The moment an old man's suspicion surfaced, his gaze turned back to me. Well, would you look at that.
I don't care if they fight among themselves, but I'm not about to smile and let suspicion directed at me slide. I replied coldly.
"If you don't trust me, then don't hire me. Just turn back and go the way you came."
At my curt response, the others immediately began to criticize the old man who had voiced his doubts.
"Hey now, Mr. Jang. Why would you say something like that to someone who came here to help?"
"Exactly."
Once the situation settled down, I stood up and spoke.
"If there are survivors, rescuing them takes priority. As for the remains of the deceased, we'll recover them later if circumstances allow."
When it comes to remains, I agree with that sentiment as well. Living people matter more, for now.
When I explained the priorities I had decided on, most of the people gathered nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that sounds like the proper order of things."
"We'll proceed that way."
After finishing my explanation, I slightly revised the contract and handed it to them.
"I just added what we agreed on."
After confirming the revised contract, I stood up.
"Then we'll begin right away."
"We're counting on you. Never thought someone from outside would actually come."
"I've got some debts this time. If I can't get the boat moving, those bastards will bleed me dry."
One by one, they shared their circumstances with me. I listened while contacting the Busan Maritime Police Agency. They told me the boat had already arrived.
It was a small patrol craft, commonly called a P-boat. No complaints there. Using a large vessel for just two people would be a waste.
As soon as we boarded, the boat departed straight for Tsushima Island. Gazing out at the sea, I spoke to Han Sang-ah.
"Come to think of it, you didn't say a word after meeting those people."
She nodded.
"Yeah."
"Any reason for that?"
She replied flatly.
"Not really. I wasn't listening anyway."
"Wow. Cold-hearted. They all had pretty pitiful stories."
She turned her eyes toward me.
"You didn't look particularly interested either."
Sharp of her to notice. Even if we succeed in finding survivors, if we're not in a position to save them, we'll abandon them.
Still, the way I structured the contract serves as a kind of safeguard. Only the two of us will enter Tsushima Island. The patrol boat from the Maritime Police will drop us off and withdraw immediately.
What we prioritize on Tsushima Island is, quite literally, entirely up to us.
"At least it gives them peace of mind," I said.
"Does that really mean anything?"
"It gives us an excuse. We can say we tried to honor the contract."
This job isn't a government request, nor a corporate one. And we're not affiliated with any company. Unlike Gyodong Island, that means there's no operations room backing us up.
"Still," I added, "you look like you've improved a bit."
At my words, Han Sang-ah glanced at her sword. Her grip tightened.
"A bit?"
She seemed slightly offended. But by my standards, "a bit" was accurate. And honestly, it felt like she'd gone slightly off track.
"Han Sang-ah. Don't think about drawn-out fights."
"What do you mean?"
She looked straight at me.
"It seems you picked up the appeal of attrition warfare from watching me fight. But it doesn't suit you."
Her abilities are best suited for short, decisive engagements. Trading blows for hours or days like I do doesn't fit her.
"Focus on taking your opponent's head in an instant."
The greatest advantage of wielding electricity is its terrifying speed. There's a reason people say lightning-fast.
"And if I fail?"
In response, I dragged my thumb across my throat.
"Then it means the opponent's better than you, and that's the end. If they're stronger than me, I'd die in a prolonged fight too."
The only difference is how long it takes to die—a meaningless distinction.
"Set your goal to finish the fight within thirty seconds. No matter what."
"…I'm not sure if I should trust your advice."
Back in the other world, there were times when knights would line up just to hear a single word of advice from me.
If someone wants to kick away good fortune that's rolled right up to them, I won't stop them.
"If you go all out every single time—"
"Who said anything about going all out?"
I never told her to fight at full power every time.
"If you want to end things quickly without wasting strength, your analysis of the opponent has to be precise. That applies to drawn-out fights too."
In a short battle, you judge whether you can kill the enemy right now. In a war of attrition, you judge whether you can endure. Both questions are impossible to answer without analyzing the opponent.
After hearing that, Han Sang-ah seemed deep in thought. The silence stretched on. I thought it would continue.
"A ghost ship, huh. Yeah… why not."
In the thickening fog, ominous silhouettes appeared in the distance. The fishermen who had gone out to sea wouldn't have landed on Tsushima Island unless they'd lost their minds.
Which meant they'd been abducted at sea. And that meant our enemies could operate on the water as well.
"I was actually worried it might be something like a kraken."
Compared to a giant octopus, a fleet of ghost ships almost felt merciful. At least they wouldn't dive underwater.
The ships were striking—decks covered in moss and barnacles, tattered sails, broken masts. Around them drifted faint shapes, and bloated corpses wandered across the decks.
A sudden gust of wind hit us, carrying the stench of rot and brine. It smelled like salmon sashimi left out at room temperature for a month.
"Hey… do you think the Coast Guard can even handle this?"
I wasn't scared. When I glanced over, Han Sang-ah didn't look particularly frightened either. Hard to tell what her guts were made of.
