Where the Mermaid's Tears Flow
Vrooooooom. The boat sliced through the water, racing across the blue sea. Our destination was Yeoin Island, at the far edge of Taean County—the filming location for the first regular episode of Psychic Society.
"I'm so glad to see you again, Mr. Kim. I'd been hoping for the chance to thank you properly."
"Same here. Thanks to you, I made it out of that day alive."
The one greeting me so warmly was Jin-woo of Thirteen. Jin-woo, Park Do-jun, and Soda were the three regular members of Psychic Society.
"I was saving myself, so there's really no need to thank me."
"Humble as ever, I see. In any case, with Mr. Kim Do-sa joining us, I feel much better about this broadcast. Strange things have been happening in Korea lately, haven't they? Heading out to a psychic spot at a time like this is a little nerve-wracking."
Jin-woo said, sweeping a hand across his chest.
"Urp! Momo-chan, my stomach..."
"Anyway, here—hold this against your face."
For the record, Tsukumo Momo and Yu Min-seo had tagged along as well. Momo was my self-proclaimed manager, and I'd brought Min-seo as an assistant to get some experience under her belt.
Watching the boat churn up white foam, I found myself thinking of Lee Jin-ah in the photos from the location scout. That scouting trip had been over a week ago—she could easily have left the island by now.
Somehow, though, I didn't think she had...
I'd decided to give up on Choi Sun-woo's request. But with things turning out this way, the greed was creeping back.
Two billion won! A full two billion won!
That kind of money would clear my debts and let me move out of a studio apartment into a proper home.
Time to bleed this life dry!
"Oh, Soda! Soda, come say hello to Mr. Kim Do-sa too!"
Just then Jin-woo spotted Soda of the Sisters stepping onto the deck and waved her over.
"No thanks."
Soda glared at me for a moment, then ducked right back inside.
"Why is she like that?"
"W-well, Soda was possessed during the broadcast, so she doesn't remember any of it, you see? She doesn't know the circumstances, so she's upset about having the spotlight stolen by Kim Do-sa."
"Huh. So that's it?"
At first I'd wondered what kind of nonsense that was, but honestly, I couldn't blame her.
Soda herself had no memory of the Baekmuleo incident thanks to the possession. The people who'd experienced it alongside her on that set couldn't say a word, bound by strict confidentiality. Naturally, the Paranormal Administration Bureau had no reason to go out of its way to explain anomalies and mystery to someone who remembered nothing. In the end, all Soda knew was that her memory had vanished at some point mid-broadcast; about the anomaly, the mystery, and what had happened on that set, she knew nothing at all. And since the Bureau had scrubbed not just the original footage but every copy that had spread across the internet, the only thing Soda could piece together about her missing hours was the public reaction.
And 99.999% of that reaction had been insults and praise aimed at me.
To put it mildly, the entire pilot episode of Psychic Society had been swallowed whole by yours truly.
"...So I checked the reactions online, and there's nothing about me—just all this chatter about some third-rate YouTuber? Yeah, it pisses me off... That's what it is."
"Haha, well, something like that... Still, if she keeps up that attitude it'll hurt the show. Should I go have a quiet word with her?"
"Don't bother. She's a professional; she knows where to draw the line."
While we chattered away, Yeoin Island came into view in the distance—the island of the mermaid legend, and of two billion won... I mean, the island where Lee Jin-ah might be.
Thirty minutes later, we landed on Yeoin Island. The cameras started rolling the moment we hit the shore; recorded footage and live broadcast began simultaneously. Uniquely, Psychic Society took a semi-live format, streaming its entire filming process in real time on YouTube.
"It's not even a live program, and I've never seen an on-location show do this before."
"Haha! A new challenge, right? Terrestrial TV's having a rough time these days, aren't they?"
"Can't argue with that..."
PD Choi Ji-hoon answered with practiced charm.
Perhaps because of the fallout from the Baekmuleo incident, viewership blew past fifty thousand less than ten minutes into filming. Those who believed the Baekmuleo incident was real, and those who believed it was fake—either way, they were swarming in, each carrying expectations of their own.
