East Sea Revival Project.
A project run by a powerful group, begun at the request of the Merfolk to protect their home—the sea.
At first, it all felt vague and distant, but as countless volunteers and Awakened joined forces, the ocean became clean in an instant.
Yet incidents always happen the moment you let your guard down.
“Huh? Oh, oh?! Sh-shark!”
At the cry of the Ministry of Environment staff standing on the deck, everyone’s gaze followed the tip of his pointing finger.
There, rather than a single shark, a whole ‘school’ of sharks was cutting through the waves and rapidly approaching.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Badum, badum, badum, badum.
As shark fins surfaced above the water, it felt as though the dramatic soundtrack from a movie with a giant great white was playing in my ears.
Even if your movements are restricted underwater, a single shark isn’t an issue for an Awakened.
But a whole school of sharks… that changes things.
Faced with an unexpected situation, my body froze.
What do we do?
“All Awakened, fall back!”
Minjun shouted.
Perhaps it was his experience raiding countless Dungeons that let him make such a quick decision in a sudden crisis.
In a Dungeon, he’d have attacked the sharks without hesitation.
But this time, the decision was to retreat.
It was because we couldn’t distinguish between marine life and Merfolk.
Each Awakened used their water-type Skills to push the sharks back.
But that was barely enough to tickle them; besides, the water is the sharks’ Home Ground.
The sharks easily dodged the Skills and closed in on the Awakened.
Seeing this, Minjun finally dove into the sea.
The sharks bared their countless teeth, opening their savage jaws.
While the other Awakened scattered and fled, Minjun did the opposite—he swam toward the shark pack, blocking their path.
Thank goodness Minjun is here.
Thanks to his Synchronization Ability with his shield, not a scratch would land on him from the sharks.
‘If it comes down to it, I’ll have to tell them to attack the marine life. No way Merfolk would act so threatening, right?’
All I could do was trust Minjun and the Awakened, desperately hoping no one would get hurt. At that moment, I thought I heard a faint, barely audible voice.
- Are we… gonna… play…?
Maybe I misheard, but just in case, I asked Kasia.
“Didn’t you hear something just now?”
- I heard it, too. I’m not sure, but it sounded like someone talking….
Again, the sound came.
It grew clearer and clearer.
- Sharks are… predators… won’t they be surprised…?
- What if… they attack…?
- My dad said… don’t attack.
- Then let’s just scare them and run!
Kasia and I pricked up our ears, searching for the source, our eyes drawn at the same time to the shark fins above the water.
“Minho, over there! The sharks are talking!”
“Oh no! Looks like it’s young Merfolk playing tricks!”
Just as I was thinking I might have to attack the marine life, the Awakened might mistake the young Merfolk—disguised as sharks—and attack them as well.
“Don’t attack! Stop!”
I shouted not to attack, but it didn’t seem to reach them.
In a panic, I plunged into the sea!
With the water filling my ears, all sound faded, and it felt like my hearing was muffled.
Maybe it was fear, but I couldn’t open my eyes properly.
No, not now! Please… open!
Forcing down my fear, I finally managed to open my eyes.
‘I did it! There’s Minjun!’
I saw Minjun swimming toward the sharks.
I tried to swim to him as fast as I could, but the sharks were closing the distance even faster.
‘No, I’m too late!’
The moment Minjun and the sharks were about to collide, something unexpected happened again.
The sharks didn’t just brush past Minjun.
Then Minjun raised his arm and bit it hard.
Red blood began to spread around him.
- Oh? Something smells tasty!
- Where is it? Where is it?
- We just passed by here, didn’t we?
Minjun must have planned to use the sharks’ sense of smell, as the sharks immediately changed direction and charged at him.
The only difference was that they now seemed even more excited, moving faster than before.
Blub-blub.
‘You mustn’t hit them!’
I wanted to warn Minjun, just in case, but underwater, I couldn’t make a sound.
Sure enough, not knowing my thoughts, Minjun swung his fist down at the shark’s nose.
At least, thanks to the water, the blow seemed weaker than expected…?
Thunk!
- Ouch!
- This person hit me!
- He said he wouldn’t hit us!
The sharks drew back, circling Minjun warily.
Seizing the moment, I grabbed Minjun and shook my head.
Don’t attack them.
