Chapter 80: The Forgotten Island (2)

“It’s not bad at all.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’m actually thrilled to have this opportunity to learn so much from you, Hunter Taejun.”

Yoo Se-rin smiled brightly, as if mocking my earlier sulky expression.

Of course, I’m Lee Taejun.

I’m the type of man who remains utterly unfazed by such a smile.

“I’m hardly in a position to teach you anything, Hunter Yoo Se-rin. And I have no intention of doing so.”

“You’ve already taught me so much.”

Look at this.

This time, Yoo Se-rin didn’t back down.

“Is that so?”

“Absolutely.”

And so, neither of us retreated, locked in a staring contest.

“You two are acting like a pair of love-struck fools.”

Captain Kim Yongsu, who had been quietly observing us, sighed and interrupted.

“Get on the boat already. We’re leaving immediately.”

Three hours had passed since we left the pier on Yeongjong Island and set sail.

“This time, it’ll take longer to reach our destination than usual,” Captain Kim Yongsu said quietly, speaking for Yoo Se-rin, who was in charge of the ship’s safety.

“Is there a reason for this, sir?” I asked.

“Heh heh, reason? We don’t want to become fish food, that’s all. What other reason could there be?” The old man chuckled.

“If it weren’t spawning season, we’d normally cut straight across the sea, but it is spawning season now. We’ll have to take a detour around the Siren territory.”

“Then can we reach Daehwa Island without engaging the Sirens?”

“That’s highly likely. During spawning season, those Siren bastards never venture outside their territory.”

The old man answered with conviction.

Based on our brief conversation during the journey, he was already an expert in navigating these coastal waters long before the Great Change.

There was a reason why a regular person, not an Awakened, was entrusted with navigating Daehwa Island’s waters.

So, if he was right…

[ Enemy object detected. ] - Notification from Parsley Navigation

This notification shouldn’t be popping up now.

Checking the navigation system, I saw red dots rapidly approaching from ahead of the boat’s bow.

Yet, I still couldn’t see any monsters with the naked eye.

The dense sea fog, thick with mana from the Otherworld-eroded land, surrounded the fishing boat and obstructed my view.

I turned my gaze back to the old man.

“Hmm, hmm~”

Captain Kim Yongsu continued humming his tune, seemingly oblivious to the impending danger. Perhaps he was completely unprepared for a Siren attack.

That’s why…

“Hunter Yoo Se-rin, increase the output of the Mana Barrier.”

I addressed Yoo Se-rin, who was responsible for protecting the fishing boat and its captain.

“Huh? Oh, understood!”

Though puzzled, she immediately activated the barrier with a trigger word and extended her hand.

Whoosh…

A solid, transparent Mana Barrier enveloped the entire fishing boat.

Captain Kim Yongsu, who had been humming moments before, frowned between his eyebrows and asked, “Why did you suddenly reinforce the Mana Barrier? This will slow us down.”

“The Sirens are attacking.”

“Huh? That’s impossible… They’re not showing up on the radar, and I can’t hear their singing.”

“Prepare yourselves, they’re almost here.”

“This is ridiculous…”

Swishhhhh!

Suddenly, the sound of something parting the water from all directions pierced the air.

On the Parsley Navigation screen, the distance between the leading red dot and our position had narrowed to less than ten meters.

Beyond the dense sea fog, the silhouette of a monster finally emerged.

A Siren.

Contrary to their common portrayal in fantasy literature as beautiful half-human, half-fish creatures, the Sirens that appeared after the Great Change were grotesque, fish-like humanoid monsters.

The monsters now swarming towards us were no different.

Their upper bodies were emaciated, their heads balding.

Sunken eyes stared from gaunt faces, and long, sharp nails clawed from their bony hands.

Their mouths bristled with razor-sharp teeth.

The lower half of its body resembled a fish tail sewn together.

I heard they look like ordinary fish when they’re young.

What kind of ordeal could transform them into such grotesque creatures as adults?

Screeeech!

The bizarre cry snapped Yoo Se-rin out of her thoughts.

Swish!

A siren had reached the bow of the ship and leaped ashore.

Thud!

But the creature, screaming as it charged, was sent flying back into the sea by Yoo Se-rin’s Mana Barrier.

“Ugh!”

Yoo Se-rin bit her lip, concentrating on maintaining the barrier with her outstretched hand.

The sirens’ stats were boosted by their “Spawning Season” attribute, making their assaults far too powerful for her to handle alone.

“What in the world is happening? There’s no way they’d attack us like this…”

The old man, startled, had collapsed into a chair.

I turned my gaze in that direction and asked, “Captain, can we reach Daehwa Island in this condition?”

“Do you know how many are in the area? The radar is either broken or they’re not showing up.”

I quickly scanned the Parsley Navigation system.

“Four in the northwest, five in the southeast. That’s a total of nine for now.”

“It’s impossible. This old hulk can only evade two at a time.”

“Understood.”

I addressed Yoo Se-rin. “Concentrate the Mana Barrier on the bottom of the fishing boat, and apply it only to Hunter Serine and the Captain.”

“B-but then all the Sirens’ attention will focus on Hunter Taejun!”

“That’s exactly what we want.”

Yoo Se-rin nodded without further protest.

At the same moment, the Mana Barrier that had enveloped the entire fishing boat rapidly contracted.

Swish…

And moments later, there was the sound of water parting.

The half-human, half-fish shadow loomed over the fishing boat once more.

