I Became an Evolving Deep-Sea Creature

Chapter 7. Ascent

Vertical movement was an extremely dangerous action in the deep sea. Because the pressure difference could damage the body.

But Yul currently had Authority of Madness activated. His invincible body did not collapse and was rapidly ascending.

【Your Current Lifespan】

[Remaining - 1 year 9 months 30 days]

'I was going to ascend slowly!'

The rate at which his lifespan was decreasing was too fast. At this rate, he might die from a lack of lifespan before the sand sharks even managed to eat him.

The terrifying vertical movement caused the sand sharks to begin pursuing.

-Revenge!

-Let's take revenge!

'Fine! Keep following me then!'

Amid the terrifying, rapid ascent, Yul fired powerful ultrasonic wave cannons at the sand sharks that followed, bursting their entrails.

And soon he shot up to a thousand meters in the deep sea.

Some began to fall off, then they couldn't hold on and tumbled away in a heap.

Even after the fearsome rapid ascent, there were still sand sharks following.

One was an enormously large sand shark, unusual with long white whiskers around its snout like an Eastern dragon.

-You! Who are you?

It was the commander who had led the sand sharks earlier, and the oldest of the species. One of his eyes bore a long scar.

The sand shark, which had lived nearly a thousand years, was analyzing Yul.

-I've never heard of a small Jelly Octopus like you producing such overwhelming power. I've never seen one that can emit the ultrasonic waves or venom used by the Deep Sea King Tribe, nor use its tentacles with such might. Your body isn't collapsing. Why? Who are you? Are you a subordinate of the Sea God?

'I don't know either, you bastard! If I knew who I was, I wouldn't be doing this.'

Yul didn't know either. He was just an ordinary Earthling. He had simply been reborn as a parasite in this insane place.

And Sea God Kaidron was nothing more than someone he'd seen from afar—no more, no less.

He wanted to answer, but unlike Arktar, it seemed this one would not respond to conversation.

-Maybe you're a monster that crawled up from the abyssal deep. I have memorized your soul. If you show up in our territory again, I'll kill you.

'Screw you.'

Yul made a fist-shaped mass using two of his tentacles.

-Wha—what? You... you understood my words? What is that posture? What are you trying to say?

But unable to withstand the rapid ascent, the old sand shark also sank to the seabed.

Finally shaking off the sand sharks' chase, and as soon as Madness was deactivated, Yul stopped his rapid ascent.

Gooooooong.

Only silence filled the deep-sea plain.

'Am I dead?'

A moment of silence. And then he realized he was still okay.

'Did it treat me as having adapted to the pressure while in an invincible state? Or is it still the deep sea, and because I'm a deep-sea creature, I can endure it?'

He wasn't sure. It was startling and terrifying that, even after rising a thousand meters, this was still considered deep sea.

Yul looked around.

This place was truly a mysterious region. At least there were more lifeforms here than where Yul had been, and light was rising.

'What is that?'

There was a very beautiful and enchanting red light. It also glowed orange, then again shifted to red, then blue.

Drawn by its entrancing appearance, Yul approached and realized it was a massive jellyfish colony.

'What the—?'

It looked like jellyfish with bodies stretched like threads, interweaving their bodies to form a huge cluster.

Yul saw a fish drifting nearby, attracted by that light and swimming closer.

He then saw it get caught in a tentacle and immediately go limp.

'They're dangerous.'

There were dozens of these coffin-shaped jellyfish colonies in the area.

They were gobbling up the fish of this water in a concentrated way, giving the feeling that the entire seabed plain supplied prey to them.

'Wow, hunting here would be completely useless.'

All the prey were completely drawn to that jellyfish colony, swarming like a pitiful Gollum who had found the One Ring.

Hunting here would be a waste. That jellyfish was hogging all the efficiency.

He didn't even have the slightest thought of touching the jellyfish colony, just in case.

That jellyfish itself was a massive trap, a place full of poison-covered tentacles.

Each individual was weaker than Yul, so he couldn't even trigger Madness.

For now, Yul hunted just a few fish to ease his slight hunger and began to move.

Even in Phantarassa, there were regions — a classification by depth.

There was the Epipelagic Zone, which referred to the sea surface area commonly seen by humans.

Then came the Mesopelagic Zone. This was the seabed part of the continental slope, meaning depths of 200 to 1,000 meters. From here, since light barely reached, it was called the “Twilight zone”.

And from 1,000 meters and below was called the Deep Sea, where Yul now hovered at the very edge of the Mesopelagic Zone.

If he crossed past those coffin-like jellyfish colonies, he could soon reach a region where even a small amount of light came in.

'To go further up, maybe I should develop my adaptation ability.'

Yul checked his experience points.

[Until 5th Evolution Stage]

[8,800 / 3,200]

'I did get some experience from killing a few sand sharks. Next evolution should focus on adaptation.'

[Currently Available Evolutions]

[1. Pressure Adaptation: Strengthens internal durability and organs so the body can withstand drastic pressure changes.]

[2. Buoyancy Control Organ: Grants the ability to generate and control internal buoyancy, allowing efficient vertical movement even without motion.]

[3. Enhanced Light Detection: Evolves light-sensing cells to detect and adapt to environmental light. Eyes can perceive more light spectrums, ensuring visibility.]

[4. Water Temperature Change Resistance: Gains the ability to withstand sudden temperature changes or regulate body temperature independently.]

[5. Oxygen Generator: Gains an internal organ that can generate oxygen on its own.]

'Pressure Adaptation, that's it!'

Now, even if the pressure changed suddenly, Yul would be able to adapt.

