Chapter 82: Promise to the Future (2)

Deep Sea Fish Hunting Specialty Broadcast

EP.82 Promise to the Future (2)

“Is this… really a corpse…?”

“Even to me, the state of preservation is unusually good.”

This is a conversation between Parang and a Silo researcher in an underground laboratory in Seoul.

The half-bald researcher seemed quite surprised looking at the corpse in front of him.

Parang understood to some extent. The level of preservation was so good that it was hard to believe it was actually a corpse.

After observing the corpse for a while, the researcher said to Parang,

“It’s not that I don’t trust Hunter Yu Parang, but there’s a chance you might have been mistaken. No matter how I look at it, this seems to be in a state of suspended animation, or even just sleeping.”

“I understand. Just please thoroughly examine it and then hand it over to us.”

“Alright. The examination itself shouldn’t take too long. About three hours should…”

The researcher glanced at the corpse and corrected himself.

“Well, it might take up to four hours or so. Honestly, in my 40 years in this field, I’ve never seen a corpse like this.”

They’d have to wait four hours anyway to gather Oceanos. Parang nodded.

“Okay. Take as long as you need, just make sure to confirm it thoroughly.”

“Ah, understood. And…”

“Yes?”

The researcher lowered his voice, as if about to say something important.

“About that artifact.”

The combination of the researcher’s lab coat and serious tone was quite impactful, causing Parang’s voice to also lower slightly.

It’s because they’re out of the water.

“Ah, yes. You mean the ‘evidence’, right?”

Separately, Parang had already been contacted by Silo about the completion of the evidence’s repair. They had requested to view the memories contained inside right after the dive.

“That artifact, although we say we ‘repaired’ it, the process was quite unusual.”

“No, which part exactly…”

“To be precise, it feels more like it was ‘unsealed’ rather than ‘fixed.’ So, this artifact basically…”

As the man rambled on, Parang’s expression became increasingly confused. Energy this, wave that, what? Choco Pie?

She had no connection to such things in her past life or current one. It’s understandable that she’s bewildered.

Fortunately, the male researcher wasn’t completely oblivious, as he quickly stopped his explanation and apologized.

“Ah, I got carried away with the academic talk. I’m sorry. To put it simply, this artifact called ‘evidence’ wasn’t so much broken as it was… sealed, that’s the feeling we got.”

Finally understanding a bit, Parang asked,

“Sealed… you say?”

“Yes. Do you remember when we contacted you last time, saying ‘four days left until repair completion’?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.”

“Right after we contacted you, something, a very powerful flow, emerged from inside the artifact.”

“Just suddenly? Without any warning?”

“Yes. At first, we didn’t think much of it. Artifacts often do such things. But as we continued working, we felt something was clearly different.”

“That’s what you meant by the seal earlier, right?”

“Correct. We had perfectly repaired every part except for that flow, but we got stuck right at that point.”

“I see…”

“Yes. But what’s more suspicious is that we definitely didn’t break that seal ourselves.”

Even Parang was a bit surprised at this point. They didn’t break it themselves? What, did they rub a lamp or something?

“No, what exactly does that mean…”

“It’s exactly as I said. Something like a seal that showed no signs of breaking suddenly just… came undone on its own. As if the right time had come, so to speak.”

“How is that possible?”

“We’re not sure yet either. In any case, please be careful when you look into it.”

Parang’s expression turned serious.

Another, another, another mystery. Why are there so many unknowns?

Since starting this job, not a single thing has fallen neatly into place.

‘Ah, there was just one thing.’

Finding out that Natsuko was a crazy bitch.

To think that the only certain truth is something like this. The path of a hero is long and arduous.

“Hmm, I understand for now. As you probably already know, it’s really dangerous, so absolutely do not open it or anything before we do.”

“I’m well aware. I wish you the best of luck.”

“Thank you.”

Parang left the laboratory with a complicated expression.

#

Basement of a Silo-owned building in Seoul, South Korea.

Six men and women gathered around a massive tank.

Everyone gazed at the beautiful woman’s corpse contained within the tank.

Charlotte’s body was, to put it simply, indeed a corpse.

