LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 18
“Now there’s just one left. Here it is.”
– I wonder what kind of creature is waiting at the end.
Hours passed, and Parang arrived at the location of the last object.
Checking the viewer count, it was 30,000. It was only 10,000 when he was inside Rassius.
Apparently, the news of the thrilling Rassius ASMR ending spread across the internet.
“This time, it’s not something disgusting.”
A flurry of emoticons flooded the chat. Are they angry?
“Are you angry?”
– Yes
– I am
– Me
– Rock
– Rock
– Me
– Yes
– I’m furious
“Well then.”
It isn’t really Parang’s problem.
“This time, I’ll be entering the ‘Hive.’”
– Hive?
– What’s that?
– It sounds ominous just from the name.
– Is it the one I know?
“The concept is somewhat similar. It refers to a structure or terrain that acts as a breeding ground for monsters, quite literally.”
– Is that different from an object?
“Hives are also a type of object. However, they are large enough to house hundreds or thousands of monsters. You could think of it as a dungeon-like environment.”
– How big are we talking?
– Wait, hundreds of monsters?
– Seriously???
– If it’s dungeon-like, does that mean there’s a boss?
“Yes, but the one we’re going to catch today isn’t a boss.”
In the ecosystem of a hive, there usually exists a top predator that reigns supreme. Some live in groups like Auritas, while others dominate solely by size, much like the blue whale.
“By the way, there’s one in the East Sea too. And it’s quite large.”
– ????
– Is that the East Sea I know??
– And it’s actually large?
“Scary, right? You definitely shouldn’t go diving.”
– You’re saying that without even changing your face color.
– How does my face look in this frame?
– I bet it stayed the same.
– That’s probably true.
“I’ll be entering the hive in the East Sea someday.”
That’s Parang’s area to manage. It needs to be cleaned regularly.
Often, he calls the Kraken for help, but realistically, it’s feasible to manage without it, especially since bringing Xiao or Elvira along would be just fine.
“Hmm.”
Enough daydreaming. Time to get to work. Parang had already decided what to munch on after heading to Hong Kong. He just wanted to finish quickly and relax.
He turned the camera to show the hive.
“This is the hive in the East China Sea. Underwater hunters refer to it conveniently as the ‘kitchen.’”
The viewers were struck by three major surprises.
First, the shape of the structure called the hive.
At first glance, they thought, “Ah, that’s a hive.”
A gigantic sea shell. Spiral-shaped shell structure, elongated entrance, and spiky protrusions that resembled ribs.
If they hung a line on it, it would perfectly resemble a magical shell. Its appearance was textbook.
Secondly, the size of the hive.
The elongated oval entrance looked like deep-sea fish entering and exiting a giant warp gate, resembling spaceships from a sci-fi movie.
In other words, the monsters that were several dozen meters long looked like mere spaceships in front of the massive gate.
Thirdly, the glimpses of the interior through the entrance.
– Why does it really look like a kitchen??
– I’m not the only one seeing that.
– That’s unreal.
Inside, there were indeed protrusions that could only be described as ‘pots.’
However, the size of the handles matched that of the monsters passing by.
It was an utterly incomprehensible, supernatural, and grotesque sight.
“It’s a hive. As per the underwater hunters, there are about 500 monsters living inside.”
The underwater hunters refer to Oceanos. Ordinary underwater hunters can’t even reach this point for population studies or anything.
Currently, the depth was 3.5 km underwater. Given its proximity to the hive, the number of monsters nearby was staggering.
Well, a several dozen-meter monster wouldn’t dive in just to eat one human who is less than 2m.
Even if they don’t directly attack, plenty of monsters could kill a human as easily as squashing an ant, even without the intent to hunt.
“Well then, I’ll go in, quickly handle the target, and come out.”
Parang increased his swimming speed to enter the hive.
He dashed through the swarming monsters as if he were the hero in a racing game zooming ahead.
Thanks to that, the viewers could truly feel what it’s like to swim among various creatures.
From anglerfish, Rassius, and Bellua to serpents, marlins, sharks, and much more.
Of course, there were monsters they had never seen before or things that made them question if they were even fish, and even some bizarre entities whose existence was questionable.
All of these were heading into and out of the hive while Parang smoothly passed by.
Finally, Parang entered the hive.
Interestingly, the interior was incredibly bright. If one were to make an analogy, it looked like an unlit restaurant during the daytime. Although he didn’t know the exact principle, bright light streamed in from square structures that looked like windows attached to the walls.
The floor was decorated with a chessboard pattern of alternating black and white tiles, while the walls featured pure white metal tiles.
It truly resembled a kitchen, with only two things differing from a normal kitchen on land.
First, a kitchen on land isn’t this massive. It looked like it was built for someone about 700m tall.
Secondly, a kitchen on land isn’t filled with monsters everywhere. In the sink, there were clattering shells, a starfish stuck to the ladle, and an eel peeking from the dishwasher.
Strange masses of flesh floating around, dark green slime staring up from the floor, and clams crawling into trash cans with thin black legs.
