To think that foreign countries would intervene like this.
“Besides, they set sail precisely when the dungeon appeared. How did opposing articles co out so quickly?”
Tak.
I turned halfway around to survey my surroundings. For reference, the place my feet were standing on was a single ship—more precisely, the white vessel used by the mariti police was our ans of transport this ti.
‘Earthlings’ communication technology is really fascinating, so I studied it briefly. I see now—if you install a device on the ship to act as a base station, you can get good internet and phone reception even out here.’
A quick search of recent articles seed to explain the surrounding equipnt well enough.
On the military ship, there were quite a few well-known figures: Jung Haeseong, Esther, and the newly appointed head of the Hunter Association, among others. Until just a few minutes ago, these famous individuals had been solely focused on how to handle the [Sin Classification], but with new information mixed into the discussion, the atmosphere on board shifted.
“New Association President, say sothing, will you?”
“Ah, Hunter Esther. Well, the claim I’ve heard is... it seems this [Sin Classification] appeared in a disputed mariti zone. They contacted us suggesting that we coordinate with the neighboring countries.”
“Territorial dispute? A dispute?”
“Regarding the coastal gate, hadn’t that already been neatly settled through prior consultations?”
Two S-rank individuals steering the conversation while soone else stayed silent.
I don’t really know much about Earth’s seas, so I don’t have anything to say. You guys—”
Listening closely to what they were saying, the gist of the argunt was roughly this: The dominant species of this planet—mammals unable to breathe underwater—had established nations on land, and since there were no citizens living afloat at sea, mariti boundaries had naturally beco blurred. So the Earthlings had agreed to divide the seas according to the sa standards. However, when jurisdiction is set up so expansively, the overlap of certain countries’ territories inevitably becos a problem.
‘Not every country has a massive ocean like the Atlantic, after all.’
Well, from the perspective of an Alphaun, who once drew boundaries with magic while staking claims in the depths of the ocean, disputes over water like this are actually fairly familiar...
“Then, did this [Sin Classification] also appear over, you know, overlapping mariti jurisdiction with a neighboring country?”
It was at that mont. Unexpected information ca to light.
“Huh? That wasn’t the problem to begin with.”
Fish, minerals, and the like—these elents only benefit humans. But a dungeon appearing in the sea, unlike other natural resources, carried countless drawbacks. Above all, the most frightening aspect was that if the brakes failed, all the monsters trapped in the nest would be unleashed indiscriminately into the seabed.
“Ah— Among the planets the Gisimche have passed through, my holand is a notable example, so it makes sense that creatures modeled after those in the dungeon would very likely be able to swim.”
The fake aurora over the sea, a sign of the dungeon shock. The human casualties in the Hawaiian Islands that followed directly from that phenonon. And the shipbuilding slump caused by the sinking of innocent bulk carriers, and so on.
If you ignored a gate appearing at sea as not your problem, the resulting damage would be trendous. Moreover, because of this pattern, Earth’s major powers were the first to lose their citizens. Even I, an alien, had noticed this while surfing the web.
I heard that the forr U.S. president got fed up only with troubles caused by sea monsters and took the lead in establishing a global agreent to prevent similar incidents as much as possible. For reference, you don’t need to list all the long details—the gist of the agreent back then was basically, “If a gate appears at sea, do our best to deal with it.”
“Provisional waters or whatever!”
Just as the related topic ca to mind, Esther shouted loudly from beside .
“The location where the sixth [Sin Classification] appeared is clearly within South Korea’s jurisdiction. Last ti, we agreed to manage the waters evenly, but now they’re saying we should hand it over just because the dungeon appeared closer to their territory?”
“Hunter, please calm down.”
“Of course, if you just look at the land, the distance is close, but more importantly, there should be official records created by the political authorities—what do those say?”
“The Koreans... they rushed it through. Moreover, the person who was in charge at the ti wasn’t actually the final decision-maker, so they said we’d have to start discussions from the beginning.”
“Hah, I’m sorry, Dad. I had intended never to cast a curse on anyone again.”
“Please, truly calm down, Hunter...”
During the floating island incident, which was a Gisimche prank, there was room for negotiation because the dungeon “moved.” But the reason other countries wanted the [Sin Classification] this ti seed straightforward.
“They’re probably after the epic-grade artifact, right?”
For reference, I didn’t explain this earlier because it wasn’t that important. Information about the rewards for the [Sin Classification] had already naturally been revealed through the consecutive gate clears in Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
“You can get an epic just from a single A-rank gate. Indeed, it’s practically a trillion lying abandoned at sea with no owner.”
Epic artifacts—until now, these rare items could only be expected after defeating formidable foes like Nuckelavee. No need to look far: for example, equipnt of that grade could be represented by the [Hydra]. These were items so potent they easily outclassed lower-tier gear by three to four levels. And if such powerful force is contained within, who’s to say only the Awakened would covet it?
“Hmm.”
