Descent of the Demon Master

‘What’s that? What’s going on out there?’

Yu Seong-Pil's job was rather unique. As there were plenty of different jobs in the world, it shouldn't be surprising to learn that strange jobs also existed among them.

Even in that sense, though, Yu Seong-Pil's job was still somewhat unique. Most people would go, "Ohh?" when they heard what he did for a living. That was how uncommon the profession he had chosen for himself.

In the simplest terms, Yu Seong-Pil’s job could be classified as a diver.

Most people would be intrigued when learning that he made a living as a diver. However, Yu Seong-Pil was no mere diver. No, it went one step further. He was… an aquarium diver.

Due to the unique nature of aquariums, they required specialized divers. That was because the water couldn't be drained every time there was a problem with the tanks or a tank's interior needed to be cleaned. Once the gigantic tanks were filled with water, it was safe to assume they would never be fully drained until the day the aquarium closed its doors for good.

Replacing a fixed quantity of water every day to keep the water quality under control was the best an aquarium could do.

Thanks to this restriction, specialized divers were necessary. Their jobs involved inspecting the filtration systems inside the tanks or performing other odd jobs such as getting rid of dead fish.

However, Yu Seong-Pil's job was even more particular among the aquarium divers as he was… a show diver.

The contents of his job were simple enough—he'd usually wait in the largest water tank in the aquarium and, once enough visitors filled the main hall, dive deeper inside the water and put on a performance for them to enjoy.

He’d spread the feed near the acrylic wall to attract fish there or let the dolphins snatch food off his hand in front of the audience. This work was as challenging as it sounded, even for a veteran diver like Yu Seong-Pil. Unsurprising, really, considering he had to repeatedly dunk himself in water every time visitors showed up en masse.

The aquarium had opened its doors not too long ago, so it was still jam-packed with curious visitors. This meant Yu Seong-Pil was so busy that he didn't even have enough time to take a breather!

However, he had nothing to complain about here. Doing a job he dreamed about since he was a little kid filled him up with satisfaction and pride.

Not to mention, the pay was pretty good, too!

This time's show was supposed to be the same as all the others before it. Yu Seong-Pil waited in the water until receiving the signal from the tour guide outside to start the show. However…

‘What’s going on here?’

No matter how long he waited, no one gave him the signal. Yu Seong-Pil grew increasingly puzzled by this situation.

‘Is there some kind of a problem outside?’

Although the view from the outside looking in was crystal-clear, the same couldn't be said for Yu Seong-Pil inside the tank. Since he had to look through the acrylic wall, the water, and his goggles, it was no wonder he didn't get a clear enough view of the main hall.

There was also a slightly funky phenomenon at work here, as the acrylic wall did not offer the same level of transparency on both sides. From the outside looking in, the view was clear and uncluttered, but when looking through the wall from the inside… It was ever so slightly opaque.

With the conditions being so unfavorable, figuring out what was going on outside was incredibly challenging, even for an experienced diver. Yu Seong-Pil could only roughly make out the blurry shapes of a person standing near the wall while safety officials were seemingly surrounding this individual.

‘Maybe some nutjob caused a scene outside?’

This was the sad part of being in the service industry. Until he started working as an aquarium diver, Yu Seong-Pil had no idea this world was overflowing with so many nutjobs. As it turned out, this world was absolutely teeming with psychos of every possible shape and size!

Most people would get intrigued and even mystified by all the unfamiliar and strange fish in an aquarium, but that would be the extent of their actions.

However, some idiots would insist on touching these fish for some unfathomable reason and cross the no-entry barrier to shove their stupid little hands into the water.

Some were even more audacious and would show up to the aquarium with small bags filled with water… to steal smaller fish. Their reasoning? They didn't want to pay for the expensive ticket to see some random fish, so they wanted to steal a few and keep them in their own tanks at home.

At least those were more or less civilized nutjobs!

‘At least, compared to that crazy bastard, that is!’

Near the entrance of the aquarium was the shellfish display. This display was open to the elements in an attempt by the management to make it more nature-friendly. But some insane bastard took his chance and stole the abalones displayed there!

Since the thief probably didn't want to raise those abalones, he must've been motivated by his desire to eat them. But why would he do that? When you could buy as many abalones as you'd want in a store these days? How did it make sense to steal abalones from an aquarium to eat them at home!