It was an ability chosen because using Madness, which shortened his lifespan, was too much of a burden for vertical movement.

The other abilities were tempting too, but none were a top priority right now.

'Man, wish I got more evolution points.'

If he had more, he would've chosen them all—they were that appealing. But it couldn't be helped.

[5th Evolution Stage Complete]

[Until Next Evolution]

[5,600 / 6,400]

'Once I finish Stage 6, it's Ascension.'

His remaining lifespan was about a year and a half. If he continued hunting smoothly, the experience gained should be enough—but there was a problem.

'If I activate Madness, I might seriously die for real.'

He couldn't encounter strong enemies. Especially if he met a group of strong ones, Yul could literally be torn apart by his own lifespan.

What would be the point if he burned through all his strength and died of exhaustion?

So his conclusion was that it was better to safely hunt and consume weaker creatures without activating Madness.

But just as he reached that conclusion, something caught on Yul's ultrasonic waves.

It was some kind of battle.

'What the? Did my ultrasonic organ break?'

After reading the returning ultrasonic waves and seeing the size, Yul wanted to rub his eyes in disbelief.

'That's the Sea God!?'

Sea God Kaidron was fighting some kind of creature.

'What is that thing? Is that even a living creature...?'

In front of him was an unbelievably gigantic creature, something that defied perspective itself.

As if it had completely absorbed the light of the deep sea, its form was like a shadow.

That amorphous creature had tentacles that fluttered like curtains, swaying in every direction underwater.

Each tentacle was easily hundreds of meters long, and its tips were sharp as spearheads.

The colossal monster looked almost alien.

-Lord of the Abyss! Abysarion!

It was Yul's first time hearing Kaidron's divine voice, and it was so overwhelmingly powerful that just hearing it made his brain tremble.

The battle between Sea God Kaidron and the abyssal tentacles of Abysarion caused a terrifying shockwave.

'Holy—...'

A blinding beam blasted out of Kaidron's mouth, devastating the surroundings.

In response, Abysarion's tentacles extended. From their tips, gravity warped and formed a vacuum that sucked everything in, compressing the seawater.

When a high-pressure bomb struck the Sea God, Kaidron twisted his body and let out a beastly roar.

From the Sea God's struggle, an enormous stone pillar was swept away.

Gooooooohhhhhh!

Abysarion and Kaidron soon became entangled, beginning a full-on physical battle.

The once peaceful deep-sea plain began to collapse.

Tentacles seized the body of the serpent-like god, while Kaidron's jaws tore into the amorphous creature's flesh.

Strength clashed with strength, and the shockwaves reduced the surroundings to utter devastation.

The jellyfish colonies that once emitted beautiful light disintegrated, scattering back into their individual forms. If any survived, it would be a miracle.

Every living creature in the vicinity trembled in terror and struggled desperately to escape the area.

The seabed split open, and from beneath the ground, the crust crumbled as magma burst forth, instantly changing the temperature.

The rocky terrain of the deep sea collapsed, and whirlpools spread across the rising stone pillars.

【Authority — Madness (狂化) Activated】

Even though those beings were far, far away, Madness suddenly activated on its own.

That meant their mere presence had reached this place.

Yul's existence had no impact whatsoever on their battle. They completely ignored him—and everything else—as they tore into each other in a ferocious bloodbath.

Blood fountains erupted, dyeing the entire sea red.

Even Yul was caught helplessly in the turbulent current from the shockwaves. No matter how tough his body had become, there was no escaping that flow.

A massive current surged toward him, hurling him away at incredible speed.

At the same time, he gathered his strength little by little, adjusting his angle to swim upward rather than fight the current.

'This place is insane. I'm getting out of here.'

After shooting upward like a madman, he scattered ultrasonic waves to glance down at the battle below.

Through the fractured crust, he saw something monstrous rising from the depths—an enormous architectural structure.

An ancient monument emerged from the seabed, and atop it floated a statue shaped like an octopus. From it burst forth bizarre blue beams of light in every direction.

In the darkness of the deep sea, that sight was strangely beautiful—

[Radiation Contamination Level Increasing]

'Radiation!?'

It was emitting radiation.

Perhaps the battle between the monsters had unearthed an ancient ruin buried beneath the sea.

But whether or not the ancient structure emerged, the colossal creatures remained locked in their duel.

Even mere observation of their fight caused the crust to collapse and whirlpools to form—such was the scale of their power.

There was no time to watch any longer. When another massive shockwave struck, Yul realized Madness was still active and immediately fled.

How far up had he gone?

When the distance finally widened, Madness faded.

He had at last escaped the domain of those monsters' battle.

Yul checked his remaining lifespan.

[Remaining – 1 month]

'Damn it... my lifespan...'

Then—tap, tap—something fell on his skin. It was water.

Yul looked around to see where he was. This place was—

'The ocean surface!?'

Above him, the sky was heavy with storm clouds, as if a typhoon were raging, and the sea churned like a violent tempest.

Raindrops fell one by one, landing on his skin.

Yul felt his breath tightening.

His respiratory system was different now; it felt impossible to absorb oxygen completely.

Though his body was slowly beginning to adapt, Yul's consciousness cut out in that moment.

The last thing he saw before losing his memory was a terrifying pillar of light shooting up into the sky.

'Shit, call 119..!'

* * *

When Yul opened his eyes, he thought he was dreaming.

He looked around—he was inside a luxurious stone chamber, the kind where nobles might live.

And he was... inside a fish tank?

Thinking he must be dreaming, he flapped his fins—but it was real.

"You're finally awake?"

There stood a slender man with delicate features.

'What on earth is going on?'