So I’m a Fish, So What?

Haaaaaaaaaah. I’m freakin’ bored!

What the heck is up with this world’s topography? This is unscientific in too many ways.

I’ve been swimming in the same direction for over a month, but there wasn’t a single patch of above water ground to be seen!

Sure, I had to take numerous detours to avoid the numerous Water Dragon gatherings, but I should’ve crossed about two thousand kilometers by now!

Like, that’s literally over 5% of Earth’s circumference!!

Even the temperature remains relatively unchanged. It’s as if I’ve been swimming in circles for weeks!

I did consider the possibility of enchantments, wards, or even magnetic fields that could potentially be deceiving my senses, but I never saw the same landmark more than once.

Also, Spatial Awareness renders all that stuff like that moot in the first place.

Needless to say, I definitely went the exact opposite direction of where land should be, as evidenced by the increasingly stronger Water Dragons patrolling around.

I’m pretty sure monsters should get weaker the closer I am to land, sooo yeah.

By the way, can anyone tell me why all the dragons decided to cut their hibernation short all of a sudden? I get the feeling those patrols are meant for finding me.

No offense, but you won’t be able to find me, big guys. Just go back to sleep already.

There has always been at least one Water Dragon in my field of view for about a week now. 

I can even see some Wind Dragons flying above the surface occasionally.

Seriously though, what kind of hidden secret could be important enough to warrant dispatching this huge amount of manpower at the same time?

I contemplated just teleporting the fuck away from here more than once, but I ultimately decided to stay.

My intuition is telling me that I should keep going and uncover whatever it is that requires more protection than the bottom layer of Elroe Labyrinth.

Mischief truly is a game changer though!

I would've never dared to pass through these areas without god-level stealth, else the chances of me coming out alive would be less than zero.

It’s also kinda creepy how the skills I acquire are always the exact ones I need in the near.

I dunno if it’s my intuition at work or unconscious guidance from someone else. I really hope it’s the former though.

Anyways, I gotta get this over with as soon as possible and adjust my direction back towards where land supposedly is.

Counting the days, there are only four months left until the human reincarnations are born and Kumoko’s should’ve started her maze runner adventure more than two months ago.

Fortunately, I’m already strong enough to protect some babies while fighting elves and I can go ashore by using Shapeshifting to morph into a human.

Although I can only use the body of a ten-year-old, it’s still huge progress from when I couldn’t stay above water for more than five minutes without potentially suffocating to death.

The only thing that’s left for me to do is to actually find the reincarnations, but I have some ideas about how I could go about doing that.

Wait for me, Aiko-chan and Segawa-chan! I won’t leave you alone for long!

As for Katia… Well, you’re gonna be a duke’s daughter, so I guess I’ll just watch over you until you actually need me.

 

A few hours of avoiding patrols later, I finally came across a noteworthy discovery.

Thousands– possibly millions of weak fluorescent lights arranged in a formation reminiscent of vines on a wall suddenly popped up in front of me.

This place is eerie in too many ways.

Through my naked eye, I can only see an enormous wall stretching endlessly in both directions underwater.

However, thousands upon thousands of bioluminescent plants covering that wall and the scattered skeletons under it can be seen when I use my Spatial Awareness sphere instead.

I believe I have finally reached my destination.

Taking a closer look, I’m astounded by what both my senses and the Appraisal results tell me.

 

 

What's up with the insane number of heretic-type skills…? They're all maxed out?!

Holy moly! I didn’t even know the system had such ridiculous skills!

Every single one of these plants can be considered a soul-annihilating fixed turret with exclusive skills and extreme stat specialization.

If some hapless creature gets a bit too close by mistake, their soul would get torn into shreds before they could even blink!

These are definitely some kind of mass-produced biological weapon! I mean, they don't even need to eat!

And that’s not even the scary part.

Those plants are clearly aimed inwards. Their purpose is actually to prevent people on this side from crossing, not keeping watch over an imprisoned creature.

I mean, I’d probably doubt if I’m currently in some experimental protected area if it wasn’t for the ghastly scene on the other side of the wall.

Basically, whoever made this wall decided that they’d rather kill anyone who gets close than disturb whatever’s on the other side.

And I gotta say I totally agree with this approach.

What’s on the other side, you ask? Well, it’s fish.

