Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Hidden Piece (2)
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Dementia Serpent.
The malevolent force of the "Otherworld" that ran through the main storyline.
It was a level 4 monster on par with Delgato, but with the blade planted, victory odds no longer mattered.
The serpent, ambushed by Bran, let out a roar of agony.
【Kiru, kiririk!】
The blade was embedded deep in the razor-sharp pupil.
Silver fluid surged from the split iris.
A justified reaction.
All seven of the serpent's eyeballs were vital points.
Destroy them without mercy, and it would either die or fall into a near-death state.
The remaining five eyeballs thrashed wildly, searching for Bran.
"Stay still!!"
Bran furrowed his brow.
It felt like trying to grab hold of churning waves.
Depending on one tiny blade to hang on was no small ordeal.
The instant he drew the blade for the next strike...
Churirit!
A tentacle shot out of nowhere, coiling around his wrist and yanking hard.
"Damn...!"
His body tilted.
At this rate, he'd fall.
Bran desperately jammed his hand into the bleeding eye socket.
Puseok!
His fingertips pierced the lens and touched a hard bone.
Grasping the bone, Bran wrenched his trapped arm free from the tentacle.
"Hngh!"
With a brutish snap, the bind broke.
Bran spun the blade once and severed the tentacle.
Puak!
He stabbed another nearby eye in quick succession, and a silver fountain erupted once more.
【Kirururit!】
The Dementia Serpent convulsed.
Its liquid-like body began to stiffen rigidly.
The stiffen pattern that triggered after destroying two eyes.
Bran immediately shifted to the third eyeball.
Unlike the previous two, it was positioned quite far away.
"Cough, cough!"
Bran, crawling along like a climber on a sheer rock face, hacked up coughs.
The Harmeno sap coating the serpent was vaporizing into toxic gas.
Tiny tentacles were homing in on him like anti-aircraft missiles.
A prolonged fight wouldn't do.
The moment Bran arrived before the third eye and swung the blade down...
【Kirik!】
The Dementia Serpent twisted its body.
Bran spat curses.
The escape pattern that followed the end of the stiffen.
The blade finished off the third eye, but it couldn't stop the writhing serpent from plunging into the hole.
"Fuck...!"
Too late to let go. The gale whipped his forelocks back.
The intensifying crimson light erased the shadows from his face.
Kwaaaang!
The serpent plummeted helplessly and smashed into the ground.
"Kraaak!"
Bran's vision inverted.
A shock that rattled his very soul surged through his entire body.
He barely managed to hold onto the blade.
Kwakwakwa!!
The serpent snapped out of it and charged forward.
【Kirararararak!】
"Damn it..."
Bran looked up.
Humid like a tropical rainforest.
He'd ended up inside Harmeno's stem after all.
The passage the serpent carved was wide enough for a bus to pass through.
Red sap oozed from the white fleshy walls, ceiling, and floor.
'Feels like a fly swallowed by accident.'
Bran twisted his lips.
To him, it was no different from the most vicious digestive juices.
One drop in his mouth and it was game over.
The thick mist filling the air was all vaporized sap—lethal in every way.
In that instant, as Bran caught his breath, his vision spun.
"Ugh."
Classic poisoning symptoms.
The absence of even a gas mask, let alone crown daisy leaves, hit him hard.
Still, maybe he could hold out?
As that thought crossed his mind and he raised his head, a seductive woman's voice sounded from right beside him.
"Nice to meet you. Hottie."
Bran whipped his head around.
Marilyn Monroe was gazing at him.
Prone on her stomach, legs kicking lazily like she was splashing in water—it was sinfully alluring.
"I'm screwed."
Bran let out a hollow chuckle.
He blinked, and Monroe vanished.
Instead, Michael Jackson's song began playing in his ear.
Semi-transparent windows popped up one after another before his eyes.
『Warning! Exposed to an extremely dangerous environment!』
『Status Abnormality 'Hallucination' inflicted.』
『Status Abnormality 'Confusion' incoming.』
Red-tinged windows, just like when he'd first encountered the Dementia Serpent.
The system seemed to agree with his assessment.
