The Sea (1)
The sea. Father of all nature, origin of all birth. Thanks to the sea's existence, countless lives could emerge, and it can be called the source of water. No creature can survive without water—it'll just dry up and die—and that's why the sea is so vital.
But as the father of nature, the sea is stern. Stern to the extreme, and its depths are unknowable. Someone once said that even if humanity comprehends the entire universe, understanding the sea would take even longer.
Sea levels determine whether people live or die. The sea is intimately tied to daily life, yet it's complex and dangerous.
Shooooaaaa—
Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind. It looked like a color made from melting sapphire crystals. A flat sandy beach without any muddy tidal flats. Waves gently lapping at the shore. On the surface, it was an ordinary, beautiful sea.
Salt-tinged wind and seagulls soaring freely in the sky. Utterly peaceful.
But you absolutely can't let your guard down around it.
Shooooaaaaaaa!
I turned my head, and my eyes fell on the river connected to the sea. Strangely, the colors were sharply divided, clearly separating river from sea. Another breathtaking sight.
But reality was different.
'...The sea is flowing into the river?'
The sea is where rivers settle. It's safe to say nearly every river flows into the sea. At least, that's my "common knowledge." I'd never heard of the reverse.
And right now, I was witnessing that common knowledge shatter before my eyes.
'No way...'
When I first encountered the sea, the despair wasn't that overwhelming. I'd found rivers branching off in other directions midway, and there were explorable areas.
But seeing seawater surging back into the river made my head spin. All common sense collapsing. I had to question if this was really the "environment" I knew.
'Is this really the sea...? Gotta confirm...'
My mentality cracking a bit, I decided to verify if this was truly the sea. The salty wind could be from somewhere else. I needed to taste it.
"Ptooey! Ptui! Ptu! Ptueh!"
Briny saltwater, mixed with sand. That confirmed it was the sea. The occasional waves crashing ashore backed it up.
What did I find following the river? Sea!
YasaengGrill (photo of vast ocean) (photo of sea surging fiercely into river)
That's right, the sea! Weirdly, it's not flowing from river to sea, but from sea to river! Fantasy worlds are so bizarre! Why do only crazy things keep happening?! Do I have to swim across that ocean to escape? Someone teach me!
└Cheonma What a beautiful sea. But are you alright? Despair seeps from your words.
└SwordTasteStar He's not alright at all. Read the room, please;;
└Cheonma Is this lady at fault?
└SwordTasteStar Yes. Just shut up and cheer him on right now.
└Cheonma You reek of no social experience;;
└ㄹㅇ If she's a boomer, that's one thing, but otherwise she sounds like a girlfriend.
└ㄴㄴ Nobles have tons like that. Spoiled rotten, no clue about social cues.
└Especially late-born kids, the worse it gets.
└StarlightPrincess Never seen sea flowing into a river... Is it really the sea?
└YasaengGrill Yeah. Tasted it just in case. Super salty.
└StarlightPrincess Hmm... Hang in there. I got nothing to say either.
└YasaengGrill No cases of sea flowing into rivers, right?
└StarlightPrincess Cases or not, in a world shaped by the gods, that's impossible. What the hell is the Four Seasons Forest...?
└YasaengGrill Maybe the gods are incompetent?
└Don'tAbandonHero No blasphemy!! Goddess is perfect!
└YasaengGrill Perfect my ass lololol This forest alone proves it doesn't make sense?
└Don'tAbandonHero Still, don't badmouth her! There must be a reason!
└YasaengGrill I'll curse the reason when I hear it. Or just curse anyway.
└Don'tAbandonHero Just don't curse!!!
└Olfather Sea flowing into river... Could I see more footage?
└YasaengGrill (video 2 of sea surging into river) Want more?
└Olfather No, that's enough. This... I don't know either. Completely defies natural laws. No clue.
└Isn't it like lake and sea roles swapped?
└But Grill, river water wasn't salty?
└YasaengGrill Yeah, not salty at all. Totally normal.
└That's weird too. Why not?
