NOVEL NEXT Chapter 79
The descent of Parang continued.
The location of the Bermuda Hive was 3 kilometers under the sea. Currently, Parang was at a depth of 1.5 kilometers.
The deeper she went, the more Monster Fish appeared.
Parang was deliberately slowing her descent to provide the viewers with the ‘fun of deduction,’ allowing them to freely speculate about the current state of the Bermuda Triangle.
However, since the phenomena being speculated upon were so bizarre, even a multitude of people racking their brains couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation for all of it.
Some examples include:
The speculation that there is a creature or breeding ground in the Bermuda Hive that lays Monster Fish eggs every three seconds.
This was quickly rebutted. The overwhelming majority of the countless monsters in the Bermuda Triangle were “Gate Mountain monsters.” Creatures that emerged from gates cannot reproduce.
Moreover, this did not explain the creation of the gates either.
The closest speculation was the hypothesis that “an incredibly large dungeon exists beneath the sea.”
While ‘gates appearing without rifts’ is certainly an unprecedented anomaly, a little twist in thought reveals that similar phenomena exist on land too.
Occasionally, gates can have exceptionally high stability, remaining in one place for as short as several weeks to as long as a few months.
In these cases, phenomena occur that differentiate them from other gates, which only spit out a few monsters and then end.
Firstly, the ‘environment’ of the other world is transferred.
Strange structures or natural elements from the other world shift into the area around the gate, altering the surrounding environment.
This ‘altered environment’ is directly referred to as a dungeon.
Secondly, while a dungeon exists, the frequency of small rifts or gates occurring in the surrounding area increases.
Typically, a gate might appear once a month, but in the vicinity of a dungeon, one could appear every week.
However, the gates are relatively small, and the level of monsters that appear is low enough that two or three A-rank Hunters can fend them off completely.
According to academic research, stable gates tend to make the surrounding environment imperfect, creating this phenomenon.
It’s comparable to how leaving a broken glass unattended will cause the surrounding area to break more frequently and easily over time.
And if there’s something special lurking beneath the Bermuda Triangle, wouldn’t we expect something similar to happen now?
Parang stamped her acknowledgment stamp on that. She even praised herself for a job well done.
“That’s a close guess.”
As for the other wild speculations?
There’s a black hole below, the energy of the universe is concentrated here, it’s all a manipulation, and so on…
Regardless of the validity of these speculations, Parang had a fun time chatting with the viewers after a long time.
Also, since most of the monsters they usually encounter were mutated fish from Earth, there was pure joy in seeing the otherworldly fish that had jumped out of the gate.
However, the time taken to reach the hive was unavoidable, as the monsters emerging from the gates, upon seeing humans, thought of them as food and rushed in excitedly.
Whenever Parang approached nearby, the monsters would immediately display strange mechanics and attack her.
This meant that after swimming for a few minutes, something would pop out from behind with its mouth wide open.
An eye suddenly appeared from the side of the screen, then something popped out.
“Oh, I shouldn’t show this one. I’ll turn off the screen.”
The screen suddenly went black, and the sound of a baby crying was heard from all around.
“Oh, it’s fine now.”
Parang would turn the screen back on, as if nothing had happened.
Jump scares, a bizarre atmosphere, and breath-catching tension all layered in.
Thank goodness it was a daytime broadcast; otherwise, at dawn—oh boy.
So when the screen darkened at a depth of 2 kilometers, one could only imagine the viewers’ reactions.
– Oh no.
– Alright, it has started again.
– Just another UFC.
– UGH!
The previously deep blue screen abruptly turned black. It plunged into complete darkness, literally unable to see an inch ahead.
Yet this time, it wasn’t Parang who turned off the screen.
Parang’s own field of vision darkened in an instant.
It was so dark that even her own hand in front of her couldn’t be seen.
No matter how chaotic the brightness fluctuates in the monster layers, it shouldn’t reach this level.
Monsters or objects, whatever it was—an anomaly had occurred.
The viewers who had been following Parang’s stream knew well what it meant when her screen turned dark.
It was a signal that something bad was about to happen.
And, in most cases, that speculation hit the nail on the head once again.
‘Oh, here we go.’
The first to grasp the situation was Parang.
‘It’s been a while.’
She thought about what kind of monster appeared as her vision turned pitch black, how to react, and how to utilize it for her broadcast, almost simultaneously.
Due to the broadcast delay, her perspective was ahead of the viewers, and her knowledge of monsters exceeded theirs.
First off, at the point where not only the camera but also Parang’s vision was engulfed in darkness, this wasn’t a mental attack. If it were, the skill would have activated.
In other words, the current darkness signified a physical phenomenon, like gravity or heat conduction.
And when she tried purifying the surrounding water as a test,
[Skill, ‘Clear Reflection’ is active.]
