“Un…nie…?”
[Hello, Dongsaeng!]
The Jeokgeumbal Mermaid Princess looked at me with shaky eyes, as if she couldn’t believe the blue-haired mermaid connected to my tentacles was real.
“It’s because we’re underwater. If it were on land, I wouldn’t be surprised if that Jeokgeumbal Mermaid Princess was crying.”
“Unnie, unnie…”
Hmm, looks like that blue-haired mermaid is related to the Jeokgeumbal mermaid as sisters?
“Don’t tell me, unnie… did you call that outsider here?”
[Yes!]
“…Ah, ah… Huh…”
After a while of crying, the Jeokgeumbal Mermaid Princess finally apologized to me.
“I’m sorry… please…”
[No need!]
When the Jeokgeumbal Mermaid Princess apologized in a stiff tone, my sister mermaid, who was attached to my tentacles like an umbilical cord, scolded the Jeokgeumbal Mermaid Princess with a face that seemed to say “Hey! You can’t do that!”
How could one apologize in such a tone!
“…I’m so sorry. Um… Shia, please accept my apology…”
“Hmph, no.”
“What…?”
However, I also rejected that apology.
I was lucky to have been attacked by the Corpse Army; if they had been other humans unable to adapt to this Abyssal Dungeon, they would have died without a doubt, right?
Of course, I’m a Seongnyeo. Even if as a Seongnyeo I’m supposed to be forgiving, I can’t just easily speak of forgiveness after an attack that almost led to killing someone.
The Dongsaeng Ineo looked visibly shocked, as if she hadn’t considered that I would refuse her apology.
“Wha… what should I do for you to accept my apology…?”
“Um…”
I hadn’t thought about that…
Ah!
“There’s a saying among humans.”
“…What do you mean?”
“To apologize, one must offer meat!”
“Me…at…?”
I just saw that giant salmon earlier, and it looked incredibly delicious.
Sure, I like meat, but I don’t dislike fish either. The taste of that giant salmon was so rich and deep that it made me think there must be other tasty fish in this vast dungeon.
However, the expression of the Dongsaeng Ineo who heard my words turned extremely pale.
Huh, what’s wrong with her…?
“Th… that means… if I give you meat, you’ll forgive me… right?”
“Uh, yeah? That’s right.”
Honestly, isn’t it kind of cheap to forgive that way?
If it were me in the wrong, it could have been dangerous, right?
“…Alright. I will beg for forgiveness with meat…”
“Oh, okay….”
But suddenly, her expression not only turned pale but she started trembling.
Then she raised her hand.
Feeling it wasn’t an attack towards me, I stayed still.
At first, I thought the Dongsaeng Ineo was raising her hand to summon the other corpse somewhere to catch fish like she did before.
But…
PUURRRR!
“Augh…!?”
“What…?”
[Huh?]
This crazy girl suddenly cut off her own tail!
Both I and the Unnie Ineo attached to me screamed slightly late at the Dongsaeng Ineo’s insane act of suddenly slicing off her own tail.
[Dongsaenggggggg!!!]
“Kiiyaaaaaa!!! What are you doinggggg!!!”
[Miracle – Great Healing]
I quickly activated the miracle of Great Healing to regrow the Dongsaeng Ineo’s severed tail.
“Ugh…”
“No, this crazy girl is one step above me, shit!”
I did my best to restore her body quickly, but the pain the Dongsaeng Ineo felt in that brief moment was real.
Only someone like me, accustomed to pain, could brush it off without feeling much. I know well how terrible pain can be for other living beings.
“Eh, um… the tail… has grown back…”
“No, hey, crazy girl! I didn’t ask you to slice your tail off to get me meat!!”
[That’s right!]
“Then… did you want the head instead? Or the heart…? Oh, you mean the meat of another mermaid…?”
“………….No, are you crazy?”
Oh my head.
Both I and the Unnie Ineo held our heads like we were getting headaches.
In the end, after that, I had to spend a bit of time clearing up the misunderstanding with the Dongsaeng Ineo.
“Uh, I see now… I just needed to bring some salmon or mackerel… right?”
I should have realized that common sense as a human doesn’t apply to mermaids…
This girl seems smarter than other mermaids, but strangely has a few gaps…
“Sigh, fine….”
Flap flap!
“Since it turned out this way, asking for meat feels a bit odd….”
Wiggle wiggle!
“But what’s moving over there since earlier?”
“Huh? What’s moving….”
When I turned to look, the tail that the Dongsaeng Ineo had cut off was flapping about on its own.
