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Episode 63
I tried hard.
Isser was strong-willed and selfless, and he hated the existence of humans overnight. He tried to approach humans on several occasions.
I wasn’t trying to make excuses by saying I did enough. Yeah, I don’t want to be complacent about that, but…
“… … .”
It was really okay.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Huh, huh…! It’s a mermaid…!!”
It was sad to be treated with contempt and disgust even after saving someone’s life, but I could bear it.
“I can cure you.”
“Don’t lie, how can I believe what a mermaid says?”
“but….”
“If you touch me, I’ll kill you.”
“… … .”
It was okay for my best efforts to be taken care of to be trampled upon so easily.
“Mermaid? Isn’t that a monster?”
“… … .”
“They say it eats people. Wow, that’s horrible.”
It was bearable to be criticized for not the sins I committed, but for my very existence.
“… … .”
“… … .”
“Isser.”
My sister called me.
“Giovanni has been brought to trial.”
“… He is a renowned priest of the sun, so it shouldn’t be any problem. We are allies.”
“You will be severely punished for being a traitor. You heard that, a traitor to humanity.”
“But, teacher… you have saved many people’s lives during that time.”
“What a forced move. When did a human ever care about such things?”
“I don’t understand. Didn’t anyone stand up for him?”
“I’m being criticized for hiding the mermaid. It’s no different from what we saw that day.”
“Why is no one…?”
“Humans are such interesting creatures. You never know how fickle they can be.”
“…why….”
“When they praised Geo’s character and abilities and called him the son of God, now that his light has been divided into the sea, they are making a fuss and calling him a disgrace to mankind.”
He was the only person who affirmed the sea. He was a noble being who waited with me for the day when the sky and the sea would become one, saying that mermaids and humans are no different.
I know how much mercy my mentor showed, how much love and affection he poured out there. He was a person who truly cared for his patients and respected his friends.
“… That’s ridiculous… .”
That all was denied.
‘That too to the same humans.’
It was too much even for a patient mermaid. She couldn’t stand it, she wasn’t okay, she couldn’t bear it.
We mourned and dealt with his natural death for years, so why did you kill him yourself? How could you act so horribly?
“… … .”
Isn’t that person’s suffering sad?
“I’m going to try an experiment.”
“… … .”
“Do you still like humans? Do you think they are capricious but lovable creatures?”
“…no….”
“So do you trust them? Do you trust them to return the favor, to have your back?”
“… I don’t think so.”
“If everything is settled, come back to the sea with me.”
My sister whispered sweetly.
“You know, we can’t influence people with just a look or a touch like Giovanni. The cold touch of a mermaid would only give a creepy feeling to a creature of the sun.”
That was right.
“And that is why suffering can be soothing.”
“pain….”
That was also true.
“My brother, Isser.”
“… Yes, Sister.”
“Would you like to go together?”
So Isser decided to try to endure it just one more time.
“no.”
It wasn’t for humans.
“Let’s find another way.”
It was for Giovanni, who loved everything in the world until the end.
“The war between humans and mermaids has already begun, so it’s too late to take the easy way out. It’s going to be a much more vulgar and cruel war than you can imagine.”
“I know.”
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“If that’s your choice, then I must respect it. Do your best until you have no regrets, Isser.”
“…thank you.”
It’s a very sad truth, but Giovanni was not a man with a nature to dream of revenge for being betrayed by humans.
‘So, tormenting humans and gaining notoriety for my benefactor would be a double betrayal.’
I didn’t want to use that noble person as an excuse to vent my anger in a shallow way like other humans.
“… … .”
Isser endured dozens and hundreds of times after that.
He saved an innocent child during the war. The mermaids did not understand their eccentric compatriots and simply ignored them, while the humans instead attacked Isser with ridiculous accusations.
“one.”
A pregnant woman who fell into the sea was pulled to land. However, the pregnant woman struggled to avoid the mermaid’s cold hands and drowned. Seeing this, the humans screamed that mermaids were now even eating pregnant women.
“two.”
I pretended not to see the soldier who was squirming without any reason to attack him. I didn’t want to see blood, but the soldier came to me a month later and attacked me and swore at me. In the end, Isser had to see blood.
“three….”
