The Diver I
Breaking news. Ha-yul was sulking.
“......”
The reason was simple. I had gone to the Uyuni Salt Flats, which was at the top of Ha-yul’s bucket list (nine pages long on A4 paper), without her. She was, of course, furious, and when this kid expressed her anger, it was in the most childish way possible. She decided, I won’t just stop talking to you. I’ve also decided not to hear you.
“Ha-yul.”
She turned her head to the left.
“Ha-yul. I’m really sorry.”
She turned her head to the right.
No matter how much I tried to make eye contact, she kept turning her head. It was as if her head-turning skills were on par with an Olympic synchronized swimr’s legs, our gazes always in perfect parallel.
‘Ah.’
I had expected this. That was why when Ha-yul asked, “Oppa, where are you going?” before I left for Uyuni, I vaguely replied, “Uh? Oh. Just sowhere nice.”
I had planned to be back in a week at most. Normally, Ha-yul, who treated others with disdain like Ch’oe Yŏng, wouldn’t have cared about a week-long disappearance.[1] But as revealed in the last story, I was scamd by an airline.
What was ant to be a week away ended up being stretched to three months. The trip’s content also changed. The original plan was to enjoy the Uyuni Salt Flats for two days, but the remaining 87 days turned into a hands-on field trip called, “How did Homo sapiens cross the Pacific Ocean to reach the Hawaiian Islands? Let’s find out!”
There was no one to complain to. Like humans, anomalies had a particularly narrow understanding of concepts like “refunds,” “fair compensation,” and “well-written apologies.” The victims were always innocent custors like .
“Go to hell…”
“Oppa, so where have you been?”
After surviving a grueling ordeal to return to the Korean Peninsula, I was greeted only by Do-hwa’s chokehold and Ha-yul’s cold stare. An explanation was unavoidable.
Hence, the current situation. The world wasn’t a dating sim where once you maxed out favorability, it stayed there. Upon realizing I had gone to Uyuni without her, Ha-yul set about readjusting her favorability.
“Ha-yul? Won’t you talk to ?”
Ha-yul ignored and declared, “Sothing slls funny. I keep slling an old man’s stench.”
My sensitive, middle-aged heart was shocked to its core. I almost had a heart attack.
‘Is this how a father feels when facing a rebellious child?!’
As a regressor, I never thought I’d experience such emotions, but here I was. Barely able to get the words out, I croaked, “…Let’s go to the Uyuni Salt Flats together next ti.”
Ha-yul turned her head.
It was the first ti in three days that our eyes t. The jaw of the maid puppet Ha-yul always carried suddenly relaxed.
“Next ti? When?”
“After sumr ends. This fall.”
“Really?”
“Really. Let’s also visit Machu Picchu and Tenochtitlan for an all-Arican special excursion.”
“Oppa, I love you!” A fake love wrapped around my shoulders. I shivered with sha.
“…But you have to help with the preparations for the great monsoon without any complaints. Follow the guild leader’s instructions. Got it?”
“Okay!”
My body was already having a fit at the thought of another trip, but there was no other option. To survive the annually recurring disaster event, Ha-yul’s help was crucial. This event was called the ‘monsoon.’
Yes.
If you live on the Korean Peninsula, the monsoon is a season of fear and horror at the subconscious level. The big sumr event was approaching.
So of you might have noticed that I rarely ntion the ‘weather’ in my stories, and those who did have sharp eyes. In reality, the Earth was experiencing a weather-born apocalypse even before the birth of anomalies. The polar bears crying upon their drifting on ice floes from the Arctic every year were proof of this.
The Climate Apocalypse.
By definition, the hypothesis that the world might end due to climate change. It was a grave thing to consider, even without anomalies, but the anomalies took it a step further.
- The weather in Daegu is insane. How can it be 42 degrees in sumr? Is this a desert or a city?
- Maybe it’s always been a desert.
- What the?
Daegu had turned into a desert.
No exaggeration, it was literally desertifying.
It wasn’t just Daegu. The Gaema Plateau in North Korea had beco a paradise for polar bears migrating from Siberia. Tigers, revived as anomalies nad ‘Mountain Lords’ in the Baekdu Mountain range, faced fierce competition. But the Korean Peninsula had it easy compared to its neighbors. In Japan, “earthquakes” visited every season. These weren’t just any old quakes either, but massive ones like the Tokai earthquake that ca accompanied with all kinds of related anomalies. It was also why I respected the magical girls of Japan.
