I Saved Someone and Became a Mermaid
When I agreed to hit the bathing beach with my childhood friend, I never dreamed my day would end like this.
"Hey, let's go in a little deeper."
"No way. It's plenty deep enough right here."
"What's the point of coming all the way to the beach if you're just going to wade around waist-deep?"
"If I drown out there, are you gonna save me?"
"Of course! You think I'd just leave you to die?"
Grinning, my friend grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me deeper into the water. Being midsummer, the bathing beach was packed with vacationers. Children splashed near the shallows, people drifted along on swim rings, and plenty of folks were hanging out in groups of friends just like us. Before long, swept along by his enthusiasm, I found myself splashing around and actually having a good time.
"Man, I'm beat. I'm heading out."
"Already?"
"What do you mean 'already'? We've been in here forever."
"Tsk, tsk. Your stamina is absolute garbage."
"Then have fun playing by yourself."
I grumbled a retort and turned to head toward the shore, leaving him behind, when a panicked shout suddenly rang out not far away.
"Someone out there can't get back in!"
I reflexively whipped my head around. A short distance away, a person was thrashing violently, bobbing above the surface before sinking back under again and again.
"Hey! Someone's drowning!"
At my yell, my friend stiffened, realizing what was happening. Belatedly, an uproar rippled through the surrounding crowd.
"Someone's drowning!"
"Hurry, call a lifeguard!"
In the distance, I spotted a lifeguard sprinting in our direction, but the drowning beachgoer slipped beneath the waves. The moment they vanished, my body moved on instinct.
"Hey!"
Ignoring my friend shouting behind me, I kicked off and swam straight toward the spot. I didn't have any lifesaving training, but I knew that if I waited for the lifeguard to get there, that person would sink to the bottom first.
Pumping my arms with everything I had, I closed the distance just as their head breached the surface once more, gasping for air.
"Are you okay?!"
No answer came. The moment they saw me, primal survival took over, and they flailed desperately, clawing at whatever they could reach.
"Wait—calm down!"
They latched onto me so violently that they nearly dragged me under with them. Managing to slip behind them, I hooked my arms around their chest and began kicking toward shore. Hauling another human being through the water drained my lungs and muscles at terrifying speed. Fortunately, the lifeguard was closing in fast from the opposite direction.
"Hand them over to me!"
The second the lifeguard's shout reached my ears, I shoved the person forward with the last ounce of my strength. Tension drained from my limbs as I watched the guard secure them and head for shore.
"Haa..."
All I have to do is head back now.
I tried to kick forward, but my body refused to obey. Fighting my way out of the deep had burned through every shred of stamina I had; my arms and legs hung like dead weights. Slowly, inevitably, I began to sink.
My friend was screaming something from the beach, but his voice was muffled and distant. Seeing him standing safely on dry land, having likely been ushered out by the safety staff, brought a brief wave of relief. But that relief was instantly swallowed by sheer, icy terror.
Wait... Am I actually going to die here?
My burning lungs gave out. Seawater rushed in through my nose and mouth, and everything went black.
How much time had passed?
As my fading consciousness trickled back, I slowly opened my eyes. Only one thought crossed my mind.
...Did I survive?
Evidently, I wasn't dead.
They say good deeds don't go unrewarded. Someone must have pulled me out.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I moved to push myself up—only to freeze at the sight before me. Long, iridescent strands of hair I had never seen before in my life were floating weightlessly in the water.
"...?"
Just then, a small fish darted past my nose. I stared blankly at it, an eerie sensation prickling across my skin as I turned to look around. No matter how I looked at it, I was deep underwater.
"What the...?"
The moment the words left my lips, I stiffened in pure disbelief. Not only had my voice carried clearly through the water, but I was breathing. Naturally. Easily. I drew in several breaths and let them out, yet instead of choking or drowning, the rhythm was as smooth and effortless as air.
"What is going on? I'm clearly underwater..."
When I spoke, the voice that came out belonged unmistakably to a strange woman. Panic set in, but my first instinct was to get to the surface. I tried to kick my legs to swim up.
Except... the sensation was completely wrong. I looked straight down.
"...?!"
My brain short-circuited on the spot. Where two legs were supposed to be, there was something I had never seen attached to my body.
What in the world is this?
Reaching down tentatively, I brushed my fingers against the scales. A sleek, cool texture registered against my fingertips—and simultaneously, my lower half felt the touch just as vividly. Startled, I jerked my hand away, causing the fin at the tip of the tail to twitch.
