WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 48: Lakeside (3)
──────
The giant crab's claw came crashing down.
I barely dodged the attack.
Its movements were broad and somewhat sluggish, so avoiding it wasn't difficult.
But when it struck the ground, the earth shook.
That vibration was anything but normal.
‘F-first, mana...!’
I steadied my racing heart and circulated mana. A cool sensation ran through my muscles.
I'd practiced whenever I had the time, so I was able to react quickly.
“Grrulk.”
The giant crab raised its claw again. It was surprisingly nimble for something so huge.
The instant I saw it, I moved my legs. Trying to block that thing was a terrible idea.
Thunk!
“Ugh?!”
But the unfamiliar terrain tripped me up. Something caught my foot as I stepped back.
For a moment, the world spun, and the sky filled my vision.
Even as I fell backward, I acted on instinct.
“Urgh...!”
A heavy impact ran through my back, but it was bearable.
Right before I fell, I curled into a ball to minimize the impact.
It was the result of performing a breakfall, just like SwordTasteMaster had explained in a post.
Thud thud thud thud!
The giant crab didn't stop just because I was stumbling and falling.
Maybe it was because it had so many legs, but it closed in quickly despite its massive body.
Slip!
I tried to get back up, but I slipped a little.
As I did, the giant crab slowly raised its claw, casting a shadow over my head.
Getting up like this would be difficult. I instinctively raised my shield to block it.
Praying that the shield would protect me, I drew out as much mana as I could.
Baaang!
It sounded like metal striking metal. The shock traveled through the shield.
My arm went numb, but I could endure it. It was weaker than the Muscle Mushroom.
Before a follow-up attack could come, I hurriedly rolled away.
Bang!
The giant crab must have slammed its claw down again while I rolled.
Feeling the vibrations run through my entire body, I silently got back to my feet.
The giant crab adjusted its direction with its many legs, then approached me again.
‘Forget about blocking and striking back.’
If I kept blocking with the shield, my arm would go flying first.
I needed to aim for an opening somehow, but I couldn't find one.
‘Its attacks are simple, but they're fast. That's the problem.’
I kept moving my legs as I thought.
That was another tip SwordTasteMaster had taught me. Think while moving your feet.
That way, I wouldn't give my opponent an opening and could turn the situation in my favor.
Bang!
And SwordTasteMaster's advice worked. The giant crab missed.
Its claw smashed into the spot where I'd been standing a moment ago.
This was my chance. I poured mana into my sword and swung with all my strength.
My sword shimmered like a heat haze, then split straight through the claw.
Slice!
The pincer portion of its claw fell cleanly off.
It wasn't a particularly big hit. I'd only cut off the pincer, not the entire claw.
That was unavoidable because of its size. I couldn't slice through the whole thing in one strike like certain people could.
‘I'll cut it apart bit by bit.’
Still, that was enough. If I kept chipping away at it, I could kill it.
Whoosh!
The giant crab quickly swung its claw without the pincer.
The claw itself was a gigantic bludgeon, so it was threatening enough on its own.
I didn't stop moving as I searched for its weakness.
‘Wait. This thing...’
Then I found an obvious weakness.
A fatal weakness.
Crabs could only walk sideways. Even if it had grown huge, that trait hadn't changed.
In other words, its attack range was very short. No matter how it swung those claws, it had clear limits.
‘Especially because it turns its body so slowly.’
While the giant crab flailed its claw around, I quickly circled behind it.
The giant crab tried to turn around, but it was too slow. It couldn't hit me with its claw either.
It was the sad fate of a crab built to walk sideways.
Slice!
While it turned, I cut off its legs instead of its claws.
Two legs came off in one slash.
It was the combined work of Heavenly Demon’s Sword and aura.
Thud!
Having lost two legs at once, the giant crab lost its balance.
One side of its body tilted, and it seemed unable to even hold itself steady.
My goal was to completely take away its mobility.
Since it turned as slowly as a turtle, I targeted that weakness.
Slice! Slice!
I kept circling behind it instead of facing it head-on and cut off its legs.
Once I cut two legs from each side, it lost even its ability to turn.
Cutting off the rest of its legs after that was easy.
Slash!
Finally, I completely cut off its prized claws as well.
Only its body remained, sprawled on the ground.
Maybe because it was a crustacean, it kept twitching even after all its limbs had been severed.
Crunch!
I climbed onto the giant crab's shell and drove my sword down.
I struck between its eyes, at the center of the shell's upper surface.
Krrrraaaak!
I pulled the sword downward as if I were pulling a lever.
Heavenly Demon’s Sword could split even hard wood like tofu, so it cut through easily.
Eventually, the sword reached the very bottom of its shell, and I yanked it with all my strength.
Slash!
Since it had lost all its legs, it didn't split cleanly in half.
Still, I was satisfied that it had stopped moving completely.
I lightly shook the pieces of innards from my sword.
“Hah!”
I breathed heavily. My heart pounded fiercely from the rush of adrenaline.
If I hadn't found its weakness, I would've suffered quite a bit.
No, I could've lost my life if things had gone wrong.
Oddly enough, that was thrilling.
“Grrulk.”
“Grrulk.”
Before I knew it, small crabs had gathered and begun picking at the giant crab's corpse.
The small crabs faithfully carried out their role as scavengers, even with a giant crab's corpse.
I watched them for a moment, then made a post on the Gallery.
[Post title] Hunted a giant crab
[Post] (Photo of a huge giant crab corpse)
[Post] A giant crab way bigger than a person popped out at the lakeshore;; It used its claws like bludgeons.
[Post] Thankfully, it turned slow as hell, so it was easy to kill. What even is this thing;;
I only made the post and didn't check the comments.
