Record of a Thousand Lives

Chapter 130

A sinister and eerie environment greeted them once they passed through the cave entrance formed out of limestone. The walls were lined with the remains of various carnivorous sea creatures, either half-eaten or stripped down to bone. It was to the point that the water in the cave was reddish from traces of blood, and they could practically smell its stench even though they were underwater.

“…!”

The party members’ eyes all opened wide in shock, and they were left speechless by the sight before them. They quietly swam past the area without saying anything—rather, they could not say anything. It was impossible to speak underwater in the first place, and they were still biting down on the airdrop fruits for air.

That was why Mung Bean was the only creature that received the Cayman River’s approval to speak. The turtle cried out, “Krwaaak!?Krwak!”

A faint light shone at the end of the cave. It was night on the Cayman River, so the source was definitely not sunlight.

What the party found when they swam up to it was a tangle of seaweed that glowed brightly like a lamp.

“…”

Kang Yoon-Soo pointed at the glowing seaweed, and the others nodded and took some of it with them. The seaweed acted as a lantern, shining light in front of them.

Kang Yoon-Soo told each of them to grab some of the seaweed because the cave was vast and wide, and his wrist device’s flashlight would not be enough to provide light for all of them.

As the cave lit up, a large, wide-open mouth suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Chomp!

Just like that, Mung Bean was eaten alive.

Iris jumped in surprise and almost dropped the airdrop fruit in her mouth. She groaned, “Eup…! Eup…!”

The mouth belonged to a carnivorous fish that was larger than an adult man. It had thin scales and a large body resembling that of a sea creature. As it swallowed Mung Bean, it dragged Iris along, as she was still connected to the mana threads tied around the turtle.

“Eup!?Euuup…!”?Iris groaned as she extended her hand in anger, shooting dark mana out of her palms. The dark bolt of lightning precisely hit the carnivorous fish’s jaws.

Kwachiiiik!

“Kirwuaaaak!”?The carnivorous fish roared loudly and thrashed in pain, almost dragging Iris out of the cave as it swam away.

Yan quickly tied the rope attached to his harpoon around his wrist, then threw the harpoon with all his might.

“Kirwuaak!”?The large carnivorous fish roared in agony when the harpoon stabbed it in the stomach. As it squirmed and thrashed violently, its blood started to flow out from the wound made by the harpoon.

Sukeok!

Kang Yoon-Soo swung his sword and Shaneth swung her scythe, both striking the carnivorous fish’s head. The fish opened its mouth wide, trying to swallow Iris as well.

“Argh…!” Henrick gritted his teeth and quickly pulled his hands back, and his mana threads suddenly shot up and wrapped around the carnivorous fish’s teeth. The fish ended up stuck without even being able to move its mouth.

Kang Yoon-Soo swam toward the carnivorous fish to deal the final blow. He lifted his red sword up high, before…

Kwachiiiiik!

The underwater cave started to shake wildly, to the point that they thought the whole place was going to cave in. However, a creature incomparably larger than the carnivorous fish suddenly swam toward them.

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…!”?The gigantic fish growled at them.

The party members could not hide their shock at the appearance of the new threat. It was an aquatic creature, but it resembled a lizard more than any fish. It was a predator with razor-sharp teeth that looked as threatening as a crocodile.

[Plesiosaur]

[The owner of the island, the Plesiosaur Waterchemedon, has appeared!]

The large plesiosaur’s body filled the entire cave. Caught between its teeth was a thin fishing line. Its fins were tangled up in various aquatic plants, but it easily snapped them with its monstrous strength as it slowly approached the bleeding carnivorous fish.

Crunch…!

The vicious plesiosaur bit down on the carnivorous fish. It tried to fight back by thrashing around, but the plesiosaur’s long, sharp teeth had already penetrated through its body. The sound of its flesh being torn apart and its bones being crushed reverberated throughout the cave, rippling through the water.

Crunch! Craaaackk!

Henrick immediately cut off the supply of mana to his mana threads, as Iris would definitely be caught up in the plesiosaurus’ feast if she were dragged into its jaws. He then swam toward Iris and caught her.

‘Let’s go,’?Kang Yoon-Soo signaled with his eyes, gesturing to the party while the plesiosaur was still distracted by its meal. He led the way, and everyone swam after him as fast as they could. Fortunately, the plesiosaur was so busy feasting on the carnivorous fish that it did not even glance at the party members.

