Chapter 63
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 63
He had tried so hard.
Iser’s resolve was too firm, his altruism too vast, for him to learn to hate humanity overnight. He had reached out to them time and time again.
He wasn’t trying to excuse himself, to claim he had done enough. No, he didn’t want to grow conceited over something so small, but…
“……”
It was fine, truly.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“H-Heeek…! A-A mermaid…!”
It was sad to be met with contempt and disgust even after saving a life, but he could bear it.
“I can heal you.”
“Don’t lie! How could I trust the words of a mermaid?”
“But…”
“If you touch me, I’ll kill you.”
“……”
It was also fine that his heart, which had tried so hard to be considerate, was trampled on so carelessly.
“A mermaid? Aren’t they monsters?”
“……”
“I heard they eat people. Wow, how horrific.”
Being condemned not for a sin he had committed, but for his very existence—that, too, was somewhat bearable.
“……”
“……”
“Iser.”
His sister called to him.
“Giovanni has been put on trial.”
“…He’s a renowned Priest of the Sun, so he’ll be fine, won’t he? They’re allies, after all.”
“He’s going to be executed for being a traitor. You heard them, didn’t you? They’re calling him a traitor to humanity.”
“But Teacher… he’s saved so many people.”
“What a stubborn argument. Since when have humans ever cared about such things?”
“I don’t understand. Did no one speak up to defend him?”
“He’s being condemned for hiding mermaids. It’s no different from what we saw that day.”
“Why would no one…”
“Humans are truly interesting creatures, aren’t they? So incredibly fickle.”
“...Why…”
“One moment they praise Giovanni’s character and abilities, calling him the Son of the Sun, and the next, when that light is shared with the sea, they throw a fit and call him a disgrace to humanity.”
He was the only one who had ever embraced the sea. A noble soul who insisted that mermaids and humans were no different, who had waited alongside Iser for the day the sky and the sea would become one.
Iser knew how immense his mentor’s mercy was, how much love and affection he had poured out. He was a man who truly cherished his patients and respected his friends.
“…Unbelievable…”
To think all of that was being denied.
And by his fellow humans, no less.
That was too much to bear, even for a patient mermaid. He could not endure it. It was not okay. He could not tolerate it.
We grieved for years, unable to accept even his natural death. How could you kill him with your own hands? How could you be so horrible?
“……”
Does his pain not sadden you?
“I am planning to conduct an experiment,” his sister said.
“……”
“Do you still like humans? Do you still think of them as fickle yet lovely creatures?”
“…No…”
“Then do you trust them? Do you believe they will return kindness with kindness, that you can trust them with your back?”
“…I do not.”
“If you’ve made up your mind, let us return to the sea together.”
His sister whispered sweetly.
“As you know, we cannot move people with a single glance or touch like Giovanni did. To the creatures of the sun, the cold touch of a mermaid will only bring goosebumps.”
She was right.
“And because of that, we can inflict pain.”
“Pain…”
That was also true.
“My brother, Iser.”
“…Yes, sister.”
“Will you come with me?”
And so, Iser decided to endure it just one more time.
“No.”
It was not for the sake of the humans.
“I will find another way.”
It was for Giovanni, who had loved everything in the world until the very end.
“To choose such a soft path… Humans and mermaids have already begun a war. And it will be a war far more vulgar and cruel than you can ever imagine.”
“I know.”
“If that is your choice, I must respect it. Do your best until you have no regrets left, Iser.”
“…Thank you.”
It was a very sad truth, but Giovanni was not the type of person to dream of revenge just because he was betrayed by humans.
Therefore, tormenting humans and building up infamy in my mentor’s name would only be betraying him twice.
He refused to use that noble man as an excuse to vent his anger as crudely as the humans did.
“……”
Even after that, Iser endured tens, then hundreds of times.
During the war, he saved an innocent child. The other mermaids didn’t understand their eccentric kinsman and simply ignored him, while the humans framed him with absurd accusations and attacked him.
“One.”
He pulled a pregnant woman who had fallen into the sea onto the shore. But the woman drowned while struggling to escape the mermaid’s cold hands, and the humans who witnessed it screamed that mermaids were now eating even pregnant women.
“Two.”
