Deep One!

"Your designation is Number 002: Deep One."

"Deep One?"

"What does that mean?"

The Fishman looked at the girl in confusion, but she merely shrugged before turning back into Raven.

"Since that person called you that, there must be a reason for it, just as my name is Mimic."

The Fishman instinctively took a step back. "That person... You mean the one who gave me the medicine earlier?"

"Y-you're human, right? Is he... human too?!"

Raven flapped its wings, scattering the rain from its feathers in an instant. It flew straight onto the Fishman's shoulder.

"I'm not human. As for that person, you're not qualified to know yet."

"If you want to know, do something practical first. Think about why you collapsed here, who threw you here. Don't you want revenge?"

The Fishman's brow twitched. "I... I look like this now. If anyone sees me, I'll definitely get caught!"

Raven raised a wing and covered its forehead. "Sigh, humans really did come up with all kinds of clothes. Don't you know how to dress?"

The Fishman looked at his hands. "But looking like this... where am I supposed to find clothes?"

Raven shook its head. "Your intelligence is seriously worrying. Fine, I'll find some for you. Wait here."

About twenty minutes later, Raven returned in the form of a girl, carrying a pile of bags.

The Fishman sat beneath an awning where the rain could not reach, hugging his knees as he curled into a ball.

"Put them on."

The Fishman froze. "Where did you get these? And... did you pay for them?"

Raven paused. "Does a shop owner need to pay for things from their own store?"

"You... You're a crow, and you own a shop?"

"I own shit. I just turned into the owner." Raven grew irritated as she spoke.

How could a human be this stupid?

"Oh..."

The Fishman obediently changed into the clothes. They were all large sizes, and included a mask, hat, scarf, and sunglasses.

After he had put everything on, Raven draped a raincoat over him.

"There. Now no one will be able to notice anything strange about you."

"Though your build is a bit exaggerated."

The Fishman looked at the gloves on his hands. "They won't notice, but why do I feel... feel... so hot?"

"Urgh!"

"Urgh, aaah!!"

Crack!

For some reason, the Fishman suddenly dropped to his knees. His body contracted, and every fish-like trait vanished in an instant.

"I... I turned back?"

The Fishman excitedly took off his gloves. His hands had indeed returned to human hands.

But when rain fell onto them, scales grew over them once more!

"Wait, why?"

"Does that mean I turn into a monster whenever I touch water?"

The Fishman put his gloves back on. As long as he dried the water from his body, he could return to being human.

And when he was drenched by rain, he would turn into a Fishman.

Looking at it that way, this was actually a controllable transformation?

It was just...

"Doesn't that mean I can never go to a bathhouse again?"

Raven was speechless.

"That's what you're focused on? Enough nonsense. It's time for you to get revenge, isn't it?"

The Fishman took a deep breath. "Yeah, it's time for revenge."

"I finally obtained this kind of power. It may not be good, but I don't want to keep living as miserably as before!"

The Fishman walked down the street. There were few people out in the rain, and though he occasionally passed someone, no one paid him any attention.

Only a student-looking person paused for a moment after passing him.

"Chu Yang, what's wrong?"

"Nothing... I just smelled something fishy."

"Tch, probably a fish seller. What's there to look at? Come on, let's go!"

In the suburbs, inside an abandoned tire factory.

The air inside was thick with smoke. Seven rough-looking men smoked cigarettes and played cards.

"Single two. Want it?"

"Pair of twos."

"By the way, you guys just left that kid there?"

"What else were we supposed to do? Are we his dads? Did we have to take him home too?"

"Don't get anyone killed."

"Come on, don't worry so much. He definitely won't die."

One of them looked outside. "The rain's been pretty heavy these past few days."

"It's the rainy season."

"Oh yeah, I read a story a few days ago. A rainy-night killer wore a raincoat and only struck on rainy days. He killed nine people in a row without leaving a single trace."

"And whenever the killer murdered someone, he'd cry and scream at the same time. At first, I wondered if he was some kind of lunatic."

