Chapter 27: Third Research: Black Tentacles (4)

This is the Abandoned City of an Alien Civilization.

It feels like the ghosts of this already crumbling ruin are watching my every move. I stood before the gate of the dead city, and Monsters were closing in all around me.

I leaned my back against the wall and checked the situation.

Since it’s narrow here, wouldn’t it be hard for the Tentacle Dragon to move around? No, it might be able to squeeze in like an octopus. There are some wider areas, after all.

I swapped out the rifle’s magazine.

The Monster’s bizarre cries. Not just one or two—there were many.

“They’re coming again… Don’t they ever get tired of this.”

I can’t even think of a sound to compare it to.

It’s such an alien noise, I doubt any language could truly represent it.

I let out a sigh.

“Honey Combo. Maximum alert.”

The Chick Monster lifted its head and looked around.

Has it finally learned to understand human speech?

From far away, somewhere in the temple, I could hear the Monster’s calls.

I ducked behind a pillar and tried to reassess the situation. Just how many Monsters are there?

“How about we just run for it?”

I glanced at Honey Combo.

The Chick nodded, as if it understood.

Just thinking about fighting that Tentacle Dragon in this cramped, dark place where it wouldn’t be easy to catch… It was unpleasant.

Let’s just get out. It’d be better to bring the Hunter Association President or another Hunter to attack together. If that’s not possible, even the Military Unit would do.

“Oh, right.”

I reached out and touched the structure that looked like the city’s gate. Suddenly, magic began to swirl around me.

Traces left behind by the ancient owners of this city.

I used the Seekers’ Trait Activation on the structure that seemed to be the entrance to the Ruins. As expected, the exploration points increased immediately.

“Gotta grab what I can.”

[You have discovered the City of Black Ale.]

[Exploration points +20.]

[200/200 to reach Enlightenment Stage 2.]

[You have reached Enlightenment Stage 2.]

I leaned against the gate and checked the Status Window.

[With the advancement in the Enlightenment Stage, level increased by 10.]

[With the advancement in the Enlightenment Stage, the Summoner Trait has been strengthened. The maximum number of summons at once has increased to three.]

[With the advancement in the Enlightenment Stage, the Seeker Trait has been strengthened. You can now view more detailed information.]

[With the advancement in the Enlightenment Stage, you have obtained ‘Telekinesis.’ You can now move objects with magic.]

I let out a sigh of relief.

At least I had managed to explore the third Gate, raise my Enlightenment Stage, and gain a new ability.

“This is a decent haul.”

I pulled a signal device out of my bag, wrapped it with tape, and stuck it to the gate. That would make it much easier to find next time.

“Honey Combo, should we pull out?”

“Peep.”

I took Honey Combo and exited the Gate.

Since I’d already been here once, getting back out wasn’t difficult. I just had to retrace my steps.

As I stepped outside the Gate—

A blinding light filled my vision to the point of pain. I raised my hand to shield my eyes. The Military Unit must have already set up.

“Looks like no Monsters appeared while I was inside the Gate.”

I looked around again.

There was an enormous crowd waiting outside the Gate. Dr. Ryoo, Dr. Kang’s Research Team, the American Military, and even a Daejeon Police SWAT team sent from the city.

It made me feel a bit hollow.

Whether there were a hundred of these people or a thousand, it wouldn’t really matter.

Without a solution, specialized equipment, and training, they’d just end up increasing casualties for nothing.

In the end, they need a Hunter.

Or overwhelming science and technology.

As I pondered, soldiers in Fireproof Suits approached and sprayed disinfectant all over me the moment I emerged from the Gate.

As I shook the chemicals and moisture off my Fireproof Suit, Dr. Kang walked over, holding an Ice Gun in his hand.

“How did it go?”

“The other side is like a terrible Monster-infested forest. I took pictures; let’s review them at the Research Institute.”

“By the way. How did you know? You figured the Gate would open in Daejeon, positioned the military near the building where the Gate would appear, and even had equipment ready for dealing with Black Slime—it all fits together too perfectly, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it really worked out.”

I answered nonchalantly.

I had no intention of explaining Return to anyone else. There was nothing to gain by telling that story.

“Was it really just luck?”

“Yes.”

“You’re really fortunate…”

Even behind the Gas Mask, I could sense Dr. Kang’s skepticism.

But he had no choice but to believe me. I had no reason to explain.

“I just got word—the Hunter Association is forming a team of chosen Hunters to enter the third Gate.”

“Understood.”

Everything was going according to plan.

Explore the world beyond the Gate, search the Ruins for Artifacts, extract Magic Stones from Monsters, and check if there are any useful Natural Resources.

But for now, the top priority is to dissect and study the Tentacle Dragon’s corpse.

It’s such a dangerous Monster, I wanted to find countermeasures as soon as possible.

“I can’t go through hell every single time.”

With my mind made up, I began preparations immediately.

A perfect Fireproof Suit, Ice Gun in hand.

I was tired, but you can sleep plenty when you’re dead.

Right now, I had to organize the site.

“Let’s disinfect the building one last time, then head back.”

***

“What exactly happened here?”

