There was one thing I learned while living in the Forest of Four Seasons.
That was that animals possessed exceptionally high intelligence and, miraculously, could understand human speech.
Most of the animals I met for the first time so far understood what I said and showed various reactions.
The same went for other people. As long as you communicated your ’intent’, they understood it flawlessly.
Pwaaaaang!!!
The octopus approaching while emitting a noise resembling a ship’s foghorn was the same.
The moment Lackey called it ugly, it flew over rapidly as if enraged.
It was surprising enough that a creature looking generally like an octopus was floating around in the sky, but it was even hostile.
Anyone could feel that something bad was about to happen.
’It looks like an octopus, but it’s even more hideous.’
A round body and numerous legs hanging underneath it.
In particular, two of the arms were exceptionally long and thick. Gross suckers attached to them were a bonus.
The remaining tentacles were also far from ordinary, each differing in length and size as if exposed to radiation.
Puuuuu!
Before we knew it, the octopus that had drawn near fired a water cannon at us.
To be precise, not at us, but at Lackey, who insulted its looks. However, due to the nature of a water cannon, it splashed all around.
"Hot! Hot! Hot hot hot!"
"Ugh...!"
Both Lackey and I narrowly dodged it, but the intense heat alone was hard to endure.
Furthermore, Lackey, who was relatively closer, went completely wild shouting that it was hot.
I had no idea by what principle it fired a boiling water cannon, but it seemed we needed to deal with it quickly.
’If all goes well, it seems it can be used as an ingredient....’
As Lackey said, no matter how ugly, an octopus is an octopus. It was excellent food.
I carefully observed whether the Balloon Octopus would use other attack patterns.
Since the creature was still focused on Lackey, it seemed okay to observe it slowly.
Pwaaaaang!
The Balloon Octopus emitted a roaring sound similar to a foghorn just like before.
Soon, something wriggled out from underneath it—presumably its mouth.
Hwiririk! Hwiririk!
Creatures much smaller than the Balloon Octopus began flying toward us.
Spinning through the air like shuriken, my intuition screamed that getting hit by those would be disastrous.
Cheolpeok! Cheolpeok!
Before long, the creatures landed on the ground. I was quickly able to identify what they were.
Compared to the bizarrely-shaped Balloon Octopus, these were relatively normal-looking octopuses.
’They’re just as ugly though!’
However, taking after their mother, their faces were seriously ugly.
Right in the center of the face, a huge eyeball was stuck like a gem, making it gruesome.
The Sky Whale gave off an elegant vibe, but that Balloon Octopus had none of that.
"It’s closer to some deep-sea creature...."
"Kyaaa!"
While I was muttering, a baby octopus pounced on me.
Spreading its arms wide, it revealed its mouth, bristling with sharp teeth.
If bitten properly by that, my bone and flesh would be chewed up completely.
Kwaddeudeok!
Chew hard all you want. As if you could even scratch my Body-Protecting Gangqi.
On the contrary, its own teeth would all break instead. This was what I aimed for.
Kwajik!
I stabbed the creature wrapping its legs around my left arm with my sword.
Its head cleanly pierced by the sword, the creature immediately went limp.
However, due to the suction of its suckers, even in death it hung dangling.
"Don’t let them attach! These don’t fall off easily!"
[Understood!]
Cain, who had swapped into the Dullahan’s body at some point, replied energetically.
However, despite his energetic response, countless octopuses were already stuck to him.
That was actually better. In any case, with the bite force of those octopuses, they could never breach the Dullahan’s armor.
Pwaaaaang!!
While we were slaying the babies one by one, the Balloon Octopus let out a foghorn roar.
Just when I wondered if it was another attack, an anomaly occurred at the head of the Balloon Octopus.
Puaaaa!
Pitch-black ink—no, a fog-like substance spat out.
Unlike the sea, this place was dry land. Yet pitch-black ink dispersed like fog, covering the surroundings.
