Chapter 34: Ex Machina (3)
After the golden-tailed siren disappeared with a wail, Hyun Suho was left standing in stunned silence. Then, he quickly shook his head, snapping himself out of it.
"This isn't the time for that."
This was the sirens' territory. One part of their encirclement had broken down, so it was only a matter of time before more sirens swarmed in. He had to decide whether to advance or retreat.
'I can't give up here, can I?'
[Analysis of the sirens' reactions shows that the probability of your hunch being correct has greatly increased. However, the situation remains dangerous.]
‘If you're trying to avoid dangerous situations, you shouldn’t be a hunter.’
At least, he had confirmed that the sirens weren’t mindless monsters who couldn’t be reasoned with at all. Although they had attached out of excessive agitation, there was still a chance.
He hoped that by not harming them and causing them to retreat, his intentions had been conveyed.
‘I really hope so.’
Hyun Suho moved forward slowly, trying to signal that he had no hostile intentions. And as expected, it wasn’t long before sirens started appearing from all around, as if they had been hiding all along.
Red and blue tails writhed as the sirens maintained a certain distance. They gripped their tridents tightly as if they could attack at any moment, but thankfully, they didn’t strike immediately.
Once again, all of them were female.
‘Are there no male sirens?’
How their species continued without males was a mystery. Of course, now wasn’t the time to worry about their reproduction.
Before he knew it, the sirens had surrounded him. While he was confident he could break through their encirclement and escape, he chose not to show it and instead raised his hands.
The sirens maintained their distance, slowly moving forward. Their intention was clear.
‘Are they leading me somewhere?’
They guided Hyun Suho towards the sirens’ island, moving slowly. It seemed at least that his intention to avoid a fight had been understood. If not, they would have attacked all at once the moment their encirclement was complete.
[Or they might be taking you to their dining hall to eat you.]
‘Don't say such scary things.’
Normally, he would brush it off as a joke, but considering his life was on the line, he couldn't do that this time.
At least one good thing was that the golden tail that had been shouting for immediate attack earlier wasn’t in sight, right?
... Or so he thought, until he suddenly spotted a glint of gold.
She still seemed upset about being hit earlier, puffing out her cheeks as she pouted her lips. The other sirens around her were clearly at a loss, trying to console her like maids calming a spoiled young lady.
As the golden-tailed siren stared at Hyun Suho, her face gradually scrunched up.
Rather than looking threatening, she resembled a niece pouting at her uncle for not playing with her.
Then, the golden-tailed siren thrust her trident forward and shouted,
"You!"
Hyun Suho was startled, thinking she was giving the order to attack again. But fortunately, the golden tail just stood there, trembling, and stared at him for a long moment before finally speaking as if she had no choice.
"Follow me! I'll take you to my sister."
Her tone was as if she were doing him a great favor, but to Hyun Suho, it was just confusing.
Telling him to follow her so abruptly.
[What will you do?]
‘Do I have any other choice? I have to follow her.’
Without waiting for his response, the golden-tailed siren had already turned and started swimming away. Hyun Suho had no choice but to follow her.
The other sirens were ready to attack at the slightest provocation but didn’t block his path.
‘Is that golden tail the mermaid princess? Or is it a world where even tail colors lead to discrimination? What a dirty world that would be.’
As his imagination ran wild, he followed the golden tail to an unexpected place.
A massive island, said to be the sirens' home. Deep within the island, there was a large underwater cave, and the golden tail slipped right inside.
‘Is this where the sirens' nest is?’
[Even when we checked with satellite cameras, the number of sirens on the island's surface was extremely limited. This must be their dwelling.]
This was troubling for Hyun Suho.
If things went wrong and he needed to flee, it would be far more advantageous to be in an open space. It would take an eternity to escape through a solid cave with only one exit.
‘But there’s no other choice.’
He took a deep breath and entered the cave where the golden tail had disappeared.
And then, something amazing happened.
