Parang resided in Pohang City, South Korea. The sea right next to it is the East Sea, well known to us.
If you follow the coastline northward through the Sea of Okhotsk, to the west lies Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, to the east is America’s Alaska, and to the south stretches the curving Aleutian Islands surrounding the sea.
This is the Bering Sea. It is the northernmost sea of the Pacific and is bordered by the Arctic Ocean.
The narrow strait that separates the Arctic from the Bering Sea is called the Bering Strait, which is about 100km long. Here, three points of the Arctic Ocean are located.
Parang moved to a warp gate located in Wales, Alaska, and arrived at one of the Arctic Ocean’s three points, at a depth of 3 km.
Given its position, the Bering Sea is extremely frigid. Parang maximized the heating function of her wetsuit.
Still, it was a bit chilly.
The average depth of the Bering Strait is around 30-50m. Under normal circumstances, setting up a meeting at a depth of 3km would be impossible, but…
For some reason, the underwater topography in this world is completely different from Earth. Only the depths of the East Sea and the shallowness of the West Sea around Korea resemble the actual geography by chance.
The reason, of course, Parang did not know.
And right in the middle of this world’s Bering Strait lies a trench at a depth of 3km.
Although it looks more like a sinkhole than a trench, for convenience, it is called the Bering Trench.
As Parang swam diligently toward the meeting point, she caught sight of the Bering Trench.
It was like someone had pressed the ground down with a finger. A dark hole unnaturally depressed between the gently sloping plains.
Standing on the seabed, Parang glanced down for a moment.
Darkness.
Inside the hole felt disturbingly dark.
Only bubbling water was rising from the depths below.
Without hesitation, Parang leaped into the hole as if diving once again underwater.
And then she plummeted at a crazy speed, down, down, down.
Of course, she encountered several monster fish on the way, but urgent matters took precedence, so she let them be.
But alas, the sky is indifferent. Parang arrived last, breathless.
And the world is cruel to the last person to arrive.
“No….”
At the bottom of the Bering Trench, Parang stared ahead with a face full of grievances.
Parang was trapped in a prison.
Not in a metaphorical sense, but a real prison made of iron bars.
Yet, since she was right in front of the heat vent, it was warm and cozy.
Well, not cozy at all. Parang stomped her feet.
“Seriously, it’s not like I’m late; I just arrived last!”
Regardless, the five outside the prison were unmoving.
In a circle around the floor’s heat vent sat six chairs and one prison.
Five individuals sat on the chairs while one was trapped in the prison.
It felt like a hearing.
“Reflect on your actions.”
A woman in a Soviet military uniform glared at Parang.
Parang always wondered where she got that outfit. The preservation state of it was also impeccable.
“Is that really what you should be saying?!”
Now, Parang was flailing her arms.
Seeing this, a burly muscular man beside her sighed.
“Parang, how many times have I told you to fix your habit of sleeping in the sea? The location in Korea is closer to mine, yet you’re always this late.”
“Ugh…!!”
In truth, they weren’t genuinely angry. She wasn’t late after all. Why would they get mad?
It was simply a cultural norm to tease someone who arrived last since everyone prided themselves on their swimming speed.
Parang also playfully teased others when they were late.
But this time, Parang felt genuinely wronged.
“It’s your fault, Elvira, for getting in my way!!”
Parang pointed at the woman in the Soviet uniform.
It was true. Right after Parang jumped into the trench, Elvira arrived.
“Elvira? Oh!!”
Boom-!!
“Ouch!!”
She summoned a 5-meter mine right in front of Parang and took advantage of the explosion to zoom ahead.
“Gotcha!”
She didn’t forget to tea-bag either.
“Regardless of interference or not, being late is being late. You’ll stay there for now.”
The most amusing thing in the world is to poke fun at an angry person. Especially if they’re a close friend you’ve known for years.
With her red bobbed hair crossed at the legs, the slender woman spoke to Parang.
Her bright red hair shimmered even underwater, making it almost seem like flames were lit atop her head.
A girl with black hair tied in a bun and dressed in a black dress added, “Vertea is right. If a mine is in front of you, can’t you just avoid it? I think Parang was in the wrong. How could a B-rank Hunter let a C-rank block her way?”
Thanks to Han Siwoo, a Hunter who wasn’t too proud of it, Korean had become the world’s common language. Fortunately, Parang didn’t have to go through the hassle of studying.
“Xiao, didn’t you say I was playing around with the water level last time?”
“Yep, that’s right. If you didn’t want to be late, you shouldn’t have been.”
Xiao responded without holding back. It seemed the last time they teased her about being a D-rank had genuinely upset her.
“Well, now that everyone has said something, let’s get to the main topic. Why did you gather us?”
The red-haired woman, known as Vertea, spoke.
Technically, there was one person who hadn’t said anything, but unfortunately, Diego still couldn’t speak underwater.
He nodded regretfully while tightly wrapped in a thick deep-sea pressure suit.
Anyway, since they gathered to work, they should get to it.
All eyes were on Elvira, who issued the summons.
Parang glanced around but then bent the iron bars, stepped out, and sat in a chair.
Thus began the meeting of the six Hunters sitting around the heat vent at the bottom of the Bering Trench.
#
“A few bowhead whales have mutated.”
Elvira scanned the crowd and spoke.
At those words, Xiao rubbed her forehead. Her reaction showed indignation, meaning she found it bothersome.
Parang was also reluctant when it came to hunting bowhead whales.
“How many are there?”
Parang crossed her legs. She seemed to relax a bit in front of these folks.
“Six.”
“How can they mutate and match the number perfectly, not even able to slack off?”
Vertea said with half-closed eyes, stretched out on her seat.
In contrast, Russell leaned forward with sparkling eyes and asked, “What sizes?”
Upon closer inspection, Parang noted Russell’s teeth were sharp like a shark’s. This meant he was excited.
“There are three at 300m, two at 450m, and one at 600m.”
“Not the worst scenario. Let’s settle it with a lottery.”
Parang suggested.
The reason for a lottery was due to the ancient custom that it entailed.
“What do you mean it’s not the worst? The very fact that they’re bowhead whales is the worst…”
Vertea slid down her seat like she was slipping away.
Thanks to that, her legs fell into the steaming heat vent, but she appeared unfazed, standing up and plopping her legs in it, sitting on the edge.
“You have good synergy with those whales, so stop whining.”
Elvira shot back.
“Ugh, I don’t know. I just want to hurry up and get home to finish my book.”
By “book,” she was referring to the Monster Fish Compendium. More than 80% of the currently existing monster fish have been named by Vertea.
Before she came along, monster fish were simply referred to by their lengths, sizes, or how creepy they looked, but once Vertea named them, they all came forth and became her workload.
That’s a classic case of biting the hand that feeds you.
“I agree. If I had known they were bowhead whales, I wouldn’t have come.”
Xiao also stood up, seemingly exhausted, and kicked the chair away.
Suddenly, the ground trembled. Several fish and human bones crawled up weirdly and tangled up like they formed a sunbed.
And reclining on it made her look like a vacationing tourist.
Vertea must have felt that her earlier posture was off because she fully immersed herself in the heat vent and just draped her arms across the ground.
In the blue abyss, the secret organization Oceanos protects the world.
They didn’t want to work right now.
“I’m feeling lazy too, so let’s catch them quickly and be done with it. We’ll catch them in the end anyway; why bother?”
Elvira gazed coldly at Vertea and Xiao.
“What Elvira said holds true. If it’s annoying, just finish up and get home quickly.”
Parang chimed in.
Thud-thud—
Diego tapped his foot twice on the seat. A sign of agreement.
“I agree too. If it’s going to be annoying, let’s finish up quickly and go home. I have a B-rank promotion test tomorrow morning.”
Based on Parang’s experience, that was only half correct. Russell was probably not annoyed at all; rather, he was struggling to contain his excitement.
But it was likely true about the B-rank promotion test.
4 to 2. Bowhead whale hunting approved.
“Since I won’t be much help anyway, can’t I just skip this?”
“Are you kidding?”
Xiao’s suggestion was immediately dismissed.
And then came the much-anticipated lottery. Xiao pulled out six identical bones from the ground and inscribed numbers on them.
“If you mess with the lottery like last time, you’ll end up assigned to the 600m one.”
Vertea glared at Xiao as if she were going to eat him. It seemed Xiao had been truly wronged last time.
“I won’t mess with it.”
In a tense atmosphere, the lottery concluded.
Vertea, Russell, and Diego were assigned to the 300m ones,
Xiao and Elvira got the 450m ones,
and Parang got the 600m one.
It was unjust, but there was nothing that could be done.
And just like that, business talk ended. Next came casual chatter since they hadn’t met in a while.
It was Xiao who broke the ice.
“Oh, by the way…”
Everyone’s eyes turned her way.
“I found one of those ‘artifacts.’”
!
Everyone’s focus sharpened at that. The “artifact” being referenced could only mean one thing.
Hunter Han Siwoo. It’s referring to a divine object he created.
Naturally, Oceanos began searching for these artifacts the day after Siwoo ascended. Among them, Xiao turned out to be the fastest in the search.
“Where is it? Whose is it? What kind of artifact is it?”
Russell fired questions eagerly.
