Chapter 9: The tentacle is too sticky

The deer pierced by the tentacle disappeared into the darkness beyond the window, its blood completely drained.

Since then, the only sounds coming from the villa where the tentacle appeared were unsettling chewing noises.

Crunch, crunch.

Crack, crack.

Thud, thud.

The noises sounded like a huge creature chewing through bones, and my body instinctively shuddered.

‘As expected, the whole villa was a hideout for a monstrous creature!’

If I had to classify it, it was a lurking type.

In games like Souls-like, there is a monster called a ‘mimic’ that pretends to be a treasure chest and suddenly attacks the player.

And the creature in front of us right now was a giant version of such a mimic.

If you opened the door thinking it was just a villa or tried to pass by, you’d be pierced by its tentacle and have all your blood drained.

It was a kind of ambush creature.

‘Here, retreating is like taking a walk.’

As I mentioned before, fighting such a creature would bring no benefit.

In fact, it would be the epitome of inefficiency.

Such creatures should at least be dealt with after turning a basement parking lot into a makeshift battlefield.

Until then, it’s best to pretend we don’t notice each other.

‘Levi! Just come here!’

After making that decision, I quickly motioned with my hand, silently urging Levi to come closer.

‘But Levi shook her head in silence?’

“…?”

‘Was she refusing because, as an android, she couldn’t just leave the creature alone?’

‘…No.’

‘Even though we’d only known each other for a few days, I knew Levi wasn’t a ‘battle maniac’ who would prioritize hunting down monstrous creatures over my life.’

‘So, the reason she couldn’t move while facing the creature was obvious.’

‘It was because…’

Swish.

She was already caught.

“…!”

“Chanwoo-nim, run! Hurry!”

I thought the deer had been the only victim, so I felt relieved.

But the creature hiding in the villa must have scattered other tentacles around the area.

Currently, there was a red line, resembling a tentacle, wrapped around Levi’s left ankle.

She raised her leg and showed it to me, shouting in panic.

“Kakakakakakakakak!”

At the same time, a disturbing screech echoed throughout the villa, as if it were shaking the very air itself.

Then, following the tentacle wrapped around her ankle, Levi was pulled upwards in an arc.

“Levi!!”

Just before Levi fell, she tried to cut the tentacle binding her ankle with the blade in her hand.

But the tentacle, a red thread, didn’t even get a scratch after being struck by a plasma-infused strike.

“It’s not cutting? …Kugh?!”

Crash.

The tentacle, which had been rising high into the air, suddenly slammed down toward the ground with tremendous speed.

The shock was transferred directly to Levi.

True to her combat squad training, she didn’t let go of her weapon, but she collapsed, coughing up faint blood.

“Levi. Stay with me!”

“…!”

“Roll to the side! You’ll get crushed!”

But there was no time to rest.

The tentacles from all the windows of the villa were falling down mercilessly, and Levi barely regained her senses in time to start rolling her body to avoid the attack.

“Ugh…! Ha!”

Whoosh.

Rustle.

Then, unlike the thin one around her ankle, there were large tentacles, resembling the ones that pierced the deer earlier.

Levi, who couldn’t avoid them, swung her blade once again.

This time, it seemed like she hit a weak spot, as the villa’s tentacles were sliced one after another.

“Seems like… only ‘this’ one was unusual?”

“Levi!”

“Chanwoo-nim. Please step back.”

The motel where we were based and this villa complex were about an hour away.

In other words, it wasn’t a distance that could guarantee my safe return as an ordinary human.

Though I never had any intention of going alone, and Levi knew that my survival depended on her being with me.

She wasn’t about to run away.

Instead, she calmly told me, as if suggesting I hide somewhere quietly.

“I’ll take down this creature and then head that way!”

She aimed her blade at the ‘Queen’-level creature in front of us, her golden eyes burning more fiercely than ever before.

Not all monsters are the same level, even if they are called grotesque creatures.

Just like how there are different “ranks” among humans, in Star’s Child, the highest-level predator of the stars ruled Earth.

Grotesque creatures also have their own classification system for ranking, starting from the lowest level, “Pawn,” based on chess pieces, all the way up to the final boss, “King.”

For reference, when I first opened my eyes in this world, even though it was morning, a blue skeletal grotesque creature tried to attack me because it couldn’t find prey by evening.

