Leveling Up By Surviving Alone - L.U.B.S.A Chapter 11

In the Philippines, there’s a place called Cebu, known for its clear, beautiful sea. It’s a popular spot for people who enjoy free diving or scuba diving. Ji Yeonwoo had once considered getting his Open Water certification in Cebu—or at least, he’d watched a YouTuber’s vlog about it.

Before entering the water, an experienced diver—speaking fluent Filipino—listed all the sea creatures you should absolutely avoid if you encounter them underwater. Among the dangers were certain prickly tropical fish and giant jellyfish larger than a person. But what caught Ji Yeonwoo’s attention the most wasn’t the fish or the jellyfish.

It was a snake.

A sea snake, black and white, sporting a zebra-like pattern. He remembered it being fascinating: its tail was flattened like a paddle for swimming. A snake living in the sea was odd enough, but to top it off, it was from the cobra family, so it carried deadly venom. The diver had warned everyone to keep their distance if they spotted one.

So then—

“What if it’s the snake that comes toward you?”

A real threat was now looming before him.

Its size was small—only as thick as two fingers and a bit over a meter long. But one bite was enough to send you straight to the afterlife. A terrifying sea snake, and on top of that, it was from a *rift.*

And there it was, barely five meters away.

He’d tried giving it space, hoping it would continue on its way, but it changed course and slithered right for him again.

‘I’m screwed.’

On top of that, he desperately needed air from holding his breath so long. But if he surfaced, he feared the snake might follow and nip his leg.

‘Should I stab it with my spear?’

But if he missed and got bitten, that would be the end.

‘Or do I try to run?’

It was faster underwater than he was—where could he run?

Even as these thoughts whirled, the snake kept drawing closer, aiming at his neck. There’s a saying that in the face of utter desperation, your mind can suddenly open new doors. Ji Yeonwoo was far beyond desperation, his life teetering on the brink.

Like a female cockroach with an IQ of 400 in a crisis, he came up with a brilliant idea: he quickly shrugged off the backpack strapped to his back, flipped open the lid, and thrust it in front of the snake.

Kyuing?

Faced with a sudden wall filling its vision, the sea snake hesitated. Seizing that moment, Ji Yeonwoo shoved it inside the bag like wrapping food in a leaf.

Woosh!

‘Ughh, oh my god!’

A Hunter’s specialized backpack was highly durable and well-sealed. He yanked the drawstring at the opening, then closed the lid, trapping the sea snake inside. The creature thrashed around in there, unable to slip out.

Thump! Thump!

‘Ahh—!’

It wriggled. He yelped inwardly each time. But at last, he kicked upward to the ocean’s surface.

Splash!

“Puaah! Gah… hoo… hah…”

He finally burst into the air and took great gulps of breath. He glanced upward at the sky, then down at the floating backpack in the water, which contained his harvest of kelp, sea urchins, and, unbelievably, a *sea snake*.

Inside the pack, the snake’s contortions made the bag bulge. Ji Yeonwoo sighed. Everything else in there was good, but the sea snake definitely was not.

“Ugh… can’t deal with this right now.”

Still, he was grateful. One minute earlier, he’d been staring down death. Now he was merely worrying about how to handle his scaly prisoner.

Had that mysterious alert not warned him about the snake, what would have happened? He’d probably have been bitten in the neck, drowning in this foreign rift sea.

Yet it was the first time he’d ever received a “message” like that—something with a mind of its own, referring to a “Watcher.”

Who’s been watching me?

‘Anyway… let’s get back to shore.’

He started swimming toward land with all possible haste. Each time the snake convulsed inside the bag, Ji Yeonwoo practically convulsed in fear as well. But somehow, he made it.

“Phew…”

The moment his feet touched solid ground, dizziness overcame him, and he collapsed on the beach, panting. Swimming all that way out and back was insane.

‘Next time I do this, I’ll prepare better…!’

Lying there, catching his breath, Ji Yeonwoo spotted something approaching out of the corner of his eye: Kim Kkokko, who had finally recovered from munching raw bamboo shoots earlier that morning.

“Cluck?”

From the look in those lash-fringed eyes, it seemed to ask, “What’d you bring?” So Ji Yeonwoo explained how he’d gathered some ingredients from the sea. He didn’t yet mention the sea snake inside.

He assumed it was a problem for later—until Kim Kkokko, excited by the promise of “transformed” goodies, tugged on the fastenings of the bag. Apparently, the bird already knew how to flip the buckle. Kim Kkokko swiftly opened the bag’s sealed opening.

