“BANG YONGGUK, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!”

The crowd screamed, praising the bare handed man, who was considered tiny if compared to his adversary.
Yongguk had knocked another brute out. As usual, he had not used any weapon, only his hands; as usual, his adversary had been much bigger than him.

Bang Yongguk had spent the last four months collecting victories, fighting on fairs, where there would be people paying to see a young man being slain by huge and experienced warriors. People who would lose all their money betting against Yongguk, the bravest of them all.
What called attention the most, was the fact he’d never use any weapon. Be it against a man, or against a beast, Yongguk’s weapon would be his bare hands.
He had become famous. “The Asian Hercules”, some would call him. “Fearless man”, many would praise him.
He was women’s heartkiller, and man’s bones breaker.
He was not afraid of anything.

“Sleep well, Yongguk.”- one of the fair organizers said – “You’ve fought well today” – he completed, handing him a rather big bag of gold. – “Enjoy yourself”

Yongguk left, smiling.
A cup of a warm drink would do him good, he knew, so he headed to the bar.
A cup of warm tea, and he left, walking with no destination.

“Drink it all, sweety!” – he heard.

Two drunken men by the rocky bridge. They yelled and laughed while pouring a liquid in the water. One of them held a fishing net.
Fishermen.

“YAH!” – Yongguk shouted, rushing to the bridge – “what are you doing?!”

“We caught a mermaid... and we're giving-giving-giving her some gin...” – the two laughed drunkenly, pouring more and more of the liquid in the water.
“Yeah, she was too anxious, so a little bit of gin might..." - he burped - "...calm her down”

A mermaid? They were both too drunk!

“You drunk donkeys!” – Yongguk cursed, pushing one of the men, taking the gin bottle from him – “You’ll kill the fishes!” 

“What do you think you’re doing, man, take care of your own life!” – the second man spoke.
He then hit Yongguk’s head with the bottle he held.
It broke into a thousand pieces.

“Shouldn’t have done that…” – Yongguk said, rolling his eyes.

The two drunken men took a moment to realize what they had done.
“You… you are Bang Yongguk…” 

“Boo!” – Yongguk faked a punch, and the two ran away, shouting drunken apologies.

“Stupid donkeys…” – Yonguk cursed, laughing.
He jumped down from the bridge, a little more than two meters, touching the floor almost standing perfectly. The water went up to his waist.

He took the fishing net from the water, to set the fishes free, but there were no fishes. Not anymore.
The net had been cut… No, it had been torn.

“Yongguk…” – he heard, and turned around.
It was dark, so he couldn’t see well.

“Yes?” – he replied, suspicious – “Who’s there?”

“Yongguk…” – he heard again. It was for sure a female voice – “…thank you…”

“What are you talking about? Show yourself!” – he replied

“Yongguk!” – he heard again. It had come from the bridge this time – “What are you doing? Trying to defeat the leviathan? –  a young man laughed. The torch he held illuminated his sight.

“The leviathan is not real, Daehyun!” – Yonguk laughed, climbing up the big rocks, close to the bridge, that made an almost perfect set of stairs.
He was almost reaching the bridge when one of his foot slipped, causing him to fall back on the water.
Yonguk had fallen in the water. His body completely covered by it.
And as soon as he touched the water, he felt something whip his face with strength.

He stood up fast, coughing out the water he had accidentally drunk. There was a deep cut on his cheek. Blood coming from it.
The water was suddenly too calm.

He rushed to climb up the rocks again, making sure he wouldn’t fall this time.
“You’re bleeding!” – he heard his friend say – “Did you know he leviathan…”

“The leviathan is not real!” – Yonguk replied, way too serious.

He could still hear the melodic voice calling out his name…
“Yonguk…”