Chapter 5: Climbed onto My Belly

The tank wasn’t illuminated so I couldn’t see his face clearly aside from his contours. Even then, I could feel his gaze following me.

His gaze made me tremble and made my legs feel like they were frozen, unable to take another step.

The merman seemed like he could read my mind because I suddenly felt as if he was encouraging me to go forward. He must have closed his eyes because I couldn’t feel his terrifying gaze anymore.

I mustered up the courage and continued toward the silhouette in the tank.

The merman in the tank floated peacefully, he looked like he was sleeping. The piercing gaze I felt earlier must have been my imagination.

I got a better look at him as I moved closer. There seemed to be a shiny protective membrane on his skin, enticing me to touch it.

Through the wall of transparent acrylic, I imagined how his skin would have felt. Right then, I noticed a grave wound on his right arm! Even the bone underneath was visible.

Based on the shape of the wound, it seemed to have been caused by a shark.

This made me worry. Considering he was given such a large dosage of tranquilizers, he must have been very weak. No wonder he was so quiet and was sleeping so peacefully.

Under these circumstances, a wound of this degree would have killed him.

I couldn’t help but be glad that I brought a first aid kit with me. Without saying a word, I climbed onto the cover of the tank.

As I did that, the merman also moved in my direction. This made me suspect that he did that on purpose.

Now, the merman was right below my feet. I could see the wound on his arm become a pale white from being submerged in the water for too long.

I made sure the tranquilizer gun was secured in its holster on my waist and decided to open the tank cover.

‘Linda, you need to calm down! This is your first time getting close to a live merman. There can be no mistakes!’ I told myself.

I got down on one knee and stared at the opening that could only accommodate one person.

As expected, the merman stuck his head out above the water surface slowly. My mind went blank as I held my breath.

Eventually, his entire torso was floating above the water surface, with water droplets from the movement splashing onto me. I felt like I was hypnotized as my gaze slowly rose from his abs to his face.

A face that was handsome beyond what words could describe.

If I were to evaluate him by human standards, he would be considered a mix of different ethnicities. But there was no human race that had an appearance of such a perfect combination of wildness and elegance. His face wasn’t pretty but I was still stunned. His eyes carried the deepness of the ocean and his gaze was cruel.

The corners of his mouth started to slant in an angle, as if he was ridiculing me.

As I stared at him blankly, his arms had already reached the edges of the opening on the tank. His burly upper body had already trapped me in his shadow.

Droplets of water slid down and dripped onto me. Out of surprise, I dropped the glow stick into the tank.

The sudden darkness made this situation seem more frightening. I wanted to stand up and take a step back. But I lost balance and slipped, landing flat on my butt.

The familiar fragrance from the dream wafted around me, causing my vision to become blurry, on top of the already dark room.

Just then, my legs were gripped by something wet and slippery.

‘This cold and slippery feeling. It’s the merman’s hands!’

As he was grabbing my legs, he pulled himself upward, and his long, wet hair drenched my clothes.

I was terrified. I grabbed hold of my tranquilizer gun on my waist, waiting for the chance to fire.

But then, the merman stopped climbing on top of me once he reached my abdomen!

His gaze fell onto the area below my belly like he was looking at a fresh and tasty slice of fish.

The air stood still.

‘How can this be? Has the merman mistaken me for food and wants to eat the softest part of my body?’

Then I made an even worse guess. ‘The area below my abdomen is my crotch, is he…’

I shouted at myself mentally, not daring to continue down this train of thought.