Judging by this, it seemed to be trying to escape after sensing danger. I shouted directly at Lackey.
"Lackey! Blow all the ink away with wind magic!"
"Understood!"
At my command, Lackey hurriedly opened his grimoire.
Because he had only memorized fire spells all this time, he didn’t seem to know wind magic by heart.
Fortunately, the ink fog descended very slowly, allowing him time to cast.
"@$%%!"
Hwiieeeeeng!!!
A giant gust of wind erupted from Lackey’s hands.
Although weaker since he wasn’t wearing the Mythricon gauntlet, it was sufficient.
While the ink fog cleared, I prepared a weapon. It was the Mythricon spear I had crafted earlier.
It was a weapon made just in case, but I didn’t expect to use it like this today.
Now it was time to pull down that Balloon Octopus.
’Without the Mythricon gauntlet, it’ll be hard to drag it down even with telekinesis.’
I needed to buy time for that. Therefore, I used a physical method.
After tying a rope tightly to the spear, I hurled it at the Balloon Octopus, which was essentially a massive target.
Pieeeng! Kwajik!
The spear struck the thick leg of the Balloon Octopus.
No, beyond striking, it pierced through and tightly bound it.
I immediately pulled the rope connected to the spear. At first, it seemed to be dragged slightly before going taut again.
"Cain-ssi, please pull this!"
[Got it!]
Leaving one to Cain for now, I threw another spear elsewhere.
If only one side was attached, it would break free quickly due to the direction of force.This story is hosted at NovelPing.
"You guys pull this too!"
"Kaku!"
"Kwakwa!"
I also asked the Hobgoblins who came to work for help.
Thus, numerous individuals attempted to pull down the Balloon Octopus.
However, because the strength of the Balloon Octopus was stronger than expected, it took quite an effort.
"Lackey!"
"Understood!"
So lastly, Lackey put on the Mythricon gauntlet and joined the struggle.
As he used telekinesis, the Balloon Octopus was dragged down bit by bit, very slowly.
Panicked by the suddenly amplified force, the monster merely squirted and flailed around without coping properly.
Once it descended into striking range, I took the next action immediately.
"Borrowing this for a second!"
I grabbed Ludwig’s Mythricon sword instead of the Sword of the Heavenly Demon.
Next, I funneled Aura into it to create a massive club shape.
Peo-eok!
"Ppwek!"
Peo-eok! Peok! Peok!
"Ppuu! Ppwek! Ppwaaak!"
And I bashed it relentlessly like a real club.
Though it was quite a giant monster, my Aura club was equally massive.
Eventually losing its strength, the Balloon Octopus crashed onto the ground. Even so, I didn’t stop beating it.
Limp—
A moment later, the octopus went entirely limp. It wriggled intermittently, but that was the end of it.
Still, needing to kill it for sure, I held my sword and searched for the octopus’s vital spot.
Because it looked like an octopus, finding its vital point was difficult.
Puk! Pu-uk! Puk!
So I kept stabbing. Until its body turned completely white.
When you stab a squid’s vital spot, it turns white and goes limp, so wouldn’t an octopus be similar?
"Ah. Got it. This is the vital spot."
"Master. We decided to call that butchery."
"As long as it’s dead, who cares."
All that remained was butchering this massive creature. The problem was that its size was far too huge.
Even this monster’s babies were bigger than average octopuses, while the adult took up half the shelter.
’Should I just roughly dress it and hand it over to the registered users?’
Before that, I should take pictures. I needed to identify what this creature was.
I neatly arranged the Balloon Octopus to fit better in a photo, then placed the babies on top of it.
"Is that a family photo?"
"You’re even worse."
Let’s ignore Lackey making jokes beside me. I uploaded the photo directly to the Gallery.
Title) Caught an octopus flying in the sky
Wild Grylls
(Photo of Balloon Octopus and babies)
(Side profile photo of Balloon Octopus and babies)
(Video of Balloon Octopus floating in the sky)
Does anyone know what this is? I caught it for now, but is it safe to eat?