Of course, if the neighboring country wanted it that badly, I thought maybe it wouldn’t be a problem to just hand over the gate.
“Monster nests that appear at sea are difficult to manage in many ways. Even if an S-rank shows up, the losses outweigh the gains. In that case, wouldn’t it be more advantageous to give up control over the uninhabitable sea areas?”
Ah, but wait. I think I just had a rather naive thought for the first ti in a while. On second thought, disputes over territorial rights among biological populations wouldn’t end so lightly, and the managent of a particular gate is almost certainly intertwined with nearby fishing rights and so on.
“Absolutely not. If we just hand this over because it’s a ss, even control over the waters will slip away.”
“Hunter...”
“Do they think we’ve only lived in this tiny little country for a day or two!”
Even that S-rank had realized this could be an opportunity to expand sovereignty. It wasn’t long before the woman with purple hair spoke in an angry tone.
“And you should have handled this kind of political issue swiftly on your end, instead of dragging it all the way to the field.”
“I’m sorry, truly sorry, Hunter.”
“Since there are already official records of the agreent, we’d probably win if diation ca in. But honestly, at this point, who has the patience to sit around and wait for that process...?”
Esther, on the verge of grabbing the president by the collar. Fortunately, the result of her deliberation seed peaceful, as she neatly lowered the hand she had raised in midair and said.
“Things have gotten complicated.”
For a mont, I thought the sa. Not only would the [Sin Classification] completely fall into the hands of a major country, but even if a Chinese Hunter were deployed here to help with the strategy, the reality would already be very different from the Archmage’s plan.
“Maybe I should adjust the schedule a bit.”
But then...
Tuk, tuk, tuk.
To be precise, it was around the ti the generator noise inside the ship began to echo loudly.
“Huh?”
I looked out over the expanse of the sea before and pondered.
“It’s a gate.”
After a long ride by ship, we finally ca face to face with the problematic [Sin Classification]. However, there was one aspect of this sixth [Sin Classification] that was far off from our expectations.
“Excuse . Director Esther.”
Then, let explain this subtle discrepancy from now on.
“Yes, Gryeo-ssi.”
“Co to think of it, this [Sin Classification] has only had its location revealed. Its altitude hasn’t been precisely confird yet.”
“What do you an?”
“Just turn your head and look over there.”
When I said that, all the hunters on board turned their gazes together. And this is what we saw: Completely subrged in the dark, murky sea, with only a faint, unidentifiable light visible from above. We all fell silent as we confird the gate that China coveted and South Korea had been anxiously watching.
“...”
“...”
“...”
South Korea’s [Sin Classification] had ford beneath the seawater.
“The Gisimche really ssed things up again.”
But this mistake could be a lucky opportunity.
“Everyone, how many S-rank water-attribute hunters are there in China?”
“Oh, Hunter Kim. I know exactly that. There’s only one.”
“Zhan?”
“Yes. That person.”
The following conversation was very brief. After a quick check, I imdiately spoke to the Association President.
“Then that should be fine. Now, let’s just have the Chinese representatives co directly to the site. Tell them we’ll let them enter imdiately and bring them over.”
“Yes? Really?”
“The dungeon is already like that, so what can we do if hunters co? What...”
Mutters.
By the way, if the gate is subrged that far down, an enormous amount of water must be flowing in every second even now.
A few minutes later, the once-calm shore grew noisy under the swell of the crowd. It felt just like that Earthly saying: “I like a dog chasing chickens, left staring up at the roof.” We could only lower our heads in silence, staring at the gate that had appeared on the seafloor. And after a short wait, even the Chinese hunters had gathered alongside us, bustling with energy, intent on solving the situation together.
“I can’t do it!”
“I’m scared I might get sucked in.”
“Either way, the inside must already be a complete ss.”
But just because many human brains were gathered didn’t an an idea with an IQ of 500 would suddenly appear. No matter how close to “new humanity” these powerful figures were, what could re mammals possibly do about a dungeon so openly placed underwater?
“Still, if we strap on oxygen tanks and go in, taking care not to have them damaged by the monsters...”
“How are we even supposed to move around in there, huh? Tsk!”
The glowing passage was still swallowing an enormous volu of water at that very mont. The natural pressure created in the process was enough to intimidate the humans outright.
“Enough.”
That being the case, with the field situation already clear enough, I slipped on the translator and cut straight into their conversation. And the mont my brief words ca to an end, a trendous roar thundered in every direction.
Splash!
It was a sound no one could possibly mistake for the division of liquid. If anything, it resembled construction noise—or perhaps the kind of tearing now you’d hear if tens of thousands of garnts were ripped apart at once. Every awakened individual fell silent at the sound.
“More precisely, what I’m saying is that we should stop wasting ti.”
But even without such sound effects, the sight of the sea splitting open to the bottom 10 ters where the gate was lodged, showing my power first. Then, I tried a bit of persuasion.
Author's Thoughts: Hi, from now on, I will update this novel 3 chapters/week. Thank you for all your support so far:)
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