Chapter 370: Luxury Travel (1)
Chapter 370: Luxury Travel (1)
The catastrophe that had unfolded a short while ago continued for a bit even after I arrived.
Baek Si-hyun, blissfully unaware of how much trouble she had caused, finished her story with a cheerful hum.
Meteor—who, as the handler for the Yellow King, was privy to countless secrets—offered this assessment of Baek Si-hyun.
* * *
“…I hate to put it this way, but she’s barely within the safety parameters.”
It was hard to believe those words were coming from the same person who, until moments ago, had been laughing like they’d lost their mind.
“Safe? After hearing all that? I felt like I needed a brain-scrub just from listening for a second.”
Let’s see.
The moment I arrived, I heard about Happiness Drop’s corpse dolls.
There was some talk about spirits.
A bit about the Management Bureau’s very first meeting.
A story about a treasure hidden in The Core.
Something about a former A-Rank Villain.
The King of Negation.
She didn’t seem to know I was the first team leader, but there was talk of the Assassination Team. And to top it off, the first thing she mentioned was the Yellow King’s residence.
“With all those secrets pouring out of her, you’re calling her safe?”
I was starting to suspect that Meteor had been brainwashed by Baek Si-hyun after listening to her for too long.
How exactly would Meteor justify this?
“The danger of information begins with the individual’s awareness of just how dangerous it is.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Did you catch something from the Yellow King?”
That guy used to spout incomprehensible nonsense too; maybe Meteor had gone strange after spending so much time with him.
“To put it more simply, let’s say there’s information that aliens exist. And let’s assume they actually do. One person might casually mention it in passing without any seriousness, while another, knowing the impact it would have on society, would try to spread that information as quickly and widely as possible.”
He said it was a simple explanation, but my brain was already hitting overload.
What about aliens?
Even as steam began to rise from my head, Meteor continued.
“From that perspective, the information Baek Si-hyun has acquired is a mess. She simply knows the information; she doesn’t understand its significance or the repercussions of making it public. She just… knows things.”
“….”
I stared blankly.
Now that I think about it, if a rumor spread that the Coffin of Despair, which can resurrect the Lion King, is kept at the Management Bureau, would that really be a problem?
Wait, why is that classified?
I’d always just accepted it was classified because it was classified, but hearing it put this way, I wasn't so sure anymore.
So, if there are aliens, and secrets depend on the person… uh. Right.
…Uh.
“So you’re saying aliens are real?”
I knew it. Al’shel was definitely an alien.
He certainly looked the part.
The moment I spoke, Meteor looked at me with eyes full of pity.
“…They must be out there somewhere.”
“…”
Dammit.
While I sat there, shriveled up and reflecting on my life after being hit by Meteor’s "Danger Close" logic, Meteor continued.
“Anyway, I’ll report that the risk regarding Baek Si-hyun’s information leakage is not particularly high. I recommend taking her to the Bureau when you have time to have her sign a non-disclosure agreement, grant her security clearance, and then install a classified information control mental protocol. For now, I’ll submit my report on this incident accordingly.”
So you’re still submitting a report, Meteor.
Well, I suppose it’s too awkward a situation to just let slide quietly.
But is that really enough?
“What about the brain-scrub?”
I really felt like that was necessary.
“Does your disciple want to receive one?”
Obviously.
“No.”
* * *
And so, the worst-case scenario—Baek Si-hyun getting her memory wiped and becoming even stupider—was avoided.
To be honest, I still have no idea what Meteor was talking about.
But if an expert on classified information says so, what can I do?
Especially since Meteor is someone who, thanks to contact with the Yellow King, has been forced to sign a horrifying number of non-disclosure agreements. He—or rather, she, at the moment—is definitely an expert in that field.
Even if she absolutely hates it.
Perhaps as a side effect of the Yellow King’s creation process, Meteor is completely immune to the Yellow King’s Mental Contamination. And because she can just reincarnate if any physical problems occur, she’s a poor man… no, woman, who is forcibly used as a liaison for the Yellow King.
Of course, beyond that, Meteor is frequently sent on secret missions because she’s a convenient tool that the Bureau’s high command can use cheaply and easily.
The Cycle of being reborn as the next Meteor even ignores the Nautilus’s Pillar of Light, making her a truly convenient pawn.