Iris waved her hands toward the feasting plesiosaur while she struggled and groaned, “Eup! Eup…!”?She was trying to show her resistance to leaving while Mung Bean was being eaten by the larger predator.

Henrick glared at Iris in annoyance, then flicked her forehead—although it was not going to hurt, since they were underwater—before continuing to swim away.

Soon after, another source of light came into view, as they were approaching the surface of the water.

“Fuwah!”

They spat out the airdrop fruits as they surfaced one by one. They found themselves in a limestone cave that was covered all over with glowing seaweed. Perhaps the cave was connected to somewhere outside, as it was filled with breathable air. They dragged their exhausted and heavy bodies out of the water and plopped down onto the ground.

Yan let out a few coughs before stuttering, “P-Plesiosaur! It was a Plesiosaur!”

“Hey, listen. We have eyes too, you know?” Henrick replied in annoyance. He clenched his fist and complained, “What the hell is wrong with this river? It would be difficult to find something as big as that even out in the ocean!”

“How did it survive hiding in the river with that huge body?” Shaneth asked.

“How would I know? Never mind that, my heart is still racing when I remember the fact that we almost died just now!” Henrick grumbled and complained.

Iris, on the other hand, covered her face with both of her hands and cried loudly, “…Mung Bean is dead!”

Henrick scoffed and sarcastically remarked, “Why is it that every animal you name always ends up dying early?”

Bzzt!

Iris struck Henrick in the chest with a bolt of black lightning from her hand.

“Euuuuuk!”?Henrick screamed in pain.

Iris was still not over her sorrow, and she sniffled before curling down again, crying, “M-Mung Bean was… sniffle!?Mung Bean was a very good softshell turtle…! Sniffle!”

It was then that Kang Yoon-Soo, who had been squeezing his wet clothes dry, nonchalantly said, “That softshell turtle is still alive.”

“Kang Yoon-Soo, is that true?” Iris asked, looking at him while sniffling.

Kang Yoon-Soo nodded and said, “It was eaten alive.”

“Well, I guess you’re right,” Henrick said.

“It will be digested in four hours,” Kang Yoon-Soo added.

Bzzt!

Kang Yoon-Soo ducked and avoided the black lightning Iris shot at him. Iris cried while continuously shooting out black lightning, shouting, “Kang Yoon-Soo is the worst!”

Shaneth shook her head after squeezing the water out of her hair, then asked, “If that plesiosaur was the owner of this island, is that the creature that kidnapped Nell?”

“Oh, come to think of it… I only saw the creature’s shadow the day my father was taken away, but it’s much bigger than what I saw that day, now that I’ve seen it in person,” Yan said.

Henrick furrowed his brows while rubbing his chest. He grumbled, “Don’t tell me we have to kill that monstrous thing underwater…?”

A chill went down the party members’ spines. Plesiosaurs were already known as strong monsters, and the thought of hunting down a boss monster like that underwater felt like asking for a death wish.

“B-Before that, we have to search for my father first. I saw a fishing line stuck between its teeth a while ago,” Yan said. He was certain that the fishing line stuck between the monster’s teeth belonged to his father.

Henrick picked up a thin line from the cave’s floor and asked, “Is this that fishing line, by any chance?”

“Ah! Yes! That’s the one! My father uses a very unique kind of fishing line made out of wyvern tendons, so I recognized it immediately!” Yan exclaimed.

The fishing line stretched from the surface of the water all the way across the cave floor.

Henrick flicked the fishing line and said, “I can see it’s not an ordinary fishing line, since it still hasn’t snapped yet. Will we be able to meet your father if we follow it?”

“You don’t have to look too far,” said a voice.

The entire party looked toward where the voice came from, and saw someone walking over from the other end of the limestone cave.

He was a skinny old man with a long white beard, wearing a worn-out straw hat. In his right hand was a unique-looking fishing rod, with a line that extended all the way down into the water.

Yan’s eyes widened in shock as he called out, “F-Father? You’re alive?”

“Am I supposed to be dead?” Nell replied.

“Can I hug you?” Yan asked.

“It’s disgusting for men to be hugging each other, but there’s no other greeting as warm as a hug,” Nell said. Yan ran toward him and hugged him tightly, and Nell warmly patted his son’s back the way any loving father would.