Then, another scream rang out.
- Aaaagh!
This time, it was a clear scream of pain.
‘No! Who—?!’
Turning quickly toward the sound, I saw blood pouring from a shark’s side.
And right beside it, Kim Daehyun stood, holding a dagger, staring at the shark.
As expected, the shark gradually transformed into a young child.
‘It’s too late! I have to get them to the boat!’
There were Porti potions and a Healer waiting on board.
The wound in the child’s side looked deep, but they could still be saved.
I quickly grabbed the wounded young Merfolk and swam rapidly toward the surface.
Other sharks began transforming one by one into Merfolk, each looking around ten years old.
‘I can’t take care of them all! I’ll leave the rest to Minjun and head up!’
Looking around, I saw the children’s eyes were filled with terror.
I didn’t know what they were thinking, but the kids followed me, swimming quickly toward the surface.
“Phewah! Kasia! Take this child!”
- Understood!
Kasia cupped her hands, calling on a spirit, and a gentle wind lifted the child and carried them onto the boat.
Maybe because of the gentle wind, the child who’d fainted from pain showed a little relief on their face.
As Kasia’s wind set the Merfolk child down on the deck, the Association Healer who’d been waiting nearby immediately activated their Healing Skill.
Upon coming up, I saw the wound was worse than it had looked underwater.
That must be why the Healing Skill alone wasn’t enough.
“Potion! I brought the potion!”
I hurriedly took out a Porti potion from my bag and slowly poured it over the wound.
As the potion and Healing Skill overlapped, the wound finally began to heal noticeably.
“Whew. Thank goodness. Thank you.”
The child’s breathing steadied—seems the worst was over.
I thanked the Healer for using their Healing Skill so quickly and calmly.
The Healer checked the Merfolk child’s wounds, smiled gently, and stepped back.
After that, the Awakened climbed up the ladder.
Each carried a frightened Merfolk child in their arms.
“Is the child… all right?”
Kim Daehyun approached hesitantly from a distance, looking crestfallen.
“Yes, they’re fine. They haven’t woken up yet, but they’re recovering.”
“That’s a relief…. There was an order not to attack…. Sigh… I’m really sorry.”
Indeed, there had been orders not to attack marine life.
But Kim Daehyun was the focal point for Awakened entering the water.
In an emergency, he made the best decision he could.
“It was a life-threatening situation. I understand. And I think it’s best if you apologize directly to the child.”
“Thank you….”
The cheerful personality from our first meeting was gone, and he now sat quietly against the wall, looking pitiful.
His gaze, filled with regret, never left the still-unconscious Merfolk child.
“Bro, you should talk to them. Find out what happened.”
“Yeah, I got it.”
I knew they’d come over to play a prank, but that was only part of the story.
To get the full picture, I looked for a child who seemed calm, rolling their eyes and gauging the mood.
“Hello?”
- Ah! H-hi…. You can understand me….
“That’s right. Have you heard anything about me?”
- …I heard from Uncle Sailun about a human who could talk to us. Is… that you?
Sailun… must be the name of the Merfolk I saved before.
It’s strange that I learned his name like this, not through introductions, but after something bad happened.
“That’s me. By the way, did you ever hear not to cross the Boundary?”
Sailun might have forgotten to mention it to the children.
Not that I was trying to push the blame, but I needed to know the situation clearly.
The child lowered their head and fiddled with their hands before speaking.
- I… heard….
“Then can you tell me why you crossed the Boundary?”
I asked as gently as I could, so as not to frighten them.
The child looked over at the still-unconscious child.
“I’m not here to scold or blame you, so you can just talk.”
- Th-then, if you promise not to tell Uncle Sailun!
“All right, I promise.”
The child made eye contact with me, hesitated a long time, and finally explained the situation.
- That kid’s dad is Uncle Sailun…. He told us never to go past the Boundary… but we were curious… so we said let’s go…
The kid trailed off at the end.
But at least I got the reason.
Not a K-jammin, but a Mermaid Jammin who didn’t listen to their dad and caused trouble.
‘Haah… these Jammin.’
I needed to calm the frightened children.
I barely suppressed a sigh.
The Merfolk children watched my conversation, half curious, half anxious.
“You were scared, right? Don’t worry—your friend’s going to be fine, so just rest.”