He turned a blind eye to a soldier struggling so weakly that he wasn’t even worth attacking. He didn’t want to shed blood, but a month later, that same soldier hunted him down, hurling attacks and curses. In the end, Iser was forced to draw blood.
“Three…”
The few humans he managed to grow close with either died or plotted his betrayal. No matter what Iser did, it was deemed filthy, and his infamy grew. Humans poisoned the sea. A child died. He healed a wound. He was stabbed in the side…
“……”
And one day, when he counted.
“…One thousand six hundred and forty-three.”
The number had long since surpassed a thousand.
“…Ah, ugh…”
On the last day of his count, Iser devoured his mentor.
“…Heh, hehehe…”
His entire body ached.
“Ah, aaaaah…! Aaagh…!”
He was hungry.
He was so, so hungry.
“Aaaaaaaaah—!!!”
*
“……”
Though it was evening, the world was as bright as day.
It’s just like a white night.
The phenomenon often seen in polar regions, where the sun doesn’t set even after night falls.
This is the romantic city of Seoul. The dopamine is overflowing…
Gio thoroughly enjoyed the pounding of his heart as he watched the procession of priests from the temple.
Part two of the event was conducted far more extravagantly than part one. While the first part had emphasized the solemnity unique to religious figures, the second part felt strongly like an actual festival.
Clusters of light sparkled everywhere, and the white robes of the priests fluttered in the air. There was so much to see that his eyes grew dizzy.
“How is it? Worth watching?”
“I like it very much.”
“I’m glad.” Yoo Seong-un wore his characteristic faint smile. “The event is quite long, so I wondered if you’d be alright.”
“I am certainly a bit tired, but…”
He fully intended to shut himself inside his cabin for a week once he returned. Having started to tire the moment he stepped out of his house, Gio’s stamina had long since hit rock bottom.
“Still, it’s an event worth seeing.”
“Is it because of the influence of the god you’re supporting?” Yoo Seong-un asked, wondering if Gio liked the Sun Cult’s event because he was hosting the Sun God.
“Perhaps.”
It felt as comfortable as a friend’s house, if not quite like his own home.
“……”
“Gio?”
“…I was just thinking of some old friends for a moment.”
Are those bastards even still alive after thirty-one years? I wonder how the kids are doing, too.
It was something he thought about occasionally, but being outside for so long naturally brought back memories of the connections he had made all those years ago.
The elders of the mountain village in Gangwon-do were already quite old back then, so I don’t expect much on that front.
But he might at least be able to find out how the students he used to teach were doing.
“……”
But wait, what if I get dragged off to a research lab because of that…?
In the movies, a single moment of carelessness triggered by nostalgia usually sends a person’s life off a cliff. What guarantee do I have that it won’t happen to me?
Evolving from a human into a haunted portrait was, judging by Yoo Seong-un’s occasional reactions, undoubtedly an extraordinary feat even in this Hell Korea.
Gio resolved once again to just shut up and stay cooped up.
If we are destined to meet, we will meet even without trying.
He filled his mind with such hopeful thoughts.
“Ah… looks like they’re wrapping things up.”
“It was quite long.”
“An initiation ceremony like this is also an event to show off the order’s power.”
Especially for the Sun Cult, which boasted a fairly large following in Seoul, they had to display at least this level of extravagance.
Especially since there was that unpleasant disappearance incident recently.
Thinking so, Yoo Seong-un glanced at Gio.
…No matter how I look at it, that incident seems connected to this guy…
But Gio showed no reaction whatsoever.
Either Gio really knows nothing, or he knows but doesn’t care. Given his unique nature, both make sense, which makes it even more confusing.
It was while they were watching the event draw to a close that it happened.
“……”
A sudden intuition.
…What is this?
It was chilling.
It’s not a glacier.
As a Gardener, he knew the essence of energy. He felt a natural pressure that could crush a human body and caught a fishy, blood-like scent rising from it.
Then this is…
A cold, damp, and dark intimidation.
The sea?
Yoo Seong-un soon realized it was the energy of the sea. It was a sensation that could never be felt naturally. He instinctively searched for the source.
“Ah…”
The moment his eyes met those of the blue-haired ‘Eun-ha,’ Yoo Seong-un felt a sense of dismay.
“Oh, no.”
Rumble—!
“Did I let my guard down too much?”
