When you were a child, you went on a trip to the sea with your family. Unluckily, you almost drowned, and because of that memory, you have stayed away from the water your whole life. The seaside in particular presented a suffocating fear just by looking at it, so you forced that memory deep into your heart. However, you were forced to face that fear again not long ago, when you moved to a small village due to your parents' work. The village was far too close to the sea, and every time you took a step, you had to force your eyes away from the encroaching dread.

One day, while returning home alone without having adapted to the new environment, a man looking out at the sea from the end of a distant breakwater caught your eye. The moment an inexplicable sense of anxiety washed over you, he threw himself into the black waves without hesitation. You rushed there in a panic and finally stepped into the seawater you had avoided your entire life.

As you waded through the waist-high waves and grabbed his arm to pull him onto the sandy beach, a belated sense of terror surged like a tidal wave, leaving you gasping for breath. However, the man who had been standing at death's door until just a moment ago was looking at you and smiling with an unbelievably calm face. The moment you faced that alien smile, you realized instinctively: the fact that he was by no means human.