“What?”
As he entered the cave, Hyun Suho absentmindedly waved his hands and feet, but the water resistance he had felt earlier was completely gone.
It was natural. Inside this cave, there was no seawater at all.
When he turned around, he saw a thin membrane at the cave’s entrance that kept the seawater from entering.
As he stood there, bewildered, he heard the golden tail’s voice, much clearer than it had been underwater.
"What are you doing?! Hurry up and follow me!"
When he reflexively turned towards the voice, he was shocked once again.
Sea-colored hair, delicate features, a voluptuous chest that couldn’t be fully covered by a massive seashell, and slender arms and legs...
“Wait! Legs?”
Surprisingly, the radiant golden tail had vanished, replaced by legs identical to a human's.
She was wearing a short skirt made of something resembling seaweed, leaving her slender thighs fully visible.
As Hyun Suho stared in shock, she scoffed and said, "Hmph! Creating legs is a simple task."
He had heard that sirens could perform magic that surpassed even the capabilities of most hunters. Creating legs through body transformation should be an easy feat for them.
Just as he thought this, the golden-tailed siren, who had started to turn away, suddenly stumbled and nearly fell.
"Ouch!"
It seemed she wasn't yet accustomed to walking on legs.
Though she managed not to fall, she stood there in an awkward posture until her eyes met his.
Then, like a roasted sweet potato, her face flushed a deep red.
"S-silence! It was just a mistake!"
"But I didn’t say anything?"
"Shut up! Be quiet!"
It seemed she wasn’t entirely fluent in human language.
It felt like how foreigners often learn curse words first when studying Korean.
'Whoever taught her, they only taught her the wrong things,' Hyun Suho thought.
The unintentional comedy of the golden tail eased some of the tension. Just a moment ago, he had been swallowing dryly, but now he found himself able to speak more naturally.
"Where are we going?"
"I told you, I'm taking you to my sister!"
"Your sister? Are you talking about the Golden Tail?"
The queen of the sirens, known as the Golden Tail.
An 8th-level sea monster, a catastrophic being so powerful that even nations had given up dealing with her.
From the rumors, Hyun Suho had imagined her as a terrifying creature with six limbs and horns protruding from her head.
But the sirens he had encountered so far were more like refugees huddled in a safe zone.
They were as prickly as angry porcupines, but their behavior was defensive, not aggressive.
"Golden Tail? My sister is Aerin."
"Aerin?"
It was a name straight out of a fairy tale about mermaids.
One question naturally arose.
Wasn't the siren's language supposed to be different from ours?
Even if "Golden Tail" was a nickname given by humans, how could their names sound so familiar?
When he asked why, she visibly flustered and said, "Th-that’s none of your concern!"
This… this was definitely something he could dig into.
With this thought in mind, Hyun Suho slowed his pace and continued to ask questions.
"Then what's your name?"
"Mine? Why do you want to know that?"
Her wariness increased again, but now, she just seemed cute to him.
"Just because. I feel like you must have a pretty name."
What came out of Hyun Suho’s mouth was a cheap attempt at flattery.
Surprisingly, it elicited a response.
The golden-tailed siren's face twitched slightly as if she was trying to hide her pleased expression, and she finally said, "O-of course! I have a very cool name! My name is Coral."
Coral.
As in the underwater coral.
Hyun Suho’s gaze naturally shifted to her vibrant coral-colored hair, still bouncy and untangled even after being submerged in water.
This confirmed his suspicion.
It was clear that a human had given these names.
The name must have come from someone who had seen her shining hair.
"But what's that over there?"
There were shining objects scattered around the corners of the cave.
They looked like pieces of metal, but upon closer inspection, they turned out to be scales from the sirens.
Coral nonchalantly explained, "There are still some of us who aren't good at transformation magic. Those belong to them."
It seemed that the sirens shed their scales as part of their transformation process.