Dr. Ryoo stopped in front of the Tentacle Dragon’s corpse.

Black Slime was already growing from the blood stains, and someone had attached warning tape around it.

“Looks like the American Military secured the site.”

Given its research value, it was a smart move.

Dr. Ryoo approached and started taking photos of the Monster corpse.

“It’s a Silver Tentacle Dragon. Even after shooting it for ages, it wouldn’t die, so I lured it onto a Claymore and took care of it.”

“Ah, so that’s why it’s in pieces like this.”

It hadn’t been long, but a large amount of Black Slime was already spreading around the Monster’s corpse.

No wonder I had such a hellish time with this Gate before Return. This stuff spreads exactly like a Plague…

I pulled the trigger of the Ice Gun and froze the Black Slime right at the source.

Frost spread across the ground.

“We’ll clean up as much of the slime as possible and take the main body to the Research Institute. We need to extract the Magic Stone from the Monster corpse, too.”

“Dr. Lee, what do you think this is?”

“Well, since it grows from the Tentacle Dragon’s bodily fluids, the key question is whether it’s a separate organism or part of the main body.”

I tried to recall what I knew.

There had been various theories about the Tentacle Dragon’s physiological traits. What would be a good analogy?

“Do you know what a Portuguese Man O’ War is?”

“Jellyfish?”

“It looks like a jellyfish, but it’s a peculiar lifeform—a colonial organism where hundreds or thousands of individual polyps gather to form what looks like a single animal.”

“So you think the Tentacle Dragon might also be a collective made up of small polyps?”

Dr. Ryoo stared at a Sample Vial. Inside was one of the Tentacle Dragon’s eyeballs.

“This fluid, which appears to be the Tentacle Dragon’s blood, might not actually be blood but a mass of polyps or symbiotic organisms. Once spilled, it grows independently, like a plant or fungus.”

Dr. Ryoo shook his head.

“But the colonial organism theory seems off. The Tentacle Dragon has multiple eyes and wings—that kind of coordinated activity must require incredibly fine-tuned control, right?”

“Flying is magic.”

As absurd as it sounds, it’s the truth.

Given the Tentacle Dragon’s mass and wing size, it could never fly through normal means.

Just like a light plane can’t take off just by flapping its wings—this thing flies by magic.

“I mean, we follow all the rules of physics, but Monsters just break them left and right.”

“Let’s finish up and get going. This is our top priority.”

Exactly. I sighed and got back to work.

Dr. Ryoo eventually followed along. The sooner we cleaned this up, the sooner we could research and return to the Gate for more exploration.

***

Two Tentacle Dragon corpses were recovered from the Daejeon Gate.

The blindingly white fluorescent lights of the Heo Boo Room illuminated the Monster’s body. I checked the Gas Mask strapped to my face.

This is the Heo Boo Room of the Supernatural Science Research Institute.

Day 14 of the Gate Incident.

“Subject for dissection: temporary designation, Tentacle Dragon. Specimen No. 12 of Gate No. 3. Lead researcher: Lee Han.”

“Confirmed.”

“Beginning dissection now.”

My fellow researchers nodded solemnly.

The subject was a Monster from Gate No. 4.

Maybe it was Paralysis, but the Monster’s terrible tentacles were still twitching.

The eyeballs scattered across the Monster’s body seemed to stare at me.

“There’s a risk of Monster regeneration. First, let’s detach the experimental subject’s head.”

“Yes.”

“Dissecting a shark during grad school comes to mind. That was a weird project.”

“Do grad students dissect sharks these days?”

There’s nothing grad students don’t do.

If it’s for research, we do it.

Dr. Ryoo poked one of the Monster’s twitching eyes with his finger, and it immediately recoiled.

The nerves were still alive.

I hesitated for a moment.

With a Muscle Conductivity Test, I could check how much life was left in the muscles, and how autonomous the eyeballs were.

“These are avian-shaped eyes. In vertebrates, the eyes are connected to the brain by a short nerve directly. But with so many eyes, how does this thing process all that information? Wouldn’t it take too long for all that visual data to reach the brain?”

Makes sense.

Since nerves transmit information slowly, it’d take quite some time for the signals from the eyes on the torso to reach the brain.

Human brains process central and peripheral vision differently, so by that logic—

This Monster probably processes information from the main eyes on its head separately from the eyes attached to its tentacles and torso—

[You have dissected a Tentacle Dragon.]

[Exploration points +20.]

[20/300 to reach Enlightenment Stage 3.]

I shook my head. The System Window, considerations about Monster physiology—everything was interesting, but…

“I suspect there’s a separate nerve ganglion for information processing outside the brain, located in areas where the eyes are densely packed.”

“Ohh, as expected of Dr. Lee.”

“Dr. Ryoo. Can you help me with the sawing?”

We quickly severed the Monster’s head. The Tentacle Dragon was a creature of a form unknown in our world.

Once we open it up, we’re sure to find something.

Or maybe it was just my imagination, but dozens of lifeless eyes of the dead Tentacle Dragon seemed to stare at me.

“Let’s hurry and finish the dissection.”