So I’m a Fish, So What?

Following my intuition, I find myself standing in front of a special room

Through my sphere, I can see its contents seem to be a combination of a workshop and a storage room.

This is one of the places I avoided during my exploration.

A bomb is rigged to the door in a way that any method of entering the room except for the pre-determined one would make the bomb go off.

Basically, you go Kaboom if you don’t use the access keycard.

Now, what I’m after isn’t actually an item inside the workshop, but the bomb used in the trap.

If you wanna break through something, the best way has gotta be just blowing it up, wahahaha!

Hey! Don’t go looking at me like I’m some terrorist, okay?!

Wanting to blow shit up might be the main reason, but I assure you that I have a couple of sane reasons for doing this as well!

First off, there are actually no other storage areas inside this laboratory except for this area, so all the good stuff should be hidden inside.

That includes but isn’t limited to soul-afflicting poison, ancient weaponry, and more bombs!

If I’m lucky, I might even be able to get my hands on some blueprints of the more portable creations.

Don’t get me wrong, driving a huge Gundam while raining death and destruction upon my enemies sounds cool as hell, but I’d rather not accelerate the collapse of this world.

The other reason for doing this is actually the bomb itself.

Or more specifically, the unknown type of energy flowing through it.

It’s related to magic power yet crushes it in terms of quality, it seems to be real yet its essence is illusory.

What piqued my curiosity the most though, is that my soul strongly craves this energy.

For my eldritch soul to actually crave something... the implications are quite terrifying.

I did come into contact with a lot of the hidden supernatural communities back on Earth, but never did any of their energies of choice inspire such a feeling in me before.

If anything, I subconsciously defined them as inferior tricks.

Shaking my head to get rid of these distracting thoughts, I use Burrow to reach the buried bomb.

A seamless spherical object enters my sight, the exact same one I previously saw depicted on one of the papers in the hanger.

So, that one was an explosive, huh...?

Guess I actually have a DIY bomb recipe lying around in my memory archives right now.

Anyways, as soon as I get close, the stored energy becomes agitated and tries to escape its container.

{Detected high-quality energy.  Proceed to absorb?}

Ah... Sure, I guess.

Do put it inside a Soul Barrier though!

Wouldn’t wanna risk this stuff exploding inside my soul...

 

{Confirmed. Constructing Soul Barrier container... Successful.}

{Constructing an isolated channel to the outside world using the [World Link] entity ... Successful.}

{Commencing energy absorption. Estimated time till completion: 5 minutes.}

 

Not even giving me time to question what the heck the World Link entity is, a modern smartphone just pops into existence right now right in front of my eyes.

A beautiful yet eerily monotone voice then echoes directly inside my head.

“Did your parents not warn you about eating unknown things?”

“Uhhh... You’re not Miss Ouri, are you?”

There’s only one person who’d use a smartphone in this fantasy world, Evil God D.

My actions since I’ve come to this world just scream that something’s odd about me, but I’ve never directly exposed the fact that I knew of the administrators and D.

Yeah, I might’ve said a thank you to whoever was watching me before, but I never actually specified anyone in particular.

Also, since the Illusory Soul ability which I normally use to disguise my soul as a normal human’s soul interferes with most mind-reading abilities, my real thoughts are perfectly hidden from those godly beings.

“Indeed, I’m not her. I’m quite a bit higher than her on the hierarchy though.”

“... Why’d anyone ever introduce themselves this way?”

“ ’Cause, it’d be fun to see you panic. Sadly, it seems I have failed, as you’re unaffected.”

“Sorry, I guess? What’s the problem with me absorbing that energy anyways?”

“Hmm? Ah, that.”

Did she actually forget or does she just not care...?

“Absorbing that type of energy at your current strength would normally turn your body into an over-inflated balloon that would pop under the weakest stimulus... However, it seems you’re quite the rule-breaker, huh?”

“Don’t say such a scary thing with such an uninterested voice!”

“Oh, but I am interested. Let’s see, hmm...”

I’m getting a very bad premonition right now.