Yeoin Island as seen from the harbor looked nothing like the picture-postcard Korean fishing village one might expect.
"Whoa, an island like this existed in Korea? Look how gorgeous those hanok houses are!"
"Huh, but some of the houses feel a little Japanese, don't they?"
The island's refined traditional hanok—evocative enough of Gyeongju to turn heads—had been beautifully preserved, blending harmoniously with the island's stunning natural scenery.
"Hahaha, first-time visitors are always surprised. You see, our Yeoin Island is where noblemen who lost out in Joseon-era political struggles were often sent into exile, and many of these hanok were built for those exiles. Later, during the colonial period, high-ranking officials took note of that heritage and developed the island into a villa retreat—and that's how it came to look the way it does today."
The village chief, who had come out to guide us, explained with a smile, then led the group toward the psychic spot that would serve as the stage for episode one of Psychic Society's regular run.
As we walked, Park Do-jun filled the silence like the seasoned regular he was.
"Chief, I understand Yeoin Island has a rather fascinating legend. Would you introduce it to our viewers?"
"Haha! Of course! Those of you who keep up with this sort of thing probably already know, but our Yeoin Island is famous as an island where mermaids lived. They say the villagers today are the descendants of children born to exiled scholars who fell in love with mermaids. Who knows, maybe I've got mermaid blood in me too! Hahaha!"
For a half-bald old man to claim mermaid ancestry with that much confidence—this grandfather had pretty solid instincts for television.
"The mermaids possessed mysterious powers, and whenever danger threatened the island, they came forth to save it."
Then one day, a great calamity struck the village. A sinister being that had drifted in from the far sea settled near the island, and the catch plummeted. For an island that lived by fishing, it was ruin—people wailed and died off one by one. But the sinister being anchoring itself in the island's waters was far too powerful for mere humans to contend with. In the end, the villagers begged the mermaids for help—but—
"That sinister being was so strong that even the mermaids could do nothing."
As the island slowly withered away, one woman offered herself as a sacrifice, performing a rite to lend her strength to the mermaids. Moved by her devotion, the mermaids steeled themselves for death and entered a battle with terrible odds. Then the village fishermen rose up as well, and together they drove the sinister being out for good. And so the village found its peace again. Joy to the village~ joy has come~
"The festival commemorating that woman who sacrificed herself, and the mermaids who gave their lives fighting the sinister being, is our island's traditional Mermaid Offering Festival."
"Wow~ what a splendid legend! Do you think mermaids really existed?"
Soda threw in the comment in a friendly voice, a far cry from the bristling attitude she'd shown on the boat.
"Certainly intriguing."
"Usually, mermaid legends begin with sailors misidentifying large marine mammals, and get garbled in the retelling from there... ah, though the waters around here are almost entirely free of such mammals, you see..."
Every eye among the cast turned, quite naturally, toward Kim Do-sa. And not only the cast...
And so, under the sudden weight of everyone's attention, Kim Do-sa said...
"Well... I've never actually seen a mermaid myself. Still, I'd say there probably are some, wouldn't you?"
"Hmm~ and why do you think so?"
At Kim Do-sa's response, Soda followed up with an artfully casual question.
Let's see how entertaining your little bit can be.
Soda, who harbored a personal and petty grudge against Kim Do-sa, was deliberately fishing for a dull answer to sour the mood. But Kim Do-sa had never been the sort of person such schemes worked on.
"You see, I met a water-dwelling fairy recently. Well, if fairies exist, surely mermaids do too, no?"
"I'm sorry—what?"
"When you say 'fairy,' people picture something sweet and adorable, but having met one in the flesh, I can assure you that isn't quite the case. Why is its temper so vicious, and why is it so hopelessly stubborn? Lately I've been stalked half to death by the wretched thing."
"Uh, uhh... r-right, of course..."
Soda's own tongue tripped over itself at an answer so far out in left field it belonged to another dimension. And the viewers...
No, why the hell does that kind of nonsense land so well!?
That's the thing about bits—done halfway, they're cringe, but committed to the bitter end, nothing's funnier. Having overlooked that ironclad law, Soda was still scrambling at the viewers' reaction when—
"Kyaaaaooot!"
