Parang tapped on her phone.
“Silo operators, are you watching the stream right now?”
The response didn’t come through chat but as a restricted sender text.
– Yes.
“Then could you turn the drawing I just sent into a 3D model and apply it to ‘Sakis’?”
If anyone could do it, it would definitely be them.
– Understood. Please wait a moment.
A little time passed, and a reply came back.
– Done. Now, when Sakis comes into camera view, it will automatically recognize and change to the image you sent.
“Could you display it now as a test?”
Reacting in the chat room, the comments started popping up.
– Wow
– It’s cute!
– Adorable!
– Squishy lol
– Jiggly lol
The drawing Parang sent depicted a Monster Fish.
Monster Fish, Umoo.
A species of flapjack octopus, known as Umoo in Korean, mutated into this form.
It’s big and cute. It’s a bit simplified, but it looks exactly like the picture Parang sent.
Its personality is indecisive and lazy, just floating around aimlessly in the water all day.
Just as Gorgon confidently holds the title of the worst Monster Fish, Umoo consistently clinches the top spot in the “cutest Monster Fish” surveys.
Bambaspis always comes in second.
Its real size is about 20m.
It’s roughly the size of the giant rubber duck that once floated down the Han River.
Well, anyway.
What’s important is that Umoo is cute.
It’s also Parang’s favorite Monster Fish.
Unlike the other Monster Fish, whose names are all derived from Latin scientific names, Umoo has a Korean name because Parang named it.
That’s why Parang swapped Sakis for Umoo.
Even if the behavior is disgusting, it balances out when the appearance is cute.
And Parang also gets benefits.
Tap, tap—
After giving her stomach a light two taps, something clicked out.
Cyberpunk-style goggles.
Taking off the device she usually wore to view the chat box and putting on the goggles changed Parang’s vision.
In front of her floated a meticulously made Umoo.
The quality was much higher than she had expected.
[I can’t believe this is for what.]
That was Parang’s thought when she received these goggles from Silo earlier.
Synchronizing the broadcast screen with her vision? That’s as crazy as it gets.
Because of the delay. No matter how good the broadcasting equipment, relaying Parang’s broadcast live from the depths of the sea was difficult, meaning there would inevitably be a time lag between the scene on the screen and Parang’s view.
Still, it’s a vast improvement over Yuna’s handmade equipment, as the difference between the broadcast screen and Parang’s actual view is only about a second.
But that one-second delay is always present.
How fatal that could be in combat is something you don’t need to be told.
Of course, it’s extremely inconvenient in everyday situations too.
But Parang hated the idea of visually seeing Sakis more than the delay in her vision.
In the compartment she was about to enter, speedily fast-paced battles wouldn’t dictate victory or defeat in every instant.
Taking a deep breath, Parang entered the next compartment.
#
– Wow
– It’s cute!
– Squishy lol
– Jiggly lol
The reactions in the chat were ecstatic.
That was due to the sight revealed the moment she entered the second compartment.
In a room structured like the last one, there were numerous Monster Fish.
So far, so good, but…
Bloop— bloop—
Green jellies about 30cm in size floated all over the train.
They were adorable.
With slightly angry looks yet somehow silly expressions, they had plump green bodies that seemed fun to poke.
Those jellies were intermittently bumping into each other and the walls, wobbling around the various Monster Fish.
Countless numbers. Almost half water, half fish.
Viewers were trying their best to forget that it was actually full of whale worms.
Parang wanted to forget that fact as well, but it wasn’t easy.
‘Looks like their population increased.’
After the broadcast ends, a major cleanup would be necessary.
Dooow—
A monotonous mechanical voice indicating that it hadn’t yet found the Slayers flowed from her chest.
‘Huh….’
Despite how much she disliked it, Parang knew she had to explore this compartment fully.
She swam quickly.
After some time passed,
– ‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 10,000 won! –
[ Why do they look like that? Something seems very off. ]
– No joke.
– What is that?
– Creepy, but in a way.
The viewers sensed a strange atmosphere.
It was something Parang had anticipated and was waiting for.
That the viewers would notice the anomaly in this compartment.
– Why are they like that?
– That’s scary.
– Teacher, please explain quickly; I’m terrified.
Among all the countless Monster Fish in this spacious compartment, not a single one was swimming.
