Leveling Up By Surviving Alone - L.U.B.S.A Chapter 22

 

—

 

**Kkok-kkoooook!**

 

As Ji Yeonwoo neared the shore, Kim Kkokko hopped around excitedly in greeting. Ji Yeonwoo waved back.

 

Just then, a series of messages appeared:

 

—

– **Combat Kelp** is about to die.

– **Combat Wakame** is about to die.

– Move them into your domain to save them.

—

 

“What? You mean I can save them?”

 

The alerts chimed again:

 

—

– **Combat Kelp** is about to die.

– **Combat Wakame** is about to die.

– Move them into your domain to save them.

—

 

“So if I move them inside the domain, they’ll survive?”

 

After mooring his boat, Ji Yeonwoo grabbed the Combat Kelp and Combat Wakame and headed into his domain. Since seaweed generally counted as plants, he tried planting them near “Combat Green Onion Squad Leader.” But they just drooped pitifully.

 

—

– **Combat Kelp** is about to die.

– **Combat Wakame** is about to die.

– Save the plants.

—

 

This time, the system didn’t say to bring them into the domain—probably because they were already inside.

 

“You said they’d live once they were in my domain, didn’t you?”

 

He paused. Was it really necessary to keep them alive if he’d pulled them up to eat in the first place?

 

*Huh…*

 

Scratching his head, Ji Yeonwoo decided to follow the prompt for now. The system might be unhelpful at times, but it never outright lied; doing what it suggested had never resulted in a net loss for him so far.

 

*But it sure loves to tell me to do things without explaining much.*

 

So he pondered. Bringing them inside the domain wasn’t enough, so where else could he try?

 

*Maybe back in the sea?*

 

But the sea itself lay outside the 50-meter radius of his domain. Then a new thought struck him:

 

*Is there a way to include the ocean in my territory?*

 

He switched perspectives. If **Domain Declaration** is tied to the tent as an object, what if he simply *moved* that object?

 

Carefully, he unpinned the tent and took a few steps. The giant, 100-meter-wide dome shifted with him.

 

*It works!*

 

He kept going, making sure not to exclude his original group of plants. Thankfully, he managed to position the domain so that it still encompassed all his crops, while also extending over a small stretch of the shoreline—far enough that some shallow water was now within his territory. The salty waves didn’t reach the tent itself, but the ocean’s edge was under the dome.

 

Once the tent was pinned down again, Ji Yeonwoo dashed back to the shore. Stepping into water now included in his domain—about 1.5 meters deep—he planted the kelp and wakame there.

 

—

– These are not ideal conditions for growth.

– They are inside your domain.

– They seem like they can somehow survive.

– They’ve barely managed to take root.

—

 

“Man, they’re so picky.”

 

In any case, he had successfully saved both of them. That alone made him smile. He’d originally taken the seaweed to eat, but after reviving them himself, he felt a new sort of attachment.

 

He didn’t urgently need kelp at the moment, and he’d brought plenty of wakame, which didn’t take up too much space. So he planted most of what he had and only kept a little for immediate consumption.

 

“Anyway, take good care of yourselves. You two can be my… hmm… *navy*!”

 

Now that things had turned out this way, he considered fetching more kelp or wakame to plant. If they grew right on his doorstep, he could harvest what he needed anytime.

 

Time to process the fish he’d caught. Ji Yeonwoo dragged the **Combat Bamboo Raft** partway onto land. Thanks to his increased Strength and Stamina from eating so many creatures, he could move the raft—even loaded with fish—pretty easily.

 

He’d hunted three Rock Bream, two Horse Mackerel, and one Scorpionfish. And last but not least, the “????” from earlier:

 

A giant flounder!

 

“Wow—a jumbo flounder!”

 

Ji Yeonwoo loved sashimi. He enjoyed many varieties of fish, but he especially liked flounder. Some people claim you don’t really appreciate sashimi if your favorite is flounder, but he disagreed. Its slightly sweet, firm white flesh was the quintessential taste of sashimi, and it was delicious precisely because it was so universal.

 

And don’t even get him started on the flounder’s fin meat…

 

“Ahh…!”

 

Just thinking about it made him giddy. So naturally, he planned to start by prepping the flounder.

 

“Buk-bu-gok!”

 

At that moment, Kim Kkokko came over to inspect the haul, studying each fish carefully. After a while, it gave a nod of approval and backed away. Remembering how it had raised a ruckus over the sea snake earlier, Ji Yeonwoo guessed that Kim Kkokko was confirming which fish were safe to eat.

 

“Thanks, as always, Kim Kkokko.”

 

He rubbed gently under Kim Kkokko’s beak.

 

**Scritch-scritch…**

 

He also tapped near its tail.

