EP.22 The Protagonist Hides the Artifact (3)

 

‘It should be around here somewhere.’

 

Parang scanned the surroundings with cold eyes.

 

After a while, she finally noticed a faint yellow glow emanating from a distance.

 

Hurrying towards it, she realized why it had taken so long to find. It was much smaller than she had anticipated.

 

‘This is….’

 

It was an earring, crafted from a top-grade mana stone with a blue hue, shaped into a ring.

 

Like a legendary item in a game, the earring emitted a yellow glow.

 

A divine artifact. This phenomenon occurred with only the highest-grade artifacts.

 

Parang pondered.

 

‘What is this?’

 

Her memory was fuzzy. Although this artifact was frequently used in the original story, there were over fifty artifacts mentioned, making it confusing.

 

Thus, she deliberated!

 

In the little library inside Parang’s mind, tiny mini-Yu Parangs scurried around, pulling out books and reading them.

 

Then, suddenly, a mini-Yu Parang at the top of a precarious ladder raised a book triumphantly!

 

“Found it!!”

 

The mini-Yu Parangs gathered at the bottom of the ladder, each chiming in.

 

“What is it?”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“What could it be?”

 

“What is it?”

 

The Yu Parang at the top held the book aloft with both hands.

 

“It’s Departure!!”

 

The mini-Yu Parangs at the bottom finally exclaimed in unison, ‘Oh, I see.’

 

“It’s Departure!”

 

“It’s Departure!”

 

“It was Departure!!”

 

Then, stepping out of her mind, the larger Yu Parang.

 

She gazed at the artifact and muttered.

 

“It’s Departure.”

 

The third-ranked member of the Slayers, the second woman of Hunter Han Siwoo.

 

The strongest spear-wielder, Olivia Cloverfield.

 

It was the first artifact Hunter Han Siwoo had ever gifted her.

 

The scene where Han Siwoo handed over these earrings at the climax of the story was one of the novel’s most memorable… or not.

 

By the time the earrings were being crafted, 70% of the readers had already guessed, ‘Those are going to Olivia.’

 

Of course, Parang had thought the same. Anyway.

 

The name of these earrings was [Departure].

 

Ironically, Olivia, who had originally been a sailor, never boarded a ship again after receiving these earrings.

 

It was one of the reasons Parang had read the novel to the end.

 

She had a small hope that Olivia might sail again someday. Although, mostly, it was just a good way to pass the time.

 

Parang looked at Departure lying on the ground.

 

An artifact of this caliber would undoubtedly have anti-theft measures. And top-notch ones at that.

 

For an ordinary person, just touching it would likely drive them mad, burn them, or even cause them to explode.

 

But this was underwater, and the one attempting to retrieve it was Yu Parang.

 

[Skill, ‘Aqua Cleanse’ is activated.]

 

The curses began to wash away from the earrings before her eyes.

 

Like a tissue soaked in paint releasing its colors in water, the artifact, steeped in all sorts of enchantments, was expelling them into the water.

 

Black, green, red, yellow—curses of various colors dispersed.

 

‘They really put a lot on this.’

 

Even a rough count by Parang’s eyes revealed twelve different curses.

 

After about five minutes,

 

Departure expelled its last security enchantment.

 

Parang picked it up.

 

Then she attached it to her ear. The yellow glow subsided.

 

This meant it was properly equipped.

 

An invaluable treasure. Especially for Parang.

 

True to its name, [Departure], these earrings could transform the surrounding environment into one akin to the sea.

 

Additionally, they offered various options like underwater breathing and stat boosts in water, but those were irrelevant to Parang.

 

This was the reason underwater action scenes could appear in the original novel without actually going to the sea.

 

Anyway, such a treasure was now in Parang’s possession.

 

The ability to fill any space with water at any time. The benefit this provided to Parang was beyond words. It was the ultimate buff.

 

In the original story, it was used more often as a wide-area debuff, which was ironic.

 

Parang uttered a line she had always wanted to say.

 

“Lucky me.”

 

She was indeed lucky.

 

Being an earring, there would be no issue wearing it during a broadcast.

 

Parang had been worried that it might be a weapon.

 

Why? Because using a weapon would prevent her from broadcasting.

 

To Parang’s knowledge, no divine-grade artifacts from the Slayers had been discovered yet.

 

Divers usually retrieved low-grade items like C~B grade artifacts, jewels, or gold bars.

 

If news spread that ‘An amazing artifact belonging to a member of the Slayers was found underwater!’, people would dive into the deep sea in droves.

 

Parang had even considered passing the artifact to someone else to avoid such a situation.

 

That was also why she hadn’t started a broadcast this time. Being 4km underwater, she couldn’t operate her phone to stream. If she had started a broadcast, this scene would have been live-streamed.

