The Sea (1)

The sea.

The father of all nature, the primordial cradle from which every form of life first arose.

Only because the sea existed could countless living beings emerge into the world. It was the ultimate wellspring of all water. Deprived of moisture, any creature would wither and perish; thus, nothing held greater significance than the ocean.

Yet as fitting for nature's stern patriarch, the sea was unforgiving. It was harsh beyond measure, its true depths incomprehensible. Someone once remarked that even if humanity came to fathom every secret of the cosmos, unraveling the ocean would take far longer still. A minor rise or fall in sea level dictated whether humankind could thrive or perish. The sea was intertwined with the very fabric of mortal existence, yet endlessly intricate and lethally dangerous.

Swooooosh—

A sudden thought crossed my mind as I stood on the shore. The water looked as though someone had liquefied azure sapphires into a vast, shimmering expanse. Flat, golden sands stretched out without a trace of muddy tidal silt, lapped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gently by calm, rhythmic waves. At a glance, it was the picture of an ordinary, breathtaking ocean.

A breeze scented with brine brushed my skin while gulls wheeled effortlessly through the open sky. It was undeniably peaceful. But out here, yielding to appearances was a fatal mistake.

Ruuuumble—crash!

I turned my head toward a wide river channel merging with the shore. Oddly enough, the boundary between river and sea was razor-sharp, distinct bands of contrasting color refusing to blend.

It made for a mesmerizing spectacle. But reality told a horrifyingly different story.

…The ocean is flowing into the river?

The sea is supposed to be the terminus of a river. Nearly every waterway in existence empties into the ocean. At least, that was the fundamental law of nature I grew up with. Never in my life had I heard of the reverse occurring. Yet right before my eyes, that very law of common sense lay shattered to pieces.

This makes zero sense…

When I first encountered the sea, I hadn't felt an overwhelming sense of despair. Along the way, I had spotted a tributary winding in another direction, offering viable terrain to explore. But the moment I watched seawater surge in reverse, climbing violently upstream against the river current, a dizzying nausea seized my skull.

It was the collapse of fundamental reality. I genuinely doubted whether this place could still be called a natural environment.

Is this… really even an ocean? I have to check.

With my sanity fraying at the edges, I felt an urgent need to confirm the truth. The sea breeze certainly carried salt, but that could have drifted from somewhere else. I wouldn't rest easy until I tasted it with my own tongue.

I scooped a palmful and took a sip.

"Pfft! Blegh! Ptui! Ptui!"

Bitter, stinging brine flooded my mouth, gritty with fine sand. There was no mistaking it: pure seawater. The intermittent surge of waves crashing against the shore only confirmed it.

The Gallery was thrown into complete turmoil. It was only natural, considering a phenomenon violating the fundamental order of the world had just presented itself.

No matter how bizarre a world blending high fantasy and Murim martial arts might be, basic natural laws seemed largely consistent across realms. Any world where space warped indiscriminately and oceans routinely climbed backwards up riverbeds would be utter madness. A place like that was unlivable. Normalcy was always best.

I had asked just in case, and everyone agreed this was completely abnormal. They mentioned that space could distort when titanic powers clashed, but those were rare exceptions—and virtually all such occurrences stemmed from artificial interventions. In raw, untouched nature, such phenomena were supposedly impossible.

Leaving that aside… this damn ocean is way too ridiculously vast.

Beyond the horizon, nothing met my gaze except more water. In stark contrast to the wide-open expanse stretching into infinity, a suffocating weight settled heavily upon my chest. How on earth was I supposed to proceed? The sheer scale of the sea made formulating a plan feel impossible.

Let's scout the perimeter first. I need to look for tracks or clues.

Thanks to the surging river, there was no danger of losing my bearings, and the firm, pristine sand made trekking relatively easy. Still, that didn't mean I could let my guard down.

Something bizarre could easily be lurking here. Stay sharp.

Too many red flags stood out. The first was the unnatural silence. Back at the lake, beasts were constantly brawling, tearing into each other for territory. The river had been no different—right before reaching the coast, hadn't I witnessed some spotted predator get flung through the air? Yet here, despite being an ocean shore, an eerie hush enveloped everything.

And the beach is far too clean.

That was the second warning sign. The expanse of sand was entirely immaculate, devoid of even the faintest paw print or tail mark. By the lake, there were at least small crabs scuttling around, but here, not a single organism was in sight. Such pristine isolation almost certainly meant an apex predator claimed this territory. Every step forward made the hairs on my neck prickle.

Ruuuumble—crash!

Wait, that's not the only river.

Before long, I spotted another wide channel feeding inward from the coast, seawater surging upstream in the exact same unnatural manner. Tracing its path with my eyes, I noticed a dense, suffocating woodland far more overgrown than the forest surrounding my shelter.

Tightly packed canopies formed an unbroken sea of vibrant emerald foliage. It was, in every sense of the word, a primeval jungle. Someday, my search might force me into that green hell.

