The Seventh Tentacle Is Always Hungry
I returned to the Eastern Camp with Mer. I immediately dragged the captives I’d seized and stormed into Erickson’s office.
-Clatter!
“Holy...!! Ah... Jojun-ssi?”
“Call me Jojun-nim.”
“Uh... Jo, Jojun-nim?”
“That’s right.”
Erickson spoke in incredibly clumsy Korean. I had threatened to kill everyone if they didn’t master Korean within six months, so they were learning it as if their lives depended on it. It was the same for all the survivors in the Eastern Camp. I had ordered all of them to forcibly study Korean for four hours every day. I’d expected them to push back at first, but I heard they were studying hard, saying that learning Korean was better than working for no pay. They even said that if they took a test and got a good score, they’d get a day off, so everyone was studying with fire in their eyes. Anyway, Korean is now the world’s official language. Why? Because it’s the only language I speak.
“Hey. You’re the interpreter, right?”
“Yes, I am the interpreter!”
“Then translate my words properly.”
“Yes!!!”
Since Mer was showering and not by my side, I decided to have the Korean-American act as the intermediary. He was a Korean-American man, about 170cm tall; I didn’t even know his name. I only knew that Erickson had hired him to learn Korean as quickly as possible, and that he was always stuck to Erickson’s side whenever he was in the office.
“Tell him this: The two pilots here can fly planes, so keep them alive at all costs. Don’t give them any other work. And as for these two middle-aged women, make them work as you see fit... Also, clear the path to New York Stewart Airport. There are too many cars on the roads. And one more thing... ah, send a few people capable of long-range attacks to New York Stewart Airport and have them monitor the area periodically. Since there’s an enemy base in France, if any strange aircraft appear, shoot them down immediately. Don’t let them land safely. Tell him that.”
“Ah, yes! W-wait a moment...”
The Korean-American wrote down my words in his notebook and immediately translated them into English for Erickson. Erickson nodded and replied that he would take those measures.
It was a relief that there was at least one guy who could speak Korean.
“I’ll be going now, so keep up the good work. Study your Korean hard.”
“Uh... Yes! Thank you, Jojun.”
I left Erickson’s office. Now, all that was left was to take Mer and go home.
‘Still, it’s so inconvenient that we can’t communicate immediately...’
The issue of communication had been a long-standing problem for our group, starting with the Japanese people we’d brought from the Forest of the Missing.
‘It’s not like I can carry communication potions around all the time...’
I’d used up too many of the stockpiled potions, and there wasn’t much left. I needed to start using them sparingly from now on.
‘That fairy creature... she was dying...’
The key ingredient for making communication potions was the fairy dust sprinkled by an unnamed fairy I’d bought at the black market. Hellas had manufactured the communication potions using the mysterious powder that fell from the wings of that creature, which possessed exceptional linguistic abilities. Come to think of it, that fairy, as well as the Insect Queen and the Insect Black Knight I’d bought last time... there were quite a lot of creatures I needed to take into the Forest of Corruption.
‘Right, it’s about time.’
First, I’d raise my level to 20, visit the black market, show my face to the peddler, and then head straight into the Forest of Corruption. Since I already had all of Nus’s Three Divine Treasures, I could enter as soon as I was properly prepared.
‘Leveling... come to think of it...’
Earlier, I’d heard from the slaves on the rooftop that a report had come in about discovering the approximate location where a Ghost Gate would be generated. Was it a park near Dong-Young University of Science and Technology? They said a Ghost Gate opened every night along with a spot where ghosts were generated...
‘The confirmed monarch is the Ten Kings of the Underworld... the Monarch of Corpses...’
There are three types of monarchs from the afterlife that crawl out of the Ghost Gate. First, the ‘King of the Underworld’ from the afterlife. This guy is a skeletal reaper holding a scythe, and if you’re cut by his blade, you meet a ‘permanent death.’ I suppose that means even the power of gods can’t resurrect you. Therefore, if you’re killed by this guy, you can’t be resurrected even with a Saint’s Rosary. Next is the ‘Ghost King’ of Purgatory. They say he’s the master of ghosts, and if your soul is seized by this bastard, you also meet a permanent death. And the final monarch, the one I have to go kill soon, is the ‘Ten Kings’ that crawled out of the Yellow Springs. They say he’s the Monarch of Corpses... if your name is written in his register, you die permanently. In my opinion, the number of times you can write a name in that register is probably limited to once or twice. If you could use such a fraudulent skill indiscriminately, everyone would just die, so there must be a balance. I suspect it’s even possible to cancel it. Still, it’s unsettling. Because it means that once you’re killed, you meet a permanent death.
