Episode 8. Bigger Prey (3)
Isaac slid down the mountainside.
Four-legged beasts were weaker on descents than ascents.
The wild boar was frenzied, but as if by instinct to avoid breaking its legs, it hesitated as it came down. Thanks to that, Isaac could flee without being caught immediately.
‘Just a little more baiting…’
The moment Isaac thought the boar had caught up to him, he leaped with all his might in front of a tree and grabbed a branch. As expected, the tentacle shot out from his hand, helping him cling to the tree.
Bang! The wild boar collided with the tree with a loud crash. Isaac swayed as if caught in a storm, but thanks to the tentacle, he held on tight.
‘Now!’
Isaac seized the moment while the boar was disoriented and quickly leaped down at the creature beneath him.
The tentacle transformed into a sharp spear and stabbed inward.
It was a similar method to when he caught the rat.
But the tentacle failed to pierce the boar’s thick skull and instead tore its hide. The wild boar went mad with excitement at the pain of the tentacle wrapping around its body.
Squelch, tear!
Though it couldn’t pierce the skull, the tentacle peeled away the wild boar’s hide as if it had suckers or teeth attached.
In an instant, bone was exposed on the boar’s face. Yet the creature didn’t stop rampaging.
Rip. In the end, the tentacle fell away, having torn off part of the boar’s facial skin. As if intent on revenge, the boar bit the fallen tentacle.
‘A tough bastard.’
But all Isaac felt was a ticklish sensation.
It was then that the tentacle, which had been chewed crunchily, began to act strange. The chewed tentacle instead broke the boar’s teeth and bit off its tongue, beginning to erode its way inside the mouth. The wild boar must have sensed danger even in its maddened state; it thrashed belatedly and began to flee.
“Huh? Hey, wait. Hey…!”
At the same time, Isaac’s body, attached to the tentacle, began to be dragged along. Isaac considered retracting the tentacle but gritted his teeth and held on tight.
It was prey he had caught.
Moreover, he had no idea where a wounded, frenzied beast would run amok. To finish off the wild boar, Isaac stretched the tentacle even deeper inside.
At that moment, Isaac’s body suddenly soared into the air.
A dizzying sensation swept over him. At the same time, with a loud crash, Isaac’s body hit the ground.
“Kh…!”
Though the impact was brief, Isaac hurriedly raised himself up. A hole in the ceiling was visible.
It was a vertical cave that wasn’t very deep. It seemed he had tumbled down from above with the wild boar.
“Krrk, krrrrk…”
In the darkness, the wild boar hobbled, emitting ferocious sounds. Isaac felt the tentacle retracting. Hanging from the retracting tentacle was part of the boar’s lower jaw.
‘I knew it, you little monster. You got bitten by a wild boar and came back with its jaw instead?’
Isaac felt dumbfounded, yet for some reason, he also felt more secure.
It might be a monster bastard, but it was still my monster bastard.
For now, the tentacle was more reliable than any ordinary blade.
The wild boar seemed disoriented, perhaps from the impact. But Isaac, who had taken relatively less damage thanks to using the boar as a cushion, had no trouble observing the creature.
Thud, thud. Even as it dripped blood, the wild boar shook its head neurotically and rammed its head against the wall. Already diseased, the boar was not in its right mind due to the fall’s impact and pain.
‘If I’m going to finish it, I have to do it now, quickly.’
Instead of thinking too much, Isaac quickly sprang forward. The boar, sensing his presence, turned its head.
“Hey!”
Though it was a young voice, the sound echoing inside the cave was enough to grate on the boar’s nerves. Seeing the boar charge, Isaac pulled something from his bosom.
It was the Luminite necklace Gebel had gifted him not long ago.
Isaac closed his eyes and struck the Luminite necklace against a rock.
The moment a sharp crack echoed, a burst of light filled the cave.
“Kweeeeeek!”
Blinded by the flash exploding in the darkness, the wild boar rampaged in frenzy. Isaac was satisfied with the effect, similar to a flashbang. As Gebel had warned, the light burst intensely but died down quickly. He couldn’t know how much of the Luminite’s lifespan, which supposedly had less than half a year remaining, was left now.