The humans he had barely become close to were either dying or considering betrayal, and whatever Isser did was considered unclean, and his notoriety grew. The humans poisoned the sea. A child died. He treated a wound. He was stabbed in the side… .
“… … .”
And then one day I counted.
“…one thousand six hundred and forty-three.”
It’s already been over a thousand.
“… Ah, uh…”
On the last day of counting numbers, Isser ate my teacher.
“… Heh, heh heh heh… .”
My whole body was aching.
“Haha, aaaah…! Aak…!!”
I was hungry.
I was so hungry.
“AAAAAHH …
* * *
“… … .”
Even though it was evening, it was as bright as day.
‘It’s just like the white night.’
This is a phenomenon that is often seen in polar regions, where the sun does not set even at night.
‘This is Seoul, the city of romance. Dopamine is overflowing…’
Geo watched the procession of priests at the temple, enjoying the pounding of his heart.
The second part of the event was much more extravagant than the first. While the first part emphasized the solemnity typical of religious people, the second part of the event really felt like an ‘event’.
Lights twinkled here and there, and the priests’ white robes fluttered. There was so much to see that it was dizzying.
“How is it, is it worth seeing?”
“I really like it.”
“thank god.”
Yoo Seong-un smiled his characteristically light smile.
“I was wondering if you were okay since the event was so long.”
“I’m definitely a little tired, but….”
Now that I was back at the cabin, I was going to be stuck at home for a week.
Geo’s stamina had been running low for a long time, as he had started to feel a little tired from the moment he left the house.
“Still, it’s an event worth seeing.”
“Is it perhaps the influence of the god you are supporting?”
The question was whether I liked the ceremonies of the Solar Church, which worships the sun god.
“That could be the case.”
It wasn’t as comfortable as my own house, but it was comfortable at my friend’s house.
“… … .”
“Geo?”
“… I thought about my old friends for a moment.”
These guys, it’s been 31 years, are they still alive?
‘I wonder how the kids are doing.’
It was something I thought about occasionally, but being out for so long made me think of people I knew from 31 years ago.
‘The elders in the mountain villages of Gangwon Province are already old, so they don’t have any expectations.’
Still, I might have been able to get a general idea of what the students I was teaching were up to.
“… … .”
But what if I get caught and taken to the lab…?
‘Usually in movies, a moment of carelessness due to memories sends a person’s life off a cliff. Is there any guarantee that I won’t end up like that?’
The evolution from a human to a possessed portrait was clearly a great feat, even in this hellish Republic of Korea, judging by the occasional reactions of the meteor clouds.
Geo decided again to just shut up and get himself into a coma.
‘If it’s meant to be, we’ll meet even if it’s not our intention.’
With thoughts full of such dreams and hopes.
“Ah… I guess it’s almost finished.”
“It was quite long.”
“This kind of initiation ceremony is also an event that shows the power of the religious order.”
Especially, if it was the Taeyang Church, which boasts a fairly large religious presence in Seoul, it would have had to display this level of extravagance.
‘There was also an unpleasant missing person case recently.’
Thinking so, Yoo Seong-un glanced back at Geo.
‘… No matter how much I think about it, it seems like this incident is related to this guy… .’
Geo really seemed uninspired.
‘Geo really doesn’t know anything, or he knows but doesn’t feel much emotion. Either way, it’s more confusing because Geo has a unique personality.’
It was while I was watching the event coming to an end.
“… … .”
A momentary intuition.
‘…what?’
It’s cool.
‘It’s not a glacier.’
As a gardener, I know the essence of energy.
I smelled the pressure of nature that was crushing the human body, and the pungent scent of blood that came out of it.
‘Then this is….’
A cold, damp, dark, oppressive feeling.
‘ocean?’
Yoo Seong-un soon realized that it was the energy of the sea.
Isn’t this a feeling that can never be felt naturally? Yoo Seong-un instinctively looked for the culprit.
“ah….”
When his eyes met with the blue-haired ‘Eunha’, Yoo Seong-un felt a sense of defeat.
“this.”
Gulp―…!!!
“Did I let my guard down too much?”
A fresh, cool breeze came rushing in.
The aura was not like a billowing fog. It had a ferocity that seemed to want to take life, and a ferocity that aroused fear in humans with its sharp claws.
He grasped the situation straight away.
“It’s a virtual dungeon.”