Saliva dribbled uncontrollably from beneath lips that wouldn't close.
'So smashing four eyeballs was a stretch after all.'
An unavoidable force majeure due to insufficient specs.
If he'd destroyed four or more eyes, the serpent would have fought to the end on the surface without fleeing.
Two more weeks of training, and he could've skipped the escape pattern.
All moot now.
What good was regretting it at this point?
"Hoo... Hooo..."
Bran took deep breaths.
His consciousness was fading fast.
Saliva overflowed wildly, trailing down his chin.
Bran gritted his teeth.
"...Don't fuck with me."
He couldn't die in a place like this, no way.
He hadn't chosen to become the Nameless Hero just to meet such a pathetic end.
As if responding to his resolve, new messages appeared.
『Continuously confronting a dangerous environment!』
『Tenacity of the Weed activates!』
『Mental Power growth rate increased!』
『Endurance growth rate increased.』
There was now only one way to turn the tables.
However, sticking to the original escape plan would throw everything into chaos.
'This'll be one hell of a speedrun.'
But Bran had no other options.
Go with the flow, and he'd die here—no escape, nothing.
Kwakwakwa!
The Dementia Serpent kept barreling forward.
Leave it be, and it'd recover to full HP deep in the stem.
"Can't... let that... happen..."
Eyes weren't the issue now.
Bran climbed the serpent's body like a mountaineer scaling a cliff.
Pusak! Pusak!
Silver blood sprayed with every stab of the blade.
His body smacked into the walls now and then, but poisoned as he was, he felt no pain.
"......Found it."
Bran finally halted, lips curling into a smirk.
Up close, it really was hard to spot. Thank god its position matched the game.
A grid-patterned tissue faintly glowed just below his chin.
Beneath it lay the serpent's other weak point.
Adaptation Core.
The organ that let Otherworld creatures adapt to any environment—they all had one.
Bran muttered.
"Gotta... smash it..."
He raised his fist.
Cardo's blade couldn't reach the Adaptation Core.
No blunt weapon, so bare knuckles it was.
With Heavy Strike.
He'd never used it, the recoil would be insane, but no time to worry.
Bran cocked back his right arm.
"Hngh."
Power swirling inside him converged on his fist.
His arm swelled.
No strength left even to shout.
Gathering every last scrap of energy, Bran unleashed a full-force straight punch.
Jeeeoong-!!!
Heavy Strike connected. Ripples spread across the milky skin.
The life-force-fueled impact pierced the thick dermal layers and reached the Adaptation Core.
A sound like cracking stone echoed from within the grid pattern.
The instant the exhausted Bran slumped over, the serpent ground to a halt.
【Kiruk...?】
It didn't take long to sense the anomaly.
The remaining four eyes narrowed to needle points.
The serpent's maw split into four gashes, unleashing a horrific screech.
【Kirururururuk!】
"Hah... can't breathe, huh?"
Bran laughed.
Now the Dementia Serpent was a fellow parasite—just like him.
Must taste like death. Its favorite juice turned to hydrochloric acid.
Kwaaaaang!
Writhing in agony, the serpent slammed into the passage ceiling.
【Kruk, kirik, kiruruk!】
Like an eel caught in a net.
After repeated headbutts, it finally started gnawing at its own flesh.
Sap gushed out with every snap of its four-way maw.
It ignored Bran entirely, and he returned the favor.
Gripping the blade tight, Bran murmured inwardly.
Yeah.
Let's get the hell out first.
"Well now. Seems we're getting a lot of young applicants lately."
Delgato shrugged.
Soothing classical music filled the control room.
Standing before him was a diminutive blond boy, rigid as a log from sheer terror.
"What's your name?"
"K-Kael!"
"Kael, huh. What a lovely name."
No flattery there.
Prettier than most noble young ladies.
His friend from half a month back was the same—lately, he'd been feasting his eyes.
"So, Kael. Why apply to the Underground Farm?"
"I-I want to devote this body to the great bandit group!"
"Hmm... you're far too frightened for that. Doesn't seem like you came for a painless death either."
Delgato leaned in close.
Gently lifting Kael's chin, he continued.