That creature was a “Pawn,” belonging to the lowest risk level.

And now, the grotesque creature in the form of a villa, which was tying up Levi’s ankle and preventing her from escaping, appeared in front of me.

I guessed it was at least “Bossmon” level.

Among the ranks that go from Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, Queen, to King, the creature in front of us was at least on the Queen level.

Yeah, it definitely seemed like the grotesque creature was a Bossmon that met the minimum requirements for the Queen level.

Chwa-chwa-chwa.

Scrk. Scrk.

Chwark.

…Boom!

***

“Ugh?!”

Since the tentacles were only coming out from inside the villa, it was likely still in Phase 1.

In soul-like games, bosses would always follow a “Phase” system, where they would only take more powerful attacking motions once their health bar dropped below a certain point, making players shed tears of frustration.

If it was a Bossmon, that would be possible.

As evidence, the tentacles still only appeared from the “window” of the villa, meaning it hadn’t yet moved to Phase 2.

Still, it looked like it was strong enough to defeat us already.

“Levi…!”

“Chanwoo… I’m sorry… It seems like we won’t win.”

According to the setting, a Queen-level grotesque creature could only be dealt with if an entire unit of androids worked together.

So, in the story, the player who managed to defeat a Queen-level grotesque creature (after dozens of retries) would be noticed by R.P.M and embark on their journey.

But now, with the game becoming reality, there was no chance to “retry” by turning time back.

No…!

Levi, continuously taking damage from the overwhelming number of tentacles, couldn’t escape.

Her ankle was tied, and she couldn’t even adjust her distance.

“Damn!”

In my eyes, the Queen-level grotesque creature’s attacks were all too predictable, like a pattern.

If this were a third-person game, I could have easily parried all of them and even counter-attacked.

But once again, this wasn’t a game—it was reality.

Besides, I wasn’t even an android, just a mere human.

Even if I tried to grab a blade and time my parry, I would surely be pierced with the blade raised awkwardly.

‘So, what should I do?’

Hah… Hah…!

“Levi…!”

There was a puddle of sweat collecting under Levi’s body like a pool.

She had already reached her limit.

She was only standing there with great effort to survive, with the sole purpose of protecting me.

‘If we stayed like this, she’d be killed.’

‘…No, considering this world was a 19+ game, it was possible that the creature was a “parasitic tentacle.”‘

In the worst case…

“I don’t… I don’t want to give birth anymore!!”

It was the typical ending from a tentacle hentai game.

In the original, there was a mention of an open-ended conclusion… Levi might be subjected to that.

Thinking about that, I knew I was just a useless human male.

Shu-shu-shuk-!

“Ah…”

Sticky tentacles were flying toward me.

The moment Levi, feeling doomed, closed her eyes, resigned to her fate, knowing she was about to be dragged into the tentacle-covered mansion…

“Levi!”

“Chanwoo-nim?”

I threw myself toward her, pulling her into an embrace, barely avoiding the tentacle attack.

Of course, as a result, my back got a bit scraped.

“Chanwoo-nim, blood is flowing from your back!”

“It’s okay. It just brushed against me.”

“It just brushed?! That was seriously dangerous! I almost had my spine cut off along with my bones!”

Even with Levi’s voice full of panic, I just smiled.

“It’s fine. Levi.”

“…!”

Pat pat.

Then, I gently patted the head of the battle-type android, just like I did back then.

When I first met Levi, when she held both of my hands tightly as if to reassure me.

“I’ll fight too now.”

“Chanwoo-nim…!”

“I know. I’m human, so I can’t fight like an android like you, Levi.”

“But I still had the knowledge and experience that would even amaze R.P.M.”

‘I hated the ambiguous endings where only one of us survives.’

‘If we live, we live together; if we die, we die together. I definitely didn’t want to let Levi be dragged into that eerie tentacle mansion alone.’

“Trust me, who trusts you.”

“…!”

“And trust you, who trusts me!”

I stared into Levi’s eyes and declared my vow out loud.

Immediately after.

Levi

HP: 350/350

SP: 200/200

I don’t know what happened.

“…Huh?”

When you start Star’s Child, the player’s health and stamina are shown by two gauge bars.

That very gauge bar, with Levi’s name, began to appear in the upper-left corner of my field of vision.