According to the lab, it was under some kind of ‘preservation spell’, a type of magic that prevents decay or damage.

It’s not entirely unreasonable. In fact, among the Slayers, there were quite a few skilled in spellcraft, including Charlotte.

Vertea was the first to break the silence.

“They say humans are fickle creatures, becoming rapidly desensitized after repeating the same thing just a few times.”

“Who the hell said that nonsense? If I meet them, I’ll twist their mouth.”

Elvira clicked her tongue and spoke in a slightly irritated tone.

“Renowned biologists said it. There are tens of thousands of papers on it.”

“Well, that’s because they’ve never encountered a monster that shatters status windows in the memories of a person who died 4km under the sea.”

“Hmm, you have a point.”

After that, they exchanged some trivial conversation. Talk about recent happenings, sudden criticisms, dinner plans…

If one were to point out that this seems too light-hearted for a matter on which the fate of the world hangs, they would have something to say.

If they don’t do this, they feel like they’ll go crazy from the tension.

The image of what they saw in the last dive is still vivid in their minds.

If you listen carefully to their voices, you might notice a slight tremor.

They were clearly afraid.

It’s not that their sense of mission to save the world has been tarnished. They are still firmly committed to protecting people.

Still, feeling tense, shaky, and scared is unavoidable.

They’re just mustering up courage.

Eventually, the small talk died down, and finally, no one spoke.

“…Let’s go.”

Parang broke the heavy silence.

Then, with a splash, all members of Oceanos dove into the water.

#

Charlotte Aira.

A renowned biologist, physicist, chemist, monster researcher… and so on and so forth…

She’s a typical genius scientist heroine character that appears in hunter stories.

However, her importance in the Slayers’ death incident is quite significant, as it was Aira who interpreted the scroll obtained by Hunter Han Siwoo and designed the ascension ritual.

Moreover, the condition of her corpse is the best among those seen so far. There should be quite a bit of information we can obtain.

And then, there’s the timing of Charlotte’s transfer.

During the Slayers’ battle, Charlotte and two others were transferred to the Hive almost simultaneously.

In other words, all three were knocked out at once.

And according to Oceanos’s deduction, it’s highly likely that the ‘eye’ appeared at that moment.

This means we might be able to see the most crucial moment of the battle.

And we also need to examine the ring in question.

“…These are the key points we need to focus on during this dive.”

Xiao said in a slightly trembling but still solemn voice.

“It’ll be difficult to dive twice. We need to see everything properly in one go.”

There’s a high probability that the ‘eye’ will appear in the memory, and if so, it could put a great strain on Xiao, the caster of the dive, like last time.

So the strategy is to get it over with cleanly in one go if possible.

Since their colleague’s safety was at stake, the others didn’t complain about the lengthy explanation and listened attentively with a serious attitude.

“Alright, let’s get started.”

“Got it.”

Soon, with a splash, their consciousnesses plunged into the memory.

#

Whaaa-!!

“Wh-what’s going on suddenly?! Why is it so bright?!”

Everyone, expecting the dark scenery of the sea, expressed surprise at the suddenly appearing bright light.

Light, light, light. Everywhere they looked, there was only light.

This isn’t light from an explosion, weapon, or skill.

Having lived their entire lives with explosions, weapons, and skills, they clearly know the difference.

Then what is this light? Bright, yellow, white, a gracious light full of vitality.

It’s even questionable if this is really underwater.

‘Wait. Not the sea?’

Something flashed through Parang’s mind, and she quickly asked Xiao.

“X-Xiao. When is this memory from?!”

“Well… June 11th. 19:42 in Coordinated Universal Time.”

19:42. In Korean time, it’s 21:42, or 9:42 PM.

And June 11th.

Parang had never forgotten this date for a moment.

On that day, her fate and the world’s had been turned 180 degrees.

“…The ascension.”

That’s right.

On the evening of June 11th, the Slayers were ascending.

Then this light they’re seeing now is…

“Oh my god…”

“It’s showing us from this point…?”

It was unbelievable, but it was true.

Charlotte Aira’s corpse was presenting Oceanos with memories from the moment of ascension.