Busan, South Korea – 6:15 PM, the same day
The last ferry from Yeongdo Island rocked gently at the dock as the sun dipped behind the skyline. The salty wind carried the scent of seaweed and diesel, and lantern lights shimmered across the harbor like threads of gold. Seagulls shrieked overhead, swooping low over fishermen unloading their catch along the stone jetty.
Far from the bustle, near the edge of an old lighthouse that hadn't been lit in years, a girl stood alone on the rocks, barefoot, sleeves rolled up, her dark hair dancing in the wind.
Ha-eun had always felt something deeper than comfort when she stood by the sea. It was a connection. Home. The rhythm of the waves seemed to echo her heartbeat, and sometimes when she sang quietly, the ocean seemed to listen.
Her grandmother used to say, "네 안에 바다의 피가 흐르고 있다."
"You carry the blood of the sea in your veins."
Ha-eun had laughed it off. Just old folklore. Until last week, when something impossible happened.
The tide had lit up beneath her fingers. Symbols had appeared in the water like glowing ink, forming a ring of light she didn't understand. She ran, scared out of her mind. But the sea kept calling her back.
Tonight, she stood at the same spot. Waiting. Hoping it had all been her imagination, and terrified it hadn't been.
Then, the ocean changed.
Without warning, the waves pulled apart, forming a deep trench as if the sea itself had split. Rising from the chasm came a glowing spiral column, etched with ancient Hangul no one used anymore. Blue light pulsed from it like a heartbeat.
A voice rose from beneath the surface, low and resonant.
"딸이여. 잠든 피를 깨워라."
"Daughter. Awaken the sleeping blood."
The water surged. From the crack in the sea emerged a creature that should have only existed in myth, an Imoogi, a colossal serpent of the deep, its scales gleaming like wet pearl and obsidian.
Ha-eun stumbled back, water soaking her jeans. "This isn't real…" she whispered, eyes wide.
But the serpent didn't attack. It bowed.
And then, someone appeared, walking across the surface of the sea like it was solid ground.
A teenage boy, soaked to the bone, panting. Mon.
A moment later, two others followed, one a girl with copper skin and storm-colored eyes, and the other a wiry Cambodian boy with a sharp gaze and cautious stance. A glowing silver rift shimmered behind them before closing like mist on glass.
Ha-eun backed away, fists clenched. "Who are you people?"
"We're like you," Mon said, though he still sounded unsure himself.
"Smooth," Dara muttered under his breath.
The girl stepped forward. "Ha-eun, right? Daughter of the sea?" Her voice was calm, almost kind. "We're here to protect you."
"From what?" Ha-eun pointed to the serpent. "That thing?"
"No," the girl said. "From them."
A sharp pulse of pressure hit the air, and the Imoogi hissed before vanishing into the deep. Ha-eun barely had time to react before four dark figures leapt down from the street above, dressed in black armor, obsidian swords drawn, glowing visors flashing across their eyes.
Kael's Hunter Drones.
Not quite human. Not fully machine. Designed to track and kill.
"Target confirmed," one said in a clipped, cold voice. "Codename: Baekdu-Class hybrid."
Ha-eun's breath hitched. "Baekdu? You mean the dragon?"
The Hunter raised its blade. "Yongwang's heir. Terminate."
The Tide Rises
Before the Hunter struck, Ha-eun screamed, and the ocean answered.
A massive wall of water surged from the shore, twisting through the air like a serpent made of foam. The sea coiled around her like armor, wrapping her in light and motion. Her eyes turned a bright, glowing turquoise. Strange characters spiraling, ancient, lit up across her arms like fire beneath her skin.
She lifted her hand, and the water lashed out like a whip, sending the nearest Hunter crashing into a rusted shipping crate.
Mon's jaw dropped. "Okay. That's new."
"She's like a waterbender!" Dara yelled, ducking as the sea exploded behind them.
The other drones charged.
Amihan raised her hands, lightning dancing between her fingers as she hurled it toward them. Dara parried a sword swing with a relic blade he'd taken from Angkor. Mon summoned the burning golden weapon that had followed him since the temple. As soon as it formed in his grip, he felt power course through his body again, hot, alive, instinctual.
Together, the four of them fought. Teenagers, yes, but something more than that. Descendants of legends.
By the time the last drone dissolved into dark smoke, the harbor was quiet again.
Ha-eun stood at the center of a pool of seafoam, panting. The glow faded from her skin.
"I… I don't know what just happened," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"You don't need to understand it yet," Amihan said gently. "But you're not alone anymore. We're like you. And we need you."
Ha-eun looked out toward the ocean, the setting sun streaking the waves in molten gold. "If what you said is true… then I'm not just a girl who lives by the sea."
"No," Mon said, stepping beside her. "You're the daughter of a dragon. And the world's about to need you."
Interlude: The Forbidden Archive (Mt. Fuji, Japan)
Deep beneath a corporate research facility at the base of Mt. Fuji, Dr. Kael Yurei stood in a dark chamber filled with glowing monitors. One showed a pulsing energy signature, unmistakably divine.
"Yongwang's heir," he muttered. "That makes four."
A raspy voice echoed from the shadows. "You think you can kill blood older than time, Doctor?"
Kael didn't flinch. He turned to a containment chamber at the room's center. Inside, a divine figure lay unconscious, wrapped in glowing chains made of technological script. It is a bound kami, one of Japan's oldest spirits.
Kael smiled faintly.
"Let them gather," he said. "Let them remember who they are."
He touched the glass.
"I'll burn their gods from the inside out."