novelzi Chapter 171
Chapter 171
chapter 171
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the diver iii
“...frog croaks.”
ha-yul trembled. she instinctively opened and closed her fingers repeatedly, the sensation of frog skin still clinging to her hands.
“did we really turn into frogs?”
despite her youthful appearance, ha-yul was a seasoned veteran who had explored countless voids with me, but even for her, a six-second bodily transformation was enough to leave a deep scar in her psyche.
i squeezed ha-yul’s hand, and she gasped out, feeling the warmth of another’s palm sink into her own. instead of swimming freely underwater, we had evolved to hold each other’s hands.
“your body is cold. use your aura to dry off,” i suggested. “it may look like ordinary water, but each drop is filled with void poison.”
“...okay, oppa.”
ha-yul’s hair glowed golden with aura. her soaked, brown locks quickly began to dry, but there was something strange about the process. it wasn’t just that the water evaporated; it was more like transparent bugs were being burned off.
squirm, squirm, squirm.
the bugs, wriggling in the shape of the rain character, 雨, were roasted by the golden aura. they tried to crawl through ha-yul’s hair to escape, only to dry up and evaporate.
“ugh...” ha-yul shuddered. though she rarely showed emotions, disgust shone clear in her eyes. “the water is like bugs. this water is crawling inside me too?”
“don’t scratch your arm. if you scratch hard, you’ll bleed, and then the blood will look like bugs. if your blood starts forming the character 雨, it’s over.”
“you speak like you’ve seen this many times.”
i had, of course. both ha-yul and i had witnessed the horrifying transformation into frogs or people bleeding to death due to hydrophobia at least five times.
the first time, we realized that if we didn’t guide the great monsoon to busan, japan or the korean peninsula would sink.
the second time, we learned that without facilities and rituals like noah’s ark, stopping at simply guiding the monsoon’s path would result in everyone drowning.
the third time, we discovered that unless we bailed water, even with an ark, we would still be submerged.
“when we were submerged and turning into frogs, i felt strange,” ha-yul muttered. though her hair was dry, her eyes still seemed to reflect the shadows of water. “i felt nostalgic. happy. i couldn’t breathe, but it felt like i was breathing through my skin, becoming one with the world.”
“don’t think about it. it’s entrancing.”
i tightened my grip on her hand. ha-yul snapped back to reality, meeting my gaze.
“let’s go. we need to help the others,” i said.
“okay.”
“look, the puppet strings are broken over there. let’s repair them as we go.”
nodding, ha-yul ticked her jaw.
the water in the corridor reached our calves, hindering our movement. as we splashed through, water bugs scattered in all directions.
ha-yul shook her head and began fixing the puppet strings. golden aura spread through the threads, extending throughout the entire ark.
“how is it, ha-yul? are you receiving signals through the strings?”
“...no issues in isolation areas 15, 21, and 37.”
beep. beep-beep. beep, beep.
beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep.
not long after ha-yul sent out her aura, signals began pinging back from different directions. the sound of morse code transmitted through the threads was like the heartbeat of the ark.
“parasites.”
the paladin mumbled.
“people often say humans are like parasites to nature. but doesn’t nature also parasitize humans? blood is like a parasite living within us. everything is made of matter, and matter exists only to sustain other matter. what is freedom? if a parasite leaves its host, it dies, but the will to leave still exists, if only for a moment. therefore, escaping the body is both death and freedom. the leap from matter is a miracle that happens only once. whether it is achieved by one’s own decision or compulsion by others—”
“shut up!” a survivor snapped. “someone shut that bastard up!”
they weren’t the only one. people wrapped in blankets watched the paladin’s possessed ramblings with anxious eyes.
the strange thing was, the paladin wasn’t speaking loudly. his confession was quiet, no louder than an old man coughing in a corner. yet, every survivor in area 25 listened intently to his monologue. even the most insensitive person could feel the intense focus.
just as sight has direction, so does hearing.
“oh, god. no, the one beyond god,” the paladin continued. “the one who must be escorted out and exist free from me. the body is a prison, and the mind is the escape. i now understand why escaping the body is called freedom. all matter is like parasites on other matter. oh, one, i too will join you...”
“kill him!”
whack.
a survivor threw a can at him. objectively, it was an attack against a patient who was merely mumbling to himself. but no one stopped the violence.
“that bastard is a monster! kill him!”
“shut the fuck up!”
“kill him before we all get infected!”
tuna cans, water bottles, and anything they could grab were thrown at the paladin.
croak. croak. croak. croak.
the sound of frogs blended with the survivors’ shouts. yet no one seemed to hear the frogs, each consumed by their own voice.
“enough.” i stepped forward, sending a tremor shooting across the deck.
the survivors froze.
“all of you are addicted to the void.”
“......”
“i understand. the voices of your constellations that used to comfort you have been cut off. the sg net you clung to is down. still, you must get used to this solitude for now.”
“......”
“there may be different levels of contamination in each section, so the command center will maintain isolation. use the puppet strings for communication and messages. the command center staff will patrol and check your status at least twice a day.”
i glanced at the paladin. he was still mumbling. “i will take this contaminated person to the infirmary. remember, he came from pyongyang to support busan.”
“......”
i didn’t reprimand them further. it wasn’t their fault.
carrying the paladin with me, i left the isolation area, and ha-yul followed a step behind.
splash, splash.
as we walked through the corridor, i glanced out the window.
雨雨雨雨雨雨雨雨雨雨雨雨雨.
it looked like we were underwater. the ark was still completely submerged.
according to genesis, the great flood lasted 40 days.
and this was only day one.