“Pueeeh….”
Parang opened the door and collapsed onto the sofa.
On the way home, she had caught some Monster Fish, delivered supplies to the Association, and taken a nap underwater, so by the time she got home, it was already night.
Gurrrr—
Her belly clock criticized her for not having had dinner.
‘There’s nothing to eat at home…’
She had already eaten everything before going out today.
It was too late to head to a restaurant.
Ordering delivery was impossible because this rural area required a ride to town.
Going to the convenience store made her shudder at the thought of that part-time worker she encountered.
Parang, who almost leaped out of the water when running into that part-timer while on an interview, remembered that at least the interviews happened underwater.
“Ugh…”
She really didn’t want to face that again.
Gurrrr—
Was she supposed to starve…?
With a slightly gloomy expression, she buried herself deeper into the sofa.
‘Oh, right.’
The box.
The steel box that Seo Sunwoo had given her.
Parang’s mind, drifting in and out like a train of thought, suddenly recalled, ‘Didn’t they say to open it safely alone?’
Realizing she was alone in a safe place, she dashed over to her waterproof bag, pulled out the metal box, and brought it to the table.
She carefully began to examine the box.
There wasn’t really any reason to do so, but it was customary to examine such important items this way.
‘It looks pretty.’
It resembled a treasure chest.
Actually, it was indeed a treasure chest.
Parang, who had been in a dungeon so long that her memories were hazy, didn’t know that this box was modeled after the treasure chests found in dungeons.
You could find this at the souvenir shops of Hunter Associations all over the place.
Most people didn’t actually use it for storage but carried it around as some sort of talisman.
Well, anyway. After inspecting the box enough, Parang went ‘click!’ and opened the lid.
Inside was a rectangular metal plate about the size of a piece of gum and a note.
The first thing engraved on the metal plate was…
‘Q092-10T45…’
“It’s coordinates?”
Yes, they were coordinates.
‘Q092, that’s East Sea.’
Indeed, its coordinates in the East Sea.
Suddenly, what a weird set of coordinates to come out of nowhere.
Parang then picked up the note to read it.
< Please come to this coordinate at the appropriate time. You will know when that is. Please burn this note after reading. >
It was Seo Sunwoo’s handwriting from their previous communication.
‘What’s that supposed to mean…?’
“To know when, huh? That’s Parang’s least favorite narrative style. Can’t you just tell me plainly?”
She was all too familiar with those descriptions like, ‘Back then, I didn’t realize this incident would be enormous…’
As someone who had genuinely enjoyed reading novels in her past life, this pushed her buttons.
She wanted to run and grab Seo Sunwoo, asking him just to tell her when, but that was impossible.
Unless Seo Sunwoo went underwater.
And if he wrote something infuriating like this, even if she grabbed him by the collar and asked, he’d probably be too stubborn to tell her.
Sigh…
Still, if he went through the trouble to convey it this way, it must be important.
Having even engraved the plate to avoid damage.
And honestly, yelling, “When is that!!” would obviously not make much sense.
It would probably be around Natsuko’s subjugation time, right before or right after.
That was also why she met Seo Sunwoo in the first place.
If not then, it wouldn’t be a timely matter.
But that was about all she could deduce.
After searching her house for a lighter, she burned the note roughly.
‘Hmm, should I just go now?’
There wasn’t a particular reason not to go now.
It seemed alright just to take a quick look and come back.
Moreover, she had also texted with Yuna about that mysterious submarine…like thing.
It was a good chance to check that out as well.
When the iron is hot, strike while it’s hot, Parang quickly dressed and jumped into the sea.
Then, she swam, swam, swam.
Within less than 10 minutes, she reached the coordinates that Seo Sunwoo had given her.
‘The water depth is…about 150m.’
Not as deep as she thought.
And there…
“Eh?”
She couldn’t find anything in particular.
Just a flat and somewhat bumpy floor and water.
That’s it.
There was nothing out of the ordinary, no noticeable features around.
What was going on? Did she come to the wrong coordinates? Even after checking her skills and confirming the coordinates, she was sure she was in the right spot.
Was this what they engraved on the metal plate to prepare for this?
‘Hmm…’
Eh, whatever.
If she could see nothing on her search, what could she do?
There wasn’t much to hide in this empty plain.
Parang, feeling puzzled, tried to search the area a bit more, but realized there was nowhere left to search and left.
If she had been a little more meticulous, she would have noticed the very tiny red light buried under the ground at the exact coordinates, but alas.
Back to swimming, swimming.
She dove down and reached 800m, arriving at the entrance of the Monster Fish layer.
To find the submarine Yuna mentioned.
Checking the time, it’s half past twelve.
There was a slight difference in time compared to when Yuna encountered that mysterious something, but whatever.
Swimming around, Parang began her search for it.
And not long after,
‘Oh.’
Very quickly, she discovered something bobbing around in the sea.
Approaching it, she carefully inspected it.
Knocking on it, looking at it like a camera, and shaking it.
Tutututut!!!
“Ouch, that stings!”
Got hit by a few bullets too.
After exhausting all possible actions, the conclusion!
‘No matter how I look at it, this seems mechanical.’
To confirm one last time, she decided to bring out the Kraken.
Thus, in the wee hours of the morning, Hunter Association Underground Basement faced an extreme emergency where “Yu Parang had discovered them.”
Huddled together, staring at the screen, Natsuko’s subordinates seriously felt the lesson of “This is why you should always have a self-destruct button ready,”
“Uh, uh, what is she doing?”