‘Hmm, I can see well.’
She confirmed her arm was very visible.
This meant that black pigment was dispersed in the water.
A certain monster flickered through her mind.
It was a terribly annoying hunting method.
But in the ups and downs of life, who is Parang? A talented person skilled in turning crises into opportunities!
‘The broadcasts have been lacking a bit of horror lately.’
While others would be outraged to hear her calm thoughts, she vowed to let her precious viewers feel what it’s like to be hunted by Tenebris.
Tenebris—the Latin word for darkness. A very intuitive name, whoever gave it.
Typically, monsters that utilize ‘darkness’ in hunting can be categorized into two types based on their patterns.
One is ambush. Unlike typical deep-sea fish, which usually rely on sight as they live in dark places, among the chaotic monsters dwelling in the depths are those that depend on sight, ambushing in a blind spot after blocking their view.
The second is bait.
This involves emitting light in the darkness to lure small monsters.
Even dolphins with their intelligence would know it’s a bait, but at the end of the day, monsters are still fish.
Unless they are a few special species, they tend to mindlessly follow bright lights.
Tenebris is categorized under the ‘bait’ type but is a bit more sophisticated than other monsters that merely click on lights.
It creates the illusion for prey that they are ‘escaping’ in a dark, black space.
“This is a black pigment type of ink. For such monsters, it’s safer to let the ink dissipate first before catching them outside.”
Parang was bluffing to the chat.
Of course, that’s a standard method, but it wouldn’t work on Tenebris.
It’s better to stay put and quickly eliminate it upon detecting noise.
But the chat, unaware of this fact, exclaimed in delight, “Yay! The dark places are horrible! Let’s get out of here!”
– Stay still and experience the ‘cosmic horror.’
– Great King!
– Let’s leave before it comes out!
“Now, if you compare this side and that side, you can see that the darkness levels are subtly different. I will head towards the brighter side.”
This is where the sophistication of Tenebris is revealed.
The amount of pigment was finely adjusted to such a degree that only monsters sensitive to light could detect the difference.
Parang continued to swim towards the slightly brighter area.
And just as she began to notice the surroundings brightening clearly, the viewers’ expressions also brightened.
Then, crack, crack.
Crack, crack, crack.
Crack, crack, crack, crack.
Then boom.
As if someone had flipped a switch.
The area was once again steeped in complete darkness.
It was then that Parang clicked on the spotlight she had turned off.
“Everyone, you just died once.”
Once she came back to her senses, she found herself inside the mouth of a monster.
The boom sound was that of its mouth closing.
Inside were the corpses of monsters that had met similar fates scattered everywhere, with what appeared to be debris from ships and planes stuck haphazardly inside, acting like a second set of teeth.
– ?
– ???
– No way.
– Is this an illusion??
The viewers were stunned by the unexpected blow to the back of their heads.
The fact that the entity delivering the blow was a fish was an additional shock.
Seeing Parang continue her explanation nonchalantly, viewers thought, “She’s at it again,” receiving yet another shock.
– The ocean is really fking dangerous, damn it.
This generated a wonderfully appropriate reaction.
#
In any case, after such ups and downs,
They finally reached 2.7 km underwater.
It was time to face the truth of the Bermuda Triangle.
Parang momentarily switched off the camera.
– No way, damn it.
– Forced to close our eyes, what’s this.
– Open your eyes.
– Open your eyes.
– Here it goes again, damn it!!!
Unable to accept the sudden change in situation, chaos ensued.
Today too, they willingly surrendered their emotions to Parang.
“Oh, just wait a moment. Let’s create a dramatic effect, shall we?”
– A life in drama, and she’s talking about drama!
“Ah.”
A slight startle.
Clears throat! “Alright, I’ll show it to you in exactly 15 seconds.”
– 15
– 15
– 14
Parang slowly adjusted her position to unveil the scenery of the Hive.
“10…9…8…”
If they had been paying attention to the characteristics of the hives until now, they would have realized that they resembled human artifacts and earthly items.
“7…6…5…”
However, there is one crucial point we must address here.
What exactly falls under the category of ‘earthly things’?
Thus, the ‘modern artifacts’ that the Hive is modeled after—
“3…2…1…”
Are they truly ‘modern artifacts’, or are they artifacts from this world, ‘modern fantasy’?
“Alright, this is the truth of the Bermuda Triangle.”
A massive rift, weapons suspended in mid-air, and iron barricades.
“This is Bermuda Hive. We refer to it as the ‘Gate Judgment Line.’”
Could the ‘gates’ even be considered scenes from this Earth?
Concerning that question, the Bermuda Hive provided the answer of ‘yes’.
A gate, 700 meters in diameter, appeared before them.