Chapter 10
‘Ah…! Ah…! Aaaah…!’
Nereia let out a stifled scream as it met the eye.
What is this? What is that?
This gigantic thing is an eye?
Can something like this… even exist…?
Even for the deep sea, this is a little ridiculous, isn’t it?
Huh? Don’t you think? Ah… wait.
This is…
‘Is it that same eye from back then?’
Suddenly, memories from just before its death surfaced in Nereia’s mind.
The enormous rift it had encountered in the deep sea. And the memory of the enormous eye beyond it.
Back then, its research obsession had overwhelmed its fear, and it had touched the eye without thinking.
Then, amid a deep, resonant wail, it had come to its senses and found itself in this form.
Could that same eye from back then have come looking for it again?
To make sure it killed Nereia this time?
Then could it be that the eye from back then was the reason it had been reborn as a deep-sea creature?
As memories surfaced one after another and fear welled up inside it, Nereia was on the verge of losing its sanity.
As Nereia stared at the eye in terror, it noticed something strange.
Something was different.
Between this enormous eye right in front of it and the eye it had seen just before dying as a human.
Come to think of it, the eye it had seen just before dying had seemed somehow unreal.
How could it explain it? That eye had felt unreal, as if it were being viewed through a thin pane of glass. And there had been no discernible biological features to it.
But this eye was different.
The cornea, crisscrossed with fine blood vessels.
The pupil, constantly contracting and expanding.
And even the scales surrounding the enormous eye.
All of it filled Nereia with certainty.
The eye right in front of it belonged to a living creature.
And it was something entirely different from the eye it had seen just before dying as a human.
Only then did Nereia manage to collect itself, letting out a sigh of relief.
Of course, it was a relief that this eye was different from the one back then, but…
‘So there’s a creature in the deep sea with an eye that must be tens of meters across. That’s…’
Terrifying.
At least the owner of that eye hadn’t noticed Nereia. No, it would be more accurate to say it hadn’t paid any attention to it.
Compared to that thing, Nereia was less than dust—less than nothing.
So…
‘I need to sneak away before it notices me…’
Even as it slowly backed away, Nereia couldn’t take its eyes off the thing.
Now that its fear had subsided, its research obsession had filled the void.
Nereia wanted to study it. And observe it.
That unbelievably enormous deep-sea creature, unlike anything it had ever seen on Earth.
Of course, there might be enormous deep-sea creatures like that in Earth’s oceans, too.
Not the crude data dumps slapped together with a single click of an A.I. button and given ridiculous titles like “Deep-Sea Phobia Test” on YouTube and the like.
But a real, living creature. A colossal deep-sea creature straight out of mythology.
But…
‘So what if there is one? I’m not on Earth anymore. Besides…’
Do I really have to go all the way back to Earth?
There’s a colossal deep-sea creature right in front of me right now—and it doesn’t even care about me. It’s not going to make a fuss just because I watch it for a little while.
So…
‘Just a little. Surely it’s okay to watch for just a little while before I go?’
Nereia murmured, breathing heavily.
At least the last shred of its reason had put the brakes on ‘touching it,’ so it wouldn’t repeat the mistake it had made as a human.
But that was the only thing its reason could manage.
Beyond that, there was nothing its barely surviving rationality could do to stop it.
Just as Nereia, unable to hide its excitement, was about to observe the eye—and the colossal deep-sea creature with an eye that must be tens of meters across—
Rooom-!
Suddenly, the enormous eye’s eyelid began to close.
It only happened once.
Yet even though the colossal deep-sea creature had merely blinked once, the currents around it went wild.
They were more violent and powerful than the turbulent current Nereia had plunged into back when it was a Deep-Sea Unicellular Larva, trying to escape the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva.
Swept away by the current, Nereia shouted at the colossal deep-sea creature.
‘I’ll never give up-!’
* * *
【An unidentified entity has been recorded in the Deep-Sea Compendium.】
【Deep-Sea Compendium】
＊???
└Analysis: 0.1%
└Information: ???
└Characteristics: ???
└Acquired Traits: None.
└Unacquired Traits: ???. ???. ???. ???. ???. ???. ???. ??….
‘Is this the best I can do?’
After repeatedly swimming against the deep-sea waters surging each time its eyelid closed, Nereia finally managed to record the creature in the Deep-Sea Compendium. It had done so through research obsession and dogged persistence, both bordering on madness.
By observing the enormous eye, which must have been tens of meters across,
and the enormous body hidden in the darkness of the deep sea, which dwarfed the eye by comparison.
