Haeundae's Secret (2)
“Damn it. Am I the only one left?”
Min-cheol scanned his surroundings at lightning speed.
Five Merfolk had him completely surrounded.
Where were the others who had come with him? Had they already fallen to the Merfolk?
He looked around again, but no one else was in sight.
Too many opponents for one person. These Merfolk are no pushovers.
Min-cheol judged that running was the smarter choice than fighting in this situation. He quickly scanned his surroundings once more.
For now, I’m heading that way.
The open ground around him was empty, but the direction with buildings would make escape far easier. He began moving at once.
But the Merfolk had no intention of letting him go.
As soon as Min-cheol started moving, five Merfolk raised their tridents and gave chase.
They won’t catch up that easily.
Min-cheol reached into his pocket, pulled out a smoke grenade, and hurled it to the ground before sprinting away.
-Chiiiiiik~
White smoke erupted from the grenade and quickly filled the area.
In an instant, thick smoke blocked all vision. It was so dense that it was impossible to see even an inch ahead.
Of course, Min-cheol was affected the same way.
The surroundings were completely obscured, making direction impossible to judge.
[Sight Acquisition]
Any situation, full visual clarity is guaranteed.
But Min-cheol had this skill.
When he activated Sight Acquisition, the surrounding smoke gradually turned translucent, and the area suddenly became clear.
Great. Let’s throw a few more.
-Chiiiiiik~
-Chiiiiiik~
After hurling several more smoke grenades, the area was completely enveloped in thick fog, as if a dense mist had spread everywhere.
The Merfolk stood motionless in the smoke, as if concentrating on something.
Min-cheol watched them and quickly moved toward the direction of the buildings.
But!
Whoosh!
Spurt! Spurt!
Argh!
A water blade had sliced across Min-cheol’s arm as he ran toward the buildings. It wasn’t a direct hit, but the blade grazed him, leaving his arm bleeding steadily.
Do they even see me through this thick smoke?
The Merfolk were attacking precisely in the direction they believed Min-cheol was in.
Of course, the Merfolk couldn’t see him with their eyes. Their senses had evolved to a completely different level from humans.
They were reacting to the sounds of his movement and attacking accordingly.
So running is impossible after all.
Min-cheol realized he was cornered. He thought this was the perfect moment to fight while the smoke grenades were still active.
At the same time, Min-cheol pulled an M16 from his inventory, quickly took a stance, and aimed the barrel toward the Merfolk.
[Muzzle Duplication]
Summon four additional gun barrels around you.
Each duplicated barrel fires at 70% of the original power.
Simultaneously, two M16 barrels appeared on each side of Min-cheol, making a total of five barrels.
The moment the barrels appeared, Min-cheol pulled the triggers without hesitation.
-Tuuuuuutuuuuu!
-Tuuuuuutuuuuu!
-Tuuuuuutuuuuu!
Flames erupted from the M16 barrels, and over a hundred bullets poured toward the Merfolk in an instant.
It was overwhelming firepower. If these had been ordinary monsters, it would have been enough to tear them apart.
That should be enough, right?
Min-cheol thought that even if they didn’t die, they would at least be injured.
But that was his mistake.
Through the slowly dissipating smoke, the Merfolk stood there completely unharmed, as if nothing had happened.
A blue shield surrounded their bodies.
It seemed the bullets had failed to penetrate the shield.
So the guns are useless…
Min-cheol wasn’t shaken. Instead, he calmly reached into his pocket again.
“If it’s this, you won’t be fine either.”
What emerged from his pocket was a grenade.
Min-cheol immediately removed the safety pin and threw it toward the Merfolk.
At the same time, the skill activated.
[Bomb Duplication]
Summon four additional bombs.
Each duplicated bomb deals 70% of the original damage.
The grenade that had been flying instantly split into five and fell toward the Merfolk.
-Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
-Kwa-aaang!
-Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Explosions rang out in all directions in an instant.
However, the Merfolk’s shields held, and they remained standing.
Tch.
Min-cheol thought that even though they were damaged, the shields were absorbing the impact. He decided this was a good chance to escape and quickly moved toward the buildings.
The Merfolk, seeing Min-cheol fleeing, quickly gave chase, their anger clear.
“Hah. Hah. Hah.”
Min-cheol knew the area well since he had visited Haeundae several times. He wove through the streets, trying to shake off the pursuit.
