Chapter 122

Soon, we entered Mermaid Pass. The interior looked strangely familiar to me.

Deep blue water stretched all the way to the horizon, and the humid air clung to my skin.

At this rate, I could probably bring an Alphaurian here and have them live in perfect comfort...

‘Is this the seafloor?’

Strangely enough, the water beneath our feet had formed a surface solid enough to walk on, like a sheet of transparent ground.

Water you couldn’t sink into? So much for getting excited.

‘Tsk.’

Still, whether I could enter the water wasn’t important right now.

“Huh? Wait a moment, Hyung-nim. I think I hear something strange...”

A few seconds later, we stopped and listened to the sound drifting in from the north. This was the mysterious dwelling place of the mermaids—in other words, a realm where the Sirens’ song echoed endlessly.

‘Hmm.’

Ordinary music brought peace to the mind. The sound reverberating through this dungeon, however, muddled the human brain.

Just as it was doing now.

“E-excuse me, Kiryeo Hyung! I know this sounds strange, but... I have this overwhelming feeling that someone inside that fog needs our help.”

Still, it should be manageable. Magic of this kind usually varied in strength according to distance. As long as we didn’t venture too deep into the fog, its effects shouldn’t become significantly worse.

“What about you, Kang Changho-ssi?”

“I’m doing better than the person beside you.”

“But the song is affecting you, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

After checking the condition of the hunters who had accompanied me, I spoke.

“Then we’ll proceed as I explained before we entered. I’m fairly resistant to this type of attack.”

Honestly, without the troublesome Sirens, this place would have been nothing more than an ordinary A-rank gate. Even if Ahn Yoonseung struggled somewhat, there was no reason to worry about clearing it with an S-rank hunter present.

As long as I dealt with the Sirens properly, everything should go smoothly.

“Will you be all right on your own?”

The owner of that dragon eye appeared concerned that the human skill stone he had already marked as his own might come to harm.

“It’ll be safer than taking Hunter Kang with me.”

“What?”

“They say that anyone afflicted with the Sirens’ [Confusion] status may end up attacking their own allies.”

Kang Changho quickly understood once he heard the explanation. Now that we were all in agreement, it was time for me to do my part.

‘Damn, this fog is thick.’

Before long, I located the source of the sound.

—Ah~ Aaaah~♩

The creatures producing that beautiful harmony were, just as humanity had predicted, a species related to fish.

—Lalala~...

However, unlike the beautiful half-women, half-fish figures of legend, these creatures possessed a rather distinctive appearance.

Rather than being half human and half fish, they were more like...

Ninety percent fish.

“??”

“...?”

“...!”

The monsters resembled plump gobies. The moment they noticed the human who had appeared before them, they fell silent in obvious surprise.

Blub, blub.

Flustered, they merely opened and closed their mouths, gulping uselessly at the air.

And as for what they did next...

Well, see for yourself.

—La, lalala~♬

Breaking into a nervous sweat, the Sirens began singing with even greater passion.

Naturally, it had no effect on me whatsoever. No matter how powerful their mind-control abilities might have seemed by Earth’s primitive standards, they were still only Earth creatures.

‘To me, this is nothing but noise pollution.’

Let me make one thing clear.

Creatures that evolved to specialize in mental attacks were usually poor at close combat. In fact, calling them poor was an understatement. Most of them possessed virtually no physical combat capabilities at all.

After all, if they had been capable of defending themselves with brute force, they would never have needed to rely on such tricks to survive.

‘The Flower Baron was exactly the same.’

A typical product of cowardly evolution.

Even after I approached this closely, the Sirens showed no intention of fighting me directly. Everything was proceeding exactly as I had expected.

—Aaaaaaaaaah~♬

Since I didn’t have to worry about their attacks, all I needed to do was stop them from singing.

But how exactly was I supposed to accomplish that?

“Hey. You lot over there. Could you stop?”

Lala~ La~

“Stop singing.”

Lala~

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. Words really aren’t going to work... Kkeuk!”

I tried to stop them physically, only to strain my wrist.

They were A-rank monsters, after all, while I was nothing more than a feeble F-rank. With this fragile body, I could swing my fists all day and still fail to leave so much as a scratch on them.

“Ugh...”

I clutched my swelling hand and considered the problem.

The song.

How in the world was I supposed to stop that cursed song?

For a moment, I considered using [Surprise Box!], but the skill had more restrictions than one might expect.

At best, I could use it once or twice a day. That was all.

“So it really has come to this?”

I closed my eyes and thought for a moment. Then, with some reluctance, I pulled an object from my pocket.

It was a long dagger with an antique wooden handle.

[Screaming Stake]

[Rank: Unique]

[Description: Inflicts the abnormal status effect [Pain] upon the target.]

[※Caution: This special piece of equipment cannot inflict physical damage.]

I held the item I had obtained after defeating the Inevitable Malice.

It was a magical tool designed to maximize the pain experienced by its target. It had originally been intended for torture rather than combat, but...

There was no other choice.

“Hey.”

Sparkle.

I raised the dagger high.

“I gave you every opportunity to settle this peacefully.”

***

—Kyaaaah!

—Kyaaa...!

—Eugh! Kaaah!

What in the world was Hunter Kim Kiryeo doing?

The A-rank Awakened waiting outside the fog raised an eyebrow at the strange sounds coming from beyond it. Upon listening more carefully, he realized that something was screaming.

Indeed, harsh, tortured cries had been spilling out of the fog for quite some time.

“Kiryeo Hyung?”

Several minutes later, Kim Kiryeo emerged from the thinning mist.

Even after his return, the unpleasant cries continued to echo through the air.

