017 – Nymph Oinoi # 17
An old, dried-up well.
Shining my smartphone's flashlight down into it, I was surprised in more ways than one.
Because my own face was reflected back at me.
"Water?"
No.
At a glance, it looked like water had pooled down there, reflecting my face—but looking closer, I could tell that wasn't it.
What glimmered at the bottom of the well was a strange haze of mana.
To put it more precisely, it was the entrance to a Rift.
"…An Anomaly Rift?"
I figured I'd have to go inside to find out the details. Judging by how faint the mana was, it seemed like an F-rank rift, or maybe even weaker.
"So this was a house with a rift in it."
If the strange rumors that had swirled around this haunted house were actually caused by this rift, a lot of things suddenly made sense.
Mana radiating from a rift becomes an ill-boding wavelength for ordinary people—it could make their health deteriorate rapidly, or plague them with nightmares.
"Good thing it wasn't a ghost."
With that thought, I fetched a piece of equipment shaped like a guitar case from my room. Inside was the high-frequency blade I'd relied on for so long while grinding away as a D-ranker.
Shreeeeng—.
There's nothing quite like a blade gleaming in the moonlight.
This sword had cost me about five thousand dollars.
The money I'd earned with it, of course, was a fair bit more.
"Let's do this together."
I was just about to step into the rift when Oinoi spoke up.
"This Oinoi wishes to enter the well as well…! Oinoi knows not whether it is merely a feeling, but this Oinoi senses a most nymph-friendly aura within this well…!"
"Really?"
What should I do?
Personally, I wanted Oinoi to stay and guard the area around the well. But she was clearly eager to go inside.
"This Oinoi absolutely must go in…! Oinoi shall be quiet and cause no trouble, so please take her along…! This Oinoi does not wish to be left all alone…."
She drooped, wilting like a wilted weed.
Hearing her say she didn't want to be left alone softened my heart.
This girl was the only nymph of her kind in the world.
A friend who'd once rummaged through garbage dumps all by herself, chased off by the police.
Better to take her along than leave her behind, right?
From what I'd seen last time, entering an Anomaly Rift didn't seem to hurt her body with rebound the way it would a normal person's.
"Oinoi, I'm telling you now—no causing trouble. You stay quiet and behave."
Well, I didn't think anything would go wrong anyway.
This place was a rift so faint it didn't even register on a Rift Detection Gauge.
Which meant that until now, it had been opening night after night without any other awakeners ever noticing.
━Keong-keong…!
━Zzzt, zzzt…!
The dog-squirrel and the Emperor Ant clambered onto my shoulders.
Wondering if I could really manage to look after these two as well, I stepped into the well.
# # #
Woooooong—.
Like riding one of those extreme thrill rides, my stomach lurched and churned. My chest felt ready to burst, and my guts floated up weightless, whoosh.
I'd entered rifts plenty of times, but I never did get used to this feeling. Still, a veteran's first priority is assessing the surroundings.
"Where am I?"
Looking around, I saw a bright full moon overhead. And beneath it, bushes swaying in the wind—and something blue jabbed at my eyes.
"Aaah…! Look upon this, master of the house…! There is a pond…! This Oinoi has discovered a pond…!"
Just as Oinoi said, there was a pond at the center of the thicket. Would you call it the size of the hot tub in a large communal bathhouse?
A pond that was small if you called it small, and big if you called it big.
The sight of the blue pond water reflecting the moonlight was oddly enchanting—but soon, Oinoi began trembling violently behind me.
"A most magnificently nymph-friendly pond…! This Oinoi wishes to leap in at once and demonstrate the Nymph Secret Technique: Wild Water Splashing…!"
Nymph Secret Technique: Wild Water Splashing? What on earth was that now.
Every time Oinoi opened her mouth, I felt my common sense eroding like a sandcastle under wave after wave.
Anyway.
With that, I advanced toward the pond. Just as I was thinking nothing unusual was amiss, something rose up from the surface of the water.
Two things, like periscopes.
"What the—."
I was still trying to figure out what those were.
SPLASHHH—.
With a tremendous rush of water, the pond seemed to heave upward all at once.
To put it precisely, something inside the pond had risen to its feet.
━Grek, greb.
It was a creature making strange sounds.
It was enormous—about five meters across—with pincers on both sides.
"A crab!?"
I was startled.
I'd witnessed all kinds of ecosystems inside rifts, but a giant crab was a first.
What made it even more uncanny was its appearance: dark and shimmering like the galaxy itself.
