EP.27 To the East Sea

 

“Ugh… Ah…”

 

Yu Parang woke up feeling refreshed at home.

 

After the meeting with Silo, she had returned home through the warp gate.

 

Then she had a deep sleep. This was her state upon waking up.

 

It was 2 PM according to the clock.

 

She had gone to bed a bit late last night. Her mind was cluttered with many thoughts.

 

The reasons behind the World Government’s incompetence, the Hawaii issue, the Slayers, and the monsters…

 

Parang had ultimately failed to resolve these thoughts and succumbed to sleep due to overwhelming drowsiness.

 

It was only natural that these thoughts were the first thing on her mind upon waking.

 

“Ugh…”

 

Had she slept too long? Her head throbbed, making it hard to focus.

 

Throughout history, the best way to concentrate on thoughts alone was to take a shower.

 

Parang stepped into the shower booth and turned on the water.

 

– Shwoooosh. –

 

As the water poured directly onto her face, Parang pondered.

 

Silo Corporation was a gathering of the world’s greatest intellects.

 

If there was a conclusion to be drawn from the given information, they would have discovered it already.

 

Therefore, she needed to use the knowledge and unique thinking only she, as Parang, possessed.

 

As an underwater hunter and a reincarnator.

 

First, she drew on her knowledge as an underwater hunter.

 

The World Government was showing movements to push people into the sea. At the same time, they had become ‘incompetent.’ According to Silo, their actions had become rough.

 

A keyword came to mind regarding this.

 

‘Irrational.’

 

It was the closest answer she could connect with the keywords she had.

 

And considering that their purpose was related to the sea.

 

‘Maybe.’

 

A certain entity came to Parang’s mind.

 

But she quickly dismissed it.

 

‘That doesn’t make sense.’

 

Someone possessed by that entity couldn’t maintain a government system and lead people to the sea, nor would it want people to come to the sea.

 

The possibility of the World Government contacting that entity was close to zero.

 

The conclusion was postponed again. No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure it out.

 

Next, the Slayers.

 

They had clearly stayed underwater for five hours and then attempted an ’emergency escape.’

 

Imagine a rational person suddenly transferred underwater.

 

Naturally, they would try to go ‘up to the surface.’

 

And that applied to the Slayers as well. If they had acted rationally, they should have tried to go up to the surface.

 

If they had, they would have definitely surfaced.

 

They had the ability to do so.

 

But they stayed underwater for five hours.

 

This meant they were in a situation where they couldn’t come up to the surface.

 

In Parang’s mind, that ‘situation’ could only be a battle.

 

So, what did they fight against?

 

What defeated them?

 

They had divine bodies. They wouldn’t have been crushed by water pressure or had breathing issues.

 

And then she added a bit of her knowledge as a reincarnator. Considering the Slayers’ combat abilities based on the ending.

 

‘I still… don’t know.’

 

Throughout the entire original work, there were exactly ten underwater battles.

 

All of them were conducted using Olivia’s ‘Departure’.

 

And as mentioned, ‘Departure’ is a wide-area debuff artifact. Its goal is not for the user to enter the water but to put others into the water.

 

Although Parang used it for a very different purpose, originally, it was like that.

 

So, the underwater battles in the story were either Olivia’s solo show or had Hunter Han Siwoo slightly involved.

 

Even those battles were just sweeping away minor characters who uttered lines like “Grrr…” or “Damn… can’t move…” on the way to the main villain.

 

In other words, Parang had no idea how strong the Slayers were underwater.

 

To find out, she would have to put the Slayers underwater, but she hadn’t done that.

 

Still, she could make a rough guess. Considering the last battle they fought before their ascension.

 

‘Hmm.’

 

At the very least, thousands of monsters like Rassius or Gorgons wouldn’t even be able to touch the Slayers.

 

Oh, of course, that applied to Parang as well.

 

Parang thought of various strong monsters she knew.

 

‘Ghost Ship, Chironex, Mobula, Brachium…’

 

Each of them made Gorgons look like ‘nothing.’

 

But none of them seemed capable of holding the Slayers for five hours, let alone forcing them to use emergency escape devices.

 

‘That’ wasn’t in Hawaii or even the Pacific, so it was out of the question.

 

So, the last candidate remained.

 

‘Kraken.’

 

She had never seen the Kraken’s main body, and strictly speaking, she didn’t even know if the Kraken’s main body existed.

 

But if it did exist, and if the Slayers encountered it…

 

No, it didn’t make sense.

 

They wouldn’t have been able to hold out for five hours.

 

The conclusion returned to ‘I don’t know.’

 

Nothing was coming together clearly.

 

Parang let out a deep sigh.

 

The waterproof clock on the bathroom wall showed it was already 3 PM.

 

“Three o’clock?!”

 

Parang was startled.

 

She had been in the shower for an hour, just standing under the water.

 

– Shwoooosh. –

 

She hurriedly finished washing and stepped out.

 

Then her stomach growled.

 

She opened the refrigerator, but it was empty. Parang decided to go to the convenience store.

 

She felt a bit strange. Like she was finally going to a place she should have gone a long time ago.

 

It was too late, but she felt like she had to go there now.

