Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

“What do you mean by that?”

“The World is hostile to the Fallen, but shows no interest in anything else. But you…”

Cheon-hwa blinked for a moment, then called my name.

“Undercurrent. You survived the World not by ceasing to be a Fallen, but by hiding that you were one.”

“Hmm, I suppose that’s technically true?”

“What I’m saying is that while you remain hidden and the Deep Sea cannot find you, you might be able to familiarize yourself with them and bend them to your will.”

It was a possibility I had never once considered. While I sat there unable to respond, Cheon-hwa brought up another topic.

“Show me your Deep Sea. If I understand it, I can offer more concrete advice.”

“Well, I can manipulate the Current to move things.”

“The Current?”

Instead of explaining further, I let a gentle stream of water flow close to Cheon-hwa’s face so she could feel it.

She flinched in surprise, then nodded slowly.

“An ability similar to Telekinesis. What else?”

“I can also crush things from a distance using Water Pressure.”

I demonstrated this as well.

-Crack! When I lightly crushed a wooden figurine sitting on a bookshelf far away, her eyes went wide with genuine surprise.

“How far can you reach?”

“As far as my Current Sense extends, apparently.”

“Current Sense…?”

“Hmm, it’s a bit hard to explain. I can perceive everything within the sea in complete detail. And since this world is the Deep Sea, it essentially means I can know everything happening inside this Spire even with my eyes closed.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Then why don’t you test me?”

“…”

Cheon-hwa asked her question with a skeptical expression.

“What’s in Room 305 on the 31st floor?”

“Hmm, there’s no Room 305, but there is a 304. It’s empty, with a few wine bottles lying on the floor.”

“What color are the bottles?”

“A dark bluish-green. Unusual.”

“…Tell me what’s inscribed under the table we’re sitting at right now.”

“Wait here for two days, then kill the person sitting across from you… What is this?”

While I stood there dumbfounded by that sinister message, Cheon-hwa propped her chin on her hand and stared at me, looking even more bewildered than I was.

“That’s something the Ocean cannot do. I thought the Deep Sea was merely a variant of the Ocean, but it seems I was mistaken.”

“It’s probably because almost no light reaches down here. I imagine other senses developed to compensate.”

“So to summarize, you could sit right here, surveil anyone in the Spire, and kill them instantly if you felt like it.”

“When you put it that way, it does sound rather terrifying.”

“It genuinely is. I’ve seen countless Worlds over the years, but…”

She looked around at our surroundings and let out a sigh.

“…this is the first one that’s both this strange and this overwhelming. What Burden did you receive in exchange?”

“I can’t breathe, and the moment my Water Barrier weakens even slightly, I’ll be crushed to death instantly. My entire body is freezing cold, and every movement meets water resistance, making it difficult to act quickly.”

“Yes, that seems about fair.”

“…”

I glared at her as her expression brightened slightly, then glanced at the Deep Sea Creatures swimming beside me and continued.

“Actually, more than any of that, these Deep Sea Creatures are the real problem.”

“You mean the life forms that dwell within The Three Evils.”

“Yes.”

Cheon-hwa already knew. Of course she did.

If the World hadn’t been shrouded in shadow, this was the very thing I had wanted to learn from Crimson Circle.

Calming my rising impatience, I posed my question.

“What exactly are these Deep Sea Creatures? You said they’re life forms dwelling within The Three Evils, but I can’t quite wrap my head around it. They seem hostile to me, mostly… though some have felt friendly.”

“Typically, an ordinary Fallen’s World is created through a single human, making it small and insignificant.”

Cheon-hwa began her explanation in a measured tone.

“But The Three Evils, within their vast spaces, give rise to other possibilities. Three massive Worlds where life can flourish. They’re naturally limited to Space-types, and the reason they’re called The Three Evils is because every Fallen who awakens to one of these Worlds dies.”

“Why?”

“A vast World carries an equally vast Burden. What do you think would happen if another Fallen fell into your Deep Sea?”

They would obviously be crushed to death.

“What you call Deep Sea Creatures are actually the original inhabitants of that World. If you’re hiding your presence, they’ll either consider you Kin or simply ignore you. But the moment you reveal yourself, they’ll naturally try to eliminate you. Think of it like a wolf appearing in a village.”

“What about the ones that follow me?”

“Because wolves are also life forms of this world.”

Cheon-hwa turned to look at me and murmured slowly.

“Don’t misunderstand. You didn’t fall into the Deep Sea as a human. The abilities you wield are powers that only creatures born in the Deep Sea possess. There may even be others of your kind.”

“…My kind?”

“Yes. They might regard you as such. I can’t say for certain, but it wouldn’t be strange for them to try helping you or opposing you. They’re life forms separate from the Burden or the World itself.”

I didn’t feel like jellyfish were my kin.

More importantly, I couldn’t possibly agree that the Deep Sea Creatures weren’t a Burden.

They were by far the most dangerous Burden I faced.

“What’s your biggest problem right now?”

“My Water Barrier is gradually shrinking as it endures the Burden. Once it’s gone, there won’t be anything I can do.”