"Aaah…! That is a Galaxy Crab, subspecies of the 'Karkinos' said to have pinched the heel of Heracles…! A nymph-friendly creature, yet most delicious when roasted and eaten…!"
Galaxy Crab.
It was a fitting name.
Hearing it was a "nymph-friendly species," I thought it might be like the Emperor Ant or the dog-squirrel—an animal that got along well with people.
But then the giant crab clacked its pincers—tak, tak—letting out a threatening sound.
A chill ran down my spine, and in an instant I shoved Oinoi with all my strength.
"Oinoi, get down!"
"Hieeeek…!"
Pushed by my hand, Oinoi went flying—whoosh.
The next moment, something with crushing weight slammed into my body.
KAGAGAGAGAK—!
My weapon, the high-frequency blade, shrieked.
My body had to endure the crushing impact of being hit by a one-ton truck.
━Greb, grek!
The crab splayed its grotesque mouth left and right, screeching out incomprehensible noises. I'd never studied animal languages, but I figured it meant something like 'Intruder, begone!'
It had come to this. I had no choice but to fight.
"Hnngh!"
KAANG—!
I poured strength into my legs and arms. My muscles, pushed to full power for the first time in ages, screamed as they erupted with explosive force.
Jjeoeong—!
The Galaxy Crab was finally knocked back.
━Grrrr, greb—.
Its shimmering galactic carapace hadn't suffered a single scratch. The high-frequency edge that could cleave most D-rank monsters like firewood couldn't even cut it.
That meant only one thing.
"This thing's at least C-rank or higher! Has it just been sitting quietly so the detection systems wouldn't pick it up!?"
C-rank monsters were strong.
Back when they were first discovered, they were branded outright as 'disasters.'
Of course, there were plenty of C-rank hunters now, and their weaknesses and ecologies had been thoroughly documented—so they didn't carry the same danger they once did. But…
I was a fresh C-rank, barely promoted, and this Galaxy Crab was, as far as I knew, a newly discovered species. Just as I was thinking this wouldn't be easy, the crab lunged at me again.
KUUUUNG—!
A crude brawl of raw mass.
But when your body is that massive, even a simple body slam carries devastating power.
"Ugh!"
I flew backward with a scream.
The problem was that the crab that had flung me away now turned its gaze on Oinoi.
"Hieeeek…! The mad crab intends to target this Oinoi…! Now that Oinoi looks upon it, this crab surely bears a great grudge against nymphs…! Hieeeek…!"
What would happen if that crab went after Oinoi?
Something terrible, without a doubt!
I never should have brought her along.
This was my fault.
Protecting civilians is an awakener's duty, after all.
Even if it came down to mutual destruction, I had to get Oinoi out of here and up to safety.
With that thought, I regripped my sword.
My internal mana capacity had reached C-rank.
As I pumped that abundant mana from my heart down to my toes and up to the crown of my head, my whole body's temperature surged—fwash—upward.
I channeled all of it into the weapon in my hand.
Simplicity is strength.
I was pouring every last drop of my mana into my weapon for Mana Blade, the signature technique of C-rank swordsmen, when—
GOOOOOOONG, crack, PWAAANG—!
My high-frequency blade vibrated violently, then cracked and shattered!
"You've got to be kidding me!?"
My weapon broke just from blocking the Galaxy Crab's attacks twice. The crab's carapace was apparently even sturdier and more powerful than I'd imagined.
━Krek, grerreb, grrrrr—.
While I scrambled for another option, the crab spread its hideous mouth and spewed foam from within. The foam was a deep violet—dangerous at a glance.
And indeed, the wooden debris it touched began to corrode—the foam was clearly toxic or acidic!
"Hieeeek…! A nymph-phobic foam, it is…! Master of the house, pay this Oinoi no mind and flee alone if you must…! This Oinoi shall draw its attention…!"
Oinoi screamed, surrounded by bubbles.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I decided the right thing to do was punch through the foam with my own body and save her—and just as I was about to kick off the ground—
━Keong-keong…!
PANG, PAPAPANG—!
Something brown-and-striped burst through the bubbles and streaked toward Oinoi like an arrow. It was none other than Keongkeongi, my dog-squirrel!
Keongkeongi popped every last bobbling bubble around Oinoi with lightning-quick movements, then hurled himself at the truck-sized crab.
━Keureureung…!
It was a growl like rolling thunder.
And what happened next was even more astonishing.
KWAAANG—!
A sound like two trucks colliding rang out, and the giant crab's body swayed violently.
━Greub, greb!?
