In the face of danger, everyone makes different choices.
The once arrogant, nose-in-the-air director let out a scream and turned to run. The usually quiet intern suddenly shed their meekness, running headlong and knocking over the harassing supervisor.
The burly cameraman, raised on superhero movies, felt a surge of courage despite his fear. He grabbed a chair and hurled it straight at the monster.
The tentacles nimbly avoided it but didn't retaliate. Instead, they chased after the fleeing people with increased fervor.
The more they ran, the more excited it became. With a sudden dive, it enveloped the director in its mouth. The suckers pulsated, and within seconds, the person became a dried-up corpse, just like Jenny.
Many had seen mummies before, but few had witnessed a familiar face turn into a bag of bones in the blink of an eye.
"Ahhh!" The last vestiges of reason began to dissipate.
Jian Jing flexed her wrists. She usually practiced shooting—the most practical skill in modern society—and rarely used melee weapons, unsure of how to apply force. But now, firearms couldn't be used recklessly. The ship was already in a precarious state; if bombed or shot at, they might sink even if they killed the monster.
"Get out of the way!" she shouted a warning as she took a running jump.
Though the tentacles were huge and terrifying, their size was both an advantage and a weakness.
It couldn't completely dodge.
Jian Jing didn't aim for the tip but chose a vulnerable spot and slashed.
Blood sprayed as the system-produced weapon proved its worth, cutting through as easily and cleanly as chopping squid.
However, Jian Jing noted the difference in sensation compared to earlier—it was like cutting meat versus cutting tofu.
It was getting stronger.
"We can't let it eat any more people," Jian Jing told the few who hadn't fled. "Let's chop it up."
Andrei, the Russian—no, the bear... well, the typical Russian man—was a shooting athlete who enjoyed wrestling bears in his spare time.
When evacuating, he hadn't forgotten to bring his bow and arrows (why bring these to a reality show? Well, what if he ended up being the murderer?).
He wrapped cloth around the arrowheads, doused them with half a bottle of strong liquor from his bag, and lit them with a lighter.
He nocked an arrow and fired.
With a "whoosh," a ball of flame landed on the monster's body.
Flesh peeled off again in layers, like some strange molting ritual. Something wrapped inside the tentacles shot out like a startled snake and vanished in the blink of an eye.
"It's afraid of fire!" Andrei announced loudly. "Let's lure it to the oil storage!"
"What about the ship?" Wu Lie, being a martial arts actor, might not have outstanding combat skills, but his sense of chivalry, drilled into him by his mentors, wouldn't allow him to leave alone.
Jian Jing made a decision: "We'll kill it in the oil storage. Everyone else, get to the lifeboats—are there enough?"
"Not enough," Ran-er Kim appeared out of nowhere, screaming, "I heard them say many lifeboats are unusable!"
"What?!" Everyone paled. "Then we should leave quickly."
"It has squid-like characteristics and can move underwater. If we abandon ship, we're as good as dead," Jian Jing reasoned. "We must kill it before escaping. Who's willing to stay?"
Jiang BaiYan didn't hesitate: "I'll stay."
"No," she quickly said. "You can't all stay. In case we fail and have to jump into the sea, we need at least one lifeboat willing to rescue people."
Her words made everyone pale again.
Wataru Kojima asked, "Are you saying they might not let us board?"
"The distress calls went unanswered earlier," Jenny, looking like a sacrificial lamb, said. "With the lifeboat problems too, we can't help but be suspicious."
Jian Jing looked at the familiar faces and said, "Baiyan, you go with Kojima and Ran-er. Try to secure a lifeboat for us."
Jiang BaiYan glanced at the group, understanding.
He was on her side and would fight for her even in extreme situations. Ran-er Kim and Wataru Kojima came from powerful backgrounds, which the mastermind behind this would have to consider.
"Alright," he agreed immediately.
"I don't want to stay here," Liu Sau-chi said, face pale. "I want to leave too."
"No one's stopping you," Jian Jing looked at Kumiko Terauchi, Valeriya, and Zhang Xue'er. "But ladies first."
Valeriya and Ran-er Kim supported each other, not refusing. She had two children and was long divorced from her husband, so she dared not stay.
Zhang Xue'er also said shamefacedly, "My hands and feet are weak now, I might not be able to help."
"Protecting yourself is helping," Jian Jing reassured her.
Kumiko Terauchi, however, said, "I've learned karate, I might be able to help."
"Okay," Jian Jing urged the others, "Decide quickly, if you're leaving, leave now. We can't delay."
In the end, Connor Lee, Hiroto Ishikawa, and Linnaer wanted to leave, while Min-cheol Park and Raj were willing to help.
The lifeboats were at the stern on the seventh floor. Most people had headed there during the earlier chaos, so the tentacles were probably having a buffet there.