“How do you increase it?”

“Last time, raising my Stars to 2 helped a little. But my talent as a mage is abysmal. Even if I trained in magic my whole life, I’d barely manage three Stars by the time I am eighty. So that method is essentially impossible.”

“You don’t have much time left.”

She nodded and pulled out several blank sheets of paper and a pen.

“But we have information. Those Deep Sea Creatures living in your World. We might find a solution there. Could you perhaps describe their appearances to me?”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary.”

I handed the bewildered Cheon-hwa the Deep Sea Creature Journal I had been keeping all this time.

She tilted her head as she began reading, then looked up in surprise.

“You’ve been recording all of this the whole time?”

“I thought it might come in handy someday.”

“You did well. This will be tremendously helpful.”

She naturally reached out and patted my head as she read through the journal.

…It really did feel like she was treating me like a child.

“I’ll need to examine their ecology and behavioral patterns. Give me about a week.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Part of me felt I was giving away too much information, but well, I’d just reset through death anyway.

Setting that aside, watching Cheon-hwa pore over the journal so earnestly stirred a small sense of hope in me.

After all, these people had been researching the Fallen for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. If anyone could be called the foremost experts on the Fallen, it was them.

Maybe, just maybe, they could actually find a solution.

“So what should I do in the meantime?”

“Learn what you need to know as a member of the Upper Tier, and handle the odd jobs.”

“Odd jobs?”

“I won’t assign you anything serious, so don’t worry too much.”

Cheon-hwa pulled several thick books from a shelf and set them in front of me.

“Everything we’ve discovered about all known Worlds is recorded here. Oh, and this is a Mission Book.”

“A Mission Book, ah… that thing?”

“Yes. You won’t be able to read it anyway, so just don’t lose it.”

When I opened it, sure enough, it was filled with sentences I couldn’t begin to comprehend.

Of course, even if I could read it, I had no intention of doing so. What excited me far more was the book supposedly containing information on every known World.

“Understood. I can pick any room in the Spire, right?”

“Yes. Other Fallen will visit from time to time. Use your own judgment in dealing with them.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

As I was about to leave the room, a sudden curiosity struck me.

“Come to think of it, Cheon-hwa… no, Priestess-nim.”

“Do you have more questions?”

“Nothing major. I’m just curious about what your goal is, Priestess-nim.”

The pen that had been moving busily came to an abrupt stop.

“If the other Executives act to achieve their own goals, what are you here to accomplish?”

“…An artificial Priestess has no goals. If I had to name one, it would be finishing the task.”

“What task?”

Her voice slowed, piercing deep into my chest.

“I was created to restore the Priestess to her original state.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’ll understand if you stay in the Upper Tier long enough.”

Cheon-hwa clearly didn’t want to discuss this topic further.

I nodded and backed off.

“Understood.”

I still lacked information anyway.

There were plenty of other things to worry about besides Cheon-hwa.

***

Three days passed.

And I came to learn something that wasn’t exactly new.

These bastards were out of their minds, and the Princess was simply a god.

“What the… what the hell is this?”

Among what Cheon-hwa had handed me were ledger-like records of Crimson Circle’s activities, things only the Upper Tier was privy to.

I wondered what kind of things they had done. The moment I opened the first page, I was stunned by the sheer volume.

Then I was stunned again by the contents.

“5,892 attempts in ten years…?”

I had assumed Crimson Circle had only started revealing their ambitions in the past two or three years, but I was completely wrong.

In reality, they had been targeting the Empire continuously, and after finding that nothing worked, they had tried everything in every possible direction until something finally stuck.

And Sharmia had thwarted nearly all of it flawlessly.

Now I understood why Void had created the artificial Priestess.

And why they eventually intended to bring the real Priestess, Sharmia, here.

This was absurd. It was far beyond what any individual could possibly accomplish.

If Sharmia had truly been on Crimson Circle’s side…

The Empire would have fallen long ago.

And Sharmia was absurdly capable. Blocking all these attempts while simultaneously making the Empire prosper couldn’t simply be explained by being a Regressor who naturally knows what’s coming.

That she hadn’t become a Fallen was nothing short of a miracle. I was suppressing the chill running down my spine when someone knocked at my door.

“Come in.”

Only one person in this Spire could knock on my door anyway.

The moment I answered, the door opened and Damyu poked her head in.

I assumed she was going to complain about being bored and ask if she could go out, but her expression seemed unusual.

“U-Um… Undercurrent-nim…”

“I still have a lot to get through. Can it wait?”

I had so much left to study. Crimson Circle’s history was absurdly deep, and I needed to absorb everything I could while I had the chance.

I had already devoured enough high-grade information that dying right now would still feel like a net gain, but something still felt lacking.

I wanted to cram as much as possible into my head while I could.

Including everything about the Dark Veil.

I shot her a look, silently asking if this was worth spending my precious time on.

“W-Well…”

Damyu spoke cautiously.

Mentioning a name I had never expected to hear.

“Piercing Blood-nim has come to see you…”

…Ah.

Right.