chapter_0487

487 – Anni···!

487 – Anni···!

“That’s a humpback whale.”

Splash-!

The humpback whale leaped out of the sea and crashed back down, creating a massive water explosion.

Having seen giant monsters like death worms and krakens multiple times, the awe that animals evoke is on a different level altogether.

“Wow.”

“Look at that!”

Everyone in the playground gaped in wonder at the marvels of nature.

Except for one boy.

“Ugh, ah!”

The humpback whale, faintly visible beneath the water, was swimming towards us, cutting through the waves.

The terrified boy struggled to climb onto the float, but in his panic, he couldn’t get out of the water.

I understood well the fear of being in the same space as a giant creature.

“Help, help me!”

“Grab Levinas’s hand!”

To my surprise, Levinas reached out and took the boy’s hand.

And in that moment, I could see it.

Only the sea on the side of the whale was rising high.

“Huh?”

The humpback whale approached us, riding the tsunami-like waves.

Around the whale, relatively smaller dolphins were swimming.

‘This feels artificial.’

Why are there so many whales gathering here?

Could it be that Sophia…

“Look, a mermaid!”

“It must be the Little Mermaid.”

I turned to the side at the children’s awed voices and the sound of someone splashing.

Next to me, Marin, transformed into a mermaid, was waving at us.

“Marin, did you bring the whale?”

“Yes. Sophia said she would show us a shark too.”

“Wow.”

Thanks to the high waves, we could see the enormous humpback whale and dolphins up close.

The children at the sea park, along with their guardians and park staff, were all mesmerized by the whale.

There were many attractions in the park, but nothing compared to the mystery of the whale.

“Did you see?! There really are giant fish big enough to eat people!”

“Uh, yeah…”

“Levinas doesn’t lie!”

Levinas puffed out his chest, pointing at the humpback whale.

At that moment, Bomi clung to Levinas’s side.

“Levinas, I don’t think whales are fish.”

“Huh? Why wouldn’t they be fish?”

“Well? I don’t know the reason either.”

“Huh?”

While Levinas was puzzled, Gaeul jumped towards the sea.

Gaeul swam towards the humpback whale and crawled up onto its back.

“Chuin, iguba!”

Sitting on the whale’s back, Gaeul waved her arms up and down, laughing gleefully.

It seemed everyone had the instinct to ride on a giant animal.

“That’s amazing. Is Gaeul controlling the whale?”

Gaeul, momentarily dazed by my question, pointed at the sea with her finger.

Then, in her own cool voice, she shouted towards the whale.

“Chupba!”

“Beep beep.”

The humpback whale emitted its characteristic ultrasonic sound and began to move in response to Gaeul’s signal.

As it turned back on its path, Gaeul, riding on the whale’s back, began to drift further away.

“Gaeul, where are you going?”

“Huh?”

Gaeul, sitting on the whale’s back, was getting smaller and smaller.

“…”

When Gaeul had shrunk to the size of a finger, Levinas knelt down in despair.

“Gaeul the puppy has gone to the Dragon Palace… to take the Horned Rabbit’s liver…”

Oh no.

At that moment, as Levinas cried out, something unexpected happened.

Gaeul, who had been riding the whale, jumped into the sea, perhaps not wanting to drift away any further.

Splash-!

Gaeul was swimming back towards us with a dog paddle.

“Ugh…”

Though slow, Gaeul was steadily getting closer, but behind her, a massive creature was closing in.

A fin jutted sharply out of the water.

Just from the size of the fin, it was clear it was a gigantic shark.

“Shark!”

“Ah! Gaeul the puppy, come back quickly! Hurry!”

As the shark chased after Gaeul, the children began to stomp their feet in panic.

The only relief was that the shark was moving at a leisurely pace.

Of course, even so, the distance between it and Gaeul was gradually closing.

“Hurry! Faster! Go faster!”

Thump thump thump-

Levinas, who had been stomping on the tube in fear, suddenly clenched his fists as if he had made a decision.

“Yah!”

With a tense expression, Levinas stepped back and then dashed towards the sea with the swift speed characteristic of a Horned Rabbit.

He threw himself into the water to save Gaeul.

“I’m going too!”

Bomi jumped into the sea after Levinas.

Saebyeok followed suit, but there was no sense of urgency.

Thanks to knowing the identity of the shark.

‘Sophia’s.’

The one who appeared with the giant shark.

That was none other than Sophia.

**

“Phew, I thought Gaeul the puppy was going to be eaten by the shark.”

“Ugh…”

The shark that Sophia brought was none other than a great white shark.