“Hey! Don’t just open it like that—WHOA!”

Ji Yeonwoo recoiled in alarm, anticipating the worst. Kim Kkokko, not so much. It peered into the bag, eyes widening, then hopped back in a flash.

“Clo-ooork!”

With a dramatic jump, the bird dodged the sea snake’s strike. In the same motion, it slammed its talon onto the snake’s head, pinned it, and used its sharp beak to sever the creature’s neck in one swift stab.

Snap!

It happened so fast, Ji Yeonwoo could only stare.

“Cluck—OOORk!”

Kim Kkokko stood there, rattled. A sea snake wouldn’t threaten it much, but for a fragile “pseudo-monkey” like Ji Yeonwoo, a single bite could be lethal. For the bird, letting him die meant no more upgraded meals and slower evolution. So it had instantly executed the snake.

And so, the rift sea snake—a mostly docile creature that lived off small fish and random kelp scraps, rarely attacking unless provoked—met its end due to misfortune and misunderstanding. Had Ji Yeonwoo simply ignored it, it might have nibbled some kelp and gone on its way. But with no way of knowing that, Ji Yeonwoo had panicked, and well… that was that. Nature can be cruel.

—

Crackle—

That soccer-ball-sized clam barely fit inside the pot. Ji Yeonwoo had carefully rinsed out its sand beforehand. He’d filled one of his temporarily retired “magic wells” with seawater and left the clam in it, and it had spat out a handful of gritty sand. Now he was boiling the entire thing.

The water soon began to bubble. He sprinkled in some chopped green onion and a bit of flavored salt. He would have loved to add garlic, chilies, and ginger from his budding “garden,” but they weren’t grown enough to harvest.

He also added some pieces of the rift kelp he’d collected. Granted, that kelp now had a few suspicious little holes he hadn’t seen before, but it was still fine overall.

Given the clam’s massive size, it would probably take two hours to cook through. He was starving after all that time in the water, so while he waited, he began cleaning the sea urchins.

They were about the size of handballs, each with countless spines that seemed to wriggle in unison. Aside from being larger, they looked pretty much like Earth’s sea urchins, so he assumed the preparation would be the same: flip them over, pierce the mouth area with a knife, cut it away, then carefully split the shell in half. Drain the liquid, remove the organs around what’s commonly known as the urchin “roe,” and separate out the edible part.

Normally, a single sea urchin yields maybe five spoonfuls of roe, but these rift urchins were so large, a single one produced far more—maybe as much as what you’d get from over ten regular Earth urchins.

The color was intriguing.

“Is that… red?”

Earth urchin roe is typically white or deep yellow, but the flesh from these rift urchins had an almost reddish hue. After finishing the cleaning, Ji Yeonwoo placed it neatly on a stone plate, yielding about the same amount as you’d get from 20 normal urchins. He scooped up a bit with a spoon and tried it.

Nom…

“…!”

He loved sea urchin roe, finding it both pricey and delicious. He remembered a time back in a restaurant job when he’d sneaked leftover urchin pieces, got caught, and was forced to stand at attention for half an hour while the boss lectured him—now a mildly funny memory.

But with sea urchin roe, freshness is everything. Even if you pay top dollar, if storage or shipping is mismanaged, it tastes awful. People who say they hate sea urchin likely only tried a poor-quality batch. When it’s fresh, it shouldn’t be fishy at all. And these rift urchins were the richest, creamiest urchin roe he’d ever had. If it were served at a high-end omakase restaurant, they could probably charge 50,000 won for a single portion and still have takers.

Still, he couldn’t hog it all for himself.

“Kim Kkokko, want some?”

The bird shook its head swiftly.

It acted as though it was beneath its refined taste, then scurried over to eat something else: the bamboo-shoot sukhoe Ji Yeonwoo had prepared earlier. Of course, Kim Kkokko was initially reluctant to eat any raw shoot after the morning’s disastrous experience. But once assured it was boiled and safe, it tasted a bit, realized it was good, and now happily munched away.

“Clu—ck!”

The admiration in Kim Kkokko’s eyes was plain. This “pseudo-monkey” might be weak physically, but it could transform ingredients Kim Kkokko couldn’t eat into something not just edible, but delicious. The bird couldn’t help respecting him for it.

In truth, though, the reason Kim Kkokko had collapsed earlier wasn’t simply the bitterness of raw bamboo. It was something else:

—

– *This organism from outside the rift wasn’t processed.*

– *It acts like a poison.*

—

Yet Ji Yeonwoo remained clueless.

Otaku_Senpai

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