100. Chicken Master
Channel 001
•Current participants 32/100
-Anonymous795: Hm… a war has broken out.
-Anonymous276: Where? From the planet you oversee?
-Anonymous795: Yes. A war broke out between the race I govern and the krakens. I’ve been managing steadily, but recently, due to a sudden change in the temperature in the North Sea, the number of octopus creatures has been rapidly increasing.
-Anonymous276: It’s chaos. How do you deal with krakens? Those huge ones?
-Anonymous795: I agree with your thoughts as well. This is quite a dilemma. More than I had anticipated.
…
The flow of conversation was notably grim.
Given the diversity in the planets managed by the species and the differing situations of the residents, each would face different circumstances, but it seemed like quite an unfavorable turn of events was unfolding.
Well, if the population of those krakens had surged massively, there would likely be no shortage of disasters as significant as that.
Yet, what truly piqued Han’s interest was something else.
“Krakens? Are they real? Not just a figment of imagination?”
From Noble mtl dot com
[They naturally exist. Of course, there are various species, and some may not fit the description of krakens, but generally, the term refers to marine creatures growing to the size of small islands or oceans.]
Marine creatures the size of small islands.
Unknowingly, Han swallowed a dry spit.
“Th-that makes sense?”
[Most of the myths known to humanity are generally real. However, since most humans have yet to encounter them, they remain unknown. In fact, there have been instances where humans have witnessed krakens, even from Jupiter’s moon Europa.]
“…Is that for real?”
[I am merely stating the facts. Several species of krakens have been living there for quite some time. Even before the origin of humanity, various marine life forms have been evolving and growing.]
“……”
It was a bone-chilling sound.
If it was Jupiter, it wasn’t a planet too far from Earth.
To think that other life forms existed so close by.
Aliens, one might say.
And not just any aliens, but immense beings beyond comparison to humans.
It was a sound that would shock anyone.
[However, this is merely from the perspective of ordinary people.]
“…ordinary people?”
[By the early 2000s, long past for humanity on Earth, the Galileo spacecraft landed in Jupiter’s orbit, leaving substantial records. Of course, this fact is not well known to most humans.]
“Wow. Out of the blue.”
It was truly unexpected.
Never did I imagine that the existence of aliens would be proven so abruptly.
With the system unable to lie, this must be the truth.
Beyond the shocking discovery of this century, there was something else that worried me.
“Could it be that the Kraken exists on Earth too?”
[That is not the case. However-]
“However? Is there something else?”
[Long ago, some of the origins of all life forms introduced to Earth evolved from some meteor groups on Europa, a moon of Jupiter.]
“R-really?”
[Indeed. For example, octopuses and squids. They are representative evolutionary species. It could be called a sort of living evidence.]
It was a spine-chilling sound.
Yes. Perhaps that was the case.
Come to think of it, I once saw a rumor on YouTube about octopuses being the living proof of an alien race.
[But there is no need to worry.]
“I-is that so?”
[Even though there are giant marine creatures in the kilometer range in Europa’s oceans, there is no way for them to reach Earth.]
I see. That’s a relief-
[Unless a gate opens.]
“…..”
I was speechless.
If such a creature were to pop out on Earth through a gate…
As if reading my mind,
the system added,
[Undoubtedly, disaster would strike.]
“I-I know.”
Truly, this creature always seems to be doing well but ends up in a mess every time.
As if it’s intentional.
“By the way, System.”
[Please go on.]
“In the end, aren’t the gods of species ultimately a species that is managed by other gods of species, and at times, they become the opposite, right?”
[Indeed.]
“So, in the end, the Kraken is probably no different. I wonder how the deity of the Kraken species looks like.”
Surprisingly, they might resemble humans.
There were so many different species out there.
They could be human. Of course, being the gods of Krakens, they might be as colossal as them, or even more so.
They might be very intellectual beings.
They could be part of some society, enjoying a normal life like any other being.
[You probably already have some idea, but answering that question would go against fairness-]
“I know even without you saying.”
[…….]
The system’s response abruptly ceased.
His silence lingered for quite a while.
A smirk played on his lips.
It was a proper attack after a long time.
Seeing he didn’t even bother to open his mouth, it seemed like it was a valid hit.
“By the way….”
His gaze returned to the chat window.
-Anonymous097: Is there anyone who raises Dwarfs?! Give me a few!
-Anonymous224: Those Celestials keep showing up on our side frequently. It’s getting on my nerves.
Even at this moment, new chats kept popping up on the screen, and Han didn’t take his eyes off for a long time.
It felt a bit… strange.
“Even though they’re gods, they feel too ordinary.”
***
Today, I ordered chicken after a long time.
How long has it been since I had chicken?