The appearance of the massive shark left the people in the park terrified yet fascinated.

They seemed to understand to some extent that it had been tamed by the Beastmen’s abilities.

“Subin, look at the shark’s teeth.”

“Sharks are scary.”

“Oh my, I’ve never seen such a big shark up close before.”

The reactions of those who saw the shark mirrored my own.

I cautiously observed the shark, then turned at the sound of splashing.

“Levinas was really cool. He jumped into the sea to save Gaeul.”

“Yeah! Levinas always rushes in when his family is in danger!”

“Wow.”

Levinas is really amazing.

Feeling proud, I hugged Levinas tightly.

Then, the boy who had played a prank on us approached Levinas.

“Uh, um, I’m sorry, I really didn’t think there would be a whale and a shark…”

“It’s okay!”

Ahem.

The broad-minded Levinas forgave the boy, and we played together in the sea park playground.

I stepped away for a moment and approached Sophia.

“Sophia, thank you for showing us the amazing shark. It’s my first time seeing such a big shark in my life.”

“Yeah, it was worth the effort.”

“Worth the effort?”

“Because there aren’t any great whites living around here.”

“Oh…”

She must have gone out to the deep sea to show us the shark.

I hugged Sophia tightly, grateful for her efforts.

This might not be enough to repay her for her troubles…

“Thanks to you, I feel energized.”

…No, perhaps it might be enough.

**

After playing in the park, we headed towards the shower room.

It was a makeshift shower where we could wash off the salt without taking off our clothes.

As I turned on the shower to rinse off the seawater, Gaeul rushed over to me, looking anxious.

“Ju-in! Ju-in!”

“Huh?”

Lick-

Gaeul came close and licked my cheek.

It seemed she wanted to lick the salt off my cheek before washing.

“What does it taste like?”

“Beef?”

“Oh, I see.”

Why does our cheek taste like beef?

I pondered this as I finished showering.

We then wandered around the neighborhood with our wet bodies.

“Everyone, let’s go this way!”

“Okay.”

Levinas, now the leader of the alley, was walking around the unfamiliar neighborhood with a stick in hand.

With Master accompanying us, we bravely entered the dark alleys.

“This way this time!”

“Wait a minute, guys.”

As we were about to enter a new alley with the children, Bomi called out to us from behind.

Bomi was pointing at an old, worn-out movie theater.

“They’re showing cartoons here. It’s a robot cartoon, but it looks kind of weird.”

The cartoon they were showing at the theater was a bit different from the animations we usually watched.

It had a blurry, old-fashioned art style.

“A retro screening room…? They say they’re showing old cartoons as an event…?”

“Old?! How old?”

“About… fifty years?”

“Fifty years?!”

Levinas’s eyes sparkled.

Levinas, who loves animation, dashed straight into the theater.

“How much is a ticket for the robot cartoon?”

“Huh?”

The ticket booth staff, surprised to see us, handed over the tickets, and we bought some snacks at the food corner.

As we entered the theater, the screen was slightly smaller than what I was used to.

‘The interior feels old-fashioned too.’

Did they intentionally make it this way to evoke nostalgia?

Looking around the theater, I noticed that there were more adults than children.

“It’s starting!”

“Okay. But do we have to be quiet when the movie starts?”

“Yeah…!”

The lights in the theater went out, and the long-awaited cartoon from fifty years ago began to play.

The art style, not digitally processed, and the unique charm of the old voice actors made it quite enjoyable.

Of course, it seemed the other kids didn’t think so.

“What is this? It’s boring.”

“This is so lame.”

The kids sitting right next to us voiced their complaints.

As the complaints continued, it got noisy, and a woman sitting in front turned around to give a warning.

“Hey, can you kids be quiet?”

The woman’s warning was directed at Gaeul, who had been watching the movie without saying a word.

It seemed she thought Gaeul was part of the group of noisy kids.

“This is such an old robot.”

“I can’t watch old cartoons; they’re too childish.”

The kids seemed bored with the cartoon and kept voicing their dissatisfaction.

As the noise from the kids continued, the woman sitting in front sighed heavily while looking back at Gaeul.

“Annie…!”

Gaeul, looking quite wronged, shook her finger and pointed at the front.

She seemed to have a lot to say, but unfortunately, our Gaeul wasn’t very good at speaking.

Of course, it was also true that one shouldn’t talk in a movie theater.

A word from the author (Author’s Note)

Thank you so much for reading today!

And thank you for the comments and recommendations! They always give me strength!

Gaeul, feeling wronged but unable to express herself…

───

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