“………”
What the hell is that?
Upon closer inspection, the ghost of the Unnie Ineo that had been connected to me disappeared, and my tentacle that had been attached to the Unnie Ineo was now stuck to the severed tail.
Could it be possessed?
Nod nod!
“…….”
“Hey, Unnie!? You came back to life!”
“No, you crazy girl…!”
I had to smack the Dongsaeng Ineo’s head again.
I thought she had some intelligence, but why does she seem so insane?
Sigh….
In the end, I forcibly moved my tentacles and pulled the Unnie Ineo that was possessed back, making her possession forcibly negate.
[…I need… a body.]
“I get that you need a body, but don’t possess a severed tail or corpse…”
Likely, even if I didn’t move my tentacles, the possession would have ended shortly, given that the Unnie Ineo’s state was incredibly unstable.
The reason she was so vividly present in reality was that I was the Mangja Seongnyeo.
Because I was a Mangja myself and possessed the ability to pull souls of the deceased towards me, she could maintain her presence as long as I was around. In other words, without me, the Unnie Ineo wouldn’t be visible to anyone.
Her possessing the severed tail was only possible because I was near her. Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t even have been able to meet her sister.
“Um… can you create a body for your sister…?”
“……That’s difficult.”
“Difficult… huh.”
The miracle of Great Healing, at least, works by making the physical body of an existing spirit into the optimal state.
However, the Unnie Ineo’s body long since abandoned her soul, and there was no remaining body, so it would be impossible to create a new one.
Flap flap!
Wiggle wiggle!
“But how long will that be moving?”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, the tail that the Unnie Ineo had momentarily possessed was still flapping away.
I hadn’t noticed when connected to the mermaid’s body, but now it looked somewhat grotesque.
Hmm….
“Ah, are you perhaps hungry?”
“What?”
“Do you want to eat that?”
And shortly after, thanks to guidance from the Jeokgeumbal Dongsaeng Ineo, I was able to arrive at a small abyssal cave filled with air.
This place wasn’t filled with seawater but with oxygen and air from a deep-sea volcano, making it a resting spot for the mermaids.
After all, they wouldn’t be able to rest comfortably in the raging currents of the deep sea…
And in one hand, I still held the wriggling mermaid tail.
“If I had known, I should have brought a transport drone…”
-Sister… earlier you were so cool in battle, but why are you like this now…
-Ah, damn it…
-No seriously, isn’t that crazy? She’s actually going to eat the mermaid hahahahaha!
-Hahahaha!
As I entered the air-filled area, I turned off the drone’s stealth mode and switched the viewer’s chat hologram back to visible mode.
It seemed like we had a pretty intense battle, but thankfully the Hunter Assistant Drone wasn’t damaged and continued to follow me even now, broadcasting without any issue.
-Just ten minutes ago I was super busy clipping the battle scenes, and now what is this!?
-What else, it’s delicious mermaid meat!
-Mermaid meat is a bit…hahaha!
“Hey, quiet down. Think of this as the spoils of war.”
-That’s a Seongnyeo…?
“Hey, I didn’t forcibly take it! She willingly offered it!”
-Yeah, that was definitely misleading, streamer!
-But I’m curious how it tastes haha!
At least I was relieved that the viewers didn’t seem to realize I had lost consciousness.
No, to be exact, it seemed no one had noticed that something ‘else’ had popped out in my place.
“Ah, Dongsaeng Mermaid Princess, could you introduce yourself?”
“…Introduce myself? Why do I need to do that?”
“I still don’t know much about you.”
“……….”
The Dongsaeng Ineo appeared startled, not expecting to be called out like that, and alternated her gaze between me and the drone.
Though the Dongsaeng Ineo wore a slightly wary expression, I tried my best to show a reassuring smile to ease her tension.
“Don’t worry, sit down… and brush away your hair covering your chest.”
-No, I’m actually a bit disappointed that mermaids have scales on their chests…
-Hahaha!
-If it shows, it’ll be a 19+ broadcast, right?
-Good thing the adult filter isn’t on…
“Okay then, let’s start with your age.”
“…I don’t know my age….”
“You don’t know?”
“The human countries on land have changed a lot…”
Oh, so she meant she was old enough to not know how many different human countries there are?
“Um, guys! It’s legal!”
-Legal, what the hell!?
-Hahaha!
-LEGAL
-No, she’s saying her age is legal? What the hell!
“What does legal mean?”
“Um, it means you’re of legal age. It doesn’t mean much, just skip it.”
