Waking the Kraken
“Hmm-hmm-hmm~”
Slap.
Whoosh—
In the early hours of dawn, before the sun had even risen and darkness still blanketed everything, a lone man stood on a small boat, humming to himself.
“No waves today. Perfect.”
Lately the seas had been so rough he hadn’t been able to go out for the dawn catch. But this morning the sky was crystal clear and the water lay as still as glass—ideal conditions for work.
Rrrrrumble.
“Ugh, I really need to hire some help already…”
The fisherman wiped the sweat from his brow and let out a weary sigh. He worked alone on this little boat, running a modest operation with no crew to speak of. Lately, though, the labor was starting to wear him down.
Flutter-flutter.
“Hm?”
He was kneading the small of his back when an odd sound made him turn his head.
Flap-flap-flap-flap!
Caw! Caw!
“Whoa—! You little bastards, it’s pitch black out here! What are you doing flying around at this hour?!”
Dozens of seagulls streaked past the boat, startling him half out of his skin. Birds didn’t fly at this time of night—not unless they were owls. Seagulls only appeared after sunrise. Yet here they were, flocking off somewhere in a tight group.
“Wait… there’s another kind of bird mixed in…”
He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. After decades on the water he could identify a seagull even half-asleep. But something else had been flying among that flock.
“Must’ve been seeing things…”
Glub-glub.
“?”
A bubbling sound rose from somewhere below. The fisherman peered over the side.
What was that? When bubbles like this started coming up, it usually meant something big was passing underneath.
Dolphins, maybe?
Glub-glub-glub!
The bubbling grew louder while he was still thinking.
Pop! Pop!
“What in the world…?”
Huge bubbles the size of a man’s head burst across the surface, and the fisherman’s face went pale. Even a pod of dolphins didn’t make bubbles like that. So what was it?
“There—I can see something.”
He stared hard into the water. A submarine, maybe…?
Then—
Rrrrrumble!
Whoooosh!
CRACK!
“Aaaaagh!”
A colossal tentacle lined with suckers erupted from the depths and seized the boat.
Crunch!
“Wh-what is that thing?!”
Splash!
The fisherman abandoned ship in pure terror and flung himself into the sea. That single tentacle alone looked as thick as a building.
“Wh-what the hell is that…?”
Rrrumble.
Vibrations rose from below. Without thinking he looked down.
Sssssss…
“M-monster… ghk.”
His eyes met those of a monster so vast it defied description, and the fisherman fainted on the spot. Luckily he was wearing a life vest, so he didn’t sink.
Whoosh—
Once the man was unconscious, the creature casually wrecked the boat and glided away into the deep.
“Do— I mean, A-nim!”
Outside the Hunter Association building, Han Jeong-soo spotted Do-ha and waved him over. Several guilds had announced they wanted to relocate to Paju, so he had urgently summoned Do-ha. Do-ha had said he wanted to examine each guild’s size and specialty in person, which was why he was here.
“I figured you’d teleport in. You’re walking?”
“I was out for a stroll with Grandfather. Besides, if I rely on teleportation all the time my stamina drops.”
He wasn’t a pure mage; he was a martial artist as well. Walking suited him just fine—and it let him take a look at the newly rebuilt city of Paju while he was at it.
“By the way, those dark circles under your eyes keep getting worse.”
Do-ha studied Han Jeong-soo’s face as they headed for the elevator. He’d already given the man some Mi-ta-seong-su and guided his energy circulation, yet the shadows beneath his eyes had only deepened.
“Haha… things have been completely insane lately.”
“You’ve been working hard.”
“Not at all. Oh—right. Go Myeong-soo asked me to pass something along.”
Han Jeong-soo clapped his hands as the elevator carried them upward.
“He said to make absolutely sure I told you how grateful he was.”
“Grateful? He helped me too. Mutual benefit.”
Back then, because Go Myeong-soo hadn’t filed a report, no one had been around—so Do-ha had been free to summon Canteas. If anyone had been watching, he wouldn’t have stood there muttering incantations like a madman.
Ding!
The doors slid open.
“Hello!”
“Hello, Cheonwaecheon-nim!”
“Ah… yeah.”
Do-ha returned the staff’s greetings with awkward politeness. When had there gotten to be so many employees? The upper floors used to be nearly empty.
“Staff’s grown quite a bit, hasn’t it?”
“You hired all of them?”
“Yes. After the move to Paju things got so busy we had no choice but to expand. We brought in ordinary people as well as Awakened.”
“Ah, that explains it.”
Do-ha nodded. More than half of all Awakened preferred field work anyway—who would want a desk job after gaining new powers?
Knock. Knock.
“Come in…”
Creak.
“You look half-dead.”
“You’re here…?”
The Association President rose from his chair looking like a corpse. Hair plastered to his scalp, face ashen—he would have blended right in among Canteas’s undead without anyone noticing the difference.
“What about the fan I gave you…?”
“I only use it a little at a time now…”
He’d grown so dependent on the fan that once he’d spent five straight hours just fanning himself. These days he only pulled it out for about ten minutes when he was truly on the verge of collapse.
