3
Chapter 3
Parang was a reincarnator. She read the ending of her favorite novel, finished the author's afterword, went to sleep, and ta-da. She woke up in the novel's world.
You could call it a very textbook reincarnation.
But as we all know, just because someone reincarnates through a textbook route doesn't mean their life will follow a textbook path.
As soon as she awakened her past life's memories at the age of fifteen, she took the time to carefully reflect on the original story she had read.
And this was her conclusion.
'I just need to avoid getting involved with the main character!'
The Hunter novel she had read followed a very conventional path. The plot and every incident flowed exactly according to cliches; it was the ultimate standard story. It was so predictable that you could guess the ending the moment an episode began.
Even so, the reason it became popular was because the author wrote absolutely incredible action scenes.
While it wasn't exactly a masterpiece that flipped the genre fiction world upside down, it was still a perfect novel to pass the time.
And as is typical with conventional Hunter novels, the enemies the protagonist's party had to face became increasingly unimaginable as time went on.
Meanwhile, they never went underwater. (This was Parang's only complaint about the novel.)
So, what would happen if Parang clumsily joined the main character's party? She would be brutally murdered. A guaranteed early elimination.
Rather than losing her mind and joining them, choosing to live the life in the ocean she had always dreamed of was the obvious choice for Parang.
And very fortunately for Parang, Earth remained relatively peaceful right up until the ending. The only areas that transformed into what was commonly called a field were parts of North Africa, including the Sahara Desert, and the southern part of South America.
Thanks to the main character forming a harem with all the Hunters across the globe, pretty much every nation was well-defended.
In other words, as long as Parang stayed hidden away somewhere in South Korea, there was zero chance of her getting swept up in the original plot's events and dying.
Moreover, Parang had been reincarnated as an orphan to make it easier to do whatever she wanted. There was nothing holding her back.
Whether it knew that fact or not, the Status Window had even handed her an S-Rank Skill Selection Ticket, as if telling her to do something worthwhile since she had been reincarnated...
"If I can stay underwater for 24 hours a day, does my gender even matter?"
Oh, well. What a shame.
And so, time flowed on, and before she knew it, ta-da—it was June 11th!
It was the day the original novel reached its ending.
Click! Hiss- Gurgle...
Parang opened a beer, placed it on the side table next to the sofa, and turned on T-Tube on her phone.
The very first recommended video that popped up at the top was a live broadcast.
[Cylo Exclusive Coverage – Slayers Ascension Ceremony LIVE]
Unbelievable. The original work actually concluded with the protagonist, Hunter Han Siwoo, and his entire harem ascending to become gods.
Watching this left Parang with a subtle, mixed feeling.
The feelings she had held toward the protagonist's group up until now were similar to the feelings one might have toward Queen Elizabeth.
Meaning, she didn't give a single damn about them.
In the beginning, she had nervously scoured internet communities, worried that the original plot might become twisted, but by the one-year mark, she had stopped caring entirely.
Still, she felt she should witness the ending of the original work with her own eyes, so she was watching the live stream as a sort of favor.
There were also things she needed to verify in person.
For some reason, they were standing above the vast open sea, with no land in sight. The only thing nearby was a broadcasting helicopter dispatched by Cylo. Of course, Parang knew the reason why.
And well, it was exactly as described in the novel. A pillar of light crashed down on them as they stood in the middle of the ocean, the sky opened up, and an aura of light erupted from the bodies of all the Slayers as they began to rise into the sky.
After ascending for a bit, the protagonist's body began to violently split apart. Perhaps because Cylo was broadcasting it, the video quality and visuals were absolutely stunning. How long had they prepared for this?
Soon after, the bodies of the heroines began to crack and split as well. It was the process of discarding their unsuitable human bodies to obtain the physical vessels of gods.
During that process, the items falling away from the fifteen members of the protagonist's group—Artifacts, Skill Scrolls, and various belongings—dropped into the sea with a Splash.
This was the reason they ascended in the middle of the ocean. It was to prevent the Artifacts personally crafted by the main character, each one on the level of a Divine Object, from being released into the world.
Finally, the last heroine ascended into the clouds, the sky closed, and that was it. The ending.
Parang touched her forehead, let out a deep sigh, and turned off her phone.
Her mind was a complicated mess.
At times like this, engaging in a hobby was best. Surprisingly, Parang had another hobby besides fishing, swimming, diving, and sleeping underwater: drawing.
