Mythos Of Narcissus: Reborn As An NPC In A Horror VRMMO-Chapter 285: Ishmael’s Viewpoint: Pallid Sight

Something called to me.

It wasn’t a voice. It wasn’t a thought. It was a pull—deep, instinctual, undeniable.

My fingers twitched as I felt it well up inside me, the sickly, familiar sensation crawling through my veins like liquid instinct. A beckoning force urging me to manifest—to conjure.

And without hesitation, I answered.

The Harpoon of Endless Blood materialized in my grip, surging forth from nothingness, forming from that crimson gel-like substance that pulsed and twisted like something between living flesh and molten resin. It was warm, as if it had a heartbeat, as if it remembered every time it had been used before.

And then—before I could even register my own intent—the Landship’s defenses crumbled.

I barely remembered reaching for the timepieces—the core components of this bastion’s defensive mechanisms, the unseen gears of their machinery. Yet, there they were. Suspended in my grasp. Severed from time itself.

I had taken them. Just like that.

The automated turrets. The motion sensors. The integrated defense systems. All of them had ceased to function the moment I had pulled away their conceptual timepieces, rendering them into nothing more than lifeless steel until I willed them back into motion.

I remembered it clearly. I had done this before. Many, many times before. It was my ’Authority’—a power that defied logic, that unraveled the very mechanisms of reality itself.

I didn’t know why I had it, but I remembered that I always had it since the time I was conscious of my own decision and walked with my two wee legs.

This power was essentially useless to fight against monsters and those of Calamity Objects, but it was extremely useful against those who came from a civilization.

And on my voyage, I remembered that we fought a lot with these kinds of encounters.

But this time—this time was different.

This wasn’t some desperate struggle for survival at sea. This wasn’t an act of necessity against an enemy I had no choice but to fight.

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I had deactivated the entire defensive system of an unknown bastion. Without provocation. Without reason. I had just instinctively crippled their stronghold.

And worse—I had done it while summoning my weapon.

"Ah… aaah… aaaahh…!"

I was an intruder—a woman with a harpoon standing before two armed bastioneers of greater techs and humanity, in a place where I did not belong, having just disarmed their defenses without explanation.

The realization hit me like a crashing wave.

I had barely moved, yet I had already sealed my own fate.

They were watching me.

The two women—one with wild, energetic eyes, the other with a colder, calculating presence—stood poised, weapons drawn, their stances tight with anticipation.

They were waiting.

Waiting for me to attack. Waiting for me to prove that I was a threat.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. My mind spiraled.

How could I possibly explain this?

That I hadn’t meant to do it? That my body had acted on its own? That I wasn’t an enemy, but just a pathetic, half-broken vagabond who had stumbled into this place by pure accident?

No.

No sane person would believe that.

Seconds stretched into eternity.

Ten. Fifteen. Twenty.

They were still waiting.

And I—

I had to do something.

"I—I’m not hostile!" I voiced my plea. "I have no idea why I’m here… I have no idea who you are, I… I don’t want any of this…!"

The words tumbled out of me before I could stop them, voice cracking like brittle glass, completely unconvincing.

The moment they left my lips, I knew how awful they sounded.

Weak. Panicked. The kind of desperate lie someone sputtered right before attacking, while also hypocritical with how I still aimed my weapon against them.

And judging by the way the two bastioneers exchanged a quick, knowing glance—one that screamed seriously?—I had completely botched my one chance at de-escalation.

Their weapons remained drawn, their stances unshaken. They weren’t just ready for me to make a wrong move. They were expecting it.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. My grip on the harpoon tightened. My breathing quickened. My heart pounded.

I was screwing this up.

I had to fix this. I had to—

My body moved before I could think.

I lifted the harpoon—

Not toward them.

Toward my own throat.

Their stances snapped tighter, but I didn’t give them time to act.

"If you get any closer, I—I’ll—!"

Oh, gods.

What was I doing?

I was threatening to off myself in front of them.

The thought hit me an instant too late, and the full absurdity of it nearly made me choke.

This wasn’t fixing anything—this was making everything worse.

What was my plan here? That they’d just let me go if I held myself hostage? That they’d drop their weapons and let me waltz off because I had terrible self-preservation instincts?

The sheer stupidity of my own decision caught up to me all at once, but there was no way to take it back now.

