Leveling Up By Surviving Alone - L.U.B.S.A Chapter 78

Upon returning to camp, Ji Yeonwoo dug up the sprouting bamboo shoots and transformed them into Mana Bamboo Shoots. Usually, he made about 10, but this time he prepared a full 30.

One ancient bird was drooling as it gazed at the vigorously bubbling Mana Bamboo Shoots—none other than Kim Kkokko.

Kkokkokko….

The tip of Kim Kkokko’s wing moved like a hand.

It was an unconscious action.

But thwack! Something struck the ancient bird’s wing.

Only one individual could commit such an impudent act.

“Kkokko! Didn’t I give you yours earlier? This needs to be brewed into a tonic!”

Kkokkok…!

Kim Kkokko sulked.

Although Kim Kkokko had already consumed her daily share of Mana Bamboo Shoots, seeing them spread out before her, how could she resist? Temptation arises from sight, after all. There’s a limit to patience. For three days now, Ji Yeonwoo had been neglecting her, claiming he was making some tonic, and Kim Kkokko found him unbearably unfair.

However, seeing Ji Yeonwoo sweating profusely, engrossed in his task, such feelings melted away like snow.

It wasn’t her turn right now, but she knew that if she were sick, the stubbornly persistent monkey would perform the appropriate healing acts just as diligently.

But Ji Yeonwoo wouldn’t be able to give this tonic to the Great King Root Octopus.

More accurately, there was no need to.

Chwaaaaaaaak!

Light burst forth from beyond the clouds.

A luminescent glow, like that of a Dokkaebi.

It emanated precisely from the cliff where the Great King Root Octopus was coiled.

*

Having inherited everything from the First Root Octopus, the Great King Root Octopus immediately fell asleep.

And it dreamed.

The current Great King Root Octopus was reading the memories of the deceased First Root Octopus.

In the dream, it saw the sea. There, everything was larger and superior to itself. Constantly looking around, anxious and uncertain when death might come. The instinct for survival drove it powerfully, allowing it to barely scrape by.

The Root Octopus hadn’t always been a Root Octopus.

Initially, it must have been a different kind of octopus. This was evident from the fact that the intermittently visible root tendrils didn’t look like roots, but like the appendages of a creature—tentacles.

A small lifeform. An octopus without a name wanted to survive.

That instinct, engraved in its brain, allowed it to learn a skill.

It was Assimilation, a secret technique to envelop another being and make it its own. Despite this, it couldn’t survive in the sea.

Drifting along, it reached the shore, then a cliff. A fugitive from the vast ocean. Before the fugitive lay a cliff, and it seemed destined to die climbing even that.

That was certain until it found a single root and Assimilated with it, starting its second life.

From that moment, the Octopus became the First Root Octopus.

Assimilation with a plant. Things gained. Things that had to be given up. Devolution, evolution… growing in size, bearing seeds instead of eggs.

But the world beyond the cliff was no less harsh than the sea.

The Root Octopus felt enraged by its weakness and the uncertainty of its survival.

If it couldn’t fight and survive among its surroundings, it would bide its time.

The plant it had Assimilated with, now inseparable, possessed quite a useful talent in that regard.

Secretly absorb nutrients, secretly produce seeds, and when the time comes, sprout.

Recently, the giant beings that used to patrol the area had vanished as if dead.

This was the golden opportunity it had awaited for over a thousand years.

Therefore….

Sow the seeds! Let them grow and Assimilate with me! Become a single colony, then merge into one again! Stain this place with my traces! Turn it into the roots of the Root Octopus!

With the First Root Octopus’s final resolve, the surroundings darkened. The enormous eye of the First Root Octopus stared intently at the current one. A slit appeared in the middle of the eye, opening like a mouth, moving to swallow it whole.

If swallowed by this, could it resist?

The irresistible residual consciousness of the First tightened its grip on the Great King Root Octopus’s body.

Do not absorb the seeds. Instead, produce even more seeds! Use all the nutrients you just received solely for seed production, scatter them in thousands of places, awaken them, and build a kingdom with tens of thousands of children! If not, I will surely kill you! I am dying anyway. So, I will take you with me!

…!

The Great King Root Octopus wavered.

Even though it had usurped the mind, the First Root Octopus’s consciousness, deeply ingrained in the body, was a force the Great King Root Octopus could not underestimate. It couldn’t become the First Root Octopus again, but it could inject its desires into the Great King Root Octopus. If injection failed, it could trigger a rejection response, causing detachment and death.

Or else,

I will kill you!

That was definitely not a lie.

It would die.

And the Great King Root Octopus did not want to die. It couldn’t bear it.

Just as it felt it had to comply naturally, like water flowing downwards, someone woke it from its sleep.

A square eye opened.

There stood a pseudo-monkey with a small, cute face.

The pseudo-monkey.

The benefactor who came to kill it but ended up saving it.

The being it had no choice but to serve as Master.

