Chapter 170
Chapter 170
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: Siren's Call
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"Everyone, cover your ears!"
"What?"
Despite Jeong-hyeon's sudden warning, the hunters merely voiced their confusion.
At a glance, it seemed like a normal reaction, but when he looked at their actual faces, it sent chills down his spine.
They were clearly looking at him, yet their expressions lacked focus somehow.
Faint smiles played on their lips.
And above all, the words that followed.
Kim Byeong-ju, who had paused the wind at Jeong-hyeon's command, spoke in a trance-like voice.
"We have to get to that island quickly."
"Yeah. Byeong-ju, bring on the wind!"
Park Sang-hee's agreement followed.
The breeze, which had been merely refreshing moments ago, now howled like a gale, fitting the word "gust" perfectly.
This was no mere reaction to good music.
'Is no one still unaffected?'
Unless they had complete resistance to mental attacks like he did, fully resisting it would be impossible, but surely there were degrees of effect among people.
For now, Jeong-hyeon turned his gaze toward Won-ho.
With his usual composure as steady as gold, lacking emotional fluctuations, maybe he'd hold out a bit against the mental assault.
Splash—splash—splash—
But the vigorous rowing on both sides dashed any hopes that Won-ho was fine.
"Huff, huff!"
Won-ho and Jo Yu-jun were panting heavily, pouring all their strength into the oars.
"A-young, A-young-ssi!"
Next was the woman, Yu A-young.
The legend of sirens enchanting sailors with song was unfolding in real life.
But weren't the sailors in those legends almost all men?
Maybe A-young wouldn't be affected.
"P-party leader! Everyone's acting weird!"
Fortunately, A-young was rushing toward Jeong-hyeon in fear at the sudden change in the others.
'At least one person's okay?'
Confirming she was still fine, Jeong-hyeon tuned into the singing.
It was definitely a high, piercing soprano voice.
"Whew. Good thing A-young-ssi is fine for—"
But that lasted only a moment.
The singing from the island suddenly grew louder, and now a mid-low male voice joined in.
"Huh, wh-what...?"
A-young's eyes glazed over upon hearing the changed melody.
Then,
"We have to go to the island!"
Like the other hunters, she ran to the boat's edge and stretched her arms fervently toward the island.
She had fallen to the mental attack as well.
'What the...'
This must be what they mean by a situation where curses are the only thing that comes to mind.
He'd felt relieved that at least one person was okay—a healer, no less—but now that hope was gone.
In the end, Jeong-hyeon was the only one on this boat with a clear mind.
"Stop, stop! Turn this boat around right now!"
Even his desperate shout fell on deaf ears.
Vocal commands wouldn't dispel a mental attack.
He shoved Sang-hee, who was summoning the wind, and tried to wrest the oars from Yu-jun and Won-ho, but the moment he stepped away, they resumed their tasks as if nothing had happened.
The party members even snapped at him for trying to stop them.
"Hunter Han Jeong-hyeon, what are you doing? It's just a song—even inside a gate, we can listen!"
"Yeah! We have to go to that island anyway!"
"If you don't want to raid it, go back alone!"
'This is insane...'
Beating a strong enemy was manageable somehow, but what do you do when your allies lose their minds?
Knocking them out would provoke resistance—they weren't completely out of it.
Jeong-hyeon wouldn't lose, but the hunters wouldn't emerge unscathed either.
Unable to act, the boat raced wildly toward the island.
The island drew rapidly closer, and with it, the singing grew ever louder.
He wasn't certain, but the louder the song, the stronger its effect on listeners, no doubt.
"Aah, I can't take it anymore! I'll just swim there myself!"
"Me too!"
As the distance shrank, the hunters' faces flushed red. Upon nearing the shore, their bodies heated up, and they began acting rashly.
Abandoning Jeong-hyeon and the boat, they jumped into the sea one by one.
"You idiots! Stop!"
His shouts went unheard.
Jumping into the sea was one thing.
But they wore heavy gear.
Even skilled swimmers couldn't float with that weight.
Sure enough, the hunters sank beneath the waves the moment they hit the water.
They'd drown—not from monsters, but as a group.
What a ridiculous tragedy.
"Glub! Glub!"
But the next instant, heads began popping up above the surface one by one.
Jeong-hyeon, realizing how, could only shake his head in disbelief.
The hunters had tossed all their heavy gear into the sea, dragging them down.
"Ha..."
Should he be relieved they weren't dead, or furious at their stupidity in ditching gear just to reach the island?
No.
What good would anger do?
Jeong-hyeon let out a hollow laugh and swung his fists wildly as he yelled.
"Fine, go! All of you, go!"
If they couldn't resist the mental attack, at least they needed to stay alive.
As long as they survived, they might regain their senses later.
'Those damn siren bastards...'
So "Kapfke Island's birds" referred to sirens.
Jeong-hyeon, who had never even heard of sirens appearing in gates, had been completely caught off guard.
'If you're going, at least leave your gear on the boat.'
A pang of regret flickered through his mind.
These were high-rank hunters; their equipment wasn't cheap.
