Chapter 143: Chapter 141: Beauty and Ugliness

Upon seeing the stone block covered in holes, an inexplicable revulsion suddenly rose within Mo Ling, and an irrepressible feeling of disgust flooded his mind.

How hideous. Utterly hideous.

Even though the stone before him had the exact same structure as the black tower outside, he couldn’t control the overwhelming sense of revulsion.

Mo Ling tried not to look at the stone, but whenever the image of it entered his mind, he would instinctively feel sick to his stomach.

’How strange. Where is this revulsion coming from?’

This inexplicable disgust was so strong it caused a physical reaction in Mo Ling; goosebumps erupted all over his body.

The discomfort only subsided slightly when he forced himself not to think about the stone.

But the stone before them didn’t seem willing to let it go, floating to a stop in front of the pair.

"Why did you say I’m disgusting?" it asked again.

Martin, who was standing to the side, finally couldn’t hold back. Fighting through his own discomfort, he said, "Aren’t Sea Sirens all like this? You’re all just this disgusting."

’Sea Siren?’

Mo Ling latched onto the term.

’The core is a Sea Siren?’

Mo Ling instantly connected the dots. A creature that lives in sound and can use it to create solid objects—wasn’t that the definition of a Sea Siren?

Martin continued his tirade. "You’ve lived this long and you’re still asking such a childish question?"

He took a few steps back, putting distance between himself and the stone.

Martin was still fighting back nausea as he spoke, trying to suppress his inner discomfort. Even so, the irrepressible loathing in his voice was obvious.

"That’s just what Sea Sirens are. The price for their power over sound is a physical form that everyone finds repulsive. Anyone who sees their true form is overcome with an uncontrollable nausea, a feeling that’s simply impossible to suppress."

"They can try to disguise themselves with sound, wrapping their hideous true forms in layer upon layer of beautiful shells, but it’s no use. That feeling of revulsion will always slowly seep through."

"To be reviled—that is the price Sea Sirens pay, and it is their fate!"

Martin dry-heaved as he finished telling the core all this.

After listening, the core stopped its approach and slowly retreated to the center of the cavern.

After a long silence, the core spoke softly. "That’s the first time anyone has ever told me. Thank you."

’The first time?’

’No one ever told it? Just how despised was it?’

"No one ever told you?" Martin was also incredulous.

’This was a being older than human civilization itself, and it didn’t even understand the traits of its own race?’

"No," the core replied faintly.

It slowly began to tell its story. The reviled one had not always been this way.

...

The core was born amidst a symphony of wonderful sounds.

It was originally a sound that echoed through the Abyss, until one day, it gained self-awareness.

Confused and naive, it began to explore the world from its unique perspective.

Unlike other creatures, it perceived the world through sound.

The sound of raindrops was DRIP-DROP.

The sound of leaves was RUSTLE.

The sound of a brook was GURGLE.

The sound of the wind was WHOOSH.

...

While learning these sounds, it discovered that by mimicking them, it could create the very things that made them.

This delighted it to no end, and it began to tirelessly collect all sorts of sounds.

It loved noisy environments. Its favorite was the jungle during a rainstorm, a time filled with a symphony of countless sounds. Weaving through these notes felt like lying on a soft cloud.

However, in the process of getting to know the world, the core discovered something even more interesting: a group of living creatures.

They made different kinds of sounds, interacted with the world around them, and created noises that were rarely heard otherwise.

The core wanted to join them and create sounds too, so it fashioned a body for itself.

This body was made from the most ordinary stone. Controlling this stone, it sought out the group of creatures.

But the moment these creatures saw it, they fled. They even tried to attack it, shattering its body to pieces.

’Why did this happen?’

Lacking basic common sense, the core at first didn’t understand why it was being attacked.

As it slowly came to understand, it guessed that these creatures might have been wary of it.

So, it changed its body to one that looked exactly like the creatures. But when it tried to approach them again, it was attacked once more.

The core could only leave, dejected.

It had no companions and could only continue to drift through the sounds of the Abyss, until it met her.

Her first words to it were, "You’re pretty disgusting to look at."

But she wasn’t put off by it. Instead, she helped it modify its body.

"Put the body you’re possessing in the very center, then wrap it in the illusions of sound you create."

The core was very obedient. It chose Purple crystals, the same color as her, and wrapped its body in layer after layer.

"That’s much better," she said, praising the core’s new appearance.

She taught the core many things and told it that they were friends who should help each other.

This was the first time the core had gained a "friend."

It had drifted in sound for a long, long time, utterly alone. The sounds were all wonderful, but none of them could talk back.

His friend took the core exploring through the Abyss, allowing it to rediscover the world from the perspective of a normal creature. Through this, it came to understand the ways various beings communicated.

Not only that, but it also learned many new sounds, causing its power to grow even stronger.

Until one day, his friend told the core she was leaving. She wanted to see a newly-born species of creature that she was very fond of.

But she was gone for a long time and didn’t return. The core suddenly lost its purpose, so it tried to make other friends.

But these new friends, while very friendly at first, would slowly begin to despise it.

"You’re too disgusting."

"Stay away from me."

"I’m sorry, I can’t stand you anymore."

All the friendships it made were short-lived; they all eventually left.

So the core decided to stop making friends. It built a tower on the 2nd Floor of the Abyss, hid itself inside, and created a world of sound where it could research all manner of noises.

Most importantly, it was studying itself.

What did it truly represent?

Every sound had a meaning, a source, but it didn’t know where it itself came from.

It mimicked itself, creating many similar sound-creatures.

But these sound-creatures lacked the core’s intelligence. They were more like beasts and often caused destruction, so it threw them down to the 3rd Floor of the Abyss.

Its research continued, but it made no progress. It still couldn’t figure out its own source, as if it had appeared from thin air.

It was then that his friend found it again and asked it to impart its power to humans. The core readily agreed.

"We’re friends, we should help each other."

The core thought things would continue like this forever.

But after humanity’s power over language began to fade, she visited less and less, and her conversations with the core became increasingly perfunctory.

The core had no choice but to bring her into its world of sound, wanting to show her its creations—all the wonderful sounds that belonged to it.

But she was completely uninterested.

The core was at a loss. In its desperation, it tried a wild idea: it used sound to create the thing she loved most—humans.

But this act only drew her fury.

"The humans you create are disgusting!"

"And your world is utterly hideous!"

"Just like you! So! Incredibly! DISGUSTING!"