Getting back was urgent.
As if falling on my ass wasn't bad enough, I'd also rolled around all over the ground.
If I left myself like this, I'd stink, and I might get sick.
‘Next time, I'll bring better shoes.’
This made me realize just how important shoes were.
Especially when I slipped, it felt like my whole life flashed before my eyes.
Panting heavily again, I started walking back.
‘The fish corpses... are over there.’
I hadn't forgotten the way back.
There were fish corpses and the remains of the crab that had been eaten.
The thought of carrying this gross feeling all the way back was already making me dizzy, but I had no choice.
“Grrulk. Grrulk.”
“...”
I spotted a crab along the way and gently picked it up.
Then I bought a backpack from the Auction House. Not a small bag to wear around my waist, but one for my back.
‘I can't wait.’
As soon as I got back to the cave, I'd eat it right away. I needed to give some to Wonmo and Fast Sloth too, so I put in two more.
I considered saving one for the dwarf, but unfortunately, I couldn't trade until tomorrow.
Crab was perfect as a snack with drinks, so I planned to come back tomorrow.
‘Allfather said they were edible, so they should taste good, right?’
I wasn't particularly worried about parasites.
They also didn't seem likely to kill each other and rot.
So far, these things had only eaten their own kind when they were already dead.
Rumble rumble rumble!
I was happily thinking to myself when vibrations shook the ground.
Nothing good had ever happened when there was an earthquake.
The moment I thought that, I hurriedly looked around.
Splash! Splash!
Giant crabs began emerging one after another from deep within the lake.
They were about the same size as the one I'd just fought, or a little bigger.
There were at least five of them. I watched in disbelief.
I'd barely managed to kill one, and now five had appeared. It would've been dangerous if I hadn't already moved away.
‘Is this really a lake? Not the ocean?’
There was no salty ocean smell, so it had to be a lake.
I moved carefully in case the giant crabs noticed me.
Thankfully, they didn't glance my way even once before I reached the start of the river.
They were too busy picking up and eating the corpse of their dead companion with their claws.
‘They're true to their instincts.’
It looked like corpses were their top priority. The name scavenger suited them perfectly.
I slowly backed away, then turned around. It was about time to return to the cave.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble!
That was when it happened.
The shaking was on a completely different level from before.
It was far stronger than the artificial tremors caused by the giant crabs.
For a moment, I panicked, wondering if it was a real earthquake. Then a noise came from the lake that I couldn't ignore.
Kwoooosh!
Water shot high into the air and crashed back down.
I looked toward the lake at the sound.
“...”
The sight that greeted me when I turned around left me speechless.
I'd thought the giant crabs were already huge, but something far worse lived in that lake.
‘...Fuck. What the hell is that?’
If the giant crabs were the size of large vehicles, the thing I was looking at was the size of a building.
It was as tall as a low-rise apartment building.
It was so absurdly huge that perspective didn't even matter.
Could that really be called a crab? It was more like a walking building.
[Post title] Find the odd thing about this video.
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Video of a building-sized crab beside a giant crab)
[Post] What's strange here? Take a look!
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Hm? Why does the sky look so small?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Right? Why does it look so small?
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: I've never seen a crab that big in my life. Do things like that actually exist?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Good eye. I can't believe it even while looking at it.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Looking again, it is enormous. It piques my interest.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Want to come over? We can catch it and steam it.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: My retainers have desperately talked me out of it, so I cannot go. My apologies.
└ [Allfather]: Oh;; Oohhh;;; What the fuck is that?
└ [Wild Grylls]: LOL I don't know either. It's your first time seeing one too, right, Allfather?
└ [Allfather]: It is certainly a Gaffers Crab, but... I do not know whether it should be called a new species. What in the world is it?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I'm fascinated too.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: A whole mountain is walking around;;; But can I ask you a favor?
└ [Wild Grylls]: You want a crab for a snack? I can give you one tomorrow because of the trade cooldown.
└ [Passing Dwarf]: Thx thx. If possible, give me that big one.
└ [Wild Grylls]: You crazy bastard lol
└ Whoa;; I don't even have words. Isn't that thing a real spiritual treasure?
└ For real, it probably has an Inner Core inside its shell.
└ At that size, it can definitely count as a spiritual treasure lol
└ Don't you plan to catch it?
└ [Wild Grylls]: Nah nah;; I can never catch that thing. It was hard enough killing one giant crab.
└ Nothing is impossible. You just need to work at it.
└ If you catch that, the Gallery will explode lol
└ [Wild Grylls]: If someone helps me catch it, I'll give it a try lol
└ (No replies)
└ [Wild Grylls]: You little shits, answer me.
After looking through the Gallery, I started walking.
I wanted to get back as quickly as possible. My body felt heavy from being damp.
‘But why is the back of my neck so itchy?’
Maybe because I was relaxing, my senses had grown sharper. And with my sharper senses, I could clearly feel the itchy spot.
Unable to bear it, I scratched the back of my neck with my right hand.
Squish.
Then I felt something soft and squishy.
The instant I felt it, I froze.
My instincts told me this squishy thing was absolutely not good.
Even when I flicked it with my fingers, it wouldn't fall off. I swallowed hard and grabbed it.
Then I pulled with all my strength, forcibly tearing it away.
It stretched out like jelly.
Pop!
Something came off the back of my neck with pain and a strange sound.
It was so large I had to clench my hand around it, and it was slippery.
I slowly brought my right hand in front of my face.
To see what I was holding.
Wriggle. Wriggle.
A red slime? No.
A grotesque-looking brown leech writhed in my hand.
An absolutely enormous leech.
“Gyaaaaaah!!!”
I wanted to get out of here.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