The livelier one—the shorter of the two, with wild, golden eyes and an expression like she had survived absolute madness and lived to tell about it—sighed, lowering her weapon just slightly.

"All right. Let’s not do that." She pointed to herself with a rather pained smile. "My name is Naosi, and this is Yora. Please don’t be alarmed, put your weapon away from yourself.

"We’re not going to harm you as long as you’re reasonable and of sound communicable mind."

Her voice was firm, but patient. The kind of tone used on skittish animals and people having a very bad day.

The taller one—Yora, the one with the pale complexion and sharp green eyes—remained tense but didn’t advance. "No one is hurting you. Put the weapon down,"

I somehow hesitated.

"I—I don’t trust that."

I messed it up.

I should have complied with their suggestion, and maybe just threw away this harpoon and kneeled in front of them.

I wanted to die, but I really don’t want to die…

They both gave me a look.

The golden-eyed one—Naosi, as she introduced herself—sighed again, deeper this time.

"Well, I don’t trust you either, so we’re even." She chuckled. "But of course, things will just get easier if you just, you know." She gestured her thumb to metaphorically cut off her own neck. "It’s a bad idea, especially if you haven’t got a taste of a real good meal in your life."

I blinked.

She didn’t sound malicious. Just… inconvenienced. Like this whole scenario was mildly annoying rather than dangerous.

That threw me off completely.

And it certainly helped my not-so-sane instinct and mind

Yora nodded, keeping her stance measured. "Just listen to Naosi. Do what she says."

I swallowed hard.

The weight of my own irrational, impulsive mistake sank into my chest like an anchor.

Slowly—hesitantly—I lowered the harpoon.

The air remained thick with tension, but it eased—just slightly.

And then—

The deck shifted beneath my feet.

A sickening, crawling sensation rippled through the very metal floor, a feeling of something pressing through—like fingers sinking into softened wax.

A presence. A hunger.

Something was here.

I knew it before I even saw it.

The world twisted. The air bent unnaturally, like light warping around a void.

And from the metal—

A Pallid Mermaid emerged.

A grotesque, veined form swam through the solid floor as if it were liquid, its membranous body shifting with an unnatural fluidity. Its face—its eerily human face—remained completely still, empty eyes fixed on me with an unreadable stare.

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The moment our gazes met—

I moved.

There was no hesitation. No thought.

"HOW DARE YOU APPEAR HERE!"

The Harpoon of Endless Blood lashed out, striking with a force that tore through air and space alike.

The Pallid Mermaid recoiled, its unnatural body twisting, the membrane stretching and shifting as if trying to rearrange itself. But it did not die, for it was much more resilient than a mere entity of life in this world.

Thankfully, this was a stray one from its own domain, and they were usually far less powerful than their original state.

Regardless, it retaliated.

As always, its movements were erratic, unpredictable—a predator that had never learned fear.

It lunged, the air distorting around it, and I barely had time to twist out of the way before its grotesque form sliced past me, sending a sharp ripple through the deck.

Then—

The bastioneers joined the fight.

Naosi moved with wild, brutal efficiency, her Prismforge shifting mid-motion between offense and defense, striking with a fluid rhythm that kept the creature off balance.

Yora fought with measured precision, her segmented chain-blade carving through the air in controlled, lethal arcs, the edges of her weapon humming with energy.

Even with the three of us attacking at once, the Pallid Mermaid refused to die.

It blinked in and out of place, shifting through the deck like a living mirage, its form constantly warping and reforming.

Every strike that should have landed missed by mere inches. Every attack that should have ended it only forced it to retreat momentarily, reforming from another angle.

Something was wrong.

And then—I realized.

The Landship’s turrets weren’t firing.

Because I hadn’t returned their timepieces.

A sharp curse left my lips.

Without thinking, I threw out my hand.

"Return!"

The stolen time surged back into place.

And in the next instant—

The Landship roared to life.

Turrets whirred. Barrels turned.

Defense systems locked on.

A storm of energy and Theotech alloys rained down on the Pallid Mermaid, striking with unrelenting force.

It wailed, the sound not meant for mortal ears, its body convulsing violently under the relentless assault.

It tried to retreat—tried to shift away, tried to phase out of reach—

But the Landship’s systems had already marked it as prey.

Another volley of fire tore through its veined membrane, ripping into the grotesque core of its being.