But the Merfolk were relentless.
They were right on his heels.
Bang!
He fired his gun to shake them off, but it was clearly ineffective.
Damn it.
Just as he thought they had caught up, suddenly—
“What… what is this?”
A flock of Elypters appeared from somewhere.
They immediately swarmed the Merfolk.
A chance!
He didn’t know what kind of monster they were, but it was the perfect opportunity to escape. Just as Min-cheol was about to run toward the buildings, a water blade came flying toward his head.
Since it had come from behind, Min-cheol hadn’t noticed.
Just as the blade was about to reach his head—
Whoosh!
Someone yanked Min-cheol’s body backward at high speed.
Kwaaang!
The water blade slammed into the wall behind him. Min-cheol stared at the person who had pulled him back with a dazed expression.
“Thank you… uh?! Sensei!”
“Hey. Where have you been thinking?”
“How did you get here?”
“I got a call from Hyuk-hyung and came.”
Min-cheol thought, This guy almost got me killed.
But I’m glad he arrived just in time.
“Those are Merfolk?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“What about the others?”
“I don’t know either.”
The Elypters were fighting the Merfolk.
They looked injured, but their combat skills seemed quite high.
Their attacks were strong enough to damage the Elypters’ tough hides.
I need to step in.
Min-cheol took out a knife, ready to fight the Merfolk, when—
-Puuuuuru!
A loud conch horn sounded from somewhere.
“What’s that?”
The Merfolk immediately stopped attacking and rushed back toward the sea.
They’re retreating?
Min-cheol wanted to chase after them, but he couldn’t leave the injured Min-cheol behind. He decided to watch for now.
“Min-cheol. Here, drink this.”
Elena handed him a stamina recovery potion. While Min-cheol slowly recovered, Elena looked at the Merfolk.
The Merfolk had already returned to the sea and vanished instantly.
“Are you okay now?”
“Yes. Sensei. Thank you.”
“So the others were taken to the sea?”
“Probably.”
“Why are they taking people to the sea? If they go underwater, they’ll die…”
Min-cheol thought it was obvious they would die without air.
Elena, as if trying to answer his question, spoke up.
“The Merfolk have the ability to breathe underwater. The captured people are probably able to breathe there too.”
“Really? Then why are they kidnapping people?”
“I don’t know that either. The Merfolk aren’t the kind of race that would do something like that…”
Elena also seemed unaware of the reason.
“Do you know what that sound was?”
“That was probably the conch horn blown by the Merfolk Chieftain. The Merfolk are almost completely obedient to their leader.”
“The Chieftain…”
If the Merfolk were so obedient to their leader, the cause of this incident might lie with the Chieftain.
“How do we find them?”
“I don’t know how to approach it. We can’t go into the sea until they come out…”
Min-cheol tried to think of ways to deal with the Merfolk, but he couldn’t figure out how to handle those in the sea.
While he was looking around, he felt someone watching them.
Is it someone over there?
He didn’t know who it was, but he knew that anyone secretly watching them wasn’t a friend. He drew his knife and quickly approached the person hiding behind a building.
Whoosh!
“Why are you watching us?”
He pressed the knife against them, trying to find out why they were being watched, but he was startled.
A kid?
In front of him was a small child who looked like a young Merfolk.
“P-please save us…”
The frightened child trembled as he watched Min-cheol.
Min-cheol sheathed his knife and asked why they were being watched.
“I… I was hoping you could help us.”
“Help?”
“Please talk to our Chieftain.”
“Your Chieftain?”
Min-cheol listened to the child’s story.
In short, the child wanted him to talk to the Merfolk Chieftain.
“Want to tell me slowly? What happened?”
“That’s… well…”
The child’s story was as follows.
Recently, the Chieftain’s condition had suddenly changed.
After returning from a short trip, this had happened, but he didn’t know why.
If this kid can take us underwater, we might be able to breathe there.
The Merfolk could breathe underwater. If this child could do the same, he could guide them into the sea.
After all, they needed to investigate the situation.
“Can you help us?”
-Ding
[Special Quest]
Title: Help the Merfolk Child
Objective: Find out the cause of the Merfolk Chieftain’s abnormality.
Reward: ?
The Merfolk Chieftain who suddenly became abnormal one day. Find out the cause and restore him to his original state. Then the hidden secret will be revealed.