Heart Fish (2)
The Truth-Seeker of Silver Forest added a word.
=Anyway, it’s also necessary for you. If you let them continue to reproduce, eventually, it will end in the collapse of civilization. You’ll survive somehow, but humans usually don’t. You’re not good at living alone in a world that’s gone, are you?=
Parvache quietly whispered in my consciousness.
[That’s right. By the way, please pass on my question.]
When it heard Parvache’s question that I passed in, the Truth-Seeker answered.
=The original dimension that existed before the Heart Fish came over is in a state where life forms with ordinary souls are extinct. They will be starving.=
The Truth-Seeker related words with emotions that I couldn’t interpret.
=There will be no Truth-Seeker like me who will interfere, so as soon as they pass into your world, they will find a parasitic target. They won’t move far. You can search around the Channel first.=
Ah, wait a minute. I felt a line of cold sweat flowing down my back.
=So, what kind of place is the Channel that connects this world and your world located in your world?=
“…It is in an area where the population density is extremely high.”
Despite the outbreak of the Channel crisis, the population of Seoul only slightly declined.
=You better go quickly. There might have already been a parasite around it. As a piece of advice, they are supposed to target high-spirited beings first.=
“…Yes.”
=The most dangerous target is a wizard who doesn’t know the spell of mental defense but has strong power. Parasitic against such guys can be tricky to deal with, even at your level. But…as long as there are no great wizards gathered near that Channel…um? What’s wrong?=
“I have to go right now!”
The White Deer Village was right under the Channel! Wizards who use powerful techniques that were incomparable to humans on Earth! Do they know the spell of mental defense? I’m incredibly anxious!
=Ah… yes. I’ll send you back to the Channel. But before that, take this.=
As the Truth-Seeker wriggled its tentacles, a small pocket suddenly appeared in front of me.
=Apparently, you don’t know the magic of extracting or sealing souls, do you?=
I nodded my head.
=It is tough for a wizard who can’t handle the soul to kill Heart Fishes. Do you know that?=
I said how Parvache taught me.
“…Because the host must be killed before the Heart Fish leaves.”
As the Truth-Seeker beckoned his tentacles, a pocket floating in front of it came to me.
=If the host seems to die, the Heart Fish will quickly run away. It’s harder than you think to kill it without giving time to do that. This will help.=
The Truth-Seeker showed me the purpose of what was in it.
=Now, then. I’ll send you to the Channel. Catch the Heart Fishes and kill them. Then, come back here. I will give you the right price.=
At the same time, my body soared through the ground and flew into the sky.
***
I put on the magic of concealment and stepped into the Channel leading to the Earth. I was in a hurry. I should get in touch with Yusu right away. Could the Heart Fish ever invade the White Deer Village? Did that barrier that surrounds White Deer Village really have the power to defend against even the beings close to the soul?
I should warn them. If the Heart Fish ate souls like the White Deer people, they would have tremendous power. I immediately tried to go home to contact Yusu. I couldn’t enter White Deer Village unless they accompanied me. I should contact Yusu in advance through artifacts at home. But I soon realized I didn’t have to. I could feel a familiar wave of Mana nearby. The residents of White Deer…I went straight to the place where I felt the power. Then, I saw two beasts sitting on a bench in Han River Park.
The first thing that caught my eye was a blackbird with six wings. And the other creature sitting face to face with him and tilting its glass…was a familiar Maek. They were in a concealed barrier to avoid people’s attention, but they couldn’t avoid my eyes. I stepped inside so easily without breaking that barrier and then uncovered my body.
“Huh…w-what?!”
The blackbird looked at me in amazement. By the way, it smelled of alcohol? Come to think of it. It seemed that the bird’s eyes were a little loose. However, Yusu looked fine. He shouted after recognizing me.
“Ah, Master Yoon!”
“Just in time, you came out.”
As I tried to continue, the crane came to me with a staggering step. Then it spread out all three wings on the right and stuck them to me. What? This guy…
“Oh…you are Guru Yoon! Hail Guru, well met! No, nice to meet you! Humans say hello like this these days, right?”
“…You only have to shake hands with one hand.”
However, the crane shook hands three times in turn with three wings.
“You’re welcome! Would you like a drink?”
A small table was placed on the bench, and glasses and bottles were placed on it. What were they doing in a place like this?
“Oh, I’m in a hurry to tell you something. Next time…”
“Huh, good! I’m the only one who can enjoy this good drink! Yusu doesn’t want to drink at all.”