“Give me something to eat,” Nell said.

“Our boat got wrecked so we don’t have anything,” Yan replied.

“How did that happen?” Nell asked.

“It happened while we were trying to save you, father. Why else would it happen?” Yan replied.

“It’s too bad you failed. I’m about to die from hunger,” Nell remarked.

“You didn’t eat anything while you were alone…?” Yan asked in disbelief.

“I learned what a leather shoe tasted like,” Nell replied, showing off his bare feet.

Yan suddenly said, “Oh, right. Mother told me she would sleep with Sukera from the other neighborhood if you died, so you might want to take care of yourself.”

“Tell her I love her,” Nell replied.

“Ah, please, please tell her yourself,” Yan said.

Henrick suddenly nudged Yan’s side and remarked, “Your family doesn’t seem any less entertaining than our party, now that I’ve listened to your conversation. It must never be boring at home, eh?”

Nell looked at Kang Yoon-Soo and his party before asking, “Who are you people?”

“They helped me look for you. I would never have been able to reach this island if it weren’t for these people,” Yan explained.

“Island? Was this an island?” Nell asked in surprise.

“Weren’t you aware?” Yan asked in disbelief.

“I had no idea because I was being dragged along by that guy,” Nell replied.

He then checked his fishing line. He had never let go of his fishing rod since the day he was dragged all the way to the island by the plesiosaur. Due to that, he had lost consciousness twice on the way and had almost died; he would have suffocated if he had not found the limestone cave in time.

“That guy has been staying here the entire time instead of going anywhere. Thanks to that, I wasn’t dragged into the water,” Nell said while combing his long white beard with one hand.

Yan nodded and replied, “Then let’s go. Mother is worried about you, and you’re already exhausted too. I don’t know where we are right now, but we’ll find an exit if we keep walking through the cave.” He then pointed deeper into the cave.

However, Nell shook his head and replied, “I can’t go.”

“Why not?” Yan asked.

Nell pointed at his fishing line, which went all the way into the water. It was trembling slightly, apparently still hooked onto something. As he stared at the line, he replied, “I have to catch that guy.”

“Who is that guy?” Yan asked.

“The guy that dragged me here,” Nell replied with a serious expression.

“Father… Have you finally gone insane?” Yan asked in disbelief, stunned by what his father had just said. He added, “You’ll catch that gigantic plesiosaur? Please, just let it go this time! How will someone who hasn’t even eaten properly catch a monster like that?”

Nell began with a hint of anger in his voice, “My son.”

“Ah, what now?” Yan asked.

“I’m a fisherman,” Nell said.

“What about it? Did I ever say you were a miner or a farmer?” Yan retorted.

“I’ll definitely catch anything that gets hooked by me!” Nell exclaimed proudly.

“Not every single fisherman in the world is as crazy as you are!” Yan protested.

It was then…

“You can catch it,” Kang Yoon-Soo interjected.

Yan looked stunned by Kang Yoon-Soo’s words, and just silently pointed at the cave in protest. However, Kang Yoon-Soo said, “We can’t leave until we kill the owner of the island.”

“Why so?” Yan asked.

“The tides are too strong outside the cave,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.

The island only appeared during heavy rains, and the raging tides would make it impossible for them to swim across the water. In fact, it was guaranteed that they would be swept away if they ever attempted to do so.

“But, a way to escape this island will appear if we kill the owner of the island,” Kang Yoon-Soo said confidently. He added, “That’s why we have to catch it and reel it in. We can’t win against it underwater.”

“I thank you for understanding the pride of a lowly fisherman,” Nell said with a polite bow.

Kang Yoon-Soo nonchalantly replied, “Give me your fishing rod if we’re successful in catching the plesiosaur.”

“Why should I?” Nell asked in surprise.

“Because I’m better than you at fishing,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.

Silence filled the cave for a while.

Then, Henrick broke the silence, tapping Kang Yoon-Soo on the shoulder and saying, “You really are such a pain in the ass.”

1. This is a direct translation from the raw; the explanation is fairly complicated and involves Korean spiritual beliefs. Think of it as the river being a sort of authority, and the creatures within it being its subjects.

2. A plesiosaur is an extinct underwater dinosaur that looks like the Loch Ness monster (The Loch Ness monster is not a plesiosaur. It just looks like it). More info here:

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