“Oh! So, that’s it. Everything is hidden under this little veil.”

Shit! Did she find out about the illusion on my soul?!

As if to answer my question, the illusory veil that had enveloped my soul for over a decade is violently torn apart like a piece of paper.

A sudden sense of shame overwhelms me, I couldn’t help but scream at the first person to ever see my true body.

“Kyaaa! What the heck are you doing, you pervert?!!”

“Ah...”

Condensing a part of my soul into my human form, I squat down, covering my body with tears in my eyes.

Feeling the direction of the assaulter’s gaze, I scream at her with all my might.

“Does your idea of getting to know someone consist of stripping them naked?! If we were on Earth, I’d be calling the police on you right now!”

“...Pardon me.”

You might think I’m overreacting, but any other soul user may react in an even more exaggerated way if they’re in my place!!

Personally, I consider my soul to be my real body with my physical body being nothing but some outer garments.

Delving deeper, the illusion I’ve created to disguise my soul is basically my underwear!

Now this woman, with whom I have no relationship, just comes outta nowhere and tears my clothes to shreds while taking in the view of my naked true body.

Just imagine my feelings right now!!

And this woman clearly understands the current situation, she’s obviously versed in the way of souls!

“Compensation... yes! I’ll compensate you by adding to the reward that worm promised you.”

“I don’t care about that stuff, you must take responsibility!”

I’m not backing down on this!

Even Alkreya could only see a cloud of dispersed soul power when she looked at me back then, but now that I’ve been using Soul Strengthen for years now, the true form of my soul was finally revealed.

And this woman is the first person ever to see it, so she must take responsibility!

You have to know that for any soul user, their true soul form has incredible significance!

“Cough, wait until you see the reward first, I’m sure it’ll satisfy you.”

“You think I’d do the equivalent of selling my body for some extra reward?! Since you realize what gazing at a true soul represents, then you surely understand that it doesn’t work this way!!”

I receive no further replies.

“Hmph, so you’re that kind of person! I won’t let you escape, I swear I’ll force you to take responsibility!”

Even if I have to chase her to the ends of the universe, I’ll make sure she pays for it!

It seems that I have another reason for becoming stronger.

Manger-san, finish absorbing this weird energy and analyze it for me ASAP, I’m gonna work on cracking the control room’s door in the meantime!

 

---

Earth, Japan, in a certain high-school teenager’s room.

Our resident evil god D’s rigid body can be seen seated in front of her monitor screen as usual.

The monitor however, is unusually turned off at preset.

Currently, D’s hands are raised to cover her eyes while a faint blush has crept onto her cheeks.

... Her eyes are still peeking from between her fingers though, a clear indication of her strong interest.

“Ugh, why did that just happen?”

Recalling the scene she had just witnessed, the red color of her blushing checks intensifies.

“It was an accident. Yep, totally an accident, not my fault.”

Withdrawing her hands and shaking her head, she turns her screen back on.

“What’s up with my reaction though...? I’ve seen the true souls of numerous gods and mortals, yet this is the first time I actually felt guilty about doing it.”

A true soul’s significance isn’t just a symbolic one for it is also the weak point of any creature.

As the goddess of the underworld with the highest proficiency in soul conjuration, D’s main fighting method can be summed up as uncovering her foe’s true soul and annihilating it.

It was due to this method that she was both feared as the evilest goddess and had the top spot on the list of people you wouldn’t want to provoke the most.

Her monitor, now back on again starts showing the scene of an energetic fish practically demolishing the entire foundation of an underwater facility while searching for buried explosives.

“At least my heart didn’t suddenly start beating or something. That would be such a cliché development.”

Her face morphs back into an expressionless one, as she starts to contemplate what compensation would be suitable to make up for her blunder.

“She prefers stealth and poison, right? Well, I can add in a bit of both... I’ll even throw in a more thorough method of covering her true soul. Yeah, no one can be allowed to see through her except for me.”

Looking away from the screen, she quickly goes through her repertoire of soul conjuration, then starts shaping a new exclusive skill to add to her proudest creation, the W system.