ㄴHeavenly Demon: It is truly ugly.
ㄴIt’s my first time seeing an octopus that ugly?
ㄴAren’t octopuses normally ugly? Is there such a thing as a handsome octopus?
ㄴYou look like an octopus.
ㄴTF did you just say?
ㄴPassing Dwarf: I heard dipping octopus in chogochujang sauce is so delicious though....
ㄴWild Grylls: The size was too big so I was planning to share it. Do you know what that is?
ㄴPassing Dwarf: Hell if I know lol
ㄴWild Grylls: Okay, you don’t get any for now.
ㄴPassing Dwarf: Hold on, looking it up in a book.
ㄴNecromancy is Love: A Balloon Octopus, I see. A fellow that lives in freshwater. Whenever it migrates to another habitat, it inflates its body to float around.
ㄴWild Grylls: Is its real name actually Balloon Octopus? I just named it that based on its appearance.
ㄴNecromancy is Love: Quite a rare find, though normally they aren’t that huge.
ㄴIs it somewhat like an eel? Eels grow huge too if they live long enough.
ㄴEverything in that forest is just huge;;
ㄴBut do octopuses live in freshwater too?
ㄴIf live octopus exists, why wouldn’t freshwater octopus exist lol
ㄴ’San’ in sannakji means live/living, not mountain in nature, you dumbass;;
ㄴlolololol
ㄴlololol
ㄴSmart Demon: Octopuses are high-grade food ingredients, and that is the rare Balloon Octopus. It is famous for its very chewy texture.
ㄴWild Grylls: Have you eaten it before?
ㄴSmart Demon: I have eaten it only once in my life. Even that was just a regular octopus.
ㄴCome to think of it, don’t Western countries fear octopuses?
ㄴYeah, because of the monster named Kraken, a giant octopus. They consider all octopuses to be Kraken babies.
ㄴWould there be a Kraken in the Forest of Four Seasons too?
ㄴProbably. Or something even scarier than that lol
ㄴshiver shiver
At any rate, it meant it was edible. I stared at the Balloon Octopus.
Boiling the whole thing would take a long time. The volume was too huge to store as well.
"I’ll give you guys about half. You can carry all this, right?"
"Urak!"
"Urak!"
The moment I spoke, the Hobgoblins opened their arms wide and shouted.
I didn’t know if they actually understood my words or if they just caught the nuance.
"What are they saying?"Find the original chapter at novelping dot com.
"They said, ’Thank you.’"
"They understand what I say?"
"Roughly. I taught them."
"...."
Well, as long as he taught them well, fine. It was too overwhelming to keep all of it anyway.
"Nyam nyam nyam. Nyam nyam."
"Aang! Ang!"
"Guys. If you eat it raw, you’ll get parasites in your body."
Barely pulling away Wonmo and Tyranno who were acting greedy for food, I began the butchering process.
I severed the head portion whole and threw it away. It was troublesome to manage.
What we were going to eat was the massive tentacle part. How should I cook this?
’I should put them in a giant iron drum and boil them.’
The babies were merely large, but the mother was different. A single leg alone was bigger than me.
Thus, it seemed better to cut off the legs one by one and boil them. Boiling it whole was way too burdensome.
’I’ll make blanched octopus with one leg, but what should I do with the rest?’
I wanted to make blanched octopus, but I didn’t know how. In the end, I asked the Gallery.
However, everyone seemed clueless; since it was such a high-class ingredient, no one knew which direction to take.
But that was only temporary. An anonymous user kindly instructed me.
ㄴTo boil it based on a normal octopus, preparation is needed. First, you must wash it with flour.
ㄴWild Grylls: Why use flour?
ㄴDunno, my professor told me to use it, so I did.
ㄴWild Grylls: That answer boosts my trust.
Instead of the auction house, I asked someone else for flour. Namely, Grow Tall and Strong.
Since he cultivated various grains, he naturally had flour on hand.