The crane plucked a feather from its wings and put it inside the bottle. Soon a rumbling sound came up inside the bottle. Yusu looked at it and murmured low.
“…How many times is it? You ruined all the good drinks. I won’t even put this in my mouth. Brother Song, take care of it yourself.”
I cut off their conversation and spoke quickly to Yusu.
“Yusu, I have something to tell you.”
The Maek’s eyes, filled with questions and curiosity, and the cranes’ eyes, which were bloodshot, looked at me simultaneously.
***
After hearing all my explanations, Yusu’s expression became solemn. He spoke, scratching his chin.
“Are you saying there are parasitic beings that feed on the soul? Is the principle similar to being possessed by demons?”
“Can you and other Maek see the soul? Please return to the village and observe the residents. Maybe some people are in a different state from their usual soul.”
“I will. I have to go right now.”
“Yes, I will use my own method to find out if any of the humans have been infected. Oh, and do you know the spell of mental defense? It’s like this.”
When I taught the principle and demonstrated it, Yusu soon nodded.
“Not everyone in the village can use it, but I will tell them to defend themselves in advance if possible.”
Yusu hurried the grinning crane and cleaned up the table. He greeted me after getting ready, and I suddenly remembered something, so I asked.
“Did you happen to see a strange soul coming out of the Channel? The Heart Fish doesn’t look like a parasite. They are more likely to look like souls to your eyes.”
“Well, you know, because I’m not looking at the crack in that space all day. Still, you said that it happened half a day ago, so I’ll ask if there was any Maek walking around at that time. But…even if they were looking at that crack at that time, it would have been hard to distinguish…”
“What do you mean by that?”
Then Yusu answered.
“A huge number of souls are usually being sucked into the crack in that space. Even if some of those strange souls flow in the opposite direction, I don’t know if they’ll stand out.”
“…What?”
Yusu told me about what he saw on the Channel. After listening to the explanation, my expression hardened. While I was lost in thought, Yusu sat the crane on its back. When it tried to clean up the table, the crane took all the leftovers from the bottle at once, and it seemed like it was really drunk.
“This world is crazy! There’s a hole in the air, the Dragon suddenly disappeared, and the humans have done something to this land! It smells like shit everywhere! This strong odor!”
“Gosh, Brother Song. Don’t be so hard on me!”
Even after seeing Yusu and the crane off, I stood at the banks of the Han River for a while. The I learned this time began to settle down in my head, looking for their own connections. First, mortal life was meaningless to the Truth-Seeker. Still, their souls were an essential factor, and the Heart Fish that devoured the souls of mortals were enemies to the Truth-Seeker. Second, as soon as the Earth’s Truth-Seeker, the Dragon, died, the dimensional barrier disappeared, and hundreds of Channels were opened.
Third, the Silver Forest’s Truth-Seeker left the saying, the soul flows high, and the Earth was probably a dimension younger than most of its counterparts. After arranging up to this point, a specific hypothesis was established in my head. Even when I sat in the taxi heading home, I frequently exchanged telepathy with Parvache. No matter how much I thought about it, the conclusions had to be gathered together.
The Truth-Seekers tried to break through the Channel in a relatively young dimension, and when the defense failed, a Channel was created. As a result, the souls of the younger dimension flowed out to the other dimension. Truth-Seekers created Channels to win the soul, and the Earth’s soul was probably spilling out to countless dimensions.
This conclusion, again, could only lead to a question. So, what were the Truth-Seekers trying to do with the soul?
***
The soft notes produced by the jazz band resonated in the lobby. Lee Seo-rin was resting on a leather sofa in a hotel lounge bar.
“The air conditioner is generous in Southeast Asia, after all.”
She lifted a mojito placed on her table and put the straw in her mouth. She took a deep sip.
“Yes, this is a real break.”
She declined all the recommendations from her fellow actors who came to Bangkok. Instead of going on a Bangkok city tour or going to a hot rooftop bar, she stayed at the hotel all day long.
“Hmm?”
At that moment, a man came into her eyes. What? She thought she had seen him somewhere.
‘Oh! Oh my God!’
She barely endured the urge to jump from the seat. Lee Seo-rin’s eyes grew wide. That blond, handsome man…Jonathan Powell! He was her favorite Hollywood actor. Why was that man in this hotel? Did he come to Bangkok for vacation? But something even more incredible happened. He made eye contact with her, and he began to walk her way without hesitation.