After Yoo Seong-un’s quick judgment, the entire temple was dyed blue.
“■■■■■―… !!!!!”
There was a loud noise, as if the marble pillars were being scraped by giant fingernails, so loud it hurt my ears.
The whole world was thrown into chaos as if glass shards were exploding, scratching at eardrums, and waves covered in pure white foam greedily devouring people.
“… … .”
Yoo Seong-un, who always had an indifferent expression, distorted his face.
‘… I can’t predict the damage, but at least one thing is certain.’
I’m working overtime again today.
“Phew… .”
Crunch-!!
“I’m already tired.”
The meteor cloud that created the ice spear embedded it in the ground.
‘You must not be pushed far away.’
As an experienced hunter, Yoo Seong-un made his decision and supported his body with the spear he had planted on the ground.
The strong cold and waves made Yoo Seong-un look back at the portrait.
“Geo, be careful…!”
And there it is.
“… … .”
“… … .”
There was a huge ‘eye’.
Yoo Seong-un felt a terrible silence, as if time had stopped.
What is that?
Is it snow?
“… … .”
It resembled nature, but it was impossible to tell whether it was the sun or the sea.
I saw a vision of fragments of light, scattered and sparkling, glittering chaotically as if they were being born, illuminating deep waves of unknown depth. Yoo Seong-un couldn’t take his eyes off the portrait swept away by the waves for even a moment.
There, in it, was a sea. It was a pure white sea distorted by light. The sea spoke.
『Where the sun doesn’t reach…』
The voice was natural.
“I’ve come to the deep sea.”
Why did it sound like God’s judgment?
I didn’t realize it even though I was taking it in. I thought I heard the sound of sunlight shining down. I heard the sound of warmth. The waves mixed with it and soon hid their teeth and shrank.
It was only after this that Yoo Seong-un came to his senses enough to notice anything.
“… … .”
The sound was heard again, and time passed, breaking the silence.
The loud noise that had been hurting my ears and the tinnitus that was like the stubbornness of the dead disappeared, and the waves that had been as ferocious as monsters in the abyss died and became calm again… .
“… … .”
“… … .”
“… … .”
The landscape of the world has changed.
“ah….”
A bloody, eerie chill. Yoo Seong-un looked around.
People are visible.
“… Hey, where is this…?”
“Dungeon? What the hell, is this a dungeon?”
“Hey, is there a hunter?!”
This place, where people who had just come to their senses were making a lot of noise, was clearly a dungeon.
“… … .”
The meteor cloud captured the dark blue space like a shadow in my eyes.
The pupil was so wide that the ceiling was not visible, and water scales of unknown origin were eerily reflected in it. Yoo Seong-un’s gaze soon landed on the blue water pillars erected here and there in the pupil.
A sigh came out on its own.
“… Oh my… .”
There were a bunch of chimeras that looked like underwater creatures.
“This is a problem.”
It felt ominous from the moment I entered, and the dungeon seemed to be quite difficult.
‘There are an unusually large number of people dragged in for a typical virtual dungeon.’
Yoo Seong-un barely managed to keep his wits about him as he returned home and calmly assessed his situation.
The so-called ‘virtual dungeon’ forcibly drags people who meet certain conditions to another dimension to play a game. The number of participants and the bizarre nature of the game give an idea of the dungeon owner’s capabilities.
‘And if you just count the number of ordinary people gathered in this dungeon, it’s close to 20 people… There may be people who were dragged in from other places as well, so it’s excessive in many ways. You can see how much the owner of this dungeon has been gritting his teeth in preparation.’
And Yoo Seong-un, as an A-class hunter belonging to one of the top three guilds in South Korea, Collectors, was responsible for protecting these people and completing the strategy.
“… … .”
With this ragtag bunch of citizens.
* * *
‘Is he really a class A hunter?’
Eunha and Isser were secretly impressed by Yoo Seong-un’s cool-headed attitude as he tried to grasp and organize the situation in an instant.
According to Earth’s standards, it is said that hunters of class B and above gradually begin to deviate from the standards of ordinary humans in their way of thinking. It goes without saying that this goes even further for class A, which is a higher rank.
‘I heard he’s not a very famous public figure.’
It was indeed something that could not be ignored.
‘but….’
What can a single hunter do in this situation?
