The weight of Dicken’s upper body pressing over me left me breathless, but I kept my hands wrapped around his neck to keep him close to me, as if the weight was the only thing that assured me that he was with me at that very moment. I couldn’t help remembering Mary’s lifeless body being placed on a liferaft that floated out into the open sea then, and the resounding cry of anguish that lingered in the air. I couldn’t help holding Dicken even more tightly then, but I could feel my strength leaving me, realizing then that Dicken was sedating me with his kiss. Panicking, I grabbed his hair and tried to pull him as hard as I could, but my hands eventually dropped limply on the table regardless.Lethargic, I fell limply over the table as my eyelids turned to lead. Just as I was about to close my eyes, his webbed claws slowly brushed over my face, tidying my hair before arching his back to dress me. As he carried me and put me on a lounge chair nearby to rest, I realized that I couldn’t d

With decades having passed since the detonation of the nuclear bomb, the radition from the nuclear power plant had decreased under the safety range. Still, we wore hazmat suits outside our diving suits to reduce the risk, and looked just like professional scientific researchers after we put on our oxygen mask, although we had an extra set of tools for mountain climbing.When everything was ready, we boarded a kayak and rowed up to the water gate of the nuclear power plant, though we had to get off and swim the rest of the way since we couldn’t row the rest of the way. Fortunately, the sea wasn’t that deep here and our heads would breach the surface if we stood, so we did not have to use our oxygen masks for now. Splitting ourselves into several teams, we entered the narrow entrance one after another. I noticed that the nuclear power plant wasn’t that different from normal ones, with a giant steel tower structure built beneath it, and our entry point had been through an old elevator.

I was descending regardless of what the others decided, because I knew that the entrance to the merfolk’s realm was down there, and I could definitely meet Dicken there.“We can’t keep heading down. Something must have happened to those beneath, and we’re calling it quits despite the handsome reward you’re offering,” David told Gary after some thought—he had always been smart, and understood that staying alive was most important after going through so much.“David, I’ll need you to deliver a letter for me.” I looked up at the mortal realm, but just as I was about to tell David about a letter addressed to my parents in my desk drawer, I suddenly remembered that the Seeker had been burnt down and my cabin with it. Chuckling bitterly, I instead said, “Uh, forget it—you guys should go back. I have to keep going.”“Why, Linda? Is it for the money? What would you need that for if you’re dead?” Luna abruptly yelled in agitation, and I could even hear her agitated breaths into her oxygen ma

I anxiously fumbled through the darkness for Dicken. Although my hands couldn’t reach anything, my feet were coiled even tighter. At the same time, wet breathing could be heard from the walkie-talkie, while electronic static was resonating over my eardrums—in this darkness, it sounded just like a witch’s curse.I began to feel nervous. After all, was there any assurance that the other Dicken wouldn’t remember my name? But if that was truly the case, I had no way of escaping given current circumstances. As such, why would I bother being nervous if there was nowhere to run?I actually felt less panicked when that thought crossed my mind. Perhaps the terror of falling down a bottomless abyss had suddenly pushed me over the edge, changing my perspective that it would be no worse dying here than being tortured by a corrupted Dicken. Just as all sorts of crazy ideas crossed my mind, a sudden power pushed against the airflow to reach my back. The feeling of webbed claws dancing over my

Dicken narrowed his eyes and pointed behind me, and I turned to see that he was pointing at the control room of the submarine. I could see through the massive and sturdy glass wall that there was a radiant blue opening, though there were countless mutated merfolk occupying it as well.The sight left me shuddering and exclaiming in shock, “What are you saying? That I have to go into the portal alone? What about you, Dicken? Why can’t you come with me?”“My corruption is too severe, and I’ll corrupt the Nest even if I could return to the home realm through the portal—destroying you and what remains of my people.” Dicken hung his head and grasped my hand which was still holding the scale, kissing it. My heart felt tickled as his breath sprayed over my skin, and my nose turned runny.Dicken must have suffered horrors when he was trapped in the portal, to the point that his originally robust body was completely corrupted. There was no way for him to control himself, and he had to endure