“The rest is as you see.”
The Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An self-deprecatingly scoffed at herself.
What is a mermaid princess, and what is a sister?
As Unnie said, it’s just as she mentioned.
“I am nothing but a worthless idiot…”
She felt like she wasn’t even worthy of being called a sister.
Having been protected by her sister all those long years, in the one moment her sister needed help… she couldn’t protect her.
“Do you know about outsiders?”
The face of Dongsaeng Ineo, who smiled faintly, looked like a doll, as if there was not even a hint of regret left.
Maybe it was because she realized that the sins she had committed were far too great to leave room for regret?
The more she thought about it, the more absurd and unpleasant it became, to the point of self-loathing.
“In truth, I know she isn’t my real sister…”
Of course, how could she not know?
Unlike this foolish, stupid self, her sister had always been smart, wise, and strong.
“Our mermaids are inherently innocent and pure like children among humans. But I was much dumber and weaker than my kin. Thanks to that, I was always alone without friends, and I envied the other sisters who had sisters.”
“So when I met the beautiful and majestic Imugi soaring into the sky by chance… it truly felt like a deity, like what humans call a god. Then the dragon spoke to me, asking, ‘What do I look like to you?’… and I thought how wonderful it would be if that magnificent dragon were my sister. If I had a sister, someone like that could be mine. No, I wasn’t even asking for a wish; I was just throwing a tantrum, wishing a sister could exist. Looking back, that was the beginning of all my tragedies.”
Yes, even on second thought, it was all my fault.
“And if she were my sister, she could have made pearls. She could have created pearls to protect this sea and our kin from the hands of humans. Or perhaps, even more, she could have achieved the ascension she always desired. Pearls have such power… for just a moment, it wouldn’t be strange for a pearl to grant wishes given the mystery and karma it possesses…”
And when her sister died, the moment all the mystery and power of what once was an Imugi flowed into her, that was likely the last chance.
“But when the power that could create a lifetime’s worth of pearls was channeled into me… the first thought I had was not that I wanted to revive my sister.”
[May they all be cast into the abyss!!!]
Instead of a wish, what I desired was a curse and hatred, and I squandered the pearls that a mermaid could create over a lifetime to cast my curse.
“If what I had wanted was not to curse myself and my kin but rather to meet my dead sister again or to protect this sea with a good, virtuous wish, maybe that could have come true…”
How awful, isn’t it grotesque and unsightly?
“So this is how it ended up. My kin received my curse and lost whatever intelligence and reason they had, becoming idiots. No matter how their bodies are torn apart, they suffer in agony unable to die. At first, it was satisfying. Those bad girls who suspected and brought down my sister, serves them right. It suits them… I enjoyed it alone. Unable to go outside the deep sea, foolishly unable to even sing… this is where I was trapped.”
What do you think?
I deserve to die, don’t I?
Laughing and crying at the same time. Since I was in the sea, I couldn’t shed tears, but instead, the Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An was shedding dark sludge in place of tears.
“I am endlessly stagnant here, while my dear sister endlessly flows away… now there is neither shape nor trace left to be found…”
As the Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An spoke, Shia nodded as if in empathy.
It’s a sad situation.
If it were a movie or a novel, Shia, who was weak in the tear ducts, might have been sniffling and wiping her tears.
And it seemed that this feeling wasn’t just something Shia was experiencing.
– ㅠㅠ
– ㅠㅜㅜㅜ
– ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜ
– Don’t cry ㅠㅜ
– Humans are sorry…
– Sorry for the jerk…
– The jerk messed up…
Even the viewers watching the live broadcast in real time became a sea of tears.
It seemed quite a number of viewers were deeply immersed in the unexpected story of the Mermaid Princess.
Shia temporarily silenced the chat and nodded as she looked at the Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An.
Now that the viewers were temporarily set aside, it was time for the Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An to speak.
“Mermaid Princess. It feels a bit strange to keep calling you that… so I’ll refer to you as Dongsaeng.”
“….Do as you wish.”
“I didn’t finish my introduction earlier, but I’m a Seongnyeo.”
“What is a Seongnyeo…?”
“I grant impossible miracles, and I provide salvation to those who seek help, acting as a Seongnyeo in accordance with what I believe.”
At those words, the Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An looked up and down at Shia.
