Omniscient Ocean Sunfish (4)

Kim Dokja's thuggish little remark left me pale as a sheet. She glanced at my face, then grinned.

"What, you don't want to give them up?"

"…That's not it."

"Then what is it?"

Damn it. Between Uriel's snitching and Kim Dokja's razor-sharp facts, my entire rhythm had fallen apart. My perfect plan — clear the Theater Dungeon, then hand out the enhancement ampoules to Yoo Sangah, Lee Hyunsung, and Kim Dokja so I could snag all three of their favor — was crumbling right before my eyes…!

…No. There's still one way.

I looked up at Kim Dokja with the most pitiful expression I could manage.

"Dokja-ssi, I think it's better if I hold onto them until we clear the Theater Dungeon."

"Why?"

"Handing the enhancement ampoules over to you isn't a big problem in itself. But if they suddenly! Accidentally! Somehow! break, that'd be a real shame, wouldn't it? So until we clear this hidden dungeon, how about I keep them safe in my My Room for a bit?"

Kim Dokja folded her arms and thought it over. Then she frowned, shot me a look, and sighed.

"That's not wrong, either. I'll admit that right now, your My Room is pretty much the only place we can store them properly."

"Th-then…?"

"But the moment we clear this Theater Dungeon, you have to give them to me. Got it?"

"Of course!"

I beamed at Kim Dokja and pushed myself up from the floor. My legs were completely numb from kneeling so long, but it was bearable.

"Anyway, let's eat the Rex meat before it gets cold."

"Oh! We can eat now? Then I'm going first!"

Lee Jihye, who'd been looking slightly sulky about not getting to eat because of my dramatic entrance, charged straight at a chunk of Rex leg meat and tore off a piece. Kim Dokja and Jung Heewon watched her impatient scramble with the faces of people dealing with an unmanageable troublemaker, then each grabbed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a slab of meat roughly the size of a human head.

"Whoa… this meat is insanely huge. And it smells incredible."

"Right? Holding a cut this big in your bare hands… back when I was a company employee, I couldn't even have dreamed of this."

The mole cricket meat had been pretty sizable too, but it was nothing compared to the Rex. Kim Dokja and I each admired the meat in our hands for a moment, then took a big bite. Lee Jihye, who'd gotten there first, murmured in a voice thick with bliss.

"Wow… this is the best thing in the world…."

I silently agreed. And it wasn't just me — Kim Dokja, Jung Heewon, and Lee Gilyoung all wore the exact same rapturous expression.

Firm muscle laced with just the right amount of fat, a grade of meat in a completely different league from mole cricket or groll. That springy chew that wrapped around your tongue with every bite…. It was genuinely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠delicious. If some shop had sold this right before the world ended, raking in hundreds of millions a year would've been a joke. That kind of flavor coiled around my tongue.

I should save some for Sangah-ssi and Hyunsung-ssi.

We tore into the Rex meat in silence for a long while. The thing was so massive that a huge amount still remained.

Ha… it's too good. Though I ended up eating something weirdly similar to Toriko without meaning to.

In Toriko, eating food gave you satiety and a massive amount of calories — energy. And certain ingredients could build muscle, boost strength, purge toxins, and so on. Eating this Rex meat, I could feel my stamina recovering along with the full stomach.

Mole cricket meat was said to detoxify mild poisons if you ate it, so maybe it's the same principle?

Of course, Rex meat — coming from a higher-grade beast species than mole crickets — would be even more effective.

"Hoo… it's so good I could cry that I can't eat any more."

At Jung Heewon's regretful words, I looked at the well-roasted Rex and thought,

…If a Grade 7 Rex tastes this good, how amazing would the meat from higher-grade beast species be?

Looks like I'd just found a reason to slaughter every beast species ranked higher than a Rex as the scenarios went on. Though I felt like I was forgetting something….

"Ah, almost forgot! Skill Extraction."

