The Wise Serpent of the Mangrove Swamp

With my head feeling a lot clearer, I rowed our raft down the waterway. As we glided along, Radie pointed toward the back of the raft.

"So, what's all this?"

Her gaze landed on a mountain of smoked meat, which I had plundered by thoroughly cleaning out the backpacks of the guild members.

Beside it lay an assortment of dried fruits, hard bread, cheese, nuts, and even Kokokura eggs...

When Radie showed interest in the Kokokura eggs, I muttered nonchalantly.

"Want to try one? Apparently, they're quite popular among gourmands."

"I don't know. I don't really do seafood... and besides, frog monster eggs are just gross."

Radie looked reluctant, but curiosity got the better of her. She picked up a Kokokura egg and took a bite.

Of course, she immediately screwed up her face and spat it out.

"Ugh, what is this?! It's incredibly salty and fishy...! Is this really famous among gourmands?"

"Yeah."

Of course, I never specified that those gourmands were human.

Gagging repeatedly, Radie rinsed her mouth with water and glared at me.

"Ugh, so fishy... Anyway, why did we pack all these emergency rations and come out here? Are you planning to lure some monsters and pit them against the Kokokura tribe?"

"Hmm... something like that. Have you ever heard of a Layer Boss?"

"A Layer Boss?"

"Yeah. ...You know that each layer of this dungeon is like its own independent ecosystem, right?"

A Layer Boss refers to a creature that has perfectly adapted to its environment and risen to the absolute top of the food chain.

In other words, the apex predator and boss monster that rules over that layer's ecosystem.

However, because they are far too powerful to be called mere boss monsters, they are given the title of 'Boss' or 'Lord' out of respect.

"Bringing that up now... does that mean there's a Layer Boss here...?"

"No, actually, I don't really know."

"What? What do you mean...! If you don't know, Doran-nim, then what are we supposed to do?!"

"Hey, what do you want from me? I genuinely don't know..."

When the players—meaning me—started playing Velheim, it was already two or three years after this dungeon had been discovered.

By then, the exploration of the first layer had already been completed.

I had thoroughly combed through the journals of the pioneers who led the dungeon raids back then, but nowhere did I find any record of them defeating the Layer Boss of the first layer.

But it definitely exists...

Which meant it was either tucked away in a hiding spot no one could find, or it was a docile creature that disliked conflict and had migrated to another layer.

And if a Layer Boss existed right now, I was certain it would be somewhere around here.

Unlike the other areas that had already been fully mapped out, this was the middle of a swamp, making it difficult to access. The fog and mangroves also made it unsuitable for avian beastmen to conduct aerial reconnaissance.

In many ways, it was the perfect place for a boss monster to nest.

Crucially...

I just hope the adventurers didn't mistake a regular green anaconda for something else...

As I prayed fervently, Radie spoke up with a worried expression.

"But... even if there is a Layer Boss here like you say, isn't that still a problem? It's a monster at its core, so communication is out of the question. And no matter how much food we bring, it's not going to be friendly to humans trespassing on its territory..."

"Exactly."

"...Then this is a suicide mission."

"Well, that's why I told you to brace yourself. If you want to turn back, I can turn the raft around right now."

"Sigh... No, it's fine. In our current situation, we have to try everything. ...I'll let you know the moment I sense a boss monster's presence."

"That's the spirit."

I grinned and steered the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠raft forward aimlessly.

Judging by the tendency of Layer Bosses to favor secluded areas, the most likely place for it to reside was the deepest part of this swamp.

After wandering the waterways for about an hour or two, the atmosphere of the island suddenly shifted.

The translucent water turned a deep, murky olive, and a putrid stench of decay began to rise.

The lush aquatic plants and lotuses vanished, replaced by withered, skeletal trees lining the banks like bare bones, looking as if something massive had swept through and stripped them clean.

Looks like we're close to the deepest part of the island...

Did we find the right place?

Radie must have sensed the eerie atmosphere too, as she rubbed her shoulders and said,

"The vibe here is a bit chilling... It's cold, and the sunlight barely reaches us."

"Yeah... even the vegetation is slightly different."

"Is this a dead tree? No, is it a giant tree root...? What is this? It's completely white and lying on its side..."

"Better not touch it. You never know what kind of danger lurks in plants growing in a place like this."

"Hmm..."

After passing the bizarrely twisted dead trees and venturing a bit deeper, we reached a dead end in the waterway.

It was a spot where the vegetation bent away from the sunlight, forming a small circular pool, surrounded by trees with peculiar patterns that coiled around the area like a nest.

Intuiting that this was the perfect spot, I stopped the raft in the middle of the pool.

"Alright... this should do."

"Are you going to try it here?"

"Yeah. It's spacious, cozy with all the thick foliage... doesn't it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠look exactly like the kind of place a boss monster would love?"

"I suppose so. I'll prepare some paralytic poison, just in case we don't know what kind of monster might pop out."

