40
Chapter 40
"Ugh... Haa...."
Yoo Parang, awake.
The last day of the East Sea exploration had dawned.
Since the goal of the exploration was already achieved, she planned to end the broadcast quickly after catching Brachium.
'Hmm.'
Parang thought about Brachium's Trait for a moment.
'Can I catch it without the Kraken?'
Honestly, she wasn't sure.
To begin with, the strategy for the Monster Fish known as Brachium wasn't standardized.
More accurately, there was a severe lack of research on the Monster Fish Brachium itself.
All that was known was that its numerous arms were all part of a single entity.
Even that was just an inference based on the fact that when it was continuously attacked, all the arms vanished at once and left behind a single Magic Stone.
Other than that, it was strong, white, came from a Gate, and wasn't a picky eater.
And, perhaps, it played the role of the apex Predator within the Monster Fish ecosystem.
This was because, although Brachium was clearly a Monster Fish from a Gate, piles of Earth-native Monster Fish Corpses had been found around it.
The prevailing theory was that, likely due to a lack of eyesight and intelligence, it just killed anything that came near it.
Such cases often occurred on land as well. It was mostly the case with plant-type Monsters.
Finding piles of Corpses belonging to species considered apex Predators at the time within those mounds of Monster Fish Corpses led to the deduction that it must be an apex Predator itself.
In summary, the currently known information about Brachium was almost nonexistent. It was as good as having nothing.
If one were to ask why the research data was so poor, it was simply because there were no opportunities to research it.
It was just that rare of a species.
The first discovery of Brachium itself was quite a long time ago.
The first was when Alice Melville spotted it at the Hive located in the Drake Passage.
The second was when Diego Lopez Martin spotted it at the Caribbean Sea Hive.
The third was when Bertea Fabron spotted it at the North Sea Hive.
And the sighting this time at the East Sea Hive was the fourth.
At the time of the first discovery, the organization called Oceanus didn't even exist, so research couldn't be established. During the second discovery, Diego, who had no particular interest in researching Monster Fish, just crushed it, nullifying any chance of research.
And as for the third discovery, well.
Right after the Alice incident, it was a time when a frenzied Oceanus was scouring the World's oceans, tearing apart every Monster Fish in sight, so there was no time for research to take place.
Even that Bertea just killed it without caring whether it was a new Monster Fish or not.
So Parang was just in a tough spot. Naturally, it was also her first time seeing Brachium with her own eyes.
Parang dug up the stories of Brachium hunts that her Oceanus colleagues had shared in the past from her memory.
Alice.
"I forgot. I probably caught it somehow. It wasn't hard."
Diego.
"Stomped it."
Bertea.
"Boiled it along with the space."
"Haa...."
Nothing was helpful.
"Ah! I don't know. It'll work out somehow."
It was about time to turn on the broadcast. She left her house and quickly dove into the water.
#
[ I came to finish this game. ]
[ Author: BlamingTeamWhenYouSuck ]
(A capture of Parang's broadcast Screen. The title that simply reads Day 3 of East Sea Exploration stands out.)
The great king we trust and watch today as well.
Gotta watch it, right?
- Alright~ let's go in~ alright~ let's go in~ alright~ let's go in~
- Aren't we only looking at one cabin today? Seems like it'll be a short stream.
└ This punk doesn't know the concept of a boss battle LOL
└ Boss battle my ass LOL you think this is a game? She'll probably just go in, introduce the cabin, and end it.
- Upvote if you're definitely watching today's stream until the end.
└ Upvote LOL
└ I'm Shin Yuna and I hit upvote.
└ I'm not Shin Yuna but I just hit upvote.
#
Changing the perspective back to Yoo Parang.
♬♪♩♬~
She was lying still underwater.
It was her favorite time of the day. She tried playing some classical music as a test, and the atmosphere was definitely nice.
'I should just stay like this for exactly ten minutes.'
- Anon donated 1000 won! -
[Voice Recording]
"What kind of new torture is this, teacher? Please hurry up and start the broadcast."
"Gasp."
Looking at the Clock, thirty minutes had already passed.
She quickly headed toward the East Sea Hive.
And a little time passed. On the way to the Hive.
A donation came in for Parang.
- DepressedWhenFoodStolen donated 1000 won! -
[ Can I ask what the Streamer's Personal Skill is? ]
"Hmm...."
Parang pondered for a moment.
"No. I've never shown it while broadcasting, and I won't show it in the future, either."
- Man, what could it possibly be?
"Don't be curious."
The Viewers' questions only fell deeper into a maze.
And so they chatted, made noise, and communicated.
After a little more time passed, she had already arrived at the East Sea Hive.
"We've arrived."
- Finally.
- At last.
- This is fun.
Parang stood at the entrance of the first cabin.
The Viewers could see a rough view of the first cabin's interior on the Screen.
- Wait, wasn't it a Train cabin??
- I thought it would be the engineer's room.
- That's so random, why is it a Cave?
"Certain locations in the Hive have Cave-like interiors like this, unlike normal objects. The cause is unknown."
Parang continued speaking.
"Today, I'll explain the Monster Fish inside beforehand, and then we'll go in."
Parang appropriately shared information about Brachium with the Viewers. Leaving out the part about Oceanus, of course.
- Wow, holy shit, that gives me goosebumps.
- Why does something like that even exist?
- But why are you explaining it beforehand today?
"It's because it might be too dangerous to leisurely act as a Commentator."
- Wait, why?
