The Mudskipper's Domain
When the villagers had fallen into a deep sleep, I turned the key in the old truck's ignition. It was low tide—the sea had withdrawn as far as it could, laying bare the vast expanse of the tidal flats. The dawn air along the shore, cooled after the day's heat, was crisp and fresh. At this hour, the mudskipper I was here to deal with would probably be doing nothing more than lazily churning through the mud. Perfect conditions for a hunt.
The truck sliced through the darkness along the familiar road. Before long, the lit-up police outpost came into view. As I pulled up, two figures stepped out from inside. Park Gyeong-wi and Lee Sun-gyeong.
Park Gyeong-wi, looking thoroughly at ease with this sort of thing, greeted me with a paper cup of coffee in hand. "You're here?"
Lee Sun-gyeong, standing beside him, stood ramrod straight with a tense expression. He'd clearly been on edge all night. I walked over and gave his shoulder a light tap.
"Officer Lee, are we heading into war? You look more solemn than most soldiers."
My teasing finally coaxed a faint smile onto his face.
Park Gyeong-wi approached, pulled a breathalyzer from his pocket, glanced at me, and let out a helpless laugh before tucking it away again.
"No point using this on an Awakened. Lee, go grab the firearms."
He tossed a ring of keys to Lee Sun-gyeong, who caught them with slightly clumsy hands and hurried toward the gun locker inside the outpost. His retreating back looked exactly like a rookie on his first field assignment. I couldn't help but chuckle.
Clang. The heavy metal door opened, followed by the sound of security chains dragging across the floor and echoing through the quiet building. A moment later, Lee Sun-gyeong returned carefully carrying the firearms and an ammunition box. While he checked the weapons, I automatically filled out the firearm log with my name and the current time. Then I poured myself a cup of instant coffee from the pot in the corner.
Lee Sun-gyeong filmed the process on his smartphone, opening the ammo box and meticulously counting every round. Typical rookie thoroughness. For field hunters where time was money, such procedures sometimes felt excessive, but there was no point getting angry at him. I simply waited in silence until he finished.
Once he finally turned off his phone, Park Gyeong-wi, standing beside me, asked in a low voice, "Think five rounds will be enough?"
I shook my head and smirked. "Come on, it's just a mudskipper."
Park Gyeong-wi let out a short sigh, then gave a quick rundown of the plan.
"It's early morning, so noise complaints are inevitable. Still, the village heads have warned the elders not to go out gathering shellfish at dawn, so it should be fine. Lee and I will block the entrances to the flats, so don't worry about anything else."
I downed the rest of my coffee, took the shotgun Lee Sun-gyeong handed me, and checked its condition. It felt a little stiff since the last cleaning, but it would do. Once everything was ready, a thought occurred to me.
"What did the county office say? Is it safe to eat the mudskipper?"
The moment the words left my mouth, both men stared at me with wide eyes, as if I'd just said something insane. I laughed awkwardly and waved my hands.
"Kidding, kidding~"
Leaving their dumbfounded expressions behind, I gathered the ammo and shotgun and stepped out of the outpost into the still-dark morning. I started the truck again, and as soon as I pulled onto the road, a police car with its silent emergency lights on fell in behind me. Blue and red flashes alternated across the dark dawn road.
In the past, signing the log and receiving the gun at the outpost would have been the end of it. But things had changed. One by one, fellow hunters had retired or quit for various reasons, leaving me as the only one in the area who could handle jobs like this. So now even a single mudskipper required a police escort—quite the production.
Still, it wasn't so bad. Having even a silent companion was less lonely than driving these dark roads alone. I treated the police car in my rearview mirror like a friend and headed toward the tidal flats.
By the time the night sky began to take on a faint blue hue, we reached our destination. The sea had retreated beyond the horizon, revealing the enormous, glistening flats. It was the best time to start the hunt.
As soon as I parked where the flats came into view, the two officers from the car behind me immediately grabbed yellow barricade tape and began cordoning off the area. I pulled out the old telescope I kept in the truck and scanned the surroundings.