In the process, Nereia learned that not every deep-sea creature was listed in the Deep-Sea Compendium.
If that thing had already been recorded in the Deep-Sea Compendium, there would have been no reason for a system notification to appear saying “unidentified entity” or that it had been “recorded.”
Also, recording it didn’t mean Nereia could learn all the information about it.
The analysis percentage shown for it in the Deep-Sea Compendium was a mere 0.1%.
As a result, Nereia couldn’t hide its disappointment.
It had only recorded that ‘a creature like this exists.’ It still knew nothing about its name, its characteristics, or the traits it possessed.
And so, Nereia found itself wanting more.
It wanted to observe it a little longer, study it a little more, and learn more about it.
But…
‘It’s dangerous to go any further.’
No matter how obsessed Nereia was with studying and observing new deep-sea creatures, it wasn’t foolish enough to throw its life away.
No, since it had already died once, it would be more accurate to say that it had gained a little ‘caution.’
In any case, Nereia knew that if it continued observing the creature any longer, it might attract its attention. And then it would have no choice but to die.
So…
‘This is far enough for now. Since it’s a deep-sea creature, after all…’
…they would meet again someday.
Murmuring that, Nereia glanced down below.
There was an underground region beneath the seafloor.
It was clear that the place the colossal deep-sea creature had come from lay deeper than the part of the deep sea where Nereia lived.
And that place was probably teeming with all sorts of monsters besides that one.
Ah… honestly…
‘I want to study every last one of them. To do that…’
I need to get stronger than I am now.
Right. I need to get stronger than I am now…
‘Wait, is that…?’
As Nereia stared at the colossal deep-sea creature, resolved to grow stronger and someday study it—and the other deep-sea creatures below—its body gave a sudden shiver.
The creature was still swallowing everything around it indiscriminately.
Its body was so enormous that Nereia couldn’t take it all in at once, so it couldn’t tell exactly ‘what’ it was using to swallow everything around it.
But as Nereia kept its distance to avoid being caught up in the creature’s feeding, it spotted something.
Or, more precisely, it sensed the mana contained within something.
What Nereia had found was a small fragment.
Maybe it hadn’t liked the taste.
Or perhaps it couldn’t swallow it in one bite.
Either way, a small fragment was embedded in what looked like a chunk of flesh from the enormous deep-sea fish that had been eating deep-sea coral.
An immense amount of mana emanated from it.
Nereia instinctively realized what the fragment was.
It had seen one before. And it had eaten one, too.
That was because this was…
‘A biological core-!’
It was a biological core.
Or, more precisely, a fragment of a biological core.
Looking at the fragment, Nereia wondered.
Did it drop it?
Or was it not even worth eating?
Maybe it was saving it for later.
Some people save their favorite food for last, after all.
To become that enormous, it must have gone through countless cycles of evolution and predation to match its size.
In that case, it was no exaggeration to call it a highly intelligent life-form, much like a human, so there was nothing strange about it having a preference like that.
Of course, since the fragment wasn’t intact and only a tiny piece was floating around, the most likely explanation was that it had simply dropped it like someone shedding cookie crumbs, rather than saving it for later.
Anyway…
‘I want to eat it…’
Gulp. Nereia swallowed as it stared at the fragment of what it guessed was the enormous deep-sea fish’s biological core.
‘Did it drop it? It did, right? Th-then…’
Would it be okay if I ate it?
Nereia slowly edged toward the fragment of the biological core, keeping a wary eye on the colossal deep-sea creature.
It activated its mana concealment field to the maximum and moved stealthily.
Even if the creature had thrown it away, it probably wouldn’t be pleased to see a tiny speck, less than an insect, coveting it.
Moving as stealthily as it could, Nereia somehow reached the fragment of the biological core embedded in the torn-off flesh, and…
‘I-I should be okay, right? It’ll be fine. Yeah, right. I’ll just gobble it up and run.’
Carefully, it used its four tentacles to pry the fragment of the biological core from the flesh, then swallowed it in one gulp.
【You have devoured a fragment of a higher-level entity’s biological core.】
【There is a significant gap between you and the current ■■■■ system user.】
【There is a significant possibility of an unpredictable mutation occurring upon consumption.】
A system warning appeared in its vision.
But Nereia didn’t stop devouring the fragment of the biological core.
【Warning! Do you really wish to devour a fragment of a higher-level entity’s biological core?】
【Consumption carries a significant risk of causing your biological tissue to collapse!】
‘I’m going to eat it anyway.’