"I told you. Because this Monster Fish is so under-researched, unexpected situations could happen."
- It looks strong, but shouldn't a Streamer of your level be able to catch it easily? You said you could solo wipe a Hive.
"That's only when I turn on my Personal Skill. Without it, I don't really know what will happen."
- Seriously, just turn it on then.
- This is blatantly asking us to be curious, right?
"No means no."
Just as she said. No meant no.
"Of course, if an unexpected situation occurs, I will immediately end the broadcast. Sometimes there are Monster Fishes that launch mental attacks even through the Screen."
She had already given Cylo Corporation the authority to forcibly stop the broadcast.
Actually, even if Parang hadn't given them that authority, Cylo could stop the broadcast at any time.
For example, by blocking Parang's streaming account or shutting down the server.
Both Parang and Cylo knew this. So, both Parang and Cylo made a mutually beneficial deal.
Parang liked it because she could gain favor with Cylo, and Cylo liked it because it saved them trouble.
Although she didn't know if Brachium was a Monster Fish capable of that level of mental attack.
Countless questions swarmed up in the Chat Window, but Parang ignored the Chat Window and went inside the Train cabin.
After entering, she locked the broadcast Screen to first-person. She had to set the mood, after all.
Gurgle-
Stepping inside, it was completely different from how it looked from the outside.
From the outside, it looked like a slightly dark Cave, but stepping right inside gave a truly suffocating feeling.
- The atmosphere, holy shit ]_];
The surroundings went beyond ultramarine, turning almost indigo. The Rocks and Boulders could barely be recognized by their black silhouettes.
And in the distance, a space where countless arms grew.
Parang headed there without hesitation.
Slowly, keeping a sufficient distance.
In the dark underwater Cave, countless Human arms.
The sense of fear, alienation, and discomfort brought on by that unnaturalness and bizarreness.
The countless white arms would sway, remain stiffly frozen, or tremble while bizarrely bent.
Since it was a Monster Fish from a Gate, Brachium would consider Parang a top-tier prey.
The moment it senses even a little bit, it would immediately start acting.
However, Parang approached Brachium.
Slowly, slowly.
Unfortunately, Parang didn't really have any technique to erase her presence.
So she was prepared to stab if she got caught.
Naturally, her movements became cautious and quiet.
She closely observed Brachium as she approached it.
At first glance, it matched the appearance she had heard from others, but there was one difference.
'Sphere.'
At the center of the countless arms, there were arms holding up a Sphere.
Parang didn't know what on earth that was, or if it was even a part of Brachium.
Perhaps this Monster Fish was a completely different species that just closely resembled Brachium.
Thud-.
Finally, Parang arrived at the arm located on the outermost edge of Brachium's space.
An arm resting without the slightest movement, bent at the elbow in a right angle. Its length was about ten meters.
The way it stretched out from the crevice of the Rock made it look as if it had pierced through the ground.
Because it was an arm, she thought it would be a bit soft, but when she lightly touched it with her hand, it was incredibly hard.
Seeing that, the very first thing Parang did was,
Thump- thud.
clearing away the Rocks in the surroundings.
Common sense dictated that underneath the Rock, whether it was Brachium's main body or something else, there had to be something crucial.
Her goal was to see what it was.
Even if it was an indestructible Objet, it was still possible to move something that was already separated.
Parang effortlessly lifted and moved the Rocks, which were as big as her own body.
Part of it was her great strength, but the incredibly light weight of this Boulder, which was hard to even call a Rock, also played a part.
Like that, one by one. As she cleared the Rocks away, the form of Brachium buried underneath was revealed.
However, Parang never got the chance to observe its form.
"■■ ■."
A sound coming from behind. She couldn't tell if it was speaking, crying, the sound of waves, the sound of Rocks crashing, or the sound of arms swinging.
When Parang turned around, she was already in the middle of Brachium's space.
The uplifted Sphere was right in front of Parang's face.
Before she knew it, her body was grabbed by countless arms.
Small fingers sprouting from tiny arms, which grew from fingers extending from the large arms, entangled Parang's entire body.
'Oh no...!'
It was no hallucination. There was no way something like that would work on Parang.
Brachium had moved. The method was unknown.
Without a sound, without a movement. Straight toward her. Precisely.
Even without the sensation of touching Parang's body.
'Oh no...!'
It was a disaster.
And Brachium opened its eyes.
A pupil grew from the massive white Sphere.
Blue. The deep Universe. The color of home.
[ Skill, 'Waterproof Sanity' is activating. ]
Parang finished her judgment in an instant and sprang into action.
[ Activating Skill, 'Aqua Pulse'. ]
In that moment, an Energy Wave burst from Parang's body, and the surrounding arms stopped moving.
They were paralyzed.
She threw her Harpoon and pierced Brachium's eye.
"■■ ■...."
Swoosh.
That must have been its vital spot. In an instant, Brachium collapsed and turned into a Magic Stone.
It was an anticlimactic, weak end.
Parang hurriedly turned on her Cellphone to check the broadcast status.
[ This broadcast has ended. ]
It seemed Cylo had already forcefully terminated it.
Please, let it be the kind of incident that simply ends with her own disgrace.
Parang desperately hoped that the people beyond the Monitor were okay.
However, her eyes stopped on the last chats the Viewers had left right before the broadcast ended.
- Open your eyes.
- Open your eyes.
- Open your eyes.
- Open your eyes.
- Open your eyes.
- Open your eyes.
'Ah.'
This is bad.
Parang immediately started swimming upward.