Chapter 21 : Chapter 21
Chapter 21. Black Whale Survival
The match foretold as the ‘Black Whale Survival’ had finally arrived.
I woke up earlier than usual today.
No, it was more accurate to say that my eyes had opened early.
My heart was pounding.
Was it similar to the excitement before a school trip?
Hyunwoo mumbled quietly as he woke from his sleep.
“…Not at all.”
There was no need to catch an aquatic monster on a school trip.
It was already my fourth match, but the nervousness was the same.
Hoo―
I let out a long breath.
I took deep breaths to calm my pounding heart, easing the tension.
My preparations had long been finished.
A more perfect preparation was impossible.
‘Skirma Swordsmanship mastered. Berries, tights, scroll….’
I carefully tucked away the prepared items deep within me.
‘Lastly, the Lads.’
Four harpoons, each almost as tall as me.
I connected them one by one with a rope and slung them securely on my back.
Having finished my preparations, I quietly closed my eyes and waited for Van.
‘First, upon entering the arena….’
Just as I was slowly recalling the sequence for hunting the Black Whale.
Van arrived.
“Are you all prepared.”
“Thoroughly.”
“By any chance, do you need a supply weapon?”
I shook my head and held out the sword I had ordered this time.
It was a rapier optimized for piercing.
The time to rely on the cheap weapons provided by the Arena was over.
Van examined my weapon and nodded.
“It seems you don’t. Wear this.”
When I stepped outside the door, Van fastened a bracelet onto my wrist.
I knew its purpose but didn't let on.
I simply shook my wrist to check if the bracelet hindered my movement, and that was the extent of my assessment.
Following Van down the corridor, we arrived in front of a certain door.
Kkiiiiiik―
The door opened with an unpleasant shriek, as if it hadn't been used in a long time.
As the door opened, the familiar sight of the arena unfolded.
This arena was particularly vast.
And as vast as the arena was, so too was the crowd.
A roar so loud it made my eardrums ring erupted each time a gladiator, myself included, entered.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaah―!!!
My ears went numb from the frenzied cheers.
Following behind, gladiators were entering in a line.
Well over a hundred gladiators glared at each other amidst the tension.
Gladiators continued to pour in.
The number, which had easily surpassed a hundred, was now approaching three hundred.
To hold a match with this many participants, the events that came to mind were a ‘team battle’ or a free-for-all.
The gladiators eyed each other warily, jockeying for a good position.
I immediately gave way to a gladiator who was glaring at me.
‘It’s a waste of time.’
The ‘Black Whale Survival’ wasn't a battle amongst gladiators, but a match for survival.
There was no reason to get swept up in the gladiators' posturing.
A moment later.
Perhaps because all the gladiators had finished entering, a platform began to rise slowly from the center of the arena.
Poof―!
[You've waited a long time, everyone!]
The announcer's voice rang out along with a flash of light.
It was a familiar face.
‘It’s that guy from before.’
Perhaps he was in charge of the Bronze matches, as Morerday, who had appeared as the announcer last time, showed up again.
[Welcome! To the gentleman in seat E-15. Did you win a lot of mana stones last time?]
The announcer showed his affability to the audience with a smooth tongue and expression.
[This match is….]
The announcer paused dramatically, drawing the audience's attention.
I had felt it last time too, but he was skilled.
[The ‘Black Whale Survival’!]
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah―!!!!!
Black Whale Survival.
As it was a traditional match format at the Bellatus Arena, the audience's response was also great.
The rules were simple.
Survive against a monster called the ‘Black Whale’ in the water for a limited time.
[In the hundreds of years of this arena's history, a Bronze-grade gladiator has hunted the Black Whale only once! Who will be the one to hunt the Black Whale and become the next hero of our Bellatus Arena?]
Telling us to hunt the Black Whale was nothing short of a deception.
[To the hero who hunts the Black Whale—10,000 mana stones and the ‘Cheonbyeondo’ as a bonus prize will be awarded!!]
