Ch.54Let’s Speak in Our Language (3)

# Food Foreigners Hate but Koreans Can’t Live Without

Live octopus.

Octopus tentacles brushed with sesame oil and a shot of soju.

Just eating that made me feel like all the day’s fatigue melted away.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Since octopuses are creatures with such tenacious vitality that their tentacles move on their own even after being cut off, wouldn’t it be possible to have an endless supply of sashimi?

That was the kind of idea I could only come up with in my twenties when I had a hearty appetite.

However, even though I was crazy about chewy seafood like octopus back then, I would probably find what’s in front of me now extremely disgusting, just like foreigners do.

Thump, thump, thump.

“Mister, the tentacles keep chasing us!”

“Grrrr!”

Carmilla and I were running through a straight corridor.

Behind us, an endless wave of octopus tentacles was surging forward.

Those slimy, mucus-covered appendages seemed to be not just regenerating but actually multiplying every time we tore or burst them apart.

Their numbers were swelling, and we’d already encountered more than ten octopus bodies.

“Seriously, since when are octopuses this good at regenerating? Anyone would mistake them for jellyfish!”

Exactly.

A miraculous vitality that creates a new individual as long as even the slightest trace remains.

There was only one way to deal with such a creature.

The only answer seemed to be using overwhelming power to pulverize it without leaving a trace.

‘But if I use that kind of punch in the middle of this “downtown” area, it won’t just end with the aquarium being blown away.’

When I took down the Sword Beast in Okami Territory, we were fortunate it happened on a mountaintop.

If the territory had been in the middle of downtown D City, I might have lost control of my power and, in the worst case, lost control of my sword.

And now I was facing exactly that kind of crisis.

“Damn it, I want to use a flamethrower, but if we do that indoors, we’ll suffer from oxygen deprivation too.”

“Grrrr…”

“But this corridor has to end somewhere… Damn! Of all things, to encounter the legendary Kraken!”

The octopus monster.

Commonly known as the Kraken.

Probably the strongest among the minions that the Deep Sea Beast keeps.

As Carmilla said, after continuing to run down the corridor, we could finally see a wall ahead.

If we get cornered in a dead end, we’ll have to fight no matter what.

But with half-hearted attacks, more octopus tentacles would just sprout from the cut parts.

‘A way to eliminate it without leaving a trace…’

Should I try to control my strength just enough to only blow away the aquarium and throw a punch?

That’s when it happened.

“You perverted octopus! Your texture is so terrible you can’t even be served as an omakase menu! How can you be this tough?!”

…Omakase?

Come to think of it, people in this world consider octopuses ominous and don’t use them as food.

It’s not simply that they don’t eat something delicious; they’ve actually tried it and found it distasteful.

The Western palate that knows nothing about octopus flavor.

And from Carmilla’s expression, seeing the octopus only as an enemy.

“Grrrk!”

‘Aha!’

With fresh octopus right in front of me…

I seemed to have been overthinking this.

***

With regenerative abilities on a completely different level from ordinary octopuses.

No, beyond regeneration—with the ability to create what could be called doppelgangers, the octopus monster known as the Kraken had become one of the Deep Sea’s cherished minions.

“If I were to release you into the human world’s oceans, humanity would never be able to touch seafood again.”

However, being a sea creature monster, the Kraken itself would likely devour fish at a rate exceeding humans, potentially destroying the marine ecosystem.

So the Deep Sea Beast had resolved never to allow the infinitely multiplying Kraken into the human world, no matter what.

But while she was fighting Kang Janghoon, the worst-case scenario occurred: a partially summoned octopus tentacle was left behind without disappearing.

The disaster that crossed over without even its master knowing began at I City’s aquarium, increasing in number with every hit, cut, and penetration, heading toward the sea.

Chomp, chomp.

“…?”

Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp.

“??!?!!?!?”

The Kraken, following octopus instinct, wanted to reach the human world’s ocean.

But the illusions of these creatures were shattered within minutes of arriving here.

“Ah, go Mister! I’ll refill the wasabi and vinegar soy sauce whenever you need, so just let me know if you run out!”

“Chomp, chomp, chomp!”

The Kraken, which could cultivate new cells from even the slightest remaining trace of injury.

As soon as it opened its eyes in the human world, it spotted two nutritious beings and mindlessly extended its tentacles to absorb them, whether they were its own kind or humans.

That was a mistake.

From between the tentacles packed tightly into the corridor, an ominous sound was heard.