“Here’s the list of guilds that want to relocate here. Take a look and— Do-ha-nim?”
The President paused while handing over the documents. Why was Do-ha staring so intently at the table?
“What’s this?”
Do-ha pointed at a report lying there.
“Ah. That’s what’s been stressing me out lately.”
The President scratched his head. The incident had happened only a short while ago. At first they’d dispatched three staff members. All three had returned empty-handed. Searching that vast open ocean was impossible, so eventually everyone had been pulled back.
“The survivor claimed there was a giant tentacle covered in suckers…”
“So a giant squid, then?”
Han Jeong-soo tilted his head. Fishermen had hauled up giant squid before, hadn’t they?
“The survivor said no. Far bigger than that. Claimed the tentacle was the size of a building.”
“Come on…”
Han Jeong-soo snorted. Even the monsters that lived underwater didn’t get that large. The man had probably just seen a giant squid and panicked.
“….”
Do-ha, however, said nothing and kept reading the report. The survivor had spotted the creature at dawn. A massive suckered tentacle…
“I’ll go check this out myself.”
“What? You, Do-ha-nim?”
The President nearly jumped out of his seat. Cheonwaecheon himself was volunteering?
“If my hunch is right, I’m the only one who can handle this.”
“….”
Both the President and Han Jeong-soo’s expressions hardened. If he was speaking that seriously, something truly dangerous was involved.
“Is there anything we need to do?”
“Seal off all traffic in the waters around where that fisherman was working.”
“Understood. Manager Han—about one kilometer from the fishing grounds—”
“Ten kilometers.”
“T-ten kilometers?!”
“Yes.”
“…Do-ha-nim, what’s out there in the ocean?”
The President finally asked directly. What could possibly warrant a reaction like this?
“A Kraken.”
“A Kraken…?”
“I think I’ve seen one in old movies…? A giant squid… no, wait. A giant octopus, right?”
Do-ha nodded at Han Jeong-soo’s words. A monster with building-sized tentacles covered in suckers could only be a Kraken.
“If we leave it alone, the damage will only get worse.”
“U-understood! Manager Han—get every single person off those waters, now!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Then, Do-ha-nim, about these…?”
The President gestured at the stack of documents—the list of guilds requesting relocation to Paju.
“Give them to Seo-wol.”
“Understood.”
Do-ha pulled on his mask and strode straight out of the President’s office.
Whoosh—
“This the place?”
“Yeah.”
Canteas floated above the water, peering downward. Do-ha had dragged him out here claiming a Kraken had appeared, yet all he could see were seagulls.
“Get lost, you feathered pests! And don’t you dare crap on me!”
Canteas flailed his arms. He’d already taken a direct hit once while standing here. He’d managed to wipe it off immediately because it had landed right in front of his face—but if one hit him in the back he’d have to strip completely.
Whoosh.
“Do—Do-ha!”
“What?”
Splat!
The instant the words left his mouth, a seagull dropping plummeted from the sky and landed squarely on Do-ha’s head.
“Y-you okay?”
Canteas stared in panic at the mess on Do-ha’s hair. Please don’t let him get so pissed he obliterates the entire area…
Sizzle…
Whoosh!
“Huh?! What the—!”
Something translucent writhed around Do-ha’s body and vanished. Canteas’s eyes went wide. The thing that had been protecting him was a freely shape-shifting Transform Shield. The moment the bird droppings hit, Do-ha had cast a new spell, discarded the soiled barrier, and wrapped himself in a fresh one.
“How long have you had a shield up?!”
“Since we got to the ocean.”
“You could’ve told me!”
“You’re a mage and I have to remind you of something this basic?!”
Do-ha barked. What good was shield magic if you didn’t use it? When birds were swarming overhead, of course you protected yourself.
“Tch.”
Zzzzaaang.
In the end Canteas also raised a Transform Shield, coating his bones in a thin membrane.
“So is the Kraken actually here? I can’t find a thing.”
Canteas shook his head after spreading his senses through the surrounding waters. He’d pushed his awareness down nearly five hundred meters and all he’d picked up were ordinary fish.
“I tried sensing for energy too. Nothing.”
“False report, maybe?”
“Maybe.”
There was only one way left to check. He’d been hoping to locate it gently with energy sense so he wouldn’t provoke the Kraken, but it was time to change tactics.
Swoosh.
Woooooom!
“Huh? What are you—?”
Do-ha raised a hand and drew up his power. Canteas tilted his head.
In that instant—
Mokhon-sura-gong — Fifth Form: Wave-Breaking Dragon Surge
Whoooosh!
Do-ha shot downward and struck the surface of the sea with his open palm. The water shuddered like struck jelly. Normally a hand would plunge straight through, but now it felt as though he were pounding something gelatinous.
Thud!
Boom!
Booooom!
The shockwave sank deeper and deeper, growing stronger as it traveled.
And then—
Rrrrrrrumble!
A full kilometer away from Do-ha and Canteas, a mountain-sized octopus erupted from the depths.
“That’s the Kraken!”
“It was sleeping peacefully. Must have gotten quite a scare.”
Do-ha smiled and charged straight at the enraged Kraken.