69
Chapter 69
"...I will do as you say."
"Understood. Do you have any other business?"
"Ah, could you pay a visit to Branch Manager Seo Sunwoo soon? I heard he has something urgent to discuss with you."
"You mean the one from the Hunter Association? Understood."
"Yes. You can decide the exact date of your visit yourself, Hunter Yoo Parang."
"Got it. I'll hang up now."
"Take care."
Click.
"Huuu..."
Hanging up the cellphone, Parang let out a heavy sigh as if the ground were caving in.
In many ways, she had been quite tired lately.
She had to save the World, deal with that crazy bitch from the Hunter Association, and while the World Government was targeting her, she even had to kidnap the protagonist of the Original Work yesterday.
Strictly speaking, it was a bit far from a kidnapping, but anyway.
She hadn't exactly been expecting much, but Cylo failed to restore Marianne's mental state.
This was something Parang had already anticipated.
Considering Cylo could only suck their thumbs regarding the Status Effect during the Brachium shock, there was probably nothing they could do about whatever it was that possessed someone of Marianne's caliber.
Therefore, the conclusion Cylo reached was to put her to sleep for now.
The plan was to put her in hibernation in Cylo's deepest and most secretive space, then thaw her out after some time to check if the Status Effect had been dispelled.
It was a somewhat reasonable conclusion in Parang's eyes as well. There was no such thing as a permanently lasting Status Effect except in very, very special cases. It would be about six months at most.
If they were unlucky and it still showed no signs of wearing off after that, they would have to find another way then.
Other than that, the only thing Cylo could do was draw blood to extract Skill information.
Honestly, even just this was an incredible technology.
Before Cylo's appearance, people didn't even know that such information was engraved in the blood.
They must have started working on it right away last night, as the files had already arrived on Parang's cellphone when she woke up this morning.
Naturally, this matter was classified as top secret, known only to Parang, Oceanus, and a few of Cylo's highest-ranking executives.
Anyway, Marianne's issue was concluded like that for now.
Honestly, she wasn't sure whether it was good news or bad news.
The fact that there was a survivor among the Slayers was incredibly good news in itself, but ultimately, the most necessary thing—her 'memory'—had become completely useless.
Furthermore, a series of sad news flew in from the rest of the Oceanus members who went to explore other Hives.
Russell: I searched about five times, but I couldn't even see a trace.
Russell: Are you sure they really teleported?
Xiao: It's the same over here. Oh, I found an Artifact instead, though.
Xiao: (Photo of a Wooden Shield glowing red)
Xiao: 'Rebellion', right?
Parang: I think so.
Diego: It's a bust over here too. It was quite difficult trying to search around while shrunken down.
The only ones left were Elvira and Bertea.
If even those two ended up retiring, her vision would go completely dark... well, maybe not completely, but the brightness would definitely drop significantly.
The only hopeful thing was that the repair of the Evidence was almost complete.
According to the expectations of Cylo, the repairs would be finished within a week at most.
Parang let out another deep sigh, slumping onto the sofa as if she were lying down.
'Ah, maybe I should check that.'
Tap, tap. Parang tapped on her Cellphone, selecting and opening a saved file.
- Marianne Lindbergh.png
[ Status Window: Marianne Lindbergh ]
[ Personal Skill: Creation, Steel, Madness]
[ A living thing targets you. ]
[ You are above all things that are not alive. ]
Sure enough, her Personal Skill had changed, just like the skill of Alexandra.
It had changed into a more ambiguous, even harder to understand, and completely incomprehensible Skill.
Furthermore, there was that risk.
It stated she was targeted by a living thing.
There was one point that Parang had questioned when looking at the changed Personal Skill of Alexandra.
The part that said [ You are hated by the thing not on the ground. ].
It was clearly described as a singular thing.
Not as plural things.
She had moved past it feeling a bit uneasy at the time, but now that she checked the Skill of Marianne, it was definitely suspicious.
Whether it was a thing not on the ground, or a living thing.
There was a high probability that it was an expression pointing to the same entity, or at least two related entities.
The problem was that she did not know what it was.
It probably was not that Pit the Slayers had fought.
That thing had been stuck in the ground and was not alive, either.
'Or maybe it was that small Monster Fish from back then?'
That bizarre-looking, microscopic Monster Fish.
As soon as it was hit once, the speed of the Monster Fish became absurdly fast, causing the Slayers to struggle.
Certainly, it had not been on the ground and it seemed to be alive.
However,
'But wasn't its status a little, no, way too low for that?'
Was being hated and targeted by such a thing dangerous enough to be the risk of a Skill that evolved through the Ascension Ritual?
It would be a different story if it meant being targeted by the Kraken instead.
'The Ascension Ritual, huh.'
Parang closed her eyes.
Whatever was in the Deep Sea was one thing, but this so-called Ascension Ritual was just as suspicious.
When reading the Novel, or right up until she learned of the deaths of the Slayers, she had just brushed it off with an oh I see.
The idea of ascending a person to make them a god felt somewhat strange as well.
