55
Chapter 55
Thud-
The green chroma key board fell back, revealing the background it had been hiding on the broadcast screen.
And the chat paused for a moment.
Because they had to admire the scenery that had just appeared before their eyes. There was no time to move their fingers.
Parang stood at the entrance of a certain cave.
Actually, it looked more like a cylindrical cavity than a cave.
Since the entrance where Parang stood was located at the top of the cavity, the viewers could see the entire view inside at a glance.
"How is it?"
The inside of the cavity was entirely filled with a deep, dark blue light.
This was because something densely packed into the vast space was emitting that light.
Undulating, countless corals.
Centered around a gigantic coral that towered in the middle of the cavity and grew almost to the ceiling, variously shaped corals swayed back and forth, tightly filling the deep blue cavity.
Usually, when you think of coral, it is easy to picture things rigidly hardened in place like stones, but there are also many species that droop their tentacles and sway in the water like sea anemones.
The coral spread widely across the floor here was exactly that kind of coral.
They were entirely blue, and the way they undulated back and forth with the current looked exactly like grass swaying in a windy field.
And in the space completely covered with those, variously shaped giant corals were also swaying smoothly.
Some stood upright on the ground and swayed like trees, while others were spread out flat downwards, erecting their tentacles upwards like a reed bed.
Since such things were packed so densely, it also looked like a lushly grown forest of tall grass.
It wasn't just the floor. Other corals with bizarre shapes clinging to the walls and towering upwards made this dreamlike landscape look even more surreal.
One thing was certain: no one else but Parang could show such scenery.
As if diving, she lightly pushed off from where she stood, swish. She leaped forward.
Then she stopped. Quietly entrusting her body to the flow of the water and waiting for her body to sink, it felt like watching a slow-motion screen.
As she got closer to the floor, her once-wide vision narrowed, until it finally reached the point where she could count the coral's tentacles one by one.
Thump-
Yoo Parang gracefully spun once in the air and lightly set foot on the cavity floor.
Managing to find a place to step among those lush corals, Parang succeeded in landing without hesitation.
From the spot where she landed, the stone floor of the cavity stretched out long, like a trail through a grassy field.
On both sides, tentacles about one meter long were swaying gently, emitting a deep blue light.
A scenery much like a small path amidst a lush field of silver grass.
They weren't visible from above, but little fishes were swimming back and forth between the corals.
The long, thin stretch of floor exposed between the corals wound continuously towards the gigantic coral seen earlier.
The sight was so dreamlike, beautiful, and at the same time bizarre, that the viewers could not easily form an opinion about the cavity.
"I call it the Coral Cavity. It is a space located somewhere in the East Sea."
- Wow......is this a hive too?
- It's too small to be a hive. Isn't it an objet?
"I'm sorry, but it's neither a hive nor an objet. It's just a simple geographical feature."
Parang leisurely looked around the stone path of the Coral Cavity.
As if it were a real walking trail, short pillar-shaped corals emitting a bright blue light were situated at regular intervals along the road.
The viewers, upon seeing this, realized why this space had looked so dreamlike.
No matter how you looked at it, this wasn't just a space where coral grew wild.
Rather, it was much closer to a meticulously tended garden. Come to think of it, the winding path was uniform in width. The perfect size for a person to stroll through.
The viewers, who couldn't stand being curious—though honestly, anyone would be overwhelmed with curiosity upon seeing this sight—bombarded Parang with questions.
- What is this place?
- There's no way those things grew on their own.
And so, they finally achieved a feat that they might only accomplish once every few years.
"You're right."
Namely, successfully making a prediction on Parang's broadcast.
"This Coral Cavity didn't form naturally. It was originally a wide, empty space with nothing in it."
Parang let her hand drop to her side, gently parting the swaying corals.
"But it's not some mysterious anomaly that popped up out of nowhere like an objet or a hive, either."
As she gently swept the slender, swaying tentacles aside, tiny, colorful fishes could be seen swimming in a tight cluster inside.
When Parang quietly cupped her hands to form a basket shape, the small fishes gathered inside and swam in circles.
"I made the 'Coral Cavity'. When I first discovered this place, I wanted to turn it into a space that suited my tastes. So whenever I had time, I brought corals from all over the world and raised them here. Same goes for the fishes."
Corals are basically composed of tiny animals called 'polyps', so even if you only bring a small piece instead of ripping out an entire giant coral, you can grow it as large as you want. That was how she was able to collect corals from oceans all over the world.
However, standard corals require extremely specific environments and are incredibly sensitive to minor changes in their surroundings, making it practically impossible to create an aquarium of this magnitude.
But Parang had a thought.
Just like how the mutated monster fishes in the Monster Fish Zone spread out and lived across oceans worldwide regardless of their habitats, wouldn't a mutated coral also be unbothered by its environment?
"So I did an experiment. I took a piece of coral from the surface layer and placed it on an objet located in the Monster Fish Zone."
And a few days later, when she went back to check on it, a large, beautiful, mutated coral had grown, capable of thriving anywhere regardless of its habitat.
That was the starting point. She traveled the world collecting corals that suited her taste, induced a mutation, and then brought pieces of them to this cavity to regrow, cultivating her garden.
That was how Parang succeeded in turning this massive cavity entirely into her own personal space.
She even stopped by once a month to consistently manage it.
