Episode 525
Perhaps fortunately, there were almost no threatening monsters in the pond that Jung Eun-woo entered. Big monsters that resemble blob fish.
‘There aren’t that many of them and they don’t come close to me.’
Because there was no real threat, Eunwoo Jeong was able to fully appreciate the inside of the pond, the test site.
Contrary to their guesses, this place was not full of blob fish, but rather had more mermaids. The mermaids watching me, waving their beautiful jewel-like tails, felt very enchanting.
“….”
It may be a strange thing to say, but it is.
Jung Eun-woo didn’t feel that the underworld was that bad.
‘that’s interesting.’
The world behind the scenes, where tickling sensations as if a weak electric current were flowing inside the chest and brain, was quite special to Jeong Eun-woo. I feel like the innocence I never felt even when I was young has returned.
“I’m so glad you know how to swim. The candidate who came last time didn’t even know how to dive, so it was really difficult. “I don’t know what kind of confidence I had when I went into the water.”
“….”
“You can just keep following me. “You seem to be doing very well. I’m not sure since you don’t have a tail like me, but… for a human, you’re probably doing well.”
The presence of a mermaid swimming next to me also added to my sense of innocence.
“….”
Jeong Eun-woo looked at the pitch-black deep water pit.
Then he stopped for a moment and looked up at the equally endless water.
‘…It’s amazing that my body didn’t get crushed by the pressure even though I came down this deep.’
It was so amazing that a human body could withstand this much water pressure that Jung Eun-woo even forgot that it had been quite a while since he last breathed. On the contrary, it was of great help to Jung Eun-woo.
The reason he couldn’t breathe right now was because his nerves were preoccupied with other things and he forgot to breathe. Eunwoo Jeong followed the mermaid again and went deeper.
“Sometimes, there were test takers who asked if there was a line to grab and go down. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and the candidate withdrew from the test. But what on earth does it mean to hold it in the water and go down…?”
“….”
“It might be easier to catch my friends if I line them up. Then, there will be more people passing the test, right? “Then we will be really happy. What do you think?”
“….”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you busy? That’s right, I’m taking a test right now, so I need to focus on that.”
The mermaid, who made small talk every time our eyes met, wasn’t a very good tester, but even that was a fun factor for Jeong Eun-woo. Everything he was going through was unreal.
I’ve never seen anything like this, not even in my dreams.
“Oh, they are all my friends. “Don’t worry too much.”
“….”
“I’m hungry, but… we can’t eat you.”
The sight of beautiful mermaids without mouths staring at me.
“….”
Jeong Eun-woo wondered if those things also had blood and flesh.
‘What are they made of?’
It was a personal quest. What would it look like if you dissected those with the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish? If their tails were trimmed to look nice, would it have value as a commodity?
A story from outside the world that I didn’t know about. The vague joy that what I knew wasn’t everything dulled Eunwoo Jeong’s thinking circuit.
“….”
My heart seemed to be pounding.
“…Aren’t you thinking strange things?”
“…?”
“No? Um, but you’re a little scared right now. I’m scared of the eyes… Dead mermaids’ eyes wouldn’t be so black and empty. It looks exactly like that. That chitin… what was it? “It was like a wheel or something like that.”
“….”
“Too much? “What can you do when your eyes are so scary?”
Eunwoo Jeong decided to reflect.
‘…Just because they are monsters doesn’t mean they aren’t afraid. ‘I wasn’t considerate enough.’
Due to the structure of the other world, the monsters here were higher predators than humans. As such, I wondered if they would be scared of humans, who were their prey, but if you think about it, there were some unique people among humans who were scared of the fish they caught.
If you think about it like that, Jung Eun-woo could have been a bit of a creepy and scary fish. He felt the need to restrain his explicit gaze. There was no way I could be hated by the examiner.
“Usually when I come in around here, my friends come up to you, even if it’s just because they’re curious. But since you haven’t come closer yet, I guess you’re too scared. “Actually, I was a little scared just now too.”
“….”
“Are you sorry? Okay, thank you for your apology. “But I’m worried that if things continue like this, the test will end too early… I’m grateful if you pass the test, but I’m worried that I might incur the boss’s anger.”
president?
“Yes, boss. The boss is very beautiful and cool. “He hired us.”
“….”
“If you ask me what it looks like… well… it actually looks similar to us. But you are very beautiful. Is that the invisible charm that ordinary people talk about? “I have never seen a mermaid as beautiful as you.”
“….”
“Oh, right. The boss changes often, confusing us. Of course, the new boss is beautiful, but the old boss was also really pretty. “Can you hear me?”
Jeong Eun-woo nodded and organized the information in his mind.
‘…Isn’t there a high probability that the boss of this place is related to the final boss that Director Lee Jae-heon mentioned? I’ll have to remember it and report it when I get back.’
Then suddenly a thought occurred to me.
‘I guess all the test takers who came before me got this valuable information, right? A monster that can communicate is a great help in the underworld. I’ll have to remember this too.’
Eunwoo Jeong could not remember that the test takers who came before him might have been so scared that they could not do anything. If it were him in real life, he would have guessed it, but right now, Jung Eun-woo is also in a state of disorientation.
However, whether he knows it or not, the fact that Jung Eun-woo can steal information from a monster that can communicate does not change. He went down deeper, feeling much better.
“….”
“Oh, be careful.”
“…?”
Then, I encountered a vicious-looking fish monster. The blob fish monster.
Quad deuk! The monster, which narrowly avoided it, rushed forward and chewed up the entire wall. The stone debris scattered in the water made Jeong Eun-woo’s heart pound.
“Are you very surprised…? “You have to be careful with friends like that, they don’t have patience.”
“….”
“Are you enjoying yourself right now? It’s really unique. “I’ve never seen someone as positive as you.”