Hmm… which one do I pick? Everything except the bite force looks useful.

Hard Skin, which toughens the hide and raises defense? Predatory Fear, which inflicts terror on prey it recognizes as food? Or Reckless Charge, with its powerful rushing force? All three were solid options, which only made the choice harder.

Thinking about the cannon fire at Myeongnyang and a brainwashed Yoo Joonghyuk… maybe I should just go defense. That seems like the safest pick.

Having sorted my thoughts, I selected the most reliable option — Hard Skin.

Having safely extracted the skill from the Rex, I stood up and approached the well-roasted carcass.

"Hey, anyone want to help me butcher this Rex meat with me? Feels like a waste to just leave it here."

"Huh? You can take all of this, Jinwoo-ssi?"

"All of it would be pushing it, but we can at least pack enough to eat properly, right? Sangah-ssi and Hyunsung-ssi deserve to try dinosaur meat too."

"Mmm… yeah, we should at least bring some dinosaur meat to those two who've been struggling outside. I'll help."

"Thanks, Heewon-ssi."

Jung Heewon and I started carving the meat off the Rex's legs. I wanted to take every last scrap… but My Room was currently only forty pyeong. If I stuffed all the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Rex meat in there, half the space would be packed solid with dinosaur. Ah, and speaking of which—

"Ah, I almost forgot."

"What is it, Jinwoo-ssi?"

"Those twenty-four people we kidnapped last night. We completely forgot to let them out."

"What?"

Kim Dokja stared at me in shock. I hurriedly connected a door to the room where the captives were staying and generated a My Room entrance.

"Holy crap. Outside they're busting their asses holding off monster waves, and these guys are sleeping like babies."

I opened the door and peered inside. All twenty-four people locked behind the bars were snoring away in deep, peaceful sleep.

"…If I just wake them all up and kick them out, I'd be a total bastard, right?"

"Probably. Especially the Absolute Good constellations might not look kindly on it."

"…Hmm, fine."

"Shut up."

I ignored the constellation messages teasing me for being a pushover, dismissed the My Room door, and was about to go back to butchering the Rex with Jung Heewon — when the rest of the party offered to help ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too, and we all dismantled the Rex together.

"This should be enough. Let's head to the research lab."

Thanks to everyone's help, we quickly finished carving the meat from both legs and the tail. After stacking the harvested meat neatly into My Room, I told the party it was time to move on to the research facility.

We made our way to the central laboratory. After arriving, we passed through something that looked like an experimental wing and entered the inner building — and there we found the twenty enhancement ampoules that Kim Dokja had discovered in the webtoon.

"Dokja-ssi! Found them! These are the extra enhancement ampoules I said I'd seen!"

"Just like you said, Jinwoo-ssi. Twenty more bottles."

Kim Dokja and I examined the enhancement ampoules inside the transparent cabinet. Behind us, Lee Jihye — who'd been watching to see what we were up to — asked,

"So what even is an enhancement ampoule?"

"Drink one and it raises a stat by 1. No effect if that stat is already 30 or higher."

"What?! That's an insanely good item!"

When I explained the effect, Lee Jihye's eyes went wide.

"Are hidden scenarios just full of stuff like this?"

Having checked the item info on the enhancement ampoules herself, Jung Heewon spoke up in a startled voice, reacting to our conversation.

Lee Jihye, staring intently at a Strength enhancement ampoule among the bottles, said,

"Can I have the Strength one? My Strength is seriously lacking."

"You were carving through Rex legs and you're saying your Strength is lacking?"

"That's different!"

"My Strength is lacking too, so can I have one as well?"

"……You already drank twenty bottles! You greedy pig! Share with your little sister!"

"Even after twenty bottles, my stats are still only in the low tens."

"Huh? For real? Oppa, you were that much of a weakling?"

"Yep. Your big brother is a weakling. So just one Strength bottle."