While Radie loaded a special bolt into her crossbow, I pulled the Naga's Heart out of my backpack.

Please let this bring it out...

I sliced off a large chunk of the heart, soaked it in blood, and dropped it into the pool. The log window immediately updated.

Huh...? Attracting a powerful entity?

The wording felt different from when I had used it before.

It might have been my imagination, but the noisy cries of the swamp creatures that had filled the air until a moment ago suddenly cut off.

It felt as if even the wind had held its breath.

"Did it work? Actually, this is perfect... Wait, huh...?"

"Wait... Doran-nim, something's wrong...!"

Radie's shout quickly turned into a shriek of horror.

A violent tremor struck the raft, as if the entire swamp were flipping upside down.

Rumble, rumble...!!

"Ugh...! Hold on tight!!"

I clung to the mast as the water began ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to boil furiously, splashing in all directions.

With every bursting bubble, an unrecognizable, foul, musky stench filled the air, and the olive-colored water turned pitch black in an instant.

But that was only the beginning.

The swamp itself began to throb like a single massive organism, thrashing violently.

The water level supporting the raft plummeted in an instant, exposing the ugly, muddy bed of the swamp as the ground on the opposite side surged upward.

As I braced myself against the shifting terrain that tilted like a seesaw, I saw it clearly.

The trees with the peculiar white patterns surrounding the swamp were squirming and moving.

N-No way... Were those things I thought were dead tree trunks actually the monster's body...?!

Once that realization hit, I understood the absurd misunderstanding I had been under.

This pool wasn't its hiding spot...

"The... the entire mangrove island... was its nest?"

"......!!"

Soon, the water swirled and converged into a single point, and a colossal head erupted through the surface.

A white serpent.

Its flickering tongue, its heat-sensing pit organs, and even the parietal scales covering its forehead—everything was a blinding, pristine white.

As its closed eyelids slowly parted, a pair of vertically slit pupils stared down at me.

Crimson eyes, flickering with a cruel intelligence, looked as if they had rubies embedded in them.

The moment our eyes met, I realized with bone-chilling clarity that I was no longer a human—I was merely a bite-sized snack.

As I stared up in a daze, notifications flashed across my vision at an unprecedented, breakneck speed.

A mouse before a snake. Primal terror.

Dizziness washed over me, and my vision warped like a camera lens under the weight of her immense presence.

"Ha, haha..."

My instincts screamed.

This was something I should not be facing right now.

Boss monster or not, how could something like this be roaming around the first layer?

Seriously, Velheim is such a godforsaken, trash game...

As the serpent—massive enough to constrict a galleon in a single bind—slithered across the water toward us, every plan I had carefully laid out crumbled into dust.

While the suffocating tension threatened to squeeze every last drop of air from my lungs and paralyzed my entire body, I bit my tongue to snap myself back to reality.

"I-I brought food, expecting this! Please, eat these and appease your anger...!"

I frantically pulled out the dried meat and fruits, holding them up high.

But the giant serpent merely spared them an indifferent glance, closing the distance without a care.

"T-Then how about this...! It's a delicacy we humans love to eat!"

"Urgh...!"

I could feel the threat of death tightening around my throat.

As if to leave us no room for escape, she blocked our retreat with her long body and slowly closed in.

Then how about this?!

Click!

I popped open the jar containing the Kokokura eggs, and a fishy aroma wafted into the air.

These eggs were known as a delicacy to aquatic monsters.

To be precise, they were a treat that green anacondas went absolutely crazy for.

The 'gourmands' mentioned in the item description actually referred to snakes—

Thud!

In a flash, a massive tail whipped out and knocked the jar right out of my hand.

"...Huh?"

I stared blankly at the glass jar rolling uselessly across the raft.

Some of the eggs spilled from the mouth of the jar and scattered into the water, but the serpent didn't even spare them a glance.

Radie, who had been staring at the scene in a daze, snapped out of it and turned to me with a tearful face.

"W-What do we do...?! We're f-f-fucked! She has absolutely no interest in the food!!"

"...Dammit."

I bit my lip hard and clutched my hair.

Dammit... is it over?

No, not yet.

"W-Wait...! Let's talk this out first!!"

As my mind ground to a halt from sheer terror, I bit my tongue once more to force my thoughts back on track.

Think, think.

If we just back away quietly, can we pretend this never happened?

Or should I bet on a 0.0001% chance and just charge like a madman?

In novels, characters would dive straight into a monster's mouth, rip its insides apart, and escape. But if I tried some macho stunt like that right now, I'd dissolve in her highly corrosive digestive fluids in less than three seconds.

It was a desperate, life-or-death situation.

Yet, as I frantically racked my brain for a way to survive, I was confronted by a shocking revelation.

A yellow light was glowing on a skill that had almost never been activated before.

[Speech]

...What?

Why is this activating now?