Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: 64. Beach
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I swam downward diligently with my fins, gazing below.
In the dark depths, a silhouette came into view.
The sharp pain rendered the song utterly ineffective now; it merely echoed in my ears without impact.
Why I was affected by the song in the first place was another issue to consider.
-Whoooong...
A massive something let out a rumbling sound.
Soon, the enormous entity became fully visible.
How to describe it? Familiar, yet a grotesque fusion all at once.
Eyes, nose, and mouth clung to it like a human face, but it lacked anything else remotely human.
No limbs, of course. The back was purely a fish's body.
But where a tail should have been was something bizarre, like a sea cucumber.
Information appeared before my eyes.
[Name: Primordial Existence]
[Age: Created around 3000 years ago]
[Trait: -]
[Talent: -]
[Background: Having prospered alongside humanity's growth, it is now at the peak of its power.]
[Weakness: Fish can't survive out of the sea. Make full use of the advantage of fighting on land.]
Was this what a difference in caliber felt like? Or the sensation of a child facing a tiger?
No thought of victory crossed my mind, nor any will to fight.
Our eyes met.
It flicked its tail once, and an unbearable current propelled me to the surface.
Unable to resist even once, I was swept ashore and awoke in my cabin bed with a floating sensation.
...
The first thing upon waking was to check my arm and fingers.
"...What a mess."
The bedsheets were soaked in blood, and my pinky remained grotesquely bent.
But this confirmed one thing.
"It's not a hallucination."
If it had been, my body would show no damage upon waking.
"Ugh..."
I stared at my throbbing left arm and broken pinky.
I needed treatment as soon as possible.
Rising from bed, I opened the door.
A slight dizziness hit me, but I was still okay.
Confirming the pistol and butane canister in my pocket, I moved slowly.
Jang Chaeyeon hadn't come, so had she been hit too?
Her face, the one who broke my finger, flashed in my mind.
If not for her, I might be screaming here like the people from yesterday.
Just in case, I headed to her room.
"Chaeyeon."
I knocked and called her name, but no sound came from inside.
Her awakening spot was surely her room. No response, no reaction—what was this?
I shot the doorknob with my gun, broke it open, and entered, but no trace of her.
Had she already come to?
Paranoid, maybe, but if so, she should have come looking for me. The lack of that meant she was unconscious too.
No choice. Time to organize my thoughts.
Walking the corridor, I began sorting the situation.
First, there were a few suspicious points.
As always, I broke them down.
1. Why I fell for the song.
I'd never succumbed to a mental attack before, but recalling the compulsion and temptation from hearing it, something was off.
Either it wasn't a mental attack, or it was overwhelmingly strong.
But if so, I'd have suffered headaches at least, yet I felt none.
2. Seawater from the torn mouth.
At least, when I destroyed the mouth in the engine room following Song Arin's words, there should have been some change.
Seawater spilling even after tearing it meant the mouth wasn't the main body, and destroying it wouldn't resolve things.
Destroying the mouth alone wouldn't solve it.
Should I have fed it something after all?
3. Connection to the theater troupe.
I suspected them at first, but this incident unfolded differently.
The timing with the theater was too perfect, but even the Management Bureau couldn't have missed this entirely—that seemed odd too.
"...No clue."
With a groan, I entered the lobby.
Same as yesterday.
Many people staggered about like zombies.
The difference: yesterday they headed somewhere specific, but now they just wandered the lobby.
Hoping for a familiar face, I scanned as I walked.
Yoo Daon and Song Arin stood together.
Yoo Daon with a blank expression, Song Arin frowning deeply, muttering "No, no" as if resisting something.
"You two."
...
"Hey."
No response.
Shaking their shoulders and poking cheeks yielded nothing, so I gave up.
Where was Jang Chaeyeon?
I looked around diligently, but she was nowhere.
I peered out the window.
The sun had long passed noon.
Not certain, but seawater always surged before sunset.
It could hit anytime.
First place to go...
My gaze turned to the back office.
The engine room, naturally.
Heading there, I opened the manual.
Time to check records. This cruise, or that thing under the sea.
The manual opened, but nothing showed.
Clicking my tongue, I muttered.
"Begin Containment Object record. Object name: Primordial Existence."
The manual unfurled.
-Flutter!
"This object was discovered on the cruise. No past records or countermeasures available."
[Office Manual]
[PRV - Object Name - Primordial Existence - HR Team Kim Jaeheon Revision]
[This object originated in the deep sea but has gradually risen with humanity's prosperity. Locations and manifestations vary, posing risks to viewers, so access is restricted and prohibited.]
No joke. That's why it wouldn't open?
As irritation surged, my eyes caught scribbled text below.
Unusual for a manual.
[The common thread among instances, though invisible: all survivors described a 'beach.']
[If you're Management Bureau reading this, you've likely encountered it. Heading to the 'beach' is currently the best option. Good luck.]
A translucent window popped up simultaneously.
[Critical: 0->1]
...
At least Critical charged. Small mercy.
I stared at the window briefly, then back to the manual.
Bureau's info control, huh. Why keep general staff from accessing?
A doubt flickered, but I shelved it.
Not important now.
The beach—where Jang Chaeyeon tore the mouth yesterday.
Seawater flooded from there.
No point pondering. Go see.
*
Only upon reaching the engine room did I realize Jang Chaeyeon had bent the stairs to block it, requiring effort to squeeze through.
"...Shouldn't have told her to bend it."
Sighing at my filthy clothes.
I looked at the mouth's spot.
Still split as she tore it.
Brute force ignoring weaknesses. Only she could pull off that miracle. Tongue clicking, I peered beyond.
A beach.
Fine sand, sky blanketed in storm clouds, nothing else visible.
...
Go there, huh.
Yeah, let's go.
Better to act fast than deliberate.
Deep breath, then step over the mouth.
A strange sensation of crossing something, and I stood on fine sand.
"...Huh."
Looking around.
-Crash...
Waves crashed, spraying mist.
The fishy stench gone, replaced by pure sea air.
Skyward gaze.
No sun, just heavy clouds enough to unsettle any watcher.
Staring up, a transparent window appeared.
[Name: Little Sea]
[Age: Created 1500 years ago]
[Trait: Sea]
[Talent: Sea]
[Background: One of the Primordial Existence's many homes and outposts.]
[Weakness: If the sea loses its meaning or the resident master is routed, the outpost vanishes naturally.]
Routed and outpost.
Fight implied.
Bad premonition.
-Crash...
A whale's spout sound drew my eyes.
Sea parted, something emerged.
Grotesque face embedded, fish body, sea cucumber-like tail.
But no caliber gap like before.
Appearance differed, and crucially, smaller than the one underwater—maybe a third the size.
But that didn't mean I'd win.
Me fight that?
I eyed my single Critical.
Against a fully prepared foe, use Critical to kill.
Not easy.
Footsteps crunched behind.
"...You okay?"
Voice with firm emotional control, yet laced with worry—pure her.
"Thought you got totally done in."
"Broke one more finger."
Jang Chaeyeon impassively raised her left pinky and ring finger.
Both twisted.
"How'd you know to come here?"
"Gut."
She stated proudly, standing beside me.
"Take that thing down?"
"Not sure, but based on what I have, yeah."
"Got it. Let's do it."
Casually, she raised her right hand.
I drew pistol and butane.
"I'll think hard for other ways."
"Yeah. I trust you."
No hesitation in her reply.
Four days left.
Please let me spend half on the cruise.