Chapter 84: Promise to the Future (4)

Deep Sea Fish Hunting Specialty Broadcast

EP.84 Promise to the Future (4)

The memories continued, and the Slayers were swimming rapidly to get out of the pit, following the light.

“Olivia!! Above!!”

“Krggh, krgigiik!! Kiieeeeeeek!!!!”

“Ugh-!!”

Kururururu!!

A stone pillar that shot up from mid-air instantly burst the aberrant that was charging at terrifying speed towards the woman wearing a witch’s hat.

“Phew… Thanks, Siwoo.”

Han Siwoo didn’t open his mouth to reply, only nodding his head slightly.

Kuduududuk-!!

Kwaduduk!! Tueong!!!

As expected of a protagonist, even in this chaotic and sudden situation, he was maintaining his composure while protecting the Slayers and personally clearing a path.

This was because the inside of the pit was truly pitch-black, leaving several Slayers without dark vision abilities exposed to vulnerable situations.

Alexandra, in particular, who had lost almost all of her abilities upon entering the water, was even more so.

Kuduududuk-!!

Kwaduduk!! Tueong!!!

Stone pillars, iron bars, and logs were springing out from all directions at a rate of four or five per second, accurately striking the aberrants targeting the Slayers.

“Huff, huff, thanks, Siwoo.”

“Just a little further ahead!!”

At last, the light that had been visible from far away grew closer and closer, until finally it was near enough to clearly recognize as the exit.

Shuaaaak-!

And so, without much trouble, Han Siwoo’s group successfully managed to escape the ‘pit’, gaining a moment to catch their breath.

Outside was a sea with a slightly bright blue tint.

“It’s certainly hard to think of this as Earth’s ocean.”

Xiao muttered under his breath.

It was true. The surroundings were completely flat, except for the hole the Slayers had just emerged from.

It was a smooth, flat bottom so level that you could see the horizon.

While this was a terrain sometimes seen in the aberrant layer, the Slayers would never have come here before.

If you didn’t know better, you might believe it was another planet.

“Phew, huaaah…”

“I really can’t make heads or tails of this. What on earth is going on…”

The mechanic, Marian, grumbled as she sprawled out in the water.

“It’s quite confusing…”

“Yeah. What in the world is this, how did it happen.”

As the urgent situation passed, the Slayers who could now look back on their circumstances gathered closely, putting their heads together.

Among them, the one who drew by far the most attention was the protagonist of the memory, Charlotte Eira.

As she was the person most directly and heavily involved with the ascension ritual.

“Charlotte, what’s going on here, really?”

“That damn robe-wearer. He must have been waiting for a chance to cause trouble.”

“Um, uh, it would be better not to fight, please…”

While a small commotion arose for a moment, Parang and Oceanos were able to focus on other things during that time.

“Hey, can you see it now? This person called Charlotte, and who was that? The green-haired one.”

“Alexandra.”

“Right. Look at their right ring fingers. It’s faint, but definitely there.”

“Ah, you’re right.”

It was the task of finding the ‘rings’, one of the points of question.

Things that weren’t visible before because they were focusing only on ‘what the Slayers encountered’ like the pit and the aberrant swarms in other memories, not on the ‘Slayers’ themselves, were now becoming visible.

Indeed, upon closer inspection, all of the Slayers were clearly wearing those transparent rings named ‘Happy Ending’.

“But there are no other artifacts?”

“Yeah. Hmm…”

But as Elvira pointed out, apart from the rings, no artifacts like earrings, necklaces, shields, or swords were visible.

“I guess it’s natural since they dropped them in the sea?”

“But during the battle, everyone was using them just fine. Except for Han Siwoo, that is.”

“That will probably come up if we keep following the memory.”

“Then why did the rings fall into the sea?”

“Well, there’s a possibility they’re not artifacts.”

“Hmm…”

Certainly, if that were the case, it would make sense. If the rings didn’t fall while all the artifacts were falling into the sea, it’s probably because they weren’t artifacts.

Parang kept that possibility in mind for now.

“Since we’re looking anyway, let’s observe carefully. Who knows if there might be something else besides the rings.”

That made sense too. Everyone agreed and began observing, pausing the memory at a good angle.