'Could it be a trap set by something in the Deep Sea...?'
...That probably wasn't it.
No, was it really not?
In the Original Work, the Ascension Ritual was a quest presented by the Status Window.
And directly to Hunter Han Siwoo at that.
[ Great Journey(S) ]
[ Quests will occur sequentially. A penalty will be imposed upon failure. ]
[ Appropriate rewards will be given upon clearing the quests. ]
It was the Personal Skill of Hunter Han Siwoo.
A Personal Skill that recklessly threw out quests ranging from [ Hunt the wolf ] to [ Create a masterpiece that will go down in history ].
It felt like a solo quest system of sorts.
Anyway, the very last quest his Personal Skill gave in the story was exactly that, [ Ascend ].
The reward he obtained from clearing the immediately preceding quest, [ Kill the god ], was the Scroll detailing the method of the Ascension Ritual.
So up until now, Parang had not held any major doubts about the Ascension Ritual.
No matter how much the Original Work had changed, it didn't seem to have changed enough to mess with the Status Window of Hunter Han Siwoo.
However, since the situation had reached this point, it seemed Parang also had to admit it now.
That there was definitely something hidden behind the Ascension Ritual.
'Do I have to dig into the secrets of the Status Window now too...'
Parang tossed that topic into a far corner of her consciousness for now.
It wasn't a problem she needed to care about right now, and caring about it didn't seem like it would solve anything either.
There were many things that needed to be prioritized.
She decided to handle them step by step, one at a time.
'Right. Let's at least make an appointment with the Branch Manager in advance.'
The moment Parang opened her Cellphone with that thought,
Ding! Ding!
Two messages arrived at the exact same time.
One was from Bertea.
Bertea: Sorry. I couldn't find it. I really tried my best.
"Tsk..."
Parang knew very well just how hard Bertea had scoured the Hive.
It was because of her broadcast.
Bertea had poured nearly 60 hours into exploring the Hive while keeping her broadcast on.
60 hours was enough time to look around the North Sea Hive almost 7 times.
If she couldn't find it even after putting in that much effort, it really must not have been there.
After sending a comforting text, Parang checked the other message this time.
Fortunately, it was good news this time.
Elvira: I found it.
Elvira: (Photo)
Elvira: Where should we meet?
Xiao: Where are you right now?
Elvira: The Arctic Ocean Hive. In the left back pocket of the Jeans.
Xiao: I'll head over there.
Parang packed her things with a speed that would put a Blue Marlin to shame and dove into the sea.
#
The Arctic Ocean.
The coldest sea on Earth, entirely covered in ice.
If you went down about 4km from its sea level, you could find something protruding at an angle on a seabed tilted about 30 degrees.
If you approached closer to inspect what it was, you would see something with a pointed tip that grew thicker towards the back, bumpy on top and smooth on the bottom-
the front section of a Wooden Sailing Ship, broken in half and embedded in the ground.
Naturally, this was not a shipwreck. The Arctic Ocean was not an environment where a wooden boat could navigate.
And crucially, there had never been a Wooden Sailing Ship of this magnitude on Earth in recorded history.
That's right. It was the Arctic Ocean Hive, the 'Dress Room'.
As for why it was called the Dress Room rather than a 'Sailing Ship' or an 'Ark'—it was because it was literally a Dress Room.
If you were drawn inside by the warm yellow light leaking through the planks of the deck, the shape of the Sailing Ship would disappear entirely, and you would enter a Dress Room filled with clothes everywhere.
Inside, it was jam-packed with not only modern clothes like T-shirts and Jeans but also unidentifiable garments like Plate Armor, a Bike Helmet, Hanbok, a Jumpsuit, a Swimsuit, and a Nazi Uniform.
The warm yellow light pouring from the lamps above even gave off a truly cozy feeling.
Of course, that thought would vanish in an instant if you saw the Monster Fish poking their heads out from between the clothes, inside pockets, and under shoes.
Anyway. Oceanus had gathered there.
Less than three hours had passed since Elvira's text.
They were currently gathered in the back pocket of the Jeans.
It was dark, the space wasn't very large, and the atmosphere was incredibly gloomy, but no one paid it any mind.
They only focused on the Corpse laid before them.
Kang Yuri.
Hunter Han Siwoo's college classmate.
The second member of the Slayers, and Hunter Han Siwoo's first heroine.
Surrounding her Corpse, Oceanus wore serious expressions.
Although it wasn't as bad as Alexandra, Kang Yuri's condition wasn't that good either.
Her clothes were torn here and there, and her entire body was covered in stab and slash wounds.
Moreover, there was even a slightly charred mark on her left shoulder.
This was an indicator of just how difficult a time she had gone through.
Even more so considering her role was a close-quarters combatant and tank.
"A charred mark. Are you sure she was killed by a Monster Fish?"
"We'll know once we look. Let's begin."
"...Understood."
Everyone closed their eyes, and,
"Dive."
Along with Xiao's resolute voice, their consciousness plunged with a splash, sinking deep down.