I wrapped my arm around the mermaid’s shoulder.
It should be more comfortable for her to share if I stayed close instead of leaving her alone, right?
“My name… I don’t have one. My sisters call me Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess…”
“Hyung-An?”
“…….”
At the mention of ‘Hyung-An’, the Dongsaeng Ineo avoided my gaze.
Now that I look, she was blindfolded with a black eye patch made of scales.
“From my eyes flows a curse. Don’t come too close…”
“A curse?”
Doesn’t that mean she’s a Malicious Entity, then?
I saw some shadowy stuff oozing from her eyes when she was controlling the Corpse Army earlier…
Lick!
“…..!?”
-Whoa, what!?
-Oh my god!
-Do you really lick that!?
-What the hell, streamer!
Huff huff huff!
Hmm, after licking, it seemed to confirm she was indeed a Malicious Entity.
“Wh-what are you doing!? ”
“Hey, quiet. I’m analyzing it.”
“……….”
Besides, it’s quite thick and concentrated.
However, I couldn’t be sure if it was a fragment of the Mawang.
While it certainly had the density and darkness level of Malice, if this Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess had used a fragment, her sanity would have evaporated long ago.
[‘KawaiiHorned’ has donated 50,000 won!]
N-No! Just one more time, please!
“Huh, what?”
-Just lick one more time, please!
-Come on, oh my god!
-This is today!
“What are you talking about? Do you think I did it with ulterior motives?”
I wasn’t licking the Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess’s eye out of any perverse or dark desire.
I was simply trying to ascertain if there was a fragment within this mermaid princess.
Even if I seem like this, fragments are truly serious matters for me.
“Um, it’s unsettling, but you pass.”
“…What do you mean I pass?”
“I mean I’ve forgiven you!”
Well, as long as it’s not the Mawang, then it should be fine!
Anyway, I gathered dead corals and seashells from the vicinity.
There wasn’t much in the way of branches, but if it was a mana-infused corpse of coral, it should be suitable for temporary firewood.
Even aside from that, I could probably start a fire using my Seongnyeok as Fuel.
I set fire to the coral shells and bodies before placing the mermaid tail on top.
I didn’t have anything suitable, so I had to rely on the bones pulled from the tail as supports, tearing apart the meat by hand as if I were tearing paper.
-Seriously, you’re starting a fire in the ocean dungeon, this is insane!
-Seeing it like this, it looks more like mackerel than mermaid meat!
-For real.
-Do you think it’ll taste good?
-No clue!
“Sigh, next time I really must bring a large transport drone…”
I should have just asked Menelapie for help…
An opportunity to taste mermaid tail doesn’t come by often…
“……..”
The Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess was watching her tail slowly roasting over the fire with somewhat strange eyes.
Having lived in a dungeon full of seawater, it must’ve been a long time since she saw anything grilled.
By the way, where did the ghost of the Unnie Ineo go?
I hadn’t seen her since earlier.
I figured she must have worn herself out from being forcibly possessed by the tail.
After some time, she would surely reveal herself again.
“Why don’t you want to eat it?”
“……..Isn’t it obvious?”
“No, let’s change our perspective a bit. Think of it as your sister’s meat, not your own.”
“What?”
-?
-Huh?
-What?
-What!?
-Did she just go insane, hahaha!
“No, think about it. That’s the meat your sister temporarily possessed, right? So it’s not your meat; it’s your sister’s meat, isn’t it?”
“……………….”
Hmm, it feels like I might be pushing it too far?
Seeing the Dongsaeng Ineo’s expression deepen, I decided to hold my tongue.
No, I was just trying to lessen the discomfort thinking she had to consume her own flesh…
“….That makes sense.”
“….Huh.”
-?
-Why are you agreeing now?
-She’s been crazy since she sliced her tail off, huh!?
-Hahaha!
It seems like… that persuaded her.
Anyway, both the Dongsaeng Ineo and I had to wait in silence, listening to the crackling sounds of the fire as we waited for the mermaid tail to cook.
“But, Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess.”
“…What is it?”
“How did your sister lose her body?”
“………….”
The unexpectedly abrupt question made the Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess bite her lip.
I understood why she wouldn’t want to talk about it.
The bond between sisters seemed tight, so of course, it must be a story she didn’t want to share.
But since I was here as a Seongnyeo, whether she liked it or not, I had to hear the story of these mermaid sisters.
And moments later, her tightly shut lips finally spoke.
“…It’s all my fault…”
