Chapter 10

Chapter 10. The Seven Lamps

Under the sea.

The cargo compartment of the collapsed shipwreck was still filled with blue light.

But what had changed wasn't the surroundings.

It was my head.

I tried to close my eyes, only to realize they were already closed.

My mind felt numb as an enormous amount of information flooded into it.

The Pacific Ocean.

The Atlantic.

The Indian Ocean.

The Arctic and Southern Oceans.

Tiny uninhabited islands whose names I didn't even know.

Deep ocean trenches.

Sunken ships.

Forgotten cities.

The seas of the entire world rushed into my mind at once.

It felt like thousands of lights were shining across an enormous map.

"Aaaaargh!"

I grabbed my head.

"Wait! That's too much! No human can process this much information at once!"

Azar watched me with amusement.

"You will get used to it."

"Are you insane?!"

"I shall take that as praise."

"It wasn't!"

When I finally managed to focus again, the blue light filling the cargo hold had weakened somewhat.

But the information inside my head hadn't disappeared.

Instead, it felt as though it had settled into place like a map I could call upon whenever needed.

If I thought about Sinan, I could vaguely see the underwater terrain around Sinan.

The same happened when I thought about Ulsan.

Jeju.

Busan.

I stood there blankly for a while before muttering,

"This really is a treasure map."

Azar nodded.

"I originally intended to give it to my chosen one."

"Then why give it to me?"

"Because you're interesting."

"Are you joking?"

"I am completely serious."

I sighed.

Neither the Genie nor this guy knew how to properly explain anything important.

Then a trembling voice came from behind us.

"Impossible..."

The Chairman.

He was still kneeling there, staring at us.

Despair and anger mixed in his eyes.

He had spent twenty years searching for this.

Now it had been handed to someone else right in front of him.

Honestly, if I were him, I'd probably be angry too.

The Chairman slowly stood.

"That... belongs to me."

I chuckled.

"You're still saying that?"

"I found it! I dedicated twenty years of my life to it!"

Azar answered without much interest.

"So?"

The Chairman ground his teeth.

"Choose me!"

"No."

"Why?!"

"You're boring."

That short answer twisted the Chairman's face horribly.

Finally, he reached inside his clothes and pulled out a handgun.

"Then... I'll kill you if I have to..."

Bang!

The gunshot echoed through the cargo compartment.

The gun wasn't pointed at me.

It was aimed at Azar.

I moved instinctively.

"Hey!"

But the bullet had already passed straight through Azar's forehead.

No blood came out.

There was no wound.

Azar paused, then tilted his head.

"What are you doing?"

Apparently, the bullet had simply passed through his body.

The Chairman froze.

"..."

Azar asked with genuine curiosity,

"A greeting?"

I couldn't hold back my laughter.

"Old man. You picked the wrong opponent."

The Chairman's hand began trembling.

Azar lightly snapped his fingers.

Snap.

The handgun instantly turned to dust.

"Do you understand now?"

For the first time, Azar's voice became cold.

"You are an ant trying to destroy a mountain."

The smile vanished from the face that had been laughing this whole time.

That alone completely changed the atmosphere.

The Chairman instinctively backed away.

Fear.

Real fear.

Watching Azar, even I had the same thought.

Good thing he wasn't my enemy.

If he were...

He would be more dangerous than anyone I'd encountered so far.

But just as quickly, Azar smiled again as if nothing had happened.

"Master."

"What?"

"What will you do with this human?"

I looked at the Chairman.

Honestly, he pissed me off.

Kidnapping.

Smuggling.

Weapons.

Drugs.

There were even suspicions that he'd killed people.

He was the one behind all this trouble.

Still...

I had no intention of killing him myself.

"Hand him over to the police."

The Chairman glared at me.

"You'll regret this."

"I hear that a lot."

"You don't know who's behind me."

"Nope."

"When you find out..."

"You'll be scary?"

I cut him off with a laugh.

"But I'm not even afraid of guns."

That wasn't a lie.

The Chairman couldn't continue.

Beside me, Azar clapped.

"Good."

"What is?"

"You truly resemble an ordinary human."

"I am ordinary."

"No."

That was difficult to argue with.

Ordinary humans didn't get into gunfights inside underwater shipwrecks.

Azar slowly stepped on top of the box.

"I should go now."

"Where?"

"To sleep."

"Again?"

"That is mostly what I do."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"You just woke up and you're already going back to sleep?"

"I slept for centuries and briefly woke."

"Then why come out at all?"

"To confirm something."

"What?"

Azar pointed at me.

"You."

The surroundings became quiet for a moment.

