Chapter 100. Granting Freedom (7)

The first thing I thought was, ‘wow, I’ve eaten tuna before, but this is the first time I was eaten by one.’

“Wait, now isn’t the time to be making stupid jokes...!”

It was slimy, claustrophobic, and irritating. The pressure of the tuna’s insides was no joke. What was this? Were my clothes melting? Acid!

“God!”

The melting tuna seemed to have dived back under the water after swallowing me, as water began to flow around me. Although things were chaotic, I first grabbed the top and bottom of the slimy walls. However, because it was so slippery, I failed to hold on. As if to quickly send me to its stomach, the surrounding walls wriggled and convulsed around me.

“Ruyue!”

[Got it!]

My elementals loved me so much that they came out the moment I called their names. I was thankful, but it was slightly overwhelming. Ruyue was especially so.

“Surround me with an Ice Wall! Make it especially hard!”

[Okay!]

The moment Ruyue started using Ice Wall, I activated my bracelet and equipped my armor. After wearing the armor, I realized I was almost out of mana. As I struggled to keep my balance, I took out a Mana Potion from my inventory and drank it. This place sucked!

In any case, I now had some breathing room. Although Ruyue’s Ice Wall began to melt the moment it was created, the space around me was getting bigger. However, the melting tuna’s body suddenly twitched violently. It was to be expected. If someone tried to open up its throat, it was bound to be irritated!

A flood of water suddenly swept over from one side. It seemed the melting tuna had opened its mouth and was letting water pour inside. It thought I was stuck in its throat, so it was trying to flush me down with water! It was pretty smart, though I might drown because of it.

I considered using Return and going back to Korea, but I decided to endure. There was a reason I couldn’t give up here.

“Ruyue, you can block it, right?”

[It’s hard. Shin, I don’t have much mana.]

Damn, even though I drank the most expensive Mana Potion, I was still running low? In that case, I’d have to ask Peika... Huh?

“... Peika, Peika?”

[Master, are you okay!?]

[Peika’s outside. It’s just the two of us in here.]

“Oh...’

Right, I deactivated Spirit Aura! The melting tuna had swallowed me, almost as if it knew. I quickly unsummoned Peika and resummoned her. Watching the vast amount of water pouring in with despair, I took out the Crimson Gluttony Spear. Ruyue’s Ice Wall was making cracking noises and starting to crumble. Please hold out a little longer!

“Peika, come inside my spear.”

[Okay, Master!]

The spear that originally carried fire energy began to flicker with lightning as well. Although I wanted to continue watching the mystical and fascinating sight, I didn’t have the time. The water was flowing in!

“Huu... Haaap!”

[Kuooooooo!]

I strongly pierced the floor with my spear. Ignoring the melting tuna’s painful cry, I dug the spear in deeper. Then, with one hand, I pushed the ceiling up, and with the other hand, I made the spear stand vertically. Letting go of the hand holding the ceiling up, I let the ceiling crush down on the top of the spear.

[Kiaaaaaak!]

The melting tuna let out another bloodcurdling scream as its blood splashed on my armor. Although the heat from my armor evaporated the blood almost instantly, the problem was that the melting tuna’s movements had become more violent. Almost as if it was salsa dancing in the water, the ceiling flipped a few times and trembled. I held on to the spear I had wedged in its throat and hung on desperately.

[Shin, I can’t hold on anymore!]

“It’s fine, Ruyue! You can go back now, I’ll call you back later.”

[You have to love me lots later!]

“Yeah.”

During the daytime, I’d only been calling Peika, so it seemed Ruyue was feeling left out. Seeing the usually obedient Ruyue speak out before she left, I couldn’t help but smile. No, now was not the time for that!

“Huu... Dark Thunder Explosion!”

Although it was a very filial skill that had saved me on multiple occasions, I cringed and flushed from embarrassment whenever I used it. Regardless, the violent shaking stopped from Dark Thunder Explosion’s initial paralysis shock. When the following black lightning attack started, I closed my eyes and focused on holding onto my spear tightly. I knew its body would jolt violently.

[Kuaaaaaa!]

It let out a horrifying scream, almost like a human’s, as it shook in a frenzy. The ceiling flipped again and again. The water finally swept over me, but I closed my mouth and held on.

[Shin, Shin! Are you alive? Are you okay? Oh, please!]

Sorry, I’m underwater, so I can’t reply! However, Hwaya seemed to have misunderstood my silence as she raised her voice.

[Shin! Please, Shin! You said you had a way to survive any situation! I won’t forgive you if you die like this!]

Dark Thunder Explosion ended. Although I wished it would have killed the melting tuna, it seemed a boss wasn’t so easily killed. Its insides were burnt black, but it was still moving. Huu, how uselessly tough! If it was just one month ago, I would have had no choice but to use Deific Manifestation to let Peruta save me with what little mana I had left, or use Return to go back to Korea.

However, right now, I still had another skill I could use. In fact, Dark Thunder Explosion had only been to see if this skill would be effective. It was the skill that came with my beloved armor, Crimson Roar! Although it would be annoying to roar underwater, now wasn’t the time to be complaining.

“Uwaaaaak!”

[You used Crimson Roar. Everything blazes as flames.]

Roaring while swallowing a mouthful of water, I suddenly thought, ‘what was the description of Crimson Roar again? Didn’t it turn all air that my voice could reach into flames? Since I’m underwater, isn’t there little to no air!? Did I have to use Return and go back after all?’ Although I was worrying greatly...

[Kuaaaaa!]