 

“Gok…?”

 

Kim Kkokko wore its usual grumpy expression whenever he did this, but it didn’t actually resist.

 

*If it really hated it, it would have backed off by now.*

 

Having indulged in his little whim, Ji Yeonwoo raised his hunting knife to prepare the jumbo flounder.

 

**Shhhhk.**

 

Sensing his intent, the blade changed shape. The 15-centimeter hunting knife extended to become a sleek, 25-centimeter sashimi knife, just like when he’d chopped vegetables earlier.

 

When cutting vegetables, it had been somewhat less convenient than a proper kitchen knife, since the blade was narrow and tapered to a fine point. But that “inconvenience” made it perfect now for slicing fish.

 

On top of that:

 

“It’s still got a pristine edge!”

 

Well, more accurately, the edge had *returned.* Before, he’d been using a flat rock as a cutting board, which definitely would have dulled the blade. But after changing forms, the “sashimi knife” showed no sign of damage. It was less like it had *healed* and more like it had *reverted* to the stored shape.

 

That meant the knife would never truly go dull. Even if it did, simply re-forming it would restore the blade.

 

“What an insanely good skill!”

 

Now, time to fillet the jumbo flounder. This fish was about a meter long and 40 centimeters across—definitely a monster flounder. Using a dull 15-centimeter hunting knife, it would have been nearly impossible to butcher properly.

 

“Couldn’t have come at a better time!”

 

**Slice, slice…**

 

He loved the feel of the blade. Flat fish like flounder require a different technique than other fish, but Ji Yeonwoo handled it expertly. It took less than three minutes to produce four massive fillets from the meter-long flounder.

 

He cut one fillet into sashimi. That alone made a colossal platter. But there was one more crucial part:

 

“This baby right here.”

 

The fin meat!

 

After trimming, he ended up with a full meter of fin meat. Two thick strips of it, each chunk thicker than his fingers.

 

He took half of one strip and plated it alongside the main sashimi. All that was left was wasabi and soy sauce.

 

“You have to start with the fin meat!”

 

He picked up a slice, dabbed on a little wasabi, dipped it in soy sauce, and placed it on his tongue.

 

**Nom~!**

 

“…!”

 

First came the gentle resistance as his teeth sank in. Then came the burst of savory goodness, and with each chew, a subtle sweetness spread. This was exactly what he loved about jumbo flounder fin meat.

 

Multiply that by three, and it felt like his taste buds were dancing a sizzling tango of pure ecstasy.

 

*It’s… so good…!*

 

He nearly shed a tear. If this were a manga or novel, there’d be lines like “DELICIOUS” flashing above his head, or his clothes ripping off in comedic exaggeration.

 

“Haah… I’m so happy. Happy… so happy…!”

 

He ate for quite some time. Flounder—especially **Rift Flounder**—was simply heavenly.

 

—

– You have consumed **Rift Flounder (E)** from the Monster Codex.

– As a perk, Strength has increased by 5.

—

 

He devoured an entire fillet in one sitting.

 

**Kkok…?**

 

Kim Kkokko’s eyes grew wide in real time, watching him move on to the second, third, and finally even the fourth fillet—eating them all.

 

*Bok…?*

 

Could this ape-like human’s stomach always hold that much?

 

Had Ji Yeonwoo heard that question, he might have answered, *“Good point!”* After all, until yesterday, he wouldn’t have been able to put away half of a ten-kilogram flounder at once. Even if his body could, he’d have lost his appetite from sheer repetition. No matter how tasty something is, eating it in such quantities usually makes you sick of it.

 

But Ji Yeonwoo didn’t stop. He even polished off half the rich, buttery fin meat. And that wasn’t enough—he filleted one Rock Bream, one Horse Mackerel, and one Scorpionfish and ate *all* of them as well.

 

Normally, by now he should have been sick of sashimi. Instead, he quivered with delight each time he took a bite, like a man who hadn’t tasted sashimi in a year.

 

—

– You have consumed **Rift Rock Bream (F)** from the Monster Encyclopedia.

– As a perk, Strength has increased by 3.

 

– You have consumed **Rift Horse Mackerel (F)** from the Monster Encyclopedia.

– As a perk, Stamina has increased by 3.

 

– You have consumed **Rift Scorpionfish (F)** from the Monster Encyclopedia.

– As a perk, Agility has increased by 3.

—

 

In one outing, he’d gained a total of 14 stat points—unthinkable back on Earth.

 

However, he didn’t gain any new skills. Perhaps slicing up raw fish wasn’t considered “cooking” by the system. If it had, he might have received a 150% satisfaction bonus or something along those lines. A real shame.

 

“What should I do with the rest of this…?”