Chapter 86
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 86
Although it hadn’t been intentional, the Cha family, with whom he’d had an unexpected reunion, seemed surprisingly peaceful for a group that had just been kidnapped by mermaids.
"You can’t work as a Hunter if you chicken out over something like that..."
As an F-Rank, Cha Ah-ra knew that people were far scarier than monsters. Compared to the absolute scum she had encountered in her life, the mermaids had been downright polite.
"I had a good time, too. Can you call me next time you see Eun-ha? I want to be friends with the tall Eun-ha. He promised he would, but then he just paired me off with someone and took it back."
Cha Yi-sol’s nerves of steel were already the stuff of legend.
"...Yeah, well, raising kids like them..."
Cha Eun-hyeok, who saw monsters others couldn’t, was also exceptionally nonchalant.
Had his younger siblings suffered any mental or physical harm from the incident, Cha Eun-hyeok wouldn’t have been so calm. However, since both of them seemed perfectly fine, there was no need for him to waste energy worrying.
Yoo Seong-un accepted the Cha family’s reaction as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"That sort of indifference is an important virtue for modern people."
"..."
"The Cha family will survive for a long time. They’re highly adaptable."
It’s not adaptability, it’s survival instincts. Gio shuddered, once again confronted by the terrifying reality of his homeland.
I guess not getting scared even when you’re kidnapped is a virtue for modern people these days.
No matter how little direct harm had been done, it was still undeniably a kidnapping.
What on earth do Hunters witness in their daily lives that keeps them from panicking when their beloved younger siblings are abducted? What is modern life like that a child victim is chattering about making friends, and her guardian just brushes it off because everyone is fine?
Thirty-one years ago, this would have caused an absolute uproar. At the very least, someone would have grabbed Gio by the collar, and the incident would have made front-page news.
But Gio’s collar was perfectly fine—still crisp, even—and according to Yoo Seong-un, it hadn’t even made the news.
What a truly terrifying world.
He felt a sudden urge to feed them five or six hearty meals just for persevering in such a world. But at any rate, the Cha family was safe.
To be perfectly honest, he had been craving that bulgogi, but he felt it would be rude to crash a cozy family dinner unannounced. His conscience got the better of him, and he returned to his portrait. Gio praised himself for his admirable restraint.
"..."
Ta-da.
"Did we skip a few steps?"
"Muuu."
"Well, Dana is cute, so it’s fine."
Dana’s cuteness provided all the coherence the abrupt transition needed.
Snnnnf.
"Mngh."
Gio buried his face in Dana’s belly and took a deep breath. At first, Dana had reacted with pure bewilderment, as if thinking, Is he insane? But by now, she seemed to have grown accustomed to Gio’s bizarre behavior, accepting it with a resigned, Ah, Dad has lost his mind again.
Released from Gio’s grasp a moment later, Dana headed straight for the teddy bear.
"You two still get along so well."
"Kuuu..."
"You say she feels like a granddaughter to you?"
"Ku."
"Yes, Father. Indeed she does."
Between one grandfather, one father, and two non-human children, they had formed a surprisingly proper family tree.
"Hmm..."
If they added their two mermaid friends to the mix, the role of the next-door neighbors would be perfectly filled, too.
"..."
Even though he had told them how to get here, the mermaids still hadn’t shown any sign of visiting his cabin.
We’re neighbors, guys.
They had made such a fuss about how glad they were to see their teacher’s face again. Seriously, why weren’t they coming when they were so close?
"As neighbors, shouldn’t they at least drop by with some rice cakes on moving day?"
The storage room, where his work Breathing Sea was kept, remained quiet today. Staring at the wooden stairs where no one was descending, Gio turned to the teddy bear.
"Do Aria and Iser still need time to think?"
"Ku-ku-ku."
"Quite a bit of time has passed, yet they aren’t even thinking of visiting. Now that Breathing Sea and the Deep Sea Kingdom are connected, it should be very easy for them to come over..."
The System had informed him that some 'tutorial' or whatever was over. It said that Breathing Sea, the work Gio had painted, and the mermaids' dungeon, the Deep Sea Kingdom, were now connected. When he checked, Gio’s painting was hanging proudly inside the temple.
Yet, even then, he hadn’t seen the mermaids.
"Seeing that, I suspect they’re just too scared of getting scolded to come."
In Gio’s mind, the mermaid siblings were like young children who refused to come home for fear of a scolding.
"They’ve gotten more spoiled since I last saw them."
"Kuruk?"
Honey briefly wondered if that could really be called "being spoiled," but quickly abandoned the thought as mealtime approached.
