Mutation #5
by Afuhfuihgs
This is my first time being inside someone else’s stomach.
But here, the interior space is much wider than it looks from the outside. What kind of harmony is this?
It’s almost as big as a university lecture hall.
Maybe it’s some kind of subspace principle.
—You idiot, you little piece of trash! You look so good! Hahahahaha, hahaha⋯
I’m trying to think calmly, but Max’s laughter keeps ringing out.
‘What’s so fun about that?’
I covered my ears with my hands, frowning.
Oh, it’s so noisy.
thud—
A bright yellow digestive fluid fell from above my head.
Just a light touch and the clothes began to smoke and melt.
‘If I fall in there, it’s over.’
Well, even if you die once, you will come back to life anyway.
I had absolutely no desire to offer my body as a nutritional snack to that guy Max.
Kugu Palace—
The ground shook intermittently.
It seems like a fierce battle is continuing outside the ship.
By now, my party members must be fighting hard to save me.
I’ll get worried if I stay in here too long. I need to get this over with quickly and get out.
“Shall we begin?”
I held an orc ceremonial sword and a plain dagger in each hand.
The twin “Frost Swords” appear again.
We will now begin the dismantling process.
—Don’t even think about doing anything stupid! No one can help you for four years.
Max, perhaps noticing the change in the atmosphere inside his body, urged him on.
Even though he says it like that, I still feel like he’s very nervous.
Well, that makes sense.
If I swallowed a small insect and it suddenly pulled out a pair of swords from inside my stomach, I would definitely be terrified.
“You don’t have to help me. I’ll get through this on my own.”
—You cheeky bitch. Melt away quietly!
Gulp, gurgle.
From far away, I could hear the sound of a torrent rushing in.
Soon, waves of digestive juices filled my vision.
If you get swept away by that strong acidic liquid, you will surely melt away without even being able to pick up your bones.
There’s no time to relax.
I used the abilities I had stored up without any further hesitation.
“—Ability Unlock: Take out the abilities stored in the reliquary and strengthen your body for a short time.”
“⋯ Stamina increases by 12.
⋯Magic power increases by 30.
⋯Physical ability increases by 7.
⋯Magic ability increases by 20.」
My hair started to lightly rise, and my body began to feel energetic.
After slightly bending his knees, he jumped into the air.
Kwaaaa—
By the hair’s breadth, digestive juices swept past where I was standing.
I grabbed onto the tentacles on the ceiling that I had noticed beforehand and hung in the air.
It’s squishy and sticky and feels like crap, but these tentacles still give it a bit of a kick and allow it to move without getting sucked into the digestive juices.
I shook the tentacle back and forth to recoil, then jumped with all my might and jumped onto the next tentacle.
‘This isn’t Tarzan or anything.’
After a few minutes of going up Max’s intestines like that.
A huge organ came into view.
A lump of unpleasant flesh with a faint purple tint.
‘What is this?’
Liver or kidney?
After a moment of contemplation about what function this organ might have in Max’s body…
‘Anyway, whatever it is, it’s important.’
Crunch.
Without hesitation, I cut it down with my frost sword.
I didn’t come here to study the internal structure of monsters.
There is no need to study theory.
It’s just an anatomy lab.
No, to be exact, it would be more correct to call it a deconstruction practice.
—Kaaaah!
Blood spurted out everywhere, and at the same time, Max’s deafening screams rang out.
In the end, I couldn’t figure out exactly what Max’s internal organs were that I had turned into a rag.
Anyway, it must hurt since it was cut.
Yeah, that’s fine.
I leisurely watched the screams of pain as I moved on to the next area.
‘Oh, there’s a lot here.’
The whole place is covered in Max’s organs.
I cut, drilled, and crushed every single piece without leaving anything out.
—Kuaaaah! Stop it! Please stop it!
The initial proud air was gone, and Max began to plead pitifully.
I thought I was invincible because I kept playing, kid.
However, even though external wounds can be easily healed, you probably had no idea that you were vulnerable to attacks from within.
Kwakwang—
The whole place shook as if an earthquake had occurred.
Could it be an attack by Mitchell or Wagner?
While I was inside, digging into Max’s body, it seemed like he was struggling outside as well.
—Oh my god⋯.
Suddenly, a bright light seeped through a crack in the dark interior wall.
The red, swollen flesh slowly regenerated to fill the gap, but the rate at which new flesh grew was noticeably slower than before.
Damn it.
The crack through which light was seeping in grew larger.
Max’s stomach was trembling so much that he could hardly stand still⋯
The next moment, my vision suddenly shot upwards.
Is your stomach narrow?
No, I’m growing up.
Kwajik—
Then my head suddenly popped out through the blood and meat fragments.
“Estelle!”
“Kid, you’re alive!”
The pale faces of the party members came into view.
A figure drenched in sweat and blood.
It seems like everyone fought without sparing their bodies during that short period of time.
⋯To save me.
‘They could have run away at any time if they wanted to.’
Even though I was facing a formidable enemy that I couldn’t even attack properly,
The image of everyone standing up without backing down was vivid before my eyes.
For a moment, the tip of my nose felt tingly.
‘uh?’
It’s not an illusion. My eyes are also getting hotter.
‘Why am I like this?’
Of course, I was grateful and proud of my colleagues.
But, I was originally a person without tears.
To the point where I even heard people around me say, ‘You’re too cold and indifferent.’
But now, for some reason…
If I had been a little more emotional, I would have cried without realizing it.
Like a real teenage girl.
‘⋯Is Estelle’s body also influencing my mind?’
