SQUEEEEEEEEK-
Parang raced down a seemingly endless tunnel at an incredible speed.
Interestingly, it felt just like swimming in water, so even though nothing around looked different no matter where he looked, he could feel the speed.
‘This is longer than last time.’
Standing still was boring, so Parang tried to recall what he saw in his previous memories.
The most concerning thing was definitely Alice’s condition.
‘What on earth happened…?’
The way Alice appeared in Parang’s memory was more like a spirit or ghost than a human.
The tentacles that bound Alexandra, her ability to create Capulus, and her demeanor as if she knew the future.
Even if he were to reunite with Alice, it seemed unlikely that he would meet her as she was when they first parted ways.
‘No. I should be grateful for the chance to meet.’
Everyone had longed so desperately to reunite with her, with their friend. Regardless of how Alice looked, Parang was okay with it.
‘We should be able to meet again soon, right?’
Alexandra’s memory was definitely an old one, and the Alice who lived in it was also quite some time ago.
Parang didn’t know what had happened to Alice in between, but he decided to just think that way.
That they would meet again soon.
Anyone would feel that way.
‘And, um…’
Right after Alice, the next thing on his mind was Han Siwoo.
‘What on earth is he thinking…?’
Someone he thought he would never interact with in his life was now making Parang’s mind ache the most.
What on earth was that guy’s plan, and why was the original so ambiguously twisted instead of either following or diverging from it?
How much did he know, was he alive or dead, damn it…
Parang rubbed his head again.
‘If I had known, I should have paid more attention…’
Karma tends to accumulate unknowingly, and indeed, that saying turned out to be true.
‘Next is the ascension ceremony, and…’
As he rammed through thoughts in his head, the end of the tunnel gradually came into view.
‘Am I about to go into Alice’s memories now?’
Parang swallowed hard.
It had been a while since he felt this tense.
Then, WHAAAAAAM!!
The dark view was instantly filled with light as Parang emerged from the tunnel.
‘Phew… phew… where is this…?’
He quickly surveyed his surroundings.
‘This is… this is… huh…?’
“Where am I…?”
In front of Parang was a long hall stretching out incredibly smoothly.
The floor was polished marble so shiny it was hard to distinguish if it was a mirror or stone.
On both sides of the walls, there were rows of Doric-style marble columns standing tall and perfectly aligned, without a single one leaning, highlighting their perfection, almost creating a bit of pressure even for someone like Parang who had seen all sorts of sights.
In the center lay an obviously luxurious black carpet that extended just like the hall, with monochromatic black drapes hanging throughout the walls.
At a quick glance, it was hard to tell whether this was underwater or on land, but Parang immediately realized this place was underwater, specifically a space beneath the ocean.
‘Th-those…!’
It wasn’t just the marble and drapes that Parang noticed.
‘S-statues…!’
About thirty to fifty statues, or statuettes, were kneeling in two rows down the hall, spaced evenly apart.
The number Parang grabbed was easily estimated to be around ten thousand. Just by looking, anyone could tell whether they were kneeling statues or statuettes.
‘What on earth is this…’
If these things existed, then surely this meant it was beneath the sea.
‘Is this somewhere in the Hive, or is it an object?’
For now, Parang knew there was no Hive that looked like this. However, there had been previous incidents where ‘hidden spaces’ were discovered in the South China Sea Hive.
Well, regardless of where this place was, it seemed quite clear what kind of place it was.
It’s not like Parang had only read hunter novels. He had, of course, read plenty of fantasy novels as well.
And the scene unfolding right before his eyes was strikingly similar to the ‘audience room’ typically found in those fantasy novels.
And saying that this place was an audience room meant that if Parang turned his head back…
‘A-Alice…?’
It meant he could see the queen’s throne.
‘This… this is…’
He had somewhat expected this. The space where Parang fell was the audience room even when seen while diving, and this was Alice’s memory.
If there was any place where Alice could be here, it meant that the throne behind him was the only possible spot.
However, seeing it in reality and just guessing in his head was a significantly different experience.
‘Hah…!’
Parang took a sharp breath.
Was this fortunate or unfortunate?