But the Coast Guard? When I looked at the crew operating the boat, their faces were pale as ghosts. I wouldn't blame them if they wanted to run right now.
Catching things like this isn't part of a police officer's job description.
"Five ships."
There were five ghost ships blocking our way. Even if we somehow slipped past them and reached Tsushima Island, it wouldn't matter.
If we didn't protect this boat, it would never make it back to Korea. Everyone aboard would probably die at sea.
And then we'd have no way back either.
"We have to deal with all of them here."
"I know."
They were monsters that had emerged from a Grade-2 Corrosion Zone—far stronger than what we'd faced on Gyodong Island. But if we couldn't handle them here, there was no future beyond this point.
Han Sang-ah quickly offered an idea.
"One person should stay here to guard the ship. The other can cross over and deal with them."
"No. We're not doing that. Even if we leave this ship alone for now, these people won't die."
I wasn't completely certain, but it was worth testing before assigning one of us to pure defense.
At my words, Han Sang-ah flinched and stared at me.
"You're not wrong… but even so, that sounds pretty cold-blooded. Sure, those monsters abduct people before killing them—but if things go wrong, they can kill."
I looked at her like I was staring at a monster.
"What are you even talking about right now?"
Who said anything about abandoning them? That mindset was so trash it wasn't even recyclable.
I quickly dragged the tip of my spear across the deck, carving lines into it and forming a diagram.
"What are you doing?"
"You'll see."
The drafting method of blessings—specifically, an exorcism draft. One of the techniques I used in the other world. All the physical power I'd gained there was gone, but knowledge doesn't disappear. I could still use it.
True to its name, by following a prescribed procedure and drawing a complex formation, you could receive various blessings suited to its purpose.
Most blessings were underwhelming, but the word blessing itself implies protection. Because of that, this technique was quite effective when it came to safeguarding something from a specific threat.
"What is that?"
"Same answer. You'll understand once you see it."
Inside a large circle, I placed two squares in an almost star-like arrangement.
Within the overlapping squares, I drew a smaller circle, then layered two stars on top of each other. Without pause, my spear kept moving, carving shape after shape. The diagram etched into the deck grew increasingly complex.
As countless figures were drawn according to a fixed drafting method—enough to make your head spin just looking at them—Han Sang-ah, who had been watching quietly, murmured,
"…The ambient mana is moving on its own."
"Like a waterwheel."
The mana in the air flowed across the shapes I had drawn according to set rules, producing a specific effect. A faint glow was already beginning to seep out from the diagram etched into the deck.
Fundamentally, it wasn't all that different from how I used mana myself. Which meant the advantages were the same.
"Once it's activated, it's semi-permanent."
It would keep running until the diagram was destroyed. I spoke to one of the crew.
"I don't know if it's even possible, but don't try to erase it."
Since it was carved into the deck, intentionally removing it would be difficult anyway.
"T-then if they destroy it? What happens then?"
I answered calmly.
"They won't be able to approach this ship."
If it were such a vague, unreliable technique, I wouldn't have bothered spending time learning it. Keeping my eyes on the ghostly horde charging toward our vessel through the fog, wailing like banshees, I waited.
But if the knowledge I'd learned in the other world didn't work here—
—Ka… hahahah!
Thankfully, that didn't happen. With a shriek that sounded like a grotesque remix of a hissing cat, the creatures rushing toward us froze in place and began to tremble violently.
"It works."
"Where did you learn something like this?"
At Han Sang-ah's impressed question, I answered breezily.
"Learn it? I made it."
That was a lie, of course. I learned it in a screwed-up world you'll never know. You know those novels where someone brings modern knowledge or concepts to another world and succeeds?
No reason the reverse can't be true.
"That takes care of the defense here. Let's move."
It was time to put those ghostly idiots in their place—bringing a tattered old sailing ship into the twenty-first century and thinking they could run wild.
Han Sang-ah's body lifted slightly into the air. Seeing that, I immediately said,
"Hey, give me a ride. Otherwise I'll have to swim. I can manage that much, right?"
I still wasn't skilled enough to run across the surface of the water. Han Sang-ah nodded.
"Got it. Hurry up."
I dashed over and climbed onto her back. Then, riding the magnetic rail she laid out in midair, she sprinted toward the ghost ship with me on her back.
"Hey, this is comfortable."
"Of course it is. You're being carried. We're here."
I could see it too. Through Han Sang-ah's long hair whipping in the sea wind, I confirmed we were close to the ghost ship and said,
"Stepping on your shoulder."
"Go ahead."
The moment I got permission, I planted my foot on her shoulder, sprang upward, and landed on the worm-eaten wooden deck.
"Good grief. Even leaving mackerel out at room temperature for a month wouldn't smell this bad."
The corpses charging at me with rusted cutlasses had no trace of reason or judgment in their eyes.
They were nothing more than beasts with blades.
When their cutlasses slammed into the deck, chunks of rotten wood exploded in all directions.
"Hell of a lot of strength."
Purely in terms of raw power, each of them could probably beat the giant bat-headed monster I fought on Gyodong Island in an arm-wrestling match.
And they were about my size.