[Continue.]

From that point on, the mid-layer began bringing deep-sea creatures in a bizarre way.

Like a cow regurgitating cud, its body writhed, and from what could only be called a mouth, it spat out all kinds of grotesque deep-sea creatures.

[Ah, ugh, uh. Eh……]

"Fuck.”

I lost track of how many times it repeated.

Without even knowing how this was supposed to help, I crushed something like a sea saniul covered in barnacles, oozing thick liquid.

-Crunch...!!

At least in this endless battle, I’d started to notice something like weakness in certain species. So I immediately shattered its shell.

It was the right choice. The tentacles that burst out of the broken shell only managed to wrap weakly around my right arm before the body, already destroyed, collapsed into a fish ball.

The fight ended the moment it appeared, but the mid-layer had no intention of stopping.

[...]

"Don’t tell me I have to keep doing this?"

No matter how much I complained, the mid-layer simply watched. Or pretended to while searching for more creatures.

During the brief silence, I peeled off the tentacle that had barely managed to latch onto my arm and frowned.

A sharp pain ran through it. When I tore it off, I saw a purple stinger attached.

'This is getting dangerous…'

My sense of time was wrapped, but the fatigue in my body wasn’t.

On top of that, my whole body was already being crushed by pressure.

If this still wasn’t enough to satisfy the mid-layer—if I still lacked the ‘qualification,’ then pushing further would more likely get me killed pointlessly.

If there was another option—

It would be to go straight for the main body.

'Can I somehow force my way through?’

The mid-layer remained completely silent. It almost looked careless.

If it disappeared, maybe a path would open. Of course, that was close to impossible. But if it kept throwing deep-sea creatures at me without letting me descend, the end result would be the same. Death.

Just as I was considering that possibility, it finally spoke.

[It’s not sufficient, but it cannot be helped…]

It released something like a sigh, a stream of bubbles rising up, and slowly began to shrink.

"Can I take that as you letting me pass?”

[As long as your life is tied to the stability of my existence, I cannot do that.]

"?”

Was this thing insane?

I started drawing up currents, thinking I might have to clash with it, when it once again pulled something up from within itself.

-Gurgle...!

[Take this...]

"...What is this?”

I had tensed, thinking it might be another deep-sea creature, but instead, several tiny lifeforms popped out. Creatures so small they didn’t even seem capable of using currents.

They weren’t monsters but just a clump of jellyfish. And even those were slightly smaller than normal jellyfish.

They drifted aimlessly without any will and then slowly approached me. They didn’t move on their own, but because the mid-layer dragged them with currents and rubbed them against my body.

A sharp, stinging sensation made me frown as I twisted away.

"What are you doing?”

[This will allow you to endure longer below.]

After smearing the jellyfish over me, the mid-layer pulled me in with currents.

[Remember this.]

Then it produced a glowing anglerfish lure from within itself and handed it to me as it spoke slowly.

[Whatever you seek below, you will not obtain it. Your expectations and hopes will end in realizing you sought the wrong thing.]

"Thanks for the advice, but I’ll handle my own business."

I frowned at the sudden ominous warning but didn’t resist its currents. I didn’t know why it had changed its attitude, but it seemed like it had stopped trying to torture me and was now actually going to send me down.

[Listen until the end. Before you die, let it go. If you do, you will realize where you truly need to go. I will be waiting.]

"...What?"

[And remember this. You are still unqualified…]

After spouting incomprehensible nonsense to the very end, it suddenly vanished.

It wasn’t just that it stopped speaking, but the seawater that formed it simply evaporated, leaving nothing behind.

Wait, how the hell was I supposed to go down, though? Annoyed, I kicked the ground, after which my foot sank straight through.

Startled, I rubbed the area and realized a small, circular passage had formed inside the mid-layer.

Just large enough for me alone. Understanding its intent, I calmed myself and prepared to jump in.

[Jern.]

Malo, who had been silent even during all the fighting, suddenly spoke hesitantly.

Since it was impossible to fight without getting injured, it must have had enough of my blood to stay awake for some time. Its tone was unusually serious, so I tilted my head.

"You’re still awake? What is it?”

[That, I don’t know what it is, but I think what it said is probably true. You shouldn’t go in right now.]

"What are you talking about? Are you going to give me stupid riddles as well now?”

I was already tired of the way the deep-sea creatures spouted cryptic nonsense only they could understand.

My tone sharpened slightly, to which Malo hesitantly explained.

[I-I don’t understand what it was saying either. Honestly, I can’t even see or feel it.

