Leveling Up By Surviving Alone - L.U.B.S.A Chapter 45

– “Yeonwoo, look. Who said goldfish have a 3-second memory? They recognize the person who feeds them and even make eye contact with me! These little guys! Aren’t they cute? Aren’t they?”

– “Wow! These guys!!”

Ji Yeonwoo changed *Jawsbar* into a sashimi knife and cut large chunks of flesh from the Giant Rift Sea Bream and the Rift Scorpionfish, throwing them into the sea.

“These guys~”

Splash, splash, splash, splash!

The fry swarmed toward the food, creating a spray of water.

“Hahaha. Like piranhas.”

He felt a warm nostalgia thinking about his father’s small, precious fish tank.

His father must have felt this way too, right?

But he couldn’t maintain that warm smile for long.

A 50cm rockfish had slipped in among the fry and started causing trouble.

It was a fully grown rockfish that had come from the kelp forest to feast in his terrarium, where milk and honey flowed.

Ji Yeonwoo immediately changed *Jawsbar* into a cleaver and threw it.

Swish~

The square cleaver spun like an axe and cleanly bisected the rockfish.

More food.

The fry swarmed the rockfish, which had died without understanding why. This was the everyday life of the small marine society Ji Yeonwoo had created.

Just as his father had watched his fish tank, Ji Yeonwoo observed this daily life.

It was a kind of healing.

But something had been off for the past few days.

“Why are these guys starting to glow?”

He had noticed it last night.

Like fireflies, the sea in front of him had begun to glow in various colors.

It wasn’t the reflection of sunlight.

Do fry normally do this?

It seems like a disadvantage for survival…?

It was something he couldn’t understand, and he couldn’t find an answer right away. The only thing he knew was that now, when night fell, the sea began to emit a dazzling array of colors alongside the rising stars.

“Tonight will be spectacular too, right?”

With that, Ji Yeonwoo arrived on shore.

But something was strange.

He didn’t hear a familiar sound.

He should’ve heard the thud thud thud of Kim Kkokko demanding food, but it was silent.

“Kkokko! I…”

– The Watcher says she just fell asleep and tells him not to wake her.

“Ah… sleeping? She’s been sleeping a lot lately.”

At first, Kim Kkokko didn’t sleep and guarded his tent.

But after laying eggs, her appetite increased, and now she dozes off like this.

It seemed that brooding eggs required a tremendous amount of energy.

With that, Ji Yeonwoo prepared the Giant Rift Sea Bream and the Rift Scorpionfish, which, though smaller, was still quite large.

They were too big to handle with a 30cm sashimi knife, but he could manage by gutting them and cutting them into chunks, just like he had done with the bull shark.

‘I need a bigger knife.’

He had never butchered a tuna, but he had seen it done.

The image of the long, slender sword used to butcher giant tuna lingered in his mind.

If he had that, he could butcher these creatures just like a giant tuna…

– Your desire has been reflected.

“Yeah, reflect all you want. You won’t grant it anyway.”

In any case, he didn’t forget to take a big bite while preparing them.

– You have consumed the Giant Rift Sea Bream (C+) from the Monster Encyclopedia.

– As a bonus, your strength has increased by 7.

– You have consumed the Rift Scorpionfish (C+) from the Monster Encyclopedia.

– As a bonus, your stamina has increased by 7.

The Giant Rift Sea Bream was more delicious than the regular Rift Sea Bream, and the white flesh of the Rift Scorpionfish, which he was trying for the first time, had an artistic sweetness.

And the stat boosts were just as sweet.

He was already curious about what skills he would gain from cooking these.

But Ji Yeonwoo couldn’t cook right away.

Whoooosh!

“Whoa!”

Light began to emanate from somewhere.

A vivid rainbow-colored light, even in broad daylight!

The source of the light was,

none other than Kim Kkokko.

No, it was under Kim Kkokko’s belly.

Kim Kkokko’s eggs,

were beginning to hatch.

  *

Kkokko…!

Kim Kkokko, who had been dozing off, opened her eyes around the time the sun reached its zenith.

Grrrrowl~

She was hungry as soon as she woke up.

Even though she had eaten so much before sleeping, she was hungry upon waking.

The eggs were warm, almost hot.

Even to Kim Kkokko.

Thinking about the energy she was using to generate this heat made her feel like her insides were bursting.

Eating unnecessary food, the impurities building up in her body… recently forcing Ji Yeonwoo to feed her more, her growing irritation, and even her guilt—it was all because of these eggs she was brooding.

The conflicting desires to break the eggs immediately and, at the same time, to keep providing them with warmth battled within her. She needed to grow stronger, to evolve, but she was held back by her own actions. It was infuriating.