The only Hero to return among those erased by the Pillar of Light Incident.
It’s a truly absurd phenomenon.
What’s even more ridiculous is that this rebirth effect grants immunity to contamination, erasure, and mental-type attacks.
If she dies from madness, she retains the memory of being mad, but it doesn’t affect the next generation.
Even if her mind is contaminated and she becomes some sort of completely twisted, immortal thing—if it’s deemed a death from an objective standpoint, the next Meteor is born.
And she gains the memories of that contaminated state as if observing them from the perspective of a third party.
She is likely the being furthest removed from death in this world.
Meteor has died so many times that even my own sense of her death has dulled, but thinking about it now makes me feel a bit solemn.
Regardless of that solemnity, though…
“…I should have dragged Meteor along.”
I was starting to regret boarding this ship.
With that thought, I looked out at the currently peaceful open sea.
The ocean was calm, without a single large wave. I could see whales, or fish, or whatever lived in the water, leaping from the surface.
The Atlantic. The vast ocean connecting Europe and America.
The Nautilus is sealed right in the middle of it, but humanity is too greedy and fragile to give up on The Sea.
Originally, a very wide area was designated as a restricted zone, but that range has been gradually narrowed. The result is a sea where, although the restricted zone is still large, ships can float along without much trouble in most cases.
Of course, the fact that the spirits have made The Sea a relatively safe zone helps.
To be blunt, the accident rate in the sky is probably higher than in the ocean.
Still, the reason maritime transport hasn't become as active as it was in the past is likely due to the trauma from the large-scale naval blockades that lasted for years immediately after the Otherworld Invasion began.
Even so, more than ten years later, we’ve reached a point where luxury cruise ships like this one are sailing around.
Equipped with Reality Anchors!
High-Rank Heroes on board to handle any emergencies!
Alloy hull strong enough to withstand B-Rank Monsters!
Safety Guaranteed!
Atlantic Luxury Cruise Travel!
That’s what it said in the catalog I found after boarding.
Despite the aggressive marketing, business didn't seem to be going very well.
The ticket prices were obviously expensive, yet the Management Bureau had handed over the tickets for this ship without a second thought just because I said I was crossing the Atlantic. That told me everything I needed to know.
Just looking around, that guy swimming in the pool over there is a Hero.
The guy getting champagne from the waiter over there is a Hero.
The person climbing up the funnel to look at The Sea is a her—
Wait, that’s Baek Si-hyun.
What is she doing?
Anyway, it’s a luxury cruise, but it’s packed with Heroes.
Probably a cruise where one out of every three people is affiliated with the Management Bureau.
This means the tickets weren't selling, so it didn't matter if the Bureau used them in bulk.
Of course, regardless of the poor business, I couldn't help but wonder if the reason for the "5 Years Accident-Free!" claim—written in bold red letters above a tiny black disclaimer saying, "Losses below a certain amount are not processed as accidents"—was because so many Heroes were on board.
Anyway, with so many Heroes on board.
With Baek Si-hyun climbing funnels.
And even A-bin getting swept up in the atmosphere and going on a buffet pilgrimage.
On this luxury cruise with 5 years of "accident-free" (ignoring minor losses) travel.
Why was I, instead of enjoying the luxury, staring at The Sea with such anxiety?
There were several reasons.
One.
The ship’s name is Titanic II.
I don’t know what kind of lunatic chose that name.
The people on this ship don’t seem to know what that name implies.
But I know.
A sunken ship.
In the world where I was just a simple office worker, that ship’s name was incredibly famous.
As a ship that sank.
In a world where the Otherworld Invasion never happened, it seemed to be a name everyone knew because a movie based on it became a massive hit, but here, it wasn't very well-known.
I used to think of that world as a well-crafted fantasy, but thinking about it now, that was probably another version of me from a different world.
I don’t know why I absorbed those memories, but maybe it’s because I didn’t have The Hammer back then.
Regardless of that, what matters now is the anxiety consuming me.
Starting with the ship’s name, an ominous feeling has been rising within me, never stopping.
Last night, I went out for some fresh air because I was feeling restless, and the sky was strangely bright—so bright it looked purple—and countless stars were visible.
Black gulls were perched around the ship.