The boar brushed past Isaac and collided with the rock right beside him. Its already torn face was now crushed even more gruesomely.
“Kwik, kweek!”
The sound of the pig being slaughtered was horrific. Isaac leaped onto the creature’s back. The moment he clung tight to prevent it from fleeing again, a tentacle rapidly surged out from his left hand.
Whirl! The moment Isaac attacked again, a sound like a whip tearing through the air echoed.
The tip of the tentacle transformed into a sharp awl. Countless tentacles bit into the nape like numerous fangs, piercing and burrowing into the wild boar’s flesh.
“Die!”
Crunch!
The sound of bones cracking and breaking was loud. The wild boar thrashed violently, but Isaac clung on for dear life. If he fell off here, he would be the one to die.
The boar smashed its head and back wildly against the walls. Several times, Isaac nearly lost consciousness from the dizzying impacts. He felt something in his bones break. The thought that he might die if he let go flashed through his mind.
[The Nameless Chaos gazes upon you.
In that instant, Isaac felt something writhing inside his body.
Crack.
Without warning, the wound on Isaac’s chest split open.
He didn’t even have time to think, Again? Like a collapsing dam, Isaac’s chest ripped open in an instant and vomited forth thousands of tongues. The swarm of tentacles devoured the boar—which was larger than Isaac’s own body—in a single breath, with plenty to spare.
The sounds of bones being crushed and muscles being shredded into strands were louder than the boar’s screams. And brief. The wild boar was decomposed inside the tentacles, not leaving behind a single piece larger than a tooth.
After lapping up every drop of blood without leaving a single trace, and confirming there were no other lifeforms nearby, the tentacles seeped back into Isaac’s body.
[You have devoured the ‘Plague Boar (C)’.]
[Absorption efficiency increases due to the ‘Entrails of the Dead God’ trait.]
[Disease resistance increases significantly.]
[Acquired the ‘Beast’s Might (Temporary)’ trait.]
[Acquired the ‘Tough Hide’ trait.]
[Temporary traits are maintained until digestion is complete.]
[‘Agent of Chaos’ cooldown: 30 days]
“…Hah.”
Isaac clutched his spinning head and dry-heaved. He felt as though he might faint at any moment. But the messages didn’t stop there.
[The Nameless Chaos is satisfied with the newly devoured prey.]
[A Chaos Reward has been granted.]
[Choose one of the following three rewards.]
[Flesh Stockpile (A) / Regeneration speed increases significantly until the devoured target is digested.]
[Otherworld Sweeper (B) / You can now summon tentacles from both hands.]
[Parasite from Beyond (A) / Spawns short-lived parasites beneath the skin of those touched by tentacles. Targets infected by the parasites suffer continuous pain.]
‘A reward?’
Isaac realized he had successfully completed the quest the Nameless Chaos had given him.
Tarot cards bearing ominous patterns appeared before his eyes. The cards were framed with tentacle-patterned borders and drawn in an ominous style. Unlike scriptures, the cards were filled with ominous illustrations.
‘Flesh Stockpile, Otherworld Sweeper, and Parasite from Beyond… Another Chaos-attribute monster skill.’
Just like when he had created his character, seeing another Chaos-attribute monster skill appear, Isaac let out a hollow smile. He had expected it, but he felt half-joyful, half-troubled.
Monsters with the ‘Chaos’ attribute were classified from High-grade to Highest-grade at the very least. So much so that there were rumors that areas swarming with Highest-grade Chaos-attribute monsters were deliberately blocked off as undeveloped regions.
Naturally, monsters used their own skills to fight players, and monster skills weren’t exactly designed with character balance in mind. Naturally, if a character acquired them, they were absurdly overpowered.
‘The problem is that I can’t actually use these skills in front of people.’
He felt conflicted, but he couldn’t refuse a given trait.
Especially if it was from a powerful Chaos-attribute monster….
‘Flesh Stockpile is HP recovery, Otherworld Sweeper is increased attack frequency, and Parasite from Beyond is like DoT damage, I guess?’
Within his dangerously fading consciousness, Isaac desperately tried to make the wisest choice. But the conclusion was practically set in stone.
