While I was still in a daze, the lake monster once again dived into the deep water. I realized something was wrong and quickly put Top into my basket.

Then, gripping the edge of the bamboo raft tightly with both hands, he squatted down and secured himself firmly to the raft.

As I expected, another commotion came from beneath the water, and a huge black shadow hurtled toward my bamboo raft at an incredible speed.

"Bang!"

A muffled thud came from under the bamboo raft. This time, my raft was hit even more violently, and the entire raft was knocked off the water by the lake monster, leaving a distance of several tens of centimeters.

Fortunately, I reacted in time, otherwise I would have definitely been knocked into the water.

The bamboo raft crashed heavily onto the water, and the force of the impact made my arms go numb.

I thought to myself that this couldn't go on any longer, or Top and I would be dragged into the water and made into its snacks by this hungry lake monster sooner or later.

My hands are still numb. If I do it a couple more times, I probably won't even be able to hold onto the bamboo raft anymore.

Seeing that there was no benefit to be gained, the lake monster circled around the area before deciding to dive back into the water.

"Top, get me a duck, quick!"

I remembered that I still had two ducks and some dried fish left in my basket, so I immediately asked Top to give me one of the ducks.

Top now listens to me completely, and immediately took a wild duck from his basket and handed it to me.

I caught the wild duck with one hand and threw it into the lake, then raised the shotgun in my hand and pointed it in the direction of the wild duck.

The lake monster, which had already submerged, saw wild ducks sinking into the water and immediately turned around and headed towards them.

I gripped my shotgun, my eyes fixed on the lake monster's silhouette rising and falling from the water. Just as it inhaled a duck, I pulled the trigger.

"Bang!"

Two loud bangs overlapped, and a wave several meters high exploded on the water's surface. This time, just to be on the safe side, I pulled both triggers.

But after the waves subsided and the water returned to calm, I was surprised to find that there wasn't a trace of blood on the lake.

My past experience hunting by the lake tells me that the lake monster was definitely not fatally wounded. It's even possible that the force of the water minimized the damage from the bullet.

Thinking about this, I felt a pang of regret. I should have considered the water issue earlier. The duck had already sunk a short distance underwater, and even that small distance would have greatly reduced the bullet's kinetic energy.

I dared not be careless, so I immediately removed the spent cartridge and replaced it with two of the most powerful dumdum bullets, loading them into the chamber.

The lake monster seemed to be frightened by my gunshot, and remained silent for a long time.

Seeing that it hadn't surfaced yet, my mind raced. If I wanted to get ashore, I absolutely couldn't let this lake monster live.

This thing is already frightened and will probably become more cautious. How can we lure it out of the lake and onto the surface to kill it?

Then I saw the bamboo poles on the bamboo raft.

That's right! You can use the length of the bamboo pole to hang a duck as bait, then stick it on the bamboo raft, keeping it a certain distance from the water surface.

I'll wait until the lake monster leaps out of the water before I shoot and kill it; that way, I'll be absolutely sure of success.

Thinking of this, I strung up my last duck, then shook it a few times in the water before sticking it onto the bamboo raft.

I raised my gun again and aimed it below the duck. As soon as it dared to peek out and jump up to eat the duck, I would immediately fire.

But I stood there with my gun for a while and didn't see the lake monster make any move. This guy really wasn't so easy to fool.

I had no choice but to take out some of the few dried fish I had and throw them into the water below the duck, hoping to attract it up.

As the fish meat sank deeper and deeper, I saw a blurry black shadow flash underwater and swim towards the fish meat. The fish meat disappeared into the water, and the shadow disappeared with it.

"Grass!"

Upon seeing this, I couldn't help but curse loudly. This guy is too cunning! He only eats food that sinks in water.

I took the duck off the plate and tried to run away as fast as I could before the guy tried to attack me again.

I slung the shotgun over my shoulder, then gripped the bamboo pole with both hands and began to paddle rapidly across the water.

My bamboo raft is made up of only three large bamboo poles and is less than forty centimeters wide. This lightweight bamboo raft has very little resistance on the water, and the speed at which it moves is quite good.

Since there wasn't much left in the basket anyway, Top simply lay down on the edge of the basket to keep an eye on what was happening behind me.

When I had paddled about a hundred meters, I heard Top squeaking again from behind.

"Holy shit!"

I didn't dare hesitate. Now that I knew what kind of creature it was, it would definitely attack my raft again.

Just as I crouched down and lay down on the edge of the bamboo raft, a tremendous force slammed into me from behind. The rear of my raft was lifted high and thrown forward.

I was terrified and quickly shifted my weight backward. If it knocked us over, Top and I would both be doomed in the icy lake.

Fortunately, I pressed down in time, managing to bring the stern of the bamboo raft back down. However, the impact had a tremendous inertia, and the front of the raft ended up diagonally submerged in the water.

Soon the water reached my feet, and most of my legs were submerged in the water due to the inertia.

The icy lake water sent a shiver down my spine, and looking at the deep, dark water before me, I had the illusion of falling into an abyss.

Fortunately, the process was short-lived. The impact was successfully mitigated by the raft's downward and angled descent, and the raft was once again lifted to the surface by the buoyancy of the bamboo itself.

I was still half-crouching, afraid to make any move. But it seemed like it was deliberately toying with me, and it submerged into the water again and disappeared.

My lips twitched slightly. This beast is really troublesome. It seems I won't be able to get to this lake shore until I've killed him today.

Top was also quite frightened at this moment, hiding in the basket and squeaking, his body trembling.

Just then, a blackened branch floated on the water. Seeing this, I gritted my teeth and pulled the branch up.

Then, with a few chops of my machete, I shaved it into a stick. I then threaded the ducks from my basket through the stick and stuck them into the stern of the bamboo raft.

I said to Top, who was in the basket, "Top, keep an eye on that guy behind me. If he makes a sound, yell."

Although Top was very scared, he still poked his head out and nodded at me.

I picked up the bamboo pole again. You fucking love chasing thrills, huh? Well then, give it a try!

I paddled back and forth with my hands quickly, and the bamboo raft sped across the water like an arrow.

I know that wild animals have a habit of chasing their fleeing prey, and what I'm going to do now is make it think that I'm ready to run away.