Despite what she said, seeing Shia stuffing her face with a giant salmon like a glutton made it feel a bit unfit to use the word Seongnyeo.
Or perhaps, among land creatures, being a Seongnyeo might just require good eating habits.
Yes… becoming a Seongnyeo is definitely hard.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?”
“Right? It’s difficult for me too.”
Shia shrugged her shoulders and took a breath.
Well, considering it was underwater and she was in a transformed state as a mermaid, there wasn’t a need to take a breath, but that was how she felt.
Yes, as a Seongnyeo.
She was Shia, ready to accept and reform even the most wicked individuals.
“So during this moment, I’ll judge you as a Seongnyeo. Our Dongsaeng Ineo is just a child who simply wants to escape.”
“………..”
– ㅗㅜㅑ that’s harsh;
– Streamer is really digging in…
– Wow, the direct hit…
– Was that a direct hit?
At Shia’s unexpected words, the Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An sealed her lips tightly.
The viewers who were watching through the drone’s screen felt chills at the sudden icy tone of the streamer.
But regardless of that, it seemed Shia had no intention of letting this naive and inexperienced Mermaid Princess be.
While Shia was usually aware of the negative emotions that rose within her and could generally identify their causes, she was equally sensitive to the negative emotions and sins that arose in others, and could accurately discern them.
In that sense, it wasn’t too hard to recognize the guilt of this pitiful Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An.
“You said you felt like you’ll die since you hate yourself, right? You want to die, correct? What could that be rephrased as? You want to escape, you want to turn back time, you want to erase your mistakes. Perhaps because you’ve made mistakes worthy of death, you think death will forgive everything? Isn’t that what you’re thinking?”
“…..”
“You’ve lived quite comfortably with that kind of thought, haven’t you?”
– Oh wow…;
– Wow…;
– I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…
– There’s a side to the streamer I never knew…
The Mermaid Princess, though seeing Shia for the first time, was likely caught off guard as the viewers, having watched Shia’s often playful and mischievous side, were surprised to see her speak seriously and without a hitch as a Seongnyeo.
“No, no! I’ve… I’ve never thought I was comfortable…!”
“Oh really? You’ve been fleeing from your sins and crimes. As time goes by and you’re suffering and in pain, you’re caught up in the delusion that you’re paying for your sins, aren’t you?”
“……!”
“I can guarantee you one thing. That’s nothing more than base self-satisfaction.”
“What, what should I do then?! No matter how I try, I could do nothing! I’ve just been here….!”
“Then what do you desire?”
“……Desire…?”
“Do you want to clear your sins? Do you really want to die?”
“……..”
At the mention of death, she was momentarily left with no response.
Yes, death.
It’s such a sweet word.
The Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An wanted to forget all her mistakes by dying. She wanted to abandon the cursed deep sea and feel free.
She shouldn’t think this way, but it was undeniable that such thoughts crossed her mind.
“But you said it yourself earlier. Because you cursed this sea, all the mermaids can no longer see the sky or the sun for a lifetime, cannot sing, and are forever trapped in this dark abyss.”
“..That’s all true…”
Shia’s eyes smiled lazily, yet her gaze remained cold.
That icy look felt like it was peeling back the layers of shame and guilt from Dongsaeng Ineo.
“Personally, I think of death as mercy. Because it allows you to escape. Death is not merely your final solution or this relief born from guilt. It’s merely a means to escape from pain, anguish, and painful memories, but also from all responsibility and obligations.”
“Escape…? You mean, I just wanted to flee…?”
“Yes, that’s the easy way out.”
The disbelief in the Mermaid Princess’s mumbling was met with Shia’s unyielding, cheerful smile as if she was pronouncing judgment.
“I think death is closer to sleep. Of course, some pain and loneliness will accompany you, but… the fact that you can escape pain is still true.”
Crime is absurdly farcical.
The more you try to escape, the more it ensnares you. No matter how coldly you try to evade, it’s only a matter of time before it will inevitably return.
However, death can evade all of that.
“No matter what sins you committed while alive, even if thousands or tens of thousands of people have suffered because of you, death will exempt you from all those sins and responsibilities.”
But you must not flee from your sins.
You should never avoid them, believing that time will resolve everything.
You must face what you have done.
What I must face.
What I must carry forever, perhaps for eternity.
That is sin.
It must not be forgotten until it is repaid.
