#4. This is Jirisan Baemsagol! (2)
#4. This is Jirisan Baemsagol! (2)
Before I knew it, I had hit Level 7. Just fishing in Baemsagol was enough to push my levels steadily higher, so there was no reason to go out of my way to hunt. Animals came charging at me often enough on their own.
Not that they were anything more than a fresh protein delivery.
Small creatures like snakes were no longer any match for me. As long as I stayed alert for the genuinely dangerous ones — wild dogs, birds of prey — Baemsagol was practically paradise.
[Predation (F) Lv.7 proficiency at maximum. Predation (F) Lv.7 → Predation (F) Lv.8]
Predation had reached Level 8. I still hadn't pushed any skill to Level 10, but judging by the pace, an E-rank promotion wasn't far off.
What would the name change to once Predation hit E-rank? I was curious.
And lately, I'd grown more and more convinced that the System wanted me to take risks.
Nothing concrete, but in the climb to Level 8 I'd noticed a trend: devouring one large animal pushed my proficiency far higher than eating a whole swarm of tiny ones.
I had another suspicion too. The Level 10 achievement condition from before my evolution — "Devour an animal weighing 3 kg or more." Looking back, that was an absolutely absurd requirement.
It only made me more stubborn. I was going to survive without taking a single unnecessary risk. Get stronger step by step, never putting myself in real danger.
No more gambling my life on rats or chickens.
But... the more I thought about it, the harder that seemed.
Because Level 10 was guaranteed to come with another achievement condition. Maybe it wouldn't — but bracing for the worst hurt less than hoping for nothing. The System might even hold a grudge and slap me with something brutal. Or... no. Enough pointless speculation.
'Fine. Slow and steady. One step at a time.'
As long as my growth didn't stall, I'd get there eventually, wouldn't I? A worm-like shape wriggled against the tip of my tentacle and I flinched, then realized it was just a fish.
'Now that I've got eyesight, eating bugs has gotten a lot harder.'
Frogs and mice I could choke down. But bugs gave me a visceral revulsion. If someone asked whether I'd forgotten my tadpole days as a frog, I wouldn't have a good answer — but I didn't like them, and that was that. I gulped down a fish the size of a human finger. A small bump in experience followed.
[Korean striped bitterling consumed. Satiety and Experience Points increased.]
'Korean striped bitterling... seriously, who names these things?'
The old me wouldn't have spared it a thought. Unlike a zebra, this fish definitely wasn't white, but it did have a mottled, spot-like pattern. Maybe that was why.
'.......'
I kept my detection skills running to avoid the larger animals that came down to the valley to drink, and Heat Sense climbed steadily as a result.
[Heat Sense (F) Lv.4 proficiency at maximum. Heat Sense (F) Lv.4 → Heat Sense (F) Lv.5]
'Presence Detection is Level 3... feels like Level 4 is close, but it's been slow.'
The instant Heat Sense hit Level 5, the number of heat signatures I could pick up surged.
Were more animals suddenly active? That wasn't it. Before, I'd had trouble detecting anything with a body temperature lower than my own. The skill had just patched that gap. The proof: most of the newly detected creatures were underwater.
'......!'
I yanked my tentacles back in alarm. It wasn't just minnows and tiny fish down there anymore. No — they'd probably been there all along, and I'd simply never noticed them. What must have once been a mountain stream had broadened over decades into something closer to a small lake.
Enormous creatures were packed into that water. The fact that nothing had eaten me until now felt like a miracle. A few of them looked like they belonged on a NewTube listicle — "Top 10 Largest Animals in the World" — complete with dramatic thumbnail.
[Master of Baemsagol (Eel) 2m 45cm / 24kg]
Calling that an eel felt wrong. It looked more like an imugi about to ascend and become a dragon.
Two meters and forty-five centimeters — taller than a professional giant. I was still reeling from the sight when the thing's eyes suddenly flashed.
'......?'
Its gaze was aimed squarely at me. Why? Had it sensed me observing it? Could something underwater actually pick up on being watched? And for that matter, was it really an eel?
'The fuck? Where in the world is an eel supposed to look like that?!'
I squirmed wildly to flee, but the eel launched itself in a single explosive movement. Wait — why was there an eel here in the first place? This was a mountain! I scrambled to shift into tire mode and realized it was already too late.
'......!'
My mind went blank. Limbs I didn't even have were trembling. Then a sudden idea cut through the panic, and I reshaped my body into the form of an enormous snake.
In an instant I became a four-meter serpent. The eel jerked in shock, aborting its lunge and hurling itself back underwater in full retreat.