 

That was unacceptable.

 

Anyway, Parang began to ascend, following the path marked by the glowing jellyfish.

 

Before long,

 

‘Oh, this!’

 

She spotted the ㅜ-shaped monster she had encountered in Aurita’s territory.

 

Parang quickly took out her phone to check the list Vertea had sent but paused.

 

Her phone was unresponsive.

 

Right. She was over 4km deep.

 

She tried to reach the cave ceiling but couldn’t quite touch it.

 

Should she go all the way up the passage to check and then come back down?

 

No way. The claustrophobic passage had almost given her a panic attack on the way down. The thought of going out and coming back in was out of the question.

 

She decided to rely on her memory.

 

Parang quickly made up her mind and rummaged through her thoughts.

 

‘What did Vertea say to do?’

 

Once again, the mini-Yu Parangs in Parang’s mind library scurried around busily.

 

A mini-Yu Parang with round glasses, flipping through a book frantically, raised a hand and shouted.

 

“Here, found it!”

 

The other mini-Yu Parangs crowded around, asking what it was and what they were supposed to do, causing a commotion.

 

The glasses-wearing Yu Parang pounded her chest and said, “Extract the eyeballs!”

 

“Oh!!”

 

“Eyeballs!!”

 

“As expected!!”

 

The gathered mini-Yu Parangs exclaimed in admiration. The glasses-wearing Yu Parang, being tossed in the air in celebration, wore a beaming smile of happiness.

 

And then the larger Yu Parang outside recalled the memory.

 

‘Right, I was supposed to extract the eyeballs.’

 

Parang approached the ㅜ-shaped monster and swiftly dismembered it, leaving only the eyeballs intact.

 

She then drove a spear into the eyeball and, using it as a lever, smoothly extracted it.

 

– Plop. –

 

The eyeball came out cleanly, as if a Lego piece had been detached.

 

Parang tilted her head at the bizarre sight. Was this correct?

 

She decided to quickly ascend and contact Vertea.

 

Parang began to forcefully squeeze her way back up through the passage.

 

As soon as she emerged, she texted Vertea.

 

She detailed the sound and feel of extracting the eyeball and added her personal opinion that it didn’t seem like a living creature.

 

Then a thought occurred to her.

 

Couldn’t she have checked if it was a living creature with the Kraken? How did she forget that?

 

She must have been too excited about extracting the eyeball and forgot.

 

In her mind, the glasses-wearing mini-Yu Parang was already being beaten up by the other Yu Parangs.

 

Parang looked at the hole she had come out of.

 

And then she gave up. How could she go back in there? She would rather die.

 

She figured there would be another opportunity and just surfaced.

 

#

 

– Munch munch. –

 

Parang was mercilessly devouring a Lotus biscuit while Xiao looked at her with a slightly pitiful expression.

 

What was she supposed to do if it was delicious? Parang continued to inhale the biscuits without making eye contact.

 

Dipping them in coffee made them even better.

 

“So, this is the skull?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Hmm….”

 

Xiao pondered, looking at the skull, which clearly appeared to be a human skull, placed on the dining table.

 

Even though Parang was eating cookies right in front of it, their tolerance for such things had long surpassed human limits. They could enjoy a meal even if it was served from Lesius’s pocket.

 

“Still, with this level of preservation, simple identification and a ‘Dive’ should be possible.”

 

‘Dive.’ It was Xiao’s unique skill. It allowed her to dive into the memories of the deceased while underwater and experience those memories.

 

Of course, this only worked underwater. If Xiao could do it outside of water, she would already be an S-rank hunter.

 

Ah, but this didn’t mean they had to dive back into the sea to identify the skull.

 

“Have you finished eating?”

 

Parang quickly stuffed ten Lotus biscuits into her pockets and nodded.

 

Telling her to buy them herself if she liked them so much was pointless.

 

Lotus biscuits lost their taste the moment you bought them with your own money.

 

They were the most delicious when eaten for free.

 

Anyway, Parang, having swept up the free cookies, stood up from the table and stepped back.

 

– Click, click. –

 

Xiao manipulated a controller from who knows where,

 

– Clunk— Whirrrr. –

 

The table in the center of the circular living room sank down. The wooden floor’s center opened up in a circular pattern, like a camera aperture.

 

Below was a pool of rippling blue water.

 

It was Xiao’s multi-purpose tank. It was larger than the biggest tank in most aquariums. After all, she had converted three entire floors of the building into a tank.

 

– Splash. –

 

Xiao dove into the tank with perfect form.

 

Parang also took off her suit, neatly folded it, and holding the skull, jumped in with a splash.

 

– Whirrr. –

 

The floor closed, and the round table rose back up as if it had never disappeared, restoring the living room to its previous state.