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the stories involving nutjobs.

Some bastards openly tried to sexually assault the tour guides. Some kids spat into the fish tanks for fun. And some were insane enough to kick the tanks and get mad about being reprimanded for their actions!

People often joked that the wages of the employees in the service industry were actually compensation for dealing with rude customers. And Yu Seong-Pil would have to agree with that succinct observation!

‘That guy must be another nutjob, then!'

Yu Seong-Pil wasn’t sure what was happening outside, but that blurry figure must be yet another extraordinary nutjob. Otherwise, why would that many safety officials show up to surround one guy?

The rule was one official for one customer. Even if there was a rowdy nutjob causing issues, other visitors might interpret the sight of several officials targeting one individual as too forceful and needlessly intimidating. That was why that one-on-one rule had been set up.

Unless the so-called visitor was violent or carried a weapon of some kind, in other words an emergency situation, the one-on-one rule was vigorously enforced. But Yu Seong-Pil could see three officials surrounding this particular visitor!

‘I guess that nutjob must be totally off the walls.’

This situation was unprecedented in the history of this aquarium. Granted, it had only been a few days since this place opened its doors, but still! Today was the first time three officials had to tackle one individual. That fact alone attested to how high up the crazy scale that rude customer was.

Yu Seong-Pil silently expressed his sympathy to those poor safety officials. It must be one hell of a mess right about now.

‘Huh?’

That was when Yu Seong-Pil’s eyes opened wider. He realized one of the safety officials wasn’t a safety official at all.

‘Isn’t that… Chief Bak?’

Indeed, that person was the chief of the facilities maintenance, Bak Gwang-Cheol.

‘Why is that guy getting involved?’

Chief Bak’s job wasn’t to deal with rude customers, so what was he doing outside in the main hall? When Yu Seong-Pil took a closer look, it seemed that only Chief Bak was "confronting" the rude customer while others were observing the situation from a little distance away.

‘What the hell is going on out there?’

It was impossible to figure out the situation from inside the tank. Feeling frustrated, Yu Seong-Pil began swimming up and down, unable to decide what to do next. He was tempted to leave the tank and confirm the situation himself, but he could miss the signal to start the show.

‘I… Let’s stay put for now. I’ll find out what happened later on.’

After telling himself that, Yu Seong-Pil checked to see if the fish paste balls were still intact in his waist pockets. The rude customer was not his concern, anyway. His job was to put on yet another perfect performance.

Just as his thoughts reached that far, something else disturbed Yu Seong-Pil. He could sense… vibrations?

Yu Seong-Pil hurriedly raised his head.

‘What was that?’

Didn’t it feel like he heard a dull but weighty impact noise? Not only that, but his body also vibrated unsteadily just now, too.

‘No, hang on. That’s not right.’

To be more precise, his body hadn’t vibrated; the water did.

‘An earthquake, maybe?’

An earthquake erupting outside would result in the water vibrating like this.

Yu Seong-Pil scanned the surroundings and noticed all the fish urgently swimming around. The sight of a tiger shark intensely shaking its tail fin in the distance sent a creepy chill down Yu Seong-Pil's spine.

Although he knew that the shark wouldn't bite him, the creature's strange behavior still unnerved him. He assumed that the shark was acting according to its instincts right now.

‘The fish are behaving strangely…!’

To the untrained eyes of regular people, the scenery within the water tank must've looked peaceful. But Yu Seong-Pil could clearly see all the unusual behaviors of the fish. Different species of fish usually kept some distance from each other, yet they were now moving together in erratic manners. And the direction of their movements also seemed off.

Wondering why that was, Yu Seong-Pil turned his head again to look… And that was when he finally saw it. He saw a large crack in the acrylic wall right before his eyes!

At first, he thought he saw something that wasn't there. And when he realized he didn't, Yu Seong-Pil even tried to wipe his goggles next. Even then, the crack didn't disappear from his view.

Only then did he realize what happened. Yu Seong-Pil reflexively cried out in alarm, causing the oxygen hose to fall out of his mouth.

“Uwahahhbubub!”

The water rushed into his mouth, preventing him from making any proper sounds. Yu Seong-Pil fell into a panic but still urgently retrieved the oxygen hose and mouthed it.

Then, he ascended to the surface as fast as he could. Even though such a rapid ascent during underwater diving was explicitly forbidden, Yu Seong-Pil was in no mood to care about that right now.

