Chapter 54: IF-017-1 Part 7

Deputy Commander Long Weilan of IF-684’s special unit “Siegfried” frowned as she watched the ridiculous scene unfold before her.

The unexpectedly appeared IF-017 was harassing the shrunken IF-684 by wrapping it up in its tail.

It wasn’t that she disapproved of what she saw.

She was just… unsure.

‘From the voice, I was certain it was our damn little lizard brat.’

Weilan tapped her toe as she folded her arms, lost in thought.

‘Without a doubt, IF-684 had shown open hostility toward IF-017.’

‘Likewise, IF-017 had mercilessly torn IF-684 apart.’

‘A clear adversarial relationship.’

Yet the tiny creature dazedly wobbling around before Weilan looked surprisingly at peace with IF-017.

Even though just a moment ago she had burst into tears after getting her cheeks yanked on roughly.

Now, as if none of that had happened, she was giggling away.

Weilan recalled how the tiny thing had secretly dissolved debris to help them.

It was hard to imagine the embodiment of arrogance and rage that was IF-684 doing something like that behind their backs.

Besides, it didn’t even seem capable of speech.

‘Is it… not IF-684?’

If this was just some innocent unknown phenomenon that happened to sound like her, Weilan would feel a little bad.

She was deep in thought when—

***

Pitter-patter.

Light footsteps approached.

IF-017 let go of the creature it had wrapped in its tail and disappeared once again, piercing through the wall it had come from.

From the sound of wind slicing past her ears, Weilan figured it had gone up through the hole above.

The only one left was the small, ambiguous creature that had been hanging from IF-017’s tail.

It toddled over to Weilan with a plop plop plop.

Then it grabbed onto the hem of her pants and flapped its tiny arms.

“…?”

Weilan looked down at the creature’s sudden actions with suspicion.

‘Has it completely lost its mind?’

Well, if it came up to her first, it was just asking for it.

Without hesitation, Weilan bent down, grabbed her cheek, and yanked it upward.

The creature cried and flailed about.

“Croa!!”

Weilan met the creature’s eyes as it let out that unnecessarily loud noise.

And in those eyes—

She felt something.

Weilan furrowed her brows.

“What the hell?”

It was hard to interpret.

To Weilan, the language sounded tiny, faint, mumbled, and incomprehensible.

She wasn’t even sure it qualified as a real language.

Amazonian tribal speech might’ve been easier to understand.

Still—

She could tell the creature was trying to communicate.

“Are you… talking?”

The creature nodded enthusiastically.

Every time it nodded, its stretched-out cheeks pulled even further, tears brimming in its eyes, but it didn’t stop.

That’s when—

Weilan realized she was still holding the poor thing’s cheeks.

“Ah.”

She let go.

Freed at last, the creature gleefully began tugging at Weilan’s pants, trying to lead her somewhere.

Its strength was pathetically weak, but Weilan followed without complaint.

And at the end of the path—

Weilan stood before a space distorted like a prism.

She picked up a rusted steel bar and jabbed it into the distorted space, wiggling it around.

The bar remained intact.

Weilan had a rough idea of what it was, so she tossed the bar aside.

“A wormhole.”

It seemed the creature had wanted to show her this.

“Where does it lead?”

Instead of answering, the creature jumped right into the wormhole.

“Croala!”

Its face popped back out, locking eyes with Weilan.

It was almost like it was saying, “See? It’s totally safe! You can come in too!”

Weilan chuckled.

All it did was look at her, and yet she imagined such a ridiculous thought.

She glanced down at her inorganic hand and muttered, “Psychic contamination?”

***

Whirrrr—

Her mechanical arm pulsed delicately and released steam.

“Yeah, no. That would’ve shown up.”

She shrugged and moved closer to the wormhole.

‘Was it really okay to go in?’

Her intuition—which had never betrayed her before—told her it was safe.

The only problem was… it was a completely baseless intuition.

Her mind grew cluttered with doubt.

‘Was this creature trustworthy?’ Would she get dissolved the moment she entered, leaving only an arm behind?

As all these thoughts crossed her mind, one last image surfaced—

That silly expression the creature made when their eyes met and it flinched in panic.

