Chapter 102: I Want to Be an Ex-Diver (2)

EP.102 I Want to Be an Ex-Diver (2)

─Why did they show up there?

─When did they even make that lololol

─Wow that’s seriously huge

At last, Yuna’s submarine came to a stop right in front of Parang.

The submarine had been racing at a speed rivaling that of a Monster Fish until just moments ago, but as if nothing had happened, it instantly decelerated to perform a near-perfect emergency stop.

A movement that completely ignored the laws of inertia.

Parang was about to question it but then realized that she too had been ignoring the laws of physics on a daily basis, so she kept her mouth shut.

“How is it? Pretty sick, right?”

A flippant voice that didn’t even try to hide its excitement flowed from the submarine’s attached speakers.

It was Shin Yuna, as unrestrained as ever.

Parang took it in stride. She knew well the hardships Yuna had endured.

After having her submarines consecutively destroyed by the Hunter Association, this was Shin Yuna’s masterpiece, created with blood, sweat, and tears. While her previous submarines were big, flashy, and grotesque, this one before them was fucking huge, fucking flashy, and fucking grotesque.

─That thing looks fucking weird

Parang gave a small nod. She did so to avoid hurting Yuna’s feelings by showing too much enthusiasm.

After all, this was the first unveiling of her creation.

Feeling somewhat awkward, Parang knocked on the submarine for no particular reason.

While submarines should be hollow inside, from what Parang could tell by knocking, this one wasn’t.

It made sense in a way. This was an unmanned submarine, after all. Yuna’s body was safely tucked away at home.

─What? An unmanned submarine??

─Of course it’s unmanned, you think she’d get in another sub after all that chaos?

─Seriously she’d have to be completely insane

─Well she is completely insane so

─Ah.

─Why is it so huge if it’s unmanned??

Various reactions erupted from the viewers.

Formal introductions were exchanged between Parang and Yuna, but they weren’t particularly interested. After all, you couldn’t be Parang’s viewer if you didn’t know who Yuna was.

In other words, without any explanation needed, everyone understood: ‘Ah, that crazy woman couldn’t control herself and crawled back into the ocean again.’

What really surprised them was that Yu Parang had actually given Shin Yuna permission to dive.

Feeling the need to clearly explain this point, Parang spoke firmly.

“Ms. Yuna has a special skill that blocks mental attacks, so I only allowed her remote exploration. Don’t try diving without at least this level of preparation. It’s really dangerous.”

Now, not a single person responded with comments like ‘Who are you to tell others whether they can dive or not?’

Parang felt another strange sense of satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Yuna was excitedly filling the audio.

“See the machine gun attached on the right? To make this work underwater, I had to…”

‘Hmm…’

Better not meet her outside the water.

Parang was quite good at having these impudent thoughts.

Anyway.

By this point, viewers could easily guess what ‘test’ Parang had mentioned earlier.

That’s right.

Today’s broadcast would test Yuna’s new submarine.

“Today we’re going to test if this submarine can really survive against deep-sea monster fishes.”

And there was one more thing to test secretly from the viewers.

“Now, the first thing we’ll test is…”

Parang grinned.

“Firepower, of course. Right?”

Parang spread her limbs wide to make her body into a 大 shape and completely surrendered herself to the water.

Dozens of visibly menacing gun barrels and cannon muzzles were aimed at Parang.

─No way, is it what I think it is

─It doesn’t make any sense but with her it probably is

─Can’t believe there are still people surprised by the host;;

Regardless, Parang just closed her eyes with a peaceful expression. And as she always had, she spoke shocking words in a casual tone as if saying ‘The weather is really nice today.’

“Get ready… and fire!”

BOOM!!

With an earth-shattering roar, dozens of artillery shells simultaneously spewed fire toward Parang.

“Aaack!!”

The viewers were startled by the sudden barrage.

This wasn’t about whether they expected it or not. Anyone would jump at even small noises when gun barrels are pointed at them.

Parang’s broadcast screen had gone dark with static. All the cameras had been destroyed by the barrage.

It made sense in a way. How could it navigate these treacherous waters if it couldn’t even destroy a camera?

Soon the broadcast screen reconnected. However, this time it wasn’t from the camera embedded in Parang’s suit, but from the camera attached to Shin Yuna’s submarine.

In the front view, Parang could be seen swimming leisurely underwater with a composed expression.

Without a single scratch on her body.

Well, this was something the viewers had expected.

─What the fuck, why are her clothes perfectly fine!!!

Regardless of the chat window being on fire, Parang was seriously evaluating the firepower of Yuna’s submarine.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“This level of power would be enough to defeat lower-tier monster fishes without carapaces. The noise level is a slight flaw, but… how about modifying this weaker weapon to launch harpoons?”

─Is there really someone evaluating weapons after taking anti-kaiju depth charges head-on?!