“They’re still alive, so the fog hasn’t disappeared completely.”

“What?”

“Everyone, take your equipment and follow me.”

At his command, Ahn Yoonseung and Kang Changho headed toward the center of the fog.

There, they discovered the monsters in a truly pitiful condition.

“Keuk, kaaaaak...!”

“Keuggh!”

The creatures presumed to be Sirens were coughing violently, producing harsh, metallic rasping sounds.

At that moment, the truth of what Kiryeo had done became painfully clear.

“Hyung-nim, what on earth did you do?”

“Tortured them.”

“What?”

“They can’t sing while they’re screaming.”

As he spoke, Kiryeo adjusted his grip on the dagger.

At the slightest indication that one of the Sirens might attempt another note, he was prepared to drive the Screaming Stake into it again.

“Kyaaak!”

Srrrk!

The moment the torture dagger touched its body, the monster released an agonized shriek.

By now, their voices had grown so hoarse that singing should have been impossible.

Only after the Sirens had been thoroughly neutralized did Kim Kiryeo finally turn to the others.

“Now that the singing has stopped, you should be able to proceed with the attack, correct?”

The response he received was decidedly cold.

Ahn Yoonseung stood frozen in shock, unable to comprehend the sight of the tortured monsters before him.

“Uh... K-Kiryeo Hyung.”

Yoonseung stared at the creatures writhing in pain before finally voicing the question in his mind.

Why had he tortured the Sirens?

Why hadn’t he simply killed them?

In truth, they were perfectly reasonable questions.

“...”

But I couldn’t exactly admit that I was an F-rank who couldn’t even scratch an A-rank Siren and had therefore been forced to make them scream instead.

That wasn’t something I could confess honestly.

“That’s...”

Kiryeo’s gaze shifted from side to side. Then he spoke in a subdued voice.

“Why do you think I did it?”

He had passed the task of interpretation on to someone else.

It was a classic attempt at evasion.

“Why do I think you did it, Hyung-nim?”

However, after hearing Kiryeo’s words, Ahn Yoonseung began considering the question in complete seriousness.

“Hmm.”

Sirens and screaming...

Ahn Yoonseung placed a hand against his chin and pondered the connection.

Kiryeo glanced at him briefly, then lowered his eyes toward the Sirens.

“Come to think of it, what would a Siren’s weak point be?”

What followed was nothing more than a brief consideration of the monsters’ physiology.

There was no profound meaning behind it. Like any other hunter, Kiryeo was merely thinking about how he might make his work easier.

“Their throats must be vulnerable, don’t you think?”

At first glance, it sounded like the kind of ordinary observation any hunter might make.

There was, however, one significant problem with the scene.

Not the slightest trace of emotion crossed Kiryeo’s cold face.

‘Heuk!’

How could he remain so calm while standing before creatures writhing in agony?

At that moment, a thought occurred to Ahn Yoonseung.

Perhaps Kim Kiryeo had done things like this whenever he encountered an unfamiliar species of monster.

‘...!’

Looking back, Kim Kiryeo knew an extraordinary amount about golems.

He knew that a golem’s heart connection was vulnerable. He knew that they would stop moving after being exposed to lasers for several seconds.

Those were weaknesses no one could have discovered through ordinary hunting.

‘Ah!’

Kim Kiryeo must have experimented with monsters in the past to uncover such information.

With that assumption in mind, the current situation suddenly began to make sense.

As an S-rank hunter, he could have killed such lowly creatures with ease. Yet instead, he had deliberately used the Screaming Stake to provoke them.

‘Was this part of the information-gathering process?’

An experiment.

Yes.

Kim Kiryeo was conducting an experiment on the monsters.

He wasn’t merely hunting them. He was testing different methods and carefully observing their reactions.

‘All to understand the enemy a little better.’

While others struggled merely to survive the cataclysm, this man was turning their enemies into test subjects.

Yoonseung was deeply impressed.

At the same time, he couldn’t even imagine attempting such a method himself.

“Keuuk... keeeuk...”

With no S-rank gates currently open, these A-rank monsters were effectively among the most dangerous creatures in existence.

Yet Kim Kiryeo treated them like laboratory animals.

‘As expected of Hyung-nim.’

Curiosity.

Absolute strength.

And a certain degree of...

Coldness.

Ahn Yoonseung carefully considered the qualities required to study monsters and reached his conclusion.

Once again, he was reminded that Kim Kiryeo was an extraordinary hunter.

“Hm? Were you about to start singing again?”

“Kaaaak!”

Srrrk!

Of course, the ruthless way he handled the Sirens was somewhat terrifying...

“Hmm.”

It would be best to pretend he hadn’t noticed.

After all, the more frightening someone was, the more reassuring it became to have that person as an ally.

‘Ha... At least he’s on our side.’

Ahn Yoonseung quietly brought his thoughts to an end.

Meanwhile, what was the subject of all this speculation doing?

‘What is this?’

Kim Kiryeo, who was dealing with the Sirens with Kang Changho’s assistance, kept glancing in Yoonseung’s direction.

Ahn Yoonseung had suddenly fallen silent.

‘Why isn’t he answering? Say something so I’ll know whether I need to make an excuse!’

Kim Kiryeo was still waiting for an answer to the question he had asked earlier.

Why do you think I did it?

But no matter how long he waited, Yoonseung said nothing.

The other man seemed entirely unwilling to share whatever idle theory had occurred to him.

‘What in the world is he imagining right now? If he’s suspicious of something, I wish he would simply say it aloud...’

And so, Kiryeo wrestled with an increasingly irrational sense of dread, imagining tens of thousands of possible scenarios.