At least Alice wasn’t existing in the worst form that Parang had envisioned.
So, it wasn’t like her body was entirely twisted while sitting gracefully on the throne like a queen, looking down at the monster fish.
But she certainly didn’t appear dramatically better, which left Parang a bit flustered.
Bloop-
She was floating in a cocoon filled with purple liquid.
Thump- thump-
The cocoon, made of black membranes, was growing atop a marble throne while filled with the purple liquid.
Thump- thump-
As if screaming to show she was alive, the cocoon pulsed steadily, revealing the silhouette of a woman nestled within.
‘Damn it, I can’t see inside properly…’
Parang changed angles repeatedly to examine the cocoon,
‘Wait, there’s no need to do this, right?’
He quickly realized he was in a state close to being a spirit and plunged his face straight into the cocoon.
And from inside the cocoon…
‘Gah…!’
He made eye contact with Alice.
Her eyes, wide open and eerily large, radiated a fierce light along with a purple glow.
‘W-what…!’
Parang got so startled that he tried to pull back quickly and stumbled upon something.
‘Wait, this is…’
[ Status Window: Alice Melville ]
‘Status window….’
Upon closer inspection, Alice wasn’t looking into his eyes.
She was just staring at the status window that popped up in front of her.
The status window had been located where Parang had just buried his face.
‘What a shock….’
After taking a moment to collect himself, Parang rearranged himself to read Alice’s status window.
[ Status Window: Alice Melville ]
[ Personal Skill: Undersea Ferry!&$^!*# ]
[ Cannot check skill information. ]
[ Cannot check penalty information. ]
[ Skills ]
[ Clairvoyance (S), Ocular Lens (S), Gorgeous @$& …… ]
[ Status Effects ]
[ Fusion, Mutation, Restraint, Binding ]
‘Hmm….’
The text was hard to read due to the buzzing noise, so Parang squinted his eyes and strained to decipher it.
‘Fusion and mutation, huh…’
It clearly seemed to have something to do with the damaged status window.
Was it possible that her status window had deteriorated because she had fused with another being?
Thinking that way, it also looked that way.
Parang gazed at Alice with a pitiful glance.
To mix with an unknown being and mutate, that would undoubtedly be an unimaginable pain.
‘If only… a little more time…’
Swish, swish.
Parang shook off the thoughts trying to lead him down a bad path and refocused on the memories.
Then, something that hadn’t been visible before became visible.
‘This is…’
As he diverted his gaze from the status window and her eyes, he noticed countless threads that bound Alice.
Those purplish vein-like threads seemed not only to bind Alice but also injected something into her limbs continuously.
Parang’s insides began to boil with anger.
Contextually, what flowed into Alice’s body through those threads clearly seemed to relate to the “fusion” or “mutation” mentioned in the status window.
‘What the hell is this…’
From the appearance of the kneeling statues outside, it seemed that this place was connected to the statues and, further, to the eyes controlling them.
‘So then, what’s being injected into Alice…’
He didn’t want to accept it, but it could be related to those eyes or perhaps even a part of them.
‘By the way, how on earth did she escape from here.’
Alice looked visibly weak.
It was hard to imagine how she could escape from here when it seemed like she could hardly get out of the cocoon, let alone fend off the statues outside, just as Parang was sinking into thought.
Rumble—
“Huh?”
Rumble—!!
Suddenly, a loud thunderous noise echoed as if the ground was shaking.
KAAAAAAAAM!! CRASH!! CRACKLE!!!!
“Ugh, aah!! W-what the hell!!”
With a sudden loud explosion akin to thunder, the cocoon Alice was in began to shake violently.
Both startled, Parang and Alice looked equally shocked, with Alice’s eyes widening even more than before.
As Parang glanced outside the cocoon to assess the situation, he saw that the hall Alice was in was shaking so violently it seemed it might collapse, while the statues, which had been kneeling without movement, were now wildly scrambling around in a panic as if they didn’t know what to do.
“What on earth is happening…!!”
And amidst that chaos, very carefully—
Pop- pop- WRAAAAR!!
Alice Melville’s eyes looked outward as she broke free from the cocoon growing on the throne.
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