Life in the deep sea sure was dangerous, mentally taxing and generally just god awful, but at least I would’t have to worry about the terrible aspergers-inducing vaccines forcibly injected to me when I was young.
Haha~ just kidding.
But, if I kept saying stupid things like that, would whoever was running the simulation lose credibility and be forced to stop it? I would happily trample over my remaining dignity if it meant getting out of this mess.
Hah, my wishful thinking was getting really drastic, but it’s really something I had to do to distract me from this all too orderly chaos.
The scenery around here has not only gotten annoying to look at, but my routine of swimming around and exploring was yielding no results. I waas going mad from boredom!
Yes, you heard it here folks. A fucking fish in the bottom of the damned ocean is experiencing first-world problems, how grand.
Now really, compared to my fellow sea creatures I’m probably the most hardworking and active fish out there. Save for good ‘ol sedimentsnatcher over here, he’s been doing a very good job taking us on a grand adventure around the depths.
Ah, so I'm right about there being a periodic reward for surviving.
Right on time, too. Just to rub it in my face that I’ve been here for so long. People went insane from isolation in just a few days; I’ve been here for weeks!
If it wasn’t for the company of these mushrooms and stickshrimps, who knows how bad my mental state could’ve ended up in.
That probably wasn't the only reason, I have a hunch some chemistry in my brain and body had changed the way I think. Would explain a lot of my behavior lately. While I would like to avoid identity death, at least it prevented me from having debilitating mental issues.
Wait a minute, if I recall, I was at two orbs before the pillbug incident, add my earnings so far to that and…
I only needed two more to rank up, neat. Maybe another improvement would be enough to console me for a while. I almost wished I chose better fins instead so I can cover more ground faster.
Exploring had lately been demanding more finely-tuned specifications, after all.
The reason?
I was pretty much used to swimming around even with all my injuries, so I can confidently say I explored most of the area with no new discoveries. The only part I avoided was the head, since I have a bad feeling about being anywhere near an orifice usually used for consumption. I immediately dipped out whenever I see any sign of the landscape changing to a giant head.
Around a few days ago, I decided to stay mostly around the ‘sides’ of the sedimentsnatcher. With that, I can easily go down any time to look for the actual sea floor.
I decided to let go of any reservations about ‘jumping ship’ and looking for whatever lurks down below. The Colossal Sedimentsnatcher seemed to travel pretty slowly, to the point where I could loiter around for a couple hours and not even feel like I’m about to be left behind.
I feared that he would teleport away while I’m not on him, but that was silly. He had an equally likely chance of doing so while I am on him. So there’s really nothing I could do about that.
The problem was going up and down without ending up brain dead, but I did do a couple of very risky tests to figure out a solution to that. I should be fine as long as I’m not sticking my gills near the breathing holes. They were big, so very easy to detect.
Any worries I had remaining were immediately dispelled when I noticed that the ocean floor was not far at all. It was most likely only a couple dozen meters from the sedimentsnatcher’s bottom. Maybe in a month or less, he would already be scratching his belly on the ocean floor.
As for the floor itself, it was a mild disappointment. It was perhaps the flattest naturally-formed structure I have ever laid my eyes upon aside from my 6th grade math teacher.
I said mildly, because I did not really expect much from a place almost entirely devoid of life's basic necessities.
Speaking of life, it was nearly devoid of that. Though I was not too worried about a giant monster causing it; it was just the natural result of the lack of nutrients down here.
I was a bit scared to go down and check, too, I did not want to run into a patch of water that's relatively empty of oxygen. So it’s best I can confirm something can survive down there before getting a more personal look.
So far, I’d already moved along the body of the sedimentsnatcher and dived down into the depths a couple times; nothing of interest was found every time.
No reason to give up, there’s more than a lifetime of ground to cover down here. I’m bound to run into something someday, I just wish I ran into it sooner.
I stare off into the abyss, lately, it refuses to even stare back at me anymore. Must have been the result of no facial care.
Steeling my nerves with the mindset of at least finding something down there, I swam downwards while maintaining a safe distance from the dreadful breathing holes.