‘Increase these damn tentacles even more here? That’s absurd. Pull out tentacles in front of people to plant torture parasites beneath their skin? What would I even use that for in this monastery, and the risk would be too high even if I did.’
Besides, Isaac was on the verge of collapsing right now.
So he chose the first option.
[Flesh Stockpile (A)]
In this world, children were prone to dying at the drop of a hat. A regeneration trait was precious for the sake of growing up safely.
Above all, Flesh Stockpile was an essential skill for Isaac, who had to grow by devouring all kinds of animals and monsters.
The moment he picked the card, the others turned to ash and vanished. Watching this, Isaac slowly lost consciousness.
***
When Isaac opened his eyes, the sky above the cave had already begun to glow blue. About to stretch, Isaac flinched, expecting to scream from pain all over his body. But to his surprise, he felt refreshed.
‘I could’ve sworn a few bones were broken?’
Isaac examined his body. There were no bones broken, nor any wounds.
‘Ah, is it because of the reward I chose earlier?’
As if responding to his question, a message rang out.
[The Nameless Chaos has bestowed the ‘Flesh Stockpile’ trait upon you.]
[Regeneration speed increases significantly until the devoured target is fully digested.]
Isaac figured it was natural his wounds had healed since he had devoured that huge boar whole. Moreover, the recovery seemed to apply to stamina and mental strength as well, as his fatigue had completely vanished. But his head felt slightly foggy.
A sensation like fog hanging in his mind. It was similar to how he had felt when he first arrived at the monastery.
‘Is this a side effect of activating that Agent of Chaos thing?’
It occurred to Isaac that the month he had spent in a daze when he first came to the monastery might not have been because he couldn’t accept reality, but rather the aftereffect of summoning the swarm of tentacles.
The swarm of tentacles that burst from his body when death approached was certainly powerful. But Isaac was certain that if he had held on a little longer back then, he could have killed the boar with his own hands—no, his tentacles. He hadn’t been seriously injured, so it hadn’t truly been as dangerous as when he had faced Kalsen.
‘For it to pop out on its own and try to devour everything around me, regardless of my will… That’s a bit troublesome.’
Moreover, once activated, an overwhelming urge to sleep left Isaac defenseless. According to the message, that Agent of Chaos or whatever wouldn’t come out for another 30 days, so if he wasn’t completely safe, he could lose even the chance to flee.
He had a chance to escape deadly crises, but he was still in a position where he couldn’t afford to be careless.
‘For now, I need to get back quickly.’
By now, the monks would be looking for him. They might even think he had been eaten.
Though the sun had risen, the cave was still pitch-dark. But as Isaac surveyed the dim cave, he realized it was not naturally formed.
The passages were evenly compacted, and he could see supports to prevent the earthen cave from collapsing, as well as fixed frames for torches.
However, it seemed to have been abandoned long ago, as there were almost no signs of recent use. The hole he had fallen through seemed to be a connection made by a coincidental collapse of the ground.
‘It would be good to remember this location.’
If he ever needed to hide outside the monastery, he might be able to make use of it. After all, Isaac had many reasons to avoid drawing the attention of the Codex of Light monks.
Before long, Isaac found the way out.
Pushing through the bushes and escaping, cold autumn rain moistened his cheeks.
‘Gotta be careful not to run into another random beast….’
Then Isaac discovered eyes glowing dimly in the darkness.
Isaac’s body froze.
A larger wild boar was revealing itself between the rain-soaked leaves. It was a creature much larger than the one Isaac had killed.
‘What is this… Ah, could these be the ones using this cave as their home?’
Unlike the one Isaac had killed, this one seemed healthy, wary and not rushing in recklessly. But the thick scent of its kin’s blood was wafting from Isaac.
Isaac tensed, preparing to use his tentacles.
He had gained strength from the boar-devouring trait. Perhaps he could catch this one more easily.
The boar seemed excited by the smell of blood and soon began to charge roughly. The moment Isaac tried to draw out his tentacle, someone leaped in front of him.
He calmly raised his sword and brought it down on the boar charging from the front. In that instant, a flash bright enough to hurt the eyes flickered in the dark forest—even though there was no way sunlight could be seen through the autumn rain.
Right in front of Isaac, the boar’s body was split in half.
“You alright, kid?”