It might come out with the monster corpses after clearing the gate, but if not, it'd hurt.
Jeong-hyeon glared fiercely at Kapfke Island, which had stolen his comrades and their gear.
The remaining distance to the island was about 1km.
Kapfke Island, now fully visible, was breathtakingly beautiful—impossible to imagine as home to enchanting sirens.
White sandy beaches stretched out, backed by forests, with steep cliffs rising abruptly in the center, topped by picturesque trees.
"Argh, my ears hurt, you bastards!"
But to Jeong-hyeon, thanks to those sirens, it was utterly repulsive.
As if sensing someone unenchanted by their song, the singing grew endlessly louder.
'No choice. I have to go kill them all right now.'
Won-ho and Yu-jun had already reached the island, sprinting across the beach.
They'd avoided drowning for now, but who knew what fate awaited if left like this.
Setting aside the ringing song in his ears, he had to rescue his party members and land on the island ASAP.
But alone on the empty deck, Jeong-hyeon realized too late.
"How the hell do I get there?"
He couldn't jump into the sea with his gear like the others.
Nor could he use wind magic like Byeong-ju.
"Screw it."
Only one option remained.
Jeong-hyeon went to the center of the boat and grabbed the oars.
Fortunately, the small boat could be rowed by one person on both sides.
Was that at least a small mercy?
***
Splash—splash—
Gentle waves lapped at the beach.
A small wooden boat cut through toward the shore.
When its edge scraped the sandbar, a man in black armor leaped off the deck with a demonic scowl.
'Those siren fuckers ruined everything.'
Jeong-hyeon, pickaxe slung over his shoulder, eyes dripping fury, had landed.
Soon after, two figures emerged from the sea.
Drenched from head to toe, looking like drowned rats.
"We have to... hurry and hear the song..."
"Let's go together, Hunter Byeong-ju..."
Having swum over 1km, on the verge of exhaustion, they were the wind mage Kim Byeong-ju and healer Yu A-young.
While other hunters had arrived first thanks to superior physiques and plunged into the forest, these two arrived even later than Jeong-hyeon.
In their drained state, Jeong-hyeon could easily subdue them.
Thwack—
But he only knocked out A-young with a neck chop.
'Good thing I watched that MyTV video.'
Jeong-hyeon had once seen a video on the site: "How to Knock Out with a Neck Chop (Hunter Edition)."
It was quickly deleted for misuse potential, but knowledge never hurt.
While normals needed skill and practice, hunters could do it knowing vital points.
Of course, it risked injury.
When he struck A-young's neck, it hadn't been a clean knockout—more like a faint crack of bone.
'Not the time to worry about that.'
It was an emergency; no room for precise control.
Plus, a bit of grudge factored in.
As long as she didn't die.
"Song... song..."
Meanwhile, Byeong-ju trudged toward the island's center, ignoring his fallen comrade.
He left him conscious for a simple reason: to track exactly where the enchanted headed.
"The song's so damn loud."
Jeong-hyeon's hearing, attuned to faint sounds, faced the opposite problem.
How many sirens were there? The whole island shook with their song.
It worsened as he neared.
Seemed from the central cliffs, but echoing everywhere made pinpointing hard.
In the end, Jeong-hyeon followed Byeong-ju.
Fury boiled atop his head, but he stayed alert for other forest monsters.
Fortunately, no threats emerged until they reached the cliff base.
'No wonder—who else could live in this racket?'
Even as a monster, he'd file complaints against nonstop blaring song.
"It's higher than I thought."
Jeong-hyeon gauged the cliff, taller than expected.
A sheer 100m drop spanned the island like a folding screen.
And there, familiar faces(?) greeted him.
Won-ho, Yu-jun, and Sang-hee grunted, attempting to climb it.
Byeong-ju, arriving with Jeong-hyeon, ignored the dizzying height and gripped the rocks barehanded.
"Why are they struggling like that?"
Jeong-hyeon tilted his head watching them.
Climbing made sense, of course.
The voices came from atop the cliff; they were drawn there.
But for A- and B-rankers, this height shouldn't stump them after so long.
They'd reached the island ages ago—should've scaled it by now.
Yet they hovered at 20m like normals.
Their dazed mutterings revealed why.
"Strength... no strength left..."
Indeed, they seemed utterly spent.
'Does enchantment drain traits too?'
They'd swum 1km fine, so not instant, but time enchanted or distance to sirens clearly affected it.
Lucky Jeong-hyeon's Cursed Armor trait blocked it, or he'd be climbing powerlessly like an idiot.
'Not a trait, an attack—so even EX-rank offers no defense. Confirmed.'
Previously, the Trait Shop protected him in trait battles.
But classified as mental attack like "Siren's Song," even that would've failed—chilling.
"Not the time."
Shaking off shivers, Jeong-hyeon snapped to action.
Leave them, and they'd fall—serious injury at best, death at worst.
'Drowning next, falling?'
Panser Guild's handpicked elites, hunted together.
He'd hoped for easy clear, but now raiding with four kids seemed better.
"I wanna go home!"
Jeong-hyeon's plaintive cry echoed off the cliff, then faded under the siren's song.