However, as the announcer finished his words, the gladiators' eyes sparkled with anticipation.
The danger of the Black Whale was already gone from the gladiators' minds.
They were just staring ahead like moths drawn to a bright flame.
‘They must be the ones who don't know what a Black Whale is.’
The announcer, who had been building tension, smiled and raised his arm high.
[Then let's begin right away!]
With the announcer's shout, the gladiators' bracelets began to glow.
The light from the bracelets signified the start of a spatial transfer.
A few gladiators were agitated as they looked at their glowing bracelets.
“What the hell is this!”
“Hiiik!”
I paid them no mind and began to warm up.
[The light from the bracelets is for teleportation, so please do not be too alarmed, and I wish you a peaceful survival.]
As the announcer finished speaking, the light from the bracelets flashed even brighter.
Flash―!
With a light that covered the entire arena, all the gladiators vanished in an instant.
***
When I opened my eyes, which had been shrouded in light, everything was blue.
A blue sea, a rare sight in the Demon World.
Below my feet, I could see the sea.
The sea was the ‘Demon World Strait.’
The place where the gladiators had appeared was the sky above the sea.
Unless one had wings, there was no defying gravity.
Without panicking, I held my breath and prepared for the fall.
‘Hup….’
Splash―!
One by one, other gladiators fell beside me.
Splash―!
Splash―!
“Agh!”
Here and there, gladiators who hadn't been prepared were flailing in the water, bewildered.
The commotion was brief.
Soon, the gladiators who had adapted to the sudden change in environment began to move, sizing each other up.
Among them were some who were plotting to hunt the ‘Black Whale.’
One of them swam over to me and struck up a conversation.
“Hey. Let’s hunt this Black Whale or whatever. I'll let you in on it. How about it?”
“Get lost.”
“What? This bastard….”
When I quietly raised my sword, the opponent flinched and backed away.
As he swam backward, he glared fiercely.
“I was going to let you join since you're a Rookie, but for a human… arrogant bastard.”
“……”
I hadn't considered the option of joining hands with other gladiators to hunt the Black Whale.
It was obvious they wouldn't be of any help.
I'd be lucky if they just didn't get in the way of what I had to do.
I turned my attention away from the guys muttering amongst themselves and looked up at the sky.
A giant screen was floating in the air.
Flash―!
Just then, as if the last of the gladiators had completed their spatial transfer, the screen turned on, and the announcer appeared.
[Black Whale Survival! Begins now!]
The announcer shouted the start of the match as soon as he appeared.
I quietly recalled the things I had prepared to hunt the Black Whale.
Shove the prepared Lads into the Black Whale’s blowhole, then neutralize it using a lightning scroll.
‘It might be similar if I think of real-life whaling…? Sounds easy enough.’
Though the difference in difficulty with actual whaling was incomparable.
In any case, the process was similar.
[The time limit is 2 hours. Survive, and you pass. It seems like a match where survival is impossible! Still, if you're quick-witted, you might be able to live…?]
To survive for two hours.
The announcer himself didn't seem convinced, his voice trailing off at the end.
Even if one didn't become prey for the Black Whale, one would have to worry about hypothermia.
After all, the surface temperature of the Demon World Strait started at a base of minus five degrees Celsius.
‘Ugh… I knew it, but it's pretty cold.’
If not for Physique I, I wouldn't have been able to endure this cold.
At least for now, this was the time when I would feel the cold the least.
Because I would soon have to go into the sea.
I popped the ‘Rigur Berry’ I had prepared into my mouth.
Crunch―!
I chewed and ate the small, plum-sized berry in one go.
After swallowing the berry, I immediately dove into the water.
Bubble―
Small bubbles protected my nose and mouth, supplying me with oxygen.
I had no idea what the principle behind it was, but it was an incredibly strange phenomenon.
At first, breathing underwater felt awkward, but I soon got used to it.
‘Now I can breathe underwater for 15 minutes.’
