Leveling Up By Surviving Alone - L.U.B.S.A Chapter 52

*Crash!*

As the kitchen knife transformed into Jawsbar, its immense weight crushed the creature.

The crack created by the kitchen knife widened further, and with the added weight of Jawsbar, the creature’s body split in half.

Unlike its dark red exterior, the inside was a sickly green. There were no bones, just a body and organs made of tough fibrous material. The green blood oozing out emitted a sour smell, as if to warn of its slight toxicity.

Only then did Ji Yeonwoo notice the text above its head:

*Seed of ????*

“What on earth is this…?”

Just as Ji Yeonwoo was pondering with a serious expression,

*Peep peep peep!*

Hanari finally rushed over and began attacking the dead creature.

The other chicks followed suit. The five chicks pounced on the dead seed, but stopped short in front of the green liquid oozing out and turned to Ji Yeonwoo.

“You guys really have no fear, huh?”

Even as he said that, he couldn’t help but chuckle at their cuteness.

At least they seemed to have properly processed their first experience of “fear,” which was a relief.

But this was just the beginning…

All around them, numerous “????” changed their names to “Seed of ????” and opened their mouths.

Exactly six of them.

Some were larger than basketballs, some the size of basketballs, and others the size of soccer balls.

They charged at Ji Yeonwoo and the five chicks.

A 6 vs. 6 battle.

Of course, except for Ji Yeonwoo, the others—

*Peep peep peep!*

—retreated behind Ji Yeonwoo and dug into the ground, burying their heads.

If Kim Kkokko were here, she would undoubtedly find their clumsy hiding utterly ridiculous.

A meaningless, even dangerous attempt at hiding.

But seeing this, Ji Yeonwoo felt a surge of energy, as if he had been buffed.

So cute!

“Your dad will handle this.”

*Whoosh!*

Ji Yeonwoo threw the kitchen knife at the closest creature.

The knife spun like an axe and lodged itself perfectly into the creature’s forehead.

Thanks to his perfect accuracy. He then transformed it into Jawsbar, and the same result as before occurred.

*Crash!*

A clean split!

However, the process of splitting the creature took a few seconds, and during those seconds, the remaining creatures reached Ji Yeonwoo, who was now unarmed.

If he retrieved Jawsbar now, he wouldn’t be able to split the creature, so he had to fight bare-handed.

But Ji Yeonwoo was quite confident in hand-to-hand combat.

Unlike before he was stranded in the rift,

his legs were now worth a million dollars.

Perhaps the smaller the creature, the faster it was?

The soccer ball-sized creature was the first to reach him.

Ji Yeonwoo stepped forward and kicked it just as it hit the ground.

A perfect soccer kick.

And he added Rapid Swimming to the mix.

*Rapid Swimming (D)*

*Crash!*

The round creature crumpled under Ji Yeonwoo’s kick and flew backward, landing right into the mouth of a basketball-sized creature. *Swoosh!* The back of the creature’s head split open, and the soccer ball was halfway out.

Three left.

The three creatures surrounded Ji Yeonwoo, positioning themselves at three points and charging almost simultaneously.

“Almost” simultaneous means not truly simultaneous.

If they had attacked at the exact same time, Ji Yeonwoo could have dodged, but the slight delay made it hard to find an opening.

Just as his brain recognized the situation as critical,

his highest stat, agility, shone.

The fast-approaching creatures seemed to slow down. It wasn’t that they had slowed, but Ji Yeonwoo’s perception had accelerated.

He had entered what was known as the “Acceleration Zone,” a state more likely to occur for those with high agility.

‘Lucky.’

This didn’t happen often, but when it did, staying calm and moving skillfully was the training required for agility-focused awakeners.

Ji Yeonwoo was one such awakener, and in the slowed movements, he found several escape routes.

Among them, he chose one that allowed for a counterattack.

*Whoosh!*

The creatures missed Ji Yeonwoo,

looked confused,

and then the massive Jawsbar came crashing down on two of their heads.

*Crash!*

Now only one remained.

The last one bounced away from Ji Yeonwoo.

The direction it was heading was perfect—straight toward the five chicks, who were “perfectly” hiding.

The five chicks, unaware, continued their “perfect” hiding.

Ji Yeonwoo wasn’t worried. He didn’t even chase.

Because Kim Kkokko was already behind the five chicks.

*Whoosh—Crash!*

The seed, hit by Kim Kkokko’s energy blast, embedded itself into the cliff.

A massive wing mark, about 2 meters wide, was left on the cliff, with the crushed seed in the middle.

“Wow… you’ve gotten this strong?”

Before, her energy blasts only left marks about 30 centimeters wide, but Kim Kkokko’s power had grown significantly.

All thanks to Ji Yeonwoo feeding her well.

“I’m proud. You’ve really gotten stronger, huh?”

