Chapter 7: Greeting the bastards

“It is Turtle Mountain.” (Or “It is Turtle Head Mountain” depending on context, but Turtle Mountain is more natural in English)

Next to the heater I’d brought just in case, we changed out of our wet clothes and draped towels over our heads as Si-ah spoke.

“On the way here, I mentioned that the Manpasikjeok was made from bamboo that grew on a turtle, right?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“The messenger of the sea god Munmu. The turtle that brought the bamboo of Manpasikjeok is called Turtle Mountain.”

As the name ending in “mountain” suggests, it’s a bit unclear whether Turtle Mountain is a mountain that resembles a turtle or a turtle as large as a mountain.

Of course, from a realistic point of view, King Munmu couldn’t really have been a sea god, so the former would be correct.

But if we were going to be realistic, we wouldn’t call the current situation a supernatural phenomenon.

What we saw was the latter, a turtle as large as a mountain.

In other words, it was more appropriate to consider it a divine beast of the sea god.

“However, it’s very dangerous to assume that it’s purely Turtle Mountain.

There are countless legends and myths related to turtles.”

“Indeed. I’m not familiar with Turtle Mountain, and when I first saw it, I thought of the Black Tortoise.”

“Certainly, the Black Tortoise is the most representative turtle divine beast.

Besides that, there’s the spirit turtle of Mount Penglai, the turtle itself is one of the 12 Earthly Branches, and in Indian mythology, it is said that the world is supported by a turtle and an elephant standing on its back.”

As a representative of long-living animals, stories about turtles can be easily found in any mythology or legend around the world.

But we must never mistake that what we encountered was not the turtle in those stories.

It is a supernatural ‘phenomenon’ created by human belief, based on those stories.

“This is the most common mistake new recruits make. Ha-neul and Eun-ae, you’ve already learned this, but take this opportunity to remember it well.”

“”Yes!””

“For now, the entity we’ve discovered seems to be closest to Turtle Mountain, but no one knows what other turtle stories might be mixed into this creature.

This is called syncretism, and it’s no exaggeration to say that 80% of failures in subjugation or sealing are due to this syncretism.”

For example, let’s assume that the turtle we found was the Black Tortoise.

Then the method of sealing or subjugation itself is simple.

The Black Tortoise is a typical divine beast that symbolizes water among the Five Elements.

And what suppresses water is earth.

We could create a sealing ritual that concentrates the energy of earth.

Or we could use weapons and magic of the dragon-slaying attribute to take advantage of the Black Tortoise’s snake and dragon attributes for subjugation.

Usually, it’s ideal to use both methods.

But what if the Black Tortoise is not a pure Black Tortoise?

As mentioned above, there are countless myths about turtles.

If other turtles are syncretized with the Black Tortoise.

And as a result, it displays other attributes and unknown abilities, then both sealing and subjugation will be completely destroyed.

“Simple yokai or evil spirits can be overpowered with force, so it doesn’t matter if syncretism occurs.

But for a divine beast-class threat like today, sealing and subjugation are practically impossible without the appropriate method, so the priority is to completely identify its true nature.”

Of course, the same goes for this Turtle Mountain.

No, we had to be even more cautious.

This time, it was a divine beast paired with a God’s Relic, the Manpasikjeok.

“This is not something we can handle on our own.”

“I’ve already sent a brief report to headquarters while you two were washing up, but…..”

“They told us to stand by and secure the area for now, right?”

“Yes.”

“That’s the obvious course of action.

We’ve already lost one half. We can’t afford to lose the remaining Manpasikjeok.”

Letting out a small sigh, Si-ah clenched her fist in determination.

Sensing her mood, Ha-neul and Eun-ae also nodded with serious expressions.

They knew that it would be best to get out of the divine beast’s shell island immediately for their own safety.

But they knew that the Manpasikjeok had to be secured for the greater good of Korea.

And that they were here because of this very danger.

However, I still couldn’t help but ask, as I didn’t understand.

Because-

“If the Manpasikjeok is the problem, can’t we just retrieve it?”

Some might have guessed, but the Manpasikjeok is still on Turtle Mountain’s head.

At first, I tried to pull it out, but Si-ah immediately stopped me, so I had to come back empty-handed even though I had dived into the sea.