I took snacks from my backpack and handed them out.
Maybe it was my gentle words and the cookies, but the Merfolk children relaxed, regaining their energy and chatting away.
So others wouldn’t be startled, I moved from the stern to the bow and called out to the sea.
“Sailun—! Sailun—! Please come out!”
At that moment, the previously quiet Merfolk child suddenly hopped up on their finned legs, shouting.
- Mister! Don’t! You promised to keep it a secret from Uncle Sailun!!
- Oh benefactor, what is it? Nation? Why are you here….
The child called Nation clung to my pant leg and hid behind me.
Sailun’s expression darkened instantly.
- Nation! I told you not to go outside the Boundary!
I didn’t want to hurt the children.
Of course, mistakes needed to be addressed, but there was no need to scold them before they’d calmed down.
“Please calm down. I’ll explain.”
- Benefactor or not, this is a matter within our race…!
“No. The children aren’t at fault. We crossed the Boundary on our own. I’m sorry.”
Through the grip on my pant leg, I could feel the child’s emotion.
That emotion was fear.
I hadn’t seen him often, but from what I knew, Sailun wasn’t a bad person.
So this fear must be from the prospect of being scolded by an adult.
- Eh? What do you mean….
“As I said, it was our mistake for coming into contact with the children. They must’ve been very frightened—please comfort them well. I entrust the children to your care.”
Not sure if this would work with Merfolk, I winked with one eye.
Thankfully, Sailun seemed to get it.
He sighed softly and looked at Nation.
- Then, when everything’s settled, come to that place. I’ll be waiting.
With that, he picked up the wounded child and vanished into the sea.
When we returned to port, a crowd was waiting, but the atmosphere was hardly welcoming.
Aside from the volunteers, many people were there with microphones and cameras.
“What’s going on here?”
Minjun stepped forward and asked, and a flood of voices erupted from all directions.
Most of it was about the Merfolk.
“Is it true the Merfolk appeared?”
“You let them go again?”
“Are you close with them? We heard you talked with them.”
“Like the Elves, are they coming to live in Korea?”
I hadn’t thought about it.
There had been reporters on board the Awakened’s boat for coverage, too.
“Yes, they’re Merfolk.”
As Minjun admitted it, the questions multiplied.
“Were you planning to hide them?”
“Is the Association trying to collude with these other races?”
And so on.
“Sigh….”
Minjun’s troubled feelings showed plainly on his face.
It was all too much for him to answer alone.
If anything was said wrong, it could damage the Association’s image, or worse, cause rumors about me.
So I stepped forward.
“It’s because the other races don’t want it.”
“And who are you?”
“What is it they don’t want?”
“Wait? Aren’t you Do Minho?”
“Do Minho? Who’s that?”
There was a time before when, regarding the Elves’ settlement, reporters had shown up at my house.
One of them seemed to recognize me.
“Mr. Do Minho, are you able to talk to other races?”
“Yes, I can.”
At first, the reporters buzzed with confusion.
Then, realizing what it meant, they unleashed a flurry of camera flashes.
The light was so blinding I could barely keep my eyes open.
I hadn’t planned to reveal it like this….
A reporter who seemed foreign hurried off with a satellite phone.
“What other races are there?”
“Have you met Dwarves, too?!”
“Are you the same Korean said to live where the Elves are migrating?!”
“Will the Merfolk also live in Korea, like the Elves?”
“Did you receive anything from them?”
The questions came at me, overwhelming in number.
“The Merfolk asked that we keep their existence secret until they’ve adapted to Earth. That’s all I can say.”
“Then do they live in the East Sea?!”
“Please introduce the Merfolk! Do they have a civilization?”
“We want to interview the Merfolk!”
“Mr. Do Minho, can you interpret for us?!”
Already, rumors about the Merfolk were rampant, and there were news articles and photos online claiming they’d been captured.
But there’s no one who knows as much about them as I do.
Naturally, there’s a lot of curiosity.
After answering only a few simple questions and finally getting away, the internet was already ablaze with news about me and other races.
[ Chosen Man of Elves and Merfolk, Do Minho. Who is he? ]
[ There is someone who can converse with other races. ]
There’s still little known about these races—they remain shrouded in mystery.
Truly, it’s the kind of story that would make international headlines.