An unpredictable mutation might occur. Its biological tissue might collapse.
Despite the system’s warnings, Nereia’s resolve was firm.
Though it was only a fragment, the mana contained within it was overwhelmingly greater than that of the entire biological core of the Deep-Sea Predatory Larva it had eaten before.
If it ate this, perhaps it would experience another evolution right away.
Nereia wanted to descend into an even deeper part of the sea and observe and study an even wider variety of new deep-sea creatures.
That was why Nereia didn’t want to let this stroke of luck slip away.
No—it couldn’t let it slip away.
Reading Nereia’s unwavering resolve to devour the fragment of the biological core, the system stopped trying to dissuade it.
Instead…
【Devouring a fragment of a higher-level entity’s biological core.】
【Absorbing high concentrations of mana and vitality.】
【Warning! Primitive Mana Organ capacity limit exceeded!】
【Biological tissue is beginning to collapse.】
‘Ghk-!’
Unable to withstand the immense mana pouring out of the fragment of the biological core it had swallowed in one gulp, Nereia’s body finally began to break down.
Starting with the mana concealment field, then its translucent outer covering, the flesh and internal organs beneath it, the organs formed by its various other traits—and even down to its individual cells.
As those things began to collapse under the unbearable mana, Nereia was swallowed by terrible pain.
It wanted to scream, but couldn’t.
It wanted to thrash about, but couldn’t.
The things it needed to scream…
The things it needed to writhe in pain…
They were already all collapsing.
‘Am I… going to die like this?’
Had it been too greedy?
Like a third-rate villain who grasped a power it couldn’t handle in order to defeat the protagonist, was it going to die this pointlessly?
Should it have listened to the system’s warning after all?
Just as Nereia thought this amid the terrible pain…
【The ■■■■ system has detected a crisis facing its user.】
【■■■■ system forced authority activated.】
【The ■■■■ system is beginning to forcibly intervene on behalf of its current user.】
‘What?’
Nereia murmured in surprise at the system window that appeared before its eyes amid the terrible pain.
But the system didn’t stop.
【Unique Trait 「Mutative Evolution」 is activating.】
【「Primitive Mana Organ」 is adapting and mutating to the high-concentration mana.】
【「Primitive Mutant Carapace」 is adapting and mutating to the high-concentration mana.】
【「Multi-Erosion Predation Organs」 are adapting and mutating to the high-concentration mana.】
【「Mutant Propulsion Sac」 is adapting and mutating to the high-concentration mana.】
‘Ah…!’
As the system windows that had appeared one after another vanished, Nereia let out a low rumble.
The pain was gone.
The pain, as if even its soul were being torn to shreds, had vanished without a trace.
And that wasn’t all.
Bang-!
The rock nearby shattered into pieces when it was struck by one casual swing of Nereia’s tentacle.
From that, Nereia realized its tentacles had grown far stronger than before.
So this is…
‘A blessing in disguise?’
It had nearly died, but it hadn’t died.
Far from dying, Nereia was now much stronger than before, and it was satisfied.
Along with the thought that you had to take a little risk to grow stronger.
Nereia had also unintentionally gained new traits, but unfortunately, it couldn’t examine them right now.
The reason was…
Grrrrroooar-!
A powerful roar rang out, shaking the vast deep sea.
Startled, Nereia flinched and looked toward the source of the roar, and…
‘H-ha ha. Ahahaha… Did I… do something wrong?’
When Nereia turned its gaze, it found itself facing an enormous eye.
It belonged to the very colossal deep-sea creature that had devoured the enormous deep-sea fish—the owner of the biological-core fragment Nereia had just eaten—in an instant. Nereia couldn’t even begin to guess how enormous it was compared to its current self.
The eye of that very same colossal deep-sea creature, which Nereia had only barely managed to record in the Deep-Sea Compendium.
Nereia stared blankly at the enormous eye and thought.
Something was different from before.
That eye was definitely looking at Nereia.
After all, its pupil, contracted to an infinitesimal point, was aimed directly at Nereia.
The colossal deep-sea creature had noticed it.
And it was angry with Nereia.
Faced with the horrifying truth it couldn’t ignore, Nereia…
‘I-I’m sorry-!’
Ran away.
It relied on the thrust from its Mutant Propulsion Sac, pumping it full of mana, to survive the enraged colossal deep-sea creature.
New traits and all that could wait; right now, Nereia’s top priority was escaping from that thing.