Elevator (3)

A low, eerie cry echoed through the cave. The wail coming from deep within felt like the cave itself—a monstrous beast—howling in agony.

An ordinary person wouldn't dare approach. Even Yeon Dae-ri, with her extraordinary past, was visibly swallowing hard in tension.

"Hmm..."

But only I felt something entirely different from everyone else. Because I'd heard that cry before.

To be precise, it was a little different.

Not the creature itself, but one of its kin? A friend? A comrade's voice.

A deep-sea entity.

The ones that had helped me countless times before. My... subordinates? Anyway, Shin-nim's minions sounded exactly like that.

The meaning embedded in the cry was clear enough to me.

"I'm hungry?"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

The thing was whining about being hungry. Starved for quite a while, to the point of considering gnawing off its own arm.

If Yeon Dae-ri had come here alone...

Yeah. Better not think about it.

The important thing was that I was by her side now. I cautiously moved closer to her and began my desperate acting.

"What's in there?"

"I don't know. But we definitely need to be careful."

"Ugh..."

The closer we got, the louder the cries became. I exaggeratedly trembled my body on purpose.

Yeon Dae-ri looked at me with worry, then clenched a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠red talisman as if she'd made up her mind.

What's that?

Blood-red paper with gold writing. It screamed "ace in the hole."

I wanted to end this before she used it, if possible.

But how?

When it came to actually resolving it, a problem arose. To calm the monster, I'd have to communicate with it. In front of her?

No way.

If I said, "Hey, I know this monster, and we can talk it out!" she'd never buy it. She'd think I was mind-controlled or the secret villain.

"Hmm..."

As I pondered, the cave widened into a spacious underground cavern. And in the center stood a deep-sea entity sealed with black iron chains and dozens of talismans.

[Gruk?]

It stared blankly into space, then turned its bulging fish eyes toward us at the sound. Suddenly, it thrashed in a frenzy.

As with any seal, it strained against the bonds, cracking them bit by bit. Soon the chains snapped completely, and most talismans fell away.

"Stay back."

"...Got it."

She assumed a fighting stance and pushed me behind her. I stepped back from the cavern entrance and watched her back.

Then I waited a moment.

"Eek?!"

Smack!

I struck the back of her head. She never imagined a sneak attack from me and crumpled unconscious. I'd adjusted the spell carefully—no injury, just knockout.

"Thanks for today. Leave the rest to me."

"Ugh..."

I picked her up, carried her to a corner of the cavern, and turned to the growling creature in the distance.

I'd spoken so it could understand, but starvation had driven it mad. Chattering sharp teeth and drooling thick saliva—it wouldn't go down easy.

"Haa... what a pain."

I whipped it with the already-summoned tentacle. It flew with a boom, slamming into the cavern wall. Any normal beast would've died from that blow, but this was a starved deep-sea monster.

Tentacles were my basic attack. But they didn't work here. I'd need something stronger.

Summons were out—might hit Yeon Dae-ri. Too strong an attack risked collapsing the cave if it didn't kill it outright.

"Hmm..."

One came to mind. I decided to test it, scraping my palm to draw blood.

The scent drove it berserk.

I drew a magic circle and cast.

It made panicked noises. I stepped back and watched.

At first, it thrashed wildly against the fear. Gradually, it succumbed, movements slowing.

I approached and spoke.

The spell blocked everything but the caster's voice—and amplified it. It reacted to my booming tone, realized the situation, panicked, then bowed in submission.

It even answered questions properly. We exchanged simple Q&A.

Got it. Deep-sea entity from the Sixth Sea. Roughly speaking...

"Dayfly?"

Like a deep-sea dayfly. Sealed and trapped here for decades.

I gave it a chance to live. It sprang up and led me to a crevice cleverly hidden by rocks—a narrow staircase for one person.

The escape route.

"Good job."

I hoisted the unconscious Yeon Dae-ri onto my back and climbed, leaving it behind. It'd escape on its own now that the seal was broken. Just in case...

I climbed the narrow, endlessly long stairs. Not tiring, but starting to doubt.

"Did it lie?"

Should I go back and deal with it? Then, on what I'd thought was the wall...

An elevator appeared out of nowhere.

"Ridiculous."

An elevator midway up the stairs? Bizarre structure, perfectly anomalous.

I pressed the open button and stepped in with Yeon Dae-ri.

"..."

Doors closed. It moved on its own again. Time to wake her—I gently shook her.

"Nngh... Where..."

"You okay?"

She groggily assessed, then bolted upright, scanning around.

"Wh-where's the monster?! Manager Kim, are you alright?!"

"Calm down, calm."

I soothed her panicked flailing on my back and let her look around. Realizing it was an elevator, she relaxed a bit.

"A monster appeared in the cave."

"How'd we escape...?"

"The two monsters suddenly started fighting. I snuck you out then."

Luckily, my improv worked. She sighed in relief and leaned her head on my back, tension draining away.

Uh... miss, you're still on my back?

"When are you getting off...?"

"Ahh?! S-sorry!"

She hopped off in a flurry, face red with embarrassment. A strange atmosphere filled the elevator.

Hmm... alone with a beauty like this? Not bad, but the aftermath scares me.

Bad dreams incoming.

Whenever I chat long with a woman or get setup suggestions from friends, I dream of tentacles going wiggly wiggly at me. Even as a dream, recalling it...

"This elevator's taking forever."

"Y-yeah."

I shook off the thought and changed topics. Indeed, this one dragged on, carrying us somewhere.

Time to wrap this up...

Mysterious company. Sealed deep-sea cave. That should suffice. Send us home already.

As if reading my mind—or not—the elevator stopped again.

"Now where's this?"

It dumped us in yet another weird space.