23
Chapter 23
A space with various experimental tools scattered all over. The sight, crammed with machines of unknown purposes, gave off the feeling of a secret organization's underground Laboratory.
From incredibly suspicious machines three times larger than a person to flasks so tiny you wondered if they could even hold anything.
The sight of all sorts of high-tech tools packed into the vast space went beyond overwhelming, making it feel slightly eerie.
The fact that the entire space was filled with water added another layer to the bizarre atmosphere.
And right in the center of the underwater laboratory.
In the space filled with all sorts of experimental tools, Xiao and Parang stood facing each other in an intentionally emptied circular area.
"I'm starting."
"Okay."
Xiao picked up the Skeleton in question and cast her Skill.
It wasn't a 'Dive', just a simple background check.
"Hmm...."
Parang stared quietly at Xiao. In front of her eyes, the status of the owner of this Skeleton would be displayed.
Xiao, who was rolling her Eyeball around as if reading something floating in midair, opened her mouth.
"Matilda Müller. An S-Rank Hunter. Looking at the name, she's German, and her Personal Skill is 'Berserk'."
Xiao recited the brief information.
A Personal Skill was something akin to a Hunter's identity. Awakening this simultaneously classified one as an 'Awakened'.
Naturally, strength varied drastically depending on the rank of the Personal Skill. Once awakened, it couldn't be changed either.
Is it unfair? Unfortunately, this World is a world inside an overpowered protagonist Novel. Whether anyone other than the protagonist suffered from inequality or not was of no concern.
Parang's 'Daughter of the Kraken' was precisely an S-Rank Personal Skill.
And a Hunter's fighting style was mostly determined by their Personal Skill.
Since a Hunter was naturally remembered by that fighting style, the Personal Skill itself sometimes became the term used to refer to that Hunter.
Which meant, there were cases where Xiao wasn't called Xiao, but the 'Ghost Captain'.
And Berserk, Matilda Müller, was someone Parang already knew.
Because she was a character who appeared in the Original Work.
Matilda Müller appeared as a villain. With rather ordinary abilities and an appearance that was decently pretty though not on the level of a heroine, she was a minor character who picked a fight with Hunter Han Siwoo, saying 'For a mere A-Rank...!', only to be defeated and exit the stage.
With that incident as the starting point, the protagonist gained the title of 'The A-Rank Hunter who overwhelmingly defeated an S-Rank Hunter!', and the world's attention began to focus on him.
Parang had also come across the article on internet news before.
Well, rather than 'coming across it', she just skimmed the title and moved on. Because by that point, it had been a long time since she had lost interest in the Original Work.
[An S-Rank Hunter's humiliating crushing defeat... An exclusive interview with the rising Supernova, Han Siwoo] It felt something like that.
From that point on, there was absolutely no news of Matilda.
It wasn't uncommon for a Hunter to suddenly disappear. The higher the rank of the Hunter, the more enemies they were bound to have.
She must have been ambushed when she was weakened after losing to Hunter Han Siwoo.
However, the subsequent conversation with Xiao was enough to thoroughly shake Parang's mind.
"Matilda Müller.... That's someone I don't know. She must have been in the lower tiers even among the S-Ranks."
"It's that person. You know, the one who challenged Hunter Han Siwoo to a duel when he was an A-Rank and humiliated herself."
"Aren't you mistaken about something? She's Chinese, you know."
"What?"
"The S-Rank who picked a fight when Hunter Han Siwoo was an A-Rank. It's Li Shunfei."
"No, that can't be."
"It is, though?"
"Aren't you the one who's mistaken, Xiao?"
"Haa... why did the topic suddenly veer off to this."
"It's an important matter. Try looking up some related articles at least."
And then Parang also pulled out her Cellphone and swiftly started searching.
"Here, I found it."
Xiao was a bit faster.
Parang took her Cellphone and carefully read the article.
[An S-Rank Hunter's humiliating crushing defeat... An exclusive interview with the rising Supernova, Han Siwoo]
[A recent duel between two Hunters at the Hunter Association's Seoul Branch is making headlines...
...Later, the Chinese Hunter Li Shunfei, who was defeated in the duel with Hunter Han Siwoo...]
Undoubtedly, there was no mention of Matilda's name anywhere in that article.
'The Original Work is twisted.'
Since when? No, before that, why?
Parang had intentionally tried to avoid getting involved with the protagonist's party from the Original Work. She didn't take even a single trivial fortuitous encounter, and she hadn't even conversed with anyone from the protagonist's group.
As the only existence in this World capable of changing the flow of the Original Work, Parang hadn't touched that flow at all.
But why? How come?
"I think we'll have to do it. 'Dive'."
"Huh? Dive? Do we really need to?"
Xiao said, mentioning that she probably just died in the sea and drifted in on an ocean current or something.
In reality, there were several massive ocean currents leading into the South China Sea Hive. Though they didn't exist on the real Earth.
She hadn't bothered to ride them herself since she didn't feel the need to go out of her way to enter the Hive via those currents.
