Chapter 32: Mutant #5

Chapter 32: Mutant #5

Living my life, this is my first time inside someone’s stomach.

But here, the internal space is much larger than it appears, what kind of magic is this?

It looks about the size of a university lecture hall.

Perhaps it’s some kind of spatial principle.

-Idiot, you tiny piece of trash! Serves you right! Wahahaha, uhahaha…

As I tried to think calmly, Max’s laughter echoed endlessly.

‘What’s so funny?’

I scowled and covered my ears with my hands.

Ah, it’s so noisy I could die.

Drip- drip-

Bright yellow digestive fluid fell from above my head.

Even a slight touch caused my clothes to smoke and melt.

‘If I fall in there, it’s game over.’

Well, even if I die once, I’ll just be resurrected anyway.

But I have absolutely no desire to offer my body as nutritional snacks to that bastard Max.

RUMBLE-

The ground occasionally shook.

It seems a fierce battle is ongoing outside my stomach.

My party members must be fighting hard to save me right now.

If I stay in here too long, they’ll worry. I need to finish this quickly and get out.

“Let’s get started.”

I gripped an Orc ritual sword and a regular dagger in both hands.

Dual wielding “Frost Blades” have appeared again.

From now on, I’m going to start the dissection.

-Don’t think of doing anything foolish! No one can help you.

As if noticing the change in the atmosphere inside his body, Max urged me on.

Even though he says that, I can feel his nervousness.

It’s understandable, though.

If I swallowed a small insect and it suddenly pulled out dual swords inside my stomach, I would surely be terrified.

“You don’t need to help. I’ll get out with my own strength.”

-Arrogant bitch. Just melt away obediently!

Gurgle, gurgle.

From afar, I heard the sound of a rapid torrent approaching.

Soon, a wave of digestive fluid filled my vision.

If I get caught in that highly acidic liquid, I’ll be melted down without a trace.

There’s no time to be leisurely.

I immediately used my stored abilities without holding back any longer.

「-Ability Unleash: Retrieve abilities stored in the Reliquary to temporarily enhance the body.」

「⋯Stamina increases by 12.

⋯Mana increases by 30.

⋯Physical ability increases by 7.

⋯Magical ability increases by 20.」

My hair lightly floated, and my body began to overflow with vitality.

I bent my knees slightly and leaped into the air.

ROAR-

By a hair’s breadth, the digestive fluid swept past the spot where I had been standing.

I grabbed a tentacle on the ceiling that I had spotted earlier and dangled in the air.

The slimy and sticky texture is disgusting, but thanks to these tentacles, I have an angle to move without falling into the digestive fluid.

I swung the tentacle back and forth to gain momentum, then leaped powerfully to the next tentacle.

‘This is like Tarzan.’

After several minutes of climbing up Max’s insides like that.

A large organ came into view.

An unpleasant mass of flesh with a faint purplish hue.

‘What could this be?’

Is it the liver, or the kidney?

After briefly pondering what function this organ served in Max’s body…

‘Well, whatever it is, it must be important.’

Slice.

Without hesitation, I sliced it with my Frost Blade.

I didn’t come here to study the internal structure of monsters.

Theoretical study is unnecessary.

Only anatomical practice is all that matters.

No, to be precise, it’s more like dissection practice.

-KRAAAAAAAAACK!

Blood spurted in all directions, and simultaneously, Max’s ear-splitting screams erupted.

In the end, I couldn’t find out exactly what organ I had turned into rags, but…

It seems to hurt when it’s cut, anyway.

Yes. That’s enough.

I moved on to the next area, leisurely enjoying the screams of pain.

‘Oh, there’s a lot here.’

The surroundings are filled with Max’s organs.

I cut, pierced, and minced every single one of them into pieces.

-KRAAAACK! S-stop! Please stop!

Where did his initial imposing demeanor go? Max began to beg shamelessly.

You thought you were invincible because you kept regenerating, you bastard.

However, you probably didn’t know that while external wounds can be regenerated easily, internal attacks are a weakness.

CRASH-

The entire area shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

Is it Mitchell or Wagner’s attack?

While I was rummaging around inside Max’s body, they seemed to be fighting fiercely outside as well.

-Grrr….

Suddenly, a bright light seeped through a gap in the dark internal wall.

The reddish flesh wriggled and tried to fill the gap, but the speed at which new flesh grew was noticeably slower than before.

CRACKLE.

The crack through which the light was leaking grew larger.

Max’s insides shook so much that it was hard to stand still…

The next moment, my vision shot upwards in an instant.

Did the inside of the stomach shrink?

No, I’m growing.

CRUNCH-

Soon, my head burst out through the blood and flesh.

“Estel!”

“Kid, you’re alive!”

The pale faces of my party members came into view.

Their bodies were drenched in sweat and blood.

They all seemed to have fought without holding back in that short time.

⋯To save me.

‘They could have easily run away if they wanted to.’

Even facing a formidable enemy whose attacks were not effective, they all stood their ground.

The scene of them not backing down was vividly etched in my mind.

For a moment, my nose stung.

‘Huh?’

It’s not an illusion. My eyes also welled up.

‘Why am I like this?’

Of course, I was grateful and proud of my companions.

But I was originally a person who didn’t cry.

I’ve even been told by people around me, ‘You’re too cold and indifferent.’

But for some reason now…

If my emotions had surged just a little more, I would have almost shed tears.

Like a teenage girl.

‘⋯Is Estel’s body affecting my mind too?’