‘Still, for now, I have to catch him and break through the wall of level 20. Even if not everyone can reach level 20... I must achieve level 20...’
There’s no other way to gain new skills. It seems that due to Botamilli’s resurrection, I should be able to pick skills related to her, but my growth is stagnant because I can’t raise my level.
‘The only skill I have with the Void attribute is Void Veil...’
I have three skills each from Indikron and Kashnakas. Tentacle Ejection, Chaos Observation, and Overflowing Flesh are Kashnakas’s powers, and Abyssal Maw, Abyssal Observation, and Abyssal Construction are Indikron’s powers. So, to keep the balance, I wanted to obtain at least two more skills related to the Void.
‘I’m level 17 now... if I raise it to the level cap of 20, I can pick three more skills... I’ll set aside two for Void-related ones first...’
If I raise my level by 3 more through clearing the Ghost Gate, I’ll get Void-attribute skills... Void Observation has probably been newly created, so I want to obtain that, along with one Void-related attack skill. I can pick the last slot depending on the situation.
‘Speaking of observation, I should summon some familiars in advance.’
I can contract with 3 familiars for the Abyss and 3 for Chaos, but there’s no room left for the Abyss. I’ve already contracted with the Pitch-Black Beetle, the Deep-Layer Spider, and the Shade Moth. However, there are still 2 slots left for Chaos.
‘Thanks to the Black Snake Three Divine Treasures that Aila made for me, the burden of summoning has been drastically reduced... so I should summon them in advance whenever I have the time...’
My mana reserves were so abundant that I could summon another familiar even while having Kysiria and Eynax out. I couldn’t help but summon them. Especially on a day like today, if I use observation when Kashnakas seems relaxed, she might introduce me to a useful familiar.
‘Should I cancel the contract with the Shade Moth and summon someone else while I’m at it...’
The Pitch-Black Beetle is a creature I can’t live without now, but the Shade Moth hasn’t really done much since the Forest of the Missing. Its intelligence is too low to be of any use anyway. First, I stopped for a moment on my way to pick up Mer and climbed to the rooftop of a nearby two-story building. I intended to open the entrance to Chaos on a suitable, secluded rooftop.
‘Since the Chaos Observation skill is also unlocked...’
Now I don’t need to put my hands together to form a triangle. I used Chaos Observation on the rooftop door.
-Wooooong....
Then, the rooftop door connected to Chaos. A mysterious light that polluted the mind poured out from the entrance. I felt a very strange sensation. I quickly shook my head to clear the hazy feeling. At that moment, I heard a gurgling sound from Chaos.
‘Something is coming...’
It wasn’t the energy of an Eynax-class creature. Since that was likely the strongest among the familiars I could contract through Chaos Observation... the one coming out now would be a being on the level of the Pitch-Black Beetle or the Shade Moth.
[Distorted malice reacts violently to the favor of the Ten Thousand Manma.]
[A being residing in a twisted place, the ‘Seventh Tentacle,’ takes an interest in you.]
[Contract Condition: Level 10 or higher. Mana stat 50 or higher. Servant of Kashnakas.]
[All three conditions are met.]
[Will you permanently contract with the ‘Seventh Tentacle’?]
‘Oh...’
It was hard to tell what the being beyond the gate looked like, but the fact that it reacted at all was important. Abyssal Observation or Chaos Observation often resulted in a [Observation Failed] notification, nullifying the skill. Since it consumed 1 point of energy just to open it once, getting a hit on the first try was the best outcome.
I immediately contracted with the Seventh Tentacle.
[Contract successful.]
With the notification that the contract was complete, I felt something take root inside me. A feeling of soul connecting to soul. It was a familiar sensation now. As soon as the contract was finalized, Chaos Observation was deactivated. First, I had to find out what this newly contracted creature did.
◈ Description: The seventh tentacle detached by Kashnakas. It is a fragment of Kashnakas that harbors the power of mutation. It has a voracious appetite and transforms what it devours into a being of chaos. It allows you to corrupt surrounding humans, objects, and everything else into chaos. It has no combat ability, but is specialized in changing the traits of a target. While summoned, 50 mana cannot be used.
