“Wait a second. Wait, wait, wait.”
Suddenly, Han Siwoo Hunter’s shout caused everyone to freeze, asking for a pause on the screen.
Although they were organizations that reached their peaks in the underwater and surface worlds respectively, there was pretty much no communication between them.
While Parang intentionally avoided interactions, one might wonder why the other members didn’t.
There were several reasons for that.
First, it was a timing issue. This was, in fact, the biggest factor.
If we roughly outline the timeline of Oceanos and the Slayers, it becomes evident that their timelines were almost perfectly misaligned.
In the summer of 2018, six years ago from now, the 19-year-old Yu Parang, who was in the first month of awakening, rapidly became friends with Diego and Vertea in the waters off Pohang and formed Oceanos.
Six months later, Han Siwoo Hunter awakened, made a brief appearance in the news as an S-class personal skill holder, and registered as a C-class Hunter with the association.
A year later, a year and a half after the formation of Oceanos, the seven-member team was complete.
Two months later, Han Siwoo Hunter broke the record for the fastest advancement to S-class and gained the title of Supernova.
At this point, Oceanos was practically like an underwater association so there was no connection with Han Siwoo. He didn’t even know they existed, and for Oceanos, Han Siwoo was just ‘the Hunter who appears in the news often.’
Then another year and a half passed, making it the third year of Oceanos’ formation and two and a half years since Han Siwoo’s awakening.
Han Siwoo Hunter steadily walked the path of a protagonist, starting to make a name for himself worldwide, while the high-risk gate strike team ‘Slayers’ launched into the world with five members.
Meanwhile, on the Oceanos side, an unprecedented incident occurred where Alice Melville was captured by a Titan and dragged underwater, causing Oceanos to go mad, frantically searching all the seas of the world for nearly a year.
Naturally, it was a time when Han Siwoo Hunter was completely unaware of it.
Then, a year later, in 2022.
All members of the ‘Slayers’ gathered, and Han Siwoo Hunter became the most notable figure in the world.
Oceanos, with tears in their eyes, gave up the search for Alice and created a gravestone in her honor.
During their search across the seas of the world, they realized that unimaginable monstrous creatures were lurking beneath the sea, leading them to take on the form of a secret organization that prioritized maintaining confidentiality.
Two years passed and in 2024, Han Siwoo Hunter ascended.
Roughly, that’s the flow.
There was simply no point of connection between them.
There was no reason for Oceanos to look for Han Siwoo, nor was there any particular reason for Han Siwoo to search for Oceanos.
“I really never imagined I’d appear like this…”
“Right? Why are we even mentioned here?”
“Well, considering what’s going to happen in the future, it makes sense.”
That makes some sense. Thinking about what the Slayers experienced afterward, one could only wonder what would have happened if they had met Oceanos…
“No, but I don’t think we would have had a chance.”
Sure, they would have handled the pit and the monster fish much more easily, but honestly, would they have been able to defeat them all?
In this very moment, they’re uncertain of the situation, let alone the state of Oceanos at the time of the Slayers’ ascent.
“Who knows? After meeting us, they might have offered some amazing compensation.”
“That also makes sense…”
Oceanos was in chaos.
And just as Oceanos fell into confusion, the Slayers were also swirling in their own sea of confusion.
“What on earth is Oceanos? An artifact? A monster?”
“Is it possible it’s a person?”
“Who the heck would have such a ridiculous name? Besides, there doesn’t seem to be anyone here.”
“Do you really know? Regardless of the reason, we’ve never been here before. It wouldn’t be so strange for there to be beings living below the water.”
“While that does have some merit… but then again, I doubt this is even Earth.”
True to those words, above them, grotesque monster fish were swirling around like sharks circling their prey.
Each one’s appearance was so bizarre that it was hard to believe they could be from Earth.
“What do you think, Siwoo? Say something.”
“I… honestly have no clue either. I’m still trying to grasp the situation, and I can’t figure out what Oceanos is at all.”
Han Siwoo Hunter’s expression hardened.
Parang could see strong emotions welling up in his eyes. Regret, sadness.
“Still, we can’t just sit here. We have to move and do something. Since we’re in the water, our top priority should be to get to the surface.”
Yet, despite all these trials, there was still a glimmer of determination to move forward.
“Right. We can’t just give up.”
“We’ve overcome worse hardships. I’m sure we can conquer this as well.”
Just as they were about to head towards the surface.
“By the way, Siwoo.”
“Uh, yeah?”
“What was the reward for the last quest? Regardless of the outcome, we did ascend, right? The quest also moved to the next one.”
