Just like a pelican has a pelican-like mouth, a balloon eel also has a real balloon on its body.
The size is a whopping 70% of its body. When fully inflated, it can fit food up to five times its own size inside.
So, a Rassius that is 100m long could theoretically consume a 450m long sperm whale.
In reality, since it has a huge appetite, if the two meet, Rassius would probably eat the sperm whale for real.
Whether it can digest it is a different issue, but anyway.
Parang entered Rassius.
Naturally, it was pitch dark all around, so she turned on a flashlight.
Suddenly, the area brightened, revealing the scenery inside.
– It’s cleaner inside than I expected?
The inside was indeed cleaner than expected. Well, of course, it looked a bit slim from the outside earlier. It must have been in a state of hunger.
And here was Parang, inside the stomach of a hungry monster. Why?
Because there’s an object here. Originally, Rassius is a species that doesn’t exceed 30m in length. But if it’s 100m, well, say no more.
It’s probably swallowed the object and kept it inside. It devours everything in its path without restraint. This unfortunate habit of the balloon eel, which has maxed out its stats, can be sad to witness.
– But why is it so cramped despite being able to swallow whales?
– I’m genuinely suffocating here.
“Right now, it’s like being inside a deflated balloon. The size inside adjusts based on the size of the food.”
And of course, Rassius doesn’t consider a Parang, who is just about 1.6m long, as food at all.
As evidence, the digestive fluids weren’t even released inside Rassius’s pouch.
From Parang’s point of view, it didn’t matter much.
She continued her explanation while shining the flashlight.
In the pitch black darkness, only a small space illuminated by the round light was visible.
“Because Rassius’s pouch is incredibly elastic, it doesn’t need to be large. In fact, if it’s too big, it just gets in the way of swimming.”
In reality, a balloon eel that hasn’t inflated looks just like a regular eel with a big mouth. The swimming part is a bit different. The base species of balloon eel suffers in swimming abilities due to maxing out its mouth stats.
So usually, like other ribbonfish or eel species, it stands upright and uses bioluminescent organs at the tail to attract and catch prey.
But that’s the story of the balloon eel. Rassius, on the other hand, is a top predator in the monster fish world. Its swimming speed is at the average level of the deep sea.
So if it can fit inside like Parang, it’s like getting free subway rides in the deep sea.
In fact, Parang had tried it a few times. The direction was random, so it didn’t have much practical use.
– Why would you even try that?
– “Let’s just do it.”
– Seriously, what an absurd idea…
Parang smiled happily and glanced at the chat window.
There were no messages indicating anyone was stopping their diving. A bit off-putting.
Maybe they really need a catchphrase for this. Something like “Scary sea, don’t dive” would be appropriate.
Parang found the chat window a bit annoying for a moment.
“Then, this time let’s experience what it feels like to be digested inside Rassius. Think of it like ASMR as you listen.”
– ?
– ?
– ???
– What?
– Huh?
Parang looked around for a moment, then exclaimed, “Ah, here it is,” as she pointed the camera towards a corner. It vaguely resembled a person’s uvula.
“There are several pillars inside Rassius’s pouch. When the pouch gets full, the food inside touches the pillars, and when the pillars bend, it triggers the release of digestive fluids.”
Parang said this dully.
“Now, I’m going to touch this, and you’ll experience the feeling of being digested. If it’s scary enough, it might kill your urge to dive.”
– I definitely don’t want to now.
“It’s too late.”
Parang went to the top of the meat pillar, grabbed it, and slammed it down to the ground.
The meat pillar fell back down, almost flat on the floor.
As long as it stays like this, the digestive fluid will keep spilling out.
“Now, water inside will gradually drain, and the space will be filled with highly acidic digestive fluid. It’s about ten times more acidic than human stomach acid.”
– So, the pH is 0.5?
“Something like that.”
According to Vertea, it must be reliable.
Anyway, Parang started being digested inside the monster fish.
Brrrr—
“That’s the sound of digestive fluid coming out,” she whispered.
And then silence. Perhaps due to the stomach juices, the water inside became increasingly murky.
[ Skill ‘Crystal Clear’ is now active. ]
A little hunter knowledge. Hunters can adjust the power of their skills.