Still, this couldn't possibly be real. Wondering if I was trapped in some bizarre hallucination, I willed my lower body to move. The long, shimmering tail curved gracefully through the water, following my exact intent.
No matter how hard I stared, the sight remained utterly alien. My hands scrambled to feel where my thighs ought to be. Refusing to believe my own eyes, I gripped the tail and checked it over and over, but repeated groping changed nothing.
"This is... actually my body...?"
Before sinking beneath the waves, I had undeniably been a man. Yet now, not only had I woken up as a woman, but I possessed the tail of a mermaid.
As I hovered there in dazed panic, an unfamiliar voice suddenly chimed in from the side.
"You have finally awakened."
Startled, I whipped around. A short distance away stood a group of women I had never seen before.
Wait... They're not standing.
Looking closer, none of them had legs either. Below their waists stretched fish tails covered in scales of various vibrant hues. One of them glided forward to meet me.
"The Dragon King is waiting for you."
"Excuse me? The Dragon King?"
"Yes. We understand your confusion, but His Majesty will explain everything you wish to know."
The mere mention of the Dragon King sounded absurd, but given my current anatomy, I was hardly in a position to argue folklore. I attempted to follow them, only to freeze when I realized I had no idea how to propel myself.
"...How am I supposed to move with this?"
"Allow me to assist you."
One of the mermaids took me gently by the arm. Guided by her side, we glided through the depths until, before long, a colossal, breathtaking palace materialized amidst the azure gloom.
Holy crap... That's a real-life Dragon Palace.
My jaw dropped at the spectacle. Escorted inside the palace, we were led to the innermost chamber where a solitary figure awaited our arrival.
"We have brought her, Your Majesty."
"You have done well."
As the attendants bowed and withdrew, I stared at the distinguished man seated before me.
"Are you... the Dragon King?"
"I am."
"Then do you know why I ended up like this?"
The Dragon King gave a slow, measured nod.
"I witnessed thee rescuing a drowning mortal."
At his words, the events right before blacking out rushed back to me.
"What about them? Did they survive?"
"They returned safely to land, whole and alive. Thou didst deliver them into the hands of another mortal."
"Ah... thank goodness."
It was a tremendous relief to know the person I had risked my life for hadn't died after all.
"Thou, on the other hand, didst drown after saving that soul. Deeming thy selfless sacrifice in the face of mortal peril most admirable, I granted thee new life."
"Wait, what? Drowned? It just felt like I blacked out and woke back up..."
"Naturally. For the vessel thou now inhabitest is newly bestowed."
"I can't really wrap my head around it... But basically, you're the one who gave me a second chance at life?"
"Thou speakest truly."
A tangle of emotions swirled inside my chest. Even so, if he had truly salvaged a life that was already snuffed out, I owed him nothing short of gratitude. Yet, my gaze dropped back down to the long, scaled tail.
"I'm grateful you saved me, really... But why did I have to become a mermaid?"
"Having received new life within the ocean, thou hast been reborn as kin of the sea."
"Then why am I a woman? I was a guy before this."
"I am aware."
"Aren't there any male merfolk? I don't understand why I had to be female."
The Dragon King replied offhandedly, as though discussing the weather.
"Alas, male merfolk do not exist in this realm. Moreover, when granted entirely new life, is it not natural for the vessel to change?"
"With all due respect, it's insanely weird to me..."
Who on earth could shrug off their gender suddenly flipping overnight? But then, an even graver problem dawned on me.
"Wait a second. Does this mean I have to live down here from now on?"
"Thou art under no such obligation. If thou so desirest, thou mayest return to the land."
"In this body?"
I gathered the tip of my tail into my hands and hoisted it up. I hadn't even mastered swimming yet; there was no way I could flop around on dry land like this.
"While on land, so long as the sun is in the sky, I shall grant thee two human legs. However, once the sun dips below the horizon, thou shalt return to the form thou seest now."
"What? A human by day, and a mermaid by night...?"
"Precisely."
"Haa..."
I pressed a hand against my forehead.
What is this, a fairy tale?
Nothing about this made any sense, but at the end of the day, it beat being dead. After a brief, heavy silence, another critical detail struck me.
"Wait a minute."
I glanced down at my body, then looked back up at the Dragon King.
"Just to be completely sure... When I turn into a human, do I go back to looking like the guy I used to be?"
"Thou dost not."
"...Huh?"
"That former body is already deceased. Thy current form shall merely have its tail replaced with two legs."
"So I stay a woman?!"
"Indeed."
Staring at the Dragon King, struck speechless by his answer, my mind went entirely blank.
First chapter
Latest chapter