A freezing, deep blue energy surged in. It was nothing like a fluttering mist; it possessed a viciousness eager to claim lives and a violence that clawed at primal human terror.
He immediately grasped the situation.
“It’s a Virtual Dungeon.”
With Yoo Seong-un’s swift assessment, the entire temple was dyed blue.
“■■■■■—!”
A noise loud enough to make his ears ache erupted, sounding as if giant claws were scraping against marble pillars. Grating against their eardrums, the world distorted into a chaos of bursting glass shards as waves topped with pure white foam greedily devoured the people.
“……”
Yoo Seong-un, who always wore an indifferent expression, crumpled his face in frustration.
…I can’t predict the damage, but one thing is for sure.
Overtime again today.
“Sigh…”
Thud—!
“I’m already tired.”
Creating an ice spear, Yoo Seong-un drove it into the floor.
I must not be swept far away.
Having made his judgment as an experienced Hunter, Yoo Seong-un supported himself with the spear. Amidst the intense cold and surging waves, he looked back at the portrait.
“Gio, watch out—!”
And there…
“……”
“……”
…was a giant ‘eye.’
Yoo Seong-un felt a terrible silence, as if time itself had stopped.
What was that?
An eye?
“……”
It resembled nature, but he couldn’t tell if it belonged to the sun or the sea. Shards of broken light scattered and shimmered chaotically, as if in labor, while an illusion of unknowable depths reflected in the waves. Yoo Seong-un couldn’t tear his eyes away, staring at the portrait as it was swept up.
There, inside it, was the sea. It was a pure white sea, distorted by light. That sea spoke.
Where the sun does not reach…
The voice sounded like that of nature itself.
You have come to the deep sea.
Why did it sound like a divine judgment?
He saw it with his eyes but couldn’t fully comprehend it. It felt as if he could hear sunlight pouring down, a sound of warmth. The waves mingled with it, then soon hid their teeth and shrank back.
Only after that did Yoo Seong-un regain enough of his senses to understand anything.
“……”
Sound returned. Escaping the silence, time began to flow again.
Once the deafening noise and the tinnitus—stubborn as a ghost—vanished, the waves that had been as ferocious as abyssal monsters died down and grew quiet.
“……”
“……”
“……”
The world had changed.
“Ah…”
A bloody, eerie chill filled the air. Yoo Seong-un looked around.
He saw people.
“…W-Where is this…?”
“A dungeon? Fuck, is this a dungeon?”
“Is-Is there a Hunter here?!”
This place, where people who had just regained consciousness were clamoring in confusion, was unmistakably a dungeon.
“……”
Yoo Seong-un took in the dark, blue space that resembled a shadow.
The cavern was so vast that its ceiling was invisible, and scales of light from an unknown source reflected eerily within it. His gaze then landed on the blue pillars of water standing throughout the cavern.
A sigh escaped him.
“…Oh, boy…”
Chimeras shaped like aquatic creatures were crammed everywhere.
“We’ve got a problem.”
As if the ominous entry wasn’t enough, the difficulty of the dungeon seemed considerably high.
To call it a typical Virtual Dungeon, there are far too many people dragged in here.
Yoo Seong-un barely held on to his drifting mind, which just wanted to go home, and calmly assessed the situation.
The so-called ‘Virtual Dungeon’ forcibly dragged people who met certain conditions into another dimension to play a game. One could gauge the capability of the dungeon’s master by the number of participants or the bizarre nature of the game.
And just counting the civilians gathered in this cavern, there are nearly twenty… There might be others dragged to different locations. This is excessive. I can tell how much the master of this dungeon ground their teeth in preparation.
And as an A-Rank Hunter belonging to the Collector Guild, one of South Korea’s Top 3 Guilds, Yoo Seong-un had a responsibility to protect these people and clear the dungeon.
“……”
With this ragtag bunch of citizens, no less.
*
As expected of an A-Rank Hunter.
Eun-ha—or rather, Iser—was inwardly impressed by Yoo Seong-un’s cool-headedness as he quickly assessed the situation and tried to bring order.
According to Earth’s standards, a B-Rank Hunter’s way of thinking already deviated from that of an ordinary human. The same went without saying for an A-Rank, who was even higher.
I heard he wasn’t a very famous public figure.
He was not to be underestimated.
