Chapter 131 |
You're already warm.
'You're already loved.'
I only have one friend.
'Detestable things.'
How endlessly greedy, how laughable.
"......"
...As I thought, I don't like it.
***
Mages are not human. They are spiritual energy coalesced into a form resembling a human. Because of this, every mage is born with an innate attribute.
"......"
Like right now, for instance.
When submerged in water.
"Where are...."
Was this truly the water of a labyrinth? Or was there another reason? Seome's brow furrowed at the strange pressure closing in.
'I should be feeling the flow of water, but even though I'm moving, it's fixed in place.'
Water that did not flow. It felt still, or perhaps simply numb. Instead of her skin losing sensation, a coldness seeped slowly beneath it.
'Sounds feel distant.'
No, it was as if the world was responding in slow motion.
'Why? Somehow, this is the same as what I felt in the underground levels of this labyrinth....'
A damp feeling. Not rotten, not fishy--just the lingering trace of something that had remained for a very long time. The stillness of this place exerted pressure, not comfort.
"Where are you?"
Stagnant on the surface, but all energy was being sucked downward.
"Please, just...!"
It wasn't as if she'd never fought a Water Wraith before. Yet this place was eerie. As if the slightest lapse in focus would make her lose her mind and simply sink downward.
Perhaps it was the same dreadful restlessness she'd felt in the underground fog.
"......"
"......"
"Seome."
...She felt a touch against her back.
"Sister, you came looking for me."
No, had she truly 'felt' that?
"I was lonely. It's so cold here."
"...You...."
"Cold... aren't you cold? I used to breathe, too, once...."
"You're not my sibling."
"I used to breathe with you, on dry land."
"You're not Seosang."
"My sister."
Squeeze....
It tightened around her throat.
"You,"
"......"
"You're warm."
--Heeheeheeheehee!!!
"...! Ugh...!!"
She thrashed, but couldn't break free.
Laughter that resonated not in her eardrums but somewhere inside her brain. That strange ripple grazed Seome's vision and inverted every color she could see.
"You insane,"
Blue turned red.
Darkness turned to light.
The living, killed.
The water's surface rose upward, the sky plunged below.
"You insane bastards...!!"
Seome hated The Foundation.
They were the ones who made her lose her sibling, who killed her second benefactor alive, and now had made her witness this goddamn spectacle. Wretched, loathsome creatures.
This was a hell those egoists had created...!
"Seome, over here."
"Let's run."
"You're below now, too!"
"No, it's the sky."
"Water is sky, sky is snow."
"It's not cold, it's warm. If it's warm you melt."
"If you look you'll die, you'll die, Seome, Seome, Seome."
"I'll protect you!!!"
No shape before her eyes, nor anywhere. Countless lidless eyes floated in the void. Those eyes gazed at one another, seeing other worlds through themselves.
She was being watched. With each thrash, hundreds of shadows breathed alongside her. Laughter, weeping, screams, cheers. Somewhere among them, perhaps, her own voice.
"Me too, together,"
"--Don't fuck with me!!"
Vile and relentless. Their desire to drive her mad was plainly visible.
"All you can do is torment the living, you worthless specters--don't you dare fuck with me!!"
What constricted her throat was not a hand, but time.
The breath from a moment ago wrapped around the present and returned, and a heart from the past beat overlapping with her current one. A filthy, maddening Water Wraith.
Along with the realization that her self within the water was watching herself, Seome recognized that everything happening now had already happened.
Still, she drew her blade.
"In the end, you're all just...!!"
"Don't go""Seome""Don't leave me alone"
"Nothing."
Gurgle--
Splash, splash, splash....
Heeheeheeheeheeheehee--!!!
"......"
Laughter like the scream of lungs drinking in water.
As if dozens of mouths burst into laughter simultaneously, there was no up or down. Some came from beneath the water. Some from inside her ears. Some laughter clung like waves, some water clung like blood.
At the end of that sound, there was a brief breath.
"......"
Heeheeheeheeheeheehee--
Kyah, guh, gurgle--!!!
"......"
Gurgle, guk....
"......"
"......"
Before long, only a heavy silence remained, same as the beginning.