"But guess what? The killer wasn't human at all!"

Boom!

A clap of thunder rang out, and everyone in front of him widened their eyes at the same time.

The storyteller frowned. "Hey, hey, what are those expressions for? I'm not done yet."

"I thought it was some brain-teasing mystery story, but the killer turned out to be a fish. Who could've guessed that?"

No one spoke. Only one person raised a hand and pointed behind him.

"B-behind you."

The man froze. "What's behind me? I..."

When he turned around, he saw a man in a black raincoat standing motionlessly at the factory entrance amid the downpour.

Everyone fell silent.

The man stepped into the warehouse, shook the water from his body, then removed his clothes one piece at a time.

After taking them all off, they finally saw what he looked like.

A human.

"Fuck, it's that kid. He was just pretending to be some damn ghost!"

One man immediately jumped to his feet. "We were only doing a job for money, so—"

Before he could finish, the man suddenly walked out into the rain!

The next second, his limbs twisted at impossible angles, followed by the sound of bones shifting and growing out of place!

Scales grew over his body. His head became fish-like, and sharp fins sprouted from his back!

After transforming, the Fishman walked back into the warehouse.

But the men from before could no longer speak. All of them instinctively backed away.

"F-Fishman?"

Drip.

Drip.

The monster walked across the concrete floor, the webbing on its feet making constant dripping sounds against the ground.

As the monster drew closer, the men hurriedly grabbed steel pipes, bricks, and every weapon they could lay their hands on!

"It's coming!"

"What the fuck is that thing?!"

"Don't worry about it, get him together!"

Drip!

The monster took a step forward, dropped onto all fours, and pounced in an incredibly twisted posture!

"Fuck that, run!"

One man had just turned to flee when the monster lunged straight at him!

Bang!

The monster knocked him to the ground in one leap. He screamed and kicked at its stomach, but the monster did not budge.

"D-don't kill me! Hurry, save me!!"

The Fishman looked at the screaming man beneath him, and the world in his eyes grew ever redder!

Kill!!

Crack!

The monster exerted force with both hands and snapped the man's neck in one motion!

After that, the Fishman lost consciousness.

When he woke up, seven mangled corpses lay before him, while blood and bits of flesh clung to his ten claws.

He stared blankly at his hands as tears began pouring out uncontrollably.

Dead?

They were all dead?

Slap!

The Fishman covered his eyes with both hands, tears gushing wildly. "Sob... What did I do? I... I never meant to, hahaha..."

"Haha, sob... I never wanted to kill anyone, I never wanted to, sob sob sob... Waaah, sob sob haha..."

Bang.

A figure appeared at the warehouse entrance. Seeing the hellish scene inside, he froze in place.

Hearing the sound, the Fishman looked over.

The man snapped out of it and turned to run!

"Waaah, sob, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...!"

The crying continued from behind him. The man ran desperately through the heavy rain, but the sobbing always seemed close at hand!

"That thing just now was...!"

Splat!

"Urgh... Aaah..."

Thud.

"Waaah, I never meant to, never meant to, sob sob sob..."

The corpse hit the ground. Still crying, the Fishman grabbed it by both feet and slowly dragged it back into the warehouse.

Outside, there was one more person.

He hid inside a metal container, clamping a hand tightly over his mouth.

Cold sweat ran down his forehead as a chill rose from the soles of his feet and pierced straight into his bones.

Half an hour passed, yet he did not dare move even once. In the darkness, only the sparse sound of rain remained.

"What... was that thing?"

Recalling what he had seen earlier, the man's pupils trembled, and his entire body shook with a bone-deep chill.

He poked his head out of the container. There was nothing outside.

But at that moment, hysterical crying suddenly erupted behind him!

"Waaah, you heard it, you heard it, sob sob hahahahaha!!"

!!!

The man spun around, only to find two round eyes directly behind him!

Squelch!

Number 002: Deep One (Weeping Fishman)