└It won't even let you get close;;
The Gallery was in chaos. A phenomenon defying the world's laws had popped up—naturally. Even in a fantasy-martial arts mashup world, nature follows similar rules.
Well, a world where space twists randomly and seas flow backward would be insane. Unlivable for humans. Normalcy is best.
Just to check, no spatial distortions or sea backflows here, right? This place is the weird one?
└Nope. If that was daily life, the world'd be doomed.
└Occasional space-slicing monsters, but exceptions.
└We got common sense too, Grill;;
└YasaengGrill Whew. Asked just in case. Everyone says it's abnormal. Rare cases of massive forces clashing and twisting space, but super exceptional. And mostly "artificial" forces. Nature causing this? Impossible.
'Anyway, it's ridiculously vast for no reason.'
Only sea as far as the horizon. Unlike the open horizon, my heart felt clogged tight. What now? The sea was so damn wide, plans weren't forming.
'Look around first. Gotta find some traces.'
The backflowing river meant no getting lost. Plus, clean sandy beach made movement easy.
'Might be weird shit living here, so stay cautious.'
That said, I wasn't dropping my guard. Too many suspicions. First, it was too quiet. Lakeside was constant brawls. River too. Just before here, some spotted beast flew by.
But this sea? Eerily silent.
'Too clean too.'
Second, the beach was spotless. No animal tracks. Lakeside had at least small critters; here, zilch. Meant powerful beasts lurked. Unsettling with every step.
Shooooaaaa!
'Not just one river.'
Soon, another river. Sea backflowing again. Following it with my eyes, I saw jungle thicker than my forest home. Dense trees, all green. True jungle.
Might head there someday.
'Not just jungle.'
Beyond: snowy mountains, desert, swamp, volcano, etc. Might need to go there for escape clues. But if I did, hope for escape would be slim. Even adapted and strong as I am, those places are brutal.
'Just to die...'
Drdrdrdr!
Staring at the jungle entrance, lost in thought—the ground shook. Shakes never brought good. I instantly went on alert.
'Where? Coming from...'
Puak!
Searching the source frantically, something burst from the sand. Mostly red, taller than me. Suckers visible. Octopus leg, no doubt.
Whirlik!
"Gah!"
The octopus leg from the sand wrapped my leg and yanked. So sudden, I nearly dropped sword and shield. As it dragged me under, I slashed it free.
Sek!
Leg severed easily. Trembling in pain? I jumped up, geared ready. The clinging leg on mine? Deal later.
Puak! Puaak!
One leg cut pissed it off bad. Multiple legs surged from sand. Tentacle-like wriggling. I pondered, chose frontal breakthrough. Escape first.
Shiiik!
One leg charged. Not binding—stabbing down from above. Others attacked too: stabbing, whipping, grabbing. Varied assaults dizzied me, but I stayed calm.
'Close ones first!'
Dodged stab, barely blocked whip with shield. Preemptively slashed binding tentacle.
Sek!
Chunk of leg gone. Others flinched in pain? I bolted.
Endless fight favors them. Chwaaak!
Legs pursued. Severed ones stopped short; others didn't. Had to fight. Better than all sides.
'Dodge, shield block, sword slash.'
Couldn't dodge? Shield. Blocking needed speed. No counter? Endless loop. Each attack mattered, but I had Cheonma's sword and aura.
Aura extended sword range hugely.
Sek! Sek!
-Kuuuuwuuu!
Repeating, cutting legs—strange sound from sand. Body screaming in pain, probably. Good.
Chwaak! Chak!
Finally retreating. Legs vanished into sand. I panted, then steadied breath. Ambush nearly killed me stupidly. Good I sensed it.
'But really an octopus?'
Suckers say yes. But octopuses in sand...?
'Nah. No common sense here.'
I shook my head. Meaningless anyway. How many times has common sense been denied here? Can't rely on it. Sand-dwelling octopus? Fine.
'Land's like this—what's in the sea?'
I turned to the sea. Origin of life. What monsters lurk there? Already scary, but work left.
'Octopus this side—go opposite.'
Escape clues. Top priority.
'I'll get out. Definitely.'