Boom-! Boom-! Puffpuffboom-!!
“Well, that’s a bit disgusting.”
Unlike the Force, subduing Makula was surprisingly simple. Parang tossed droplets into its mouth, and it gulped them down, bursting from the inside and dying.
In fact, if the goal was just to hunt, throwing droplets into every hole of the object would have sufficed.
The reason for not doing it wasn’t a secret; Parang knew, the viewers knew, and the recently deceased Makula knew.
Parang retrieved the teeth from the pulverized corpse of Makula.
– Why isn’t it squirming?
– Right? Didn’t it come out of the gate?
– No way…
And “no way” was correct.
“Makula was actually a creature that existed on Earth. It mutated under the influence of the gate.”
Parang said nonchalantly. It’s not that they had become indifferent to the broadcast.
It was just that the dream they had the night before was so awful. Normally, it wouldn’t have bothered them, but since they set off, their head had been pounding, and now it was unbearable.
Even for Parang, swimming non-stop for 24 hours while experiencing this level of stress without transforming was exhausting.
“Um, everyone. I guess I was more tired than I thought. It might be better to start the next broadcast when we arrive at the next object. So, see you later.”
– No way, teacher, are you leaving again like this?”
– Didn’t you just say you wouldn’t end the stream suddenly this time!?!
“Ah, it’s nothing special, I just want to take a quick nap. What could you possibly gain from watching me sleep?”
– A lot!
– Please do an Asleep Stream!
– Director!!! I’m in a hurry!!!
“Not happening.”
Click.
The broadcast turned off.
Honestly, they wanted to keep it on until the end, but sleeping in front of everyone was a bit much.
Parang swam smoothly, cutting through the water. Their head still throbbed.
Fortunately, there was a lodge they often used nearby.
#
Pitch black, dark, shadowy.
Parang arrived in a black space that could be called any of those things.
It was inside an underwater cave.
The current depth was 3km. Perfect depth for a nap… or not, but still.
This was Parang’s favorite lodging. Whenever they swim to Hong Kong, they always use this place.
There were no carnivorous monsters around here. Even the common Bellua didn’t exist in this area.
Because of another monster that firmly held the cave.
Boom- Boom-
Parang lay on top of a gigantic jellyfish.
It was Aurityra. A species of moon jellyfish that mutated under the influence of the gate.
They live in schools in dark sections of at least 2.5km depth.
They aren’t particularly carnivorous and are soft and bouncy when lay down.
Moreover, they glow in the pitch-black water.
In fact, before Parang, who was lying there, the universe unfolded.
Countless jellyfish twinkled as if they were about to spill. Upwards, downwards, everywhere. Squishy stars floated languidly.
Their nature was leisurely and gentle, moving only about 5cm per hour at best. This matched their original species.
The reason they aren’t eaten by other species is due to their entire body exuding extreme toxins that dye the space itself.
Ordinary monsters can’t last more than 30 seconds in Aurityra’s territory.
[Skill, ‘Crystal Clear’ is active.]
Not a concern for Parang, the swimming human water purifier.
Lying on the cozy jellyfish, Parang closed their eyes… then opened them again.
They saw something extremely awkward floating between the glowing jellyfish.
It was a monster Parang had never seen before.
It wasn’t surprising in itself. New species of monsters are discovered almost every day. Among them, there must be one that can withstand Aurityra’s poison.
However, its appearance was very bizarre.
…
Parang stared silently at it as it floated quietly underwater.
What shape should it be described as? A T? No, since the top and bottom lengths weren’t very different, it was more accurate to say a ㅜ shape. In the center of the ㅜ-formed body, where the horizontal and vertical lines intersected, was a gigantic eyeball.
When compared to the jellyfish right next to it, it was 10m vertically, 20m horizontally. Not particularly large for a monster.
Parang approached closer.
Now they could see the monster’s appearance in more detail. Whether it was muscle or flesh, its body was made of a bright red meat chunk. Upon closer inspection, it almost resembled coral or an anemone. Parang snapped a picture.
Then sent it to Vertea. Whatever comes out will come out.
Swoosh-
This time, Parang stuck right up to the mysterious monster. Its eyeball didn’t seem to move, and even when Parang stretched out their hand to touch it, it didn’t react at all.
It seemed it didn’t detect vibrations or heat.
So, Parang reached out and poked it.
Then,
With a sudden movement, the eye shifted to look at Parang.
Although it was surprising, Parang didn’t move an inch. To be honest, they had experienced weirder things before.
What was more surprising was the texture of this unknown ㅜ monster.
It was hard and rough, with red powder becoming smeared on Parang’s suit glove.
If they had to find something akin to it… chalk or a stone?