Given the situation, the regions habitable by humanity were extrely limited. In a way, ‘climate anomalies’ were the greatest threat to Homo sapien survival. So, what was the climate specialty of Busan, the new capital and last utopia of the Korean Peninsula?
“The monsoon is coming.”
“......”
“......”
Tension filled the air of the conference room. The few gathered in the heart of the National Road Managent HQ were indeed the heart of Busan—if not the entire Korean Peninsula. Noh Do-hwa, head of the National Road Managent; Yu Ji-won, Operations Control Director; Dang Seo-rin, Guild Alliance leader; Seo Gyu, SG Net operator; and Sim Ah-ryeon, Saintess of the Eastern Holy State were all present.
“This monsoon is going to be record-breaking,” I warned. “If we’re not thoroughly prepared, the entire Korean Peninsula could vanish during the season.”
“Isn’t it always ‘record-breaking?’ What’s different this ti?”
“I saw it first hand while crossing the Pacific. Super typhoons are forming in the western North Pacific.”
Dang Seo-rin shuddered, hands trembling as her face darkened. The recent trip had traumatized both of us.
“Look at this.”
I opened a PowerPoint presentation. Despite crossing the Pacific on a makeshift raft, I managed to take pictures with a spirit cara. The current monsoon status showed a ‘typhoon’ in the photo.
Noh Do-hwa grimaced at the sight. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s a typhoon.”
“Fuck. That’s not just wind, it’s a waterspout. You call that a typhoon?”
“Don’t expect logic from anomalies.”
Indeed, the typhoon that ford this sumr was 1,200 kiloters in diater and composed entirely of ‘water.’ Whoever called water the mother of life would rethink that if they saw this typhoon. Water can kill.
“Other regions can manage with their usual preparations, but Busan is different. If that typhoon hits us directly, the city will beco the new Atlantis. We need a plan.”
“Let’s evacuate…”
A shocking proposal! The head of National Road Managent suggested abandoning the capital. Noh Do-hwa seed to have succumbed to the anomaly ‘Capitals are ant to be abandoned’ that no Korean Peninsula ruler could escape.
Shaking my head at her plan to emulate the Joseon dynasty’s royal family, I said, “We can’t run, Director.”
“Then how do we survive it? How? We’d have been better off with a tsunami. If that thing lands, the coastline will move to Daegu. We should evacuate the citizens of Busan through the Inunaki Tunnel to Seoul.”
“Director.” I gave her a pitying look. “We can’t avoid the monsoon typhoon. If Busan escapes unscathed, the typhoon will hit another city.”
“Huh? What do you an?”
“This isn’t a natural phenonon, it’s an anomaly. The Korean Peninsula can’t escape the monsoon unscathed. The typhoon will exist until its havoc is wrecked, and the monsoon season will persist with it. Soone has to take on this 1,200 kiloter water bomb.”
“......”
“Is there any city as well-prepared as Busan? Any place with its concentration of power? The most efficient path forward is for us to handle it. Otherwise, half the cities on the Peninsula will be wiped out.”
“Shit…”
The horror of the anomaly made Noh Do-hwa shudder. As the top authority’s mood worsened, so did the conference room’s atmosphere. Only Sim Ah-ryeon, who barely knew what caution was, threw caution to the wind and raised her hand.
“Excuse , guild leader?”
“Go ahead.”
“Well, I doubt Pyongyang Holy City will be affected by the typhoon. So since the area in question is not my responsibility, can I leave now?”
“If a monsoon of this magnitude hits, SG Net will also go down.”
“What? For how long?”
“At least two weeks, even if we’re lucky. Heavy rain disrupts internet communications, and that’s not taking into account the related anomaly that will follow.”
“The Eastern Holy State will mobilize all its forces to help our brothers in Busan!” Sim Ah-ryeon clutched my hand with both of hers, more sincerely and earnestly than I had ever seen. Even more than when she said, “I really like the caffè mocha that the guild leader makes.”
Noh Do-hwa let out a sigh as she scratched the back of her head.
“Director,” I counseled, “sighing wastes good luck.”
“Fuck off with your old-man advice. How do we deal with that monstrous water bomb? Didn’t you co up with a plan before calling this eting?”