“…If that was acting, I guess I won’t be too bitter about dying.”

Taking a leap of faith, Weilan stepped into the wormhole.

***

Step, step.

The scenery twisted and swirled like a kaleidoscope.

Weilan walked straight ahead without hesitation.

Soon enough—

A breath of fresh air from the exit touched her skin.

It was nothing like the stale air from 500 meters underground.

After confirming where the wormhole led, Weilan turned around and headed back toward the entrance she came from.

It didn’t take long.

Peeking her head out from the entrance, she called out loudly, “It’s safe! It connects to the upper floors. Everyone, follow me!”

She heard murmuring from her squad, but Weilan didn’t look back and continued forward.

Because—

She thought she saw something odd on the other side of the exit earlier.

***

Step, step.

A moment later, Weilan stepped out of the exit.

The breeze felt especially refreshing after being cooped up underground for so long.

But everything else—

Was terribly, terribly wrong.

“…”

Weilan stood frozen, staring around with a dumbfounded expression.

A top-class unknown phenomenon—an actual dragon—was wandering around freely with no restraint.

“Gyaoo.”

Giselle was fast asleep in a pile of rubble, covered in dust and muttering in her sleep.

“Hehe… warm again…”

A researcher was getting slapped repeatedly by some unidentifiable humanoid phenomenon.

“Ow! Hey! You hugged me earlier! Why are you rejecting me now?!”

And a Tsuchinoko had gotten itself wedged upside down between some rocks, squirming helplessly.

“Kuuueeeng.”

With the finishing touch, in the space between them, only the skeletal remains of the lean, desolate bones of the beast remained.

As Weilan carefully took in the sight of each of them, she couldn’t help but sigh.

The anger inside her boiled over.

“FPL is a mess…”

I’m certain that if I mixed with them now, I’d end up mentally corrupted too.

A sudden, sharp headache hit.

Weilan smacked her forehead.

‘Oh great, ancient being.’

‘Hmm, Mna’.

‘Why are you calling me when I’m resting?’

‘Do you know what the new followers of yours are calling your lake?’

‘A riddle?’

‘Well… I don’t really know.’

‘Mna.’

‘Hm?’

‘Even when I correct them, they still mistakenly believe that your lake belongs to me. In reality, everyone simply settles down there without your permission.’

‘I see.’

‘Mna… I think it’s a beautiful name.’

‘… Aren’t you bothered by it? Names carry power.’

‘Hmm, names do carry power.’

‘If I name it Mna, it feels like Mna will stay by my side forever.’

‘No. It doesn’t make sense for Mna not to be in Mna Ho.’

So, Mna must always stay.

‘This is a command from a god to a follower. Got it?’

‘Mna.’

‘Why aren’t you answering?’

‘… I’ll try, my lord.’

‘There’s nothing to try.’

Mna is the most capable and greatest human, so this should be a breeze for you.

‘Oh great, ancient being.’

‘Hm?’

‘Humans… they are not like you. They cannot be eternal.’

‘Is that so?’

Even Mna can’t do everything.

‘That’s surprising.’

‘Huh.’

‘Mna, why are you crying?’

‘Ah, great ancient being… you, at times, are just like a child…’

‘Mna?’

‘Wait a moment.’

I still have many things I want to say.

‘Why is everything becoming blurry so soon?’

‘Ah.’

‘I see.’

‘I guess, reminiscing should be done lying down.’

“Kyahh…”

‘I knew it.’

Mna is gone, but I had expected that.

But now that Mna is gone, everything Mna left for me, the small city by the lake, will remain there.

I have to return to Mna.

***

“Kyahh.”

I slowly opened my eyes.

“Hehehe, as expected, the original Lulu is the best, even when hugged!”

Somehow, Kang Hana had embraced me.

“Kyahh…?!”

‘What’s this?’

‘I didn’t notice at all when this happened.’

I immediately pushed Kang Hana away.

“Hmph…”

Stiff.

I escaped from Kang Hana’s embrace and looked around.

‘Rescue. Thanks. Name. What?’

