* * *
As the water level dropped, the monster’s form became clearer.
The huge cavity was its mouth, the lumpy parts were its throat, and the pointed edges were its teeth.
The swirling water calmed just before the monster fully emerged.
Then the surface began to tremble again, as if boiling.
“Everyone, get down!”
Sensing the danger, Beom Sinje knelt on one knee and shouted.
His companions quickly lowered their bodies as he had instructed.
Kwoooh… Kwooorgh!
Suddenly, a strong impact reverberated through the tank.
An enormous explosion followed, sending water shooting into the air.
“Wow… what is that?”
“Why is water spurting like that if it’s not a crater?”
“What kind of monster is that?”
Everyone was mesmerized by the sight, as if a massive fountain was erupting.
Doyoung closely observed the tank, half-leaning over.
As Namsoo had explained, the monster was absorbing large amounts of water and then spouting it back out, impacting the building as if that were its sole ability.
Moreover, it stayed hidden, seemingly unable to leave the water.
“Beom Sinje, what does it look like?”
When asked, Beom Sinje promptly answered.
“I couldn’t see its full form. I saw a gaping mouth with a bulging throat and jagged teeth as it opened up to suck in water.”
That was enough for Doyoung.
As soon as he heard it, he realized what the monster was.
“Charybdis!”
◇◆◇◆◇
“Johan, you’re checking out the lab first, right?”
“What should I do…”
As Johan stroked his chin, hesitating, the white hunter immediately expressed his dissatisfaction.
“Why are you hesitating? We just talked about it. Hunters from a guild seem to have headed that way. What if they find something?”
“If they went there to find something, it might actually be better.”
But Johan’s response was accompanied by a meaningful smile.
The white hunter narrowed his eyes, unable to immediately grasp Johan’s intent.
He was a newcomer to the lab, mostly working outside, and wasn’t fully familiar with the internal dynamics.
This made Johan’s smile seem even more suspicious.
“What’s there? Something?”
The white hunter, who seemed to have realized something, looked at Johan with even more suspicion.
“Come to think of it, the lab was suddenly evacuated before. We thought it was because of rumors about suspicious people planning an attack…”
Johan nonchalantly responded.
“There were various reasons. You wouldn’t know, but the lab wasn’t that sturdy to begin with, and it became more unstable with each shock, to the point of being at risk of collapse.”
“Huh? That place? It’s supposed to be the most robust. What, did an earthquake happen? I didn’t hear anything like that.”
The white hunter tilted his head.
Being a native South African, he prided himself on knowing local affairs well.
To his knowledge, there hadn’t been any notable earthquakes recently.
In fact, there hadn’t been any natural disasters that could shake the ground around here in his lifetime.
Even when a massive dungeon opened a few years ago, it only became apparent when the plains were on the brink of flooding.
“It wasn’t an earthquake, but something similar happened frequently. Initially, it wasn’t that serious, but whatever they fed it made it stronger than expected, beyond control, so we had to abandon it.”
“What are you talking about…”
The white hunter couldn’t understand, even after hearing the explanation, and tilted his head.
Johan gave a sinister smile, not one of ridicule but as if plotting something, making the white hunter wonder what scheme Johan was up to.
Johan held a unique position in the lab.
Despite there being no formal hierarchy, he had a following that made him the de facto leader.
His words often turned into commands that shaped the lab’s direction, including the recent evacuation.
“Do you know Charybdis?”
“Charybdis?”
“Or sometimes called Charybdis.”
The unfamiliar term made the white hunter pout, his stern face momentarily looking comical with his dried hair and protruding lips, resembling a bull terrier.
He despised thinking and couldn’t understand why Johan kept asking strange questions, feeling annoyed internally.
“What’s that? Something to eat?”
When he asked sulkily, Johan chuckled, deflating like a balloon.
“Not something to eat, but a mythical creature that devours and regurgitates.”
“What?”
“They say it hides underwater, swallowing massive amounts of water at incredible speed and then spewing it out, creating destruction in the sea.”
Still struggling to grasp the meaning, the white hunter showed a puzzled expression, but Johan just smiled brightly.
“If they found that, there should be an interesting scene by now. Shall we go watch?”
◇◆◇◆◇
Crash!
Water, which had shot up high, burst all at once, like a grand waterfall.
A huge spray followed, unexpectedly enveloping the group.
“Ugh!”
“I can’t see anything. What the hell…”
The hunters were taken aback by the sudden mist that obscured their vision.
They looked around, but the dense fog made it difficult to see anything beyond their arms.
“Everyone, stay in place!”
Amidst the chaos, the guild leader’s calm command was clear, helping the disorganized group quickly regroup.
“Guild leader! What was that?”
Something had definitely moved. Then a tremendous tremor shook the ground.
It originated from the tank, but pinpointing the cause was challenging.
Someone shouted something, but in the commotion, no one could make it out clearly.
With no other choice, they turned to the guild leader.
“It’s Charybdis.”
The calm reply came from Doyoung.
The word rang clear, but it was unfamiliar.
Jihoon, who had asked the question, looked puzzled, prompting Doyoung to elaborate.
“It’s a monster that appears in sea-themed dungeons, swallowing seawater and spewing it out to create storms that wreck ships.”
“Oh? Isn’t that the legendary monster from the Odyssey?”
Bora, sitting on the floor, chimed in, recognizing the reference.
“Yes.”
“I remember. It’s from Greek mythology. It swallows seawater three times a day, causing whirlpools that sink nearby ships. Originally, it was the daughter of Gaia and Poseidon, but Zeus’s curse turned it into that.”
Impressed by her knowledge, the others marveled.
But Jihee voiced a question that had been on everyone’s mind.
“So it’s a monster that lives in water, but why is it here?”
“Indeed.”
The others also looked bewildered.
They had been wondering about the creature’s presence since Namsoo mentioned something in the water.
Such a colossal monster being here was perplexing to everyone, including Doyoung.
‘That’s strange.’
There was a reason Doyoung hadn’t immediately thought of Charybdis.
This monster’s appearance was associated with dungeon overflow events.
These overflow incidents were not just because the dungeon wasn’t cleared in time, but more because the awakening of the dormant boss monster inside led to the uncontrolled release of other monsters.
The result was cities turned to ruins and a temporary home for the dead, with all blame falling on Beom Sinje, the guild leader of the Chunho Guild at the time.
‘Did a similar dungeon open in Africa too?’
He’s an S-class boss monster.
If such an existence were involved, it surely would have impacted the novel, so it’s hard to believe I didn’t know about it.
Moreover, the fact that it was in the lab is strange no matter how I think about it.
“They’re not usually this meticulous.”
When Doyoung first discovered and utilized them, they were nothing but a disorganized bunch.
The flooding wasn’t something they intentionally caused; it happened due to a series of overlapping situations.
However, the way they were acting increasingly diverged from his expectations.
“Did something go wrong due to interference?”
That seems like the most likely explanation.
The world was affected by the various incidents he caused, leading to unforeseen events.
Finding and utilizing them, attacking the lab, and even conducting live experiments on monsters were all elements not present in the original story.
“Prepare for battle!”
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout.
Calm yet tense enough to alarm, the guild leader’s warning prompted the guild members to raise their abilities.
Doyoung narrowed his eyes, still unable to clearly discern the blurred, foggy front.
The calm before the storm was shattered, and the waters began to churn again.
But the atmosphere was distinctly different from before.
Rumble.
* * *
…