The viewers who heard this story looked at Parang as if she was a crazy bitch.
- She's a crazy bastard.
- Seems like a crazy bastard?
- What a crazy bastard.
It really was an act of madness. Who on earth would even come up with such an idea?
But well. It wasn't exactly a new development for Parang to show her unhinged side. They just accepted it.
"Therefore, today's broadcast is garden maintenance."
As she started walking along the trail, the small fishes that had been swimming between the corals began to flutter around her.
- Wait, does she train fish too??
- The atmosphere is crazy, absolutely insane.
"As for the fish......I don't know either. They just keep clinging to me. It's fascinating."
Well, whatever the reason, it was a nice sight to behold.
Parang, who already gave off a mysterious vibe, walking through the beautiful Coral Garden surrounded by fish—she looked exactly like a little mermaid.
- It really is pretty though.
└ You think this is pretty? It's just gloomy and scary.
Of course, opinions on the scenery of the Coral Garden were slightly divided among the viewers.
While some viewers found the sight of countless tentacles swaying like grass to be pretty and dreamlike, there were also viewers who felt it was creepy and gloomy.
"Yuna. Please give a 30-minute chat ban to the person who just said it was gross."
However, just because they found it gross didn't mean the viewers could do anything about it.
Seeing that unfortunate viewer have their tastes normalized in an instant, the Coral Garden opposition had no choice but to quietly shut their mouths.
Chattering away like that, Parang leisurely enjoyed the scenery and followed the trail until she reached the large coral in the center.
She stepped back slightly so the viewers could get a good look.
It was the very first coral Parang had brought here to raise, and the one she nurtured with the most affection.
Even Parang didn't know its exact species name. Bertea told her every time, but it was too long.
But because it looked so much like a baobab tree growing on land, she just called it Baobab.
"This is Baobab. Isn't it pretty?"
- Wow, is this a coral too?
- It's really freaking huge.
- Is it... pretty?
Parang also knew that Baobab deviated slightly, just a tiny bit, from standard standards of beauty.
"10......9......8......."
- It really is pretty.
- I think it's one of the prettiest corals here.
- Turns out I like coral.
But the kind-hearted viewers respected Parang's tastes.
"Good job."
She circled Baobab and began her maintenance.
Honestly, since mutated coral was so tough and grew so well, there wasn't really any need for professional maintenance.
It was mostly just trimming off the ugly, protruding edges and moderately carving out any dead parts.
And so, for almost the first time on Parang's broadcast, a peaceful stream without any combat took place.
At first, the viewers expressed their doubts about this unprecedented broadcast without a single monster fish appearing, but they soon found peace of mind while watching this leisurely garden maintenance stream in the deep sea.
Thanks to Parang continuously telling stories to keep things from getting boring, it was also perfect as a radio show.
"So I looked closely, and what I thought was a fish was actually bait. Immediately, those things opened their eyes from all sides and glared at me......."
Of course, since she hadn't forgotten the broadcast's main purpose of preventing viewers from falling asleep and only told all sorts of horrifying and bizarre stories, it was inevitable that a chill would occasionally run down their spines.
Still, whatever. At least it wasn't visually gross.
This level was actually quite angelic.
And it wasn't just the viewers; Parang felt this way too.
That a peaceful atmosphere really was better.
She didn't know if such a day would ever come, but someday. If the act of diving was no longer dangerous at all. If, by some miracle, that day came.
She thought it would be nice to just zone out for a bit while looking at the beautiful sea with the viewers like this.
She looked at the undulating corals with uncharacteristically emotional eyes.
And when she looked at the chat window.
- Open your eyes.
- Open your eyes.
- Open your eyes.
Goosebumps spread all over her body.
What? There's no way Brachium is here. The skill notification window didn't even pop up in the first place?!
She hurriedly looked around, but there was nothing there.
Her eyes trembled violently.
Urgently checking the chat window again,
- LOL
- haha
- LMAO
- User Anonymous donated 1000 won! -
[ Haha, teasing the streamer is so freaking fun LOL ]
'What?'
Scrolling up the chat window revealed the scene of their conspiracy.
- The streamer seems to be zoning out right now, how about we spam OPEN YOUR EYES
- Oh shit LOL
- Open your eyes.
- Will this work?
- Open your eyes
- Open your eyes.
- Open your eyes.
"Phew......."
Parang let out a sigh of relief.
Because, at the very least, nothing bad had actually happened.
'Huh?'
But thinking about it, didn't this mean she was completely played by the viewers?
To dare play a prank like this. It seemed she needed to establish some discipline.
Checking the time, there was still some room before the interview.
She had planned to just show the garden and end it for today.
- Haha LOL
- hahaha
- Clipping this right away to immortalize it LOL
The viewers, laughing boisterously without knowing the fate that was about to befall them, couldn't have been more detestable.
So, it was decided!
"Everyone. Did you have fun?"
Parang smiled with only her mouth, her eyes not showing the slightest hint of emotion.
"I hope you did."
She immediately dashed out of the Coral Garden.
And about 5 minutes later.
- imsorryiwaswrongimsorryiwaswrong
- Just spare my life...
- F*ck I thought we'd get to watch until the stream ended today
- Parang we were having a good time why do you keep doing this
The disaster they brought upon themselves struck the viewers.