“What does this mean...”
For now, the mana consumed for summoning was reduced to 25 thanks to the Black Snake Three Divine Treasures Aila had made for me. Therefore, I summoned the Seventh Tentacle without any burden.
“Summon.”
Since it wasn’t Kysiria or Eynax class, the Seventh Tentacle was summoned without any special notification window.
-Splat.
-Gurgle. Gurgle.
“Oh...”
It had a very free-spirited appearance... how should I describe it? Viscera? Yeah, it looked like some kind of internal organ. It was a smooth, elongated thing with a mouth and an anus. I’d definitely seen a creature that looked like that before... let’s see...
‘Ah, a spoon worm. Yeah, that bastard looks just like a spoon worm...’
A perfectly fitting creature came to mind. The Seventh Tentacle resembled a spoon worm. Of course, it was much grosser than a spoon worm and squirmed incessantly, making me want to vomit, but its overall shape was that of a spoon worm.
‘Indikron is all about insects... does Kashnakas have a marine life vibe...’
First, I approached it. For some reason, a psychic wave was flowing from the Seventh Tentacle, wanting me to touch it.
-Slimy...
“Ugh...”
My hand was covered in mucus. It was quite sticky and gave off a strange, meaty smell. No matter how I looked at it, this bastard seemed to have zero mobility. It was clearly a useless familiar that you had to leave stuck in one place and stroke all day long.
“This is... how the hell am I supposed to use this...”
The detailed information clearly stated that if you fed anything to this bastard, whether it was an object or a human, it would come out as something corrupted by chaos. I first looked to see if there was anything I could feed this creature right away.
“....”
Then, suddenly, an object that was indispensable to me was caught in my hand. An excellent torture tool and one of my few swords.
[W-wait... Master. You aren’t... planning to put me and Dodomeki... inside that hideous monster, are you...? That is... dangerous...]
“....”
[W-wait!! You can’t!!!! Aaaah!! I hate it!!!]
I shoved the Ghost-Crying Sword, which housed the souls of Yang Ji-sang and Dodomeki, into the hole of the Seventh Tentacle, which I couldn’t tell was an anus or a mouth.
[Geeeeeeek!!!]
[Kyaaaaa!!!!]
I could hear the two souls wailing. Regardless, the Seventh Tentacle shivered as if it were going crazy with delight, greedily devouring the Ghost-Crying Sword I’d fed it.
-Gurgle... Gurgle. Burp...
-Pop..!
“Ugh. The visuals are truly legendary...”
Until now, I’d thought the Pitch-Black Beetle was the grossest and most annoying bastard, but... this guy was no joke. This one was even repulsive. If the fast and agile Pitch-Black Beetle was creepy and terrifying... this creature, squirming and gobbling things up, was nothing but disgusting and repulsive.
“Ugh... I don’t want to touch it...”
First, I checked the Ghost-Crying Sword that had popped back out through the creature’s anus. It was incredibly sticky, covered in mucus.
◈ Description: A Ghost-Crying Sword that has been completely corrupted by the remnants of chaos smeared all over it. Twisted flesh has filled the gaps between the broken blades.
◈ Effect: The souls of Yang Ji-sang and Dodomeki have fused to become an ‘Unknown Thing.’
“Huh... Hey, Yang Ji-sang... can you hear me..?”
[Ah... Aaaah... Master... Ah... I am... that? She? I don’t know... we’ve become one... Hahaha... Happy... Squirm... Squirm... It’s fun...]
Yang Ji-sang had gone half-mad. No, was this Dodomeki? I didn’t know. It seemed they had been mixed together and become one. Well, I didn’t feel particularly sorry for them. They weren’t that useful to begin with.
“Hmm. So that’s the effect.”
With this, I roughly understood how to use the Seventh Tentacle. I’d send this guy to the Abyss, no questions asked. The time had come to turn the parasitic humans into ‘Corrupted Parasitic Humans.’
‘Since a religious reformation has occurred to the point where they hold worship ceremonies for me and the Manma-jeon...’
I’d tell them I was bestowing a great blessing and have them voluntarily let themselves be devoured by the Seventh Tentacle.