Chapter 396

Ah, right. First, I adjusted the sea currents a little so that our ship circling nearby wouldn’t fall into the air pocket.

"Hunter Zhan, can you do something like this as well?"

The first thing I said came across as somewhat aggressive.

"For now, I really don’t mind entering this gate with all of you. Looking closely at China’s proposal, their main request was a joint strategy. Team members? The more, the better. Honestly, I’m fine with anything."

Of course, I wasn’t trying to provoke him.

"But the problem is, if you accompany me through this gate, Hunter Zhan, you won’t be able to use any of your abilities."

"What?"

"There’s a high chance that I’ll end up taking control of all the water you generate."

Upon hearing that, Zhan bluntly asked whether I intended to interfere with him. I shook my head.

"It’s not interference. It’s just that I’m exactly the same kind of initial mutant as everyone else here."

"_"

"I’m not exaggerating. I really do still have many shortcomings when it comes to my abilities. Until now, there was never any need for it, so I haven’t trained myself to avoid taking control of other people’s water or anything like that."

A "mentally underpowered Archmage," huh? It was an outrageous lie, delivered without so much as a blink. I decided not to hold back on the act if it meant resolving the situation as peacefully as possible.

"Besides, everyone inside the dungeon is already distracted. How am I supposed to control such a massive volume of seawater all by myself?"

"What’s your point?"

"If the seawater I’m holding back ends up pouring back into the gate, I’ll only be able to protect the Koreans. Hunter Zhan, you’ll have to take responsibility for your own team. Sorry, but there really isn’t anything we can do about that."

With the environment itself refusing to cooperate, what other choice did they have? For reference, the Chinese hunters had traveled here using dungeon artifacts, and because they needed somewhere to stand, they were temporarily using our deck. Since it was difficult to discuss things privately, they turned on their phones and quickly exchanged opinions while showing one another their screens...

"Well, I guess it was bound to turn out this way."

Barely a minute later.

Honestly, it didn’t seem like they had fully reached an agreement among themselves either. But since this was a situation even the Archmage supposedly couldn’t solve, they soon came to a conclusion.

"They said they might have been mistaken, so they apologize. They’ll leave this dungeon to us for now and go back to reconfirm its location by satellite, just in case? What a gentlemanly excuse for retreat."

It was the moment when the management rights over the [Sin Classification] were finally settled.

"Anyway, thanks for today. You little universe-minded pests that couldn’t even make a proper dungeon and ended up dumping it into the seawater!"

And once this raid was over, it seemed unlikely that the designated maritime boundaries for dungeon management would cause any further controversy for the time being. The saying "turning misfortune into fortune" really was made for moments like this.

"This is a satisfactory result."

It was at that moment. While lost in idle thought, I happened to notice a particularly unusual gaze. To be precise, a certain mammal had been staring intensely at me for quite some time. Whether it was genetic or simply the result of spending most of his life without sunscreen and becoming completely tanned, the dark-skinned man with a ponytail was fixing me with a piercing stare.

Zhan.

Come to think of it, I wondered whether that Awakened wasn’t naturally gloomy most of the time, but had simply Awakened the way he did because of the circumstances of his birthplace.

"I read somewhere that his hometown is a port city right by the water. I can’t help but wonder how much he must love the place where he grew up for even his Awakening to take on a water attribute."

Judging by the way he carried himself, I had already formed a rough idea of his personality.

"Of course, the important point is that this guy’s reason for undergoing mutation alongside us seems entirely different, and his fundamental level also appears to be completely distinct."

For reference, when I first learned that the original owner of this body had been a heavy smoker, I mercilessly treated Kim Giryeo like an inferior mammal. But setting aside that past mistake for a moment, the hunters from the socialist country were beginning to withdraw. I conveyed my intentions to the neighboring country’s representative Hunter, who was standing on the transport artifact.

"Oh, by the way, Hunter Zhan."

The person whose name I called immediately turned his head toward my voice.

"Let’s not do this again next time."

I managed to meet his eyes and continued speaking without looking away.

"I appreciate you backing down after realizing this is my specialty dungeon. Honestly, if things hadn’t turned out this way, you probably would’ve kept bothering me anyway."

"Did you just... speak to me informally?"

"I understand that all of you have your own circumstances. How could every country possibly think the same way and take the same position?"

"That wasn’t a mistranslation from the device... are you seriously speaking informally to me? Those words you just said?"

"But still, let’s not do this again from now on. Friends from the same Earth should always get along nicely."

Even during the first World Tournament, we had never actually met face-to-face. From his perspective, hearing such a lengthy statement from a complete stranger was bound to be bewildering. But there was a reason I had hurriedly spoken up.

"My taste buds don’t really distinguish between Korean food and Chinese food—they all taste good to me. But if these petty attempts to expand territory keep happening, I might just start cutting down your menu options sooner or later. No matter how much I like your culture."

Since my reincarnation, I could also be considered part of South Korea.

"Though it is a bit of a problem that I came here as an immigrant without even going through the minimum visa procedures..."

Part of my mind couldn’t help thinking in alien terms, "These creatures are making such a fuss over a patch of land this tiny." Yet on the other hand, at least while dealing with this blond individual dressed in leather, I had to maintain the appearance of siding with one party. Why? Because Kim Giryeo wasn’t a dual citizen. Acting this way would, at least to some extent, make me seem more like a native. So I warned the mammal who had crossed the sea not to overstep.

