“…What are they doing?”
It was Kim Cheon-soo’s thought after witnessing what Lime and Sosik were up to.
Honestly, anyone could tell they were doing something strange—odds were high they’d get weird looks.
Suddenly, Sosik’s legs came together, and he was spun around in circles above their heads. After a while, as Sosik was spun around, he stretched out like melting cheese, then slowly disappeared into the dark abyss below.
Could they possibly be trying to fish?
…Hm.
Kim Cheon-soo observed the scene warily, nodding inwardly though not outwardly. Setting aside how one would confirm if the bait had been taken, it seemed effective in stimulating whatever was below.
…Though, if they failed to notice quickly enough when the target bit, the consequences wouldn’t be pleasant to think about.
Anyway…
I’m starting to get stiff from standing too straight like this. I hope this isn’t becoming a habit.
He fidgeted slightly around the fixed position of his neck, trying to stretch the stiffness out. He idly wondered if he should go to a rehabilitation center to correct the posture if it did become a habit…
…But would that even work?
Before worrying about that, he realized getting out of this situation safely should be his priority…
There wasn’t much he could do right now, though. If anything, watching Jelly stretch might count as a task? It’s questionable whether it could technically be called work.
It was relaxing, but he also felt a faint sense of powerlessness. However, he quickly shook off the feeling, realizing that doing anything meaningful while caught in the intricacies of the Singularity was nearly impossible.
…Perhaps he’d mistakenly thought things would be easier because Lime had been acting so casual.
That’s when he noticed something floating around. He rolled his eyes and realized it was the same thing that had poked him earlier. It was the thing Lime had jabbed him with not too long ago.
‘What in the world is this?’
Out of idleness, he decided to take a closer look.
It looked like a screw that could be inserted into something, but being about the length of a finger, it was oddly small to be a screw. Besides, there was a prominent groove at the end, making it unlikely to be usable as one.
Perhaps it was some kind of key?
Kim Cheon-soo pondered over everything he’d seen so far, letting his imagination run wild. In the strange world of Singularities, even the most absurd hypotheses could hold some truth.
He considered the possibility that some faraway foundation had pushed an unknown Singularity into their realm. Something he’d have scoffed at before, but given the recent events, it seemed entirely plausible.
In short, it was like passing the buck.
If this trend continues, the existence of Singularities might inevitably be revealed to the general public. However, they would want such revelations to happen as ‘accidents’ rather than deliberate actions.
Preemptive strikes may be preferable, but there’s also a chance that whoever strikes first could end up being beaten and punished.
The presence of an uncontrollable entity nearby posed far too many risks—like a time bomb waiting to explode.
If Singularities were still rare as they were in the past, the current situation might have been different. But these days, they appear too frequently to track, despite attempts to suppress awareness of them. They occasionally make it into the news, which means it might only be a matter of time before it all breaks loose.
That suggested this Singularity here might have been deliberately pushed to this location rather than appearing naturally.
This then raised the question:
‘How?’
How had they created such a massive void, built a fortress, and manipulated space to distort it yet manage to push this entity away?
If they had the capability to do that, why didn’t they just isolate it themselves? Why make things complicated? Was it to avoid diplomatic issues between nations?
‘Ugh…’
Kim Cheon-soo’s head ached, and he suppressed his frustration. After all, everything he considered now was just speculative. Whether any of these theories held any truth was impossible to know. There were far too many variables for him to analyze accurately, especially if it involved a foreign branch of some organization.
Putting these thoughts aside,
Let’s assume there was indeed a method.
Could the floating object in the Jelly be a clue to what that method might be?
A peculiar item, not something that would naturally belong to the monsters.
The traces left behind by those who likely used it all seemed to end in one fate. If they had all been “hunted,” it wasn’t unfathomable that the monsters kept these as trophies.
The grim truth that this object revealed was that, whatever the technique, those who executed it had most likely failed to return and met their end.
Perhaps abandoned, but definitely lost.
‘Then what is this?’
Could it be some kind of key?
When he thought about it that way, it did look somewhat like one.
Still, it was unclear what it might open. It wasn’t even certain if it was indeed a key in the first place…
At that moment,
Ku-gu-gu-gu!
