Gwiam Reservoir (5)
His eyes met those of I-sik, who was standing on the surface of the water. Or... had they really met? They were too far apart for her to be certain. She just had that feeling. And in that instant, as a smile crept across I-sik's face, his body suddenly sank beneath the reservoir.
"Huh?"
Splash! Water sprayed up. In the rippling waves, I-sik thrashed desperately, splashing away.
"Help— glub! Somebody, hel— mmph! Glub glub!!"
"I-sik!!"
Sam-sik's eyes bulged red as he shouted and charged forward. Or rather—he nearly did. If she hadn't grabbed his arm, Sam-sik would have thrown himself into Gwiam Reservoir.
"Wh-what the hell!? Let go! He's right there—I-sik's right there!!"
"Leave him."
"...Huh?"
Sam-sik whipped his head around. His face was slack-jawed, eyes wide in utter disbelief, like he'd heard the most outrageous thing.
"Wh-what are you saying!? My friend's down there! My friend I-sik!! How can you say that so coldly...!"
"No. That's not him."
She gave a wry smile and shook her head.
"That's not a person."
"........................Huh?"
"Not a person. A dead one."
She stated the fact calmly. Sam-sik stared blankly, slowly turning his head forward. In his unfocused eyes reflected his friend flailing for his life in Gwiam Reservoir.
Splash! Splash!
"Gasp! Glub! H-help! Glub! Sam-sik!!"
The moment I-sik's desperate cry rang out so clearly—
Smack! Sam-sik shook off her hand without hesitation and bolted forward.
"Ah."
Splash!!
"I-sik! I-sik! Hang on, I'll save you!!"
Sam-sik plunged into the water, swimming frantically toward I-sik. As she shook off the hand he'd flung away, Mirinae hurried over and asked,
"Sh-shouldn't we stop him? You said it's a dead person, right!?"
"It's fine."
She'd already warned him once—that was enough. She and Sam-sik were strangers who'd just met today. She had no obligation to save him. If anything, for an exclusive necromancer like her, showing kindness to a non-friend human was more than generous. She could say that confidently.
"He ignored the warning."
"...."
"He made his choice. Now he has to own it."
Meanwhile, Sam-sik, having swum up to I-sik, reached out with deep relief.
"Here, grab my hand. Let's get you out."
"Glub... haa... haa... Y-yeah, Sam-sik."
I-sik grabbed Sam-sik's hand and smiled brightly.
"Thanks, Sam-sik."
"Psh, what're friends for?"
"Yeah... friends... right, we were friends."
I-sik drew closer.
"But why'd you do it?"
Sam-sik's body suddenly froze.
"..............Huh?"
"Why'd you do it back then? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?"
A hand reached out. It grabbed Sam-sik's face. His nape. Left arm. Right arm. Left leg. Right leg. Torso. Shoulders.
From beneath the surface.
Dozens of hands shot up and seized Sam-sik.
"Glub! Glub!! Aaaah! L-let gooo!! Glub!!"
The surface churned. The spot where I-sik had thrashed for his life was now passed to Sam-sik. As she watched coldly, Mirinae suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Seorin!"
She turned to Mirinae. Mirinae flinched, then leaned forward and shouted,
"Isn't there something—anything—we can do? To save Sam-sik!! Please, he's gonna die!!"
"...Tch."
She clicked her tongue briefly. She had no desire to save some fool who'd ignored her warning and run off to his death. But Mirinae's desperate expression was hard to ignore.
"Just this once."
She planted her feet, stepping back with her left, twisting her torso sideways, and rearing back the hand holding the scythe. Fixing on her target—
She hurled the scythe.
Whiiirrr!! The scythe spun like a fan, shooting forward.
Bang!!
KIIIAAAAAAHHHH!!
As it grazed past Sam-sik, the air exploded with a man's scream echoing simultaneously. With a flick of her fingers, the flying scythe stopped dead—then reversed, flying back like rewind.