"Whether they’re bugs from the universe or mammals from Earth, it’s better to keep excessively selfish behavior in check."

In a way, it wasn’t all that different from how I intended to deal with the Gisimche in the future.

"What the... what is this? What on earth were you thinking, giving us—from the country with the most top-ranked hunters—that kind of attitude!?@#$"

"Hold it in, Six Star. Just hold it."

A moment later. Once the declaration of war had been properly translated, the bronze-skinned Awakened shouted in fury. But no matter how angry he became, nothing would change. Even if the Archmage weren’t here, the Korean named Kim Giryeo inherently possessed absolute superiority in water-based environments. Hunter Zhan couldn’t help but instinctively realize how unlucky his situation was. Soon enough, they were seen grudgingly stepping back, as though pretending to yield of their own accord.

Then, with all the conversational formalities concluded, it was time for those directly involved in the situation to make one final round of adjustments.

"As expected, Hunter Kim..."

"If you act that openly aggressive, I think the foreign ministry would really dislike it."

"Is that so?"

"But, you know, among the people actually working on-site, isn’t it natural to raise your voice a little? Don’t worry, Giryeo. You handled that well. If anyone complains, the Korean Magic Tower will step in and back you up."

To put it another way, several Korean S-ranks were present here. Honestly, it could be said that almost all of the nation’s highest-level combat power had gathered in one place.

The brainwashing range of the [Sin Classification], verified through countless human cases, was already well known. Everyone understood that even S-rank Hunters were not safe from the monsters inside. Then why, despite knowing that, had the three of us gathered here together?

"Hmm."

The answer was simple. In fact, I had summoned all those primitive sorcerers myself. The recently perfected magic for dealing with Gisimche became more effective the more people were present—and the higher the rank of the individuals it was applied to, the stronger its effect became.

However, even with those preparations in place, if my human companions were actually to fall victim to the brainwashing... I would end up being the only sane person left, and the chances of me becoming tremendously annoyed would skyrocket. At that point, I decided to employ a small trick.

"Shall we enter right away, then?"

"Yes. Though I’m a little concerned about why someone who’s supposedly retired is naturally joining us here..."

"Hunter Jung Haseong, don’t spout useless nonsense before we even get started."

Smk.

I pointed toward the [Sin Classification] passage before us and spoke.

"As I mentioned before, our approach will be a 'speedrun.'"

A technique that targets a creature’s skull usually has power proportional to the amount of time it is applied. Then what happens if exposure is minimized from the very beginning?

***

Drip-drip...

Accompanied by a difficult-to-describe sound, we soon stepped into the glowing passage. Upon entering this otherworld, the scenery familiar from the reports came into view.

Medieval-style buildings with pointed rooftops stood prominently before us. Around them stretched a black field, draped in colors that almost seemed deliberately chosen to complement the castle’s appearance.

"Oh... plants so black, it feels like they’re completely devoid of chlorophyll."

Thud.

Before I could fully take in the scenery, a strange sensation seeped up through the soles of my feet. Unlike ordinary [Sin Constellation] gates, the ground here was completely wet.

"Isn’t this the kind of flooding you get every rainy season?"

It seemed that while we had been tied up outside, a considerable amount of seawater had seeped in.

We had secretly blocked it off the moment we discovered the dungeon, and had even reduced the flow briefly before the "tourists" from China arrived. Of course, as a mage born on an oceanic planet, I hadn’t simply left the situation unattended. Fortunately, the sheer vastness of this otherworld meant that the leakage hadn’t caused any fundamental damage. But if the gate’s discovery had been delayed for any number of reasons... things could have turned out very differently.

"For a mammal, this would probably feel rather chilling."

As if they had just arrived at the same thought, the species incapable of breathing underwater spoke up in unison.

"We almost got into serious trouble."

"Luckily, for now it’s only reached the point where the soles of our shoes are getting wet."

With the environmental concerns settled, that matter was put behind us.

"I’ll stabilize the water near the entrance as much as possible so that it doesn’t interfere with the raid."

"Wow, I can’t believe something this amazing can be controlled at will—"

I focused more intently on controlling Earth’s seawater. To put it in primitive terms, I carefully prayed to the water molecules outside, asking them not to come in.

"But if you were to get knocked down inside the dungeon, Giryeo-ssi... wouldn’t that mean serious trouble for all of us? Ha ha."

And just as one of my teammates, having finished off a monster near the entrance, cracked that joke, I answered with a surprisingly serious expression.

"Of course."

"Huh."

"Besides, as you can see, holding back that water isn’t exactly easy. Honestly, just doing this alone feels like it’s going to drain me for quite a while."

"Heuk."

"So I’d prefer it if all of you handled the raid itself... I’ll be following behind you, of course, but still..."

A declaration that I would step back from the hunt because I would be too busy keeping the dungeon watertight.

Truthfully, I hadn’t planned things that far ahead. But considering the tasks waiting for me deeper inside the gate, I figured it would be better to conserve my energy today—even if that meant stepping away from my primary role.

"Th-then, could it be that Hunter Kim foresaw even this rare variable and brought us along as insurance...?"

"True! I was wondering why we suddenly had to tackle such a dangerous gate together, but now... the foresight of humans is almost frightening."

Guys, I literally thought two seconds ago that none of this was planned.