‘With all this luggage, at best I’ll choose to die with the citizens or run away to save my life. Such foolish beings are humans.’
In the shadows of the pupils, far from the commotion, Isser watched the humans running wild in fear.
“S-save me! I don’t want to die here…!!”
“Where is this place? Where is this place? Over there, this is where….”
“Gyaaaahhhh…!! There’s, there’s a monster! There’s a monster!!”
My ears are tired.
‘… You don’t know how to do anything but scream? You’re truly an idiot.’
The gurgling noise brought back a familiar unpleasantness that I felt dozens of times a day. It was a faded hatred toward humans.
“… … .”
In this situation, Isser’s role was only to open the door.
‘… Even if my predecessor hadn’t suddenly disappeared, I wouldn’t have had to step forward.’
Opening the deep sea gate in the Temple of the Sun, of all places, required quite a bit of skill.
‘Because of that, we were already in a situation where we had recruited and trained one of the humans.’
Things got complicated when he was killed by a mysterious strong man.
The execution date was just around the corner. At that moment, the only person who could open the door was Isser… .
‘There’s nothing I like.’
Even though I mingled with humans for a short while, neither my body nor my mind were in good shape.
‘This is a race that I shouldn’t interact with for long. I feel like their incompetence is being passed on to me.’
I wanted to finish this work as soon as possible and then fall into the still sea.
“Hunter, you’re a hunter! How are you going to take responsibility for this!!”
“What… what does this have to do with me, stop talking nonsense like responsibility!!”
“The priests? What the hell, where the hell are all the priests!!”
“Yes, the prospective priests too… They’re priests, right? Right? Priests?”
“Someone help me, what the hell is going on!!”
How could I set my mind on something so frivolously raving?
“… … .”
This place was located in the latter half of the path that the humans of Earth call ‘the dungeon’.
‘… It’s too far to go back to the entrance, and the situation is not good for finding the exit, so everyone will probably die here. It will happen even if I don’t do anything about it.’
As I was thinking about finishing up the work like that, a man wearing a black cloak suddenly came to mind.
There was a sun god named Geo.
“… Phew… .”
In a situation where all the humans were scattered to random locations, I felt stupid for unconsciously chasing the man’s location.
Why would you do something so stupid if you’re just going to kill them all anyway?
‘Okay, let’s get this over with quickly.’
If any individual remains intact, it will be given the honor of being used as my older sister’s test subject.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to ask for ownership of one of them.
“…then.”
I took a step forward from the shadows.
It was when I was holding the staff in my hand and trying to do my job as a ‘monster’.
“… … .”
ah.
‘… Any sign?’
Isser looked back.
“… … .”
Before I knew it, the black cloak was standing right behind me.
“… … !”
That’s ridiculous.
‘I checked and there’s no such thing here?’
Even if the opponent was something divine, this situation was unexpected for a mermaid who could even kill a god.
‘Was I too careless?’
Isser stepped back. Perhaps because he was in the body of a child, he felt a strange sense of intimidation from the black cloak.
This large body moved, so it was right for someone among the humans to react, but no one turned their gaze towards Blackcloak and Isser.
‘Why?’
Isser bared his sharp teeth at the indescribable discomfort. They were the fangs that had also eaten away at his mentor’s body.
“What the heck are you…!”
“Isser.”
“… … .”
…what?
“… … .”
“Ah, Isser… .”
My name was called.
“… … .”
It was a call as soft as a corpse.
Isser stopped.
‘…called my name.’
He froze like a fish in icy water and couldn’t move.
As a man as tall as a thick wall bent down and stroked the child’s cheek, it was as if the small body was swallowed up by a shadow in an instant.
A pitch-black cloak descended like a curtain, completely enveloping Isser like a waterfall.
‘how….’
That’s why the young mermaid could see the face of the one looking down at her.
“Wasn’t it cold?”
“… … .”
“Were you in a lot of pain?”
“… … .”
“You must have been lonely and scared….”
A person like sunlight shining across the sea.
“… … .”
That warm platinum hair and eyes like brilliant waves.
Those distant blue eyes.
“Sorry.”
“… … .”
“I’m sorry.”
I’m crying.
“…ah….”
Giovanni.
My benefactor, who had suffered the most miserable death in the world, was now a corpse, crying in front of me.
* * *
Geo lost consciousness.