Clack. She caught the returning scythe and turned to Mirinae.
"That do it?"
".................."
What? That face screaming I have so much to say but where do I even start?
Splash! Splash!
"Gasp! Heuk... heuk...!"
The moment he broke free, Sam-sik swam frantically to shore and collapsed, vomiting.
"Bleurgh!! Heuk... cough! Guh!!"
"A-are you okay?"
Mirinae approached with a worried look, patting his back. Far too kind for him. So, to balance it out, she decided to give Sam-sik a piece of her mind.
"Told you to leave him. Why didn't you listen? Didn't you see that grabby ghost right before it dipped?"
"Haa... haa... B-but... it was definitely I-sik... begging me to save him...!"
Sam-sik looked up at her pitifully with trembling eyes. Her heart didn't stir.
"So what?"
"...Huh?"
"You gonna off yourself just 'cause your dead buddy shows up asking?"
"Th-that's..."
Sam-sik hung his head. She walked past him, eyeing the reservoir.
"Seorin."
Mirinae approached. Her face looked pale—worrisome.
"You okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm fine... More importantly, what happened to that guy... I-sik?"
She glanced at the reservoir and answered.
"He ran."
"Ran...?"
Mirinae peeked at the reservoir too—specifically, the spot where I-sik had grabbed Sam-sik.
There.
Nothing.
As if the I-sik from before had been mere illusion. Only the gentle ripples from a faint breeze proved the reservoir itself was real.
Mirinae instinctively shivered, rubbing her arms.
"No way..."
Sam-sik's face drained white.
"Then... I-sik's... dead?"
"Who knows?"
She shrugged vaguely.
"Maybe your friend died and became a ghost. Or maybe some ghost mimicked him to lure you out."
"...."
"Either way, what you met wasn't human."
That much was undeniable truth.
"Whatever's in this reservoir making it crawl with ghosts—evil spirits—we'll find out starting now."
With that, she unzipped and shed the tight tracksuit clinging to her body.
"Whoa."
"...Wha—! Don't look!"
"Gyaah! My eyes!!"
Mirinae reflexively jabbed Sam-sik's eyes to block his view, then frantically covered the camera and yelled. The viewers, silenced by the bizarre events beyond normal comprehension, erupted in complaints the moment the mood shifted.
"W-wait! Seorin, the stream! We're live!!"
"Shut it."
She flung off the tracksuit. Beneath it—she stood in a one-piece swimsuit.
"Eh."
"Figured we might end up in the reservoir while filming, so I wore this underneath just in case."
"Ah, haha... r-right..."
As Mirinae uncovered the camera, viewers reacted to her appearance.
"Huh? Wait, Seorin—if you're in a swimsuit now, does that mean—"
"Hold my clothes."
She handed her outfit to Mirinae and waved as she headed for the reservoir.
"Be right back. Don't move from here till I'm out."
Splash! She simply walked into Gwiam Reservoir.
I watched worriedly as Seorin entered the reservoir.
"That... she's okay, right?"
"...Dunno."
To Sam-sik's question, I could only say I didn't know. Because I truly knew nothing. What was happening in this Gwiam Reservoir. Or... what Seorin's true nature was.
"Haa—"
I bit my lower lip, blaming myself. If I hadn't insisted on coming here... we wouldn't be spending this horrific night.
Seorin said it wasn't my fault. That ghosts lured us to Gwiam Reservoir. She comforted me. But that didn't ease my mind.
Why me? What reason did the ghost have to lead me here? I'm just an ordinary human. A streamer with no spiritual powers whatsoever... one of the countless masses. Out of all those people, why pick me? Just bad luck?
Or... no way.
That was when.
"Hey."
A young man's voice came from behind. Sam-sik and I whipped around.
"...Huh?"
Behind us stood a man. Unharmed face. Unharmed body. Looking perfectly human—
"I-sik?"
—I-sik.
"...Why'd you come out from there?"