# Chapter 190
As soon as the Superpower Management Office received the hunter’s report, they dispatched an employee to confirm the situation, and determined it was indeed a Tier 2 mutant, Dumugwi. Not long after, an urgent mission alert was sent to qualified high-ranking hunters.
And Je Sano was the first to accept this mission.
“Jung Iyeon-ssi, you don’t need to go in right away. You’re here strictly as backup.”
Jonghee added beside Iyeon. Barely listening to her words, Iyeon continued flipping through the documents. The following pages contained information about response cases for Dumugwi. Most of it described how its outer skin was hard and its tentacle range was wide, making it difficult to inflict physical damage—not particularly helpful information.
And on the very last page…
“…That’s just a formality. It’s attached to all urgent mission overviews, so don’t worry about it.”
Printed on the page were instructions for handling the situation in case of death during the mission and a blank will form. Below was a brief statement confirming receipt and agreement to all risk disclosures, along with what appeared to be Sano’s hastily scrawled signature.
Iyeon had handled numerous low-tier missions since becoming a hunter, but he had never seen anything like this.
From what Iyeon recalled, the number of urgent missions Sano had resolved far exceeded three digits. He must have signed this each time. It was strangely easy to imagine him indifferently signing his agreement to items stating he wouldn’t mind if he died, without a moment’s hesitation. Iyeon’s gaze lingered on the empty will section that seemed devoid of any lingering attachment or regret.
Only then did he fully comprehend the weight Sano carried. He realized what shadows lay beneath the achievements he’d only superficially understood. Isn’t it truly paradoxical that he was late to notice because those shoulders were too sturdy?
This was clearly a form of sacrifice.
No financial gain could compensate for that sacrifice. Sano himself was the master of the earth who could become the world’s richest person if he so desired. Material rewards held no meaning for him.
Je Sano truly was a complete hero.
Goosebumps rose on Iyeon’s arms. Feeling crushed by the pressure in Sano’s place, Iyeon unconsciously hunched his shoulders. As if wanting to close the distinctly distant gap, he lowered his gaze and stared continuously at Sano’s signature. The trace of the last action he would have taken before diving into the water.
At some point, Iyeon murmured almost like a groan.
“Why would Je Sano…”
There was still something he couldn’t understand.
This wasn’t the type of mission Sano typically accepted. Even for urgent missions, Sano didn’t monopolize all types by himself. He couldn’t. From that perspective, eliminating Dumugwi might not be disadvantageous for Sano, but it was certainly a cumbersome mission to handle alone.
Even after reading the overview, Iyeon couldn’t understand why Sano had accepted this mission. Wondering if the answer might be in the background section, he scrutinized it until his eyes strained, but to no avail.
Come to think of it, it’s natural that he didn’t know how Sano’s mind worked or what motivated him. He had a rough idea of what irritated and displeased Sano, but he didn’t know what he liked. He had seen Sano smile faintly on occasion, but didn’t know why he smiled.
Suddenly, the desire to know welled up inside him.
Just then…
“Noona!”
Spotting the two of them, Jongchan came running from a distance. The flashlight beam bobbed up and down with his movement, and his anxious face brightening was briefly illuminated by the car’s headlights.
“Who did you bring… hey!”
Recognizing the person who had ignored his calls all day didn’t take long. As Jongchan lunged forward, flailing as if to grab Iyeon by the collar, Jonghee easily blocked him and nodded to Iyeon.
“If you’ve finished reading the overview, let’s go to the shore and wait.”
“What? Don’t tell me this person is the support? He’s only Tier 2!”
“You know that’s not all there is to him.”
“But still!”
While the siblings squabbled as they moved, Iyeon remained motionless. His eyes had already shifted from the paper to the gently rippling water surface and remained fixed there.
“You said Je Sano has been submerged in the dark water for three hours.”
“Jung Iyeon-ssi. Sano-nim is not so careless as to die from lack of breath underwater.”
“I know that too.”
Suddenly, Iyeon removed the bag from his back. He then pulled off his loose-fitting sweatshirt. As his bare chest was exposed, Jongchan was startled and Jonghee raised her eyebrows at this unexpected striptease.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to take off my pants too, so could you please turn around?”
