CHAPTER 46…………………………………………
—Juuuiing!
A slick tentacle wrapped around my waist.
The pressure was far stickier and stronger than I’d imagined, and my breath was knocked right out of me.
—Tch—what the hell is this?!
I dug my claws in and slashed at the tentacle clinging to my waist.
The sensation of my claws slicing through something smooth and soft transmitted vividly to my brain.
The tentacle let out a loud —Juuuiing! and fell away from my body.
It seemed those things felt pain too.
—Guh-eck. Urgh. Let me out!
I could see Raohu, who had been completely swallowed by the Stalker, thrashing wildly inside its body.
The Stalker’s octopus-like head stretched long and thin, molded into the shape of Raohu’s forepaws.
‘I don’t know what’s going on, but can I just leave it and run?’
I had no obligation to save some guy I’d just met.
If anything, I had a bad feeling that fighting this thing called a Stalker would only drag me into something unpleasant.
As I slowly backed away, the two pitch-black eyes embedded in the Stalker’s head fixed themselves on me.
—Juuuiiing.
The creature soon extended its tentacles, trying to grab me.
Even after swallowing a huge cat, it apparently wasn’t full.
Maybe the bigger it was, the more it had to eat.
Its long tentacles lashed the surface of the water like whips—slap, slap.
They were squirmy and unpredictable, just like mollusk tentacles should be.
Still, they were less dangerous than the attacks from that commander who swung Yan-Meat’s tail.
‘The number of them is annoying, though!’
I ruthlessly shredded the tentacles coming at me with my claws.
But for every one I slashed, two more came at me. When I slashed two, four charged in.
—Juuuiing!
In the end, one tentacle wrapped both my arms tightly.
Avoiding attacks coming from all directions was still beyond me.
With both arms restrained, I twisted my body.
The only thing I could still use freely was my mouth, so biting my way out seemed like the best option.
I opened my jaws wide and crunch—bit into the Stalker’s body.
‘Huh?’
Contrary to my expectation of a fishy taste, its flesh was refreshing and fizzy.
If Wildlings were grape-flavored jelly rolled into balls, then these guys were cola-flavored jelly stretched long.
‘…This is good?’
I bit off every tentacle wrapped around my body.
The thought of running away turned into determination to eat the thing.
—You’re tasty.
Whether it was the refreshing flavor or my long hunger, saliva dripped from my mouth.
I planted my four legs firmly on the ground and fluffed up all my spikes and fur.
My heart pounded as if blood were surging through my entire body.
Reflected in the water, my appearance gradually turned red.
For a moment I thought I was bleeding, but my fur was actually turning crimson, as if dyed.
It reminded me of how that commander had turned his hair red.
‘What’s going on? Is this a new skill effect?’
The only thing I could think of was the ominous skill 《Frenzy》 I’d obtained after devouring the Dueoksi-ni not long ago.
I didn’t know what it did exactly, but the overflowing strength in my body didn’t feel bad.
—Juuuiiing!
The Stalker fired its tentacles toward me.
I lunged forward, rushing straight into its range.
The tentacles that had been launched seemed unable to keep up with my sudden movement.
‘They’re fast only at the moment of launch—after that, they’re slow.’
I circled around the creature, analyzing the battle.
It turned sluggishly, trying to track me.
A few tentacles chased after me, but none could keep up with my full sprint.
‘About twenty tentacles total.’
Roughly fifteen to twenty tentacles were connected to its body.
Thin, long ones mixed evenly with thick, short, pillar-like ones.
The thin, long tentacles chased me from afar—probably acting like jabs or harassment attacks.
‘Then the thick ones must be the heavy punches.’
I recalled the fight between Raohu and the Stalker.
Raohu, who had clung to the Stalker’s head, had been wrapped up by the thick tentacles and dragged into its mouth without any real resistance.
The bigger the body, the stronger the force.
Raohu was clearly a beast with tremendous strength, yet he’d been swallowed so easily—proof of how powerful those thick tentacles were.
‘If I recklessly get close and get caught by those, I’ll be eaten too.’
I searched for a better approach.
If I had a gun or a bow, I could’ve killed it from afar.
But without any ranged weapons, I had no choice but close combat.
There was no terrain or environment I could use either.
‘Charging in head-on seems suicidal. Do I just drag this out into a war of attrition?’
I bit and clawed at the long, thin tentacles flying toward me.
But when I saw the severed tentacles bulge and regenerate, I realized attrition was pointless.
Worse, the newly regenerated parts tasted like sand.
—The eyes! The eyes are the weak point!
Raohu suddenly stuck his hands and face out through the translucent head of the octopus.
He writhed as if trying to escape rubbery latex.
Inside the head, he clawed and chewed at the flesh, trying to cause internal damage.
But the Stalker showed no reaction at all.
Either it felt no pain internally, or its skin was too thick and tough for the attacks to matter.
‘If you get caught by that mouth, it’s literally over.’
At least it wasn’t chewing yet.
—Juuuiing!
Tentacles wrapped around my hind legs.