Honey gently poked the crown of Gio’s head, a clear signal that he was hungry.
"Kkoong-kkoong-kkoong..."
"Are you hungry?"
"Kuk."
"Then we must eat."
Having inherited the hands and heart of his grandmother—a spirit steeped in the energy of the Gangwon-do mountains—Seo Gio could never bear to let his precious child go hungry.
"Hmm."
After a moment’s thought, Gio turned back to the teddy bear.
"Father, do you like clams?"
"Kku...?"
"Then again, you’ve probably never tried them."
"Kku."
What priest would have had the audacity to offer clams, of all things, as a sacrifice? Back then, clams weren’t exactly considered a precious ingredient.
...There were some clams sold as famous local specialties, but were they valuable and rare enough to be placed on an altar? Not really...
In the first place, before meeting Gio, the Sun God didn’t even possess an appetite. Even if he had ruled over a world where the sun and sea were close, the probability of him ever having tasted a clam was zero.
"To think they never even offered you such delicious clams. If that isn’t impiety, heresy even, then I don’t know what is."
"...Kuuu..."
"As your son, I cannot tolerate such filial impiety. I should have presented you with the delicacies of the sea long ago; my regret is immense. Just wait a little, and I will serve you grilled clams and tomato stew, the pride of the Edlen region."
"Kku."
"What do you mean, 'calm down'? I wasn’t excited to begin with."
Gio packed his things and headed toward Breathing Sea.
"I still vividly remember where Edlen Village was. And even if I don’t go to that exact spot, the clams I’m looking for are bound to be scattered all over. Just wait a bit, I’ll dig some up in no time."
Honey tagged along by Gio’s side. As Gio’s creation, Honey always wished to remain by his parent’s side, in a form that pleased him.
"Kuru-ru-ru-ruk."
"Will you help me?"
"Kureu."
Furthermore, Gio liked things that were good and polite. Honey was more than willing to help his creator with anything—as long as it didn’t disrupt his cute and lovely appearance.
And so, the Clam-Hunting Expedition was formed.
* * *
A truly great pig knows how to eat anything with gusto, but at the same time, must also know how to appreciate fine dining.
"In that sense, I can be considered a true pig."
"Kuruk."
"Yes, you too. A pig without standards isn’t a real pig."
Gio ultimately managed to find Edlen Village, the place he had lived in during his lifetime, within this ruined world. It was all thanks to Honey, who had enlarged his body to carry Gio and fly him there.
"Is this what Hunters feel like when they clear a dungeon?"
It was probably a bit different, but it was fun, so it didn’t matter. He felt immensely proud.
"It’s been a while since I’ve been here."
"Kuk?"
"Ah, wait. Should I not say 'it’s been a while'?"
"Kureu..."
"Well, since both of them are me, I suppose it doesn’t matter."
Before he knew it, Gio’s hair had turned platinum blonde.
"It really is a picturesque countryside."
There was no sign of life.
A shallow, long beach stretched out, and just a short distance away, lush green grass grew. The small houses visible beyond it revealed white bricks and orange roofs, in accordance with the ancient traditions of Edlen Village.
"..."
Seaweed grew and swayed in the corroded windows of the submerged, now-abandoned houses.
"...It’s amazing that the shape of the village is still intact even though it’s now the deep sea. If this had happened on Earth, the houses and everything else would have been completely smashed and ruined."
"Kuru-ru-ru-ru?"
"It feels strange that a place that was once my reality has turned into something out of a fairy tale. Instead of people, fish and jellyfish now dwell in this village."
It was an eerie yet beautiful sight.
"The light is faint, too."
Strictly speaking, the teddy bear in the cabin was the soul of the Sun God. The light in this world—what could be called his empty vessel or remnant—had grown weaker, only dimly illuminating the depths of the sea.
"The darkness has grown deeper than before, hasn’t it?"
"Kururuk."
"It feels like night has fallen."
"Kureu."
"And the stars are out."
Looking up, he saw scattered, twinkling specks floating in the deep-sea sky.
"It looks like the Milky Way."
It was a swarm of bioluminescent jellyfish.
With small, round bodies, they formed a long line like a river, drifting at an incredibly slow pace.
Thanks to this cluster of light, which resembled a starry sky that might spill over—the kind one might only see in a pitch-black desert—he could see through the dark abyss.
The enchanting void was truly beautiful.
"I couldn’t see them when the sea was bright because of Father, but to think such jellyfish existed. Now that it’s dark, I get to see things like this..."
"Kururuk."