"Ah..."

That made sense.

Malo wasn’t a deep-sea creature. It could only see faintly in this pitch-black abyss. It couldn’t perceive the mid-layer’s form at all.

It continued, still greatly uneasy.

[The thing I can see most clearly right now is you. You’re changing.]

"Yeah. I’m turning into a deep-sea creature, right?”

[No…at first I thought that too, but now I don’t think that’s it.]

"?"

What was it saying?

[You’re not adapting to the Abyssal Sea to become like those creatures. If that were the case, you’d be becoming similar to them. But you're…adapting to something else. That is probably what it meant by ‘qualification.’]

"I seriously don’t get what you’re saying. If this is the Abyssal Sea, what else is there to adapt to besides the Abyssal Sea?”

[Hmm, maybe…]

Malo muttered that as it looked down into the passage.

[...another world...?]

"?"

[No, I don’t know… In the end, it’s your choice.]

With that, Malo let out a sigh and fell silent.

I didn’t fully understand, but one thing was clear.

It was my decision.

And honestly, it wasn’t a hard one.

"I can’t just stay here forever.”

That reaching the very bottom would reveal a way out was the only thing I had left to believe in.

I shrugged and threw myself into the passage.

*t*t*

—Cold. Freezing.

That was the closest way to describe the sensation.

"Hmm..."

I stayed still, shivering slightly as I felt the cold for the first time in a while.

It was unpleasant. But the more important thing—the crushing pressure that had always threatened me—

'This is surprisingly manageable, right?'

It was weaker, no, far weaker than I expected.

The pressure the mid-layer exerted on me had been dozens of times stronger.

And more than that, my Tide Sense and current control were still working. No matter where I checked, aside from the clod, this palace wasn’t much different from the normal Abyssal Sea.

Calling anything here ‘normal’ was kind of ridiculous though. But as I scanned the surroundings, I noticed something else.

"I’m alone."

Silence.

Up above there had at least been life, even though they were hostile predators.

Here, there wasn’t even a single deep-sea creature. Not one. Not even a bubble rising through the water. It was complete emptiness. I had half-expected something like that giant octopus to be lying in wait to kill me, so after standing still for a few minutes, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Hey, Malo. What do you think?”

[...]

I tried talking to Malo, who had seemed quite worried before.

No answer came back. Even after waiting for quite some time.

At first, I thought it might be scared, but then I realized that Malo was completely asleep. I slightly cut my finger with a current and smeared blood onto the robe.

"We’re here. Wake up.”

[...]

But no matter how much blood I fed it, and no matter how long I waited, it didn’t wake up.

If anything, I started to feel like a lunatic, talking to a robe and feeding it blood.

Did it die somehow? A flicker of concern rose within me, but I wasn’t exactly in a position to worry about anyone else.

'I need to stay sharp.’

It might look peaceful, but this was the very bottom of the Abyssal Sea.

It was most likely a place filled with beings that wanted me dead as well.

If those things noticed me, I probably wouldn’t last even a second.

So that meant I hadn’t been detected yet, but that, in itself, didn’t make sense.

Even when I was up there, they noticed me. So why not now?

'Well, I’ll take it.’

THis safe moment wasn’t going to last forever, so I needed to make the most of it.

And what I had to do was obvious.

The bottom.

Heavenly balance told me to reach the very bottom. This place could be called that, sure, but if this was the Abyssal Sea, then there had to be another bottom beneath it.

Without hesitation, I dove downward.

For a long time.

10 minutes.

30 minutes.

3 hours.

And then—3 days.

"What the hell—?”

At some point, I stopped swimming and stared upward in disbelief.

I didn’t know the exact time. But I had been swimming downward for nearly three days straight.

At least that was what it felt like. Maybe it had been 30 days or just 3 hours…

...?

I frowned and pressed my forehead. Something was wrong.

It felt like I had just started descending and, at the same time, like I had been descending for an entire month. Those sensations kept overlapping as if something in my mind had broken.

Nothing had changed. There was still nothing in these depths.

For now, I should probably go back up, leave some kind of marker, and stretch out a thread to secure a path.

I had assumed I’d reach the bottom quickly just because this place seemed to be the deepest layer, but if I had known it was this deep… Thinking that, I turned to go back up and suddenly froze.

"...Which way is up?”

I couldn’t tell the difference between up and down.

Only then did I fully grasp the situation I was in. Clenching my teeth, I let out a bitter sigh.

"At my age…”

I—

was completely lost in the Abyssal Sea.