I figured she must have had a reason, so I didn’t ask until now.

But now that the situation had come to this, I had to ask.

“Certainly, that would be the most surefire method. But….”

“But?”

“The risk is too great.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a possibility that the now-dormant Turtle Mountain will awaken the moment the Manpasikjeok is removed.”

Si-ah explained that Turtle Mountain is a very minor divine beast.

It’s no wonder I’ve heard of the Manpasikjeok but not Turtle Mountain.

In fact, in the story of King Munmu delivering the Manpasikjeok, the main focus is the ‘Manpasikjeok’.

And Turtle Mountain and King Munmu.

From the perspective of the story, they are actually supporting characters that embellish the Manpasikjeok.

“In fact, we’re already in a very dangerous situation.

That’s because half of the Manpasikjeok is already gone. No one really knows what will happen if the remaining half disappears in this situation.”

“If we’re optimistic, there’s a possibility that Turtle Mountain will disappear since its role is gone.”

“Of course, on the pessimistic side, there’s a possibility that Turtle Mountain will go on a rampage.

In fact, a rampage is more likely at this point.”

Because the Manpasikjeok wasn’t retrieved properly.

Originally, after nine days of storms at night.

The unified Manpasikjeok should have been taken by the descendant of Silla after receiving the dragon’s prophecy.

But now, the ones who took the Manpasikjeok were the Japanese, who can hardly be considered descendants of Silla.

Moreover, they only took half of it in a divided state.

“I can’t apologize enough to Jae-in. I said it was a simple task, but I didn’t expect it to turn out like this……”

Si-ah bowed her head repeatedly, saying she really had no excuse.

I accepted her apology, saying that I had decided to work as a freelancer knowing full well that this kind of situation could happen.

At the same time, I asked her a question that had arisen in my mind.

“I roughly understand that I should stay here.”

“Given the situation, headquarters should send support soon-“

“No, that’s for you all to handle, so I’ll just focus on my role, but can I ask you one thing before that?”

“Of course.”

“Then that Manpasikjeok. Can it be used with only half?”

“Huh? Why would you ask…..”

“
“

“Because if those thieves realize that what they stole can’t be used, they’ll do whatever it takes to find the other half.”

I don’t know the exact situation, but I have a rough idea from what I’ve heard.

The Japanese who stole the Manpasikjeok are now running rampant with someone powerful backing them up.

If they found out that the Manpasikjeok they stole was a defective, half-finished product, would they just shrug it off as bad luck?

‘No way.’

They stole it because their conscience had already died.

Such people would turn from thieves to robbers, claiming they were scammed.

It’s a fact I can guarantee from my experience dealing with many conscienceless bastards.

“No way?!”

Finally realizing the intent of my question, Si-ah’s expression turned grim, and she jumped to her feet.

Ha-neul and Eun-ae also sensed the mood and started preparing for battle as if on standby.

Even though Si-ah wasn’t a combatant, she took out the weapons she had brought and put them on.

Well, it was like they said, “Speak of the devil.”

Signals started appearing on the radar.

“Seven high-speed boats approaching.”

“Just to be sure, there’s no chance they’re just fishermen passing by?”

“Fishermen don’t use high-speed boats.”

“We issued a no-entry order in the surrounding area before the operation.

All seven boats coming this way are unauthorized.”

Of course.

I chuckled at Eun-ae’s words and asked the three to lend me a weapon….well, not exactly my weapon.

I told them a sword would be enough, and as expected from a boat prepared by the Special Missions Department, Ha-neul immediately took out a stylish, latest-design longsword and tossed it to me.

“Wow~~~ this is high quality. Light, sturdy, and well-balanced.”

“You have a good eye, right? Of course. The Special Missions Department’s motto is to spare no expense on equipment.”

“Well, not for relics or God’s Relics, though.”

“Those can’t be bought with money, so there’s nothing we can do.”

With the well-made longsword on my shoulder, we went outside the boat.

And back to Turtle Mountain’s rocky island.

Ha-neul, Eun-ae, and Si-ah naturally followed behind me.

“Let’s greet our guests, no, our uninvited guests.”

Come to think of it, they killed the guards and stole the Manpasikjeok, right?

I decided to give them a special course after a long time.