"Just this once, please. It's because it's really important."
"Well... if you insist that much, it's not like I can't do it...."
Xiao carefully held the Skeleton with both hands, and Parang placed her hands on top of Xiao's.
And then, Dive into the Skeleton's memories. Splash-! With that sound, their vision shifted.
Parang temporarily shook off her thoughts about the Original Work and whatnot. The information she needed to find out from now on wasn't something to just let slide.
She kept getting the feeling that this would become the clue leading to some massive incident.
Upon opening their eyes, a pitch-black space appeared.
It was Matilda's field of vision.
"I can't see anything because it's too dark."
Those were Parang's words. Since Xiao and Parang were currently experiencing a sort of Shared Dream. Having a conversation was also possible.
"Yeah, really. Where is this."
"When is this right now?"
"Three hours before death."
"Try rewinding it a little further."
However, even after rewinding the viewpoint, nothing changed. For three whole hours, it was just a black vision without any slight movement of the body. Then, it seemed as if the terrible cry of a Gorgon could be heard, followed by a Crunch. And the memory ended.
"Hmm. It looks like we'll have to move the viewpoint forward."
"This time, I'll turn it to ten hours before her death."
But it was a black vision again.
"Just fast-forward it all the way. Right to the limit."
"For now, twenty-four hours from the time of death is the maximum."
The vision suddenly shifted again, and this time, it was inside a lit building.
"Let's watch from here in fast-forward."
With Xiao's words, time began to flow faster.
Matilda was sitting in a space that looked like an office wearing a black Special Forces Member uniform, listening to something along with people dressed in the same attire.
Words like target, infiltration, ambush, and kill flew by.
Judging by the attire of the person giving the presentation in front, they were from the World Government.
It was obvious that this was to eliminate those who posed a hindrance to the World Government's plans.
But why was Matilda affiliated with them here?
"Anyway, you really have to give it to these World Government bastards for being so insidious. Sometimes, they're even worse than Cylo."
Xiao spoke, but Parang was barely listening. It was because she was in a state of extreme concentration.
After the briefing roughly ended, Matilda came out of the building.
And then boarded a van parked outside.
"Let's just skip past the travel part."
Whoosh- The scenery changed, and Matilda stepped out of the vehicle.
The Strike Team Members who got out with her numbered eight. A total of nine Special Forces Members began to move quietly under the cover of darkness.
And in reality, Parang's physical body showed an expression of sheer astonishment.
She felt such an incredibly strong emotion that it manifested on the outside.
It was only natural. Parang stammered in a voice filled with shock.
"This, this is our village."
She prayed they were just passing through, but the Strike Team Members proceeded deep into the village without hesitation.
Old folks tend to sleep soundly at night. The Strike Team Members moved to the target location without being detected by anyone.
And the last thing that entered Matilda's vision was Parang's house.
Goosebumps broke out all over Parang's physical body in reality.
On some night, while she was sleeping, the World Government's Strike Team Members had come for her.
And with the keyword of execution, no less.
But how did she survive?
No matter if it was Parang, it would be hard to survive an ambush by that many people outside of water.
"Hold on, lower the playback speed from here."
"I was planning to do that anyway. This is your house, right?"
At the same time, Matilda's memories began to flow at their original speed.
Bzzzt-
"This is Head. Beta Team. Report your status."
A radio transmission echoed from her chest.
In response, a person next to Matilda who appeared to be a Superior answered.
"Beta Team has arrived at the operation area. We will enter together with Alpha and Gamma..."
And then the response was cut off. It was because another group, looking to be dozens of people, appeared from somewhere and ambushed them in an instant, thrusting blades at their necks.
"What the, who are you... Gah!"
The Superior couldn't continue his words.
"Keep quiet."
Because a blade was immediately shoved into his neck.
Given the circumstances, the Superior was stronger than Matilda. If so, he was at least a mid-to-lower tier S-Rank Hunter.
If they were capable of killing such a person in a single blow, there were two possibilities.
Either they were strong, or they had good Equipment.
Either way, they were extremely dangerous all the same.
And there were dozens of them.
'Since when on earth...?'
Parang felt her skin crawl. Didn't this mean those kinds of people had been hiding in her house while she was away laying low?
Parang was weak outside of water. She herself knew that very well.
So she tended to pay as much attention as possible to things like home security.
She had also spent quite a bit of money on security facilities. Though not as much as Xiao.
She surely would have known if there had been intruders.
Thinking about how she could have not known, she realized she had a hunch.
'The day of the first broadcast...!'
On that day, she was clearly so tired that she came home half-asleep and immediately collapsed into bed.
Furthermore, her absence from the house was being broadcast live.
'No, even so, the alarm should have gone off.'
Besides, that day was only a few days ago from now. The degree of bodily damage she saw on Matilda was clearly at a level where at least three weeks had passed since her death.
It didn't make sense.
However, at the same time it didn't make sense, it was also something that actually happened.
