79
Chapter 79
Parang's descent continued.
The Bermuda Hive was located 3 km deep in the ocean. Parang was currently at a depth of 1.5 km.
The further down she went, the more Monster Fish appeared.
Parang was intentionally slowing her descent to give the Viewers the 'fun of deducing,' so they were able to freely speculate to their heart's content about the current state of the Bermuda Triangle.
However, since the phenomenon they were trying to deduce was so bizarre, even with countless people wracking their Heads, they couldn't come up with a proper guess that explained everything.
To give a few examples,
there was a guess that the Bermuda Hive contained a mother or a breeding ground laying Monster Fish eggs at a rate of one every three seconds.
This was quickly refuted. The overwhelming majority of the countless Monster Fish in the Bermuda Triangle were 'Gate-born Monster Fish.' Creatures that come out of a Gate cannot reproduce.
Furthermore, this didn't explain the creation of the Gates.
The closest guess was the hypothesis that 'There is a massive Dungeon under the sea.'
'Gates appearing without Rifts' were certainly an unprecedented anomaly, but with a slight shift in perspective, a similar phenomenon existed on land.
Occasionally, when a Gate's stability is incredibly high, it can remain in one spot for anywhere from a few weeks to several months.
In these cases, a phenomenon occurs that sets them apart from other Gates that simply spit out a few Monsters and disappear.
First is the transfer of the other World's 'environment.'
Strange structures or otherworldly nature transfer around the Gate, transforming the entire environment.
This 'changed environment' is exactly what we call a Dungeon.
Second, while a Dungeon exists, the frequency of small-scale Rifts or Gates appearing around it increases.
A Gate that would normally appear once a month might appear once a week near a Dungeon.
However, they are very small and the level of the Monsters they spawn is low, so complete defense is possible with just two or three A-Rank Hunters.
According to academic research, this happens because a stable Gate ironically makes the surrounding environment unstable.
It's similar to the principle of glass—if you leave a broken part alone for a long time, the surrounding area breaks more easily and frequently.
So the explanation was that if there was some special type of Dungeon under the Bermuda Triangle, a somewhat...... similar phenomenon to what was happening now would occur.
Parang gave this a stamp of approval, thump. She even praised them for a job well done.
"That's a close guess."
As for the other guesses that popped up around the edges, well.
There's a Black Hole underneath, the energy of the Universe is gathered here, it's actually fabricated, and so on.......
Regardless of whether the guesses were right or wrong, for the first time in a while, Parang had a fun time chatting back and forth with the Viewers.
Also, since the Monster Fish they usually encountered were mostly a Mutation of Earth's fish, it was quite fun to look at otherworldly fish that purely came out of a Gate.
However, the time it took to reach the Hive was inevitably delayed, as the Trait of the Gate-born Monster Fish made them go absolutely crazy and charge at any Human they saw, thinking it was food.
The moment Parang approached, they would immediately unleash weird gimmicks and attack.
Because of this, every few minutes of swimming, something would abruptly pop out from behind with its jaws wide open.
An Eyeball would appear next to the Screen, and then something would suddenly pop out.
"Ah, I shouldn't show you this one. I'll turn off the Screen."
The Screen suddenly turned off with a click! and baby cries echoed from all directions, then,
"Ah, it's done now."
there were times when Parang would turn the Screen back on as if nothing had happened.
Jumpscares, a bizarre atmosphere, and even a suffocating tension.
Thank goodness it was a daytime broadcast; if it had been at dawn, ugh.
So when the Screen of Parang suddenly turned dark at a depth of 2 km in the sea, one could roughly guess how the Viewers reacted.
- Uhhh
- Yeah yeah it has started again
- The usual UFC
- Aaaargh
The Screen, which had been deep blue just a moment ago, suddenly went pitch black. She was plunged into complete darkness where she could not see even an inch ahead.
However, Parang did not turn off the Screen this time.
The vision of Parang had also turned completely black in an instant.
It was so dark that she could not even see her own hand right in front of her.
No matter how randomly the brightness varied in the Monster Fish Zone, it was never this chaotic.
Whether it was a Monster Fish, an Objet, or whatever. It meant an anomaly had occurred.
The Viewers who had been watching the broadcasts of Parang for a while also knew exactly what her Screen going dark meant.
It was a signal that something messed up was about to happen.
And that guess was almost always spectacularly correct, just like this time.
"Ah, so that is what it is."
Parang was the first to grasp the situation.
"It has been a while since I saw this."
Almost simultaneously with her vision turning black, she figured out what kind of Monster Fish had appeared, how to deal with it, and even how to use it for the broadcast.
Because of the broadcast delay, her perspective was ahead of the Viewers, and her knowledge of Monster Fish was also far superior.
First, since not only the Camera but also her own vision had turned completely black, this was not a Mental Attack. If it were, her Skill would have activated.
In other words, the current darkness was a physical phenomenon, much like gravity or heat conduction.