Putting aside my confusing emotions for now, I crawled out of Max’s body.

***

「Defeated the hidden boss, Blessed Experiment Subject.」

***

“I really thought Estel was actually dead, so I… sobbed…!”

“Senior, I’m okay. Stop crying. Sniffle!”

The moment I felt a surge of emotion.

Flora was completely sobbing uncontrollably.

⋯Even with snot running down her face.

This can’t be acting. The snot is genuine.

“Why, suddenly inside the stomach-“

“Ah, I went in on purpose.”

“But why didn’t you say so beforehand? I didn’t even know-“

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Senior.”

“Ugh-“

Despite patting her back repeatedly, Flora couldn’t stop crying until her eyes were swollen.

“Even I think that was truly insane, kid. It’s a good thing the outcome was good.”

Mitchell shook her head slowly.

She’s talking calmly now, but she looked pale and frozen earlier.

“Thank you for saving the maiden. O Prelium…”

Wagner was on his knees, engrossed in prayer.

“We won, that’s all that matters.”

I said, wiping my sticky, blood-soaked hair.

I thought there was nothing in the world worse than the stench of the Contaminated Deposit.

But as they say, there’s always a deeper bottom beneath the bottom.

After rolling around in Max’s stomach, I learned about a new realm of stench that I hadn’t known before.

I need to wash up as soon as we get back.

‘Of course, it was worth enduring the hardship.’

The Blessed Experiment Subject spewed out an enormous amount of magic stones.

A whopping 2400 of them.

As a hidden boss, its reward was quite substantial.

The magic stones it dropped were more than what I collected hunting monsters in the Contaminated Deposit.

And that’s not all.

There’s also the artifact found in its corpse, “Pure White Radiance.”

I don’t know the reason why Max had this precious bracelet, but…

Anyway, I’ll use it thankfully.

「Pure White Radiance

-Accessory Item

-Increases resistance to dark-attribute attacks when equipped.

-A bracelet imbued with the blessing of the Golden Unicorn. It can emit a holy light. However, to awaken the true power hidden within this bracelet, special conditions must be met.」

“What is this bracelet?”

Mitchell tilted her head.

She looked like she didn’t understand it even after looking.

Then, Wagner took the bracelet and examined it closely.

“It seems to be some kind of holy artifact.”

Surprisingly, Wagner, with his keen observation, quickly grasped how to use the bracelet.

“I’ve seen holy artifacts used by Rex’s followers before. I think the usage of this bracelet might be similar-“

Wagner stroked the bracelet and repeated a few trial-and-error attempts, finally succeeding in emitting a small beam of light.

Everyone’s gaze focused on the bracelet, which shone like a cute little light bulb.

“Oh, bear- Not bad?”

“It’s a bracelet with some kind of lighting magic. It’s pretty-“

“But it’s amazing, is that all?”

Mitchell scoffed.

Well, considering its current ability, it’s understandable to think so.

The light emanating from the bracelet was too small and weak.

To borrow Flora’s words, it seemed better to just use lighting magic honestly.

‘But the power of Pure White Radiance isn’t just that.’

This artifact has a strange, and perhaps bizarre, usage restriction.

It means that only those who meet the Golden Unicorn’s strict criteria can unleash its power.

Unfortunately, Wagner is already unqualified for that.

If this were a job interview, he wouldn’t even get to the interview room.

He’d be rejected at the resume stage.

‘Because the Golden Unicorn extremely despises males.’

Next, Flora took the bracelet from Wagner.

“Let me try too- Is this how you do it?”

Flora carefully stroked the bracelet with awkward hands.

Her movements were clumsy.

But perhaps because of that, the Golden Unicorn might like it even more.

Soon…

“Whoa!”

A bright light burst from the bracelet attached to Flora’s wrist.

A richer luminescence than before.

Moreover, looking at this light, it felt warm and reassuring, as if Flora were giving a warm hug.

‘Passed.’

It was clear to everyone that Flora had wonderfully met the Golden Unicorn’s criteria.

It’s not common for adventurers to receive the unicorn’s favor.

In a way, it’s something one is born with, but it requires conditions that are easily lost over time.

Next was Mitchell’s turn.

“It was dim when the bear used it, but bright when Flora used it. I don’t know the difference.”

As Mitchell grumbled and put on the bracelet-

“Oh! It’s bright this time too.”

This time, too, a bright light illuminated the surroundings.

Unlike Flora, this time the light felt powerful, as if pushing back the darkness.

This is a bit unexpected.

Flora was expected, but Mitchell also met the Golden Unicorn’s criteria.

As they say, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

Our two beautiful adventurers shone brightly.

Moreover, the intensity of their light was considerable.

That means they were very much to the unicorn’s liking.

Flora and Mitchell’s level of light must have earned them bonus points in various aspects, not just the basic conditions.

“Is it the kid’s turn next?”

Mitchell took off the bracelet and handed it to me.

Well, I wonder.

I’m a bit curious, though.

‘I probably won’t be able to use it properly.’

I didn’t have high expectations.

Even if the unicorn likes me, the conditions are not something that would make me happy.

I can’t be entirely happy, and it feels rather unpleasant.

But I can’t not check it.

After putting on the bracelet, I used it with a nonchalant expression.

The next moment…

“Kyaak-!”

“My, my eyes!”

“I can’t see… I can’t see…”

An intense light, as if burning my eyes, engulfed everything.

The sun descended into the dungeon.