If they had made up their minds to do so, Parang would have been gruesomely murdered while sleeping.
Fortunately, it seemed their intention was to protect Parang. Not only did they spare her despite having overflowing opportunities, but crucially, they were currently dealing with the World Government bastards who came down with the kill mission for Parang.
While Parang was lost in thought, Xiao spoke to her as if she had found something.
"These guys, they're from Cylo."
"What?"
"Look here. It's the Cylo Corporation logo."
Xiao paused the viewpoint.
"Look closely. The left shoulder of the guy right in front of us."
As Parang looked closely at it, the Cylo logo was indeed embedded there, very tinily.
"It really is."
If so, the reason they had avoided surveillance made sense. The security facilities Parang had installed in her house.
Because they were Cylo Corporation products.
In the first place, it was impossible to obtain anything other than Cylo products. The security, home appliance, and electronics sectors had already been completely taken over by Cylo a long time ago.
Before long, the nine World Government Hunters with Daggers embedded in their necks were thrown into the sea one by one with a splash.
And surprisingly, Matilda was alive.
[ There is an overwhelming powerhouse nearby. ]
[ The Skill, Berserk, is activated. ]
[ Vitality increases dramatically. ]
A Skill that activated only after she entered Parang's house and had a blade held to her neck.
Berserk is a Personal Skill that gains vitality near someone stronger than oneself.
The greater the difference in power, the more the condition of proximity is relaxed. Close for someone slightly stronger. Veeeeery far for an overwhelming powerhouse.
This Skill is helpful not only in combat but also in detection.
Just being able to confirm that a powerhouse is nearby made her a suitable talent to join the Strike Team.
She was a kind of canary.
From here on out, it was a fact even Parang didn't know, but in reality, Matilda had been assigned to this operation for exactly that purpose.
The World Government did not skimp on manpower. One B-Rank Hunter, and the goal was to kill, not capture alive.
For such a mission, they brought along eight S-Rank Hunters and even a canary to prepare for any unforeseen threats.
They were people who made sure to do things right when they did them. Even if they had to use a butcher's knife to kill a chicken, they made sure to definitely catch the chicken they needed to catch.
In response, Cylo countered with three times the personnel and an ambush. Moreover, based on Matilda's information obtained beforehand, they avoided detection by giving top-tier weapons to Acceleration Type and Assassination Type A-Rank Hunters.
Of course, Parang wasn't aware of this behind-the-scenes battle of wits.
But then, what did this window floating in front of Matilda's eyes mean?
There shouldn't have been any overwhelming powerhouse nearby like the window mentioned.
However, it was also true that Matilda was currently receiving a vitality buff strong enough to keep her alive despite being thrown into the water with a Dagger embedded in her neck.
And Parang and Xiao seemed to roughly know the reason why.
――———!!
The night sea is incomparably more dangerous than the daytime sea.
Because the Monster Fish Zone rises.
And the fact that the Monster Fish Zone rises also means that the Monster Fish come up that much closer to the surface layer.
Something was caught in the vision of Matilda, who was sinking helplessly.
Current depth of 250m.
A Sea Turtle measuring 12m in size.
It was a Monster Fish.
Parang knows what that is. 12m, she thought. Because its size was too small, the individual that had been pushed out of competition for food or habitat seemed to have been swept all the way here under the cover of night.
'Isn't it way too shallow no matter what?'
Even at a minimum estimate, it should have gone down another 50m. She would need to investigate later if there was some anomaly on this side as well.
Parang added this information to a corner of the notepad in her mind.
Whatever the case, it was a fact that the Monster Fish had come up this far. Weighing possibilities for something that already happened was useless, so she needed to focus on the current situation.
A Sea Turtle with a size too cute to be called a Monster Fish.
However, Matilda's Status Window was undoubtedly calling that thing an overwhelming powerhouse.
Soon, she was swallowed whole by the Sea Turtle in one bite.
And then, a black and dark vision.
It was the scene Parang and Xiao saw right after the Dive.
Sea Turtles are famous for long-distance high-speed swimming.
It probably wandered around various parts of the sea looking for a habitat and ended up moving by riding the ocean currents.
Since the Sea Turtle Monster Fish couldn't have passed through the passage Parang came through, she had to assume that the ocean current leading to the Hong Kong Hive connected to that space under the gas stove.
Then it also explains why Departure was there. A light piece of jewelry like an Earring could easily travel riding the ocean currents.
Xiao silently increased the playback speed.
The exact same, dark scenery.
Matilda stayed alive inside the Sea Turtle for about twenty hours, and then died when she was eaten by a Gorgon along with the Sea Turtle.
This would also explain the discrepancy in the timeline.
Since she had already been moving for twenty hours while being digested alive by the Monster Fish, Parang, who only saw the result of extreme damage to the Corpse, judged that it had been three weeks since she was eaten by the Gorgon.
After the Dive ended, the two couldn't say anything.
Because they had to organize the numerous questions that popped up in their minds.