“Of course. Everyone, please pay attention.”
I confidently moved to the next slide on the PowerPoint.
Written in new-age fonts, it said:
[Monsoon Flood Damage Prevention Plan]
[STEP 1]
[Noh Do-hwa Renaming Project!]
Silence filled the conference room.
After a long pause, Noh Do-hwa reacted, asking, “…What? Renaming? What kind of renaming…?”
“Director Noh Do-hwa. It may be distressing to change the precious na given to you by your parents, but nas are crucial when dealing with anomalies. For the sake of Busan’s citizens, please consider renaming yourself this sumr.”
“No, seriously, what does my na have to do with Busan’s safety?”
“From now on, your na is not Noh Do-hwa.” I looked earnestly at the top authority of the Three Han. “Your na is ‘Noah.’”
“......?”
“What are you waiting for, Noah? Start building the ark.”
“You son of a―!”
Noah’s Ark construction project, initiated!
The ‘Noah’s Ark’ in the Bible boasted impressive specifications. My focus, however, lay with Noah as a person. I suspect that he was an ancient archmage.
First, Noah managed to fit all the world’s plants and animals into a re 135-ter-long boat. That included blue whales and various fish. This ant the ark had the world’s largest aquarium. Clearly, the ark had a ‘my inventory is infinite’ spell. Moreover, this infinite space was made entirely of wood, as Noah lived in the Bronze Age.[2] The feat was impossible by modern engineering standards, but that was irrelevant. Science advances over ti, but magic grows stronger the farther back you go. The ancient archmage Noah likely strengthened the wood to steel levels.
Unfortunately, the modern-day Noah (forrly Noh Do-hwa) on the Korean Peninsula had no magical talent, but there was an archmage who could act as Noah’s wand.
“Ah――Ah――Ah――”
Dang Seo-rin, an awakener with top-tier magical talent, sang atop Geumjeongsan, the highest point in Busan. The trees, moved by her outdoor concert, uprooted themselves and gathered along Geumjeongsan’s ridge. Indeed, I haven’t ntioned this all that often, but Seo-rin’s Cursed Song Incantation excelled in support roles.
Wearing a helt with “Safety First” written on it, I smiled with satisfaction. “The ark construction is going smoothly.”
“......”
“Then Noah… no, Director Noah. Please, kneel down.”
Ah-ryeon, Ha-yul, and I gathered at the Geumjeongsan worksite alongside Seo-rin. Another surprising guest also graced us with their presence. Playing the role of ‘God’ in this Noah’s Ark play was none other than Mo Gwang-seo Jesus Christ.
“Ha-yul, are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Director Noah, what are you doing? Kneel before Mo Gwang-seo Christ. You can bow too, if you like.”
For once, Noh Do-hwa’s lips trembled. She wore a na tag with ‘Noah’ on it. “Do we really have to do this, Undertaker?”
“Yes.” My answer was firm. “We’re using the most powerful myth on Earth, Genesis. We need the minimum decorum for ‘Noah’s Ark’ to work effectively.”
“......”
“Please, hurry?”
With an expression that seed to curse the world, Noh Do-hwa knelt. Mo Gwang-seo looked down at her, his smile as benevolent as ever. Of course, Mo Gwang-seo had no free will. Every move and word was controlled by the Puppeteer, Ha-yul. Mo Gwang-seo (ft. Ha-yul) spoke.
“All living beings have spread corruption across the Earth, and their end has co before . I will destroy all living beings along with the Earth.”
“......”
“Noah. Therefore, build an ark.”
Noh Do-hwa’s lips quivered, her tongue trembled, and her teeth chattered as she mumbled, “Yes…”
God commanded, and Noah obeyed. A reenactnt of Genesis! Though there was a small error with the actor playing God also being the son of God, anomalies didn’t care about such details. Now, Noh Do-hwa was truly Noah. Every vessel she helped build would now serve as an ark.
“Hell, what a shitty world…”
Noah, the actor, had a foul mouth for humanity’s savior, but that didn’t matter.
“You damn regressor, are you getting back at for being missing for three months?”
What an absurd accusation. I kept my personal and professional matters strictly separate. Was there anyone who was as impartial as ?
I looked out over the Busan coastline, my gaze earnest.
July. An SSS-level monsoon was heading north toward the Korean Peninsula.
Sumr had arrived.
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