I quickly shut my eyes and squinted just in case we made eye contact.
Then, the creature that had been peeking at us from behind the pillar finally began to reveal itself.
The cap of a jellyfish is called a bell, or an umbrella. A round bell, and long, soft-looking tentacles.
Just the way it floated and swayed through the air gave off a strangely healing vibe.
I’d wondered where the seven colors were coming from—but the creature’s internal organs and tentacles were glowing in different hues.
‘Damn, it’s cute.’
I held my breath, quietly watching its adorable form.
It had emerged halfway out... but suddenly flinched and pulled back.
Startled by something, the creature quickly hid behind the pillar again.
‘What the hell? Did someone wake up?’
I thought maybe someone had stirred in their sleep and scared it off—but no, the creature seemed startled by its own glow. It dimmed the lights radiating from its body and slowly poked its head out again.
It must’ve surprised itself by glowing while trying to sneak out.
Must still be a baby, not yet able to control its glow properly.
‘God, even what it does is adorable. Is it really a baby?’
Since it was tiny, I figured it must be a juvenile.
It looked exactly like its mother, but was just a fraction of the size—maybe one-hundredth or even smaller.
But that in itself was strange.
Given the size of the mother jellyfish I saw three days ago, this thing shouldn’t look exactly like her.
Being a spirit creature, it must’ve grown rapidly and bypassed the usual stages of jellyfish development, but even so... if I compared it to its mother’s size, it should still be in the ephyra stage.
And yet, it looked far too similar to a mature jellyfish.
Depending on the species, jellyfish typically grow through four stages.
Planula, Polyp, Ephyra, and Medusa.
The planula is the stage right after fertilization, when the jellyfish is expelled from the mother’s body and floats around searching for a suitable habitat.
Once it settles, it becomes a polyp.
A polyp stays fixed in place, resembling an anemone rather than a jellyfish. In this stage, it eats and grows. Some species reproduce asexually in this form.
Then comes the ephyra stage—basically a small jellyfish that splits off from the polyp via asexual reproduction, swimming off as an independent creature.
Still small, but definitely not identical to a medusa, a full-grown jellyfish.
Tentacles aren’t fully developed, and its bell isn’t a perfect circle—sometimes it’s star-shaped or has visible holes. There’s usually a clear difference.
But enough of the biological details.
‘Who cares if it looks like its mom? Probably just a spirit creature thing.’
Doesn’t matter what it looks like. What matters is—how do I make it part of our family?
As I squinted and focused on it, the creature started slowly approaching me.
Just the idea of seeing it up close was enough to make my heart pound.
And then—
“Nnngh...”
Gun Hye-rin made a sound, like she was having a nightmare. Probably because Moji and Soji were still sucking on her ears and nose in their sleep.
At that, the approaching jellyfish chick quickly retreated behind the pillar again.
‘Dammit, Gun Hye-rin.’
Just when I was about to get a closer look.
I felt genuinely frustrated. But then—the creature poked out again and suddenly shivered.
At the same time, a mist like a black cloud started pouring from its body.
‘What... what the hell?’
Before I could react, gray fog flooded the inside of the abandoned temple in an instant.
I was worried it might be some kind of toxic gas, but spirit creatures don’t attack people without cause. And if the cloud surrounding the mother jellyfish days ago was also this same fog, it probably wasn’t dangerous.
We’d already passed through it once, and nothing happened to us.
Still, that didn’t change the fact that I couldn’t see a damn thing now, which made my chest tighten with anxiety.
I’d been waiting for a chance to talk to it, maybe connect somehow—but now everything was hidden in this dense fog.
‘Gotta say something—anything. But how?’
Eyes closed, I tried to think through my options.
It could just vanish like this.
Then, suddenly—there was a glint of light right in front of me.
I cracked my eyes open—and there it was, the baby jellyfish, floating right in front of my face.
It had come right up to me without a sound.
‘Ohhhhh shit!’
Maybe the fog gave it a sense of security, because it was glowing without worry now.
Its whole body was shining in dazzling seven colors.
But something was off.
The temple looked like a damn karaoke room with every neon light cranked up.
It was bright enough to wake up all the kids—even the deep sleepers.
Gun Hye-rin, especially, was highly sensitive to changes in her environment despite Moji and Soji’s antics.
And yet... she was still fast asleep.
Weird.
And then, I saw it.
A thin, long thread entering my barely-open eye—one of the jellyfish’s tentacles was touching my cheek.
‘Wait, what? When did—?!’
And then, a voice came.
‘Mmm. So you weren’t actually asleep. Your body won’t move, but don’t be afraid.’
‘Holy sh—!’
It definitely sounded like the baby jellyfish—but it wasn’t like the telepathic voice I’d heard from Yeoncheon or Yeonji. No. It felt more like... the tentacle touching me was transmitting the voice directly.
I tried to move.
But nothing worked. I was paralyzed.
Must be some kind of effect from the fog.
I could only roll my eyeballs as the creature—Seven-Colored Sea Wraith—spoke again.
‘So. Why did you want to talk to me?’
That question made my head tilt in confusion.
Because, well—I never wanted to talk to this one.
Sure, I’d had that fleeting thought just moments ago... but no way it could’ve read my mind.
That had just been an internal thought.
The one I wanted to speak with was the mother I met three days ago.
The giant jellyfish, not this little thing.
Could it have been with its mother back then?
I cleared up the misunderstanding.
‘You? No, not really. You’re cute, sure. But the one I wanted to talk to was your mom.’
This little one was cute, no doubt—but the one I’d wanted to communicate with was the man-sized jellyfish.
At that, the baby jellyfish was visibly flustered.
‘Wh-what? C-cute?’