That made sense. The status screen clearly stated that the Slayers had indeed ‘ascended.’
After looking into space for a moment, he spoke with a hint of surprise.
“The world, evidence, resistance, departure… these…”
“Wait, aren’t those the artifacts you made?”
“…Yeah.”
“So that means you recovered the artifacts.”
Unlike the Slayers, Parang wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, he already knew that the Slayers had recovered the artifacts, and it was just a matter of them obtaining it through the quest reward.
It was questionable whether such a quest even existed, and how could it be this absurd, but considering the absurdities Han Siwoo Hunter had faced in the original story, it wasn’t exactly shocking.
What truly left Parang dumbfounded was the ‘method of reward reception.’
“Uh, Si, Siwoo? L-Look over there!!”
Charlotte shouted and pointed. From a distance, the blurry silhouette of around twenty Capulus appeared.
They were approaching the Slayers slowly in organized rows, and it was quite a bizarre sight.
However, they were much smaller than the ones Parang had seen before, each measuring only about 1 meter in width and length.
Basically, they were the perfect size of a table.
And were they really functioning as tables? Each Capulus was carrying the Slayers’ artifacts on top of them.
Everyone was quite startled by this dramatic appearance.
The Slayers reacted accordingly.
“I’ve tried to stay calm, but this is genuinely perplexing.”
“What on earth are they? Are they alive?”
“Is it okay to touch these…? Feels a bit sketchy…”
Oceanos had their own reactions.
“W-What the hell? Why are they showing up here?”
“That damned eye monster really doesn’t have a place it doesn’t crawl into.”
“I’m more curious about the identity of those creatures than any pit or monster.”
Even Han Siwoo, the quest’s owner, seemed somewhat intimidated by the bizarre appearance, hesitating to touch the artifacts.
He cautiously reached for his primary weapon, ‘World.’
“Hmm… I don’t sense any peculiar curses, but just in case, it’d be best for everyone to cast a purification or warding spell on them before taking them.”
“I’m not sure if there’s a need to do that from the quest reward standpoint, but… alright. If it’s your advice, I’ll go along with it.”
As such, all the Slayers began casting various spells like cleansing, warding, cleansing, etc., each with slightly uneasy expressions.
And in that brief moment.
Shhhhh—
Han Siwoo Hunter carefully used a skill to hide his presence, which was observed by Eira.
Being a scholar, Eira and scholars like Vertea in this world often had stats specialized in detection or investigation.
When Han Siwoo met her gaze, he winked and quietly slipped away with the Capulus carrying ‘World.’
“Huh? What is he doing?”
“Who knows… maybe he’s going to the bathroom.”
“Parang, please…”
“Why, I was speaking earnestly!”
When Charlotte cautiously approached the direction Han Siwoo had disappeared, the sight before her was….
Not much of anything.
Just Han Siwoo Hunter lounging on a protrusion of land, resting.
And beside him, a Capulus floating silently, not moving at all.
“…Siwoo.”
“Oh, Charlotte. You made it.”
“You know something, don’t you?”
Charlotte’s voice trembled slightly.
“…Yes. I understand this situation better than anyone else.”
“I’m not doubting you. But you must understand that I have so many questions I want to ask right now.”
“I totally understand, Charlotte. However, I’m sure you also understand the significance of why I’m doing all this.”
“…You mean you can’t tell me. Of course, I know.”
Charlotte’s voice trembled as her gaze dropped slightly.
“…I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
“You know all the ways to hurt me.”
Charlotte closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
“Are you going to carry something alone again? Just like you always do?”
She spoke softly as she lifted her head.
Given Han Siwoo Hunter’s past actions, it was evident.
He was quite greedy, shouldering difficult tasks alone as he walked this path.
Fearing that she would once again witness him sacrificing himself at the very end of this arduous journey, she was scared to just watch.
“…Yeah. It’s something I have to do, and it’s something only I can do.”
“Why are there so many things like this in the world?”
“Indeed. Damn it.”
“…Just promise me you won’t leave.”
“I promise.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
At those words, Han Siwoo Hunter quietly stood up and placed something in Charlotte’s hand.
“This is….”
“Yes. It’s a ring just like the one you’re wearing.”
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Hold onto it until the very last moment. Until the very end.”
“…Got it.”
Charlotte nodded towards Han Siwoo with a voice that seemed resolute.
“Alright, let’s head back now.”
“…Yeah.”
With that, Charlotte and Han Siwoo returned to where their companions were waiting.
