78
Chapter 78
The Bermuda Triangle.
Back on Earth, Parang's home planet, there were countless ghost stories and urban legends about this mysterious triangular area.
The most famous ones were about disappearing airplanes and ships.
It was a legend that ships and aircraft, communicating perfectly fine right before entering the Bermuda Triangle, would suddenly lose contact and sink straight down to the bottom of the sea.
In the past, it felt like just an 'accident-prone area,' but after a reporter wrote about a missing airplane case with a slightly mysterious spin, it became a cult hit and instantly escalated into an urban legend hotspot.
After that, absurd rumors sprouted up everywhere like, 'The portrait I brought with me aged drastically after passing through the Bermuda Triangle.', 'I hear cries for help underwater', 'A sea monster lives inside.', 'The descendants of Atlantis live there.', and eventually, 'There is a black hole underneath.'
It was depicted as an otherworldly hellscape impossible to pass through by ship.
Since it held overwhelming recognition even among sea-related legends, it was a topic frequently brought up in the Yoo Parang Gallery and stream chats.
Things like, 'Please go to Bermuda at least once.'
Because of this, even Parang, who didn't check the gallery (and might not even know it existed), had grasped this demand.
And in Parang's opinion, the Bermuda Triangle region, including the Bermuda Hive, was definitely worth turning on the stream and exploring.
It wasn't just interesting; it was horrifying.
Since her stream was strictly for public service purposes to warn people not to dive, the element of fear was practically essential for Parang's broadcast.
As for the interest factor, exclusively broadcasting the truth about the Bermuda Hive was already a guaranteed win.
'I do feel a bit sorry for the mystery reporters, though.'
Well, Bermuda wasn't the only mystery in the world, anyway.
Besides, once the truth was actually revealed, mystery nerds might go even crazier.
- 'yep' donated 1000 won! -
[ Streamer f*ck when are we leaving open your eyes open your eyes open your eyes open your eyes ]
"Gasp."
Parang, who had unknowingly fallen into deep thought, drew in a sharp breath.
She prided herself on being fairly skilled at streaming, but she still made mistakes like this from time to time.
Though the viewers loved it, considering even that to be part of her charm.
Parang quickly snapped back to reality and continued speaking.
"Ah....... where was I?"
- You were at, I'll really go down now.
- Ah f*ck, where are we?
"Ah, I'm sorry. I'll really go down now."
- 15
- 15
- 15 LOL
Unidentified numbers popped up in the chat window.
"Huh? What does 15 mean?"
- Nothing you need to know.
- The sea sure is dangerous.
- Open your eyes.
"What the....... Anyway, I'll really go down now."
- 16 LOL
- 16
- 16
'Seriously, what is this.......'
Putting her doubts aside, Parang finally began her dive.
Down, and further down.
And as the depth increased, the viewers began to sense something felt off.
'Why are there so many monster fish?'
Even if the Monster Fish Zone was, with a bit of exaggeration, half water and half monster fish.
This...... was still way too much.
It felt like there was almost five times the amount typically seen on Parang's streams.
If she used to encounter one every five minutes before, she was now running into one every minute.
And that was despite not even reaching the Hive yet.
Even for the viewers whose knowledge of the sea amounted to nothing more than 'it sure is dangerous,' it was enough to make them feel that something was wrong.
Thus, they frantically hammered the chat window, clamoring to know what on earth was going on.
- Wait, why are there so many monster fish??
- Viewers meetup Shiver
- We only went down 1km, if it's like this now, how many will there be inside the Hive Shiver
"Ah, you must have noticed. That's right. There are quite a few monster fish in Bermuda."
Indeed. In Bermuda, there were quite a few monster fish.
Quite a lot, actually.
To put it in perspective, the population of monster fish inhabiting the area around the Hive was about five times that of other Hives, and inside the Hive, it was almost ten times as many.
As for why that is, well.......
"It's still a secret."
- Wait f*ck
- Here we go again we are s c r e w e d
- What the f*ck is that limited-time explanation?
"Now, now, stop throwing tantrums."
- What are you gonna do if we whine, f*ck
- A viewer getting scolded by the streamer for whining, oh...
- What do you mean oh, you f*cker
- Then is this not an oh moment?
'Man, why is the conversation flowing this way?'
Even though she provoked it herself—no, not just provoked, but dug a trench and set up signposts pointing exactly in this direction—Parang was dumbfounded.
