Chapter 26: Tower of Lethe (4)  

<Gigasnail>  

– Danger Level: A  

– Discovery Location: Sincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul Special City ‘Stairway of Sighs’  

A oil dragon that devours everything in its path with an appetite matching its gigantic body.  

Its smooth skin constantly secretes thick, oily mucus, and near the Gigasnail’s habitat, a river of twisting oil is said to have been witnessed.  

An A-rank magical beast, ‘Gigasnail’, revealed itself by punching a huge hole in the restaurant ceiling.  

Yeah, whatever. 

I was wondering why things were going so smoothly.  

Even veteran hunters rarely get to see an A-rank magical beast.  

Most are powerful creatures you’d only encounter in a dungeon’s boss room.  

KU-GUGUGUGUGUGU…….  

Soon, the Gigasnail slowly raised its massive body.  

The inside of its widely gaping maw was fully visible.  

A pitch-black oral cavity, like the entrance to a cave.  

On its bright red gums and palate, needle-thin and sharp teeth sprouted densely like a blender.  

CRUNCH- CRUNCH- CRUNCH- CRUNCH- CRUNCH-  

Between the blade-like teeth, chunks of concrete, pieces of rebar, thick wires, and unidentifiable lumps of flesh were kneaded together like dough.  

At that moment.  

SHWOOOOO-  

The Gigasnail’s antennae stretched out, and its grotesque eyeballs POPPED out one by one.  

Soon, the Gigasnail stared piercingly at a corner of the restaurant.  

That place was…  

SHASHASHASHASHASHASHA-  

The spot where the camel spiders were hiding.  

At that moment.  

SWHOOOOOOOOSH-!  

The Gigasnail’s body began moving at an incredible speed.  

The camel spiders, thrown into panic by the sudden visit of their natural enemy, scattered in all directions.  

But.  

KWABAK! KWABAK! KWABAK!  

The Gigasnail, charging like a bullet, snatched five camel spiders in the blink of an eye.  

CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH-!  

The sounds of crushing, smashing, and pulverizing rang out clearly.  

Each time, thick blood and oil dripped messily between its pointed teeth.  

……GULP! GRRRRRRR~  

Having swallowed the camel spiders without a trace, the Gigasnail immediately charged toward its next prey.  

SWHOOOOOOOOSH-!  

Black mucus spread stickily across the floor where the bizarre monster snail had passed.  

Oil.  

Precisely, the oily mucus secreted from the Gigasnail’s skin membrane.  

The Gigasnail used it like lubricant to move at high speed.  

One, two, three, four, five……  

CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH-!  

The Gigasnail tracked down and devoured every single camel spider in the restaurant hall.  

Only after the camel spiders were completely wiped out did the Gigasnail raise its upper body.  

And at that moment.  

PSSHT- PSSHTPSSHT- PSSHTPSSHTPSSHTPSSHT-  

A massive gray sludge began gushing from the anus near the Gigasnail’s tail.  

I had seen something similar before.  

…That can’t be. 

Poop?  

The foul-smelling filth scattered at the entrance of the restaurant hall.  

All those horrific things were the Gigasnail’s excrement.  

WRIGGLE~! WRIGGLEWRIGGLE~! WRIGGLE-!  

In the gray excrement, undigested camel spider legs twitched visibly.  

At that moment.  

SWISH!  

The Gigasnail’s antennae began focusing on me.  

Ah, eye contact.  

It had definitely chosen me as its next prey.  

I activated the skill window.  

DING DONG!  

<Would you like to retrieve MRG-682 ‘Immortal Pseudo-Dragon’?>…… [Yes/No]  

Looks like I’ll have to borrow some power here.  

I reached for the YES button.  

But.  

Nothing happened.  

‘Why!? Why!?’  

I frantically mashed the YES button on the system window.  

Then, a completely different system window popped up.  

-DING DONG!  

<Cannot rent inventory number MRG-682.>  

<Current storage location of MRG-682 is under facility maintenance.>  

<Maintenance progress: 29% 29 minutes 43 seconds until completion>  

<Items in storage under maintenance are temporarily restricted from rental.>  

My mind went blank.  

Maintenance.  

Come to think of it, what did the system window from a few minutes ago say?  

<Morgue’s Magical Warehouse internal maintenance can be executed: 1 available!>  

<Manage stored items more safely and comfortably with periodic maintenance!>  

<Currently maintainable zone: Safe Zone>  

Yeah. There was definitely that message.  

And I had accepted the maintenance.  

‘Ah, my luck is seriously trash. This is why you should read every single term and condition carefully when signing up…….!’  

At that moment.  

[GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-!]  

A deafening ROAR erupted, as if tearing eardrums apart.  

The Gigasnail, with its upper body raised, was trembling violently and menacingly.  

Soon, the Gigasnail charged.  

-SWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!  

Spewing mucus from its oil glands all over its body.  

I spat out a curse and quickly turned to run.  

The moment I took a step.  

KWABAKKWABAKKWABAKKWABAKKWABAKKWABAK~!  

The Gigasnail’s maw bit down fully on the spot where I had just been standing.  

The concrete floor was torn away like tofu, leaving clear marks as if pierced by countless awls.  

If I had even grazed it, my limbs would have been gone in an instant.  

I can’t summon the Pseudo-Dragon.  

And not for a full 30 minutes!  

Jeanne’s help is also out of the question.  

‘No choice. I’ll have to solo this.’  

Here, I have to survive with my own strength alone.  

The only silver lining is that, thanks to leveling up and boosting my stats, I can at least run away quickly.  

‘Hell just turned into regular hell. Was there even a way to get out of here unscathed to begin with?’  

The sound of the Gigasnail’s body sliding on oil rang clearly behind me.  

Then, the shattered restaurant window caught my eye.  

‘……Should I try that strategy from earlier again?’  

The plan that caused dozens of camel spiders to fall to their deaths.  

The Gigasnail was currently sliding down at tremendous speed.  

If I lure it well, that massive monster won’t be able to handle its own momentum and will fall out the window.  

At this building’s height, even the Gigasnail wouldn’t survive unscathed.  

‘Even if it doesn’t die, I can at least deal a critical hit.’  

Decision made.  

I lured the Gigasnail near the broken window.  

“Irasshaimase!”  

……But.  

SCREEECH-!  

The Gigasnail lifted its bulging eyeballs.  

Then, it twisted its tentacles and abruptly changed its path.  

As if it had seen the broken window and decided to avoid it.  

‘……Did it figure out the trap? For a snail?’  

Of course. It’s probably smarter than the camel spiders. It’s an A-rank, after all.  

Plan change.  

I ran toward the restaurant entrance.  

‘I need a different strategy than before.’  

Anything.  

Anything that can buy me even a little time.  

‘Snail weaknesses. What are snails weak to?’  

Heat, cold, metal, pesticides, etc.  

Snails have almost no resistance to most things.  

‘Salt is the most effective, but…… the salt in the kitchen wouldn’t even dent that size.’  

No decent ideas came to mind.  

Meanwhile, the Gigasnail was gnawing through the floor and walls as it approached.  

KWABAKKWABAKKWABAKKWABAKKWABAK!  

At that moment.  

“…!”  

A brilliant idea flashed through my mind.  

The floor directory near the restaurant entrance appeared in my head.  

‘Guess I’ll have to gamble!’  

Instead of heading for the exit, I started running in circles inside the restaurant hall.  

The Gigasnail chased closely behind at ferocious speed.  

KWABAKKWABAKKWABAKKWABAKKWABAKKWABAK-!  

Deep gnaw marks were left wherever the snail passed.  

Soon, the restaurant floor began to spiral inward like a mosquito coil.  

I kept running in circles.  

On the second lap, a slightly smaller circle than the first; on the third, smaller than the second; on the fourth, smaller than the third.  

At that moment.  

CRACK!  

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!  

CRACK!  

The ground began vibrating fiercely.  

The restaurant floor was collapsing along the marks gnawed by the Gigasnail.  

Soon.  

KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWABOOM!!  

The restaurant floor caved in.  

A hole dozens of meters wide appeared beneath my feet.  

I’m falling.  

Into the wide-open hole below. Endlessly.  

I quickly covered my nose and mouth.  

Because…….  

[Lotte Tower Floor Facilities Guide] 

114F – Evacuation Safety Zone

20F – Signiel Fitness Center

1F – Sky Bridge  

32F – Signiel Restaurant Current Location

88F – Signiel Aquarium 

124F – Mechanical Room  

The floor below the restaurant on the guide was the aquarium.  

It was a giant fish tank!  

SPLASH!  

I plunged into the massive aquarium tank.  

My whole body throbbed as if whipped.  

At the same time.  

BUBBLEBUBBLEBUBBLEBUBBLE-  

White bubbles clouded my vision.  

Beyond the bubbles, colorful tropical fish scattered in all directions.  

At that moment.  

PLOP PLOP PLOP PLOP PLOP PLOP BOOM!  

A massive lump fell into the water.  

A column of water shot up like a geyser, and the surface churned violently.  

[KYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!]  

The Gigasnail.  

The impact of this massive monster’s fall began cracking the tank.  

[KYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!]  

A screech that could tear eardrums echoed above the water.  

The Gigasnail flopped relentlessly.  

I held my breath and watched.  

[KYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!]  

Like an octopus scalded in hot water, the Gigasnail began to shrivel.  

The place we had fallen into was the aquarium’s saltwater fish tank.  

It was a massive sea of salt water.