Burying my confused emotions aside, I crawled out of Max’s body.
***
“The hidden boss, the blessed test subject, has been defeated.”
***
“Really, I thought Miss Estelle was really dead, and I, sobbed⋯!”
“Senior, I’m okay. Stop crying. Stop!”
A moment when I felt a little sad.
Flora was sobbing and wailing loudly.
⋯Even with a runny nose.
This can’t be acting. The snot is real.
“Why, in my stomach, all of a sudden-”
“Oh, so you said you went in on purpose.”
“But why didn’t you tell me in advance- I didn’t even know that-”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, senior.”
“Ugh-”
Although he kept patting her on the back, Flora couldn’t stop crying until her eyes were swollen.
“Even I think it was crazy, kid. It’s a good thing it ended well.”
Mitchell also shook his head excitedly.
He’s speaking calmly now, but when I saw him earlier, his face was pale and frozen.
“Thank you for saving the girl. Praelium⋯”
Wagner is on his knees and has been in deep prayer for some time.
“If I win, that’s enough. If I win.”
I said, wiping my sticky, blood-soaked hair.
I thought there was nothing worse in the world than the stench of a polluted wasteland.
There is always a deeper bottom beneath the floor.
After rolling around in Max’s stomach, I discovered a whole new realm of stench I had never known before.
I have to wash up as soon as I get back.
‘Of course, it was worth the effort.’
The blessed test subject vomited out a tremendous amount of magic stones.
As many as 2400.
As expected from a hidden boss, the reward is quite substantial.
There are more magic stones dropped by the monster than there are by hunting the monsters in the polluted sediment.
And that’s not all.
There is also an artifact found on the bastard’s corpse, “Pure White Radiance.”
I don’t know why Max was holding this precious bracelet…
Anyway, thank you for writing it.
“Pure white brilliance
—Jewelry items
– Increases resistance to dark attribute attacks when equipped
“A bracelet imbued with the protection of the golden unicorn. It can emit a sacred light. However, to awaken the true power hidden within this bracelet, special conditions must be met.”
“What is this bracelet?”
Mitchell tilted his head.
An expression that says you don’t know even if you look at it.
Then Wagner received the bracelet and examined it carefully.
“It’s like some kind of sacred relic.”
Surprisingly, Wagner had a keen eye for detail, and quickly figured out how to use the bracelet.
“I’ve noticed the relics used by Rex’s followers before. I imagine this bracelet might be used in a similar way.”
After a few attempts of trial and error, Wagner stroked the bracelet and succeeded in lighting a small beam of light.
Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the bracelet that was shining brightly like a fairy light bulb.
“Oh, Bear- It’s pretty good, isn’t it?”
“It’s a bracelet imbued with some kind of lighting magic. It’s pretty.”
“It’s interesting, but is this all?”
Mitchell snorted.
Well, looking at your current abilities, you might think so.
The light emanating from the bracelet was so small and faint.
To borrow Flora’s words, it honestly seems better to just use lighting magic.
‘But that’s not all there is to the power of pure white brilliance.’
This artifact has some strange, and perhaps bizarre, usage restrictions.
It is said that only those who meet the Golden Unicorn’s exacting standards can draw upon its power.
Unfortunately, Wagner is already disqualified.
If we compare it to an entrance exam, you won’t even be able to enter the interview room.
Disqualified from the resume.
‘Because the golden unicorn hates males so much.’
Next, Flora received the bracelet from Wagner.
“I want to try it too – is this how it’s done?”
Flora stroked the bracelet awkwardly.
It’s a clumsy hand movement.
But I think that’s why I like the golden unicorn even more.
Soon after⋯
“Wow!”
A bright light emanated from the bracelet hanging from Flora’s wrist.
A richer light than before.
Moreover, looking at this light, I felt warm and at ease, as if Flora was embracing me.
‘Pass.’
It was clear to anyone who saw it that Flora fit the criteria for a golden unicorn.
It’s not common for an adventurer to be favored by a unicorn.
In some ways, it can be said that everyone is born with it, but it is a condition that can be easily lost naturally as time passes.
Next it was Mitchell’s turn.
“When Gomtaengi writes, it’s blurry, and when Flora writes, it’s bright. I can’t tell the difference.”
As Mitchell grumbled and put on the bracelet—
“Oh! It’s bright again this time.”
This time again, a bright light illuminated the surroundings.
Unlike Flora, this time it was a light with a confident momentum that seemed to drive away the darkness.
This is a bit surprising.
Flora was worthy, but Mitchell also met the criteria for a golden unicorn.
As expected, you can’t tell a person by just looking at their appearance.
Our party’s two beautiful adventurers shone brightly.
Moreover, both of them had considerable light intensity.
That means it’s a unicorn’s favorite.
With the level of light that Flora and Mitchell had, they would have received high scores in various other factors, not just the basic conditions.
“Is it the little one’s turn last?”
Mitchell took off his bracelet and handed it to me.
Well, what do you think?
I’m a bit curious too.
‘I probably won’t be able to use it properly.’
I didn’t have high expectations.
Even if I liked the unicorn in the first place, it wasn’t a very pleasant thing for me, knowing what the conditions were.
I can’t help but feel happy, I’m just a bit nervous.
But it’s something I can’t help but check.
I put on the bracelet and used it with a cold face.
The next moment⋯
“Whoa-!”
“Snow, snow!”
“I can’t see ahead, I can’t see ahead⋯.”
A blindingly bright light covers the entire area.
The sun descended on the dungeon.
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