'Hooooo...'
[Intimidation (F) Lv.1 acquired.]
[Transformation (F) Lv.3 proficiency at maximum. Transformation (F) Lv.3 → Transformation (F) Lv.4]
A successful bluff. I'd turned a crisis into a windfall and even picked up a new skill, but I'd nearly fainted from sheer terror. Four meters long, sure — but it was all balloon-gum puffery, hollow inside with skin so thin one poke would've popped it. A precarious fake. The moment it made contact, the jig would've been up.
I'd just taken ten years off my lifespan. Still, I'd gotten a skill out of it. A blessing in disguise. I was busy cackling to myself when a new shock hit me from behind.
'What now?'
Still in my transformed state, my body burst like a balloon.
I sagged weakly inward and turned to look. A raccoon was staring down at me, its expression saying, "Why are you this tough to chew?" It gnawed a few more times, then its face shifted to, "Why aren't you dead yet?"
[Raccoon 44cm / 2.1kg]
A raccoon wasn't exactly harmless, but after staring down that eel, the shock therapy left me utterly unfazed. A quick Observe check confirmed it wasn't a full-grown adult — still a young one.
'Beat-able.'
Maybe because its teeth hadn't fully come in, it couldn't chew properly. While the thing was focused on gnawing, I quietly extended a tentacle and wrapped it around its leg. It felt the contact and jolted, trying to tear free. I shifted into a net-like shape and dropped over it, but even with its leg bound, the raccoon dodged with startling agility.
That wild-animal speed you only see on NewTube clips. But a hardened tentacle wasn't coming loose that easily. And no matter how much it chewed, Physical Damage Reduction and Weak Regeneration made its efforts pointless. Just wasted thrashing.
'E-rank skills... they're actually good.'
When I thought about it, it made sense. These skills showed up in the novel, after all.
I even started to wonder if I could've handled a full-grown adult without much trouble.
Maybe that sounded arrogant, but the fact was I'd gotten stronger after evolving. The young raccoon eventually ran out of stamina and suffocated, its leg still trapped.
[Raccoon consumed. Experience Points and Satiety increased.]
[Experience Points at maximum. Lv.7 → Lv.8]
[Satiety at maximum. Converted to Experience Points via Predation (F) Lv.8.]
[Experience Points at maximum. Lv.8 → Lv.9]
[Predation (F) Lv.8 proficiency at maximum. Predation (F) Lv.8 → Predation (F) Lv.9]
As expected from prey over two kilograms — experience converted twice, and my level shot up two notches. The largest thing I'd ever eaten was that 3kg-plus slime, but back then my experience was already capped, so I hadn't gotten any benefit from it. That thought stung, now that I reflected on it.
'Why don't I just hunt slimes exclusively?'
A slime that eats slimes — not a bad concept. Dark-hero energy. I'd call myself... the Hea— no. Actually, hunting slimes exclusively sounded fantastic.
***
"Hey. Woo-taek. You called?"
[Yes, Team Leader. You didn't pick up, so I texted that I'd be heading out early.]
"Ah, that. Got it. Everyone else gone for the day too? You home?"
[Yes. Everyone's off duty. Since 5:40.]
"Early dismissal? So I just dock twenty minutes from your salary to cover the team?"
[Team Leader, strictly speaking, our hours end at five...]
"I know, you punk. Obviously joking. So what about the Warg?"
[We didn't find it.]
"That so? Can't be helped. What do you think, Woo-taek? Worth pushing further?"
[Instead of the Warg... Eun-ha found something strange.]
"Eun-ha did? What'd they find? That weird slime from last time?"
[No. Large footprints. Eun-ha and I thought they might be bear tracks, but Jeong-woo says they look more like wolf prints.]
Were there any wolves in Korea? No. There aren't. Even if human traffic had thinned out, extinct animals didn't just reappear. Wolves had vanished from Korea decades ago — so a wolf in Jirisan, all of a sudden? Impossible.
"Then..."
[I don't know for certain, but Jeong-woo says five toes with four claw marks makes it a wolf. We'll contact an expert tomorrow for confirmation.]
"Tomorrow? It's the weekend. You think those folks are gonna work?"
[It's a hunter commission — you really think they'll refuse to look at one footprint just because it's Saturday?]
"Fair. Let me know what you hear. So it wasn't just smoke after all."
[We'll know more tomorrow. Also, about the team.]
"Yeah? What about them? Problems?"
[Not problems exactly, but they've been hunting slimes a little too enthusiastically. We've practically cleared Jirisan dry of the things.]