It felt very empty, but that was normal. It usually takes a few minutes before I could feel anything while swimming down.
A while later, my senses came into contact with what I classified as a whole lot of clay.
Yep, that’s the seafloor alright. Everything seemed to be normal, now I just needed to get a visual confirmation that it’s the case.
Actually no, everything is very much not normal. There’s a protrusion on the seafloor, but that could just be a rock. Even that was something to note, since whatever sediment covered the ground down there didn’t really form anything that I would consider a rock.
Oh, that’s not a rock at all alright. Rocks do not breath, if it does then don’t call it a rock. It was rude to call a living thing a rock.
As much as I wanted to see it, I had already learned my lesson from how well all those other times I tried to do that went.
A glint of light was captured by my sensitive vision, its different from all the other ones I came across, as those seemed dull in comparison.
Ooo, it’s very shiny. Should I go and grab it?
One moment please, something is terribly wrong. Why should I be so impressed by a faint light?
Wasthatfuckingmindcontrol?! Nice.
Okay, maybe mind control was taking it too far. It’s more of a very attractive suggestion, so basically low-key mind control. That was totally not unnerving in any way whatsoever.
Alright prick, I was planning on leaving you alone… but if you really insist on threatening me like that. Then I shall have your dear little life!
I am confident enough on my victory; I could somehow sense a substance similar to blood. So whatever is protecting this creature’s precious insides is very thin. It didn't seem to be made of something all that tough either.
I crept closer and closer, the waters were barely disturbed by my movements. I carefully open my jaw to go in for an attack.
With a single bite of my powerful jaw, blood and guts splatters all over me; good, at least one thing went as expected. It was a shame I already had my fill of stickshrimps earlier this week.
Is this the first time I was ever awarded by the system thingy for killing something? I didn't exactly know what to feel about it, but I already dedicated myself to killing sea critters a few times. This time was the first time I succeeded in killing something that wasn't prey, I guess. I should be happy.
Still, an 'Abyssal Seadevil'? 'Devil' was a poetic moniker for the creature that lured in its victims with an attractive and seemingly innocent light. The possessive noun on the other hand, that's unnerving. Would an evil demon named Thelma go after me for harming one of its sires?
Let's not go there, think good thoughts!
Only 1 more until I ranked up, huh. It seemed that things could have gone horribly wrong there if I wasn’t vigilant. Bless my stealth; poor thing didn’t even see me coming.
They said the second best way to examine a body was when it’s dead, so I’ll be doing that now. Lights on!
Oh, that’s a little bit too much red. The blood was blocking the view very nicely here. I just had to move away and look from a different angle.
I imagined the ‘swoosh’ of my tail as I maneuvered away from the bloody waters. My body didn’t mind the taste of blood, but my memories still found the thought unnerving.
Ah, so it was an anglerfish. Perhaps the most well-known and popular creature from the deep. Thankfully, it didn't have any 'lumps' on it.
It looked like it was balancing its spoon on its head! The eyes even looked to be staring straight at it. If I was planning on starting an undersea circus, I would most certainly recruit him into my troupe.
We can use some work on that mouth; that looks like it can tear its whole body apart, not that I can preach with how my jaw worked.
Overall, the anglerfish seems like a pudgy slime with stubby fins and a tail glued on. Certainly not the second most elegant fish in the sea.
Oh? Who’s the first you ask? That would undoubtedly be me!
If I recalled correctly, anglerfish are terrible swimmers, so they usually lie in wait to ambush their prey. If one was hanging around here, then there must be prey nearby.
I highly doubt the stickshrimps counted, I did not see a single one fall off the sedimentsnatcher in my entire time there. Even if they did, the rate they fall at would be so slow that it’s not going to be a reliable source of food at all.
That meant there might be more interesting creatures to be found nearby. Relatively harmless too if the anglerfish were able to hunt them.
I wouldn’t linger around here for too long, I’d have to recover some stamina up above before going down and looking for whatever the anglerfish was waiting for.
This is real good, hope you aren't dead.
Are you alive?
Hey wil there be any new chapters?