It was when Han was briefly in the kitchen.
“Oh.”
Startled!
He noticed a thick stalk trying to sneak off with a piece of chicken leg.
A flora or fauna trying to steal chicken, he had never heard or seen such a thing before.
It might remain the same even later on.
A case that had never existed, the first of its kind in the world.
“Hmm? Now that I think of it, this stalk….”
The stalk gripping the chicken leg tightly.
Its tip was trembling nervously, albeit subtly.
It was indeed subtle, but this was nervousness.
Could it be that it really wanted to eat this?
He couldn’t help but chuckle unknowingly and asked, “Do you want that so badly?”
[…….]
There was no response.
However, the chicken was still not letting go.
“Do you want to eat? It’s okay to answer.”
Twitching.
The little one cautiously lowered the chicken leg it had been holding.
It was a refusal to eat.
Rather unexpectedly, the little one who had put down the chicken leg started to reach out for it again, then hesitated and withdrew.
Instead, Hane handed over the bucket that held the fried chicken pieces.
“Here. Take it.”
[……?]
“You can eat it all.”
[……!!]
At that, the little one seemed to freeze in shock as if it had just eaten.
“I’ll give you more, so if it’s not enough, just say.”
How many more pieces of chicken could there be?
The little one, who even inspected his reactions over a single chicken leg, hesitantly put it down without a fuss.
Leaving this little one behind to eat the chicken alone would only satisfy his taste buds.
“Oh, wait.”
Realizing suddenly, he added,
“You have to eat only the chicken. Can you not eat the whole bucket? You’re not supposed to eat it all at once.”
Nodding vigorously!
The little one frantically grabbed it and vanished through a dimensional crack where his body was.
In an instant, only a few fresh stems emerged from the outside.
It seemed like he had eaten it all in no time.
He was fast.
It was fortunate that he had ordered boneless, as if he had ordered one with bones, he might not have been able to give it to him.
“Um….”
Watching that scene quietly, Hane smiled and asked.
“Did you enjoy it? How was it?”
Nodding! Nodding!
In response to his question, the little one nodded enthusiastically.
A laugh escaped involuntarily.
It couldn’t be helped. Eating chicken as a plant-eater.
Well, as a monster, no matter what happens, it shouldn’t be too surprising.
“Really? Glad you liked it.”
Suddenly, he realized one thing.
‘Come to think of it, this little one’s original form… had quite a large mouth.’
The entrance was as vast as one could describe as an abyss.
Even if you were to put a whole chicken inside, it seemed like it wouldn’t even reach the sides.
“Just wait. I’ll place the order now.”
[……?]
A guy gazed blankly at the words.
Han placed the order.
“Hello? I’m the one who ordered chicken earlier. It was so delicious that I was wondering, would it be okay to request about ten more to be delivered? Yes, yes. Sooner if possible!”
Thud.
Ending the call like that, the guy who had been staring at him dumbfounded suddenly shuddered.
He quietly approached and absentmindedly patted his body.
The house trembled and shook.
Something fell with a thud from the ceiling.
It had an eerie appearance.
“Oh, don’t shake your body so much just because you’re feeling good. If you move, this house will collapse entirely. Then we won’t be able to eat the chicken.”
With that, the shaking stopped abruptly.
From that day on,
Han became the top priority VIP customer at the nearby chicken joint.
***
A few days later.
Issang-yun, a top-ranked hunter in the country, appeared on a live broadcast and made an announcement.
“[I will give up on conquering the Extremeist Dungeon.]”
Despite Issang-yun’s shocking announcement, neither the media nor people showed much of a reaction.
No one protested.
Rather, the responses seemed almost expected.
[“That makes sense. It was a task beyond Issang-yun the hunter or his team anyway.”]
[“Apparently, according to Jin Hwa-rin the hunter, the dungeon boss was so massive, surpassing a height of one hundred meters….”]
People were more concerned about the future than holding any grudges against him.
A monster of this scale had never appeared on Earth before.
The only precedent was the dragon that first emerged in this world, so people could only draw comparisons to it.
It was a dungeon that even mobilizing hunters from around the world or even the military seemed questionable for a conquest.
As the Korean government found itself in a difficult situation, they were already requesting support from around the globe.
[“This is a real crisis. How do we stop this? Last time, we had to mobilize all available resources.”]
[“Still, maybe China will lend a hand this time? Honestly, these days, the relationship between them and South Korea seems quite friendly. Plus, a top-tier hunter has decided to stay in Korea.”]
[“It could be a potential disaster. But honestly, I’m not sure. This time it’s too risky, and if hunters were to die, it could lead to a major catastrophe.”]
The atmosphere was slowly getting more agitated.