Strangely, whenever she turned on the stream, Parang's social awareness dropped to the level of a fish.
That was because she still wasn't used to people seeing her as a woman.
"I'm really going to scold you if you keep saying weird things."
Because of this, as naturally as breathing, every single thing she said was a critical hit without giving them a moment to rest.
Looking at the exploding chat window today, she made a blank expression.
Normally, the usual flow would be Parang getting flustered watching the chat window burn up as always, and then eventually suppressing the chat by putting it in emote-only mode or taking some other strong measure.
Today, she couldn't do that.
Crash!
Right in the middle of her squabble with the chat window, the space directly in front of Parang shattered as a Gate opened.
Whoosh!!!!
Because a monster fish shot out from inside at a terrifying speed.
With space itself distorted like a broken glass window, the spot where Parang had been standing just a moment ago had undeniably turned into a 20-meter-diameter Monster Gate.
- Hloy sht that startled me
- What was that??
- Isn't that a Gate???
Parang dodged to the side and avoided the collision with the monster fish, as if she had roughly anticipated it.
In truth, she didn't anticipate it, she merely reacted to it.
Thanks to the sudden event, the burning topic of the chat window naturally shifted to the Gate right in front of them.
The shock was brief; true to her stream where Hunters made up the majority of the viewers, people who recognized what this was quickly began to appear.
- This is a Gate.
- I thought a Deep Sea Gate would look a bit different.
- But what kind of Gate opens up like this??
The way it looked like shattered glass, and the fact that a monster came out from within. Plus, the interior was so pitch-black that you couldn't even tell what was inside.
Without a doubt, this was exactly what the Gates they saw on the surface looked like.
However, just as one viewer mentioned, this Gate had one thing that set it apart from the others.
- Fr how does a Gate open up like this
- Wouldn't it be an instant catastrophe if something like this opened on land?
- F*ck, just thinking about it opening on land gives me goosebumps
By all rights, a 'Gate' was kindly meant to be a phenomenon that occurred with enough warning for Humans on the surface to deal with it.
About a month before a Gate opened, cracks would form in thin air, accompanied by a c-crack...... crr-crack...... sound.
This was known as a 'Rift'.
By observing the shape and size of this 'Rift', one could roughly estimate when the Gate would open and what kind of Monster would emerge.
Then, the anti-Gate system established by Hunter Han Siwoo while building his harem all over the World would activate, evacuating local residents, deploying Government Hunters, and having the Association post a 'Gate Subjugation Request'.
Finally, at the scheduled time, the Rift would gradually widen until, Crash! Shatter! The Gate would open, and Hunters would normally set up camp and wage a defensive battle until the Gate closed.
Well, whether they fought a defensive battle, went inside to clear it out, or designated it as a Dungeon for Government-level management was a matter to be decided later, but that was the usual process.
The point was that this Gate right in front of her had appeared 'without warning'.
Without even the slightest omen, it just, popped. It formed in less than five seconds and spat out a Monster,
ROOOAAARR-!!
And it was still spitting them out right now.
If something like this appeared on the surface? That day would bring sheer disaster.
"How often, and how widely, do you think this Gate appears?"
At Parang's words, the Viewers instantly froze.
The answer was, 'Very often, and very widely'.
These Gates appeared all the way from the abyssal Bermuda Hive to just below the surface, and even higher up at the altitudes where Airplanes flew.
Encountering a Gate that formed like this meant any hope of returning safely was completely dashed.
Ships that encountered a Monster Fish from an unseen blind spot, or aircraft that ran into a Monster Bird, were destroyed before they could even react, sinking straight to the bottom of the sea.
"This is the truth behind the Bermuda Hive. It's the reason why Ships disappear."
Hearing Parang's explanation, the Viewers finally understood the truth of the Bermuda Triangle...... my ass.
Rather, they started going crazy and throwing out even more questions.
- Wait, why do things like this even appear?? And only in Bermuda??
It was a reasonable question.
Why was this bizarre phenomenon, which didn't happen anywhere else in the World, only appearing in the specific location of the Bermuda Triangle?
Of course, Parang knew the reason for that too, and she planned to let the Viewers know.
Though whether the Viewers would have their questions resolved after seeing that truth, or if they would just end up with more questions, remained to be seen.
Parang smiled quietly as she descended even deeper.