Screeeech!

It was the Siren, which had been circling the boat after being repelled by the Mana Barrier earlier. The monster charged with murderous intent, as if it would tear someone’s throat out at any moment. Bursting through the sea fog with claws extended, its appearance was straight out of a horror movie.

That alone was enough to make me involuntarily lunge forward.

Thwack!

Skreeee?!

A sharp tearing sound rang out. The deckhand, his gut caved in, was sent sprawling across the deck.

Swish!

The moment the first Siren hit the deck, four more leaped up simultaneously from all directions, moving with fluid, dance-like grace.

Starting with the closest—each within arm’s reach—I struck them down one by one.

Thwack!

In a fluid sequence, I targeted their heads in succession.

Solar plexus.

Between the eyebrows.

Near the neck, I thrust in the palm strike.

Thud-thud-thud!

The Sirens, who had seemed to hang suspended in mid-air for a moment, now plummeted onto the deck like rain, each with a shattered vital point.

As I flicked the viscous fluid from my fists, I felt two pairs of eyes on me.

Yoo Se-rin and Captain Kim Yongsu were staring at me blankly.

“Hunter Taejun, was that just now the Soaring Dragon Divine Fist?”

I shrugged.

“It’s similar to another technique.”

This time, Kim Yongsu spoke with a wry smile.

“But why did you have to let those things climb all the way onto the deck…?”

The sea monster corpses lay scattered across the deck.

In truth, I could have intercepted them with Fireballs before they even emerged, ending the threat right then and there. It would have been far more comfortable not having to look those grotesque faces in the eye.

But if I did that…

“I wouldn’t be able to retrieve the essence stones.”

It was essence stones Fever Time again, the first time in a long while. I couldn’t possibly let this opportunity slip through my fingers.

“Still, this is definitely strange,” I muttered quietly, staring at the navigation system.

Though their appearance differed from those in fantasy novels, these creatures were still called Sirens. Normally, they would first attempt to bewitch humans with their ‘Song of Seduction’ skill. Yet these creatures had abandoned any attempt at enchantment and charged straight at us the moment they spotted us.

They were fighting with a desperate intensity, their movements frenzied and erratic. According to Captain Kim Yongsu, this behavior was completely at odds with the typical patterns of Sirens during their spawning season.

Kii… kieee…

As I fell into momentary contemplation, the Sirens’ cries echoed from the depths of the sea once more. This time, the sounds weren’t mere inhuman wails, but rather a series of undulating pitches, rising and falling in a strangely rhythmic pattern.

And then…

An Otherworldly language was detected.

The notification flashed in the Status Window.

The Sirens’ cries began to be translated in real-time.

“Humans, I’m eating them!”

A kick as fast as lightning.

The Siren, claws extended and desperately charging, had its neck snapped in an instant.

Crack!

And already, its companions who had perished earlier lay scattered across the deck.

Behind them, a voice erupted like a scream:

“Ah, you damn thing! Stop catching them already! At this rate, the boat’s going to sink!”

Captain Kim Yongsu stood, a pitiful sight, pacing anxiously back and forth.

Across the small fishing boat, the corpses of fifty or so Sirens piled up.

For the past hour, this had been the result of relentless attacks aimed at the ship—more precisely, at me and Yoo Se-rin—defending Captain Kim Yongsu.

Ideally, I’d like to continue hunting Sirens on the ship for essence stones, but…

For now, I’ll have to be satisfied with this.

If I didn’t stop here, the ship might really sink.

Humming a tune, I muttered to myself:

“What should I do with the rest?”

“The rest…? You mean there are still Sirens left?” Yoo Se-rin, who had been warily scanning the surroundings, widened her eyes.

“There are quite a few still around.”

The clock remained pitch-black, obscured by both sea fog and demonic mist.

Of course, there was still the Sirens’ distinctive, grating wails.

But for me, with the simultaneous interpreter running, those muttered phrases like “a meal after so long” had vanished.

Thus, the sea fell into an eerie silence.

To Yoo Se-rin and Captain Kim Yongsu, it must have seemed like the Sirens had retreated.

The glowing navigation screen before me told a different story.

Along with revealing where and how the sirens were lurking, waiting for an opportunity.

It seemed the sirens had realized they stood no chance in a direct confrontation.

After snapping the neck of the last one, they were now circling underwater, hidden.

Seeing this, I realized even without Captain Kim Yongsu’s warning, luring them onto the deck and hunting them there would no longer work.

So, how to deal with the remaining ones?

“Fireball is out of the question for now.”

The easiest method would be to intercept them with range magic before they could reach the deck. However, the Archmage’s Fireball was ill-suited for dealing with scattered targets hiding underwater.

Even though it was enhanced to EX-Class, a Fireball was still a Fireball. Its effectiveness naturally diminished against underwater monsters. Since the mana cost remained at 10% of my maximum, I couldn’t just spam the skill every time they surfaced.

“What should I do?”

I couldn’t exactly dive down and beat the Sirens to death either.

At this rate, I’d have to head to Parsley Market and buy a long-range magic scroll.

As I pondered, my eyes fell on Yoo Se-rin, who was maintaining a Mana Barrier with one hand while keeping watch.

Suddenly, it was like a light bulb went on in my head.

“Hunter Serine.”

“Yes, Oppa Taejun?”

I told her not to call me “oppa,” but given the circumstances…

I decided to save the lecture for later and asked:

“Can you freeze seawater?”