Chapter 8 · 12 min
Chapter 8
Leg Sunfish
“W-what!?”
Han Suho’s younger sister, Han Suyeon.
She frowned as though she had just seen something she shouldn’t have.
‘He waited until no one was home and brought a woman over!?’
She was shocked. Until now, Han Suho had never had even the slightest thing to do with women.
‘Aren’t those two way too close together? And with the lights off too?’
Even more surprising was the appearance of the woman now lifting her face from Han Suho’s shoulder and looking this way.
‘What the hell, why would a woman like that be with Oppa... Huh?’
“Ah! Are you perhaps his younger sister!?”
Click.
Clara stood up while turning on the living room lights, which they had switched off to watch the animation.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Clara, Han Suho’s wife!”
“Wow...!”
With the lights on, Clara’s face came clearly into view.
Han Suyeon’s mouth slowly fell open. As if she were seeing such an unreal appearance for the first time in her life.
‘An elf... So she’s the summoned creature Mom told me about.’
Only belatedly did Clara’s clothes catch her eye.
‘That’s the black polo shirt Han Suho wears all the time... But what about underneath? No, what did he do to someone who looks that innocent!’
Han Suyeon glared at Han Suho with fire in her eyes.
“Hey! You should at least dress her properly!”
“She’s not a kid. She’s twenty-four.”
“What?”
“She’s older than us.”
Han Suyeon couldn’t reconcile Clara’s age with her appearance. Which was understandable.
‘Older? She’s twenty-four...?’
Han Suyeon thought of the twenty-four-year-old upperclassmen she knew. Most of them stayed at school until late every night and wandered around like dead fish with dark circles under their eyes...
‘No, I’ve actually seen elves before too, but they weren’t like this?’
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to greet her? Clara’s waiting.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. Um... Just call me Suyeon. And, um... Can I call you Unnie?”
“Un...nie?”
“I-if that makes you uncomfortable, I can call you something else—”
Fwoosh—
A speed close to 50 Agility.
Before Han Suyeon even had time to be startled, she blinked once and found herself in Clara’s arms.
‘Y-you scared me...’
“That has such a wonderful ring to it! Say it one more time?”
“U-unnie?”
“One more time!”
“Unnie?”
Squeeze.
Clara hugged Han Suyeon even tighter, apparently delighted by being called Unnie.
‘What is this smell?’
The faint, pleasant fragrance coming from Clara tickled Han Suyeon’s nose.
‘I want this unnie for myself.’
Clara was standing on tiptoe as she hugged Han Suyeon, and her long ears tickled Han Suyeon’s neck too.
‘I feel like I’m awakening to something weird!’
Beep! Beedle-deedle~
“What are you two doing over there?”
“M-Mom!? H-how can you just suddenly show up at home like this!”
“What are you talking about? This is my house.”
Han Suyeon shut her mouth tightly at her mother’s words.
Thinking about it, she was the one who had suddenly shown up.
She just felt oddly guilty about being hugged by Clara.
“Father, Mother, welcome home!”
“Mom, long time no see! Dad too!”
Only belatedly did she greet her mother as though nothing had happened. And her father, who was behind her.
All while feeling a strange sense of regret when Clara, who had been hugging her, released her arms to greet them as well.
_____________
Dad had somehow found an extension table that fit perfectly with the existing four-person dining table, attached it, and sat at the head.
And so, the whole family sat together at the table.
“That’s really you?”
Han Suyeon was shocked to learn that I was currently the first-place record holder on Floors 1 and 2.
Until now, Han Suyeon only knew that my summoned creature was an elf.
‘If I want to make sure she keeps quiet about it, it’s better to tell her while she’s home.’
I explained everything that had happened in detail.
“You left out the most important part.”
“What?”
“Why did Unnie become your wife?”
“Hmm, that’s...”
At that moment, Clara cut in.
“I fell in love at first sight! Then I was proposed to! That’s how we became husband and wife!”
“Waaah~! Love at first sight! Unnie, that’s so romantic~”
...?
Han Suyeon had been overreacting to everything Clara said since earlier.
She accepted everything positively and took it in the best possible way.
‘What’s wrong with her...’
She even kept speaking politely while calling her Unnie. She doesn’t even call me Oppa!
‘Well, I understand, but...’
We were born in the same year.
Me on January 1st, and my younger sister on December 31st.