Lee Jihye's eyes went huge, and she stared at me with a deeply shocked expression.

"…Don't lie to the kid that much, Jinwoo-ssi. If you escaped a T-rex in one piece, your Agility is at least mid-teens, which means your other stats are probably around the same."

"What?! You were lying to me?! How could you do that and still call yourself Oppa?!"

"Life is fifty percent lies, Jihye. Getting fooled is on you."

Hearing Kim Dokja's words, Lee Jihye huffed and ranted at me, and I cheerfully shifted the blame onto her.

Kim Dokja saw Uriel's message, then grinned.

"We'll settle it with rock-paper-scissors."

"Rock-paper-scissors?"

"Last one standing gets one each."

"I'm in!"

Lee Jihye eyed the Strength ampoule with pure greed and started loosening up her hands.

"You sure? It could end up all going to one person."

"Then that person just got lucky."

"What do we start with, Dokja unni?"

"Let's start with the Strength ampoule."

Kim Dokja said to Lee Jihye, who was bouncing in place as she stared at the Strength bottle.

"You're going against me."

"I'm really good at rock-paper-scissors, you sure about that?"

"Aha, is that so?"

Kim Dokja smiled sweetly at Lee Jihye. I wanted to raise my Strength more too, though.

Swoosh—.

"Jinwoo-ssi?"

"Jinwoo oppa?"

"…………."

"Why are you holding out your hand?"

"Don't tell me…."

I stepped between the two of them and stuck out a fist. Kim Dokja and Lee Jihye both glared at me with thoroughly displeased faces.

"They say people are always greedy."

"And the conclusion is?"

"I want to raise my Strength more."

"Jinwoo-ssi."

"Yes."

"Put that hand away before I break it."

"…Harsh."

At Kim Dokja's words, I withdrew the fist I'd been holding out. I absolutely did not pull it back because I was intimidated by her icy stare. I, a man of generous spirit, was simply yielding. That was all.

"Then let's start, Jihye."

"Okay! No complaining even if you lose, deal?"

The rock-paper-scissors match ended quickly — in Kim Dokja's overwhelming victory, thanks to her Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint cheating.

"…This is ridiculous!"

Lee Jihye, crushed so thoroughly by Kim Dokja, sank to the floor with a vacant expression and started denying reality.

"Jihye, don't go around telling people you're good at rock-paper-scissors."

"N-no… I really am good at rock-paper-scissors… this can't be happening…?"

Her face was so full of despair that my heart softened against my will. I gently patted her head to comfort her. But Lee Jihye didn't even seem to notice — she just kept muttering that this couldn't be real.

"…Jihye, take these."

"Huh…? What are these…?"

I slipped her one Stamina and one Strength enhancement ampoule behind Kim Dokja's back. Lee Jihye stared blankly at the bottles in her hands, then looked up at me with eyes darting back and forth in a daze.

"……Jinwoo oppa."

"Shh, just drink them already. We'll get caught."

"…Thank you so much."

Lee Jihye looked at me with shining, moved eyes, then downed the ampoules.

"I'll pay this debt back, oppa. Really, thank you."

"Just be good to your oppa."

"Okay! I will from now on!"

Ordinarily I wouldn't have needed to give Jihye enhancement ampoules — Yoo Joonghyuk would raise her just fine — but she'd looked so pitiful that I'd handed them over without thinking. Honestly it stung a little, but watching her smile so brightly and thank me left me feeling oddly proud.

"Then let's hurry to the next floor. We've got to save your master."

"Ah, right! Master! Let's go, oppa!"

We headed for the research lab rooftop that had appeared in the earlier message. Once we reached the roof, there was a helicopter sitting in the center. We climbed aboard, but there was no pilot in the cockpit. Even so, the pilotless helicopter started up on its own, and the rotors began to spin.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—.

A moment later, once the rotors were spinning hard enough to lift us, the helicopter rose into the air.