Holding my breath, I quietly descended into the sea.
Just then, a shadow fell over my body.
A massive shadow was passing me, heading upward.
I looked up and my mouth fell open in a daze.
An overwhelmingly massive being.
‘The Black Whale…!’
The Black Whale was rising rapidly to the surface.
“Uh, uh?”
The gladiators who had gathered to hunt seemed to have noticed the shadow below and began to stir.
The commotion was only for a moment.
Kwaang―!
Immediately after, with a booming explosion, the gathered gladiators were sent flying in all directions.
Keok―!
Uwaaaaaaak―!
Covered in the blood shed by the flying gladiators, the beast finally revealed itself.
The Black Whale.
The ruler of the Demon World Strait let out a monstrous roar at the uninvited guests who had disturbed its sweet slumber.
Kuaaaaaaaaar―!!!!!!!!
I couldn't distinguish a whale's facial expressions, but I could easily tell.
That beast was very, very angry.
The Black Whale straightened its back, showing off its presence.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeek―!
A giant sea monster, 30 meters in length with a horn alone measuring 2 meters.
Its pitch-black body contrasted with its white belly.
‘I knew how big it was, but….’
Seeing it with my own two eyes, its size was unbelievable.
Its overwhelming presence filled the eyes of the gladiators, who had been burning with fighting spirit, with fear.
An oppressive aura so strong that the thought of hunting it didn't even cross their minds anymore.
There were those who belatedly thought of ‘escape,’ but they were out of luck.
They were already within its range.
Swish―!
The Black Whale's fins, which were like two wings, swept away the gathered gladiators.
“Keoheok―! My back…! My back!!”
“Kuaaaaaaak!”
A pandemonium unfolded in an instant.
The places where its fins, sharper than most swords, had passed were left with a horrifying sight that couldn't be described with words.
The severed limbs of the gladiators and the entrails that spilled from their bodies sank below.
An overwhelming, inescapable terror spread from the scene of carnage, soaked in red blood.
Fear is contagious.
“Can't, can't catch it! They're crazy bastards to tell us to catch a monster like that…!”
“Sh, shit―! To hold a match like this…!”
The terror-stricken gladiators scattered in all directions like a swarm of locusts.
I silently watched the entire spectacle from under the water.
‘…There's no way they'd let them escape.’
Only the gladiators wished for escape.
The watching audience and the Black Whale both wanted the gladiators' deaths.
An arena designed according to their wishes.
Thud―!
The gladiators fleeing in all directions slammed their bodies against a transparent barrier.
“What is this―!”
“Shit―! Get me out of here right now!”
The gladiators pounded crazily on the transparent wall, screaming in despair.
Their despair soon led to death.
Crunch―!
Kuaaaaaaaaaaah―!
The Black Whale, which had caught up in no time, chewed up a gladiator.
A time for feasting.
To the Black Whale, this place was no different from a fine restaurant where a banquet had been prepared.
The eyeless Black Whale finds its prey through vibrations.
The gladiators who moved hastily, unaware of this, became its primary targets.
Struggling only hastened their deaths.
But if they stayed still, they would either sink or freeze to death in the cold temperature.
Death piled up quickly.
And, having feasted, the Black Whale's body gradually grew sluggish.
At that sight, Hyunwoo's eyes sparkled.
The attack timing he had been waiting for.
I closed my eyes.
‘I can feel it.’
The flow of the sea was drawn in my mind.
I found my center within the massive current.
I felt like I knew how I should wield my swordsmanship.
An imaginary line was etched between myself and the Black Whale.
When a path became visible within the water.
‘Now!’
⌜Skirma Swordsmanship (2-Star)―100%(M)⌟
Hyunwoo's body rode the current, cutting across the sea.
Shiiik―!
A thrust as fast as a flash of lightning!
The ‘Lad’ in his hand was instantly driven into the Black Whale.
Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh―!
A horrifying sound of pain from the Black Whale, unlike any before.
It signaled the start of the hunt.