Such a being was looking at it with concern.

“Despite saying you’re glad to see me, you look incredibly tired, buddy.”

“What’s there to be sorry about? I’m the one who’s sorry for waking you when you’re low on energy. But there’s a reason for it, right here.”

“It’s good for the body, but bitter to the taste.”

Saying that, it poured something onto its root.

At first, it wondered what this was.

The root it touched felt scorching hot, as if burned.

It hated it.

As it seeped in, it heard a scream.

But it wasn’t its own scream.

Something else within it was screaming.

…!

Although it originated from the most inferior tendril among the four split from a single strand, the Great King Root Octopus was no fool. It immediately understood the effect this tonic was having.

Tastes bad… unpleasant….

But… dislike it… it’s needed…!

After that, the Great King Root Octopus continued to dream.

The only difference was that it could now resist the previously insurmountable First Root Octopus.

During the second dose of tonic, it didn’t just flee; it fought back.

After consuming the third tonic and falling asleep, it even began chasing the fleeing residual consciousness of the First Root Octopus.

The First Root Octopus desperately tried to wake the Great King Root Octopus from its sleep.

When it had been dominant, it had forcibly kept the awakening Great King asleep, but now things were completely different. The situation had reversed.

Realizing this, the Great King Root Octopus gathered its strength and grasped the First Root Octopus’s square eye. The consciousness that had seemed so immense now appeared incredibly small.

What… change is this… Gack…!

Master… fed me.

What… did he feed you…!

Something good.

Something incredibly good…!

The Great King Root Octopus’s mouth opened, and it swallowed the First Root Octopus’s residual consciousness.

Crunch. Crunch. Cruunch.

The sound of crunching gristle mingled with screams, then silence fell.

Thus, the residual consciousness within the Great King Root Octopus completely vanished.

The result of fully digesting the seeds within its body was about to begin.

*

Chwaaaaaaaak!

Light burst forth. It was green. Ji Yeonwoo couldn’t tell if this light signified something positive or negative. All he could do was climb the cliff.

This time, Kim Kkokko was with him.

Uncertain whether the light meant good or bad, she couldn’t let Ji Yeonwoo go alone.

Pak pak pak pak! Her chicken feet easily dug into the cliff face as she ascended.

Soon, the clouds parted, revealing the source of the luminescent light.

“Woah…”

Kkokko…!

Ji Yeonwoo and Kim Kkokko couldn’t help but gasp in awe.

Like a phosphorescent object glowing at night after absorbing sufficient sunlight, the Root Octopus’s tendrils were softly radiating a luminous green light.

They approached it. A tendril, the one that greeted him daily, came towards Ji Yeonwoo and smiled warmly.

What was different from before was that its body now emitted its own light.

And its form was larger than yesterday.

Master… of the mother body!

Thus, Ji Yeonwoo and Kim Kkokko rode the luminescent root tendril up its back and headed towards the lotus-shaped interior of the Great King Root Octopus.

The fully opened lotus petals glowed with luminescent light. The powder they seemed to release resembled fireflies. The moment they landed inside, a square eye opened.

The square pupil within the square eyelid glistened with a luminous glow.

Truly… reborn.

Master… otherwise… eaten… by the First….

Gratitude… True gratitude…!

Perhaps because it was the language of plants?

Ji Yeonwoo couldn’t understand a word the creature was saying.

But he could feel its sincerity all too well. The luminescent light pouring from its wide-open square eye was shining so brightly.

“I was making this, but you don’t need it anymore?”

Not… needed.

Use… for better things…

“Okay, fair enough.”

In fact, while diligently brewing the tonic for the Root Octopus, Ji Yeonwoo had realized something.

He could give this tonic to the other members of the Plant Legion as well.

If he had shown such devotion earlier, the budding flowers might have already bloomed.

“Yeah, buddy. I should’ve been taking care of your seniors in the Plant Legion, but I used it all on you. Since you were sick and all.”

And he felt sorry.

He didn’t voice the last part.

Although he hadn’t known they would form such a bond, he had ignored the creature as it was dying, even roasting and eating its ‘sweet potatoes’—its very flesh and blood—right in front of it. The guilt was immense.

But the Great King Root Octopus wasn’t thinking about any of that.

It was only grateful to Ji Yeonwoo for giving it such a great potential.

Wasn’t it because of him that it could bloom so vibrantly and emit its own light?

In contrast, what about Ji Yeonwoo’s body?

The Great King Root Octopus looked at the shell Ji Yeonwoo was wearing.

The arm sections were shredded like rags by shark teeth, and the greave parts were badly dented from attacks by root tendrils. The shell exposed to the seeds projected by the First Root Octopus was still covered in bite marks. The Great King Root Octopus’s eye quivered as it looked at Ji Yeonwoo’s battered shell and the exposed flesh beneath.

Master… gift… gave to me….

I too… gift… give to Master…!

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