Tap, tap, tap.
Click, click.
Dawn. In the silent office without a single window, the sounds of keyboards and mice timidly drift through the air.
There are three people there. Fifty suits sitting at their monitors, their apparent superior, and two security guards guarding the door.
Four in the morning. An ordinary office worker would be sleeping soundly in a comfortable bed, preparing for tomorrow, but—
They are not.
Because they are not ordinary office workers.
No ordinary office worker receives footage from a submarine in the East Sea in a basement at four in the morning.
However, even though they’ve been watching ominous deep-sea footage for days in a basement with no windows, their expressions were surprisingly fine.
No, they were more than fine; they were quite bright.
First of all, they weren’t particularly tired. Instead of working at four in the morning, they had slept when others worked.
Secondly, well.
“Hehehe… hehehe…!!”
A meaningless chuckle filled the office, likely from someone who just checked their bank account balance.
This is one of the ways people here motivate themselves.
Thanks to enthusiastically watching Parang’s broadcast, those who knew that life insurance was included in this heavy paychecks hurriedly backed out, but, well.
Sometimes, ignorance is bliss, right?
Anyway.
It’s obvious why they are gathered in the Hunter Association’s underground secret room at this ungodly hour— to explore the deep sea, specifically the East Sea.
The reason for choosing the late-night to early-morning time frame is to minimize the chances of running into Parang.
Who would want to be doing this grim work at dawn if they had a choice?
In the quiet seas where Oceanos’ activity is sparse—let’s say the Indian Ocean’s center, the eastern coastline of Africa, or near Australia—Hunter Association submarines operate freely in broad daylight.
The association head evaluated the value of the deep sea much higher than Silo initially expected.
Exploratory missions have already been conducted in every sea except the North and South Pole.
Surprisingly, the exploration is going smoothly.
True to Natsuko’s predictions, the deep sea is teeming with Monster Fish, enough to say it’s half water, half fish.
Although combat-related data was nonexistent due to the submarine’s inadequate performance, observational data was steadily accumulating.
Moreover, since they are part of the Hunter Association—
In terms of information about monsters and gates, they far surpassed the global government and Silo, allowing them to accelerate such explorations further.
A minor issue is that their success rate in one of the most important exploration areas, the East Sea, has been rather disappointing.
In other seas, data and observational reports pour out abundantly, but in the East Sea, data collection remains unremarkably low.
“Ugh!! Shit, damn it, that scared me. Huff…”
One man sitting in the office practically launched off his chair, almost breaking through the ceiling.
On the monitor of the spot he had been occupying was a bright red screen.
His submarine was destroyed by an attack from a concealed Monster Fish.
His boss approached him nonchalantly and helped him up.
“Ah, thank you, boss.”
That’s why the success rate in the East Sea is low.
There are too many dangerous Monster Fish.
In that narrow body of water sleeps the world’s third-largest Hive, resulting in a shocking abundance of Monster Fish.
So, they often fall victim to surprise attacks, and Monster Fish, in general, look grotesque.
To put it metaphorically, it’s like playing a horror game full of jump scares.
The colleague of the man who fell to the floor looked at him mockingly.
Then shifted their gaze back to their monitor.
“Eh?”
There, buoyantly floating before them, was a submarine made of brass with gears, levers, and a traditional cannon.
It looked as if it had jumped straight out of the Victorian era.
It was too peculiar to be a Monster Fish, yet too small to be an object.
“Wait, why is this here…?”
No, thinking about it, this might be the only place such a thing could be.
As the man briefly got confused, he decided to follow the manual for now.
Maintaining a safe distance, he approached slowly and turned on the precision detection camera…
Bang!!!
Just as he tried to observe, a loud explosion erupted, and flames shot from the enormous traditional cannon.
Panicking, he quickly turned his body, but the submarine was already destroyed, and the screen displayed only crackling noise.
“Oh, for crying out loud…”
He seemed used to it, as he grabbed a piece of paper from the pile of documents next to him and began to scribble.
It was an accident report.
“Reason… Monster Fish, water pressure… um…”
Was it a Monster Fish…?
The man checked ‘Unknown’ in the item.
Then meticulously recorded the features of the submarine he saw in the detailed information section before trudging over to his superior to submit the report.