She had been a painter in her past life. The only reason she hadn't been a diver was simply due to her circumstances.
Parang abruptly stood up from the sofa and headed to her studio.
Whir- Swish.
The door to the studio opposite her bedroom opened with a fairly futuristic mechanical sound.
Reflecting Parang's tastes, her house featured a quite futuristic interior, with a white base and blue neon accents dotted around.
Not only the interior but the exterior as well matched this style, and since the house was situated right against the ocean, taking a picture yielded an absolute masterpiece of a view.
"Hmm...."
Upon entering the studio, the countless paintings she had created were displayed in a long row.
The subjects were, naturally, water, the ocean, fish, and Monster Fish.
There were quite a few pieces ranging from simple fish to canvases entirely filled with the color blue, and even monsters that made one wonder if such things actually lived on Earth.
Parang sat in front of the easel in the center of the room and confidently picked up a brush.
She intended to finish a painting she had been working on previously.
The subject was Galecus. It was a Monster Fish mutated from a fish called an Oarfish due to the influence of an undersea Gate.
The original Oarfish was characterized by swimming with its long body held perfectly upright, as if it were standing up in the water.
Because of this, when looking at it in the uniform environment of the water, it was almost impossible to tell which direction it was swimming, making it incredibly easy to wander into the inescapable deep sea if one tried to follow it.
This was how the Galecus hunted its prey. It wrapped its entire body in colorful, brilliant light to attract attention, and then dragged any small fish or Monster Fish that clung to it down into its lair.
That sight was truly beautiful, making it the Monster Fish that Parang painted the most.
Then, a brief silence followed. Only the swishing sound of brushing echoed through the gallery for a long time, until Parang set her brush down with a Tap.
Looking at the clock, it was already 4 AM. She had sat there doing nothing but painting for six solid hours.
By that time, she was slowly getting sleepy. It wasn't because her body was superhuman, but rather because she had already taken a nap underwater earlier.
In fact, it was like this almost every day. Parang's sleep schedule was completely wrecked.
If possible, she wanted to sleep underwater at night as well, but the night sea was incomparably more dangerous than the daytime ocean.
She could go in if she really wanted to, but to sleep there was a bit much.
Whir- Swish.
Parang entered the bedroom opposite the gallery.
As one might expect, there was no such thing as a bed. Instead, blankets and pillows were placed inside a bed-shaped fish tank dug into the floor.
What about the dirtiness from sleeping in the exact same water every day?
Surprisingly, among Parang's skills was an ability that 'purifies the space within a 5-meter radius when underwater'.
Parang had used this skill exactly once about half a year ago to build a track record in a surface Dungeon for her B-Rank Hunter promotion exam.
She had gathered party members and entered an Undead Type Dungeon while staying inside a mobile fish tank.
It was such an unconventional and bizarre stunt that it briefly heated up the internet.
Even now, if you typed 'Gyeongju Cave of the Dead' into a search bar, 'Gyeongju Cave of the Dead Fishbowl Girl' would appear right at the top of the related searches.
Aside from the bed, the notable features were the dark blue mood lighting and the night sea ASMR playing 24 hours a day.
She was absolutely a crazy bitch for the ocean.
Anyway, Parang slept like a log and woke up at noon the next day.
And then she repeated her daily routine. Catching some fish to grill and eat, and grabbing some good sleep underwater.
She expected it would take some time for the aftermath to hit.
And a week later,
T-Tube.
[ 3 Great Diving Tips for Beginners ]
[ Undersea Hunter Vlog: Let us Go Lightly to 300m~ ]
[ World First?! Slayers Ascension Location Revealed!! ]
[ (Ad) New Freesia Diving Academy 1 Month Free Class Review ]
[ vlog | Scuba Diving | East Sea | Pohang City | Diving Beginner Day 1 ]
News.
[ The World is Now in a Great Diving Craze... Why are Hunters Heading to the Sea? ]
[ Cylo Announces Promising Undersea Business... Is It Really True? ]
[ Said to Lose Weight and Lower Blood Sugar... Underwater Sports that Activate Beige Fat ]
[ (Exclusive Interview) Meeting the Only Twenty Undersea Hunters in the Country ]
Community.