Grrrrowl….

Anyway, she was hungry.

Even if she weren’t, she felt uneasy without Ji Yeonwoo.

Lately, Kim Kkokko had become increasingly reliant on Ji Yeonwoo, so being alone made her anxious.

Then she felt someone’s gaze.

A warm, comforting gaze.

A mysterious being without a body but with a consciousness.

It was the Watcher’s gaze.

– The Watcher says he went hunting and will be back soon, so wait a little.

Of course, Kim Kkokko couldn’t hear the Watcher.

But she could feel the message through the gaze.

Ji Yeonwoo had gone hunting and would be back soon, so she should hold on a little longer.

That telepathy reassured Kim Kkokko, and in the absence of food, she dozed off again.

And then, at some point,

Whoooosh!

Kkokko…?

When Kim Kkokko opened her eyes, she saw the five eggs under her belly glowing.

Splash!

Kim Kkokko quickly backed away.

A long time ago, when Kim Kkokko had laid eggs, this phenomenon hadn’t occurred.

Light?

This was the first time something like this had happened in the ancient bird’s lineage.

Kim Kkokko carefully examined the eggs.

The ancient bird’s eyes penetrated the glowing eggs, seeing the contents inside.

Wriggling figures. The energy thieves she despised so much were no bigger than Ji Yeonwoo’s fist.

The creatures inside the eggs suddenly looked up at the sky—or rather, the ceiling of their eggs.

Soon, they began gathering all their energy into their beaks. It was as if the five of them had coordinated their actions.

The light emanating now was also coming from the thieves’ beaks.

She knew what they were trying to do.

Just as she had done when she first hatched long ago,

they were trying to break the egg from the inside.

Sure enough, as if they had agreed, they began pecking at the shell with their beaks.

And in just one attempt.

Crack!

Crack!

The eggshell split in half and fell to the side.

The thieves were revealed.

Kim Kkokko’s expression twisted.

They looked similar to how she had looked as a chick, but there was something distinctly different.

The conical protrusions on their foreheads!

The potential she had only achieved after meeting Ji Yeonwoo, these thieves were born with it.

Kim Kkokko couldn’t possibly look kindly upon these thieves, born from her stolen energy and already possessing the evolutionary stage she had worked so hard to achieve.

Peep!

Peep!

Peep!!

The newly hatched thieves, as if of one mind, looked around.

They seemed to be trying to understand the world.

At the end of their gaze, unfortunately, was Kim Kkokko.

Her belly, chest, neck, and finally her eyes—five pairs of gazes fixed on her.

Her instincts screamed at her to accept their gaze.

To feed them, raise them, and protect them until they surpassed her.

Kkokko-daehaek!

No. She didn’t want to lose to her instincts anymore.

Perhaps because all the eggs had hatched? She felt like she could resist those instincts now.

So she did.

She sharply turned her head away.

Peep…?

The chicks tilted their heads.

They had just been born, but this wasn’t right…? That thought was followed by a wave of unease.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak…!

Kkokko…!

She couldn’t let her heart soften at that sound.

She had no intention of raising these creatures, who had the potential to surpass her, with her own hands.

“Kkokko! What’s wrong? They’re looking at you…?”

Then, Ji Yeonwoo’s voice followed.

A voice tinged with disappointment.

She felt like if she didn’t turn her head now, Ji Yeonwoo would resent her.

She didn’t want that.

Kkokko… Kkokko…!

Just as her heart was about to soften,

the five thieves slowly turned their heads.

At the end of their gaze,

“Huh…?”

Was Ji Yeonwoo, with a blank expression.

  *

“W-what is this?”

Ji Yeonwoo was flustered.

There was a flash of light, and Kim Kkokko backed away.

Ji Yeonwoo had rushed over, hoping to witness the touching moment of the eggs hatching.

Thanks to that, he saw the eggs crack, the chicks emerge, and even the first eye contact between parent and child.

It was truly fortunate.

And naturally, he began to expect it.

Soon, the beautiful first eye contact between mother and child would happen, right?

But Kim Kkokko turned her head, refusing to meet the chicks’ gaze.

Just as he was about to ask why,

the chicks turned their heads toward the sound,

and their eyes met Ji Yeonwoo’s instead.

“Uh… uh?”

He was flustered.

Really, really flustered.

Shouldn’t this be wrong? The thought crossed his mind.

But his body didn’t move. It was already too late.

Ji Yeonwoo had already made eye contact with the chicks,

and the moment their black, pearl-like eyes sparkled,

Peep!

Peep, peep!

Peep!

The chicks scurried over to Ji Yeonwoo, gathering around his knees and rubbing against him.

“Uh… uh? Why are they looking at me?”