Not normal fish, nope. No way in hell can this stuff be called normal.

Their bodies are full of scars and injuries. Some of them have missing flesh, organs, and even bones.

That’s only the physical aspect though.

You’d find even these creatures’ illusory aspects even more grotesque if you have an ability similar to Spiritual Cognition.

The only word I find fitting to describe their souls is corrupted.

It’s a bit similar to my soul back when it was polluted, but a whole lot worse.

Their souls are entirely black and there is a red spherical core-like ball inside their chest area.

This core has red lines coming out of it and running through the monsters’ souls in a pattern that’s eerily reminiscent of human veins.

Basically, they’re a bunch of dead bodies that are controlled like puppets on strings.

And trust me, both you and I wouldn’t wanna know who or what is controlling them.

However, reality doesn’t always go according to our wishes.

Your plans will sometimes get fucked up by some events that are out of your control, and you might be forced by others into situations you’d rather not go through at other times.

{Bzzzt… Skill… [Mischief]….. deactivated.}

Huh? Hey hey hey, what’s going on?!

Manager-san’s intermittent voice sounds as if it’s coming from too far away, and it’s also covered by a lot of static.

{...External…intrusion…} {[Sage]…breach…}

Give me some details, would ya?!

I get no further answer though.

The first notification stated that Mischief was deactivated while the second one was a system external intrusion alert.

Only administrators have the authority to do both of those things.

Let’s not talk about which one of those guys did it, the impact of their actions is what I should focus on right now.

You see, I’m standing in full view, miles deep in Water Dragon territory with both Mischief and Sage’s instant magic casting forcefully disabled.

Remember those dragon patrols I mentioned a while ago? Yeaaahh, all of those are now coming my way full speed.

I could try to cast a Long-Range Teleportation spell to escape, but I’m pretty sure I don’t have enough time.

Also, fighting them isn’t an option!

Their average stats are close to 10,000 and that’s without activating any stat boosting skill. They’d tear me apart like a piece of paper.

It’s checkmate.

The only way I could possibly have a chance of coming out of this alive is to cross over that wall and wrestle for my life with those undead.

Before I start running for my life, I’d like to ask two questions, please.

Why did we suddenly switch from fantasy to zombie apocalypse survival?! And who the fuck set me up for this?!!

Whoever you are, I swear I’ll get back at you someday!!

Taking one last look at the dragon tide coming my way, I activate my stat boosting skills and hastily swim towards the wall.

I instantly feel a huge difference between the two environments, but the undead don’t give me any time to ponder the specifics.

The wall seems to have been somehow blocking their senses from detecting what’s beyond it, but I lost its protection as soon as I came out.

Hundreds of undead marine creatures all started charging at me as soon as I entered their vision.

Taking out my weapons, I attempt to build a Short Range Teleport magic construction, but it splendidly fails to activate.

Magic is blocked in this area. More specifically, magic power is non-existent in my immediate surroundings.

Quickly going through my memory, I match this phenomenon with one shown in the last episode in the anime– Anti-Magic Barrier.

That would explain why my stats are still there, but I believe it’s not the same exact phenomenon.

Kumoko was still able to use skills and magic as long as it’s inside her or Potimas’s body. However, I’m only able to use them inside my own body.

And space nodes are technically not a part of my body, so Spatial Magic is entirely sealed including my inventory spell…

Sure, I can still load my spikes with poison, but poison is most likely gonna be ineffective when it comes to undead creatures.

Most of my strength is sealed. And not only is there no way out, but I’m also unable to access my Spatial Storage which contains all my food!

Honestly, if this is some kind of cruel prank, I’d rather whoever’s responsible for it stopped already…

No reply? Yeah, guess there’s no running away from this then.

Well, back to the good ol’ primitive way it is!

Since the weapons I previously made are still in my spatial storage, I create a new pair and mentally prepare myself for a long drawn out fight.

I also make myself a thin disposable scale armor that fully covers my body to make sure none of that disgusting blood and flesh touches my body.

I’m very glad my spikes and Shapeshifting are considered internal body skills, otherwise I would actually be forced into punching these bags of rotten flesh with my bare hands.

Ughhh, the thought in itself gave me goosebumps!

Well, the scales are technically still part of my body, but I can just shed them later on.

Time for a grind! Literally!