First Meeting
Everyone has at least one lingering regret in life.
Naturally, I have one too. A massive one.
Project Atlantis.
It was a game I'd poured my heart into from my university days, and even after graduation, with investment secured, it was just on the verge of completion.
I'd given my youth to it without a shred of regret, completely serious about development... but right at the end, the investor pulled out, halting everything. It never saw the light of day.
"Haa..."
I let out a sigh without thinking as I glanced at the contents of my job-hunting portfolio spread out before me.
I knew full well I should delete it since I didn't have the confidence to remake it anyway. I knew dragging my feet wouldn't change a thing.
Yet even after five years since it was scrapped, the name Atlantis lingered in my heart as this stubborn emotion of regret, refusing to fade.
Now pushing into my thirties, I needed to focus on landing a job.
"...Man, life never goes the way you want it to."
I muttered that lament as I shut my laptop, trying to clear my mind a bit.
Knock. Knock.
A sound came from the front door.
"Who is it?"
I called out cautiously through the door, but there was no reply.
Who'd come calling this late, almost midnight? My heart started pounding for no good reason, nerves on edge. I pressed my ear to the door, holding my breath to listen...
Then, from beyond the door, a very low, calm woman's voice spoke.
"Could you open up, Yoon Do-hyun?"
My head rang like a bell.
'She... knows my name?'
The only woman around here who knew me was the landlady, but this voice—definitely not hers—felt strangely familiar, like I'd heard it somewhere before.
My hands trembled faintly. Realistic fear hit first, but then an absurd thought flashed through my mind.
"...No way."
With that uneasy feeling, I opened the door. Right away, I felt like my breath caught in my throat.
Standing there were unforgettable golden eyes.
"Long time no see, Creator♡"
The woman let out a small laugh.
Purple bobbed hair like ripened grapes, a drenched swimsuit, and wriggling tentacles sprouting from her back.
No doubt about it—she was Kartellis, one of the main heroines from the game I created.
"...Am I dreaming right now?"
"Aww, don't say that to a girl who came all this way looking for you, Creator...♡"
Kartellis sauntered slowly toward me, then wrapped me tight in her two arms and tentacles.
"Do you have any idea how [■■■] much I've missed you[■■■]?"
Her voice, laced with static-like noise, whispered in my ear as a tentacle slithered up my waist from behind.
The sensation was too vivid for a dream—goosebumps exploded across my skin, and I tried to pull away from her.
"W-Wait a sec... Kartellis, let go of me first..."
"You think I'd let go[■■■] just because you say so[■■■]?"
Kartellis lifted her head, locking eyes with me.
The moment our gazes met, my instincts screamed to run. Her eyes brimmed with raw obsession—it was obvious without her saying a word.
"Kartellis, calm down for a second..."
"Do I look[■■■] like I'm in the mood to calm down?"
She grabbed my shoulders hard and yelled.
"You abandoned me[■■■]! Said you loved me[■■■] and then you threw me away! You did, you did[■■■]!"
The tentacles coiling around me tightened even more.
At this rate, she'd crush me before I could explain. Desperate, I shoved the tentacles off with all my strength and tried to slam the door shut.
But...
"...From now on[■■■], I won't let you do that[■■■]."
She blocked it with her tentacles faster than the door could close.
"All you need is to have me[■■■] by your side."
Her tentacles wedged the gap, holding firm like muscle, then began prying the door open with writhing force.
'If that opens, I'm 100% done for...!'
I couldn't win in a contest of strength, so the door would give eventually.
Brain spinning for any idea, I decided to bolt to the bathroom and lock myself in.
If I held out, the cops might show up eventually, and then I could avoid getting dragged off.
"Hup!"
I released the doorknob and sprinted to the bathroom, locking it just in time. Luckily, her tentacles weren't long enough to grab me.
"112, 112..."
With shaking hands, I turned on my phone to call emergency services—when I heard wet footsteps approaching from afar.
"Truth is[■■■], seeing how you never deleted the files[■■■], it means you have regrets too, right, Creator[■■■]?"
The footsteps stopped right outside the bathroom door. What had echoed from the living room was now inches away.
My breath hitched.
My phone screen showed 112, shaking in my trembling hand. My finger hovered over the call button... but it froze.
Click.
A tentacle rattled the locked doorknob from outside.
"Deep down, you've been thinking of me[■■■] a lot, haven't you."
Kartellis's voice had softened a touch from before. But that didn't make it any less threatening.
"By the way[■■■], did you lock the door[■■■]?"
A frictional scrape as the tentacle slid slowly over the knob.
"Hehe[■■■], so cute. Thinking this could stop me[■■■]..."
"K-Kartellis... please... just calm down, this situation doesn't make any sense..."
"Doesn't make sense[■■■]?"
Her voice dropped low at my words.
"Then what about cherishing me and then abandoning me in that world[■■■]? That makes sense?"
Bang!
The bathroom door shuddered inward. The knob rattled, making my grip tighten instinctively.
"You could've deleted[■■■] the files. Erased the code[■■■]. But..."
A thin, long tentacle slithered under the door gap, brushing the floor as it probed left and right, like it was pinpointing me.
"Why didn't you[■■■]? Why'd you keep holding onto it[■■■]?"
Cold sweat trickled down my back as it tried to squeeze further in.
"I just... didn't want to delete it..."
"That's proof you still have regrets[■■■]."
Her voice was right there now, whispering as if from beside me.
"So... meeting like this again? It's what you wanted too[■■■]."
Kwang!!
The door boomed loudly, the frame creaking as it buckled. I braced against it, yelling back.
"Kartellis, this is a crime!! Calm down...!!!"
"It's not a crime if there's no evidence left[■■■]"
Bang!!
This time, the door bent inward. Through the warped gap, Kartellis's golden eyes fixed on me.
"Don't worry... because it's you, Creator, I'll treat you nice[■■■]...♡"
Then came the sound of metal twisting. She was breaking the lock on the warped door.
"I'll be in soon[■■■], so wait for me[■■■]?"
Screeech!!
The metal screamed as it twisted to its limit, the lock snapping at an unnatural angle. The door flew inward, collapsing.
"Gaaah!!"
"Ahh, got it♡"
Finally, wet footsteps entered the bathroom.
Tentacles dragged across the floor behind, squelching wetly on the tiles.
"Creator......♡"
Kartellis was right in front of me now. The phone slipped from my hand, clattering to the floor.
"I'll make sure you can't run away anymore."
"What the hell are you planning to do with me...!?"
"Nothing much. I have no intention of hurting you, Creator[■■■]."
Her two arms and two tentacles pulled me into a crushing embrace, like she was trapping me forever.
"I've come to take you with me[■■■], so let's go together."
Her golden eyes blazed.
At the same moment, water began filling the bathroom. The lights flickered out, plunging everything into darkness.
"To Atlantis."