"...Ah, how heartless."
The hand that had been strangling her throat grazed the blade she'd drawn, then fell away.
"I wanted to go down together."
"...I'm going alone."
"To take my friend away like that?"
"He's not your friend, either."
"You don't know."
A sneer.
"You don't know anything, coward."
"......"
"This place needs him."
"......"
"Otherwise, the world will become hell...."
Ending on words like a curse.
"......"
Seome was left alone again.
"...Let it all fall to ruin...."
...The world had been hell from the start.
Into the depths below, where the long tail of a lurching fish lay submerged.
Seome kicked off again.
***
"Have you lost your mind?"
"Heh."
"You must have."
Deep, deep within the swimming pool that had turned red, Yeon-woo muttered while held fast by a pale hand.
"My hotel...."
This deranged Water Wraith had remodeled the swimming pool without so much as asking.
"I'd vaguely expected as much from the moment you were submerged, but even so, isn't this too deep? It was already a deep pool, and now it's practically become a scuba diving zone."
"Isn't it cozy?"
"I won't die, at least, but just in case, I'll need to reorganize staff placement. The other Monster Guests here aren't a great concern, but if a person falls in without realizing, it'll be a disaster."
"My body will merely swell further."
"That's what I meant by 'disaster,' but I suppose that didn't land."
Most regrettable.
'I had a feeling something was off ever since I saw the state of Sub-Level 7... So the Aqua Park's ended up the same way after all. What a headache.'
From the outside, there was little visible difference, so he'd left it alone. But having put his own body in, he understood. This Aqua Park, too, had been warped just like Sub-Level 7.
With his arms crossed, Yeon-woo asked.
"Does this happen simply because you exist?"
"If I will it."
"So you did remodel it after all."
Why were the Monster Guests here so devoid of common sense?
'They must have been human once. Can't they try to recall those memories?'
He let out a deep sigh, though no air bubbles emerged.
"......"
Because, in the end, the current Yeon-woo was no different from a Water Wraith himself.
"...Please let go now. The young ones must have been quite frightened."
Naturally, the Water Wraith refused.
"You play favorites too much."
"Believe it or not, I'm a sensible person, so I tend to like people who behave sensibly."
"He's my friend, and all you ever do is scold."
"If you'd do something endearing, I'd speak kindly too, wouldn't I?"
The audacity.
"Be good."
"......"
The Drenched One, who had been blinking with feline eyes, curved those violet irises into a gentle arc.
"...Okay."
"Is that so?"
"Not bad."
The strangling hands loosened gently.
"We like that sort of thing, you know...."
Had anyone ever told her that her tastes were truly strange?
'Maybe it's just my imagination, but the Monster Guests seem to especially enjoy coercive situations.'
It wasn't just this Water Wraith. The Guest Without Taste had been the same, and so had the Lover of Dawn. They became far more compliant when Yeon-woo treated them like children or students rather than as guests.
It wasn't a method Yeon-woo himself was fond of, mind you.
"Getting involved with you lot is exhausting...."
"Originally, I was just going to kill you all and be done with it."
"That's not something I can just let pass. Kill whom--those students?"
"No, you."
"Ah."
At this point, how was that even news?
"Do you actually hesitate over something like that?"
"If I kill you now, I think it'll draw considerable wrath."
"Do you have any idea how many resources it takes for me to die and come back once?"
"Right, I really don't want to be scolded by you."
"How commendable."
"And your proposal wasn't bad, either."
He was fairly sure it had been bad.
'Bad enough to drag innocent people underwater.'
As if reading Yeon-woo's displeasure, the Drenched One laughed.
"I think I'd rather cling to your breath after all. I want that to be my place. Even if my tail is submerged in water, all water should be one."
"Does all the water in the world have to be yours?"
"If it runs deep, then yes, it should."
She added.
"And above all...."
Glancing upward, the Drenched One smiled.
"Doesn't that side look more fun?"
"......?"
Was it his imagination?
"......"
Through the dark red water, someone was visible.
"...Th-,"
This insane person.
'Where does she think she's crawling into...!!'
