Chapter 205
Chapter 205
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: Venturing into the Black Sea
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Jang Tae-seok stared blankly at the rippling sea of orbs for a moment before staggering slightly and taking a deep breath.
"You okay?"
In response to my question, Jang Tae-seok raised a hand slightly.
'This is nothing.'
Sure enough, he didn't seem overwhelmed to the point of rolling his eyes back right away.
"Think you can fight?"
Jang Tae-seok clenched his fist at my words.
"You bastard, what do you take me for, asking something like that? I'm Jang Tae-seok."
I know your name. It's not that hard to remember.
"What do I take you for?"
What else? I grinned.
"Cannon fodder?"
"You son of a bitch."
Jang Tae-seok bristled for a moment but quickly calmed down. It hadn't been long since I'd beaten the crap out of him, after all. The painkillers were probably still kicking in.
"Anyway, you took a hell of a beating. Come on, let's grab a beer. You're not gonna bail saying it'll cause muscle loss, right?"
Jang Tae-seok replied.
"Alcohol doesn't melt your muscles. It just interferes with protein synthesis. And I don't drink."
So that's the secret to maintaining those muscles.
Anyway, if Jang Tae-seok could handle it, then Lee Se-eun, Choi Yeoreum, and Sung Si-hoon should be fine too. There was some effect, but they weren't completely incapacitated.
After finishing my talk with Jang Tae-seok, I headed back to where Han Sang-ah and Jeong O-hoon were waiting.
"I asked you to make some food, and here you are roasting marshmallows over a campfire."
This wasn't America—they couldn't grill meat and kimchi on a hot plate, but seriously, roasting sugar lumps?
A glance sideways revealed Jang Tae-seok's expression was priceless.
"You guys scavenge that kind of crap too? You should value your bodies more; you look like you do."
Jang Tae-seok stared at the marshmallows like they were cursed Satanic dolls. God, it was like an Islamic fundamentalist watching someone barbecue pork belly right in front of him.
"Eating that stuff will ruin your body."
Han Sang-ah replied while roasting marshmallows over the fire.
"One marshmallow is about 13 grams, with 0.13 grams of fat, 0.3 grams of protein, and the rest all carbs."
Jang Tae-seok let out a scoff.
"Then you'll get diabetes."
"There's no direct link between excessive sugar intake and diabetes. Excess sugar can lead to obesity, and that obesity might cause type 2 diabetes."
Jang Tae-seok stared silently at Han Sang-ah before turning to me.
"What the hell is she saying?"
"Probably just telling you not to talk nonsense and eat some food."
Han Sang-ah shot back at my words.
"I didn't say that."
Yeah, I know.
We started eating. And Jang Tae-seok turned out to be a bigger eater than I'd thought.
"You're inhaling it."
Makes sense—maintaining that body probably costs a fortune. Old novels describe famous generals eating a mal of rice and three geun of meat a day.
Obviously just hyperbole for being a big eater, but watching this guy chow down, it seemed entirely plausible.
As we ate, a text came in on my smartphone. It was from Lee Se-eun.
"Dawn tomorrow, huh."
The latecomers would arrive soon. Dawn tomorrow. While the others rested, I headed back to the Black Sea once more.
"…."
Every time the sea filled with orbs rippled, waves of energy surged into my mind like the tide. In cases like this.
"You gotta face it head-on."
The anxiety, fear, and dread born from incomprehensible things. I slowly plunged my body into the sea.
The orbs, looking like they might burst at any moment, were paradoxically as solid as finely carved jade beads.
The moment I submerged, a shiver of terror spread through my body, as if it had been waiting for this.
I confronted the onslaught of madness and fear. Countless orbs swirled before my eyes, twisting into shapes too bizarre to comprehend.
Eyes, beastly maws, or sun and moon. Depending on how you looked, they could form anything—a grotesque illusion.
That eerie phenomenon stared at me. Likewise, I stared back. We were gazing at each other.
Slowly, I raised my hand toward the shape and flipped it off.
"Just wait a bit. I'll turn you into Gonshalok too."
Laughter tickled my ears. Damp and repulsive, like mist rising from a severely polluted sewage-choked shore.
If a pus-filled, festering boil could make a sound, it'd probably sound like this. I emerged from the sea. It felt like only moments had passed, but the sun was already rising far off.
"Even the sunlight tastes off here."
The sunlight illuminating the Black Sea was tainted. Polluted was the only word that fit. The fresh dawn light, upon touching the mad, rippling sea, decayed like rotting humus.
I'd entered the sea but wasn't wet. It wasn't water to begin with.
After burning away the mental drain and accumulated fatigue from skipping sleep, I spotted a helicopter approaching from afar.
"They're here."
Sung Si-hoon was piloting it. But the rotors weren't spinning. He'd dragged it here with telekinesis.
