Chapter 395

To think that foreign countries would intervene like this.

“Besides, they set sail precisely when the dungeon appeared. How did opposing articles come out so quickly?”

Tap.

I turned halfway around to survey my surroundings. For reference, I was currently standing aboard a single ship—more precisely, the white vessel used by the maritime police was our means of transportation this time.

‘Earthlings’ communication technology really is fascinating, so I looked into it briefly. I see—if you install equipment on the ship that functions as a base station, you can get good internet and phone reception even this far out at sea.’

A quick search through recent articles was enough to explain the equipment around us.

There were quite a few well-known figures aboard the ship: Jung Haeseong, Esther, and the newly appointed head of the Hunter Association, among others. Until just a few minutes ago, these famous individuals had been focused solely on how to deal with the [Sin Classification], but once this new information entered the discussion, the atmosphere on board shifted.

“New Association President, say something, will you?”

“Ah, Hunter Esther. Well, from what I’ve heard... it seems this [Sin Classification] appeared in a disputed maritime zone. They contacted us and suggested coordinating with the neighboring countries.”

“Territorial dispute? There’s a dispute?”

“Regarding the coastal gate, hadn’t that already been neatly settled through prior consultations?”

The two S-ranks led the conversation while one person remained silent.

I don’t know much about Earth’s seas, so I don’t really have anything to say. You guys—”

Listening closely to what they were saying, the gist of the situation was roughly this: The dominant species of this planet—mammals incapable of breathing underwater—had established their nations on land, and since there were no citizens living permanently at sea, maritime borders had naturally become ambiguous. So the Earthlings had agreed on standards for dividing the seas between themselves. However, when jurisdiction was defined over such vast areas, overlaps between the territories claimed by different countries inevitably became a problem.

‘Not every country has a massive ocean like the Atlantic beside it, after all.’

Well, from the perspective of an Alphaun, who once used magic to draw boundaries while staking claims in the depths of the ocean, disputes over water like this were actually fairly familiar...

“Then, did this [Sin Classification] also appear in, you know, an area where our maritime jurisdiction overlaps with a neighboring country’s?”

It was at that moment that an unexpected piece of information came to light.

“Huh? That wasn’t the problem in the first place.”

Fish, minerals, and the like—those were resources that only benefited humans. But unlike other natural resources, a dungeon appearing at sea came with countless drawbacks. Above all, the most frightening part was that if things went wrong, all the monsters trapped inside the nest would be unleashed indiscriminately into the ocean.

“Ah— Among the planets the Gisimche have passed through, my homeland is a notable example, so it makes sense that creatures modeled after the ones in the dungeon would very likely be capable of swimming.”

The false aurora that appeared above the sea as a sign of dungeon shock. The human casualties in the Hawaiian Islands that had directly followed that phenomenon. The slump in the shipbuilding industry caused by innocent bulk carriers being sunk, and so on.

If you ignored a gate that appeared at sea simply because it wasn’t your problem, the resulting damage could be enormous. Moreover, because of that pattern, the major powers of Earth had often been the first to lose their citizens. Even I, an alien, had noticed that much while surfing the web.

I heard that the former U.S. president had become so fed up with incidents involving sea monsters that he took the lead in establishing an international agreement meant to prevent similar disasters as much as possible. For reference, there was no need to go through all the lengthy details—the essence of the agreement was basically, “If a gate appears at sea, do our best to deal with it.”

“Provisional waters or whatever!”

Just as that subject came to mind, Esther shouted loudly beside me.

“The location where the sixth [Sin Classification] appeared is clearly within South Korea’s jurisdiction. Last time, we agreed to manage those waters evenly, but now they’re saying we should hand it over just because the dungeon appeared closer to their territory?”

“Hunter, please calm down.”

“Sure, if you only look at the distance from land, it’s closer to them, but more importantly, there should be official records drawn up by the political authorities—what do those say?”

“The Koreans... rushed the agreement through. Moreover, they claim that the person in charge at the time wasn’t actually the final decision-maker, so they’re saying the discussions have to start over from the beginning.”

“Hah, I’m sorry, Dad. I really did intend never to cast a curse on anyone again.”

“Please, Hunter, truly, calm down...”

During the floating island incident, which had been one of the Gisimche’s pranks, there had been room for negotiation because the dungeon itself had “moved.” But the reason other countries wanted the [Sin Classification] this time seemed fairly obvious.

“They’re probably after the epic-grade artifact, right?”

For reference, I hadn’t mentioned this earlier because it wasn’t especially important. Information about the rewards from the [Sin Classification] had already spread naturally after the consecutive gate clears in Kazakhstan and Mongolia.

“You can get an epic just from clearing a single A-rank gate. It really is like a trillion won lying abandoned at sea without an owner.”

Epic artifacts—until now, rare items of that caliber could only be expected after defeating formidable enemies like Nuckelavee. There was no need to look far. The [Hydra], for example, was equipment of that grade. Items like these were so powerful that they could easily outperform lower-tier equipment by three or four levels. And when something contained that much power, who could say that only the Awakened would covet it?

“Hmm.”