"You. You've got some ulterior motive, don't you?"
"N-No! Nothing like that!"
Kael shook his head vigorously.
Of course it was a lie, but he couldn't spill the truth here.
Say he came to rescue a friend, and it'd be a world of hurt.
'Bran. Please be safe.'
A tragedy born of missing information.
Kael had no idea Bran, deployed to the Underground Farm, was due back tomorrow.
Worried something happened to his friend, he'd volunteered—and the deadline-harried supervisor had approved him on the spot.
"But there's no work here suited to you. You're too frail. It's a miracle you made it here unscathed. Did the friend who guided you give you a mask, by chance?"
"N-No, I didn't get one."
Kael shook his head.
Delgato cocked his head.
A build like that shouldn't withstand the Underground Farm's toxic air.
"...Remarkable. In any case, I don't think it'll work."
"I-I'll do anything! I'm really good at cooking and odd jobs!"
"Hmm. If you're that insistent on work, there is something. Though it might be tough."
"That's fine! What is it?!"
"Heh. Didn't you say you came to devote your body?"
Laughter laced his voice.
Suddenly, Delgato began unbuttoning his double-breasted coat one by one.
Kael's face froze.
"Eh?"
"Shall we move somewhere else first?"
Delgato smiled with his eyes.
Kael's breathing quickened.
Not that kind of devotion!
The scream he'd been holding back threatened to rip free from his throat.
Just then, as Delgato reached to sling an arm around Kael's shoulders, he narrowed his brow.
"...Hold on. Something's off."
He bent at the waist, peering at Kael.
Eyes like a clear winter lake, huge and pristine. Golden lashes long and thick.
Delgato sniffed, then frowned.
"You're not a boy."
"...!!!"
Kael's eyes went wide.
Delgato's face twisted demonically, lips parting to speak—
Kwaaaaang-!!!
A massive boom echoed from outside the window.
At the unprecedented sound, Kael flinched.
"Hiiik?!"
"What the—"
Delgato shot to his feet.
He rushed to the window and froze in place.
【Kirurururururu!】
The Otherworld beast was laying waste to the management office.
"D-Don't come! Hwaaaak!"
"Get the boss!"
"Hngh! M-My legs... won't move..."
The bandits were fleeing in utter panic.
The Dementia Serpent rampaged madly, demolishing everything in sight.
Chwaaak!
Limbs of bandits caught in its jaws were torn to shreds.
Every whip of its tentacles sent human and structural debris flying.
"M-Mother."
"Aa, aaa...!"
The bandits weren't even resisting—they could barely escape.
All thanks to the overwhelming Otherworld presence emanating from the Dementia Serpent.
Delgato clutched the windowsill, aghast.
"Why is that monster here?!"
The Dementia Serpent breaking free from the stem was unprecedented.
Suddenly, a hole torn open in the courtyard caught his eye.
Had to be where it burst out from.
Harmeno's crimson light leaked from within.
"Damn it, this isn't the time."
He had to do something.
Delgato shed his coat and seized the microphone.
"Emergency declared! All Underground Farm personnel, arm yourselves and assemble at the management office!"
His booming voice shook the underground.
Kwajangchang!
Delgato kicked out the window; the magic-reinforced glass shattered.
Five stories up, but he leapt out without a second thought.
"Wh-What the hell..."
Kael gasped for breath.
Delgato hadn't even glanced back.
No clue what was happening.
What was that monster?
Where was Bran?
Kael crept slowly to the window and peered down.
Hell itself was unfolding.
Bandit corpses littered the ground, and the mystery beast was still berserking.
Then, something seized Kael's gaze.
"That...!"
His already large eyes bulged wide.
A boy his age clung to the monster's body, blade buried deep.
Kael recognized the face and gasped in shock.
"Br-Bran?!"
No doubt about it.
Caked in red sap and hard to make out, but definitely Bran.
His body swayed perilously with every thrash of the monster, on the verge of falling.
"Don't die!"
Kael screamed.
Clasping his hands in prayer, he began mumbling.
Paaaa...
A faint yet holy glow bloomed over his golden hair.