 

It felt like following an irresistible law of the world.

 

Anyway, Parang headed to the convenience store in front of her house.

 

 

 

#

 

 

 

– Ding. –

 

With a clear sound, the convenience store door opened.

 

A brown-haired part-timer, who was sitting at the counter looking at her phone, casually greeted her… but then stopped.

 

If someone—especially the manager—saw this, they would be in trouble, but she didn’t care about such things.

 

“Y-Y-Y…!!”

 

Her idol, whom she had dreamed of, had walked into the convenience store.

 

“Are you Hunter Yu Parang?!!!”

 

“Uh, yes? Ah, yes.”

 

Parang’s face clearly showed the emotion of ‘awkwardness.’

 

‘A fan?’

 

“I’m a fan!!”

 

She was a fan.

 

Parang was always weak to people who clung to her with affection. Moreover, she was currently out of the water. The ruthless monster slayer Yu Parang was peacefully asleep in her heart.

 

Right now, she was just Yu Parang.

 

And just Yu Parang was weak to the so-called Energizer type.

 

Therefore, meeting this woman named Lee Shia was the worst for Parang. In terms of compatibility, it was like a snake and a frog.

 

“Hunter Yu Parang, I’ve always wanted to meet you!! Actually, I’m a huge fan of yours, so I often capture screenshots of your broadcasts, print them out, and carry them in a notebook, where I sometimes take notes and draw. Look here, this is Galecus, this is Tubuka, this is Rassius. Oh, right. I loved the Rassius ASMR. I recorded it, and it’s really great to listen to when falling asleep. If you ever do it again, could you make some bubbling sounds with your mouth? Oh my, look at me. I’m sorry. I’m not usually this scatterbrained, but meeting Hunter Yu Parang in person is so exciting. If you need anything, just grab it from over there. Oh, wait, before that, could you sign this notebook? Use this pen. Write ‘Hunter Yu Parang was here. To Lee Shia.’ Thank you so much. I’ll use this notebook for display now. It’s okay, I have two more identical notebooks at home. One for appreciation, one for display, and one for business, but now I’ll use this one for display. I’m really a fan. I always watch your broadcasts!!!”

 

Lee Shia’s eyes were shining brightly.

 

Switching to Parang’s mind for a moment.

 

“Save… me…”

 

Among the many mini-Yu Parangs who had collapsed, drooling, the last one standing shakily wrote in the character notebook.

 

Lee Shia, convenience store part-timer. Monster maniac.

 

With that, the last mini-Yu Parang also collapsed.

 

Her eyes rolled back, and her tongue stuck out, making her look like a martial artist from somewhere practicing their skills.

 

Switching back to the main Yu Parang.

 

She was repeating the same responses with a fixed expression.

 

“Ah, yes. I see. Really? Amazing. Ah, yes. I see. Really? Amazing.”

 

Surprisingly, the conversation was flowing.

 

And 30 minutes passed. After signing eight times, shaking hands five times, hugging three times, and taking thirteen commemorative photos, Parang finally bought two triangular kimbaps and a cup of ramen and left.

 

Her confident interview with <Sub Garnet> and her worst reunion with Lee Shia would come a bit later.

 

#

 

Back at Parang’s house.

 

She devoured the triangular kimbaps and cup ramen cleanly.

 

With her stomach full, her mind started to clear up a bit. Her thoughts seemed to be organizing themselves.

 

After thinking it over, she concluded that tackling this problem alone wasn’t the best approach.

 

As the saying goes, many hands make light work.

 

Parang conveyed the conversation she had with Silo to Oceanos and Hunter Shin Yuna.

 

She relayed the conversation to Oceanos without any omissions and to Hunter Shin Yuna with a bit of vagueness.

 

There was no need to meet in person; she just sent a message via SiloTalk.

 

In the past, they used basic encryption and discussed practical matters underwater to prevent information from leaking to Silo, but now there was no need for that.

 

After all, there was an aspect of wanting to share some information with Silo.

 

She slightly withheld information from Hunter Shin Yuna.

 

Parang left out the details about Hawaii and the deaths of the Slayers, only mentioning the collaboration with Silo. This was for Hunter Shin Yuna’s sake. The incident was too massive. She had a slight hope of not dragging her into this matter if possible.

 

After that, Parang found herself caught up in another dilemma.

 

It was because she noticed the calendar.

 

Today was July 31st. The meeting with the Hunter Association (and the infiltrated Silo executive) was on August 4th.

 

She had roughly finished discussing the collaboration with Hunter Shin Yuna, and as for the orphanage… it seemed best to avoid going there.

 

Even though Silo was watching over it, she had to assume the worst of the worst.

 

She would probably have to send the meat by courier.

 

That left her with two tasks to handle before August 4th.

 

First, the subjugation of the statue in the East Sea. She planned to gather Oceanos for this, dedicating a whole day to it.

 

Second, exploring the Hive in the East Sea. This involved finding the artifact and body of Adriana Carmen, a member of the Slayers.

 

She planned to broadcast this, of course, hiding the purpose and results, only showing the exploration process.

 

Which one should she tackle first?

 

After resting her chin on her hand and pondering for a while, Parang reached a conclusion.