“Phu-haaat!” Yu Seong-Pil broke through the water's surface at the top of the tank and yelled at the top of his lungs. “There's a crack in the tank! It's an emergency! Call the technicians now!”

The complexions of everyone nearby instantly paled from Yu Seong-Pil’s urgent cry.

***

“W-what’s that?!”

“What’s going on here?”

“I-is that… Will that be okay?”

The loud scream immediately triggered a mass panic within the main hall. People screamed in chaos and confusion. However, some remained remarkably calm, too.

All sorts of emotions co-existed in this space. Even though these people had witnessed the same thing, their responses and emotions differed noticeably.

However, that made some sense. Most people would react similarly to a fire breaking out. It'd be the same story for when a large dog rushed toward them, as well.

Why was that, though? Because they could more or less predict the outcome.

However, the situation they were facing was something none of these people had a chance to experience before. A crack appearing on a massive aquarium's wall? Who could imagine or predict what might happen next?

Would the crack open up more and more until the aquarium burst apart? Or will it stay that way? Should they be concerned? Or dismiss it as nothing to worry about?

They couldn’t tell!

As such, the responses were different from individual to individual. Those who thought the aquarium would explode soon began screaming in terror. Meanwhile, those who thought the crack wouldn't worsen nervously swallowed their saliva and tried desperately to maintain their calm.

Young children stared curiously while the safety officials became pale with fright.

Among them was…

“N-no, wait… This can’t be…!” Chief Bak Gwang-Cheol gasped in shock.

He was in a state of panic. How could he not when there was a crack in the acrylic wall?

He was worried about the wall's integrity even back when it was still intact, but now, it was cracked! This meant that the compromised wall was now withstanding the pressure from thousands of tons of water!

‘No! This is terrible!’

That thing would not be able to hold on for long. Bak Gwang-Cheol was definitely sure about this. This was why he was so insistent with the aquarium's president earlier, wasn't he! The dreaded situation he wanted to avoid at all costs was now unfolding right before his eyes.

However, what if he was wrong? The wall could miraculously withstand the water pressure. But…

But what if it couldn't? What if it burst?

‘Everyone in here… will die!’

Thousands of tons of water would pour out in an instant. Couldn’t people just hold their breaths? No, that was a laughable notion.

Victims wouldn't even get a chance to do anything once they got caught up in the sheer pressure from the rushing water. The only fate waiting for them would be death. The examples of people getting swept up in the rapids and drowning should be good enough proof.

The wall rupturing and releasing all that water would lead to a massive accident beyond anyone's ability to survive!

“Ah…! Oh, god, no…!” Chief Bak fell into an even deeper state of panic. He couldn't figure out what to do next.

That was when a calm but flat voice registered in his ears. “What are you doing?”

“I, I’m sorry?”

Kang Jin-Ho calmly said, “Evacuate everyone.”

“Ahhhhhhh!”

The man who was at a standoff against Chief Bak a few seconds ago calmly left those words behind and approached the acrylic wall.

Chief Bak’s attention was drawn to Kang Jin-Ho, but he didn’t have the time to mind that right now. He urgently cried out to the safety officials. “E-evacuate everyone! Raise the alarm! Hurry up!”

“S-sorry?”

“Raise the f*cking emergency alarm, you dumb bastard! I don't care if it's the fire alarm! Just do it! Evacuate everyone from the aquarium's interior right now! Hurry up!”

Chief Bak’s words became the detonator. Those who hadn’t fully processed the situation until now were sobered up by the word ‘emergency’ branding itself in their brains. And "emergency" quickly morphed into "death" next!

People screamed and began rushing toward the exit. Unfortunately, the exit was narrow, causing human bodies to get into a messy tangle and causing a chorus of yells and screams to resonate in the area. To make matters worse…

“L-look! Look at that!”

The calamity had only just begun.

Rip. Riiiip. Craaaaack!

Along with the noise akin to a stubborn duct tape being ripped off, the crack in the wall gradually grew larger and larger. It seemed like the crack expanded over a meter in length every time the cracking noise echoed eerily in the hall.

Eventually…!

BOOOOOOOM!

The acrylic wall couldn’t hold on anymore and finally exploded in fury!

That signaled the start of a large-scale tragedy.