Chapter 30: Defeat the Crayfish!

Original: Chapter 30: Defeat the Crayfish!

I gripped the Hammer with both hands.

Drops of water dripped from my long hair.

I was soaked to the bone, cold and uncomfortable. My blouse and skirt clung to my skin. My ribbon-adorned bra was probably clearly visible through the fabric.

It was embarrassing, but I didn’t care. The feeling of wanting to quickly defeat the Crayfish in front of me was stronger.

“Good thing I took off my blazer.”

If I hadn’t, the blazer would have absorbed water and become heavy, making it impossible to move. If that had happened, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to escape from the water.

“You’re going to take full responsibility for soaking a girl in the bloom of youth and for getting a good look at my see-through bra.”

Ah, it’s moving—. I clearly sensed the Crayfish’s intent to attack just now.

“…?”

What’s this? It opened its left pincer towards me with a clack. There’s distance, and no matter how it swings that pincer, it absolutely shouldn’t reach me.

“Wha—, whoa!”

Something shot out from deep inside the pincer— whoosh! No way—. Completely unexpected.

“Buhheeeeeee!”

Aaaaaaah, that hurts—! Something that flew out from inside the pincer slammed right into my face.

It felt like being slapped by a sumo wrestler. That’s how much impact it had. It hurt so much my vision went white for a second.

“Pincers can be used like that?”

What was that thing that hit me? A lump of water shot from inside the pincer?

Come to think of it, I felt a similar pain when I plunged into the river earlier. That must have been the Crayfish shooting a water lump that hit my butt.

Startled by the impact, I fell flat on my rear. Water splashed up.

“Owwwwchie—!”

I managed to open one eye. Whoa, another water lump is about to fly this way. The right pincer is aimed at me.

No time to be in pain. I crawled to move and somehow got back on my feet.

The water lump grazed past my hair. It barely missed.

“This time, I’m attacking!”

I ran, splashing through the water.

I didn’t charge straight in; I approached by circling around. I thought I wouldn’t be able to dodge the water lumps otherwise.

A water lump passed right where I had just been running. Just as I predicted.

As I got closer to the Crayfish, the riverbed got deeper. But this depth shouldn’t affect my speed much.

I arched my back and swung the Hammer back high.

The Crayfish seemed to give up on shooting water lumps and rushed towards me. Then it extended its right pincer towards my face.

“Take thiiiiiiiiis!”

A dull impact sound rang out as the Hammer and pincer collided. My power completely won. The defeated pincer was stretched up high to the limit of the Crayfish’s arm. A huge chance. Its body is wide open.

I absolutely won’t let this opening slip away. I’ll decide the match right here.

I closed the distance in one go. Then I swung the Hammer and smashed the Crayfish’s temple.

“Take that! That! And that!”

I hit it three times in the same direction.

“This! This! And this!”

Next, I slammed the Hammer down onto the Crayfish’s head three times from above.

Twitch… Twitch… Twitch… Eww, no, no way. It’s still alive. It’s stubborn, as expected.

“Hyah! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah! So stubborn, already! Just die soon! Please!”

I hammered away at various parts of the Crayfish’s body.

Finally, I think I landed a solid thud somewhere around its back. That must have been the finishing blow.

‘Subjugation of Wild Crayfish successful!’

Ah, a Message Window appeared. Looks like I defeated the Crayfish. It’s not twitching at all now.

“My victory. Booyah.”

I made a small victory sign.

By the way, that Crayfish was named Wild Crayfish, huh.

“You were a ‘fish’?”

I asked the motionless Crayfish. Of course, no answer came back.

‘Fish’ means, well, fish. It doesn’t look very fish-like at all. I wonder what the person who named it was thinking. If I met them, I’d like to ask the reason.

Phew… Anyway, I’m glad I won.

Power and tension drained from my body. I let out a big whoosh of a sigh. My shoulders went slack, and the Hammer dropped to the ground on its own.

“Fwaaaah~, I did it”

The moment I realized I had won, my body started feeling the cold.

Shiver. Shiver. It’s so cold. My lips might be turning purple.

“Whaaaah~, I was so scaaaaared~. But I did it, I really did it”

The fear that arrived belatedly easily crushed my heart. Plop, plop, plop, plop—big teardrops, like a little child’s, streamed down.

“My faaaace, it huuuurts~. My butt stings and feels hot tooooo~. But I wooooon~. It feels goooooood~”

I’m happy. Truly happy.

Winning a life-or-death fight with instincts laid bare is this incredibly joyful.

I’m smiling while crying. To others, I might look like a strange girl.

But that’s fine. This is one page of my youth.