It’s like how humans can control the force of their arm swings.
Currently, Parang is purifying only the water within a 5cm space above her skin. All for a more realistic experience.
Soon, the water became really murky, resembling being in muddy water, a disgusting blend of gray and green shades.
The flashlight was now almost useless. It provided no visibility at all.
All around, sounds like Shua—! and Chi—! began to resonate.
It was the sound of other monster fish remnants dissolving inside.
Parang fiddled with her phone and turned off the ‘Underwater Voice Optimization’ option.
Then, in an instant, even the sounds disappeared. The droning noise typically heard underwater. The only sounds were the bubbles rising and the digestive fluid being expelled.
Brrrr— Brrrr—
Shua—
The color of the water no longer changed. It probably indicated that the digestive fluid was 100% full.
Thump— Thump—
Something was floating and nudged Parang’s left arm. Turning her head, she saw a piece of meat, half-dissolved and unrecognizable.
The piece, which was once bright red, was dissolving in real time.
Thirty minutes passed.
Honestly, Parang hadn’t planned to stay in there for thirty minutes. She just lost track of time.
“Hm, I think that’s enough for now.”
In fact, she was shocked when she looked at the clock. Wait, had it really been thirty minutes?
She thought maybe only five minutes had passed.
– ‘Zincman’ donated 10,000 won! –
[ Teacher, I swear I won’t dive again, please save me. ]
– ‘SkyLetter’ donated 25,000 won! –
[ Where am I? Who am I…? ]
– ‘JangBaekSoon’ donated 1,000 won! –
[ Please, host, have mercy. ]
Since she had turned off the donation alerts for ambience, it was just then that all the piled-up messages came flooding in.
“Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to go this far, just got a bit distracted.”
That was the truth.
– I never thought I’d watch a stream of someone being digested inside a fish.
– For real, LOL.
“Now, has your urge to dive disappeared? If you dive, you could end up having the same experience as just now for your final moments.”
– That was the scariest threat I’ve heard in my life.
– Demonstrating it and then calling it a threat is a masterclass.
With a satisfied smile, Parang swung her harpoon and sliced her way out of Rassius’s belly.
The digestive fluid then spread out like paint mixed in the water.
And Rassius was probably in a world of hurt.
———!!!!!!!!!!
Before long, Rassius’s balloon had inflated tremendously, almost sticking to its body.
And inside that inflated balloon was nothing but a suffocating amount of acidic stomach acid.
Those who have suffered from excessive stomach acid know how painful this experience can be.
Moreover, Parang had just cut out of Rassius’s belly.
“You look like you’re in a lot of pain.”
– Let’s apply some ointment on that.
That seemed like a good idea. She should definitely bring some next time.
Parang created water bomb explosives and stuffed them into Rassius’s belly.
She had the talent for absolute combat and also for development.
———!!!!!!!!———!!!———!!!———!!!!
With cheerful splashes, Rassius perished.
As for the objects? They’ll sink along with the corpse and wander somewhere near here until getting eaten by another monster. Considering its size, it’s quite small for an object, and Elvira had attached a tracker to it.
Parang checked the location of Object 2 in the South China Sea on her phone.
In about a month to two months, she’d have to come back to hunt it again.
And why don’t they just destroy such bothersome things?
Objects cannot be destroyed. They tried blowing it up with Elvira’s mines, and Diego even tried to crush it, but failed. Russell almost broke his teeth.
So, speaking of size, can’t they just bring it up to the surface and isolate it?
That is nonsense. The term “small” is relative to the objects. Object 2 in the South China Sea is a massive sphere with a radius of 30m. Its diameter is 60m. The Statue of Liberty is 93m tall. Where on earth are they supposed to isolate that?
And even if they somehow managed to bring it to the surface, that would be problematic. They wouldn’t know what phenomena might occur.
A 100m long dragon could start appearing continuously.
So what can they do? Just manage these odd objects with assigned duties as they are.
That’s that, and this is this. Parang’s stomach was starting to grumble. She hadn’t eaten a single meal since this morning.
She needed to handle this quickly and go to Xiao for a big feast.
Parang increased her speed.
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