At Iyeon’s words, both instinctively turned away. The humid breeze touched his bare skin only briefly before white sand summoned by Iyeon adhered to his body. The sand that densely covered his entire body soon transformed into a rash guard and swimsuit that extended to his ankles.
“Okay, you can look now.”
Amazement flashed in the siblings’ eyes when they saw Iyeon’s attire had changed in an instant. This was because they had just confirmed with their own eyes that there was nothing under his top.
“Je Sano isn’t the Little Mermaid. I’ll go in and check, just in case.”
Iyeon said resolutely, pulling up his goggles. Iyeon also didn’t think Sano would die from being unable to breathe.
But underwater is not an environment where humans naturally live. He needed to check what condition Sano was in.
More precisely, he just wanted to see Sano.
“It’s dangerous. It’s already a dark night, but underwater is much darker. It would be better if you went in after sunrise…”
“Th-that’s right. Sano-nim has put up a wall inside the lake to prevent Dumugwi from escaping. So waiting until daybreak would be…”
Both Jonghee and even Jongchan tried to dissuade him from his resolute declaration. Come to think of it, the horizon beyond the lake wasn’t visible. He had thought it was simply too dark, but that wasn’t the case. Only after narrowing his eyes and staring for a while could Iyeon vaguely make out a massive shadow rising from the lake bottom in the distance, dividing the space. It was certainly difficult to secure visibility on a night without a single light.
However…
“If that’s the problem, it’s fine.”
Iyeon stretched out his arm. White sand gathered at the tips of his slender fingers.
The faintly glowing sand filled the surroundings. It felt like an unrealistically majestic scene.
The enormous amount of sand that spread from where the three of them stood to the wall Sano had erected soon hardened into a solid roof and walls. The glittering boundary rounded around the ground they stood on and the lake where Sano would be. It was shaped like a huge dome. After confirming the ceiling was complete, Iyeon lowered his hand.
Simultaneously, bright light shone down from the entire roof.
The strong light instantly illuminated the view. The shore where they stood, the surrounding vegetation, the gentle ripples on the lake, and even the massive black barrier jutting out of the water surface in the distance—all were revealed. Despite being outdoors, the scene completely enclosed by artificial walls and ceiling resembled a movie set.
“…!”
With the sudden reversal in lighting, not only Jongchan and Jonghee but also Iyeon squinted. It was brighter than expected. After blinking a couple of times, Iyeon properly adjusted his goggles, and soon he could see clearly. The water’s surface glittered in the strong light.
Under the space bright as day, Iyeon did a light stretch.
“Now I can go, right?”
The two secretaries could only stare blankly at him.
*
Splash!
With only a small sound, the slender body entered the water. The water temperature felt cold through the swimsuit. Ugh. After creating appropriate warmth, the water around Iyeon’s body soon warmed up.
And oxygen. As the white sand gathered, a large air bubble formed over Iyeon’s head. Being small, the oxygen would soon be depleted, but that didn’t matter since he could create more when it ran out. Though it was a bit troublesome to keep creating new ones, it wasn’t difficult. For faster movement, this was better than covering his entire body.
Diving to a slightly deeper depth, Iyeon moved in the direction Jongchan had indicated. His arms and legs waved flexibly as he swam.
‘The issue is how to find him.’
Judging by the distance between the wall Sano had erected and the shore, the range where Dumugwi might be was enormously vast. Moreover, the fact that the giant mutant, said to settle at the lake bottom, was not visible from where Iyeon was suggested that the lake’s depth was also extraordinary.
Finding Je Sano in this vast expanse was like looking for a needle in a sand dune. And since he was underwater, he couldn’t even call out…
And the biggest problem was how dark it was.
There was a limit to how much light from outside could penetrate the water. As he entered the deeper layers, it was pitch black again as if there had never been any light. Although his goggles could basically detect people or obstacles nearby, there were distance limitations. It was similar to how seeing the horizon doesn’t mean you can see what’s near the actual horizon through goggles.
Plus, he couldn’t be sure if D.S had designed low-tier hunter equipment for underwater combat… It was fortunate that everything was working well so far, but he didn’t know when issues might arise.
After considering all this, Iyeon gently swirled his hand. The soft water rippled following his movement.
Then, as if a light was turning on from beneath his feet, the water began to glow brightly.