─Well damn, she is strong though;;

─But wasn’t that camera made by Silo?? Is it okay to just destroy it??

─Why are her clothes still intact?!

Originally, Parang’s invited guest – in this case, Shin Yuna – should have been the only one able to control the chat and keep the broadcast on track, but…

“No. Adding harpoon launchers would reduce maneuverability, and more importantly, the steampunk aesthetic… Ah! Right. Let’s test the maneuverability too! I put quite a bit of effort into the speed.”

This girl was no ordinary girl either. She really just ‘did’ the broadcast. Or rather than hosting, she was just wildly running around while somehow managing to move forward.

An engineering nerd with tunnel vision narrower than a racehorse!

And so, completely ignoring the viewers, each element was evaluated one by one – maneuverability, durability, aesthetics, and more.

“Aesthetics… hmm… t…”

“T?!”

“T…en out of ten.”

“Ah, I thought you were going to say something else.”

Anyway, with the aesthetics category – which everyone except Shin Yuna had fiercely objected to – finally complete, the submarine evaluation came to an end.

The chat’s reaction was lukewarm.

It was nice to see the host’s face after so long, the submarine was interesting, and while not spectacular, the broadcast had its own subtle charm. Not every broadcast can be a dopamine splash, which was understandable.

But understanding something and feeling it are two different things, so it wasn’t unreasonable to feel somewhat unsatisfied.

All viewers were thinking things like ‘Ah, today’s broadcast is ending…’ ‘It was fun but too short…’

─Today feels kind of bland…

─I’m just happy to see the host

─True that…

─Why are her clothes still perfect

Therefore, Shin Yuna’s sudden declaration was the best possible news for them. It couldn’t have been better news.

“Well then, let’s wrap this up…”

“Huh? Aren’t we going to fight a real Monster Fish?”

“Eh?”

Parang was slightly surprised by Shin Yuna’s unexpected words. They weren’t in the script.

A script, you ask? Of course there was one. This submarine wasn’t just any ordinary thing. How could they risk putting it on a live broadcast without proper preparation?

They had tested everything beforehand, calculated estimates, and done rehearsals before coming here.

That’s why Yuna had fired at Parang without the slightest hesitation.

Originally, their WWE should have ended here. The problem was that one side suddenly challenged them to UFC.

Parang briefly checked the chat’s reaction.

As expected, they were hungry for Monster Fish hunting.

Perhaps because they were used to watching Parang overwhelmingly dominate everything, there seemed to be a clear desire for an even match.

‘Hmm…’

Well, would it be okay? The submarine Yuna brought did have pretty decent performance.

She could get used to the controls, and if needed, Parang could help…

“Okay. Should be fine.”

“Yes!!”

And so the two headed merrily towards the East Sea Hive to fight real monster fishes.

The viewers were happy, Yuna was happy, and well, Parang wasn’t exactly sad so she was happy too.

It was the completion of a world where everyone was happy. Except for one person.

─God!! Damn!! Why are her clothes still perfectly fine!!!

A silent scream echoed through the chat window.

#

And so, to the East Sea Hive!!

The crazy girl driving a war machine and the crazy girl who was herself a war machine gazed at the 38.5km underwater train stretching across the deep sea.

“It really is incredibly huge seeing it in person…”

Parang kindly corrected Yuna’s dazed comment.

“You’re not actually seeing it in person.”

“Oh.”

Yuna made a stupid sound as if she’d been hit on the head.

Given her personality, she probably wasn’t discouraged. At most, she was probably thinking something like ‘Maybe I should switch to VR cameras next time…’

“No, then we’d have to give up the steampunk aesthetic.”

Seeing her mutter quietly, it seemed that guess was correct.

Since this location had already been shown on broadcast before, and today’s goal wasn’t to explore the Hive, Yuna decided not to go inside.

Then why did they come all the way here?

Well, there were several reasons.

First, because the atmosphere was perfect. Wouldn’t it be amazing to fight with that massive train as a backdrop?

Second, to quickly find suitable monster fishes.

Third, because Parang had business nearby.

‘It’s been too long since I cleaned.’

She needed to periodically sweep out the monster fishes inside the Hive, but she’d been too busy to come since the last exploration broadcast.

So, Parang whooshed into the Hive.

In an instant, she snatched a suitable Monster Fish egg and appeared before Yuna.

Both Yuna and the viewers watched the egg with bated breath.

A purple, semi-transparent cylindrical sac.

It looked about the size of a 1.5L bottle, with white fibers stuck here and there on its surface.

It was an egg that neither Yuna nor even the viewers had ever seen before.

Parang asked with a grave expression.

“Are you ready?”

“…Yeah.”

And so, Parang gripped the egg and burst it with all her might.

A moment later.

─Holy shit

─Can’t believe that thing is still around

─It looks fucking disgusting

From between the dark train windows, a house-sized sea spider crawled out.