Chapter 45: Gaegaek (塏揢)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45: Gaegaek (塏揢)
Cold Blood.
Cool my head.
[The effect of 「Cold Blood LV5」 is activated.]
Good.
Time to put my cool head to work.
【Tang Soyeong】
【Status】
「Worship」「Joy」
This was a very good state.
【Attercopus LV9】
【Status】
「Worship」「One-sided Love」「Vigilance」
【Anthracomartus LV8】
【Status】
「Worship」「One-sided Love」「Jealousy」
These were a little concerning, but at least ‘Worship’ was there. It was probably something like a slightly distorted faith. Tus and Pus were still young, so I could see them making this kind of mistake.
【Nephila Jurassica LV30】
【Status】
「Injured」「One-sided Love」「Affection」「Adoration」「Longing」「Single-minded Devotion」「Mating Drive」「Possessiveness」「Appetite」
This is not okay!
Right.
I could roughly guess what feelings this spider had for me. Thanks to her, I’d received a title, and Nephila Jurassica had saved me without any fear for her own life.
I could understand.
But the one at the very end was the problem.
I had been feeling sorry for running away from her on the branch, but seeing that made all such thoughts vanish. If I hadn't run, I really could have become a lizard tanghulu.
Twenty-six eyes were staring at me simultaneously.
Cold Blood.
You’ll have to work a little harder.
[The effect of 「Cold Blood LV5」 is activated.]
My head cooled down in real-time, but it heated right back up. I couldn't calm down.
That gaze. And the sight of her drooling made me understand what instinctual fear truly was.
“Kieeeek…”
Nephila. Please don't drool.
“Keeng.”
“Keeeeng!”
You two, too.
“To see a Gomodo in person… I can die without regrets now…”
Tang Soyeong.
Not you too.
Why are you drooling?
Three creatures and one person were stealthily approaching me.
I spread my hands wide to calm them, just like in that one movie where the guy calms down three raptors.
Calm down.
“Gegegegek!”
Fortunately, their movements stopped. It seemed they hadn't completely lost their minds yet.
How long would this last? I needed to find a solution, and fast.
Let's at least do something about Nephila Jurassica's appetite.
I casually held out the tail I had cut off when I was a monitor lizard. I wondered if this was ethically right, but it was a severed tail anyway. And this spider had a history of eating my tail several times.
Nephila Jurassica carefully received my tail with both her forelegs.
“Kieeng.”
Yeah. Eat that and calm down.
“Keeng!”
Tus and Pus also leaped toward my tail.
Was it okay to feed it to them? What if they started cutting off my tail while I was sleeping?
Nah. That was the tail of a crocodile monitor, and I was a Gomodo now. They’d know the difference.
Let's put out the most urgent fire first.
Just eat that for now.
“K-Gomodo's tail…”
I told you, not for you.
“Gekgek.”
I lightly wrapped my tail around Tang Soyeong's leg and pulled her toward me.
“…Hah! I-I couldn't help myself.”
Right. Let's protect what little humanity you have left. You're different from those spiders.
“Later, in secret…”
You are different, right?
Thanks to the sacrifice of my tail, the situation was somewhat under control. The three spiders were engrossed in eating the severed limb.
And then there was Tang Soyeong, standing before me.
Since she was the human who was always going on about the Gomodo, she must have a lot of information.
Spit it out, quickly. Unless you want a look inside a Gomodo's mouth.
“…You look exactly as I've heard. These sharp scales, these blue eyes. I knew Hero Go would become like this.”
I was a Gomodo now. But why did this woman call me a Gomodo even when I was a crocodile monitor? Did she see me as some kind of Gomodo-in-training?
“I-If I just take one scale, I'll be forgiven for this incident. I might even get a reward… Ehehe…”
Tang Soyeong fiddled with my scales.
Sure. After all we've been through, one scale was nothing. I could even pull out up to ten for her.
Except for the ones on my head. I had no desire to evolve into a Pachycephalosaurus.
“Gekgek.”
By the way, you're moving pretty well, aren't you?
I glanced at Tang Soyeong's leg. It looked perfectly fine. In fact, I think she’d been walking around normally ever since I woke up.
Tang Soyeong seemed to have noticed the meaning behind my gaze and made a slightly awkward expression.
“K-khem!”
Well, things happen. I wasn't going to kick her out just because her leg was healed. Still, if you're better, you should say so.
“M-my leg is all better!”
Yep. You shouldn't try acting. You're a terrible liar.
“This must also be the grace of the great Gomodo…”
It's going in this direction?
No. This was actually good. This was another issue I needed to address.
Divinity. And religion.
The system always said ‘faint divinity,’ so I thought it was no big deal, but now all this talk of religion had suddenly popped up. It was as shocking as the spiders' status messages.
“Gekgek.”
“As expected of the great Gomodo… to heal an injured leg instantly!”
I told you not to do that.
“Kieeng!”
The spiders were also waving their forelegs and making happy noises.
“Kieeek!”
“The great Gomodo is truly amazing!”