The helicopter landed safely.
"Hey!"
Lee Se-eun, fully geared for battle, greeted me before glancing at the Black Sea.
"This gives me a headache."
"Staring too long isn't good for your mental health."
Lee Se-eun nodded at my words.
"This is nothing."
Choi Yeoreum, who'd plummeted from the sky with her, put on a bit of bravado. Good to hear.
"Not sure about the rest, but Choi Yeoreum judged right this time. Even looking at it chills me to the bone."
Sung Si-hoon grimaced at the sea briefly before looking away. The Black Sea held power intense enough to drive average folks mad on sight.
"Still, we need a boat... The UK government said you didn't need one, Mr. Sung."
Sung Si-hoon nodded and extended his hand sideways.
"I'll rip the helicopter apart with telekinesis and turn it into a boat. Six... no, seven now. Should fit us all comfortably."
Telekinesis to rebuild a helicopter into a boat? Well, last time, he'd torn metal from surroundings to build a rideable robot.
Scrap into a robot? Modifying a chopper into a boat would be child's play.
"Right now?"
"Didn't you eat before flying in?"
Choi Yeoreum shook her head at my question.
"Food's not the issue. Let's cross this damn Black Sea first."
Beyond this sea lay even crazier sights. Sung Si-hoon immediately began dismantling the helicopter into a boat.
I messaged Han Sang-ah to come to the shore. The chopper transformed into a boat in seconds.
"Helicopter motor turned boat motor."
Truth be told, a motor's a motor—attach to chopper for propellers, to boat for propulsion. Sung Si-hoon had handled waterproofing and all that.
"Let's go. Feels like crossing the Styx."
Choi Yeoreum boarded, muttering that. Once everyone was on the makeshift vessel, Sung Si-hoon lifted it with telekinesis and set it down on the sea.
Choi Yeoreum, gazing at the distant waters, pulled out a hip flask and took a swig of liquor.
"Want some? Booze is perfect for shaking off this filthy vibe."
Alcohol washes away fear. True enough. Back in the old world, troops charging into danger always got a shot of strong liquor right before.
"Don't overdo it."
"I can handle it. I'm not an alcoholic."
The sea of bizarre orbs was eerily silent as the boat moved. Tainted sunlight poured down murky, while the still waters brimmed with multicolored madness.
Definitely not a pleasure cruise spot. See, tentacles were slithering up our boat already.
"Sea and tentacles."
Why not? Best combo short of roasted seaweed and rich craft beer. Though this "sea" was weird even for a sea.
And these creeping tentacles weren't ordinary.
"Sung Si-hoon. Pick up the pace."
"You always go casual in situations like this."
Sung Si-hoon grumbled but propelled the boat with telekinesis. As it accelerated wildly, the orbs filling the sea parted like the Red Sea before Moses' staff.
In that instant, the orbs bubbled up like foam. Then a massive form emerged.
"Ah."
A sphere of a strange purple—not quite purple—hue rose from the depths.
It had one enormous eye. Staring into it felt like being sucked in. The orb shook thousands of tentacles like a sea anemone.
"Sea anemone bastard."
This didn't feel like something you could just flee from. It hadn't created the sea, but if asked who ruled it now, this thing was the answer.
Unlike Gonshalok's hordes, this Sandai Club seemed to favor quality over quantity. The risen orb wasn't just huge—its power was indescribably intense.
"Looks like our little baby got bored playing alone in the sea."
I muttered, spinning the spear in my hand as I locked eyes with it.
"Ah, craving takoyaki."
"In Korea, it's usually made with big squid, called octopus though."
Han Sang-ah's footnote. Info I didn't need. Octopus or squid, they're creepy multi-legged freaks either way.
Wonder what the first guy who ate one was thinking, scavenging that.
"Hey, Muscles."
Jang Tae-seok turned to me.
"Toss me."
He grabbed me tight and hurled me at the round blob like a shot put. Wind whistled as I flew toward it.
Its eye fixed on me, pupil dilating vertically. Gazing into it flooded my mind with concentrated madness, terror, fear.
"Buddy. Sad story, but."
To scare me, you'd need way more effort and talent. I jammed my spear into its eye and detonated Paradox Flame.
Black flames erupted along the spear's path. It writhed with an ear-shattering screech, lashing hundreds of tentacles at me.
"Tentacles too, but."
You need more. My spear danced, tracing blue arcs, slicing incoming tentacles to chunks that splashed into the sea.
I extended the spear deep into its body again, using it as a lever to leap up.
"No matter how I look, unlike Gonshalok."
This one aimed for elite quality. One octopus like this could match thousands of Gonshalok corpses.
Of course, I'd soloed nearly 100,000 of those alone. Numbers aside, its level wasn't even comparable to mine.