"…What the hell is this!?"
I was stunned.
Was Keongkeongi the dog-squirrel actually strong enough to fight a C-rank monster?
Soon Oinoi was astonished too.
"I knew Keongkeongi was a Prime Dog-Squirrel, but this is the first time this Oinoi has seen a dog-squirrel this strong…! It is truly, magnificently amazing…!"
Absolutely astounding.
And then it happened.
Something latched onto my leg.
I turned my head to find Angangi, the Emperor Ant, clinging to my leg, insistently trying to communicate something.
━Zzt, zzzt, zzt.
What was he trying to say?
Soon, the Emperor Ant scurried all over the wreckage of my shattered weapon, nipping pieces in his mandibles and carrying them to me.
I had a feeling I understood.
"You want me to pour mana into this?"
An awakener's weapon.
It was generally crafted from materials that could channel the energy known as 'mana' as efficiently as possible. That was why superconductor blades commanded astronomical prices and served as the weapons of S-rankers.
"No way…."
Mulling it over quietly, a thought surfaced: I'd heard that Keongkeongi's fur carried a special mana.
Perhaps Keongkeongi had gotten so strong because he'd wrapped himself in the mana that burst out when my weapon shattered.
And if that was true, what about the Emperor Ant—Angangi—who stood equal to the Prime Dog-Squirrel himself? His gleaming golden armor and horns suddenly looked far more impressive.
"It sounds impossible, but…."
Ever since the rifts first appeared, I'd been the first D-ranker, and I'd endured more than anyone watching 'impossible things' become 'common sense.'
"Pouring mana into a living creature. Today, once again, common sense gets rewritten. Hnngh!"
Shk—.
I laid my palm on Angangi and flowed mana into him.
Woooong—.
Immediately, I felt the golden-shimmering Emperor Ant's body blaze even more brilliantly. The target: the joints, where the carapace was relatively soft.
"Ant—."
With that, I hurled the mana-infused Emperor Ant at the giant crab monster.
"EXECUTION DART!"
PISHUUUUUUUUNG—!!!
The ant dart flew faster than I'd expected.
It finally struck the giant crab, KWAJIK—piercing straight through its body and PTANG—embedding itself in a tree behind.
Kwajik, kwajik, kwajik, PTANG—!
Incredible penetrating power. It tore off every single one of the crab's left legs!
━Greb….
The crab, mortally wounded with all its left legs gone, collapsed with a KUUUNG—. The very earth quaked—its weight was no joke.
No wonder my weapon had shattered.
That strength was also its weakness: the crab could no longer bear its own mass, and it was dying under it.
"…I just took down a C-rank monster all by myself!"
━Keong-keong…!
━Zzzt….
"Okay, technically not all by myself. Whatever."
I was thoroughly amazed.
I'd thought it was all over when my weapon exploded.
━Greb….
The giant crab moaned pitifully, and at last its strength gave out and it breathed its final breath. The creature that seemed to be the rift core had died, so I figured the rift would start closing—but it didn't.
Which meant the rift core was something else.
Then Oinoi spoke.
"Aaah…! Look upon this…! Now that Oinoi looks closely, something curious is tied to the Galaxy Crab's right leg…!"
Just as Oinoi said, something was tied to the crab's leg.
Something like a handkerchief.
"The letters written on the handkerchief tied to this Galaxy Crab's leg read 'Grebnoi'…. This crab's name was Grebnoi…!"
Grebnoi.
A strange name.
And at the same time, something stirred in my memory.
"—'-noi' is the name given to nymphs born in autumn and summer, isn't it?"
"That is so…! But we nymphs sometimes bestow names ending in '-noi' upon beloved pets and Honorary Nymphs as well…. This Grebnoi was… most surely a nymph's pet…!"
What a strange story.
"Let's head out for now."
Carrying the handkerchief, I emerged from the rift.
The rift did not close.
Either the handkerchief wasn't the rift core—or this rift was something special.
My mana completely spent, I lay on the floor of the haunted house that night and dreamed.
A dream where I was a tiny creature, and someone was looking down at me. A dream where a gentle hand stroked my hard little head.
━You are my friend Grebnoi. Guard my treasure well. I shall return soon. You must protect it. Promise me.
━Greb, greb.
And so the little sentinel guarded the pond for a very, very long time.
For an ever so long time.
For an ever so long, long while—until longing curdled into sorrow and resentment, and that sorrow and resentment turned back into longing once more.
I opened my eyes.
"The rift core was buried at the bottom. The crab had been guarding it all along."