Scattered across the wide mudflats were crabs and gobies—delicious little creatures. The sight made me crave a glass of makgeolli, but there was one uninvited guest mixed into this peaceful scene. Today's target.
The creature was exactly as I'd expected. Unable to properly control its suddenly enlarged body, it was sluggishly churning through the mud like a giant grub. Its skin, exposed to the sun, was dry and cracked from the strain of its massive size.
Park Gyeong-wi and Lee Sun-gyeong, having finished setting up the barricade, approached.
"How's it look?"
"I've never even caught a one-foot fish in my life… but the one we're after today looks about eight feet long."
I lowered the telescope and looked at Park Gyeong-wi. He seemed to relax at my joke, crossing his legs slightly as he pointed toward the flats.
"Wouldn't we need a tiller to walk all the way out there? We'll be exhausted before we even get close."
I unslung the shotgun from my back and gripped it in my hands.
"I've climbed mountains dozens of times. A little mudflat isn't going to stop me."
Park Gyeong-wi nodded. "Alright. I'll stay here and have a smoke. Go take care of it. Lee! Head to the opposite entrance and block it off."
Startled by the sudden order, Lee Sun-gyeong took off running toward the far entrance. I watched his back for a moment, then began loading rounds from the ammo pouch one by one. Click, click. The crisp, cool sounds rang out in the dawn air.
Once everything was ready, I took my first step onto the soft tidal flats. With each step, the sticky mud swallowed my ankles. For most people, walking would have been difficult, but I found it oddly comfortable. I steadied my breathing and slowly closed the distance.
As I approached, the mudskipper seemed to notice me. It raised the small fin on its head like a crest and began writhing its massive body, showing clear wariness. When it had encountered Grandma Park, it had probably panicked because of its sudden growth and the unfamiliar sight of a human. But this one was different. In just a single day, it had already begun to claim this vast tidal flat as its territory—and now saw me as an intruder.
I ignored its warning and kept moving closer. The mudskipper suddenly leaped. The instinct was ingrained in it, but its enormous body couldn't follow through. Thud! The clumsy jump ended with a pathetic sound. Its massive form crashed onto the flats, sending mud and water splashing all the way to my face. The pitiful sight almost made me feel sorry for it.
When I took another step, the creature, refusing to give up, began slowly crawling toward me. I chuckled inwardly. It was walking right into my range—how considerate.
Finally, it entered effective range. I stopped, shouldered the shotgun, and took a calm, deep breath. No matter how pitiful the target, I couldn't afford to be careless. If it was within my range, then I was within its range too. The moment a hunter forgot that, the roles reversed.
I aimed at the writhing giant through the sights and held my breath. Just as the mudskipper raised its massive body in another wary stance, I pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang! The gunshot tore through the dawn silence. The bullet struck true, burying itself in the creature's body. With a dull thud, the mudskipper convulsed violently. This was the most dangerous moment—its death throes could be unpredictable. I immediately moved to fire again and finish it, but the creature was faster. It launched itself desperately—not at me, but straight upward into the air above my head. It was more of an escape attempt than an attack, but I couldn't let it go.
I fired at the leaping mudskipper. Bang! Bang! Bang! With each thunderous shot, bullets punched into its body. Its massive form went limp and plummeted. Crash! It hit the flats with a sound far louder than before. An enormous wave of mud and water surged toward me like a tidal wave. There was no time to dodge—I was completely drenched from head to toe. Sticky mud clung to every inch of me. Muddy water dripped from my hair, and my eyes stung from the grit that had gotten in them. But instead of feeling disgusted, I found myself smiling in satisfaction at the sight of the limp creature before me. It felt like landing my first big catch.
When hunting wild boars in the mountains, I'd sometimes felt a twinge of pity at the end. But today… this had felt more like fishing than hunting.
I turned around. Park Gyeong-wi and Lee Sun-gyeong stood at the entrance to the flats, watching from a distance. I raised the hand holding the shotgun high to signal that it was over. Park Gyeong-wi waved me back toward them.
Today's fishing trip had ended cleanly with one big catch. I pulled my feet free from the clinging mud, grabbed the massive fin of the dead mudskipper, and began dragging my enormous trophy slowly back across the flats.