Of course, if the neighboring country wanted it that badly, I thought perhaps there wouldn’t be much harm in simply handing over the gate.

“Monster nests that appear at sea are difficult to manage in all sorts of ways. Even if an S-rank appears, the losses outweigh the gains. In that case, wouldn’t it be more advantageous to give up control over waters where no one can live anyway?”

Ah, but wait. I think I just had an unusually naive thought for the first time in a while. Thinking about it again, disputes over territorial rights between biological populations were unlikely to end so easily, and control over a particular gate was almost certainly tied to nearby fishing rights and other interests as well.

“Absolutely not. If we hand this over just because it’s troublesome, control over the surrounding waters will slip away too.”

“Hunter...”

“Do they think we’ve only been living in this tiny little country for a day or two!”

Even that S-rank understood that this could become an opportunity to expand another country’s sovereignty. Before long, the purple-haired woman spoke in an irritated tone.

“And you should have dealt with this kind of political issue quickly on your end instead of dragging it all the way out here.”

“I’m sorry. Truly, I’m sorry, Hunter.”

“Since there are already official records of the agreement, we’d probably win if it went to mediation. But honestly, at this point, who has the patience to sit around waiting for that process...?”

Esther looked ready to grab the Association President by the collar. Fortunately, whatever conclusion she reached appeared to be a peaceful one, because she calmly lowered the hand she had raised halfway into the air and spoke.

“Things have gotten complicated.”

For a moment, I thought the same. Not only could the [Sin Classification] end up completely in the hands of a major power, but if a Chinese Hunter were deployed here to assist with the攻略, the situation would already be very different from what the Archmage had planned.

“Maybe I should adjust the schedule a little.”

But then...

Tuk, tuk, tuk.

More precisely, it happened around the time the noise of the ship’s generator began echoing loudly around us.

“Huh?”

I looked out over the wide expanse of sea before me and pondered.

“It’s a gate.”

After a long journey by ship, we finally came face to face with the troublesome [Sin Classification]. However, there was one aspect of this sixth [Sin Classification] that differed greatly from what we had expected.

“Excuse me. Director Esther.”

Then, allow me to explain that subtle discrepancy.

“Yes, Gryeo-ssi.”

“Come to think of it, only the location of this [Sin Classification] has been revealed. Its altitude hasn’t actually been confirmed yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just turn your head and look over there.”

At my words, every hunter aboard the ship turned to look in the same direction.

And this was what we saw.

Completely submerged beneath the dark, murky seawater, with only a faint, indistinct light visible from above.

As we confirmed the gate that China coveted and South Korea had been anxiously watching, everyone fell silent.

“...”

“...”

“...”

South Korea’s [Sin Classification] had formed beneath the seawater.

“The Gisimche really messed things up again.”

But this mistake could turn out to be a fortunate opportunity.

“Everyone, how many S-rank water-attribute hunters are there in China?”

“Oh, Hunter Kim. I know that one exactly. There’s only one.”

“Zhan?”

“Yes. That person.”

The conversation that followed was very brief. After quickly confirming the situation, I immediately addressed the Association President.

“Then that should be fine. Let’s just have the Chinese representatives come directly to the site. Tell them we’ll let them enter immediately and bring them here.”

“Yes? Really?”

“The dungeon is already like that, so what are hunters supposed to do even if they come? What...”

Mutter.

By the way, if the gate was submerged that far below the surface, an enormous amount of water must have been pouring into it every second even now.

A few minutes later, the sea that had been quiet until then grew noisy as the number of people gathered around it increased. It was exactly like that Earthly saying about a dog that chased a chicken only to be left staring helplessly at the roof.

All we could do was lower our heads in silence and stare at the gate that had appeared on the seafloor.

And after a short wait, the Chinese hunters joined us as well, gathering noisily as everyone tried to come up with a solution.

“I can’t do it!”

“I’m scared I’ll get sucked in.”

“Either way, the inside must already be a complete mess.”

But gathering a large number of human brains in one place didn’t mean an idea with an IQ of 500 would suddenly emerge. No matter how close these powerful individuals were to becoming “new humanity,” what could mere mammals possibly do about a dungeon placed so blatantly underwater?

“Still, if we put on oxygen tanks and go inside while making sure the monsters don’t damage them...”

“How are we supposed to move around in there in the first place, huh? Tsk!”

Even at that very moment, the glowing passage was swallowing an enormous volume of water. The natural pressure generated in the process alone was enough to intimidate the humans.

“Enough.”

Since the situation at the scene was already perfectly clear, I put on the translator and cut directly into their conversation.

And the moment my brief words came to an end, a tremendous roar thundered in every direction.

SPLAAASH!

It was a sound no one could possibly mistake for ordinary splashing water. If anything, it resembled construction noise—or perhaps the sound that would be made if tens of thousands of pieces of cloth were torn apart all at once.

Every Awakened individual fell silent.

“More precisely, what I’m saying is that we should stop wasting time.”

But even without that deafening sound, the sight before them was persuasive enough.

The sea itself had split apart, opening all the way down to where the gate lay ten meters below the surface.

After showing them my power first, I tried a little persuasion.