Even after repayment, it must never be forgotten.
“Death is flight, avoidance, escape, and nothing more than self-satisfaction. What will you do about the children left behind? What about the curse deeply etched upon this sea? Did you think you could flee just by dying? Then was your sister’s death nothing more than a meaningless demise?”
“…….”
– Wow…;
– Oh my…
– I am so sorry… I am so sorry…
– Streamer has another side, huh?
Even with those heart-wrenching words, the Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An couldn’t retort.
Even though she had inherited her sister’s intelligence and mystery, she was still nothing more than a fragile and lonely, pitiable child without her sister.
After hearing the words of the Mangja Seongnyeo, she finally understood how horrific her acts had been. And she realized she could not flee from the responsibility of what she had done.
“Do not ignore what you must embrace moving forward. What you must harbor in the future.”
“………”
“And your kin, those mermaids, they’ll feel hateful, of course. I understand. But do you still believe those children deserve to suffer the entirety of your curse?”
Though the darkness of the deep sea obscured everything around her, Shia’s eyes caught a faint ray of light, revealing the mermaid children buried like graves on the ocean floor.
With limbs torn apart, bodies shattered, and bones exposed, the children suffered injuries that made it a wonder they were still alive, yet none of them were truly dead.
To be precise, those mermaids had become like Shia—unable to die.
“But they… they are my kin, and they made my sister into that…”
“The children have sins, but those sins are not to be eternally cursed, are they? The mermaid children of this sea are merely victims of deception.”
“But…!”
“Actually, I don’t even need to say it. You already know, don’t you?”
“……..”
“Those mermaid children are simply victims of betrayal from humans.”
Of course, being a victim doesn’t mean that they were innocent of the sins that led to their sister’s death. In exchange, every child of the sea had been burdened with the curse of ignorance, losing even the right to suffer.
When the Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An first cast her curse, seeing the suffering and cursed state of her kin made her unable to stop laughing.
Those damned foolish creatures deserved such a fate.
But why?
As the days passed, the Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An felt no more satisfaction in her heart.
As months passed, rather than feeling relieved, she felt a weight stuck in her throat, causing suffocation.
As the months turned into years, those who once dragged her sister down began to rely on her and follow her.
Why it happened was still unclear.
Having inherited her sister’s strength and wisdom, perhaps her kin thought she was somewhat dependable.
“But three months passed, then a year… and the more time went by, the more I forgot whom I hated, whom I loathed…”
The Mermaid Princess of Hyung-An twisted her lips but grasped her head.
“Yes, you’re right. Outsider… as you said, we were only deceived. We did sin, but we didn’t sin so gravely as to deserve this level of a curse. I no longer resent my kin, this sea, or those poor children.”
Instead… another thing weighs heavier with resentment and hatred.
“I… I find myself, the foolish, naive, and worthless me, so disgusting and loathsome. I hated myself so much that I wanted to die… thinking death would bring comfort. Thinking I could forget everything… above all, thinking I could join my sister…”
But I can’t die.
As you said, death is only an escape.
“My curse means that those poor children will suffer more than death if I’m not around. Even now, humans are secretly poking holes in this sea and picking flowers. They stealthily kidnap children, and without me, how much worse would it be for them… after all my hatred, how foolish would I seem to suddenly regret and feel sorry for myself…”
You’re right.
It’s all my fault.
I must not ignore it.
It is a wrong I must bear forever.
“Yes, you’re right. I don’t even deserve to die. No, I must not die… I’m a worthless idiot…”
I had known this, but I had desperately tried to ignore it.
I turned away, trying not to see.
But now I can face it directly.
Nothing has changed with the past.
In the end, I merely faced what I had sought to avoid.
“But I told you, I’m a Seongnyeo.”
To those who seek salvation, I grant it.
To those who wish for the impossible, I provide miracles.
To do what a Seongnyeo must do is my duty.
“It’s okay if you cannot forgive yourself.”
Then I’ll forgive you.
“Even if just facing it is enough. That alone makes you not a worthless idiot.”
Don’t worry.
Though it sounds like foolish words, absurd as they seem, as a Seongnyeo, I can forgive you.
“Your sins and hatred, let’s share them together.”
You don’t have to cry anymore.
At least, as long as you don’t ignore them, I will be with you.
Because I want to be a Seongnyeo who loves happy endings.
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