At the same time, it should have been able to regenerate if even the slightest trace remained.

‘Mmm~. Octopus sashimi is so delicious.’

Eating… the octopus?

The horned-masked monster emerged from the corridor after devouring all the octopus tentacles inside, chewing well on octopus limbs as big as itself.

Seeing parts of its body being eaten without a trace, even with vinegar soy sauce spread on them.

Shudder.

The Kraken, which had always thought itself invincible, felt fear for the first time in its life.

“Grrrr. Grrrk.”

‘Really, I could have just eaten it from the start, but sometimes I overthink things, don’t I?’

Returning to his original position and facing the Kraken(s), Kang Janghoon had eaten enough tentacles.

It was time to turn his attention to the octopus head, which would be delicious boiled in ramen as the main dish.

Meanwhile, Carmilla was trying her best not to retch at the sight of the man who had actually eaten the entire octopus.

‘Don’t, don’t throw up…! He’s clearly doing this for my sake.’

In reality, he was just fulfilling a dream from his twenties.

Anyway, as she swallowed hard, thinking he was making an enormous sacrifice.

Splurt.

“Grrrk?”

“Ink?!”

What flew toward the two of them was none other than black ink.

It was the ultimate defense mechanism that octopuses use when terrified by predators.

‘The range is too wide to dodge!’

Of course, it appeared to be ordinary ink.

But since it was ink shot by a monster before it was an octopus, Carmilla couldn’t let her guard down and was thinking of ways to block it quickly.

That’s when, spreading his arms in front of her.

“Mister!”

“Grrrr…”

Until she saw the monster mister now stained black.

“Are, are you okay?! Wait, is your body alright?”

Nod, nod.

He had apparently turned back after seeing the ink that he could dodge but I couldn’t, while running toward the Krakens.

What if that had been acid disguised as ink?

Even after clearly winning, he could have suffered a fatal wound, and in the worst case, his body might have melted away right then and there.

Looking up at the monster mister who had unhesitatingly protected her from even a drop of ink.

“I’m, I’m sorry…”

“Grrrk?!”

“Sniff. I shouldn’t cry in this situation… I must have jumped to conclusions!”

Even after ten years, the mister was still the mister.

Carmilla realized this fact anew.

‘I was… a fool.’

From the beginning, this was the mister who had easily defeated the Radiation Beast, which was far stronger than any octopus.

The reason he had drawn out this fight must have been because they were in the middle of a tourist district where even a slight misuse of power could devastate the surroundings.

“That blue-haired girl you were about to hit back then… she was a monster, wasn’t she?”

Nod, nod.

“And I made a stupid misunderstanding?”

…Shake, shake.

“You don’t have to deny it for my sake. …I’ve already realized it.”

Not knowing any of this, what kind of misunderstanding had I made?

She felt disgusted with herself for doubting her ‘benefactor’ even for a moment.

So despite being at a critical juncture, tears flowed from her eyes uncontrollably.

But even then, the monster mister gently patted her head, comforting her.

Point.

“Grrrr. Grrrk.”

“Hehe. I understand. You want to take care of that first, right?”

Perhaps he wanted to move past the situation quickly.

His face looked troubled as he pointed at the Kraken with both hands, visible even through his mask.

Really… he can’t act at all.

But thanks to him, Carmilla regained her composure and smiled again, wanting to somehow atone for her sin.

Click.

Allah’s Magic RPG appeared over her shoulder.

“Mister. That octopus head looks too big—you’re going to cut it up to eat it, right?”

Nod, nod, nod!

Of course.

Properly speaking, octopus head is best eaten grilled with butter or boiled and served as sashimi.

And it’s a universal rule that anything tastes better when grilled.

“I’ll grill(?) it deliciously for you!”

Since a flamethrower would burn it too much, Carmilla fired an RPG missile, saying this was more appropriate.

Thanks to that, the aquarium interior was destroyed more than necessary.

But what did that matter?

“Chomp, chomp, chomp!”

When the mister is eating so deliciously!

Look around, look around.

As if tired of just eating grilled food, Kang Janghoon ran to the aquarium snack bar midway and brought back ramen.

And so, in the middle of the aquarium where both humans and monsters were laughing happily.

‘Please… just… kill me quickly…’

That day, the octopus recalled:

The terror of being eaten with a springy texture, dipped in vinegar soy sauce.

The humiliation of being boiled in a ramen lid…