My worry was soon proven to be unfounded. Everything within the reach of my voice, including water, turned into scarlet flames and blazed. There was one problem. Because the air I needed to breathe also turned into flames, I could not breathe. Even so, the flames blazed imposingly and with grandeur as if to burn away the entire lake.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

[Kuoooo—!]

An earth-shaking scream struck my ear. I instinctively knew that it was the melting tuna’s death throes. Its shaking was getting less violent, and the pressure from its flesh was decreasing as well.

I took my spear out. Scratching the burning walls, I walked forward. Suddenly, I felt as if my body was rising. No, it was the melting tuna’s body that was rising to the surface.

It had finally died.

[You swept the Field Dungeon, ‘Graveyard Over the Lake!’ You defeated over 80% of its monsters, two of the Field Dungeon bosses, and forced one Field Dungeon boss to retreat. The reward will be distributed.]

[Hwaya Eleni Mastiford-nim’s contribution is the highest.]

[You successfully swept ‘Graveyard Over the Lake.’ For the next six months, a new boss monster will not appear on Graveyard Over the Lake. The reproduction rate of normal monsters will decrease significantly during this period.]

“Tsk.”

As I thought, I wasn’t able to overtake Hwaya in contribution just by killing this guy. After all, she had been hunting monsters here for weeks longer than I had. Even so, I had killed this tuna by myself and I had even chased away that singing woman. Perhaps melting tuna was a weaker boss than the toothsaw. That had to be it.

[Shin, Shin! You’re not dead!]

“Of course, not. Did you ever see a chef getting eaten by his ingredients?”

[Thank god, Shin! You don’t know how scared I was thinking you were dead. Because of it, I realized that more than I thought before, I... Ah!]

“Hm?”

[Huu... Nothing, forget it. I got too excited from the sudden change in the situation.]

“Alright, well, I’ll be out in a moment so hurry up and choose your reward. I want to pick mine too.”

[... Heh, yeah. This much doesn’t even count as danger to you, right?]

“Of course not. If I died like this, my father would start another season of thrashing phase.”

I answered Hwaya casually, unequipping my armor and putting my spear back into my inventory. While I was crawling out of its throat, the reward window popped up in front of me. Since Hwaya and I were the only dungeon explorers here, I was the only one left to choose a reward after Hwaya chose hers.

[2. Great Tooth Sword]

“Wow... This looks completely useless...!”

I chose the reward with a frown and checked the item description. It was a sword breaker with a spiky saw-like blade, just like the toothsaws’ saw-blade snout. It was even larger than most large swords, and had a strong vibration functionality in its options. If the vibration could be controlled, it could be a powerful weapon. It would have been nice if I was a sword-wielding warrior, but... Yep, it seemed I would have to feed it to my Gluttony Spear. Although I was looking forward to how much the Gluttony Spear would grow, I also knew it probably wouldn’t grow by much.

For now, I put the Great Tooth Sword in my inventory. Then, the smell of fresh air tickled my nose. The outside was right in front of my nose!

I pushed the melting tuna’s huge mouth open, and peeked my head out. Hwaya and everyone else had driven the ship towards the tuna when it had floated up to the surface.

The first person I looked for was none other than Brightman. From the look on his face, he seemed surprised that I was still alive. I simply looked at him and smiled. As he didn’t expect me to smile, that shameless Brightman frowned like he couldn’t believe it. Then, he smirked. I wondered what his smirk meant. Was he looking down on me? I could feel how nonchalant he was, as if to say that I could not stand up to him in any way. Whether that was true or not, it didn’t matter. What mattered was how I now understood him.

Although it was a bit embarrassing to say it myself, I had a tendency to be soft toward people I considered my allies. My family was obviously included, and I also cared deeply for those I considered my friends.

I couldn’t come to dislike those that considered me their friend. Palludia was like that. Even though our first meeting on the 5th floor couldn’t have been worse, while I was still grinding on the 5th floor, she had contacted me to cheer me up, changing the impression I had of her from ‘strange girl’ to ‘friend.’ Ye-Eun was also like that. Even though she was a nuisance when I first met her, she continually showed her interest towards me and repeatedly wanted to become friends with me.

Perhaps for the same reason, those that I considered to be my enemies took on my full hostility. Walker was the biggest example, as he sneaked into Hwaya’s lodging and was almost beaten to death by me. Although Walker was now on my side, it seemed there was a new enemy to replace him.

Brightman. He had to be laughing right now. Why did he hit me? Did Peika’s lightning wake him up? Was he surprised because he saw me the moment he opened his eyes? Did he not like that Hwaya was so close to me? Was he awake the whole time, but pretended to be unconscious just to put me into danger? Was it revenge for losing his subordinate?

I didn’t care. I wouldn’t listen to his excuses later anyways. There was one thing I was sure of. It was that Brightman’s punch was extremely painful, and that I had almost become a fish food because of him. That was enough.

You are my enemy. I’ll make you bitterly regret this moment one day. Look forward to it. It won’t take long. In the heights I wish to achieve, you are only a stone in the path.

I took my eyes off of Brightman and took my body out entirely. Then, I jumped on the melting tuna’s head with a thud. Everyone seemed to have gotten back their sense of reality from the sound. Mike shouted.

“My god, T.K.! You were alive!”

“Huu... Mike, there’s no way I would die without eating this melting tuna.”

“You really love melting tunas...”

“Of course. From now on, in honor of me killing this giant melting tuna, you can call me ‘Tuna King.’”

But really, if you actually call me that, I’ll hate you!

Author’s Note:

Just like that, the Tuna King was born. (just kidding)