Abyss of Forbidden Cravings
Beyond the nightmare of the hearing, in the deepest recesses of another dimension where not a single ray of light pierced the profound void, a colossal and twisted will writhed in the abyssal floor. It was the temple of the Abyss Goddess.
The temple itself was a living behemoth of coral reef. Fluorescent corals that glowed with their own light, grown over thousands, tens of thousands of years, thrust toward the heavens like the pillars of a Gothic cathedral, while schools of deep-sea fish with silver scales swam between them like stars. The floor was carpeted not with sand, but with pearls and diamonds accumulated over hundreds of millions of years, gleaming dazzlingly. The throne was fashioned from the skull of a massive whale, surrounded by kraken tentacles that writhed like living attendants, serving the goddess. And atop that throne, she sat.
Her lower body coiled around the throne like the tail of a gigantic moray eel, stretching dozens of meters, while her upper body took the form of a perfect woman. Her hair floated green like seaweed, and her eyes were as deep and black as the abyss itself. Before this feminine figure knelt the very Sea Envoy who had recently encountered Jinwoo.
"...Did you witness it, my child?"
The goddess's voice was quiet, yet it crushed the entire space like the pressure of the ocean depths.
"That toy warrior his arrogant brother cherished so dearly... shattered so pathetically in the hands of a mere mortal."
"Yes... I saw it, Great Mother," the envoy replied, her voice trembling with awe.
"Truly... impressive, isn't it?"
For the first time, the goddess's black eyes gleamed with a pure, girlish desire.
"How mighty and arrogant a soul dwells in that tiny body. I... I must have him."
She rose from her throne and approached the envoy, gently caressing her cheek like a mother.
"Imagine it, my most beautiful daughter. You... bearing his child. Your exquisite womb filled with his mighty, arrogant seed, birthing thousands, tens of thousands of new demigods who resemble you and him equally, flooding this ocean... Doesn't the mere thought excite you?"
"Ah..." The envoy's bronze cheeks flushed red at her words. Her deep-sea eyes clouded with desire. Unbidden, she envisioned herself in the arms of that arrogant crow mage, conceiving his child.
"Yes... the game called nightmares isn't so dull after all..."
The goddess turned and returned to her throne.
"...But now, I want that mage and his barren world entirely for myself. To remake that pathetic landmass in the image of my bountiful abyss, filling it with my children—his children. That is true creation. True conquest."
She settled back onto her throne and urged the envoy onward. Gone was the goddess's majesty from her voice; only the impatient, desperate longing of a woman in love remained.
"Go now, my child! Meet him again and convey my will! If he wants gold, offer it; power, an army; a woman... offer you! Make him mine, by any means!"
Seoul's Yeouido National Assembly Main Chamber. There, a closed-door National Assembly hearing that would shape Korea's fate was underway.
"Do you swear to tell only the truth, and if you lie, accept the penalty of perjury before the people?"
"Yes, I swear."
In the witness stand sat the NIS Deputy Director, team leaders who had been on site during Kim Sea's abduction, and officials from the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry, their faces grim. Before them, members of the bipartisan Special Committee on Supernatural Threats eyed them sharply.
The hearing's first agenda was, predictably, the "Kim Sea Envoy Bypassing Korea Incident."
"Deputy Director." The sharp-featured opposition whip opened fire.
"The NIS had no clue of Kim Sea's whereabouts until she returned as the crow mage's envoy, correct?"
"...We admit it."
"While the fox-masked one neutralized our agents on our soil, shot down our police chopper, and abducted one of our citizens, we did nothing. And when she returned, she was no longer one of ours—she was a U.S. diplomat. Correct?"
"...Correct."
"I must ask..." The lawmaker's voice grew icy. "Can we truly say we did nothing to provoke them? That they're ignoring their blood kin—us, Korea—for no reason?"
The chamber stirred at her question.
"What are you implying, Representative!" a ruling party member shot to his feet, shouting.
"They're blatant terrorists! They invaded our territory, trampled our authority, kidnapped our citizen! What did we do wrong?!"
"Terrorists?" She scoffed. "How do you explain these 'terrorists' now allied with the U.S. and Japan, saving the world from nightmare horrors? Or the abducted girl now their official diplomat, meeting the U.S. President at the White House?"
She turned sharply to the NIS agent. "Witness! There are allegations the NIS surveilled her home 24/7 before her disappearance, using her as bait. Is it true?"
"...That was standard procedure to protect the subject and prepare for potential threats," the agent stammered, sweating.
"Protect? Or a trap?!" Her voice shook the chamber.
"Our 'standard procedure' turned them against us—the worst outcome! They see us as an unbelievable group plotting to stab them in the back!"
"And that's not all!" Another lawmaker raised a new issue. A screen displayed a hot-topic U.S. analysis report on nightmare pouches.
"This thing! One little pouch is upending America's gun market and military strategy! And us? Our people learn about it from foreign media! Online, they're mocking the government, saying pouches are useless without guns, demanding gun liberalization! This isn't just social unrest—it's a national security crisis!"
He jabbed at the Defense Ministry official. "Our military hasn't even properly analyzed it! No countermeasures for how one pouch could reshape future battlefields!"
The chamber devolved into chaos—ruling and opposition shouting, witnesses deflecting blame, everyone covering their incompetence.
As Korea's Assembly wasted time on pointless finger-pointing and self-flagellation, Kim Sea had already advanced to the next phase. Her white business jet touched down at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.
Japan's government erupted in festival-like joy at her arrival. After bypassing them last time for the U.S. Embassy, she now returned as a business partner. The welcome dwarfed the previous one: the Foreign Minister himself greeted her on the tarmac, red carpet rolled out, dozens of black official cars escorting her to the Prime Minister's Office.
[Prime Minister's Residence, Special Conference Room]
The room buzzed not with suspicion, but anticipation and excitement—unlike the prior secret meeting. At the table sat the Prime Minister and Japan's power elite, faces flushed. Opposite, in the head seat, sat one girl: Kim Sea.
"On behalf of the Japanese government, we once again sincerely welcome the envoy." The Prime Minister bowed deeply with profound respect.
Sea accepted with a soft, calculated smile. "Prime Minister. My master will be pleased with your hospitality."
She wasted no time on preamble, pulling from her pristine white carry-on the same three types of magic items as in America—plus far more nightmare pouches—and placing them on the table.
"This is the first grace my master bestows upon you."
All eyes locked on the items, breaths held.
"And... we discuss payment for this grace."
Unlike with America, she made no political demands—purely business.
First, exclusive distribution rights in Japan for all my master's magic items, including nightmare pouches, granted to a specific company.
Second, that company exists only on paper—a ghost firm—with its owner in perfect anonymity.
Third, the Japanese government exempts it from all taxes, laws, and regulations, providing absolute convenience.
It demanded a massive economic special zone within Japan, free from any law but my master's will. Limited to item distribution now, but with infinite potential.
Japan had no choice. This was the ticket to seizing hegemony in a new era.
"......Agreed." After a heavy silence, the Prime Minister decided.
"We, the Japanese government, gladly accept all proposals from the envoy... no, from the crow mage."
A perfect smile of victory bloomed on Sea's lips.