‘No way, no way? Is he coming to me now?’
Jonathan looked at Lee Seo-rin with profoundly fascinating eyes.
“I’ve been watching you for a while. You like being alone. Is there anybody you are waiting for?”
“Ah, no…no one.”
What? Strange. She couldn’t speak English. But how could she understand this person? And how did she respond? But when she saw his blue jewel-like eyes looking at her, Lee Seo-rin’s suspicion melted away.
“It’s because I like you. If you don’t mind…”
Jonathan put one of his business cards on the table where Lee Seo-rin sat.
“Please feel free to contact me. I’ll be in Bangkok for the rest of this month.”
Then he disappeared. The name and phone number were written on the business card. Here, Lee Seo-rin once again raised her question. Did a foreign cell phone number start with 010? Lee Seo-rin was restless with the phone number in her hand.
“What? Why didn’t he just sit down and talk with me? Why did he just give me his numbers? No, the fact that he gave the number means that he is interested in me, right? Ahhh! What am I supposed to do!”
The joy was greater than the embarrassment. Speaking of Jonathan Powell, he had been her favorite actor since middle school. His heyday had been a while, but the face she had just seen had no traces of time. Rather than the video interview on T.V. recently, he seemed to be younger. He looked the same as when he was in his prime.
“Oh, my God. Would it look too urgent if I called right now? How can I endure it until tomorrow? Oh, wait. I’m going to Seoul tomorrow! I need to call the manager right away. I’ll tell him to change the flight time!”
At that time, she had someone talking next to her.
“Wow, Jonathan Powell? It’s surprising. Isn’t he past his prime?”
Was he a Korean? It was unpleasant, but Lee Seo-rin tried not to react. If she turned her head, it became annoying if she met his eyes. Because if he found out she was a celebrity, it would get bothersome. However, she thought his voice sounded familiar to her ears for some reason. Where did she hear it?
“My dearest customer, were you a fan of him? The memory correction effect is not a joke. Is he handsome? Actually, it wouldn’t be that good in real life, right?”
Customer? At that moment, goosebumps came across her body. Lee Seo-rin eventually couldn’t take it and turned her head. She apparently sat around in a secluded seat with no people around her. But there was another sofa right next to her. A middle-aged man was sitting. Yes, these days, that person always appeared as that face. She was forced to endure her desire to scream. She said while clenching her teeth.
“…How did you know and follow me to Bangkok? You have never done this before.”
“I have a little urgent work. However, I didn’t follow you to Bangkok…but there is a stamp on your soul that I can identify. No matter how far away you are, I can sense it. Once I detect it, I can intervene. It’s convenient magic.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant.
“…You sound like a devil. I thought you aren’t one.”
“Because I’m not a devil, after all?”
The middle-aged man smiled and pulled the contract out of his arms.
“We’ve implemented the contract in our souls. I’ve already confirmed that it’s still available. Then…I would like to use the right to request again.”
The man floated the contract in the air and started muttering—blue light fluttered and gathered. Lee Seo-rin screamed out of breath for a moment.
“No, aren’t you crazy? People are watching!”
But the man didn’t stop talking.
“Here is the term of request.
Point 1. ‘B’ checks out the personal information of those who meet the conditions suggested by A with the best effort and reports it to A daily.
Point 2. The conditions presented by A are as follows. Found in downtown Seoul and Gyeonggi since yesterday, 1) a person who fell into a coma due to an unknown cause, 2) a person who was seen vomiting green mucous and bubbles with unknown ingredients, and 3) who have expressed superpowers whose principles have not been identified.
Point 3. The method of obtaining the information is free. Still, in the process, when the contents related to this contract are disclosed to a third party, the penalty for violation of confidentiality obligations specified in Article 5 (3) will be applied without any restriction or delay.
End of request.”
Lee Seo-rin was stunned.
“No, I’m not an E.R. doctor? How do I organize a list of people who are in a coma? And number two or three, how can a person like me know…”
However, contrary to her protest, her unconscious recognized this as a viable range. As the contract was shining, the contents mentioned began to be inscribed as an appendix.
“Every time I see it, it’s amazing. Does it apply exactly the same as in reality here?”
“…What does that mean? Reality?”
“Anyway, it was recognized as a contract, so please update it once a day. I know that you can do this, so I made the request.”
After hearing those words, Lee Seo-rin’s eyes trembled anxiously, but they soon became sharp.