And it won't just be jungles, either.

Across the river, I had caught glimpses of snowy peaks, deserts, volcanic crags, and desolate ash swamps. If finding a clue to escaping this forest required scouring every corner, I might have to traverse every single one of those biomes. But stepping into such death zones would likely mean my hopes of survival had already worn down to the bone. No matter how much I grew stronger to adapt to this wilderness, those were places humanity was never meant to endure.

That would basically be walking straight to my…

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

Right as my mind drifted while gazing toward the jungle's threshold, the ground beneath my feet violently shuddered. Tremors in this forest had never once heralded good news. In an instant, I dropped into a combat stance.

Where? Where is it coming from—

KRAAA-SH!

Before I could pinpoint the source of the vibration, the beach erupted. A massive, blood-red tentacle burst through the sand, towering far above my height, lined with rows of glistening suckers. To any observer, it was unmistakably the arm of an octopus.

Whhhhip!

"Whoa—!"

The tentacle whipped through the air, coiled around my ankle, and yanked with terrifying force. The strike was so sudden I nearly lost my grip on my sword and shield. In the fraction of a second before it dragged me beneath the suffocating sands, I swung my blade with all my might.

Slash!

The flesh parted effortlessly beneath the Heavenly Demon's Sword. The severed limb shuddered violently in agony, writhing across the ground. I scrambled back to my feet, tightening my grip on my gear. The fleshy cuff still clinging to my leg would have to wait; surviving took precedence.

KRA-BOOM! THWIP! THWIP!

Enraged by the loss of its tentacle, the creature under the sand retaliated with fury. Multiple massive arms erupted through the beach, thrashing wildly like writhing whips. Faced with the sudden siege, I chose a head-on breakthrough. Escaping this immediate kill zone had to come first.

Fwiiiish!

One of the thick red arms plummeted from above, seeking to impale me into the sand rather than ensnare my limbs. Nor were the other appendages idling. Some lashed horizontally like monstrous bullwhips, while others swept low along the ground to snare my footing. The dizzying flurry of attacks threatened to overwhelm my senses, but I forced my breathing steady, narrowing my focus.

Target whatever gets closest!

I sidestepped the plunging spear strike, threw my weight behind my shield to deflect a whistling whip blow with a concussive clang, and pivoted to sever the arm sweeping for my ankles.

Shink!

Another massive chunk of tentacle was cleaved clean through. The remaining limbs recoiled in a shudder of pain. I seized the opening and sprinted.

Protracted combat here was a losing proposition. The beast held every advantage while buried beneath the earth.

Chwaaaak!

The moment I bolted, the tentacles gave chase, churning through the sand in relentless pursuit. The limbs I had amputated fell short due to their truncated reach, but fresh, undamaged arms surged forward with terrifying speed.

In the end, combat was unavoidable. Still, facing them from a single direction as I retreated was infinitely better than being surrounded on all sides.

Dodge, block with the shield, sever with the sword.

What I couldn't evade, I caught squarely on my shield, each deflection demanding razor-sharp reflexes. Merely blocking was a death sentence; failure to counterattack would lock me in an endless cycle of attrition. Every single strike had to count. Fortunately, in my hands rested the Heavenly Demon's Sword—and flowing through it was pure Aura.

Aura extended my blade's lethal reach far beyond its physical steel, cleaving arcs through the air.

Slash! Shk-shink!

—SKREEEEE-OOOOH!

As I systematically hacked through arm after arm, a muffled, guttural howl reverberated from deep beneath the sand. The core beast was shrieking in agony. Serves you right, bastard.

Shwush! Chwa-shhh!

Realizing it had picked a fight with the wrong prey, the creature finally broke off its assault. The thrashing red appendages recoiled and burrowed back down into the sand, vanishing beneath the earth.

I leaned on my sword, chest heaving raggedly before I managed to regulate my breath. That ambush had nearly cost me my life. Had I not sensed the unnatural emptiness of the beach and braced myself beforehand, I would have been dragged under and suffocated in seconds.

…Was that really an octopus?

The suckers certainly looked like one. But an octopus living under dry sand…?

No. Stop trying to apply normal logic.

I gave my head a firm shake. Wondering about biology here was an exercise in futility. How many times had this godforsaken forest already trampled my common sense into the dirt? Relying on past logic was a death trap. In a place like this, an octopus dwelling under sand dunes didn't even rank among the weirdest anomalies.

If the dry land is already this unhinged… what kind of nightmare lives inside the actual ocean?

I turned to look out over the glittering, sapphire sea. The cradle of all life. Just what manner of Leviathan roamed beneath those deceptively serene blue waves?

Dread gnawed at my gut, but standing still wouldn't solve a damn thing.

Since that sand-octopus claims this side, I'll explore the opposite direction.

Finding a trace, a clue, any path toward escaping this realm—that remained my absolute priority.

I'm getting out of here.

No matter what it takes.