In the midst of this, Parang discovered one anomalous point.

“Huh? Guys, that.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Hunter Han Siwoo, inside his cloak at the waist, can you see that?”

“Hmm, something seems to be shining, but it’s too dark to see clearly.”

“Is it a sword?”

“No. The shape is a bit off for a sword…”

Indeed, something shiny could be seen hanging from Hunter Han Siwoo’s waist, inside his cloak.

While the other Oceanos had difficulty recognizing it due to being perfectly hidden by the cloak and its ambiguous shape, Parang, having been a painter in a past life,

was no stranger to observing objects. She could instantly recognize what it was.

And accordingly, Parang’s voice hardened.

“It’s a lens.”

“Huh? A lens?”

“Out of nowhere, suddenly a lens? What do you mean?”

“That’s right, a lens. The kind mainly used in cameras for live broadcasting.”

Painters are, by nature, as familiar with cameras as photographers or broadcast writers. Parang, too, knew a lot about cameras and had more knowledge in this area than most.

At those words, not just Parang’s but everyone’s expressions hardened.

“Live… broadcast, you say?”

“Yes. I’m certain.”

“Then, wait a moment. All of this…”

“It means someone other than us was watching.”

“Who on earth…?”

Combining the facts Parang had discovered so far, there was only one candidate.

“…The government.”

While it’s unclear how they managed to give Han Siwoo a camera and how it’s related to the ascension ritual, there was one thing for certain.

“They really seemed like mad people. Suddenly trying to build an aquarium inside the government building, or screaming while spraying water in the corridors.”

The entire upper echelon of the world government was collectively entranced by something.

And the intensity of the enchantment was so strong that the symptoms spread from just a few victims.

Considering all these facts, the one watching the situation through Hunter Han Siwoo’s camera is a high-ranking government official.

This makes everything fall into place.

They were watching the Slayers’ movements and fell victim to the mental attack of that eye.

‘But why? How? Who? Since when??’

However, that’s as far as it goes. Countless questions sprout again, one after another.

How much did the world government know? Why was Han Siwoo given a live broadcast camera? For what purpose? Why? How come?

“Phew…”

Parang felt momentarily dizzy.

Good grief, every time one question is solved, dozens more pop up in succession. It’s absolutely maddening.

“In times like these, it’s much better to exclude speculation, collect only factual information, record it, and then piece it together later. Let’s just note ‘Hunter Han Siwoo had a live broadcast camera at his waist’ and move on.”

“Yeah, that would be better…”

After that, they tried to find other peculiarities among the Slayers for a while, but apart from the rings and the camera, there wasn’t much else to discover.

“Then, I’ll play it again.”

“Okay.”

The memory continued, and the Slayers’ quarrel had already quieted down.

“Everyone, let’s not blame Charlotte too much. There’s nothing to gain by blaming her right now, and it’s never too late to do anything after we resolve this whole situation.”

With Hunter Han Siwoo’s mediation, the briefly tense atmosphere subsided, turning into one of working together to overcome the crisis.

As expected of a protagonist, there didn’t seem to be an option to fall into despair.

From Oceanos’ perspective, this was a good thing. The amount of information was already overwhelming, and if internal strife had broken out among the Slayers on top of that, they might have really lost it.

But how cold this world is. Instead of fighting, the Slayers shocked Oceanos in a different way.

“Oh, right. Siwoo.”

“Yeah?”

“What does your quest say right now?”

Han Siwoo’s expression briefly turned very cold and rigid.

It was really just for a moment, so fleeting that most didn’t notice, but Parang was different.

Thanks to analyzing and drawing hundreds of human expressions in his past life.

‘Huh? Just now…’

She alone could clearly catch the expression that flashed across Hunter Han Siwoo’s face.

But it was truly just a fleeting, subtle expression of emotion, so even Parang stopped at thinking ‘He must be having a hard time’ and didn’t delve deeper.

And to begin with, there was no room to delve deeper into that.

Because the conversation that followed was so shocking.

“You’re right, I hadn’t thought of that. Let me check.”

He gestured in the air for a moment, then spoke with a slightly bewildered tone.

“…It says ‘Find Oceanos.’”