As long as Han Suyeon didn’t call me by name outside, our parents didn’t care.
Anyway, Han Suyeon’s reactions only became more exaggerated.
Even when Clara helped with the dishes after we finished eating.
“Unnie, I can’t let those baby hands of yours get dirty. Just stay still. I’ll do everything.”
“I want to learn! Next time I want to try cooking too!”
“How adorable...!”
Elves only ate about one piece of fruit for a meal, and Clara in particular didn’t even need that.
Even so, Han Suyeon looked deeply moved that she wanted to carry food and learn how to wash dishes.
‘She calls her Unnie, but it feels like she’s treating her like a little kid.’
And even when it was time to sleep at night.
“Unnie. You’re really going to sleep with me, right? That’s okay, right?”
Beam.
“Okay! I’ll sleep together with Suyeon!”
“Gasp! Unnie, your smiling face is way too cute!”
...I didn’t expect my little sister to accept her this enthusiastically.
In just a few hours, my legal-family-member had completely fallen for Clara.
_____________
“System window. Enter the tower.”
[Select a floor]
[Floor 0][Floor 1][Floor 2][Floor 3]
[Cancel]
Leaving Han Suyeon behind after she had clung to Clara since early morning and refused to let go, we entered the tower again today.
The look Han Suyeon gave me just before we entered, while I was being carried like a princess, was strange.
‘Why are you glaring at me like that.’
.
.
.
Once inside the tower, I asked Clara to set me down at the point farthest from the transparent wall of the preparation room.
Being carried like a princess the entire time was a little much, after all.
Only Clara stood directly in front of the transparent wall.
Beyond it was...
The monster on Floor 3 this time was commonly called the Leg Sunfish.
As the name suggested, it had legs.
Yes, those kinds of legs.
It had a tentacle on its tail and stood on two legs.
But they weren’t amphibian or reptilian legs.
They were human legs.
That made it even more grotesque.
Naturally, you would expect a fish like a sunfish to have amphibian- or reptile-like legs.
Instead, it had legs that looked completely human.
And especially those legs.
It was probably... female.
They were smooth.
It stood tall on smooth female human legs.
Despite its thin legs, the Leg Sunfish, which must weigh hundreds of kilograms, stood upright without any apparent difficulty and glared at us.
Well, the fact that it had human legs didn’t change anything.
It wasn’t human in the slightest.
Its eyes, which looked completely incapable of communication, were bloodshot just like every monster since Floor 0.
You could tell just by looking into them that conversation would be impossible.
Aside from the legs, another difference was that this time the tentacle was thin, unlike the waist-thick one from before.
About as thick as an adult man’s forearm?
The problem was that in exchange for being thinner, it had gained another function.
A mouth.
At the end of the tentacle tail was a long slit of a mouth, with saw-like teeth lining even the roof.
A sunfish with smooth female human legs swaying its tail...
If you only heard the description, it might not sound that bad, but seeing it in person inspired nothing but disgust.
‘I still can’t get attached to these things at all.’
“Here we go!”
“Okay!”
[29:59]
Tap, tap, tap!
[O Fire]
The instant I pressed ‘Yes’ on the system window, the Leg Sunfish charged at us on those smooth legs.
This time it couldn’t launch itself through the air with its tentacle like before.
‘That thin tentacle probably isn’t strong enough to support a creature weighing hundreds of kilograms anyway.’
Normally, unlike before, it would now use the tentacle offensively to attack low while trying to bite at the neck with its mouth.
Fwoosh!!
Before long, the Leg Sunfish’s entire body was engulfed in flames.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.
For a moment, it seemed like the Leg Sunfish would keep charging even while covered in flames.
Stop.
Hop. Hop.
?
With barely two meters left, the Leg Sunfish, which had been charging straight toward us, suddenly stopped.
Then it started hopping in place.
Spin~
Tap, tap.
“Huh?”
It suddenly spun halfway around and ran.
In the opposite direction from us.
Floor 3, where the Leg Sunfish was, also had a lake. It was about ten meters in diameter.
The lake in the center was clearly the Leg Sunfish’s current target.
Dash!
Slash.
At that moment, Clara rushed forward in a single burst and cut off the Leg Sunfish’s legs.
Its two smooth legs were severed, and the running Leg Sunfish toppled onto the field floor.
Even in that state, the tentacle with a mouth on it moved.
