Transmigrated as the Cuck.... WTF!!!

"Don't tell me all that confidence of yours was just a bluff," Denus said, his voice carrying a mockery wrapped in silk. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not scared of your gorge, Denus. I'm assessing your situation. There's a difference." My gaze swept over the edge into the abyss, then back at him. "Don't you think plunging into that without proper training is a death sentence? And half of the merfolk here can't even lift a weapon correctly. You can see that yourself."

I tilted my chin toward the group behind us. One young man's trident wobbled in his grip like he was holding a it for the first time in his life.

Another was clutching the weapon's head so tightly his knuckles had gone pale. The rest… the rest couldn't hide their trembling.

Their tails flicked nervously, their eyes kept darting toward the endless gorge as though it might suddenly reach up and swallow them whole.

Denus shook his head slowly, the smirk gone. "It's a necessity," he said, his tone flat but unwavering. "Without sacrifice, there's no greatness. Without sacrifice, our dreams are nothing but air."

I sighed, letting the breath roll out in a long stream. "There's a fine line between sacrifice and stupidity. You're on the wrong side of it."

My voice hardened. "This isn't sacrifice—it's suicide. These people don't even have the fundamentals. They can't hold a weapon right, they've never fought in water this deep, and you're throwing them straight into what you call the 'death land.' How is that supposed to yield anything other than a pile of corpses?"

His eyes locked on mine. The mockery was gone now, replaced by a steely resolve. His voice dropped low.

"This is training too. The kind that can't be learned in safety. Life and death forge warriors faster than a hundred drills. Yes, I know many will die here. They know it too."

His jaw tightened. "But those who survive… those few will rise to the top of the food chain. Stronger and sharper. More capable than any coddled soldier."

My lips curled, ready to retort, but I stopped myself. We'd already laid our ideals on the table, and no amount of words was going to move either of us today. My silence said as much.

Denus took that as his cue to turn away from me and face the group. His voice rang out, deep and unflinching.

"Brethren," he began, his gaze sweeping across each tense, pale face. "Today, we plunge once again into this hellhole. We fight with our lives hanging by a thread. I know you are scared—so am I. But fear alone cannot define us."

He lifted his trident slightly, the motion crisp and deliberate. "Think of your families. Think of your parents, your siblings, your friends. Think of your wives and your children, and the way they are treated by the other merfolk. Ask yourselves—would your life mean anything if you cannot protect the ones you love?"

He paused mid-breath, his eyes glinting with something between fury and fire, before roaring, "TELL ME! WOULD IT AMOUNT TO ANYTHING?"

The gorge echoed with the collective shout that followed, a thunderous wave of defiance: "NO, IT WOULDN'T AMOUNT TO ANYTHING! AND WE WILL PROUDLY GIVE OUR LIVES FOR OUR FUTURE!"

A satisfied smile curved Denus's lips at the sound of their voices, fierce and unshaken. "Good," he said, almost tenderly. Then his tone sharpened, cutting through the water like a blade. "Then let's move into the Endless Gorge. It's time for a hunt."

"Yeahhh!!!"

The roar fractured into a flurry of movement as they dove together, tails slicing the water. Even those still gripping their weapons like amateurs hurled themselves forward, the sudden surge of adrenaline making them bolder than their skill could justify.

I let out a slow sigh, shaking my head. At least they were motivated now, though motivation was a poor substitute for competence. Still, I followed, my body slipping down with the current into the maw of the gorge.

The descent began in light—muted and pale but still enough to see each silhouette. That fragile comfort lasted until we crossed an invisible threshold. One moment, there was water and shadow. The next—nothing but endless black swallowing everything whole.

"Everyone stay together and stay silent," Denus's voice came as a low whisper, thick with caution. "Be aware of any sound you make. And don't use lights here—we'd only attract attention."

They must have nodded in acknowledgment, though I couldn't see it. In this kind of dark, nods were as useful as smoke signals in the deep.

"Also," Denus added after a pause, "if you get lost, swim straight up without waiting for others. And…"—his voice tightened—"…don't listen to every voice you hear down here. If you hear one speaking in single words… run. Immediately."

That was interesting to hear. A valuable piece of information.

We pressed on, deeper into the black. Time bled away without measure. My sense of distance collapsed. There were no landmarks, no prey, nothing—only the oppressive silence. It was too empty.

'Something's been here before us,' I thought. 'Something big enough to clear the hunting grounds entirely. And stronger prey is never a good thing.'

We still moved downward until Denus's voice cut through. "Stop. Don't go deeper than this level. Any further and the danger becomes… much worse."

A sound stirred in the dark—a swirl, a rush—and suddenly the faint sense of the group around me was gone. Scattered.

"Seriously?" I muttered under my breath. I couldn't believe how idiotic this was. In a place like this, separation was a gift to whatever monsters waited here.

I knew the logic, I could guess—too close together in this darkness, and you risk harming your own. But between that and being picked off alone by something lurking in the gorge? The choice was obvious.

Still, they scattered like fools.

I exhaled through my nose. Fine. I'd make use of the situation. I needed to grow stronger, and if this hellhole could help me train, then I'd take the risk.

"System Profile…" I called in my mind, waiting for the familiar chime and glow.

Nothing.

The silence pressed harder.

My brows knit. "What? Why…?" I thought quickly. It couldn't be the darkness alone—my system worked fine even when my eyes were closed. So what was different here?

I pushed the thought aside. If the system had chosen now to go silent, fine—I'd rely on my own senses. I reached out with my mana, feeling the invisible threads in the water, searching for the faint, elusive glimmer of those amethyst orbs I'd sensed before.

But I couldn't sense them… only a vague silhouette of white orbs glistened in the surrounding.

No, they weren't white.