Chapter 282
Chapter 282
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 282
Chapter Title: 89. Partner (10)
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Something blocked Yoo Ji-tae's path.
There were a lot of them.
In tune with the current pulling organisms toward the seafloor, they surrounded him in a circle at a moderate distance.
They were mermaids.
Guardians of this sea and the turtle.
At the same time, they were janitors cleaning up the trash scattered across the ocean.
Squid-like faces. Human-like bodies extending downward from there. But their thick hides resembled armor, and the glittering scales on the surface looked like they were made by attaching small daggers.
...Probably something like that.
Because Yoo Ji-tae couldn't see right now.
So why had they come here? The turtle must have sent them.
It was a tricky situation.
His words about undergoing the trial in the same circumstances as Yeoreum weren't a lie. He had released all his blessings and powers to the point of foolishness, even by his own standards.
Because of that, he couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He even felt the passage of time slipping away just as intensely as Yeoreum did.
"――."
"――."
Muttering something, they approached.
He pondered briefly.
If he drew on his power here, the turtle above would definitely notice. He could kill the turtle if he wanted, but it would unnecessarily escalate things, wasting time and energy—a hassle.
It would also ruin Yeoreum's training.
On the other hand, the deeper he went into the seafloor, the more elements battered his mind. Some were things even he wanted to avoid if possible.
Illusions that sapped the will to live. And auditory hallucinations. Like poison a hunter injects into prey.
Just staying still would be mentally taxing, and there were so many of them. Due to the neural accelerators, their movements would feel slow. Fighting might subjectively take months.
So what to do...
He mulled this over right up until the tip of a spear flew toward his brow at the standoff's end.
Finally, he made a decision.
It was a decision for Yeoreum's sake.
He let go of the girl's hand.
It's fine. There's no way he'd abandon me. Being dependent isn't good. He called me his partner. He has his own thoughts. It's all for my sake. He's struggling too. He's in pain. I felt it myself.
With a thousand such excuses, she tried to make sense of the situation when emotions suddenly surged up.
Why let go of my hand?
Why?
After coming this far, why let go of my hand!?
What's going on!? Tell me! Let me know too!
Why suddenly like this? Is it really to teach me?
Or did something appear? Why are you panicking?
What's there to panic about!? You know the whole structure down here! Was that all a lie? If things get bad, you put your powers back on, rescue me, and we leave, right? Why panic!
Tell me! Hurry! Say something in my head! Huh!?
I, I, I'm gonna die!
Come back quick and grab my hand!
Huh?
Huh? Huh?
Huhhuuuuh!?
Ah...
Or is it that...?
Did my slap on the back of your hand bother you that much?
It did hurt a bit, right? Something warm flowed from the back of your hand. That was blood... I didn't realize because I wasn't in my right mind then.
It must've irritated you. Especially when you're struggling too...
I didn't mean to do it because I wanted to...
I won't do it again. Okay?
I'll just hold your hand nicely from now on. Okay?
Come back. Come grab my hand. Okay? Please.
...Okay?
Aaah...
No. I got it completely wrong.
I get it now.
It's because I was too dependent. That's the problem.
Yeah. That must be it.
As partners, we should help each other. But I've been leaning on you too much alone. You said desperation is key to gathering mana, right?
Of course, you brought me here even after I said I was scared...
Ah, not that I'm making excuses...
So. You need time for me to overcome it on my own. That's the goal—to make me struggle to survive. That's why you let go.
So, if I endure the hardship, you'll come back, right?
You'll come grab my hand again...?
Right...?
......
Still, if you're coming, come quick.
I'm no good at waiting...
...Yeoreum waited.
But time passed.
And passed again.
Yoo Ji-tae did not return.
The neural accelerators seeped into such a Yeoreum's body. Like ink spreading. It entered her heart and mind, taking root.
This vicious substance, potent enough to disrupt even an adult dragon's nerves if injected generously, drastically accelerated time in the world of Yeoreum's mind.
Subjectively, she waited ten days.
The silver lining was that she didn't need to move. Her body was diving on its own, riding the current.
Yeoreum curled up and passed the time. Like an animal in hibernation. Like a dragon sleeping through long ages.
Her breathing sometimes rose to her throat.
The diaphragm contractions, like punches to the solar plexus, gradually shortened in cycle later on.
By now, the mental torment was bearable.
But her body didn't seem to agree.
When the diaphragm contracted, her body curled involuntarily. Neck tendons pulled taut. Her hand automatically covered her mouth.
Urk, urk. Enduring the suffocating agony.
Yeoreum recalled a field trip to a place called 'Wind Valley' with Gaeul long ago.
The wind there had been so cool.