But…
What could a single Hunter do?
With all this heavy baggage, he will either die alongside the citizens or choose to run away to save his own skin. That is the foolish nature of humans.
From the shadows of the cavern, far from the commotion, Iser watched the humans throwing tantrums in their fear.
“S-Save me! I don’t want to die here…!”
“Where is this? Where is this place? Excuse me, so where exactly is…?”
“Kyaaaaah…! T-There’s a monster! I’m telling you, there’s a monster!”
His ears grew weary.
…Do they know how to do anything but scream? They are absolute fools.
The squawking noise brought back a familiar unpleasantness, a faded hatred toward humans that he felt dozens of times a day.
“……”
In this incident, Iser’s role was to open the gate—nothing more.
…If only my predecessor hadn’t suddenly gone missing, I wouldn’t have needed to step forward.
Opening the gate to the deep sea in the Temple of the Sun, of all places, required a skilled practitioner.
Because of that, we had already recruited and trained a human beforehand.
But for some reason, that human was killed by a mysterious powerhouse, and the plan went awry. The day of the event was right around the corner, and at that moment, Iser was the only one capable of opening the gate.
Nothing is going right.
After mingling with humans for even a short while, not a single part of his body or mind felt intact.
They are truly a race one should not associate with. I feel as if their incompetence is rubbing off on me.
He wanted to finish this job as quickly as possible and plunge back into the silent sea.
“Hunter, you’re a Hunter, right?! How are you going to take responsibility for this?!”
“What does this have to do with me? Stop talking nonsense!”
“What about the priests? Fuck, where did all the priests go?!”
“Y-Yes, even the novice priests… they’re priests too, right? Huh? You’re a priest, aren’t you?”
“Someone please help! What is going on?!”
How could he ever care for creatures that threw such vulgar fits?
“……”
This location was situated deep inside what Earth’s humans called a ‘dungeon.’
…It’s too far to return to the entrance, and finding an exit is unlikely. Most of them will die here. Even if I don’t lift a finger, that’s what will happen.
As he was thinking of wrapping things up, the man in the black cloak came to mind.
The Sun God named Gio.
“…Sigh…”
With all the humans scattered in random locations, he felt foolish for unconsciously searching for the man. Why do something so stupid when he was going to kill them all anyway?
Right, let’s get this over with quickly.
If any specimens remained intact, they would have the honor of being used as his sister’s test subjects. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to ask for one of them for himself.
“…Well then.”
He took a step forward from the shadows.
Just as he gripped his staff, preparing to do his duty as a ‘monster’—
“……”
Ah.
…A presence?
Iser looked back.
“……”
Before he knew it, the Black Cloak was standing right behind him.
“……!”
This was impossible.
I confirmed he wasn’t here.
Even if his opponent harbored divinity, for a mermaid capable of killing gods, this situation was entirely unexpected.
Was I too careless?
Iser stepped back. Perhaps because he was in the body of a child, the pressure radiating from the Black Cloak felt strangely overwhelming.
Though this massive figure had moved, none of the humans reacted. Not a single person glanced toward the Black Cloak or Iser.
Why?
At that indescribable sense of wrongness, Iser bared his sharp teeth—the same fangs that had once torn into his mentor’s flesh.
“Who on earth are you…?!”
“Iser.”
“……”
…What?
“……”
“Ah, Iser…”
His name was called.
“……”
It was a call as quiet as a corpse.
Iser froze.
…He called my name.
Like a fish plunged into icy water, he stiffened, unable to move.
As the man, as tall and broad as a wall, bent down to caress the child’s cheek, the small body was swallowed up in an instant, as if by shadows. The pitch-black cloak fell like a curtain, enveloping Iser completely like a waterfall.
How…
And so, the mermaid in the child’s body saw the face of the one looking down at him.
“Were you cold?”
“……”
“Did it hurt?”
“……”
“You must have been so lonely and scared…”
A person who resembled sunlight scattering over the sea.
“……”
That warm, platinum-blonde hair, and those eyes that resembled brilliant waves.
Those distant blue eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“……”
“I am so sorry.”
He was crying.
“…Ah…”
Giovanni.
My mentor, who had met the most miserable death in the world, was now standing before me as a corpse, weeping.
*
Gio lost consciousness.