The tentacle aimed for Clara’s neck, but Clara showed not the slightest sign of panic and cut that off too.
Slash!
Thud. Wriggle wriggle.
The severed tentacle writhed on the ground for a moment, but the still-burning Leg Sunfish’s eyes turned white, and soon the tentacle stopped moving as well.
Ding~!
[You have cleared Floor 3]
[Clear time: 7 seconds]
[You have entered the Floor 3 clear rankings]
[You have become Rank 1 on the Floor 3 clear rankings]
[Would you like to register your name]
[Yes][No]
[You have leveled up]
[Level 3 → Level 4]
[Your class is Summoner. Magic Power increases]
[Magic Power 11 → Magic Power 15]
[This is Floor 3. You have obtained an UN-grade reward]
[Lowest-grade Magic Stone Fragment]
[Youth Potion 1 Second]
[Colorful Bracelet (Absolute Defense)]
“Huh?”
Startled, I checked the description of Absolute Defense on the colorful bracelet.
[Absolute Defense: Blocks any attack exactly once]
...Why did this come out on Floor 3?
_____________
“Did you two recover well from the last aftereffects?”
“Well, better than the world’s ugliest mage.”
“What are you talking about, pig-head-who-got-run-over-by-a-truck? Looks like your face is still suffering from aftereffects. There’s no way that’s a human face, right?”
The Warrior who acted as the party leader rubbed his forehead after asking about the two’s condition.
“Seriously, I can’t tell whether you two are friends or not.”
Maybe his words only added fuel to the fire, because the two started bickering even more. Watching them felt like it would never end.
“Enough. Let’s finish quickly today too. We’re going in right away, okay?”
““““We’re counting on you, Leader!””””
“Entering Floor 3!”
Fortunately, everyone listened well to the leader at least.
It was a team of five, the maximum party size, made up entirely of Iron aptitudes.
A party composition you could see anywhere.
They were confident.
Because they had what was considered the best possible class composition according to the guides.
Two Warriors, one Archer, one Assassin, and one Mage.
Even if every one of them had only Iron aptitude, they considered Floor 3 easy enough.
There were two who constantly bickered, but all five had already known one another before this, so their teamwork was good.
“Then! Like we discussed earlier, I’ll take the lead and... Huh?”
The Warrior acting as leader suddenly sensed something strange beside him.
One of his party members was already staring at the Leg Sunfish with bloodshot eyes while covering her mouth.
“Uweeeeegh!”
Thud.
In the end, the woman lost consciousness and collapsed.
She was the Mage who had earlier been called the world’s ugliest.
The situation became difficult immediately, as the Mage had vomited and passed out the moment they started.
The Archer rushed to the Mage at once, secured her airway, and spoke.
“Damn! W-we have to give up! We need to do first aid first! They said if someone vomits and passes out, their airway could get blocked!”
Suddenly, one member of the five-person team was out.
While they were already in trouble, the Assassin’s eyes looked strange.
When the Mage collapsed, her skirted Mage outfit had ridden up.
That exposed the woman’s thigh.
The Assassin stared intently at that thigh.
The Archer saw him and immediately shrieked.
“Hey!! At a time like this, you...!”
But the Assassin started saying something strange.
“...Cut off the legs.”
“What...?”
“Her legs are smooth, right? We have to cut them off.”
“W-what are you talking about! This isn’t the time for jokes!”
The Assassin drew his dagger and approached the unconscious Mage lying on the ground.
“Damn it! It’s the aftereffects! He already went insane in the preparation room before we even cleared it! Just seeing the Leg Sunfish made him snap!”
“What? Just from looking at a sunfish with legs?”
“Don’t stop me! I have to cut them off! Her legs are smoooooth!”
The remaining Warrior grabbed the Assassin from behind and desperately held him back.
“Get a grip, you bastard!!”
Watching the situation descend into chaos in an instant, the leader squeezed his eyes shut.
His expression looked as though he couldn’t believe this was already their limit.
At last, he made a decision.
“System window, we give up! All of us are leaving!”
The leader saved everyone from a situation that had nearly ended in total annihilation.
A few days later, the Mage and Assassin regained their senses.
They had only seen the monster from the Floor 3 preparation room, yet they suffered from the aftereffects for a long time.
And in the end, the two of them made a choice.
They decided to sell the Mage outfit and Assassin outfit they had received when choosing their classes.
And so, yet another ragtag party disbanded.