Gaeul had spread her arms wide and inhaled deeply, saying it felt great, urging her sister to try... She hadn't then, but now she wanted to.
So Yeoreum unconsciously inhaled, snapping alert as water rushed into her nose.
She sneezed repeatedly, holding her breath again.
Even waiting, Yoo Ji-tae didn't come.
...Subjectively, she waited a month.
The initial cold froze her skin. Made her flesh shiver.
Shivering, then briefly okay, then shivering again...
One might think she'd get used to the cold after repeating that. But no.
Her fingertips and toes were especially cold; Yeoreum kept clenching and unclenching her fists, curling her toes nonstop.
Later, they grew so cold and painful she wanted to cut them off from her body.
After shivering for a month in the cold, it seemed like a pretty good idea.
Fortunately, polymorph allowed human body regeneration, making it feasible.
So Yeoreum put her fingers in her mouth.
Teeth. Closed.
Adding force to her jaw. Flesh. Muscle. Bone. Snapped in sequence.
――.
Something snapped.
It was fine.
She couldn't see anyway. No snapping sound. Taste and smell were already dulled. Pain flickered briefly.
Yeoreum spat out what was in her mouth.
The severed fingers were no longer cold.
Nine left.
By then, Yeoreum was no longer sane.
Then she remembered something from before. Whenever she lay sprawled in the living room, Bom would nag. Something about a female human's belly needing to be warm... She recalled her fussing with a blanket.
That memory surfacing, Yeoreum placed her palm on her stomach.
Her belly was ice-cold.
A blanket would be nice...
But even lowering her head, her mouth couldn't reach it.
One lingering worry: when Yoo Ji-tae tried to grab her hand, would he panic if her fingers were all gone?
But waiting, Yoo Ji-tae didn't come.
...It had been quite a while since Yeoreum lost her 'sight' and 'hearing' to the deep sea's mana.
And around a subjective month later, she lost 'smell' and 'taste' too.
The only sense left was touch. It was her sole anchor to knowing she was alive in the world and perceiving time's flow.
Pain from touching wounds let her confirm she lived.
Closing her eyes, the faint heartbeat shaking her body let her grasp 'absolute time.'
But around a subjective half-year later.
Pain weakened. The heartbeat felt fainter.
Disorienting.
Until then, she could distinguish self from world.
Water flow outside skin: 'not self.'
Bodily movements inside skin: sensing 'self.'
So when touch faded after other senses, Yeoreum began unable to tell where she ended and the world began.
Then, when the heartbeat vanished completely.
She could no longer sense time's flow.
She recalled a cheesy internet brain-in-a-jar trope. Body gone, mind floating aimlessly.
That was her now.
Yet Yeoreum endured without leaving the spot.
Direction indiscernible now. But surely nearby, somewhere. Yoo Ji-tae undergoing the same trial. Believing he'd return.
No matter the reason for letting go.
He wouldn't give up.
For her sake, he wouldn't give up...
But as the agony stretched, Yeoreum's mind frayed to the brink. Foul thoughts intruded often. Sometimes cursing cherished things, feeding on that rage to endure.
The greatest torment was time.
No knowing when the wait would end.
No gauge of how long she'd waited.
Missing time's flow once bred doubt about the waiting itself.
Yeoreum tried an experiment.
Call this point A. Start timing from then.
A.
......
......
......
...Minutes passed?
10 minutes? Hmm.
1 hour? Hmm.
1 day? Hmm...
1 month? Hmm...
1 year? Hmm...
10 years? Ah...
As units ballooned, Yeoreum quit the experiment, scattering her thoughts. Hours felt plausible either way.
Thus, in the darkness.
Buried in tangled thoughts.
Endlessly waiting for Yoo Ji-tae, at a loss.
Something began whispering in Yeoreum's ear.
'Hey.'
A familiar voice.
'Yeoreum. Can you hear me?'
Unbelievable.
'Remember my voice?'
How could she forget.
It was her little sister's voice.
'Hear me? Say something.'
Yeoreum couldn't respond.
Unsure if her mouth opened when she tried.
Unsure if voice emerged from vibrating her throat.
Still, she decided to answer.
To her precious little sister.
That she could hear.
'Ah, you can hear me.'
Realizing communication possible, Yeoreum's mind lit up.
But doubt lingered. Her little sister had died before her eyes.
Throat torn by big sister, writhing in pain until still—that vivid scene unerasable from memory.
'I came to get you.'
Me?
About then, in her pitch-black world.
A small face appeared.
From childhood, bringing food to starving her.
Grabbing the hand of her huddled in the hatchling nest corner, leading her out to show the world's 'mountains' and 'rivers.'
...The face of the person Yeoreum loved most.
'Let's go with Unni...'
Her little sister smiled at Yeoreum.