From the undergrowth by the road, an old woman burst out shrieking.
"Wh-what the—!?"
"Aaaaaaaagh!"
An old woman with wild, uncombed hair was screaming at the top of her lungs.
"No! No! No! Can't give it! Won't give it!"
"Wh-what are you doing, you crazy—!"
The chief seized the wild-haired woman with a hard glare.
"Aiigoo, Grandma, why are you at it again?"
"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry—we're in the middle of filming!"
Several burly men passing nearby appeared, dragged the old woman away, and vanished.
"W-well then..."
With that small episode behind us, we soon reached Yeoin Island's psychic spot: a stretch of sandy beach on the western side of the village.
"This used to be a swimming beach, and the grounds of the Mermaid Offering Festival, but strange things kept happening here starting a few years back, so it's been sealed off..."
"Strange things, you say?"
"Yes... I've never seen it myself, but according to the villagers... they say a water ghost appears."
"Huh?"
Just then, the cameraman filming the sea made a strange sound. No—it wasn't only him.
A broadcast accident was unfolding before our eyes. I shot PD Choi Ji-hoon a look. Cut the filming. Now.
But.
A grin spread across PD Choi Ji-hoon's face. Why? He'd learned all about the Bureau through the Baekmuleo incident. Surely he understood exactly how serious this situation was.
I stepped closer to PD Choi Ji-hoon and whispered.
"What exactly are you thinking?"
"Orders from above."
Flipping the government the bird, on orders from "above"? It was obvious that "above" here didn't mean the network's own brass. Someone standing above the network itself—Cosmos, MBB's parent company. In other words, Cosmos wanted an anomaly to hit the airwaves once again.
Asking why was pointless. What mattered here and now was—
that I stood at the center of this propaganda broadcast.
The viewers, naturally, assumed I would be the one to take care of the water ghost.
I got played, good and proper...
I didn't want to side with Deva, the Bureau, or Cosmos—with anyone. And by the same token, I didn't want to make enemies of anyone. I'd tiptoed along that precarious line on broadcasts before, sure, but I had never once aired something this blatant. All I wanted was to rake in a modest living as a psychic hustler; I had no desire to pick a fight with the Bureau along the way. But if I moved according to Cosmos's design here, I'd be hopelessly, irreversibly at war with the Paranormal Administration Bureau.
"A message from above: they'll see you're compensated so handsomely it won't leave you wanting, so do take good care of this."
"...You really know how to repay a favor with a grudge..."
"It's an excellent opportunity to get a line into Cosmos. Hardly a bad offer for you either, Mr. Kim Do-sa?"
Damn it all. An offer is something you can refuse—something you can refuse with no consequences. Blowing up a situation, then shoving someone into the middle of it by force—that is not making an offer.
This is why you never trust those black-haired beasts—humans!
I would die before I moved according to Cosmos's plan. Had they laid out the situation honestly and asked for my cooperation, maybe. Never like this. Above all, even a small-time citizen like me can't help but see red when they're used this openly.
How do I screw these bastards over?
As I racked my brain, I felt a gaze I'd long since grown used to.
"...PD Choi, were you planning to drink that water?"
"Hm? Oh, are you thirsty?"
"Yes. Hand it over."
I cracked open the 500ml bottle PD Choi handed me. And then...
"How long are you planning to keep this up?"
"...I have no idea what you're talking about."
The water fairy—mistakenly summoned during my first summoning lesson, my devoted stalker ever since—answered as though she knew nothing at all.
"Fine, whatever. If you want to stalk me, go ahead and stalk. What can I do about it?"
"R-really?"
...She wasn't even bothering to hide the stalking anymore.
"But!"
"But...?"
"Consider it compensation for the psychological damage you've inflicted so far—and take one job with me."
"...A job?"
"Yes. A job."
They want anomalies and mystery on the broadcast?
Fine. I'll give it to them.
But......
jab one, jab two, jab three—straight off the deep end—that part is entirely my call.
Time to show an ethics-free corporation just how petty a small-time citizen can be.