Talon gave her a single glance before he slowly nodded his head. Even though he would've preferred if Hyun-Jae didn't follow him since if her boat broke, it would be a disaster. But, he didn't forget that this was Hyun-Jae he was talking about, in most scenarios she could very much take care of herself without his help.
In fact, she was so capable in his opinion that her idea made him feel even more at ease knowing that Hyun-Jae would actually drag him out of the water if he ended up in trouble.
"Ok, I agree to that. But, if you end up having to drag me for any reason, can I at least give you a sign whether that's necessary or not?"
"What kind of sign?" Hyun-Jae raised an eyebrow.
"Every 2 minutes, I will shake the rope to tell you that I'm fine. That way, you would know whether I need help or not. If I don't shake the rope after 2 minutes pass, you can immediately drag me out." He explained.
"That's..." The girl frowned a little. For some reason, as much as it sounded like a good idea, the sheer pressure of having to wait two minutes each time for the rope to shake was perhaps the most nerve-wracking thing Hyun-Jae would go through.
But, in the end, her heart and mind knew that Talon simply wanted the plan to work. Everything about this task was going to be nerve-wracking.
"Ok, I will follow your words. But, if the timer reaches the two-minute mark and you don't instantly shake the rope, I'm going to pull you out immediately, no questions asked, ok?"
"Yeah, I know and I don't mind. If anything, please do that, I might be drowning down there, hahaha."
Hyun-Jae: "..."
The girl's eyes darkened as her aura leaked a little, making Talon flinch.
"Don't even joke about that."
"Yes, ma'am." He nodded his head.
"Sigh, I really hope everything goes smoothly."
"As long as I'm the one who does it, things will always go well, don't worry." Talon tapped her shoulder as he walked back to the group.
"We will see..."
***
For the next hour or so, the group worked hard to gather as many monster carcasses as possible, then, they tied those corpses with tight ropes. After that, they brought Talon a diving suit with its own mask and a small oxygen tank.
"How long does this tank last I wonder?" Talon murmured as he tapped it.
"It depends on how you use it, but, you have no more than 10 minutes of oxygen before it runs out," Soomin replied.
"Ten minutes... Huh." Repeating her words as he stared at the tank, Talon pursed his lips.
'Well, now I have to worry about my oxygen too, perfect.' Shaking his head, he stood up and put the tank on his back.
"No worries, ten minutes is more than enough to kill any monster lurking in that place."
With that, he was completely ready for the mission. All that was left was to get on the boat which was the easiest task since they found countless boats floating aimlessly in the river with no owners using them.
The perfect boat was soon dragged to where Talon stood as he hoped on it.
"We have to be patient. Normal fishing would take hours usually. One hour is nothing."
"But still... Something should've at least noticed the bait, right?"
Many were starting to think that there weren't really any creatures lurking in the depths. Though, most of it was their wishful thinking rather than actual facts.
Meanwhile, Talon and Hyun-Jae were still completely focused on the water as if a minute had just passed.
At that moment, something finally happened.
*Splash*
Out of nowhere, one of the corpses suddenly shook before it started going down. Talon's eyes flashed with a sharp glint as he immediately pulled the mask down.
Hyun-Jae turned around to the students. "Grab the ropes and start pulling now!" She yelled.
The group snapped out of their daze as they quickly kicked into motion. Locating the rope that linked to that particular bait, they latched into it.
"Pull!!"
The entire group used their collective strength to start pulling. Meanwhile, whatever was pulling that corpse found itself struggling to make it submerge.
"Hnng! It's really, pulling hard!"
MVLeMpYr-official-text
At the same time, Talon pulled down the mask before he adjusted the oxygen tank output.
"I'm going, Hyun-Jae." He notified the girl before he flipped back and left his body to be pulled down by gravity.
*Splash*
The moment Talon's body made contact with the water, a cold sensation filled his senses. The extremely cold water touched his skin and made him frown a little.
'Nice cold bath...' He thought to himself as he slowly submerged his head underwater to take a look.
The water beneath the surface was completely dark akin to an endless abyss. A normal eye would never be able to see anything. However, Talon didn't find a problem in seeing a few dozen meters away from him.
'How deep did this river get, geez?'
Scanning the area around him, he noticed something moving in the distance. With a closer look, he could identify the thing as a rather big fish with two heads and sharp teeth. It had the appearance of a piranha except for more terrifying.
That creature was latched into the corpse as it tried to drag it down violently while facing the resistance of the survivors outside.
Without time to waste, Talon pulled his spear out as he dived down and moved toward the creature as fast as he could.
'Holy shit! I'm fast!'
Even though he barely shook his legs a few times, Talon had already crossed a dozen meters. He never realized that his leg strength had reached a level where it could easily rival that of an actual fish in the water.
A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading ??