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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 5: Shedding

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A beast that looked like something between a bear and a dog sprang forward, only to be struck by a long, thick tail and sent flying.

Jegyeong silently approached the writhing beast.

The sensation in his tail was satisfyingly heavy. At least two or three bones had surely broken.

Crunch!

He bit down on the struggling creature's neck to end its pain. There was no need to shake it or sink his fangs in again and again. One powerful bite was enough.

It had been about two months since he and Cheongo had begun working together and enjoying prosperous days, and Jegyeong was experiencing what explosive growth truly meant.

His body had grown to nearly ten meters long. His girth had thickened in proportion as well.

Had only his body grown? Of course not.

He had not skipped a day of Tree Constriction, nor had he neglected Tail Strike. The results were showing now.

Against most beasts, he had to hold back. If he used his full strength, he might not just crush their bones. He could burst their entire bodies apart.

That was no exaggeration.

A few days ago, he had struck a fierce badger with all his strength and blown its body apart. He had then had to search around for the mud-covered chunks of flesh scattered everywhere.

It had not been a pleasant experience.

He could now eat meat without caring what was stuck to it, but perhaps because of his previous life, he still preferred it clean when possible.

Cheongo, on the other hand, looked like the sort of creature that would delicately pick at a few clean fruits, yet ate with more gusto than most wild boars.

The spirit bird devoured anything in sight without being picky. It went beyond having a good appetite. Cheongo ate as though burdened by some deep-seated resentment.

"I like meat too. But I couldn't eat it."

Cheongo's explanation was a little scattered, but the point was that the bird lacked the ability to hunt properly.

Just as Jegyeong had guessed before, Cheongo had an impressive appearance and high intelligence, but almost no real combat power.

Cheongo could pick small fruits from trees and peck at insects, but hunting beasts with enough meat on their bones was beyond the bird's ability.

"Big snake! Good snake! Strong snake!"

To eat meat, Cheongo had once needed to search through scraps left behind by other beasts, then fight other scavengers even for those.

Compared to those difficult days, Cheongo's life had improved beyond recognition.

Jegyeong was satisfied with their partnership, but Cheongo had even more reason to be satisfied with Jegyeong.

Besides, the advice Jegyeong had improvised as though bluffing had worked surprisingly well.

Cheongo had grown a little larger. That little was by Jegyeong's standards, but from Cheongo's perspective, it was a change that could be clearly felt.

Cheongo had not done anything special. After meals, the bird simply flew around diligently and grew larger and stronger.

Jegyeong guessed it was because Cheongo was receiving enough nutrition, but to Cheongo, it was a miraculous change.

It was only natural that the wariness Cheongo had subtly shown before had greatly diminished.

"I told you to call me Jegyeong."

"Yeah. Jegyeong."

More than a month was not a short time.

They hunted together several times a day, so naturally they had grown close.

More importantly, Cheongo was the first being Jegyeong had met in this world who could communicate with him. Loneliness still crept in from time to time, even in an environment where survival consumed all his attention. Cheongo was a capable partner, but also something of an emotional support.

That was why Jegyeong had shared his name.

Whenever Cheongo called him Jegyeong, he could feel that he truly existed in this world.

"Jegyeong. Jegyeong. Jegyeong."

Cheongo repeated it several times, as if determined never to forget it again.

Still, Jegyeong knew Cheongo would call him snake again the moment the bird stopped paying attention.

Cheongo was clearly intelligent, but perhaps because the bird was fundamentally bird-brained, there were moments when that intelligence fell short.

"Grrk!"

While they were eating, a beast drawn by the smell of blood made its presence known with rough breaths.

It resembled a jaguar, but it was larger and had two horns like bull horns on its head.

Its savage presence made it clear that it had no intention of backing down.

"Jegyeong! Jegyeong! Fight?"

It was admirable that Cheongo had used his name properly, but this was no time for praise.

"Yes."

Jegyeong narrowed his eyes at the beast, which showed no sign of being intimidated even after seeing his size.

This was not the first time something like this had happened.

Most beasts had keen senses of smell, and some especially capable ones appeared almost immediately after a hunt ended.

But in the world of beasts, strength was absolute, and size was strength. Very few creatures failed to retreat when they saw Jegyeong raise himself up.

But rare did not mean nonexistent. There were sometimes creatures that refused to retreat, like this one.

"Grrrrr..."

The beast bared its sharp teeth and slowly closed the distance.

It was a contest of intimidation, a threat. Leave the remaining meat behind and retreat quietly.

'Not a chance.'

His body was not the only thing that had grown over the past two months.

Jegyeong had adapted completely to the life of a beast, to life in the wild. He had grown accustomed to the instincts of a beast and a predator, instincts that had faded away during his civilized life.

His instincts told him there was no reason to retreat or be afraid.

This prey had come to him on its own. Shouldn't he be happy instead?

"Roaaar!"

When Jegyeong did not retreat, the beast attacked without hesitation.

It seemed to want to finish him before another competitor appeared. Since nothing would change if they kept staring each other down, it was a fairly wise choice.

It was remarkably quick for its size.

Still, Jegyeong could see it and react.

The moment it closed in, he twisted his entire body and swung his tail.

"Yelp!"

The beast twisted to evade, but it could not avoid the strike completely.

One of its legs was struck by his tail, and it was sent flying with a scream.

Jegyeong did not miss the opening. He lunged forward at once, his jaws opening wide as he clamped down on the beast's lower body.

"Roaaar!"

The beast convulsed.

It raked at him with its claws and twisted its body, trying to bite him.

Ignoring the sharp pain, Jegyeong shook his head violently.

He was clumsily copying the movement of crocodiles he had seen in his previous life. Was it called a death roll?

It was only a crude imitation, so it lacked that much power. Still, the strength of his jaws was certainly no less than a crocodile's.

After shaking his head three or four times, the beast's resistance faded.

Jegyeong threw aside the creature, which was already half dead, then tore into its neck.

"Snake's amazing! Jegyeong's strong!"

Cheongo fluttered over in a great fuss.

"Pick one."

Jegyeong let out a quiet snort as his excitement settled.

A little while later, Jegyeong finished another meal and frowned at the stinging pain around his face.

He had not noticed it while excited, but once the excitement faded, it became quite irritating.

'I need to get used to it.'

This was not his first injury, nor was it the first time he had made that resolve. Yet he still could not get used to it.

When would he get used to it? Would he even survive until then?

With his stomach full, stray thoughts followed one another. The pain made it worse.

Still, he did not sink into gloom like before. This, too, was probably proof that he had grown stronger.

'But this is... strange.'

Jegyeong closed his eyes and endured the pain, but before long he sensed that something was wrong.

At first, he thought his wounds were stinging. Yet as he endured it in silence, the stinging gradually spread farther and farther.

Then, at some point, the stinging became an itch.

It was not his imagination.

'What is this?'

Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Jegyeong opened his eyes and raised himself.

The branch he had chosen for shelter that night swayed with an uneasy crack at the sudden movement.

But Jegyeong did not hear it.

The itch spread like wildfire, leaving him unable to think clearly.

Only then did he understand that itching could be pain.

The stinging that had made him frown earlier was nothing compared to this itch.

"Grrrgh!"

As he writhed violently, the branch finally failed to withstand his frantic thrashing and snapped.

Jegyeong, who had been coiled around it, fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Normally, he would have groaned from the pain.

Not now.

He welcomed it.

For the instant he felt pain, he was freed from that terrible itch.

"Urgh!"

Jegyeong opened his eyes wide and rushed toward a tree.

He slammed his head against the rough bark and rubbed his body against it.

As he kept rubbing until his body grew hot, it became barely tolerable.

Jegyeong did not know that, while he frantically and desperately endured the itch, his skin had begun to peel away bit by bit.

* * *

How much time had passed?

Only when he noticed that the tree he had rubbed against had been stripped of its bark and had become visibly thinner did Jegyeong see the large and small pieces of scales scattered across the ground.

'What is this?'

As Jegyeong stood there in confusion, Cheongo's chattering reached him.

"Snake! Are you okay? I thought you'd gone crazy!"

"...I did go half crazy."

It had been impossible to endure.

It was dozens of times worse than being bitten by a vicious mosquito, perhaps even more.

Something clearly abnormal had happened, and seeing the scales scattered across the ground, he could roughly guess what it was.

'Did I shed my skin?'

What was this called again?

Molting?

But was this normal? Could it happen this suddenly and violently?

Jegyeong had no knowledge of this in either his previous life or this one, but he was certain this could not be normal.

"Snake... no, Jegyeong. Did you get bigger?"

"Hm?"

Bigger?

Jegyeong raised himself in confusion.

As he slowly looked over his body... he really did seem to have grown a little.

No, that was not the problem...

'I'm overflowing with strength.'

He had just gone through that frantic ordeal, yet strength was overflowing from his body.

It was not simply that he felt full of energy. His strength itself seemed to have increased.

'What happened?'

Drunk on his overflowing strength and confidence, he loosely coiled around a tree.

Then he constricted with all his might.

A cracking sound came from the enormous tree, which had to be at least eight or nine meters in circumference.

Could this be...?

"Urgh!"

After straining with all his might, he came to a realization.

'Not quite.'

He returned to reality quickly enough, but his strength had undeniably increased.

So had his size.

'Is this a natural part of growing?'

When he thought of his parents, who seemed capable of coiling around buildings and crushing them, simply eating and sleeping did not seem like it would be enough.

Perhaps he needed this kind of abnormal growth alongside it to reach that monstrous size.

'Well, that's good.'

He had grown larger and stronger, so it was a good thing.

His size could become a problem if he grew too large, but he was still far from that point. For now, he could only welcome this growth.

"Jegyeong's amazing!"

Cheongo stared in admiration at the tree, which had a deep groove running around its trunk.

Then the bird's eyes shone, and Cheongo began chattering excitedly.

How had Jegyeong done it? Cheongo wanted to do it too.

Jegyeong had nothing useful to say, so he told Cheongo it was impossible because Cheongo was a bird.

The simple-minded bird immediately drooped, as if Cheongo had never been excited at all.

"Why are you so disappointed? You have wings and can fly through the sky. That's something I'll never be able to do."

Cheongo often envied Jegyeong's large body and great strength, then became dejected when comparing them to Cheongo's own small, weak body.

Whenever Jegyeong encouraged Cheongo like this, the bird usually cheered up quickly.

This time was different.

"What's the use of flying? I always have to run away. If only I were big and strong like you, then that nasty frog..."

"That nasty frog?"

Cheongo stopped complaining and fell silent.

After hesitating for a while, the bird let out a long sigh.

"That awful thing! I found it first, but that thing stole it! It even tried to eat me!"

Cheongo broke off, then huffed angrily.

The bird seemed unable to contain the resentment.

Something must have felt deeply unfair, likely because of whatever had been stolen.

"What did it steal?"

"A Lotus! It's a good thing! It has an Immortal's aura! I found it first, but the frog stole it!"

Jegyeong's gaze changed at the words, an Immortal's aura.

"Tell me in detail."

The pile of scales on the ground and his sudden growth both slipped from his mind in an instant.

Without even realizing it, something beyond simple interest appeared in his vertically slit yellow pupils.

Footnotes:

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