreasonable to worry about what might happen after that island was conquered?

“Just listen for once, you thickheaded bipeds.”

I revealed a few pieces of the truth from my side, then added one final remark.

“If you try to stop me from taking on this raid again, I’ll wash my hands of the whole thing. Forever.”

In other words—

If they ignored my warning, I would refuse to intervene no matter what happened afterward.

Whether a tsunami rose.

Whether a city was shattered.

None of it would be my problem.

If I personally tried to dispose of the newly appeared island safely, then no matter what I did, my body would probably end up wrecked.

Completely shattered, like a phone dropped edge-first onto asphalt.

Crunch.

So, to be perfectly honest, it would actually benefit me if they kept opposing the raid...

[International Hunter Federation: Our apologies. Then please proceed with the raid immediately.]

Fortunately, the negotiations concluded smoothly.

Not only was the troublesome international jurisdiction issue resolved, but even the neighboring country whose airspace was about to be violated willingly granted entry to the Korean S-rank Hunter.

Then, from this point onward—

It was time to safely dispose of the toy the Gisimche had created to show off their power.

Ding.

[New Message]

[From: Seonwoo Yeon]

At that moment, a message arrived.

“Ah, right. Now that I think about it, I complained to her out of boredom while I was waiting for the Association President to reply.”

It was a message from an acquaintance.

[Seonwoo Yeon]

[Regarding the matter you mentioned earlier, how did it turn out? I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help.]

[Me]

[No, it’s fine now. I just got approval.]

[Seonwoo Yeon]

[Oh, really?]

Apparently, she had even considered borrowing the authority of a government official just in case...

“Well, really, how much power could you expect from a single person?”

I stared at my phone and drifted into thought.

[Seonwoo Yeon]

[Then that’s really wonderful. By the way, I was personally quite moved by this. Mr. Kim Giryeo is willing to risk being injured for our sake.]

Meanwhile, another message arrived from my acquaintance.

But that interpretation was rather far from the truth.

[Me]

[I’m just doing what needs to be done...]

The real reason I was running around in the middle of the night was partly personal.

[Me]

[If that island happens to stop in the East Sea, my mansion will take a direct hit!!]

[Judging by the angle the dungeon is moving at, that’s exactly where the calculations point!]

[Seriously, how have humans managed to live this long in such a weak, flood-prone place?]

[A country surrounded by the sea on three sides...]

For some reason, Seonwoo Yeon did not reply after that.

And now—

It was finally time to head out to sea and get to work.