[ I am an A-Rank Physical Enhancement Type, Can I Dive? ] [3]
[ Found a Treasure in the Sea in Front of My House LOL ] [25]
[ Scuba Diving Day 1 Review ] [6]
[ You Crazy Bastards, Do You Want to Go In There? ] [9]
[ Used Market Diving Suit You Fucker ] [10]
Parang opened the community and read a few posts with eye-catching titles.
[ I am an A-Rank Physical Enhancement Type, Can I Dive? ]
[ Author: Anon ]
Title says it all. I am an A-Rank Physical Enhancement Type Hunter, but seeing everyone else going to the sea to find treasure makes me so jealous I cannot stand it. I tried it in the bathtub today and I can hold my breath for 30 minutes.
- Are you even human to last 30 minutes underwater without gear?
- It depends on the region. It is very hard in the East Sea, but totally possible in the West Sea.
└ Ah, I live in Ulsan though.
[ You Crazy Bastards, Do You Want to Go In There? ]
[ Author: Anon ]
(A GIF of dropping a pebble into a sea completely filled with blue and nothing else. The pebble falls endlessly, blurs, and soon disappears from sight.)
You want to go in a place like this to find treasure? No matter how good the Artifact is, are you out of your mind? I will just live my life stepping on solid ground.
- Yeah, I fucking want to go in though? What you earn from working a month on land, you can make in a snap by diving and finding one Artifact.
└ Fuck, I would rather just work for a month than go in there.
- Scared?
└ Yeah, I am scared, how do you even go in there.
- The picture is crazy, but most people dive in the West Sea, so you rarely see a sight like that. The maximum depth is 50m at most anyway. Almost any Physical Enhancement Type Hunter can go and come back without gear.
└ Really? How many meters deep do you have to be to see a sight like the GIF?
└ Assuming the water is fucking clear, maybe 100m?
- Do you even have the ability to go in?
- I was going to dive but gave up after seeing the picture, it is so scary.
[ Used Market Diving Suit You Fucker ]
[ Author: Anon ]
(A picture of a latex suit used for specific types of play. It has zippers all over for easy use.)
You motherfucker, I asked for a Diving Suit and you gave me this stupid latex shit. Are you that fucking bored you son of a bitch, I am going to find you, you dog bastard.
- LOL
- LOL stupid LOL
- How did you fall for that LOL
- No, but why did the guy selling it even have that?
- Optimal Hun-Gall intelligence LOL
- Is it for women?
└ Yep, fuck.
└ Oh, 100k.
└ What do you mean 100k you crazy bastard.
└ Who the hell is this guy LOL
The world had entered the Great Diving Era.
Of course, it wasn't as if people all over the world suddenly went crazy and dove into the ocean, a place they had no connection to, just to find Artifacts that could be buried anywhere.
In reality, 99% of the people who watched the ascension scene on the news simply saw the Artifacts dropping into the sea with a splash and thought, 'All those precious things... what a waste...'
However, history has long proven that you only need 1% of the population to be crazy to change the world.
It started with an internet broadcaster and Hunter living in Incheon.
He was a B-Rank Hunter of the Physical Enhancement Type, and after watching the news, he planned out a stream with a title like, 'Find the Artifacts buried in the deep sea! The first domestic live diving broadcast'.
He didn't seriously think he would find an Artifact; he just wanted to attract some attention. From his research, the sea off the coast of Incheon, where he lived, was shallow and didn't seem dangerous.
So, on the broadcast he turned on just to farm some views...
"Uh, huh? What is this."
He ended up finding a B-Rank Artifact—not one dropped by the Slayers... but one that seemed to have been buried when an old merchant ship sank long ago.
This made headlines on the news, spreading the rumor far and wide, and people worldwide who harbored the thought, 'Could I...?' attempted to dive.
"I-It is here!! It is really here!!"
"Holy, is that real?"
"Eso que estoy mirando ahora es una caja, ¿verdad?"
And as a few of them actually discovered treasures sleeping beneath the sea,
The world truly welcomed the Great Diving Era.
Even if they weren't legendary Artifacts, the ocean was profitable.
People had finally realized this.
The seabed was no longer a worthless, empty void.
It was an unparalleled land of opportunity, the epicenter for striking it rich where unknown treasures slumbered.
A literal blue ocean.
Naturally, Parang's worries multiplied as well.
Because, of course, she knew.
Treasures weren't the only things sleeping in the deep sea.
It was swarming with unimaginable monstrosities that ordinary humans should never encounter.
Gurgle-
Underwater, she quietly closed her eyes.