Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: El Grace
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My name in this life has been decided.
El Grace. It's a bit long, so I'm called El.
It's not a name you'd expect from a Korean, but it doesn't feel bad at all as a symbol of starting anew in this life.
-Yaaawn~ Must be the change in sleeping spot. My body's all stiff.
A few days have passed since I got my name.
Silpi, who had introduced the inside of the cave as her home, has now come out to live with us on the outside.
It seems she prefers living with us over being alone, and since we couldn't enter the deeper parts without her help, that's the decision we made.
Crunch.
-To think I only learned about this now. Half my spirit life wasted.
And as Silpi and I started living together, we gained some unexpected information.
That no one considers Amrita edible.
As mentioned in the previous gallery post, Amrita is the prototype of ambrosia, a proper spiritual medicine.
Of course, it's a fruit that's perfectly fine to eat.
But that's knowledge from the modern era after countless years have passed. Right now, in this ancient time, no one thinks of Amrita as food.
'That's why they didn't eat it even though there's so much around.'
Come to think of it, there were some odd things.
Like that giant rat from our first fight—why did it charge at me instead of eating the Amrita scattered everywhere?
And Cheong—why didn't that guy eat the Amrita I gave him at first? Even when he did eat it, he always split it in half.
Because they instinctively rejected eating Amrita.
And that applied to Silpi the spirit as well.
Whenever we ate Amrita while living together, she'd stare at us with a look of wonder, which was pretty burdensome.
Well, now she's eating more of it than we are, which is the real problem.
Crunch.
-If I'd known it was this delicious, I would've tried it sooner.
…But isn't she eating a bit too much?
Thank goodness she's a spirit and her body doesn't change no matter how much she eats. If she were an ordinary person, she'd balloon up instantly with the amount she's shoving down.
Right now, fragments from no less than ten Amritas are rolling around near her.
And that's just what she's eaten in one sitting here.
'Good thing there's plenty of Amrita. Otherwise, we'd be in trouble.'
There's still a lot of Amrita left.
And as long as this ancient era where Amrita exists doesn't end, we won't run out.
The number decreases quickly as Silpi eats it, but surprisingly, by the next day, it regrows to match what was eaten.
Is that bizarre growth speed due to the ancient era's traits? Or Amrita's inherent properties?
'Probably both.'
Amrita grows by absorbing surrounding mana, and the ancient era's abundant mana accelerates that growth. It's probably a miraculous synergy of the two.
Otherwise, it doesn't make sense that something with that growth rate went extinct.
Gulp.
I swallowed my share of Amrita and casually opened the gallery.
If I've been having a novel experience in the real world lately with Silpi devouring Amrita beyond expectations, the gallery's been having a fresh one with the influx of newbies.
Yes, finally, various new transfers have started coming here after me.
A post from a newbie who just got pulled in.
Did I react like that back then?
No, this one seems a bit more soft-hearted than me.
I recalled what the reactions were like when I first posted.
As I reminisced about those days, I slowly typed a comment.
Yeah, you can't explain it.
Suddenly waking up in a strange place while playing a game?
And that place is exactly the early game area you were just in?
'But this guy seems even more fragile than I thought.'
What can I say.
He seems more panicked and distressed than others.
I wonder if he'll adapt properly.
After that, the new crying newbie vanished for three days.
She really did shut up and lurk for three days, just as advised.
And when the newbie posted again after three days...
It was a post about me.
Maybe because it's about me.
The post had more heat than usual newbie threads.
I paused.
Hearing someone—a newbie who just arrived—say that about me...
Well, my chest felt warm.
Of course, the usual stream of lewd comments quickly cooled that warmth.
'Harem protagonist my ass.'
I've already been treating the current Silpi and the future Spirit King Silpi as different beings.
They'd be shocked if they saw.
The current Silpi hates going out like a total hikikomori, loves eating to the point of devouring dozens of Amrita a day, sleeps super late and wakes up super late. Would anyone picture the benevolent, caring, role-model Silpi we know?
-What's that? Someone trash-talking me?
Look at that.
Floating in mid-air, picking her ear with that all-too-familiar slouch.
How to become a spirit beast?
Just handle mana.
But it's still a pipe dream for me.
I can't even adapt to mana yet, let alone handle it.
'But I'm almost adapted to this place.'
If I push myself, I could go a bit deeper.
Though Silpi's area is still out of reach.
Whoooosh.
-Hehe. Catch me if you can!
"Meow! Myaang!"
-Hoi!
Leaving Cheong and Silpi playing hard over there, I slowly regulated my breathing and examined my body.
A body that's grown natural to the pressure of mana.
And the poison that's becoming more dangerously potent over time.
Oh, and about my poison—I have something to say.
I didn't realize at first, but Silpi was shocked at how my poison is growing dangerously stronger.
If it keeps intensifying, even spirit beasts or spirits might be in critical danger from a touch later on.
Of course, reaching that level would take an immense amount of time.
"Shaaa."
'Will it turn into poison like those of Hydra or Nidhogg someday?'
Iconic named monsters that come to mind when you think [poison] in Jijiyong.
With poison like that, I could harm not just spirit beasts but even divinities.
Though it'd take an insane amount of time.
But who am I?
Time? Sorry, but I have over 5,000 years until my target era.
5,000 years—though I suspect it'll take even longer.
And in that time, I can definitely develop poison like theirs.
'So I need to nurture it diligently from now on.'
But back then, I had no idea.
-At this rate, you might not become a spirit beast?
The shocking fact that this poison might prevent me from becoming one.