"Damn, I'm late form work." I jolted awake as I realized I had work today. But to my surprise, the air was dense and foggy—the kind that compels you to remain indoors.
"Where am I?" I shouted into the void, fear gripping my heart.
I had no idea how I ended up here—or why. As my vision adjusted, I realized I was on a small boat.
"Is this some kind of isekai? But Truck-kun never hit me. Damn, who brought me here? And why is there only a sword in my boat?"
After yelling with no response, I gradually composed myself as the reality settled in.
"I'm the only person here."
My grip tightened around the small sword. Trembling, I took a breath, steadying myself.
"Fuck, that scared me." While attempting to calm down and as the boat remained silent, suddenly the sea rippled. A faint wave of sound struck my mind. Adrenaline surged through my body, and I instinctively assumed a defensive stance, pointing the sword toward the disturbance.
"Who are you?" I shouted immediately.
"I'm Seaking," the voice replied.
"I dwell in the sea," it repeated—this time colder, yet lonely.
"What do you mean, you dwell in the sea?" I asked skeptically, trying not to sound submissive.
Then—"hihihi."
While waiting for a reply, I heard a familiar yet distant laugh behind me. I spun around—but nothing was there.
A bead of sweat trickled down my temple.
"What the hell is happening?" I muttered, breath hitching as I wiped my forehead profusely.
"hihihi."
The laugh came again, closer now—right behind me.
I resisted looking. My instincts screamed not to.
Sweat gathering on my brow, I turned my head slowly, trying to glance back.
"hihihi."
The laugh echoed again, filling the silence.
Sweat dripping down my head…
"You'll die if you look back," a voice inside my head warned just before I could turn.
The words froze me in place.
While rooted to the spot, another laugh came from my right.
Different from the one behind me—darker, crueler.
Looking down at the water by my side, I glimpsed the inspector behind me.
It was an entity I'd never seen—tall, with numerous tentacles sprouting from its head.
My stomach churned violently.
The creature stared into the water, and our eyes met.
For seconds that felt like lifetimes.
As the inspector glanced at my eyes, it quickly turned to its other side, causing the tentacles on its head to stiffen like lightning struck them—as if gesturing and communicating with other inspectors.
The inspector on my right laughed more menacingly, advancing toward me as water splashed around.
My instincts screamed—I knew I'd die if I didn't act.
"I have never seen a human and never thought they existed, as they were only legends I read about in books, but one stands before me today," the inspector on my right said in a robotic yet unfamiliar tongue.
I don't know how I understood the language, but in that moment, I did.
"What do we do with him?" the inspector behind me added looking nervously—down on water.
"Wrrrrr… don't let him touch the water," the inspector on my right growled, a weird noise as several silhouettes emerged, encircling my surroundings. As he was their leader.
I remained frozen.
I didn't even know how I'd stayed paralyzed so long—was it fear?
As I heard the command not to let me touch the water, I realized—the water was my only escape.
A silhouette lunged to grab me, but an invisible force repelled him.
Even I was shocked—as was he.
The quiet voice in my head finally spoke.
"Look down," it said.
Confused, still frozen, I couldn't respond.
"You can speak to me telepathically," the voice added.
"What? Hello? Can you hear me?" I asked suspiciously in my mind.
The silhouettes closed in, eyeing me—and whatever shielded me—with suspicion.
"Yeah, I hear you. No need to be nervous. I'll explain everything once we get out of here. Look down—the sword you hold, that's me. I'm currently weak and cannot defeat intermediate or higher survivors, but I can create a pocket of air so you can breathe underwater. First, we need the essence of one of these rookie survivors. Can you kill one?" the voice said.
I was overwhelmed with the information, unsure how to respond, still processing.
"Can you do it? We're running out of time," the voice urged.
"Who's intermediate or rookie? I don't know which is which. What if I run into one thinking he's weak?" I said, contemplating the risk.
The voice was silent for a moment before responding,
"The one on your right is intermediate. I doubt you've seen his face, but he's the one giving orders. The one behind you is rookie, but I doubt you're capable of killing him now."
The voice lingered in my mind as I absorbed this.
A moment ago, I was lying in bed; now I was in this surreal nightmare.
"Maybe I'm dreaming—"No, you aren't. Stop wasting time or you'll die," the voice interrupted sharply.
"Let's be logical, you bastard sword. We're surrounded, you're weak, and you want me to kill one survivor? I don't know what they survived, but they're experienced and could kill me instantly. And since they're cautious and not attacking, maybe I'm valuable to them," I thought furiously.
"Hearing their conversation earlier, they're vulnerable to water, right? You said you can create air, so your plan is to escape underwater?" I added, questioning the sword.
"How... how did you understand their conversation?" the voice asked, surprised.
"What? I didn't understand; I just deduced their actions and your plan,"I admitted, shocked.
At first, I thought the sword gave me that ability, but hearing the confusion, I realized something was wrong with me—and it might be dangerous to expose it yet.
"By the way, how much of my thoughts can you hear?" I asked.
"In my current state, only once a day, and I already used it. Why?" the sword replied, demanding.
"What do you mean why? It's creepy, you bastard."
TBC...
Warning: ⚠️
This is my very first story, and English is not my first language. I'm still learning and practicing, so the story may lack depth and polish. You might find some rough spots or feel a bit unsatisfied. I've used AI to help fix grammar and English, but it's far from perfect.
If you choose to read it anyway, thank you sincerely — I hope you enjoy the journey!