Suddenly, tremors began to ripple through the area. The source was clearly the dark, gaping hole below.
Lime, detecting the vibrations, immediately began pulling on Sosik’s Jelly. If they were too slow, the bait would be entirely consumed, much like a fish escaping with the bait in its mouth.
Not long after, the tremors became more intense, shaking the seabed with growing severity. As Sosik’s stretched body grew thicker, the vibrations grew stronger as well.
It soon became obvious to even a young child that something had taken the bait and was emerging from the hole.
‘Ugh!’
With a squelching sound, Sosik, having been extended downward as bait, suddenly contracted like a rubber band, striking Lime’s form—Kim Cheon-soo’s stomach—with a soft thump. Of course, from Kim’s perspective, the impact was excruciating.
While not fatal, it was a sharp, aching pain.
However, before Kim could fully process the pain, the show began with the appearance of—
Tentacles.
Not the sleek tentacles Lime normally emitted, but real, suction-cupped tentacles.
‘…Could it be some kind of colossal squid? Or an octopus?’
Octopuses didn’t usually possess such immense abilities, though obviously this one wasn’t ordinary.
While Kim Cheon-soo idly pondered the tentacles with suction cups, the dark hole below revealed its resident, a peculiarly glowing head emerging.
This… it was an incredibly strange creature. Though Kim had briefly thought it resembled an octopus, he quickly dismissed that idea. The only similarities were the suction-cupped tentacles and what appeared to be a lightbulb-like structure on its head.
Beyond the shiny head, it had what looked like an octopus-like surface, but soon an humanoid face resembling that of an adult male appeared.
It looked like the floating head of a bearded human who had been cursed to pilot a pirate ship underwater.
Ah, but without the hat, of course.
Perhaps because Kim had silently mocked it as bald, the grotesque entity extended its bearded—not bearded, suction-cupped—tentacles fiercely toward them.
Squelch squelch squelch!
As Kim gawked, Lime acted. The impact from even a glancing blow might have caused him to vomit blood, if not worse.
Lime narrowly avoided the tentacle, which instead slammed straight into the fortress.
It seemed the fortress hadn’t been designed to withstand attacks from its creator, as it exploded like a cardboard box being crushed—puff, poof.
Hearing that, Kim Cheon-soo felt cold sweat trickle down his spine.
If Lime hadn’t dodged…
He would have ended up like a fly smashed by a flyswatter, no question about it.
Anyway…
‘What’s Lime planning to do now?’
Kim Cheon-soo watched with tension, ready to see what Lime would do next.
Now that they’d caught a big one, the only thing left to do would be cooking it, right?
Trusting Lime, Kim thought, “Our Lime will surely handle this, just like always.”
But contrary to his thoughts, Lime, along with Sosik, fled into the fortress after the massive creature they had reeled in.
‘…Huh?’
Kim blinked in surprise at the sound of grinding joints.
Lime… do you really… have no plan at all?
Is it… just because I’m here? Without me, you probably would have directly attacked, right…?
Surely… that must’ve been it.
Kim’s speculation wasn’t far off.
In reality, Lime had chosen to retreat due to the unexpectedly massive and powerful attack.
They had lured the creature in but failed to capture it before it escaped.
If it weren’t for Kim’s presence, Lime probably would’ve tried to do something regardless of the risks. After all, the decision not to dive into the abyss earlier was made for the same reason.
Beyond that… Sosik would likely be crushed flat if sent against this creature. Would Sosik even survive being sent out?
Sosik seemed aware of this too, as it clung to Lime’s shoulder without making a fuss like before.
Of course, whether this was out of laziness or fear remained unclear.
What now?
Kuuung!
First things first, they needed to escape.
Lime quickly retreated.
Since Lime showed no clear intention to retaliate, Kim Cheon-soo tried to call out to explain his theories.
…But given the state of his joints, it seemed unlikely he’d manage to do so anytime soon.
‘Ugh…’
Lime’s group kept running.
Ironically, they had the fortress’s numerous hiding spots to thank for their advantage in evading their foe.
Still, Kim couldn’t help but wonder why the fortress had been constructed in the first place if they were just going to use it this way.
Something wasn’t quite right.