Hyun Suho commented sincerely, "Such valuable items are lying around like scrap paper."
Monster materials were expensive.
Most were used to create equipment for hunters, but some were sold as ornaments.
The hide of tiger monsters was a typical example.
Sirens' scales could be used as materials, but they would also fetch a high price as decorations.
And such valuable items were lying around like stones on the road.
There were probably more scales deep within the sea.
There were still many things Hyun Suho wanted to ask her, and given enough time, he was confident he could uncover a lot.
Unfortunately, the underwater cave wasn't very deep.
At the end of the cave, there was another siren who looked similar to Coral.
She had fiery red hair that seemed to blaze, clear and transparent eyes, distinct and harmonious features, and finally, a radiant golden tail.
Aside from her hair color, she looked like a more mature version of Coral.
But the biggest difference was the overwhelming presence she exuded, so intense it felt like it could take your breath away.
Zzt! Zzt!
When their eyes met, Hyun Suho felt his body momentarily paralyze.
This was me, who wasn’t affected by the dominance skill of Jin sa-geol.
Yet standing before the Golden Tail now, it felt as if my cells were freezing.
Chief Kwon Chul-jung was right.
The Golden Tail was a powerhouse far beyond the likes of the Bone Dragon.
Even though they were both level 8, the difference was this vast.
To hunt a boss-level monster, you need at least five or six hunters of the same level.
And they would need to be a well-coordinated party.
So purely in terms of combat power, she was probably above a level 9 hunter.
Barely managing to steady his breath, Hyun Suho bowed politely and greeted her.
“Hello, my name is Hyun Suho.”
A moniker like “Light Bringer” would be useless here.
Despite her appearance, she was still a powerful monster, and a named one at that.
Using his real name was an attempt to approach her with sincerity.
He lifted his head and met her gaze.
Looking into her eyes, which seemed like they could swallow you whole, he felt an unexpected emotion.
‘Sorrow?’
It wasn’t that he needed mind-reading or some superpower to see into her thoughts.
Her eyes were so filled with sadness that, even knowing she was the Golden Tail, he felt an urge to comfort her.
Golden Tail, no, Aerin.
Regardless of her title, she slowly began to speak.
“Thank you for not harming the children.”
Her Korean was remarkably fluent.
Her pronunciation and tone were much more precise than Coral’s.
“But we have decided not to trust humans anymore. So, please leave.”
After bringing him all this way, she was now asking him to leave.
In that moment, he caught Coral’s sorrowful gaze from beside him.
Though she was worried about her sister Aerin, her eyes also seemed to be pleading for help.
He sensed that there was a deep story behind this.
“I came here to help you. But to do that, I need to know the full details.”
At least he knew they weren’t going to kill him outright.
So, he decided to be a little more assertive and bold.
Aerin didn’t get angry at his words but instead fell silent, lost in thought.
Fortunately, Coral spoke up on her behalf.
“It’s all because of that man! He broke his promise and betrayed us!”
“That man? Who was he?”
“A man that my sister saved from a shipwreck! But instead of being grateful…”
Here’s what she said:
There was someone who miraculously survived a ship that ran aground near Wonsan Port.
Even though he barely survived by clinging to the wreckage, his body temperature had dropped so low that he was on the verge of death.
Fortunately, Aerin happened to pass by and rescued him, even healing him.
“Was it that man who taught you Korean?”
Coral silently nodded.
“So? How did he betray you?”
“He promised to make peace between us and the humans.”
“Make peace?”
The man Aerin had saved realized that, contrary to rumors, the Golden Tail was a kind and intelligent being.
So he said he would inform people of this and find a way for them to live together in harmony.
Of course, just saying it wouldn’t make anyone believe him. People would dismiss it as the ramblings of a drunk or a madman.
Golden Tail’s infamy was worse than that of a demon in Wonsan City.
So he needed proof.
“What proof did you give him?”
At that, Aerin, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
“My blood…” she said quietly.