They were floating listlessly with blank eyes, like corpses. Some even seemed to be truly dead, belly up and still.
“I think you’ve noticed, so I’ll explain.”
Parang continued calmly.
“The only living thing in this compartment is Sakis. The rest are all corpses.”
She moved closer to a nearby pufferfish Monster Fish.
Its entire body was puffed up, as if something inside was moving, the skin twitching incessantly.
Parang grabbed her harpoon and sliced it in half. Then,
Bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop…
Countless Umoo poured out from inside.
It seemed they had completely filled the inside.
“All the Monster Fish you see here are in this state.”
“Ah, would you look over there?” Parang said, turning back toward the entrance.
After getting into position, a Monster Fish coming in through the entrance caught her eye.
“That one might be lost or fleeing.”
As soon as it entered, a green jelly swimming around sped up to it and—
Whoosh—
It embedded its head into the creature’s skin.
Then it swam off again, propelling itself.
It was a cute sight, but all the viewers could do was gasp in horror.
Because, in less than 30 seconds, that Monster Fish had changed into the same state as the others.
With blank eyes, it floated lifelessly.
“It’s dead.”
– ?
– What?
– Excuse me?
“I’ll show you in detail.”
Parang grabbed hold of one of the nearby Umoo.
It felt strange, as the actual touch and the graphics she saw were dramatically different.
It squirmed, trying to poke its head into Parang’s arm.
It was trying to burrow into her skin.
Of course, that wouldn’t work. Parang held it and returned to the first compartment because she had a certain fish to check on.
After a while, she stopped in front of a Monster Fish.
“I’m going to put it inside this one.”
In front of Parang was a transparent Monster Fish.
Deep-sea fish often lack melanin and appear transparent due to living in environments devoid of light.
The Monster Fish in front of Parang was just that.
It was about 10m long and looked like an ordinary fish. So, it resembled what we think of as a standard fish shape.
However, its skin was transparent, revealing its inner organs clearly. Bones, intestines, brain, and so on.
Parang stared at it quietly.
“See? Just how dangerous the deep sea is.”
Parang placed the Umoo she had brought inside the transparent Monster Fish.
Saying more precisely, she set it around the Monster Fish.
Umoo seemed to take a moment to assess its surroundings.
Then, thunk.
It made contact with the transparent Monster Fish.
Simultaneously, Umoo quickly rubbed up against the transparent fish.
Once the graphics faded, the whale worm’s head could be seen trying to push into the fish’s skin.
Parang desperately denied that fact.
And as soon as Umoo fully slid into the transparent Monster Fish…
Squash!
Umoo started taking huge bites out of the transparent Monster Fish’s flesh.
With its cheeks puffed out, it was chomping it down.
Then, gulp—
As it swallowed, another Umoo popped out from its mouth.
Bloop—
Countless Umoo kept appearing.
The newly hatched Umoo also began to devour the flesh of the transparent Monster Fish, spitting out Umoos one by one.
Bloop, bloop—
Woosh—
Nom, nom, nom….
After about 15 seconds, the insides of the fish were completely filled with Umoo.
All internal organs, including the bones, had been mercilessly devoured. The insides looked like a pouch stuffed with Umoo.
Of course, the brain was also part of this story. The transparent fish, having been completely devoured inside, floated lifelessly in the water.
The people were continuously working hard to not let the image of Umoo that they had just seen be replaced with images of whale worms in their minds.
Parang, having sliced open the transparent Monster Fish and completely annihilated the Umoo inside, then spoke.
“Do you want to end up like this?”
No one in the audience replied ‘yes’ to that question.
#
Parang finished searching the second compartment.
To be precise, she was almost done.
Only one location remained.
Once again, it was under the train seats.
“Okay… I’m going in.”
Having seen everything so far, the viewers waited nervously.
As Parang entered beneath the seats, what she found was more than enough to shock all the viewers.
– What the hell is that?
– What even is that?
– What kind of creature is that?
A red body, large eyes, and an awkward appearance.
A T-shaped Monster Fish was staring straight at Parang.
“Uh… what is this….”
Parang trailed off.
‘How should I explain this?’
‘This is a T-shaped Monster Fish.’ It wouldn’t do to explain it like that.
She fell into thought.
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