I don’t know who they belonged to, but a black dog without a leash walked across the deck, and a black cat stood proudly on its back like the Town Musicians of Bremen.
Then this morning, I woke up startled by the smell of blood, only to be told there had been an accident where the ship hit a whale.
After that, I went into the bathroom to wipe off my cold sweat, and the mirror was cracked.
And just now at lunch, I happened to check my phone, and the main headline was about a famous celebrity dying.
…There’s a limit to how many bad omens one can take.
With this many problems overlapping, I was starting to wonder if someone was filming a prank show targeting me.
The Yellow King did say the ship would sink.
Even if he hadn't said anything, it was at the point where anyone would feel something was wrong.
So, as I kept my nerves on edge, preparing for something to happen, I saw a strange hallucination far off on the horizon.
A knight in black armor, wearing a tattered black cloak and holding a scythe, riding a skeletal horse across the water.
…What the hell is that? Fuck.
Does the Grim Reaper manifest in reality these days?
I know the world went crazy after the gates opened, but is the Reaper real now too?
Even I, who had seen so much, rubbed my eyes in shock.
The Reaper vanished in an instant, leaving only the peaceful, calm sea stretching out to the horizon.
Ominous.
It’s too ominous.
This isn't even about what the Yellow King said anymore.
If superstitions and bad luck overlap this much, shouldn't I be shouting "Abandon ship!" and escaping right now?
But even if I wanted to leave, this is the middle of the ocean.
There’s nowhere to go.
Right. Let’s calm down. It’s just superstition.
Even if the ship sinks, there are so many Heroes here, and I’m here too.
Let’s just relax and read a novel on my phone.
With that thought, I pulled my phone from my pocket.
Vivid numbers greeted me.
4:44.
Fuck.
What is the problem?
What is going to happen to this ship?
Just as I was about to shove the phone back into my pocket.
Pong.
I heard a strange sound.
It was small, but a clear, ringing sound that pierced through the noise of the cruise ship.
However, I seemed to be the only one who reacted; no one else showed any particular sign of hearing it.
I alone turned my head toward the source of the sound.
In a place cast in shadow, where no one was looking.
A blue droplet of water was floating in the air.
Pong. Pong. Pong.
It rang with a clear sound.
….
I quietly approached the anomaly to deal with it.
Pong. Pong. Pong. Pong.
Just as I reached out my hand to see what this thing bouncing through the air was.
Pong.
With that final sound, the droplet stopped its bouncing.
Slowly, it turned its awareness toward me.
As our eyes met, I immediately recognized what it was.
A simplified humanoid creature, about 2.5 heads tall.
Its round shape was due to it wrapping itself in a bubble to float through the air.
It was much more complex than the ones I’d seen before, but I had seen creatures like this.
A spirit.
Back then, they were just big-headed things about 1.5 heads tall with short limbs, but now they looked much more human.
They said they would return with intelligence someday. It might be happening much faster than the Bureau expected.
In the moment I was marveling at the friendly Otherworldly creature.
‘…Crimson★Hammer?’
The spirit called out my Hero name in a tiny voice.
…That damn star.
It wasn't that surprising that a spirit knew my name, but I didn't expect it to follow the official notation so faithfully.
“…What is it?”
When I spoke in a slightly grumpy voice, the spirit opened its mouth, speaking in much more coherent sentences than in the past.
‘I came… to warn you. It’s bad.’
The spirit’s warning.
I had never seen one myself, but I knew such things existed.
I instinctively realized that this was the cause of the maritime disaster and listened closely to the spirit’s words.
The spirit continued its ominous tale.
‘Part of the seal on the sealed being has been lost. We managed to plug it back up somehow, but a fragment is rising to the surface.’
…Wait a minute.
If these guys are talking about a seal…
The Nautilus….
The moment I felt a chill run down my spine.
THOOM.
A massive shockwave shook the ship.
I immediately looked toward the source of the impact.
“Fuck.”
A curse escaped my lips instantly.
The massive entity that had rocked the ship.
Only a part of it was visible now, but it was easy to deduce what it was.
A giant tentacle had slammed into the ship.
The final gatekeeper that had blocked our path during the raid on the humanoid Nautilus, ‘GM.’
The Giant Nautilus had revealed itself once again.
“Fuck.”
Not a single thing is going my way.