Then I heard its thoughts.
(So... that’s it. This guy thinks the younger version of me is actually my child self, back when I was an adult. I mean, I did just emerge from the cocoon, and the size difference is huge, so... I guess that misunderstanding makes sense.)
(Then... should I just pretend to be a baby? Could be fun.)
Apparently, because its tentacle was connected to me, I could hear its thoughts—and now that I was paying attention, its voice didn’t sound like a child at all. It was the mature voice of a grown adult.
Listening to its inner dialogue, I got a general idea of what was going on.
The mention of emerging from a cocoon made it clear: this creature was a spirit beast based on Turritopsis dohrnii.
Scientific name: Turritopsis dohrnii—commonly known as the Immortal Jellyfish.
In our country, people call it the Red Sea Jellyfish, the one that never dies. That had to be what this creature really was.
‘So it’s a Red Sea Jellyfish spirit beast?’
Among jellyfish, there’s one called the Red Sea Jellyfish that lives in the Mediterranean.
Only about 5 millimeters in size.
Pretty insignificant-looking, but it holds an incredible secret.
When it gets old and is about to die, it reverts from an adult to a cocoon-like state—and then regenerates into its younger self from inside the cocoon.
The Red Sea Jellyfish, when its lifespan ends, transforms into a pod, rebuilds its cells inside, and within 48 hours returns to its juvenile form.
As long as it isn’t killed by a predator, it can technically live forever.
Then I heard its voice again.
It was the voice of a mature woman—pretending to be a kid, clumsily shortening her words.
‘Ahem. A-ah, no, wait. Ahem, ehem. Uh, Mommy went far away. I mean—went far away~! So you have to talk to me, okay~?’
(Argh, I keep slipping up... I need to be careful not to blow my cover.)
It stumbled over its words, trying to talk like a child.
It probably didn’t even realize that touching someone with a tentacle transmitted its thoughts. Most likely, this was its first time talking to a human.
It didn’t seem to receive my thoughts in return, either.
But since it seemed set on roleplaying as a child, I decided to go along with it.
‘I see. Well, it’s nothing serious... it’s just, your mom was really beautiful. I kind of wanted to talk to her.’
‘B-beautiful? You mean—beautiful??’
‘Yeah. Her bell shimmered so gently, and her long, thin legs were gorgeous.’
‘Heh. I am kind of—uh, I mean—Mommy is kind of like that, yeah~.’
(Hehe... this guy’s got taste.)
It beamed with joy when I complimented her beauty.
As it basked in the praise, I gently asked,
‘So, what’s your name?’
‘Ah, my name is Cheonhae.’
Cheonhae.
A beautiful name—Sky and Sea. I nodded, then introduced myself.
‘That’s a lovely name. I’m So-ryong.’
‘So-ryong? Does that mean “Little Dragon”?’
‘Yep. You’re smart, huh?’
‘Hehe. Well, after living for thousands of years—uh, I mean, Mommy’s lived for thousands of years and taught me a lot!’
(Ugh, every time he compliments me, I screw up. I need to stay sharp.)
Clearly new to this whole pretending-to-be-a-kid act, she kept slipping up.
I pretended not to notice and continued the conversation smoothly.
‘Wow, your mommy’s been around for thousands of years?’
‘Yes yes. But Mister So-ryong, did you really just want to talk to Mommy because she’s pretty?’
‘Well, partly... but also, the kids sleeping around here? They’re my daughters and family.’
‘Daughters? Family? You mean... you didn’t tame them?’
(Wait—he didn’t tame them? I thought they were just trained pets...)
She assumed I’d just tamed them. Smiling gently, I replied,
‘Of course not. We’re one family. You know how spirit [N O V E L I G H T] beasts usually live alone? We decided we wouldn’t let each other be lonely—we became a family.
Taming is something you do to animals. You spirit beasts can think, feel, and love. That’s why I wanted to ask your mom if she’d like to live with us too.’
‘I see...’
(Family... yeah. I used to have one...)
She seemed to fall into deep thought.
Maybe she was remembering long ago—back when countless Seven-Colored Sea Wraithonce painted the sky in waves of shimmering light.
I could see the image in my mind too—though I wasn’t sure why—but it felt like there weren’t many Seven-Colored Sea Wraith left in the world now.
‘Must be humans, right?’
Whenever spirit beasts appear, martial artists come hunting for their Neidan. It’s all too predictable.
Humans are always behind extinctions. It’s so messed up.
With that on my mind, I cautiously asked,
‘So, if your mom is gone now... will our Cheonhae have to live all alone from now on?’
‘Huh? Y-yeah...’
(Our Cheonhae... that sounds... kind of nice...)
‘Really?’
Pretending to ponder for a moment, I asked again.
‘Then—wanna be Mister So-ryong’s secret friend? Wait, that’s not it. Want to live with us? There are lots of older girls around here who’d love to play with you, Cheonhae. Living alone must be lonely.’
Cheonhae glanced around.
She looked at the sleeping kids and seemed to hesitate.
I grinned, softening my voice.
‘It’ll be fun. I’ll take good care of you.’
Then she shyly twisted her body and replied,
‘Uuuh... Mommy said not to go with strangers...’
(Maybe I’ll just stay with them for now...)
She was pretending to think it over, but I could tell she was already convinced.
‘That’s only for bad strangers. This Mister So-ryong is suuuper nice, right?’
With that final push, she shyly nodded her head.
‘You do seem like it... O-okay. I’ll be in your care, Mister~’
Cheonhae. A spirit beast of rain among the Cloud, Rain, Snow, and Hail quadrant—one of the Seven-Colored Phantom Seas, a venomous creature.
A little odd, maybe...
But hey. Got her.