“Calm down. For now, the location is the ‘Hive’ in the South China Sea’s deepest layer. I don’t know whose it is or what specific artifact it is either.”
“Well, we can find out once we bring it back. Who’s going to go?”
That was Elvira’s suggestion. Since Hunter Han Siwoo was a craftsman Hunter who ascended to become a deity, it made perfect sense that they would want it.
However, no one scrambled for influence over it. That was due to Xiao’s following statement.
“Only Parang can go. The ‘starfish’ is protecting it.”
“Oh. Then…”
After that, everyone fell silent for a moment before nodding their heads in agreement.
“Parang should indeed go.”
“Yeah. What a waste.”
Everyone seemed to accept that. Even Parang herself.
“I’ll find it as soon as possible. Is tomorrow or the day after okay?”
“Whatever suits you. I have plenty of time on my hands.”
Once Xiao finished speaking, it was Elvira’s turn to speak.
“Then, we’ll go with that plan. Parang.”
“Yeah?”
“How did that broadcast happen?”
“Broadcast?”
Russell turned to Elvira, looking thoroughly surprised.
“Didn’t you know?”
Vertea seemed to have been aware of it.
“What broadcast?”
Xiao didn’t seem to know.
Diego simply shook his head.
Elvira scanned the room and shot everyone a glare.
“Why don’t you guys take a little interest in each other?”
“My life is busy enough without worrying about you guys. I’m fine, thanks.”
“Xiao has a point. In reality, that guy Parang doesn’t seem to care about us either. Didn’t you complain about Diego’s B-rank promotion last time?”
“Really?”
“See?”
Russell wore a smirk as he turned to Elvira.
“So, what’s this broadcast about? Did you make it on the news or something?”
Xiao inquired, and Vertea responded.
“Yesterday, there was a live broadcast from underwater. It was about catching Galecus.”
At that, Russell and Xiao’s eyes widened.
“No way, how did that happen?”
Parang rambled on, recounting the story of what had just happened.
“Hmm…”
“Oooh…”
By the time the story finished, Russell and Xiao wore opposite expressions.
Xiao looked somewhat skeptical, while Russell looked impressed.
Those feeling regret are often the first to talk. Xiao initiated the conversation.
“Well, I guess since it’s you, you handle it well enough, but… it seems like you didn’t use the Kraken? Was that intentional?”
“Yeah. I mean, it would’ve been inappropriate to air that on the broadcast.”
“Why are you even filming at all? Are you worried people would see you couldn’t use the Kraken? Why not just let Elvira or Xiao take the lead? They can go public without issues and are fun to watch.”
“Would you be willing to do it?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Hmm.”
Elvira and Xiao nodded in agreement simultaneously.
“See, you wouldn’t want to do that anyway… oh.”
Parang suddenly remembered something and spoke toward everyone.
“You all should come to Korea soon.”
“Why?”
“The statue. It resurfaced.”
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
“Oh, that one? Fine.”
Elvira replied nonchalantly.
“Wait, didn’t they destroy that the last time?”
Russell looked surprised.
“I thought so, but it seems there was still some left.”
“Ha, so it’s still around, huh. Those damn fools…”
Xiao gritted her teeth.
“There’s no way we can skip catching that horrible piece of stone.”
A vein bulged on Vertea’s forehead.
“If you saw that, you should have called immediately! What are you doing? A bowhead whale isn’t the problem here.”
Now, Elvira’s voice clearly showed her rising anger.
“I only saw it last night.”
“Got it. If we have to deal with the statue, we should go after it right away.”
“Let me find a suitable time to let you know. It’s frustrating not being able to catch it myself.”
“Anyone can have a synergy.”
For the first time in a while, Xiao said something that pleased Parang. She felt a bit surprised.
“Let’s secretly track it down and blow up its habitat.”
Russell’s eyes lit up like fire.
“This time, let’s destroy it completely without a trace, and then we could all pour a drink on Alice’s grave.”
At that, all six members of Oceanos fell silent.
Just thinking about that cursed thing ignited their anger.
“Well, let’s put that aside for now. Speaking of whales, should we have a bet for old times’ sake?”
Parang suggested to ease the heavy atmosphere.
Xiao quickly bit back. “Let the last place buy drinks. Sound good?”
“Xiao, that sounds a lot like you’re volunteering to buy them?”
“I’d rather die than hear you say that, Vertea.”
The six members of Oceanos exchanged glances, reading the atmosphere.
“Chukchi Ridge. Let’s go.”
With Elvira’s words, their eyes sparkled, and then—
Shoooooooon!!
They all shot up from the trench floor like bullets.
Brrrr—
In the midst of the scattered chairs, only the heat vent continued to spew boiling water.
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