……

Normally, Kim Kkokko would have boasted upon hearing such praise.

But not this time.

Instead, her eyes gleamed with killing intent.

Kim Kkokko’s wing pointed in one direction.

Toward the cliff.

*Kkok.*

Ji Yeonwoo could understand the meaning behind Kim Kkokko’s serious cry.

“There’s something up there, right?”

*Kkok.*

“And it’s incredibly dangerous, isn’t it?”

*Kkok!*

Kim Kkokko’s cry was filled with certainty.

It was as if she knew what was up there—the owner of the Seed of ????.

“…Really?”

Ji Yeonwoo’s gaze turned to the cliff.

The impossibly high cliff, obscured by clouds halfway up.

What on earth could be up there?

“I guess I’ll have to climb it, huh?”

*Gulp.*

He swallowed hard.

The exploration of the cliff, which he had been avoiding under the pretext of exploring the sea.

Now that he faced a real threat,

he could no longer delay.

—

  *

—

*Crackle!*

The fire pit roared.

The blazing flames.

Ji Yeonwoo placed something on the fire.

“This is food, right?”

It wasn’t.

*Sizzle!*

It made a sizzling sound, and smoke and smell rose from it, but anyone could tell this wasn’t food.

After all, burning trash also produces smoke and smell.

Except the smoke is black, and the smell is foul.

What Ji Yeonwoo was roasting now also emitted a similar stench. Normally, whenever Ji Yeonwoo cooked something, Kim Kkokko and the five chicks would gather around, their eyes sparkling. But this time, they stayed as far away as possible, covering their noses.

*Peep peep!*

That was proof of how trash-like the smell was.

Could it share some characteristics with the “king of fruits,” the durian?

“Ugh…”

Ji Yeonwoo shook his head as he looked at the piece of rag he was holding.

There was no way this could taste good.

—

– The Watcher logs in.

– The Watcher asks what he’s eating and demands a share.

– He says he’s hungry.

*Kkok!*

At that, Kim Kkokko jumped. As if to say, “This isn’t edible.”

—

– The Watcher scolds Kim Kkokko for being greedy.

– He pleads for a share, acting cute.

“No, big brother, don’t act cute… You really shouldn’t eat this…”

—

– Then why are you trying to eat it? He asks.

“Well…”

This couldn’t possibly taste good.

The smell, the expected texture, and above all, the visual of something that looked like a rag soaked in sewage made it clear this was garbage.

But despite that, Ji Yeonwoo had only one reason for trying to eat it.

“Maybe something will come out of it…?”

Stats, skills, or something.

So far, whenever he caught and ate something, he gained something, so Ji Yeonwoo was doing the same now.

—

– The Watcher asks what the heck this thing is.

“It’s some kind of seed… It suddenly opened its mouth and charged at me… Um, I’ll explain later!”

As they say, good medicine tastes bitter!

Ji Yeonwoo opened his mouth and chewed the rag.

“Ugh…”

He felt like throwing up.

He had tasted something he never wanted to know.

—

– The system message indicates that this object is not edible.

“…Could you have said that sooner?”

Of course, there was no response.

.

.

.

Ji Yeonwoo, without hesitation, picked up the roasted rag and headed toward the cliff.

The mysterious carnivorous seeds he had defeated.

He set them on fire.

At first, they didn’t burn well due to their moisture, but as time passed, they began to burn fiercely.

The acrid smoke rising from them was even green.

The smoke rose into the sky.

At its end was the cliff, so high that even the clouds couldn’t surpass it.

The carnivorous seeds that had fallen from there were of no help whatsoever.

“Is this the last of them?”

No way.

This was just the beginning.

Ji Yeonwoo felt the same way he had when the bull shark fought him and then fled.

This…

“If I don’t deal with this now, it’s going to get worse, isn’t it?”

*Kkok.*

Kim Kkokko nodded firmly.

She agreed with Ji Yeonwoo.

But the Watcher was different.

—

– The Watcher says it’s too dangerous and that trying to handle it now seems premature.

The Watcher had also heard the situation.

But unlike Kim Kkokko, the Watcher was worried about his younger brother in this dangerous place.

And it wasn’t entirely wrong to suggest more preparation.

Climbing a cliff with no end in sight was no small feat.

The problem was, there was nothing to prepare.

Not because preparation wasn’t easy, but because he literally knew nothing, so there was nothing to prepare.

Ji Yeonwoo had no knowledge of rock climbing.

All he had was his own body.

So, in fact,

“Wouldn’t it be the same even if I prepared? I’ll just pack some sturdy food in my backpack and climb.”

—

– Don’t you need climbing gear? He asks.

“Ah… why are you suddenly like this?”

Ji Yeonwoo dug his fingers into the cliff wall.

At first, they didn’t penetrate, but with a bit more force, they sank in with a crunching sound.