‘My name is… sorry, I can’t remember…’

‘Fire serpent. Confirmed.’

‘What? Don’t call me fire serpent, nooo!’

‘Pffhaha, they called you a fire serpent! Ugh, wait. If you’re a fire serpent… could you be that awkward guy?’

‘That awkward guy… yep, you can call me that…’

‘Hoek…!! No, you’ll burn to death!’

‘What? Flames. None. You fool.’

The so-called descendants who were playing around.

They were quite enjoyable to watch, so I simply nodded as I observed the little ones running around.

“Are you going to get up now?”

“Ah, it’s warm…”

“You damn idiot, where are you clinging to?!”

And of course, there were Jizel and Ppaltuk.

‘Why are they over there?’

I tilted my head.

I guess it doesn’t matter if I’m going back to the lake, but I wonder what that Ppaltuk’s name is.

Then, Kwangcheol, who had been struggling with the plump snake and Nessho, overheard my muttering and responded.

‘That human child’s name is Long Weilan!’

I see.

That’s good knowledge.

“Kyahh…”

I looked up at the sky.

Beyond dozens of layers of ceilings, clouds, and the sun.

Beyond the clouds and the sun, finally, the beautiful Milky Way.

Yeah.

***

Waking up from discomfort, resting in Kang Hana’s embrace, saving the plump snake.

Punishing Kwangcheol, and then the plump snake bringing Nessho.

Sending those irritating humans away.

There were still many things I didn’t understand, but after all, it had only been less than a month.

Compared to the time I’ve lived, these were nothing but brief happenings.

Once I go to the lake and rest for a long time, it will all be forgotten in an instant.

Once I’m satisfied and get up, some of them will have already long passed away, won’t they?

Thinking that way, it felt somewhat regrettable.

But it couldn’t be helped.

I’m still so tired that even after a thousand years of rest, I wouldn’t feel refreshed.

I’m still so hungry that even if I devour stars, my stomach won’t be full.

These are all things that can’t be solved without the lake.

I’m so desperate for it.

I can’t waste any time; I must return.

I sent a mental message to Nessho, calling it over.

‘Ugh? Why are you calling me again, ancestor?’

They said that you can only open a passage to a place you know the location of.

The lake’s location.

I’ll tell you, so open that passage.

‘But, unless I can vividly picture it in my mind… it’s difficult to open…’

Nessho hesitated, but there was a way.

I fiddled with my horn that had turned clear like crystal.

A god shouldn’t deal with such trivial matters, but… whatever.

The god mode is over.

To vividly convey the lake’s image to Nessho, I extended myself a little more from within my body.

Srrrk, srrrk.

An itchy sensation spread as scales began to grow on my body.

‘Wow, Armor Lulu! You’re so charismatic, and even more than that, you’re so cute!’

I heard Kang Hana’s mental voice, but I didn’t care much.

I had to focus.

The location of the lake, and any extra information would only be poison.

‘Kk…!’

As I sent my will directly, Nessho clutched its head and flapped its wings.

‘Do you understand now?’

I asked through my mental message.

‘Ugh, is this a city? I’ve never seen anything like this before!’

Nessho’s eyes lit up, but I shook my head.

That’s just an illusion, hurry up and open the passage.

My message calmed Nessho down, and it nodded.

‘Alright, I’m going!’

Woah woah woah.

The sound of the passage opening was something I’d heard once or twice before.

Once I return to the lake, I’ll bring Kang Hana and the descendants to lie down and rest.

Hehe.

I’m excited to test out its capabilities.

‘000…!’

But… it’s taking a while.

Unable to hold back my frustration, I asked.

‘… Ancestor, it’s not opening. Did you tell me the right location?’

‘What does that mean?’

‘If you saw it, you’d know it’s the right place, wouldn’t you?’

After I declared this confidently, Nessho stopped trying to open the passage.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Ancestor? The entrance of the passage opens, but there’s no exit. Do you know what that means?’

‘What does that mean?’

I asked, and Nessho looked at me with innocent eyes and replied.

‘It means that such a place doesn’t exist in this world!’

‘What?’

‘What is this supposed to mean?’

“Kyahh?”