“Kieng!”
This was a bit much. It really felt like they were praising me.
[Conditions have been met.]
Huh?
Light emanated from my body. Was I evolving into a glow-in-the-dark lizard or something?
The light was dark. Rather than a holy light, it was more like an effect a final boss would give off. It was an ominous color.
“Th-this is…!”
I don't know what it is, so please explain.
Tang Soyeong hurriedly bowed.
“As if meeting a Divine Beast wasn't enough, to witness a miracle…”
A miracle? Don't use such grandiose words. I'm just becoming a glow-in-the-dark lizard.
The light slowly faded.
The spiders and Tang Soyeong raised their heads to look up at me. They said nothing.
…What was I supposed to do?
“Gegek.”
Tang Soyeong bowed once more, and Tus and Pus followed suit.
“Gaegaek… Gaegaek (塏揢)…? To seize the high ground! To think there was such a profound meaning in your cry! Yes. The Gaegaek Cult! This is the beginning of the Gaegaek Cult!”
What's that? It's Gegek, not Gaegaek. And it doesn't have some grand meaning; it's just my cry.
Tus and Pus clapped in response to Tang Soyeong's cry.
“Kaegaek!”
“Kaegaek!”
Tus and Pus imitated my cry. Or were they just imitating ‘Gaegaek’?
Yeah. Go ahead and imitate it all you want. It's not like anything would change.
[The 【Gaegaek Faith】 has been created.]
__________________________
【Gaegaek Faith】
Gecko Lizard-level Faith.
This is a faith believed in by those who serve the legendary spirit beast, the Gomodo.
It is too early to be called a religion, but it is a faith with very high potential for growth.
The members' faith is very high.
Members
First Believer: 【Attercopus LV9】
Second Believer: 【Anthracomartus LV8】
Third Believer: 【Tang Soyeong】
What is this?
This was starting to get scary.
Meanwhile, Nephila Jurassica wasn't on the list. Well, the word ‘Worship’ hadn't been in her status window, after all.
To think that faint divinity could gather and become a faith. It was truly a surprising event.
So was this it? Weren't you forgetting something? When something this grand appears, you're supposed to give me something. Like, ‘An Achievement that will Surprise a Gomodo!’
I glared at the status window. Getting Dragon Scales and all that other stuff was great, but I was still hungry.
Give me more.
[As an effect of the Gecko Lizard-level Faith, the believers' stats will be slightly amplified.]
No. Not ‘give me more.’
Give me everything.
[You will now share a portion of the experience points your believers obtain.]
I share a portion of their experience points?
Now this was an achievement that would surprise a Gomodo. I was so surprised I almost jumped. This was an effect that couldn't possibly be bad. Wasn't this basically the same as auto-hunting?
Of course, I would never entrust hunting to Tus and Pus. The same went for Tang Soyeong. Still, if I managed to increase the number of believers later, I'd be able to see some good results.
First off, it would be nice if Nephila Jurassica joined as a believer. Tsk, why doesn't this one believe in the great Gomodo?
“Gekgek.”
Nephila. It'd be best if you joined quickly. If you join now, you'll be ranked fourth, you know? Of course, being ranked below Tus and Pus is a bit much, but who knows? I might seduce someone like Baek Yeon-yeong later. Then you'd be ranked higher than her.
“Gekgek.”
Think carefully.
“Kiek!”
Nephila Jurassica tried to understand my words, then shook her head. There was a limit to communication with just ‘Gekgek’ and ‘Kiek’.
Alright, I'm feeling generous. If you join now, I'll rank you higher than Tang Soyeong. We have a connection, after all.
“Kieng.”
The spider lowered her head and was diligently tearing at the severed tail meat.
Alright, alright. Let's not provoke her for no reason. I barely managed to calm her down with my tail.
Let's leave Nephila for now and have a healthy conversation with our first believer, shall we?
“Kieeeng!”
Pus nodded her head.
….
I didn't even make a sound this time, so how did she understand? As expected of the first believer.
“Kiooong!”
At that, the second believer, Tus, got fired up.
I realized. My believers could read my thoughts.
Let's test it.
‘Tang Soyeong!’
Tang Soyeong had no reaction.
Tsk, is that not it? I thought it was something like sound transmission. Was it just a coincidence? But the spiders had responded immediately.
‘Sky-Filling Flower Rain is a martial art of the Beggars' Sect, not the Sichuan Tang Clan.’
Tang Soyeong tilted her head.
“…What? I suddenly feel bad!”
It wasn't completely ineffective. A part of my thoughts—and a very small part at that—seemed to be getting transmitted. Of course, it seemed she didn't even know that I was the one sending it.
It was like chicken ribs—not great, but too good to throw away. Still, it wasn't bad to have.
‘The Five Great Families are the Murong, Zhuge, Namgung, Hebei Peng, and Hwangbo families. The Sichuan Tang Clan has no place among them.’
“I-I feel strange!”
A long-range taunt that left no evidence.
I had learned a very vicious new skill.