“Uh, uh!!!”
“U̸̼̇̒̆̊͝͝e̶͔̻̹͐͒͌̉̀̐͊͠!̸̡̨̢̜̪̟̤̫́̎̾̂̽͒!̶̡̥̮͖̱̔͐ ̸̱͇̗̳̆͛ȅ̸̙̦́̋̀͝ą̷̠̚!̴̧̨͍̳̖̐̈́͗͂̐̂͗͠!̴̛͍̞̰͎̟̤͇̦̑̽̓́͊̕!̶͉̀̈̎̚ ̵̞̮̣͚̪̱̂͛̈̊̍̽ę̵̢̧̱͍̮̪̠͂̇́ę̸̥̗̰̪̦̭̱̽͐̽̈́̇e̶̡͊̎͊͌̂̚ẽ̴͈̞̤̪̖̈́̔̿̄͂̄͜͝!̵̣̞͎̪͚̝̓͌̐͂̇̈͆͜!̴̲͉͒̏̀̕͝ͅ!̴͕͚͎̪̮̓̉̐̎̂͒̓̆͜͜”̶̬̗͍͍̈̈́̍͐͆
“E̷̡͊̓̾͘͠e̵̢̝̳͖͈̪͐ȇ̶͈͇̤ę̸͇͓̰̦̩͌͒̓͐̐͊ả̴̝̺́͒͑̈́͝!̶̛̲̺͓̠͑͋!̷͈̀̽̽̄͘ͅ!!”
“J̸̭̟̐̌̒̿ủ̷̪͓̤̱̻̍̋s̶̬̠̈́̋͗̿͒̀̐ţ̶̬̥͍̼̗̊̈́̈́̽͘͠ę̶̧̨̗̼͍̈́́̒ ̵͇̰͈͉̝̋̃n̴̢͙̟͚͚̓́̔̂̂ǒ̸̧̲̱͕s̶̱͔̪͇̲̼̍̀̀̌̉͌͜ ̸̮̪̟̔̃̀͠a̴͙̹͍̭͉̰̙̻̽̍̔͝ ̴̭̤̝̰̓̂̂̂̑͘͝͝m̶̨̲̻̫̖̣͙͖͐̔̈́̽a̸͕̼͙͍͉͉͌̈̒͝l̶̮̏̔̆̏͐͊̕͘o̴̯̙̩̹̬̎̏̀̆̇̕ ̶̛̥͓̭͆̍͠l̷̨̳̲̯̣̣̩̤̾̃̽̓̚͠i̴͚̅̇̍͆̀b̷̨̥͉̰̰̝̟̎̀ě̵̡͖̹̭̞̫͛̉́͂̐̍͜r̸͚̣̄͒͌̈́͘ą̴̛̛͖̆̄͝!̴̢̡̛̺͉̫̒͊̀͜!̶͉̜̗͖̍ͅ ̷̪̬̜̑J̷̨̛̦͊̈́͋̀̓u̴͕̟͛̆̉̂͐̐̚s̴͕̬͉̞̃̒̉͝͠t̶͎̀̕͝e̸̢̻̜̖̜͌͒͊̇͑͐ ̴̢̧̙͔͈̩͚̓̓̀̊̆̈́ņ̷̞̥̹̫̓͗ơ̵̘̝̹͒̋̇̒̉͑͘͜s̸̢̨̯̱̫̉̂̅̽̒̈́̈̇ ̷̛͎̰̤̤̺̓̅̇͌̏́a̵̮̮͈̣̮̗͂̉̾͐̒͐̋ ̵̨̙̤̖̝̣̄̚m̷̢̠̦͉͂̎̏̅͗͘͠ã̸̻̻̩̜̣̱̽̈́l̶̹̤͈̤̲̞̱̿̾̓͝ớ̴̺̼̻̳͙̈́̅̍̈͒̕ ̷̣̗̲̖̹͗͂l̴̡͇͖̺͓̳͖͚̈́ḯ̷̙̩͔͆̽͊̏͛̽b̷̧͖͇̦̫̞̀͆́̈́́e̷̛̬̾̈́̉̈́̔̒̄ŗ̷̗͎̯̯̟̹̊͘ã̴̻̪̈́̇̕!̶̨͖̭͈̘̫͙̻̍̐͠!̵̦͑̃͑͛̅͗͜”
The lesson that day was never shared with the world and was found the next day in a terrible state and incinerated in secret.
“Hm, it’s definitely mechanical.”
It seemed to be true since it didn’t react to the Kraken.
‘If it’s a machine, well, I can just take it to Silo, and they’ll know what to do with it.’
It looked like a perfect size, just a bit bigger than a large pillow for easy carrying.
Just as Parang was about to gently take the submarine and head out,
Gurrrr—
‘Ah, I’m so hungry.’
She felt a level of hunger she could no longer ignore.
Having swum in the Monster Fish layer without eating anything, her stomach was almost pressed against her back.
‘But I don’t have anything to eat…’
“Ah.”
Not that there’s absolutely nothing.
Parang’s gaze turned toward the calm Monster Fish layer.
‘I haven’t eaten in quite a while.’
Parang wasn’t savage or anything like that; the food was genuinely delicious.
The reason she hadn’t eaten recently wasn’t significant; mainly, it was because moving and preparing food was difficult due to its size.
But now, was she really going to let inconvenience become a problem when she was so hungry?
In a flash, she disappeared and returned about an hour later, looking utterly satisfied.
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