"Hmm."
Giovanni thought to himself.
"This would sell really well if we turned it into a tourist attraction."
Indeed, this priest had long lacked a sentimental bone in his body. Even upon seeing his ruined hometown, the only thing that came to mind was a business idea.
"Mr. Yoo Seong-un said the Collector bought up all the entry tickets to the Deep Sea Kingdom. If we can just solve the monster problem, wouldn’t this work pretty well as a tourist destination? The concept of a breathable sea is novel enough on its own, isn’t it?"
"Kkoong..."
"We could even adjust the brightness. Having different themes for day and night would offer more to see. Since I inherited the credentials of the Sun God from Father, I should be able to manage that level of control... Isn’t this a genuinely good business idea?"
Gio’s hair had returned to black.
"Let’s think about all of this once our bellies are full."
"Kuru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ru-ruk."
Honey agreed enthusiastically.
"Kuruk? Kururuk?"
"Where are the clams here, you ask?"
Gio looked around.
"It’s true that everything is submerged now, so I wonder if they’re still there. But since the beach and the village’s structure are perfectly preserved, that place should be, too."
"Kuk?"
"There’s a specific place to dig for clams. It’s an underground cavern on the eastern side of the village. I don’t know the exact science behind it, but... there are mudflats inside."
There used to be plenty of clams there.
"Clams can live in a variety of places. Some hide in sandy beaches, some in mudflats, and some even live in freshwater rather than the sea. The species vary greatly depending on where they live, but..."
Gio made his way toward the underground cavern he remembered.
"For the record, there are no clams on the beaches of Edlen Village. It might be because the shore isn’t very wide. That’s why the people of Edlen usually caught fish in the open waters and dug for clams in the cavern to sell."
The cavern wasn’t very far.
"Here’s the entrance."
When he gently parted the seaweed hanging like a thick curtain, uneven stone steps carved out of solid rock came into view. Although the entrance was dark, Honey glowed with a warm light, so they didn’t need any other source of illumination.
"Let’s go down."
"Kururuk."
"By the way..."
Gio looked at Honey.
"If you want to come down, you should probably shrink a bit."
"Kuk?"
"You’ve gotten too big."
Because he had carried Gio all the way here and absorbed a great deal of seawater, Honey had bloated to a size larger than Gio himself.
"You’re cute like this, but it’ll be impossible for us to dig for clams together. As you can see, the entrance to the cavern isn’t very wide, so you’d better adjust your size, my son."
"Kuru-ru..."
Honey understood and shrank. The water pressure from the escaping seawater almost swept away Gio, who couldn’t even swim. Honey’s father was quite light, even underwater.
The path leading underground was neither too wide nor too narrow. The passage, spacious enough for an adult man to walk through comfortably, stretched on for quite a while.
"See these niches carved into the walls? Originally, lamps were placed inside them to light the way. Ah, look over there. I can’t believe the remnants of a lamp are still there."
"Kuruk, kururuk."
"...You like that moss-covered piece of glass? Well, since a lot of time has passed, the sharp edges have worn smooth. A rounded piece of glass like this shouldn’t be dangerous."
Watching Honey quietly pick up and pocket the piece of glass, Gio soon arrived at the underground cavern.
"..."
An endlessly high ceiling, with seawater filled to the very top.
"...Or not."
He stuck his tongue out slightly to taste it.
"Hmm, it’s not salty."
"Kkoong-kkoong?"
"It’s freshwater."
Gio nodded.
"This place was closer to... a spring where freshwater flowed out."
People living by the beach always struggled to find fresh water, but Edlen Village was different. It was all thanks to the endless supply of freshwater bubbling up from this vast cavern, which they could use as much as they wanted.
"I think the seawater was somehow filtered and filled the cavern as drinkable water. It was clean water, free of lime, and it was the pride of this village."
Gio stepped onto the floor of the cavern.
"This is the mudflat."
The freshwater in this cavern, which had its own high and low tides, flowed in and out like seawater, creating these pure white mudflats. The clams hidden within them were of such high quality and taste that they became a specialty of Edlen Village.
"And sometimes, I would bring the mermaids here too..."
"..."
"...and we would have a lively clam hunt together."
Gio, his hair still black, fixed his gaze on a child standing in the middle of the cavern.
"Aria."
"It’s been a while."
"Indeed."
He was still in the form of Seo Gio, but for a fleeting moment, Giovanni’s smile drifted across his face before vanishing.
"It has been a long time."
A mermaid in the form of a child.
It was her appearance from a long, long time ago—the one from Giovanni’s memories.