"Huh. Slimes'll just get eaten by animals anyway if you leave them alone. Might as well let them be."
[They're still monsters, though.]
"Yeah, well, fewer monsters is better. Got it. I've got time Monday, so I'll come up with you."
[Understood.]
"Between my schedule and the vice-leader's, you're the only one getting worked to death."
[It's fine.]
"Alright. Sorry for calling late. Send me those footprint photos. I'm hanging up."
[Yes, sir. Enjoy your weekend.]
The call ended. The team leader stared at the phone for a long moment, then dialed another number.
"Yes. Clan Leader. This is Jin-ha."
***
Strange. Really strange. For some reason, the slimes had dried up. There was no better prey than a slime, but no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find a single one. Was this some ploy by the System to push me into danger?
Much as I thought it over, the only suspect was the System. Maybe it had some special skill that drew monsters in...? I snorted at my own absurd speculation.
'More importantly, where the hell did they all go?'
Nothing I could do about it. The tasty, nutrient-rich slimes were a loss, but I couldn't summon what wasn't there. And slimes weren't the only prey anymore. After taking down that young raccoon, I'd felt it clearly: I was strong now. I could feel it.
That eel-monster was still beyond me, of course.
But for smaller animals, I could handle almost anything now. Someone might sneer at me for getting cocky over one raccoon kill — but a few days ago, I'd nearly died to a rat. That was progress. At this rate, one day I'd take down the eel too.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Take it easy, grow steady. That was the plan.
[Skill Points remaining in abundance.]
The System delivered the line like a piece of advice. I hadn't touched my Skill Points since evolving. Know yourself and your enemy, and you'll win a hundred battles. Before acquiring anything new, I decided to review what I already had.
[Skill List]
Predation (F) Lv.9, Tentacle (F) Lv.6, Heat Sense (F) Lv.5, Weak Regeneration (E) Lv.4, Faint Stealth (F) Lv.7, Observation (F) Lv.5, Presence Detection (F) Lv.4, Faint Hearing (F) Lv.4, Faint Sixth Sense (F) Lv.2, Weak Sight (F) Lv.3, Physical Damage Reduction (E) Lv.1, Transformation (F) Lv.4, Intimidation (F) Lv.1
[Skill Points remaining: 9]
Tentacle had hit Level 6, and the rest of my skills had climbed little by little without my noticing. Though Weak Sight had only risen by a single level — I'd gotten into the habit of relying on detection over vision. The standout performer was Stealth. Here in Baemsagol — in the wild, period — Stealth was a survival requirement. I'd used it so much that it was second only to Predation in level.
The disappointment was my E-rank skills. They'd barely moved. Probably because I hadn't faced many truly dangerous moments.
'And nine Skill Points left over.'
More than anything, I'd leveled faster than expected, so after evolving I'd stopped fussing about Skill Points. Nothing felt urgently lacking, but leaving all nine untouched nagged at me.
[List of Acquirable Skills]
1. Tentacle (F)
...
190. Physical Damage Reduction (E)
191. Weak Regeneration (E)
'I can learn E-rank skills now?'
The acquirable skills list. A hundred and ninety-one entries, each representing a possible branch of my future growth. The fact that I wasn't locked to F-rank anymore — that E-rank skills were open to me — was genuinely encouraging. I searched for attack-oriented options, but aside from Weak Hardening, nothing at E-rank looked usable offensively.
'Now I'm stuck.'
What would make me stronger? What would let me grow safely?
Saving Skill Points meant I could spend them in a pinch, but the downside was I'd lose all the time I could've been building proficiency.
'How did it work in the novel?'
Skills existed in the novel, of course. But there were no grades or levels. And you didn't get to pick skills off a menu like I did — they manifested through actions and triggers, the way my Tentacle and Transformation skills had first unlocked. The protagonist wasn't an exception. They'd never chosen their skills the way I did, so there was nothing there for me to reference.
[Acquisition of Digestion (F) Lv.1 is recommended.]
The System's message came out of nowhere. Digestion? That was a skill? I scrolled through the list and found it at number 171: Digestion. What was the System's angle here? Wasn't it just a skill that helped with digesting things? Made my stomach acid stronger? Not that a slime had stomach acid.
Why push me to take Digestion?
[Digestion (F) Lv.1 skill acquired.]
But some pull I couldn't explain made me take it anyway. Or rather, I didn't take it — it was taken without my say-so. Looking back, something similar had happened during my evolution...
'Ah. Of course. Sixth Sense, you bastard.'
Hadn't heard from you in a while, and here you are again.