He'd tried to shout that, but at the same moment the Drenched One tore his jaw apart, and the words never left his mouth. Above the pool and below it, every direction was swarming with nothing but lunatics.
***
"--Cough,"
SPLASH!!
Yeon-woo broke through the surface and retched water.
"Urgh, hack, haahh...!"
"Mr. Yeon-woo, are you okay? Can you breathe?"
"Kakh, khhh...!"
"Rawi, give us a hand."
Rawi, who had been waiting for them, let out a breath of relief and grabbed Seome's hand.
"Everyone's confirmed not dead, right?"
"Mr. Yeon-woo looks like he's about to die, so shut it for a second."
"That's exactly what I could see, which is why I asked."
Rawi's face contorted.
"Fuck, why does he look like that again...."
The gloved hand was covering it, but blood was streaming freely underneath. The rest of him didn't look normal either. Blood was visibly spreading across the pool's blue surface.
"Isn't he going to die of excessive bleeding like this?"
Beyond his face--one leg. One shoulder. His neck, tattered. Beneath his clothes looked ominous.
"Doesn't seem like his heart got ripped out like last time."
"But at this rate, he could still die...."
"Did I mishear something?"
"The bleeding sites are too large and too many."
As Seome said this and tried to support him, Yeon-woo pushed her away.
"......"
"...I'm sorry, but you don't look even a little okay."
Still, at least Yeon-woo's faculties seemed intact. His face was deeply contorted from pain, but even with those eyes, he could convey the message 'I'm fine, so stop making a fuss.'
Seome sighed and called to Rawi.
"Want to carry him on your back?"
"Am I going to get cursed for this?"
"Cursed? By whom?"
"By Mr. Yeon-woo...."
"It's fine, he won't bite."
Yeon-woo, who had been silently listening to their exchange, let out a deep sigh through his nose and stood up.
"Wait, you can stand on that leg?"
Rawi was stunned, but Seome only furrowed her brow.
"It's one of the hallmarks of a blood mage--the ability to keep the body functioning even with critical injuries...."
"I've never heard of anyone doing it to that degree."
"That's because there's no mage who can handle blood this well. Replacing damaged organs with liquid blood is by no means easy."
"Then, hold on."
Having heard Seome's explanation, Rawi looked at Yeon-woo.
"I heard that Blood Magic thing hurts every time you use it?"
"......"
"......"
Yeon-woo shifted his gaze and summoned the staff on standby at the pool.
"......"
"......"
The staff confirmed his gesture and silently nodded, then began wiping away the pooled blood. Their movements were so natural that Rawi lost his words for a moment.
"Wouldn't it be easier to just let someone carry you...?"
"......"
"Okay, fine, but don't glare like that."
"......"
"Do you just not like accepting help?"
"......"
"Hm, I see."
If Yeon-woo had been able to speak, he would have said, 'You think it makes sense for me to be carried by a kid?' Unfortunately, his jaw had been torn apart and his tongue had been ripped out. There was no way he could talk.
Watching him merely wave his hand to beckon them, Seome's expression darkened.
"...Seeing that you can't regenerate immediately, you must be low on blood? When we first met you in the underground, you were regenerating so fast we couldn't even see the injuries."
"......"
"A blood mage with plenty of blood is nearly invincible, but conversely, an anemic blood mage is vulnerable to even minor wounds. You, Mr. Yeon-woo, are clearly the latter case... and these injuries are anything but minor."
"......"
"You understand what I'm saying."
Seome grew somewhat frustrated.
"I may be a mage, but that doesn't mean my blood has no efficacy. I recover faster than Rawi, who's human, so if you take my blood--"
Tap!
"......"
Yeon-woo tapped Seome's forehead, as if knocking on a door.
"......"
"...Truly...."
Meeting the same gesture and the same look in his eyes as last night, Seome's words slowed.
"...You truly have no intention of using someone else's blood, do you, Mr. Yeon-woo?"
"......"
"You'll die like that."
"......"
"You'll really die...."
***
"......"
Seome should have been grateful that Yeon-woo couldn't speak.
'Is she trying to force illegal blood donations on me right now?'
He was currently quite certain he had stumbled into a world that had well and truly lost its mind.