Dravin turned his head, his eyes catching the red button on the front section, but the problem was that he was currently facing backward.
Given his awkward, half-hanging position, he had to arch his back to press the button. His fingers scrambled blindly across the front rim and finally found the switch.
He pressed it.
A sudden jolt hit him, as if a sledgehammer had kicked the raft out of the whirlpool. Dravin sucked in a deep, desperate breath, his mouth gaping.
The violent propulsion sent his arms flying up, mimicking a bungee jumper who'd lost the rope.
He was airborne.
The gray sky.
Open air.
Splashing, rotten water.
Am I going to die again before my new restaurant even opens?
He squeezed his eyes shut. Feeling his frantic heartbeat pounding in his ears, he focused on finding a way to survive and get back to shore.
The bubble gum!
He couldn't even reach the back pocket of his pants where the gum was stashed.
Then, what about the raft itself? The manual? What did it say?
The words he had dismissed as unimportant suddenly clicked into his mind: "The raft would follow the movement and feeling of the user's body."
Is that why my rear end is glued to the base of this boat like I was stuck with superglue?
Dravin snapped his eyes open. He was currently soaring through the air, his head pointed toward the lake. He then willed his body to twist to the left to rotate his position.
And it worked.
His grin widened. So, this is basically surfing the waves? If so… then…
Dravin deliberately contorted his body forward.
Immediately, the surging lake water cushioned the raft, and he was now skimming the surface, surfing on the support of the lake water.
A massive surge of adrenaline hit him; it felt exactly like high-speed racing in a console game.
Dravin continuously shifted his body—left, right, forward, and back—to steer the raft until he finally stabilized.
A massive splash, like a water boom erupting on the other side of the lake, caught his attention.
The growing tremor shaking his body signaled that the demon was about to surface. He could feel it.
Freya's figure rapidly grew clearer and larger, and moments later, Dravin shot the raft straight onto the shore where she was waiting.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Dravin yelled slightly as the raft slammed into the bank and ground to a stop.
Simultaneously, he tumbled forward as the hidden belt securing his butt finally released.
"Are you fine?" Freya asked worriedly.
She rushed over and helped him to his feet.
"Okay? I'm still alive. So that counts as okay," he drawled sarcastically, shaking his dizzy head.
Dravin immediately staggered and dropped onto the grass.
"Alright. You did your part. Now, let me take it from here. Just rest for now," Freya said.
Dravin noticed the softness in Freya's voice. Was that just my imagination? Or had his efforts actually touched her?
As if pulled by gravity, Dravin lay flat and stared at the still-overcast sky.
Do I have to go through this every time I catch a Demon? Rubby, this is not what you told me. You said I just needed to use cooking and my influencer skills to fix this world, ah, no, to complete my mission. What the hell is this?
[This is an additional mission you chose yourself, Chef. You could reject it, but you chose it because you want to grab Freya's attention, didn't you?]
So, are you saying you'll keep giving me high-reward missions that require physical stamina and adrenaline rushes like this?
[Chef, let me remind you. The tasks or missions you receive will always be based on your actions, behavior, and external or internal circumstances. You are essentially the axis of the NuLife Balance System. That is all I can say.]
Dravin let out a cynical chuckle of disbelief. If all the tasks are based on my actions, shouldn't it give me something that makes my life easier?
His chest heaved as he took short, quick breaths. He closed his eyes, trying to ground himself. So… you want me to fight demons with my bare hands too? This is going to drive me crazy…
From the ground beneath his back, Dravin felt the massive ripple of an earthquake.
He propped himself up on his elbow to see the source of the rumbling.
His jaw fell open.
The lake water was pulling back, forming two massive, towering wave-walls as it split in half.
From the middle of the divide, a gray mound emerged, slowly rising higher.
Three horns appeared on its forehead, followed by two shining red eyes.
Then its huge snout and nostrils surfaced, and finally its mouth with two tusks curving up from the outside corners.
Dravin gulped. "Is… is that the Hippotimere?" he stammered, flinching and instinctively crawling backward as the demon grew larger, rising from the split lake surface.
"Hmm. I need to catch him now. Stay back! Find a safe distance. Don't let him see you," Freya warned.
She was busy rotating her hands, weaving bright blue strands of light into what looked like a massive spider web.
Dravin tensed, ready to stand and hide. But he hesitated; that meant leaving Freya alone. Is that really okay?
"Rawwrrr…" The hippo demon roared, displaying a cavernous mouth wide enough for five people to walk into side-by-side.
Its long tongue stretched out elastically, looking like it could reach a great distance.
Dravin shuddered in horror. But what truly made him hold his breath was seeing the Hippotimere's full body.
The demon clearly had four massive hooves, but it also had a wide, bulging abdomen with two distinct arms attached to its torso. So are those hands or feet? Does it have six limbs?
"What are you waiting for? Hide, now!" Freya commanded.
"Are you really okay alone? That demon is so huge."
"As long as I don't fall into the water, I'll be fine."
That was not the answer Dravin wanted to hear. She could have just said she'd be fine. The fact that she admitted a weakness made Dravin instantly worry.
He watched Freya's glowing blue web grow, becoming enormous. Ah, so she's going to net the hippo demon? Will that actually hold? The Hippotimere is too massive, it must weigh thousands of tons.
He worry more to Freya's net.
He turned to find cover in the tall bushes.
"Arrghh…"
Shriiieekkk…
Byurr…
The sound of a scream and a loud splash made Dravin whirl around, just in time to see Freya fall into the lake.
"Freya!"