I tried to slash them, but the creature flung me into the air.
My vision spun as my body soared above the trees.
At least ten meters—maybe more.
Like a ball floating briefly, my body soon succumbed to gravity and began to fall.
—Juuuaaak!
Directly beneath me, the Stalker opened its mouth wide, lined with countless teeth.
It looked ready to swallow me in one bite, like catching a tossed snack.
‘Ah, screw it. I’ll just rip it apart and die! That huge body—there’s gotta be a ton to eat!’
As I fell, I extended my claws to their sharpest.
They were my irreplaceable weapons, having torn through countless bodies.
With my weight, hunger, and inexplicable rage behind them, I brought my claws down with everything I had.
—Juuuiiing!
Like a hole-in-one golf shot, I dropped straight into its mouth.
But my raised claws gouged the inside of its mouth deeply.
—Brushing your teeth is gonna hurt from now on, you bastard!
—Juuuaaak!
Even while screaming in pain, the Stalker forced me deeper into its mouth.
I was soon trapped inside a slick flesh pouch.
I couldn’t tell how its stomach was structured, but Raohu and I were separated by a thin membrane.
Recognizing me, Raohu shouted brightly.
—Did you come to save me?!
—No. I got eaten too.
At that moment, squirm, the Stalker’s stomach convulsed.
Whitish liquid began seeping through the thin membrane covering me.
Sssss.
The liquid hit my fur, releasing white smoke and a sharp, acrid smell.
Having swallowed two whole beasts, the Stalker seemed to be secreting powerful digestive fluid.
—Ah, damn it. What do we do?!
I clawed furiously at the stomach wall.
But it was even smoother and tougher than its outer skin—my claws couldn’t leave a mark.
They just slid off like the surface was coated in oil.
‘This is impossible.’
Until now, nothing had resisted my claws.
The realization that they were useless hit me hard.
I shouted to Raohu in the neighboring “room.”
—Hey! Do something! You said you’d take down the Stalker!
—I—I’ve actually never gone out on a rainy day before today… I didn’t know it’d be this strong.
—What kind of excuse is that?! Aren’t you Raohu, lord of the western forest? You’re the strongest here!
—I am Raohu, but I’m not the forest lord. That’s my dad. I’m Raohu Mao. I never said I was the forest lord.
—Ah. Mao. So you’re not the forest lord.
Only then did I realize my mistake.
I’d just assumed he was the forest lord because of his name.
Apparently, there was another creature with the same name.
—Dad! Dad!
Raohu began thrashing wildly, roaring for his father like a lost child.
‘Damn it. What do I do?’
Watching the stomach wall repeatedly contract and relax, my shoulders trembled with anxiety.
Digestive fluid had risen to my knees.
It stung and tingled, like soaking your knees in cola.
If I stayed like this for hours, my body would probably melt into a soggy pizza.
‘I have to do something. Anything!’
Claustrophobia I never had before threatened to overwhelm me.
Memories of being trapped in an egg before waking up in this world resurfaced.
After surviving so many hardships, was it all just to get eaten by some octopus?
—Dad! Dad!
—Shut up! I’m thinking!
—Hiiing…
I snapped at the noisy giant cat beside me.
He froze, stunned into silence.
Taking a deep breath, I stabbed my claws into the stomach wall again.
Still useless—my claws slipped right off.
Maybe it was coated with some special chemical to withstand stomach acid.
‘Still, it’s just flesh. There’s no way it’s completely invincible.’
I racked my brain, denying reality.
Then I remembered the spikes growing from my back.
Not to brag, but their tips were as sharp as needles or toothpicks—sharper than my claws.
If claws were a line of contact, the spikes were pinpoint dots.
For piercing, they were clearly superior.
‘At this point, I’ll try anything.’
I pulled out one of my back spikes.
It stung like pulling out a hair, but that didn’t matter.
Gripping the long, sharp spike, I drove it into the stomach wall with all my strength.
—Juuuiiing!
The Stalker convulsed violently.
The spike hung there, embedded in the stomach wall.
—It works! It can be injured!
Excitement made my blood boil.
I grabbed the spike and twisted it.
The small hole widened until it was big enough to fit a finger.
I threw the spike aside, shoved my claws into the hole, and ripped it open like tearing a banner.
—You’re dead.
As the stomach wall collapsed, bluish flesh and what looked like organs spilled inward.
I drove my claws into the soft tissue and shredded everything in sight.
The stomach wall spasmed, tightening painfully around me.
Whether trying to vomit me out or not, its peristalsis went wild.
—Too late, bastard!
I bit fiercely into the exposed flesh.
Claws sunk in everywhere as I devoured it alive from the inside.
—Juuuiiik!
I could clearly feel its agony even from within.
Being swallowed turned into an opportunity.
Inside its body, there were no annoying tentacles.
Instead, I could target tender organs—its greatest weakness.
Trusting in its tough stomach lining had been a fatal mistake.
My struggle and persistence overcame its natural anatomy.
—Never come at me again.