And skeletons wandering around, tearing into the flesh of the monsters. Those are sent by Xiao. A form of automatic hunting.
In any case, with familiar elements of daily life mixed with bizarre factors, it couldn’t help but be grotesque.
– Is something like this in the East Sea?
– Damn, it is.
– A visual clusterf*
“This one in the East Sea is about five times larger than this.”
– ‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 10,000 won! –
[ So, swimming down from where I was will reveal a scene like this? ]
“Exactly. Beneath your swimming feet, there are these things.”
With that, the chat went quiet for a moment.
Realizing that the deep sea, once thought to be a tale from a different world, truly existed beneath their feet, fear finally struck them.
– I’m quitting diving starting today.
Parang’s mood drastically improved.
“I wouldn’t want to stay here long either. Let’s swiftly deal with the target and get out.”
His voice tone rose slightly. It meant he was excited.
– But what’s the target?
“That over there.”
Fortunately, the targeted object was located close to the entrance of the ‘kitchen.’
What she pointed to was a crab in a pot nearest to the entrance.
It wasn’t the kind of long-shelled crab we often encounter in crab dishes.
It was a crab with one unusually large claw. Typically, the size of the claws is similar to that of the body. After becoming a monster, the claw grows to the extent that it’s practically attached to the body. In fact, critical organs like the brain have even shifted to the claw. The body is left entirely as legs.
“I call it Tubuka. Unlike serpent-type monsters that use body length for size standards, it uses claw length as its size standard. That one looks about 100m.”
Originally, the claw of Tubuka wouldn’t exceed 50m at max. But given that it’s taken over the object, that result is to be expected.
Surrounding the crab in the pot were various dead monsters. Regular fish, clams, unknown entities, and even things that made one wonder “Can that be eaten?”
Tubuka had its claw embedded in what looked like a plump monster nearby.
It was in the midst of a meal. Tubuka’s mouth was attached to its claw.
Parang smoothly swam toward Tubuka.
If it were any other monster, it would be complicated, but there are ample ways to deal with Tubuka.
She secretly worried about what she would do if she had to use the Kraken. Thankfully, it was not necessary.
Anyway, Parang quietly approached Tubuka. Though he wasn’t fond of ambushes, catching Tubuka this way was the fastest and most reliable method.
Parang reached an arm’s length from the gigantic claw, now appearing to be just a wall.
In Tubuka’s field of vision, a human 1.6m tall hiding just behind its claw was impossible to notice.
Parang quietly, yet swiftly swam into the space between the shell forming Tubuka’s body and claw.
Even a massive creature like Tubuka wouldn’t notice something entering its body.
———!!!!!!!!!!!
Tubuka instantly began thrashing about wildly, causing a scene.
However, with combat ability and mobility concentrated into its claw, it was practically useless. If Parang had entered its body, it could’ve smashed him easily. But with the claw? It had devolved its entire body except for the claws.
Tubuka struck its claws against the pot walls and floor in a panic, but Parang, already deep inside, gripping its tender flesh, had no intention of letting go.
He merely moved around the soft flesh inside, creating a squishing sound as he did so.
Naturally, that pain was incomprehensibly intense. To liken it to a human: it would be like a 1.6cm bug with a 2cm harpoon entering the ear and scrambling around in the brain.
One couldn’t maintain sanity through the agony.
And the viewers were losing their minds along with him.
They were effectively watching a perspective of a bug exploring a human head.
In the dark space, only the flashlight’s beam defined their view, revealing fleshy bits and veins.
As he sliced, tore, and penetrated with rapid movements, the camera capturing Parang’s view showed squirming, grotesque organs popping in and out, and sometimes even splattering blood, making it feel overwhelmingly insane to watch compared to Tubuka.
Even seasoned hunters accustomed to seeing flesh and blood were shocked by such sights. How would an ordinary person feel?
What else would they feel? It would be pure hell.
– You said it wasn’t disgusting; you said it wasn’t disgusting…
– Was that a lung we just saw?
– It was a lung.
– Was that something else we just saw?
In that way, Parang shredded both Tubuka’s brain and eyes into pieces. At this point, it was surely close to death.
With three special objects defeated, Parang casually exited the ‘kitchen.’
Then, he swam rapidly once more.
Parang narrowed his gaze with an icy and cold focus. He had to eat Xiao Long Bao upon arriving in Hong Kong. It filled his mind completely.
It felt like his stomach would growl. He hadn’t eaten anything since Pohang.
Well, no matter how hungry he was, airing that on broadcast wouldn’t be appropriate.
“I’ll stop here. Thank you for all your hard work, everyone.”
– Thanks to you, we worked hard too, dammit.
– At least you know we’re working…
– LOL, I just closed my eyes and listened to the sounds, LOL, should’ve plugged my ears.
The chat immediately exploded.
But that wasn’t Parang’s concern. The ones thinking it was disgusting and fled wouldn’t return to diving.
As soon as the broadcast ended, a loud rumble came from his stomach. Parang swam faster than ever.
A moment later, in a dock in Hong Kong.
Bubbles rose to the surface, and then Parang’s head popped up.