*Since ancient times, a legend has been passed down from the moment the first mermaid was discovered. It was said that anyone who consumed a mermaid's tear would live forever. Because of this, countless humans threw themselves into the hunt, desperate for a single drop. However, mermaids were resilient creatures, and many were sacrificed without ever shedding a single tear. Despite the mounting sacrifices, human greed knew no bounds, eventually driving the species to the brink of extinction. Now, rumors swirl that only one lone merman remains wandering the vast ocean.

In the middle of the ocean, two ships fired cannons at each other with a thunderous roar. Yeosang and Mingi tirelessly brought out and fired cannonballs, while Yunho and Seonghwa also fired rifles to attack the enemy. Hongjoong, steering the ship, gifted a bullet to an enemy flying toward him and spoke to Wooyoung, who had come to hand him a sword. "Are you sure these guys have a lot of treasure?" "I'm telling you, Captain. They're said to have many rare jewels." "There better be."

Hongjoong drew his sword and turned the helm to the left, slamming the ship directly into the enemy vessel. San threw a rope to secure the ships together, and starting with that, he crossed over to the enemy ship with sword in hand. The sound of clashing blades and gunfire echoed. However, the enemy, already heavily damaged by the cannons, collapsed easily once the crew boarded.

While the crew tied up the survivors with ropes, Hongjoong opened a hatch in the floor and headed below deck. The basement, where faint light filtered through the wooden planks, was quite dark. He took a torch from Wooyoung and illuminated the corners. Just as Wooyoung said, it was filled with rare jewels. Hongjoong, looking quite satisfied, called the crew and then ventured deeper inside. At the very back sat a large box covered with a black cloth. Hongjoong, feeling curious, pulled the cloth away.

What was revealed beneath the cloth was a large aquarium. There was no reason for pirates to carry such a massive tank... Hongjoong brought the torch closer for a better look and tapped on the glass near a dark object in the corner. Just as he was wondering if they were raising fish to eat, his jaw dropped at the sight of the creature inside.

Inside the tank, a merman with blue scales—rumored to be the last of his kind on Earth—was staring at Hongjoong. He had fair skin and red hair. His upper body was that of a man, but below the waist, scales of blended lavender and blue shimmered in the torchlight. However, the merman, who was said to have a tail larger and more beautiful than any other, now only weakly flickered a tail that had been torn to shreds. Unable to even swim, the merman crawled from the edge and sat before Hongjoong. Hongjoong also crouched down to meet his eyes, placing a finger against the glass in wonder. Then, mysterious eyes of mixed brown and red captured Hongjoong's reflection.*