And when she tried to use Purification on the surrounding water as a test,
[ Skill, Clear Mirror, Still Water is active. ]
"Hmm, I can see perfectly."
She confirmed that she could see her own arm very clearly.
This meant that black pigment was dissolved in the water.
One specific Monster Fish crossed her mind.
It truly was a screwed up hunting method.
"The broadcasts have been lacking a bit of horror lately."
Casually thinking thoughts that would outrage anyone else who heard them, she resolved to make her precious Viewers feel what it was like to be hunted by Tenebris.
Tenebris. Darkness in Latin. Whoever named it chose a very intuitive name.
Normally, Monster Fish that utilize darkness for hunting can be divided into two behavioral patterns.
The first is ambush. Unlike normal Deep Sea Fish whose eyes have degenerated from living in naturally dark places, quite a few Monster Fish residing in the randomly lit Monster Fish Zone rely on vision, so they block the sight of their prey and then ambush them from a blind spot.
The second is luring.
It's a method of luring smaller Monster Fish by emitting light in the dark.
Any creature with the intelligence of a dolphin would easily see through the lure, but Monster Fish are just fish in the end.
Aside from a few special species, they usually just follow the light stupidly.
Tenebris belongs to the 'luring' type among them, but unlike other Monster Fish that just flick on a light, its level of luring is quite sophisticated.
This is because it makes its prey feel like they are 'escaping' from the dark, black space.
"It's a black pigment, like Ink. With this kind of Monster Fish, it's safer to escape the Ink first and then catch it from the outside."
Parang bluffed the Chat Window.
Of course, it was the standard method, but it was a method that absolutely wouldn't work against Tenebris.
Actually, it's better to stay still, detect its sound, and quickly finish it off.
But the Chat Window, completely unaware of this fact, cheered and clamored to get out of there, saying they hated dark places!
- I thought you were going to stop and say 'feel the cosmic horror'
- The absolute best
- Let's get out before it comes out
"Now, if you compare this side and that side, you can see the level of darkness is slightly different. I'll head towards the brighter side."
This is where the sophistication of Tenebris is revealed.
It controlled the amount of Ink so finely that only a Monster Fish sensitive enough to light to fall for the lure could detect the difference.
Parang continued to swim towards the faintly brighter side.
And just as the Viewers' expressions brightened along with the increasingly illuminated surroundings as she swam forward.
Crunch. Crackle.
Crackle. Crunch.
Grate, grate, grrrind.
Thud.
As if it had never been bright, as if someone had just flipped a switch.
The surroundings were plunged back into complete darkness.
Only then did Parang click on the Searchlight she had kept off.
"Everyone, you all just died once."
Realizing what had happened, they were already inside the jaws of the Monster Fish.
That thud sound was the sound of its mouth closing.
Inside, the Corpses of Monster Fish that had met a similar fate were scattered everywhere, and things that looked like fragments of Ships and Airplanes were randomly lodged in its mouth, acting as a second set of Teeth.
- ?
- ???
- Wait
- Is this a hallucination??
The Viewers' Heads spun from being backstabbed for the first time in a while.
They spun a second time realizing the thing that backstabbed them was a fish.
They spun a third time seeing Parang calmly continue her explanation, thinking, 'She's on her bullshit again.'
- The sea is seriously so fucking dangerous, fuck
She managed to pull out an incredibly desirable reaction.
#
Anyway, after going through such twists and turns.
Finally, at a depth of 2.7 km in the sea.
It was time to face the truth of the Bermuda Triangle.
Parang momentarily turned off the Camera Screen entirely.
- Wait, fuck
- What's with this forced closing of eyes
- Open your eyes
- Open your eyes
- She is on her fucking bullshit again ! ! !
Unable to accept the sudden change in the situation, blah blah blah.
Today, too, they ended up giving Parang the right to rule over their emotions.
"Ah, just wait a bit. Let me create a dramatic effect, too."
- A bitch whose daily life is a drama talking about dramatic, bullshit
"Ah."
A slight sting of conscience.
"Ahem! Ahem! Got it. I will show you in exactly 15 seconds."
- 15
- 15
- 14
Parang slowly and meticulously adjusted her position so that the entire view of the Hive would be revealed.
"10......9......8......."
If one had closely observed the characteristics of the Hives thus far, they would have noticed that they took the forms of Human civilization, things from Earth.
"Five......four......three......."
However, there is one thing we must point out here.
What exactly is the scope of 'things from Earth'?
Therefore, what are those 'modern artifacts' that the Hive imitated?
"3......2......1......."
Are they 'modern artifacts', or the artifacts of this World, a 'modern fantasy'?
"Now, this is the true nature of the Bermuda Triangle."
A massive Rift, a Weapon floating suspended in mid-air, an iron Barricade.
"It is the Bermuda Hive. We call it the 'Gate Defense Line'."
Could a 'Gate' really be considered a landscape of this Earth?
The Bermuda Hive provided the answer to that question: 'Yes.'
A Gate with a diameter of 700 meters appeared before them.