Well, they’d find out by trying to kill it. Parang generated air bubbles, burst them, and shot straight up into position to jab a harpoon into its eye.
Since its eye was solely following Parang, it naturally hit right in the center of the pupil.
Whoosh-! Blood sprayed out, drenching Parang, then vanished into thin air.
And the monster sank.
From this, Parang felt more than three things.
First. If this were a monster that came out of the gate, it should have vanished into light upon death, leaving behind a magic stone. But it didn’t.
Second. Then, this creature is a lifeform that already existed on Earth. But did such a lifeform exist in the deep sea?
Well, it probably belongs to a similar category. More bizarrely abnormal than just disgusting, it has an uncomfortable vibe about it, as if it shouldn’t really be called a lifeform…
Third. What should they eat in Hong Kong? This one’s just to match all three. Three things are perfect. Heaven, Earth, and Human, Delicate, Fish, Home.
There were some nervous points, but the monster itself is a collection of inherently nervous things. Parang didn’t read much into it.
Parang grabbed the jellyfish beside them and fell into a deep sleep.
#
Some time later.
[ LIVE – Swimming to Hong Kong ]
Parang’s broadcast turned on.
– Me
– Me
– Rock
– Me
– Rock
– Rock
“I woke up feeling refreshed. Let’s go again.”
underwater, Parang’s mind is invincible. No one swims better than them.
They are the embodiment of ‘My Way’.
“The second monster I catch won’t be that disgusting.”
This is true. The one they’re about to catch isn’t particularly disgusting.
– Finally
– Can’t believe it
– Is there anyone who believes this?
– ‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 1000 won! –
[ I’m not falling for it anymore, teacher! Just tell me when to close my eyes quickly! ]
“Um, it’s true. Look.”
With a noise, Parang quickly spun the camera. Suddenly, a giant black something appeared on the once deep blue screen.
“This is the one we’re going to catch this time.”
– Yikes, that gave me a fright.
– ? What is that?
– Seriously? What the heck is that?
“Um, uh. That was too close. Let me back up and show you.”
With that said, Parang backed up at an incredible speed…
“Ta-da, everyone. It’s Rassius.”
– Uh…
– Hm…
– Um…
The chat was confused. The reason was simple.
If it’s disgusting, they can criticize and say, “What the hell are you talking about, teacher? If it’s not disgusting, they can shout, “Damn it, Yu Parang!! I love you!!” But it was ambiguous.
Should they consider this disgusting or not?
Something… is something.
What they saw, the black thing, was the monster’s mouth.
Rassius.
Also famously known among people as the ‘Balloon Eel’ underwent a mutation.
In Parang’s past life, it was quite a celebrity.
If there’s a YouTube video like ‘Top 5 Strangest Deep-Sea Fish’ it’s a guarantee that this fella will definitely feature.
It collects fish by opening its enormous mouth, which occupies approximately a tenth of its body length, a hunting method that can’t be seen anywhere other than in the deep sea.
Now, that’s grown to 50 times its original size, measuring a whopping 100m.
When its mouth opens, just the jaw length is 10m.
– But it looks nothing like the balloon eel I know?
– Right? Wasn’t its mouth smaller?
– Just mutated, right?
Quite a few people recognized it because of its celebrity status. But Rassius was indeed just an absurdly oversized balloon eel.
As with most creatures mutated by the gate, the basic shape of the original is maintained but grows immensely and has strange abilities added.
This just reflects the public’s misconceptions.
Commonly known as “an eel whose jaw is more than one-third of its body length” is the pelican eel.
It’s a completely different species, but it’s got lumped together under the general term “big-mouthed and long-bodied deep-sea fish,” turning them into one vague category.
Whether it’s pelican eel or balloon eel, they’ve both been done wrong.
Parang brought up the knowledge gleaned from Vertea.
“Both share a common trait of swallowing anything that fits into their mouths but differ in that the balloon eel has a pouch to store food in its body while the pelican eel just stuffs food inside.”
In fact, it would be clear if they went inside to show, Parang added.
– Huh?
– Huh?
– “Why don’t we just go inside to see?”
– Huh?
In truth, they had planned on going inside even before starting the stream.
Because there was something they wanted to experience inside.
But that was a surprise. So, they put on a front.
“This object likely resides within Rassius.”
Though they said “likely,” it could be considered a 100% certainty from Parang’s perspective. It was much easier for Parang to just kill Rassius outright and sink the body along with the object.
– Completely understood.
– (didn’t understand)
– Huh?
“I think it’s better to just go in and explain.”
With that statement, Parang dove straight into the open mouth of Rassius.
– ‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 3000 won! –
[ In the end, it’s about ‘Let’s go see!’ right? Lol ]
“This time, I’m serious.”
To be honest, they were right. Parang felt a bit awkward.
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