When I gifted him soil before, he grew and stored particularly diverse crops, he said.
[Grow Tall and Strong: Ah, by the way. I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I’m entering the Academy soon, so I might not be able to trade.]
[Wild Grylls: You’re entering the Academy?]
[Grow Tall and Strong: Yes. I’m entering through special admissions. But I’ll still help you as much as I can.]
I contemplated whether I should find another trade partner (?), but postponed it for now.
I received a large quantity of flour from him and washed the octopus.
Even a single leg was so huge that washing it was difficult.
’Next, I should scrub it with salt and boil it right away.’
For reference, the container used for boiling was a giant pot.
Roughly, you could view it as similar to the ones used in the military.
Since there was no world without a military, it was easy to purchase.
You might ask if it wasn’t tough, but I had plenty of excellent workers.
"Lackey. Where’s the radish?"
"I just grew it. Here."
"Wash it clean, chop it up, and throw it in here."
How to put it... I felt like a military cook.
Even after giving shares to the Hobgoblins, a huge amount remained.
Because it was too much to stash away in the warehouse, I had no choice but to give it away.
’The problem is that even with this, I need another food storage warehouse.’
I only caught a single octopus, yet tasks piled up like a mountain.
I let out a sigh inwardly and covered the pot lid. Now all that was left was boiling it thoroughly.
"Let’s clean that up first. We need to store the food too."
"Kkyuu?"
"Aigoo, Wonmo-ya. What’s wrong with your face?"
Wonmo had caused trouble in the meantime. His face had turned pitch black from ink.
The octopus head was thrown away because it was annoying to dress, and he seemed to have messed with it.
Even after splashing a bit of water, there was no sign of it coming off. He’d have to live as a black face for a while.
"Kkyuu?"
"You’re cute, so it’s fine."
Still, the fact that he was cute remained unchanged. I should post this on the Gallery too.
Boil boil boil—
While dressing other parts and stacking up new food on the side, time flew by.
The pot boiling the octopus leg also came to a rapid boil. It seemed about time to scoop it out.
I scooped out the appetizingly cooked octopus tentacle and moved it onto a wide board.
Now I just had to slice it thin and hand it over to the registered users.
’I should get chogochujang sauce from the Dwarf.’
I shared the thinly sliced blanched octopus with the registered users.
However, a few registered users declined, saying they couldn’t eat it right now. Notably Sword Matstar and Starlight Lady.
[Necromancy is Love: We have no physical body. Food holds no meaning.]
[Wild Grylls: Okay.]
There was also a strange registered user, but I took it as a refusal.
Just like that, we cleanly devoured the octopus tentacle. The chewy texture was magnificent.
’The chogochujang is super delicious too. By the way, isn’t chogochujang from the Central Plains?’
Well, as long as it tastes good. The unique fishy smell of seafood was barely present, so there weren’t even divided opinions.
It was right after effortlessly polishing off one octopus tentacle. A message arrived from the Dwarf.
[Passing Dwarf: Hey. This is seriously delicious? Drinking it with Mandrake liquor is insane lol]
[Wild Grylls: I’ll give you that. It really is perfect as a bar snack lolll]
[Passing Dwarf: So what I’m saying is, don’t you have plans to cook other dishes? Like charcoal-grilled octopus or something.]
[Wild Grylls: I don’t have an iron plate suitable for charcoal grilling though? Are you gonna make one for me?]
[Passing Dwarf: Rather than that, try making it with Orichalcum yourself. You just need to punch holes in it.]
[Wild Grylls: Oh?]
There was such a way.
[Passing Dwarf: While you’re making it, try making a barbecue grill too. Seems like your dexterity has improved a bit now.]
[Wild Grylls: You make that one. Just the grill plate alone is tough for me.]
[Passing Dwarf: What will you give me if I make it?]
[Wild Grylls: I’ll give you one grill plate.]
[Passing Dwarf: Good.]
As expected of the Dwarf, a typical response came back.