The superior, reading the report slowly but somewhat apathetically, suddenly remembered the appearance of the submarine from somewhere.
Soon, their expression grew serious, and they called in the five submarines closest to the damage coordinates, instructing them to move to the location to observe the subject and engage in combat if necessary.
Thus, an untimely battle broke out beneath the sea.
Bang—Kaboom!!
“Aaaaaaaaaak!!! Shiiiiiit!!!!!”
Yuna’s Nautilus No. 3 sank gloriously to the depths of the ocean after sinking 23 Hunter Association submarines, and Silo received three phone calls.
#
The next morning.
Hunter Association Seoul Branch, Branch Head Office.
“Yeah, go on in. Let’s have a drink later. Good work.”
Seo Sunwoo casually hung up the phone after a routine call with a friend.
‘The eavesdropping device…’
He glanced at the potted plant on his desk, stopping at the faint green light shining between the lush moss.
‘It’s working properly.’
He silently brewed tea while reviewing the content of the call.
‘In four days…’
Four days.
In four days, the repair of the ‘evidence’ would be completed.
‘It’s finally time to sever the long-standing ties with you.’
His gaze then fixed on a small photo frame on the desk.
It was a picture of three high school students in uniforms huddled together.
On the left was his face, on the right was Natsuko’s face.
The face in the middle was barely visible due to sunlight reflecting off it.
The people in the picture were happily smiling as if they had just won the lottery.
It felt strange.
Feeling that his life was reaching a grand finale.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad.
He gazed intensely at the photo before picking up his cellphone again to call someone.
Ring, ring—ring, ring.
For a moment, the sound of the call echoed in the room—
Click.
“Hey, Natsuko. Yeah, it’s me, Sunwoo.”
“Gulp.”
“Can we meet for a second? I have some crucial information to share.”
The water in the electric teapot was furiously boiling, ready to overflow any second.
Natsuko arrived in Seoul like a gust of wind less than thirty minutes after the call ended, blinking her eyes in shock.
“Let’s go catch some fresh air outside.”
“We’re being eavesdropped on here. Follow me.”
The words her friend said while leading her to a closed underground room were far too shocking.
“…Do you know about an artifact called ‘Evidence’?”
“I know. But why?”
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
“…”
“…”
“And so, they are planning to… assassinate me?”
“Yeah. It’s an assassination plan.”
“No way…”
The story conveyed by Seo Sunwoo was overwhelmingly shocking.
Silo Corporation was plotting to assassinate her.
Moreover, in a way she could never have imagined.
Her long-time friend, Branch Head Seo Sunwoo, had uncovered it in advance and kindly informed her.
After the conversation ended, Natsuko left the underground room.
As she walked down the quiet corridor alone, two intense emotions swirled inside her.
The relief of being alive and—
‘They didn’t catch me. They didn’t catch me…!!! They didn’t catch me!!!! Ah, they didn’t catch me!!’
Euphoria. A tingling sensation that felt as if her entire body was electrocuted.
Her certainty that Sunwoo was unaware of what he had done.
The assassination plan he shared was incredibly detailed and appeared highly likely to succeed.
If he knew what she had done, he would never pass along such a plan.
The anxiety that had chased her for a lifetime was completely gone.
Seo Sunwoo is an ally.
And when he is an ally, there is no one more reassuring.
The entity she feared most in the world was, in fact, on her side.
Seo Sunwoo knows nothing.
To him, that day’s incident was just a tragic accident.
“Ah… huh… haah…”
A strained moan escaped from her lips.
The feeling of the monster that had been chasing her for twenty years dissipating was indescribably blissful.
Natsuko trembled with delight as she walked down the corridor.
#
Meanwhile, after Natsuko left the room, Seo Sunwoo.
“Phew…”
He flopped into a chair, resting his forehead in his hand.
Seeing Natsuko’s expression, he was certain.
Natsuko believes in him now.
To gain this momentary trust, he had acted for 20 years.
There’s no turning back now.
One week.
One week later, he will kill his best friend and the person he hates most in the world.
And afterward, he will quietly close his eyes beside someone precious he couldn’t protect long ago.
The bitter scent of green tea lingered in the empty office.
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