I felt like I was a character in a game and was going through difficulties.
After that, about four vicious fish monsters attacked, but Jeong Eun-woo escaped them without any injuries. When they passed by, just a piece of paper apart, a faint feeling of pleasure spread through me.
Perhaps that was why, by the time he reached the floor of the test room, the test tube mermaid was looking at him with sparkling eyes.
“Do you have gills? It’s not like he’s an employee I don’t know or something like that, right? “How can you swim so well?”
Jeong Eun-woo smiled brightly at the favorable response that made the conversation worthwhile.
“….”
“Thanks to me? It’s so embarrassing to say that. “You did well on the test, but I didn’t do well at anything… Other friends can also provide this level of guidance.”
“….”
“If you praise me like that, I might run away.”
The shy mermaid pointed to a large clam with her finger.
“Now open it. “There’s your certificate.”
“….”
Jeong Eun-woo, who thought for a moment, looked at the mermaid while holding the seashell in his hand.
“why?”
Are you going to eat me?
“Oh, right. “I’m hungry.”
I see
“I’m really hungry…”
Jeong Eun-woo became happy once again because his guess was correct.
‘For some reason, he kept mentioning the monsters that were his friends. Maybe this was also a hint kindly given in this game. It was a kind of foreshadowing…’
So far, the test tube mermaid had been quite kind in telling me what was going to happen. As she came down, she often acknowledged the presence of my friends, said that we were hungry, and said that she lacked ‘patience’ when she saw the monster rushing to eat Jung Eun-woo.
In other words, doesn’t it mean that other mermaids would have behaved similarly if they didn’t have ‘patience’?
‘The moment I pass the test, there is a high probability that this mermaid will rush in to eat me.’
Jeong Eun-woo looked up again.
“….”
It was very far away.
The surface of the water with its faint light fluttering was not visible at all, and the pitch black water gave the feeling of being trapped in the dark. If it weren’t for his outstanding physical abilities, he would have lost his sense of direction.
So running away while leaving the monsters chasing me to eat me wasn’t a good choice.
“….”
“Why?”
A monster that can communicate.
It may be an amazing idea, but Jung Eun-woo decided to negotiate.
“Do you have anything to say to me? “Hurry and take out your certificate.”
Before that, I want to get you to promise not to come after me.
“what…? Isn’t that too much? “I’m really hungry right now.”
Then how about this?
“…?”
He ripped off his ear and gave it to the mermaid.
“and.”
Eat this.
It starts after just 30 minutes.
“….”
What do you think?
“good!”
* * *
“Dayoung…!”
A familiar voice.
Park Da-young, who was hiding under the table, answered Jeong In-ho’s small voice calling to me.
“there…! “Stay there, don’t come!”
“okay.”
“I will go there.”
It was a long time waiting for Jung Eun-woo to enter the pond.
Park Da-young, who was waiting nearby with a kitchen knife, vaguely learned the patterns of the monsters moving around in the dark. They moved in a similar direction.
Park Da-young sneaked out from under the table, avoiding the eyes of the monsters, and went straight to Jung In-ho.
“Ah… sister! “My sister came too.”
“What didn’t you hear from the detective?”
“I heard it, but it’s nice to see your face.”
Park Da-young, seeing Jeong In-ho and Seo Jang-hwa, blinked and asked.
“Firefighter Oppa and Uncle Kijeong…?”
Seo Jang-hwa smiled with a gentle smile.
“Don’t you have a vague idea?”
“Ah… I guess so.”
This aquarium had many sections that were difficult for Kim Ki-jeong, who was already very weak, to overcome, and Han Do-yoon and Kim Ki-jeong were treated as one set. I could clearly imagine that if Kim Ki-jeong stayed somewhere safe, Han Do-yoon would also stay behind.
Jeong In-ho opened his mouth among the group, who smiled friendly smiles and quickly warmed up.
“So, the fact that you were waiting here now means that the secretary of this party went into the exam room somewhere here, right? “I guess it hasn’t come out yet?”
“Ah…”
“? Dayoung?”
“…Yes, well….”
Park Da-young said hesitantly in response to Jeong In-ho’s reaction, who still didn’t know anything.
“It’s not that I pushed him in, he got into it on his own… and he’s much stronger than me…” “
…Why are you making excuses all of a sudden? Then did you think I was going to ask why it was the secretary of this party who went in and not you?”
“That’s not it… uh…”
“What happened?”
“….”
Park Da-young bit her lip tightly.
‘What should I do?’
Maybe this shitty situation could be good.
A cold sweat broke out. No matter how much Park Da-young was a high school senior in this era who called herself an old-timer, this was a different case. There’s nothing to be proud of, but if you talk about someone else’s painful family situation, that’s just lame.
And Park Da-young, who was at least not a cheesy person, thought deeply. How should I explain this so that Jung Eun-woo and Jung In-ho can meet without a big conflict?
“…Uh…Uh… That….”
I wonder if that will work.
“…Yes that’s right.”
“…? what…?”
“That’s how it is. I want you to know that it is so.”
“huh?”
“Listen to me carefully.”
Dayoung Park resigned with a humble heart.
Right now, in our Park family, if a third party intervenes and says, ‘Hey, don’t be too surprised if your dog-like guardian jumps out of the pond,’ they would say, ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ But it wouldn’t be Jeong In-ho.
Dayoung Park opened her mouth.
“I’ve only recently found out about this, but the person who is actually the chief of staff of this party…”
Ouch!
It was right then.
Jung Eun-woo jumped out of the pond, dripping blood.
“…Oh please.”
Kinda huh? Some people are talking.
Unless the whole world is coming together to harass Park Da-young, how can this happen?
(Continued in the next part)