"Me?"

"You were different from what I expected."

"In a good way?"

"Very."

Azar smiled.

"That is why I look forward to what comes next."

I didn't like the sound of that at all.

The Genie was the same.

Whenever creatures like this said they were looking forward to something, trouble followed.

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Too late."

"Why?"

"Because it has already begun."

Azar's body gradually turned into blue smoke.

The smoke began being pulled back into the box.

I hurriedly asked,

"Wait! You said seven, right?"

"Yes."

"The lamps?"

"More precisely, seven beings."

"So are the others Genies too?"

Azar smiled faintly.

"No."

"Then what are they?"

"Each is different. Some love war. Some love lies. Some hate humanity."

I swallowed without thinking.

None of that sounded good.

But Azar wasn't finished.

"And some of them have already awakened."

My heart dropped.

"What?"

"You are not the only chosen one."

With those final words, the blue smoke disappeared completely into the box.

Click.

The box closed.

Complete silence returned to the cargo compartment.

Only the Chairman and I remained.

I slowly turned toward him.

"Now then. Should we talk?"

But before I finished...

The Chairman ran.

Seriously.

He didn't look back.

He just started swimming away as fast as he could.

"Hey!"

I stared after him in disbelief and sighed.

He was supposed to be the boss of some criminal organization.

I expected him to at least maintain some dignity until the end.

Nope.

He ran like crazy.

"Haah."

I chased him.

It didn't even take a few seconds.

The moment I grabbed his ankle, he screamed.

"Aaargh! Let go!"

"Why are you running?"

"Kill me!"

"Why does everyone keep asking me to kill them?"

I dragged him upward toward the surface.

SPLOOOOSH!

When we broke through the water, Coast Guard lights could be seen in the distance.

Perfect.

I threw the Chairman over my shoulder and swam toward them.

He cursed me the entire way.

"You monster!"

"Yeah."

"You'll get caught someday!"

"Maybe."

"You'll regret this!"

"I'm hungry."

"What?"

"It's almost morning."

Only then did the Chairman finally stop talking.

About thirty minutes later, the Coast Guard had secured the Chairman and the unconscious gang members.

Of course, I never showed myself to them.

Anonymous informant.

Unknown man.

That was enough.

I sat behind a distant breakwater and drank canned coffee.

The dawn air was cool.

There was a gold coin in my pocket.

The lamp was in my bag.

And now...

There was even a map of the world's oceans inside my head.

None of it felt real yet.

Then my phone rang.

Choi Junseok.

"Hello?"

"Middle-aged man from Ulsan!"

His voice was urgent.

"What is it?"

"Have you seen the news?"

"Not yet."

"Check it right now!"

I ended the call and opened the news.

The moment I saw the screen, I stopped moving.

A breaking-news banner appeared.

[Massive Cruise Ship Missing in the Indian Ocean]

Hundreds aboard.

No trace.

Cause unknown.

"Hm?"

At that exact moment, the map inside my head reacted.

Flash.

A single red point appeared somewhere in the Indian Ocean.

Completely different from the lights marking treasure.

It looked like a warning.

Then an unfamiliar voice echoed inside my head.

It wasn't the Genie.

It wasn't Azar either.

A woman's voice.

Lazy.

Seductive.

And strangely terrifying.

"Found you."

I froze.

"So you're this one's chosen one."

Goosebumps rose across my entire body.

Someone was watching me.

From somewhere far away in the Indian Ocean.

And she was laughing.

That morning, I returned to my home in Ulsan as though nothing had happened.

The kids were at school.

My wife had returned from her night shift and was asleep.

An ordinary home.

An ordinary living room.

An ordinary life.

I dropped heavily onto the sofa.

"Haah..."

I wasn't sleepy.

But strangely, I felt exhausted.

The TV was still reporting the missing cruise ship in the Indian Ocean.

Hundreds of people had vanished without a trace.

The rescue operation had produced no results.

And inside my head...

That red point kept flashing.

Then the Genie's voice came.

"Do not go."

I blinked.

"Wow. There are actually things even you tell me not to do?"

"It is dangerous."

"How dangerous?"

The Genie didn't answer immediately.

Then he said something I had never expected.

"As you are now, you can die."

The living room suddenly felt silent.

I slowly turned my head.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

My heart sank.

It was the first time I'd heard those words.

You can die.

That sentence lodged itself inside my head.

I stared at the Indian Ocean shown on the television.

Then remembered the woman's laughter that had called to me from somewhere in those waters.

It was obvious.

One of the seven beings.

And right now...

She was waiting for me.