Lansi dozed off.
He wasn't sure if this was because he had only recently been born. Aside from feeling hungry, Lansi felt unusually tired.
When he thought about it, Lansi realized he was actually quite pitiful.
There was no one to feed or care for him. Only that "octopus" seemed to be keeping an eye on him.
Who would have guessed? Maybe the "octopus" had mistaken Lansi for one of its food reserves.
Lansi felt a little worried. That worry came from something he had dreamed about. He had dreamed he was in hell, overwhelmed with regret for never having watched the American drama Prison Break.
After waking up, Lansi cautiously poked his head out of the sea anemone and surveyed his surroundings.
That processed tentacle was still there, and no others were in sight. It seemed Lansi was the only one in the coral prison.
He sighed in relief and swam away from the anemone. Then he approached the tentacle and solemnly crawled around it.
Why was he crawling instead of swimming? Simply put, he still didn't know how to swim properly.
The tentacle was nearly a meter long and just as tall. Lansi suddenly had an idea.
The main character in The Shawshank Redemption had dug a hole in the wall and covered it with a poster.
He could do the same.
Lansi pushed the tentacle with all his strength until it reached the edge of the coral prison. He stepped back and studied its placement. Would the "octopus" notice?
It turned out that the "octopus" didn't watch him constantly. As long as Lansi avoided making any large movements, it didn't react.
To be safe, Lansi swam a lap around the prison to check that the "octopus" was nowhere in sight. Then he returned and hid behind the tentacle. Once more, he began scratching at the coral bone, producing a sound like ka-chak ka-chak.
Last time, he hadn't noticed the "octopus" returning because he'd been too focused on digging. He wasn't going to repeat that mistake. This time, he would scurry out of his hole every now and then to check if the "octopus" was nearby. When he sensed no danger, he would return to his escape mission.
At the same time, Lansi remembered some of the tricks used by the protagonist in The Shawshank Redemption. Every time he dug, Lansi kept a neat pile of coral dust and fragments beside him. That way, he left no trace of his digging.
"Growl~~"
His stomach rumbled again.
After several trips back and forth, Lansi was exhausted. He crawled out of the shallow hole, covered it with the tentacle, and collapsed on top of it.
Ugh... so tired... so hungry...
Lansi hadn't eaten anything since his "birth."
He was as fragile as a twig, ready to snap at the slightest pressure.
He sat on the skinned tentacle for a long time. Eventually, he noticed something—this tentacle smelled remarkably fresh. It didn't have the fishy odor he expected.
After a while, Lansi gave in and took a bite.
His eyes lit up like stars.
The tentacle tasted just like takoyaki. It was slightly rubbery but didn't stick to his teeth. It was all flesh—no bones, nothing else. He felt satisfied after just one bite.
Without a second thought, Lansi took another. He wagged his tail in delight as he chewed.
Just as he was about to take a third bite, he froze.
He stared at the tentacle for a long moment. In the end, unable to think of a better solution, he started eating from the other end, taking only a small bite.
What if the tentacle shrank after he finished eating?
Worried, Lansi held back. He wouldn't eat more until he was sure it wouldn't disappear.
...
After his meal, Lansi lay on the sand, facing upward, and gazed at the blue water above. His thoughts drifted far away.
The ocean is divided into four zones based on how much light penetrates the water: the daylight zone, the twilight zone, the midnight zone, and the deep trenches.
The twilight zone sits between light and darkness. Any deeper, and everything becomes colder and darker.
With what little he knew, Lansi guessed he was somewhere between the twilight zone and the midnight zone.
That alone was proof of how resilient a mermaid's body was. He wasn't even cold.
Lansi was lost in thought when he noticed the surroundings had darkened even further. As expected, another tentacle dropped from the prison's opening above.
"..."
Lansi wasn't far from the tentacle. When it suddenly lifted—just a meter from him—he quickly fled into the sea anemone.
The tentacle didn't move.
Then it began to sway slightly, as if hesitating to get closer. It turned instead toward the half-eaten tentacle.
Lansi's heart skipped a beat inside the anemone.
Was this octopus a clean freak?
The tentacle hadn't been fully eaten. Why was it being taken away so soon?
"AI—KA—"
Panic struck him. If the tentacle was removed, the "octopus" might discover he'd been digging again.
Lansi rushed out, crying out at the tentacle.
It paused, turned, and seemed to "look" at Lansi for a few seconds.
Lansi nervously met its gaze.
Maybe because Lansi had rejected it earlier, the tentacle decided to clean up the half-eaten food anyway.
Damn. Why was this "octopus" so stubborn?
Lansi looked around in desperation. His eyes finally landed on the pearl hidden inside the anemone.
Wasn't that the thing the tentacle had given him for comfort?
Without hesitation, Lansi grabbed the fist-sized pearl and hurled it at the tentacle.
Bam!
His aim was perfect.
The tentacle turned its attention back to Lansi after being hit.
The pearl fell onto the sand, glowing with a pale white light.
Both the fish and the tentacle stared, momentarily stunned.
Lansi swam forward. Out of the anemone, he cried pitifully at the tentacle, trying to stop it from taking the half-eaten food.
The cry was soft and pleading, a sound that could melt hearts with its innocence.
It seemed to have worked. If the "octopus" had a heart, it might have turned away from the food in that moment.
But the tentacle clearly misunderstood Lansi's intention.
It wrapped around the pearl, picked it up, and tossed it back at him.
"..."
The pearl landed near his tail. Lansi looked at it, then glanced back at the tentacle.
Cringing, he picked up the pearl and smiled awkwardly. Then he threw it again.
The tentacle seemed delighted by this gesture. It quickly retrieved the pearl and threw it back.
Lansi stared at it in disbelief.
Was he really playing catch with a tentacle?
He caught the pearl expressionlessly this time and tossed it away in a random direction.
As expected, the tentacle chased after it. This time, it decided to tease him.
Instead of throwing it back, it held onto the pearl and slowly moved closer.
Lansi wanted to scream, but when he remembered the hidden escape tunnel behind him, he held his ground.
He watched, eyes wide, as the tentacle drew near.
It finally stopped half a meter away and gently offered the pearl.
Lansi stared at the rough limb and the glowing pearl.
After a moment, he took a deep breath and accepted it.
It was his first time making contact with the tentacle, and he couldn't forget the coarse texture.
In human fairy tales, octopi were never the good guys. Cthulhu, evil wizards, Ursula—each a different kind of octopus.
But strangely, after that one interaction, Lansi started to feel the "octopus" was kind of... gentle?
Startled by his own thought, he shook his head as if to drive it out. Then he threw the pearl again.
In human society, such a pearl would cause a sensation. But here, in the deep sea, it was just a toy.
After a long game of catch, the tentacle returned the pearl to Lansi.
Although it had no face, Lansi was sure the tentacle was beaming. Its color had lightened.
As it finally turned to leave, it gave Lansi a gentle pat on the head. Lansi didn't resist.
But just before it left, it moved toward the half-eaten tentacle to clean it away.
This time, Lansi was furious.
He had even played that childish game to keep it around—why was it still trying to take his food?
He rushed over and sat on the half-eaten tentacle. Then he placed the pearl on it, directly in front of the other tentacle.
Surely it would understand now.
The tentacle paused.
From what Lansi could tell, it almost looked conflicted, spinning in small circles.
Finally, it respected Lansi's decision and left the food alone.
Lansi watched it go and let out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, his escape tunnel remained undiscovered.