I hate the sea now.
Once, there was a Jelly who was trapped underground, yearning for the outside world. But that Jelly no longer exists; she’s dead. Though, it was probably for the best.
For days, I evaded people underwater, and if I still liked the sea, then I must have been wired that way. I wasn’t, so naturally, the sea has grown tiresome.
However,
I couldn’t just stay away. Whenever I thought about Sosik wandering cluelessly underwater, it was bearable.
I resolved to stretch the jelly far and wide to find him, but it was fruitless.
Well, in truth, the idea of searching this vast ocean with such a tiny body might be overly ambitious. Moreover, I’ve forgotten exactly where I last tangled with that Bald Octopus.
What’s the use of recounting when I lost consciousness from the blurred vision and woke up there?
Interestingly, Yang Ha-na and Lee Yoo-jin didn’t seem to doubt that I’d find Sosik underwater.
What sort of faith could that be? I’m not that special… well, I may be decent, but my abilities certainly suck in a situation like this.
By the time, I wondered how it might’ve gone if I had brought an army of jelly followers, but it was too late for regrets, and it likely would’ve been impossible.
Searching this expansive sea meaningfully would’ve required something like boarding a container, like we used to. No, even then, it would probably be insufficient considering how enormous the ocean is.
Given the way the group traveled all this way, it seemed moving like that would be impossible. This is less about regret and more about a tantrummy thought.
The sea really is disgustingly vast. Perhaps because of that, humans can’t search it thoroughly. Still, I re-examined under water just in case.
Finding a pineapple underwater would be easier than finding Sosik. Searching for such a small figure in the vast ocean seemed excessively difficult. If I had eyeballs, they’d surely be too dry to open by now. Not to mention, his bluish color blends in, making it like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Regardless, I felt compelled to do something as I darted around, tapping the ocean floor with my tentacles.
Sosik, it’s Dad who couldn’t wait at home anymore—Mom, maybe? Anyway, I’ve come to find you, so why can’t I see you? Haven’t you been eaten by whales or sharks?
Well, that little guy could probably survive inside a whale or shark without issues. In fact, he might even enjoy it, drifting off happily to their movements and staying there when it’s mealtime. Eventually, when the creature can’t move anymore because of Sosik, I imagine he’d be stuck inside it—
Hmm.
Thinking about it now, it does seem dangerous. Not necessarily for Sosik but for what might contain him. Whether it’s an ocean-dweller or the Earth itself, it probably isn’t human, right? If it was, Han Seori would certainly be surprised.
Where could you be, really? Feeling like stretching myself endlessly won’t compensate for the effort.
As much as I grumbled inwardly, I scoured the sea diligently yet came up empty-handed, eventually having no choice but to resurface. In an embarrassing twist, I forgot where I submerged, but as I surfaced and followed the glint of light, a familiar landscape came into view.
On my return, flaunting what I’d finessed as fishing skills, I surfaced with a large fish.
“Mom!?”
Yang Ha-na, who had presumably been waiting by staring blankly at the sea, toppled over in shock, flailing about like a freshly caught fish.
This is odd. I thought I caught a fish?
Curious why she reacted, I tilted my water-dripping head, only for her composure to return as she turned red and flailed with her hands.
“No, it’s not… I thought a fish was jumping out… Hmm… But still, it’s… enormous!”
“Hey, Lime’s back! – Wait? Where’s this fish coming from?”
“Look, Lime, I’m telling the truth!”
As she scrambled to justify her actions, she praised the fish I caught but ended up babbling incoherently until Lee Yoo-jin’s inquiring voice came.
That finger of hers pointed at the fish I had caught.
Since Yoo-jin’s gaze followed, it seems my haul was quite impressive.
Yang Ha-na stirred the situation, pretending she wasn’t embarrassed, while Lee Yoo-jin stared at the fish with pure admiration. Watching them made me feel slightly awkward, my shoulders rising.
Though it was still dim, the two marveled at the fish I caught under the flickering light and quietly asked,
“Why did you catch this?”
“Huh, why?”
Wha…? You don’t know?
Ah… this is food. Eating it gives you strength. Especially this one is so fresh it can be eaten raw, or if cooked, it should taste great too.
Why are their expressions so strange? Don’t they eat?
Looking at them with curiosity, Lee Yoo-jin tilted her head and asked Yang Ha-na,
“Does Miss Hana know how to clean a fish?”
“Um? Oh no… I’ve only ever eaten boneless mackerel.”
“…Same here.”
Ah, that’s why.
With eating everything whole so much a habit, people have forgotten how fish are eaten. Even as a human, I mainly ate processed fish—never preparing it myself, especially alone.
And since this one was too large for the two of them, it was only right that I assist.
Alright, let’s see, you cut the neck and take out the insides, right…?
“Hey, stop there! If you want sashimi, I’ll buy you some!”
“Whoa!”
Gasps erupted as my sharp jelly cut into the fish’s neck and belly. What’s the issue this time?
With the sight of their startled faces, I paused mid-disassembly. My feet were already soaked with the fish’s blood.
“Ugh…”
“Aah…”
Realizing something was wrong, I stretched my jelly and shoved the fish back into the sea.
With a splash, the water turned red momentarily before reverting to its normal color as the fish sank. I imagined it filling the stomachs of some friends I’d met earlier underwater. It saddened me. I had caught it to eat; why were they so repulsed?
…Don’t like sashimi?
Was this fish inedible as sashimi?
Somewhat frustrated, I assumed they disliked fish and reasoned I could understand that. After all, people have preferences, and there are allergens. I’d once seen someone in a part-time job requesting fries without salt due to a salt allergy, so fish isn’t that odd.
Still, how is that person even alive?
Notwithstanding that doubt, fish are delicious. Why don’t they eat it?
Nevertheless,
That day’s exploration ended like that.
This wasn’t the end, of course; there was still much time left. But somehow, it felt like Sosik might not be somewhere down there.
There’s no concrete evidence.
Just a feeling.
Though I couldn’t exactly articulate it, I was inclined to go back in, but some unease persisted.
…
Through a transparent glass pane, the blue-hued jelly girl fidgeted with an unfamiliar fruit, struggling. She seemed to want its insides but found the hard surface challenging to penetrate.
From outside the glass, a few people watched her fondly, while a couple with intrigued expressions appeared amongst them.
The latter outnumbered the former, but the atmosphere suggested their leaders were among the intrigued.
One of these leaders watched as Sosik, holding an object and shaking it up and down, created a sharp edge of jelly and cleanly sliced through the solid object—a coconut.
The sliced coconut piece thudded to the floor like a block of tofu, and having opened it, Sosik grabbed its interior with her jelly, extracting its contents.
However, it seemed not to suit her taste as she emptied the coconut and promptly tossed the hollowed shell aside.
“Such… It doesn’t taste good, I see.”
“Well, coconut water tastes like snot anyway.”
“Then why did you bring it?!”
“For diverse experiences?”
Among the clamor of complaints, an interested watcher thought.
“…We might be ready to move on to the next stage.”
Before that, a final test was in order. But seeing she didn’t exhibit hostility toward humans even with unpalatable food, it might’ve been unnecessary.
“I guess there was an annoying issue, though.”
Checking her combat abilities would be good; there wasn’t any shared combat data.
He thought calmly,
If she ends up weaker than expected and dies… that wouldn’t be bad. Proof of her theft would automatically vanish.
But if she showed expected strength?
That would be excellent.
She could be precious insurance during these tumultuous times.
As the man smiled contentedly,
Sosik, having tossed the empty coconut, sat blankly on the floor searching the surroundings with her fidgeting jelly, seeming to want something, though unseen by those observing.