Jian Jing told the others to go to the eighth floor and descend from there.
"The monster's main body should be on the ninth floor," she explained the situation to her companions. "It can grow through feeding, both in size and intelligence, so we must act quickly."
Min-cheol Park asked, "Where did this thing come from?"
"Not sure," Jian Jing lied, "Let's kill it first, then talk."
"Are we really using the oil storage?" Wu Lie worried, "If we blow it up, the ship will definitely capsize. What about the people who can't get to the lifeboats?"
This was Jian Jing's concern too: "Let's see if we can kill the main body first. If not, we'll blow it up together."
Surviving at sea would be miserable, but better than being sucked dry by the monster. At least there was a chance of survival.
However, at that moment, everyone's center of gravity shifted, and they all involuntarily tilted to one side.
"Is the ship capsizing?!" Raj's face turned ashen.
"The balance has shifted," Min-cheol Park leaned against the wall. "Did the monster move to that side?"
Jian Jing worried about this too and quickly climbed to the ninth floor, but she couldn't get through.
In just a few minutes, the tentacles had grown to an extremely exaggerated extent, blocking most of the passages on the ninth floor. Slime covered the walls, making it difficult to walk.
Left with no choice, Jian Jing spent another 5 special contribution points to unlock an axe form.
As she chopped down, she found the outer skin even tougher now, requiring more effort to cut through the flesh. When the blade made contact, she could feel the resistance and viscosity of the slime.
"Unbelievable," the others had caught up, and upon seeing the corridor that resembled a dragon's den, they were shocked. "What on earth is this thing?"
Jian Jing: "Never mind that, burn it."
The group scrambled to cooperate, using wooden tables and chairs as fuel, expensive red and white wines as accelerants. They didn't need archery skills now; they just got close and set it on fire.
After much effort, they finally managed to injure this section of tentacles, leaving them in tatters.
"Fortunately, although this thing is big, it's not too hard to deal with," Raj sighed in relief.
So far, it seemed the most dangerous part was the tail (or possibly the head). While the other parts of the trunk were huge and bloated, they couldn't fight back and could be dealt with using tools.
But Kumiko Terauchi stepped back, looking tense: "No, look!"
They saw the flesh at the wound sites writhing continuously, compressing layer by layer until they formed familiar points.
The two wounds had become two tails, with eerie suckers popping out like goosebumps.
Andrei cursed, then shouted: "Run!"
The others quickly retreated, but Jian Jing picked up a wooden stick from the ground. The flames had been extinguished by the blood, leaving only charred parts.
She lit her lighter.
[Name: Special Card - Red-White Lighter]
[Description: Red-White Series Props, extremely durable, can be lit in harsh environments, suitable for various extreme conditions, flame not easily extinguished. Can be remotely controlled via red and white buttons: red button ignites, white button extinguishes, effective range: 100 meters in diameter, consumes 5 special points.]
[Note: Fire can save lives, but it can also kill. Please do not use for evil]
The flame ignited the wooden stick, bursting into a fierce blaze.
The tentacles shrank back in fear, but Jian Jing stepped forward, unhesitatingly activating her White Kitten State. Using the powerful jumping ability of felines, she leaped up.
It immediately mobilized its trunk, mimicking a snake's movements, trying to constrict her tightly.
Jian Jing slashed backwards with her knife while activating her targeting card. Despite her less dexterous left hand, she accurately threw the torch.
The flames seared the wound.
The tentacle writhed, squeezing internal fluids to extinguish the fire. But the system-produced special card was incredibly powerful. Even as layer upon layer of slime covered it, the flame stubbornly continued to burn.
The wound finally burst open again.
This time, its regeneration speed wasn't as fast.
Jian Jing caught her breath, but remained pessimistic: from what she could tell, the monster's core was still the object Jenny had been worshipping on the ninth floor. But breaking through multiple barriers to eliminate the core would certainly not be easy.
She was only human after all, prone to exhaustion and fatigue, while the monster could sustain itself by consuming living creatures.
Once it finished with the humans, there was plenty more in the sea.
Time to blow it up.
She headed downstairs to discuss options with the others: "How can we lure it to the oil storage?"
"Can we use food as bait?" Kumiko Terauchi asked.
Jian Jing: "That could work, it eats fish too."
"Why eat dead food when there's live prey?" Min-cheol Park said.
Raj: "We can't be picky. Once everyone else is gone, we'll become the bait."
"Raj is right," Jian Jing pondered. "Let's do this: we'll go to the kitchen first and use raw meat to lure it down. Then you all keep your distance, ready to jump into the sea, while I set the fire."
Kumiko Terauchi said: "I don't think that's safe enough. If we only blow up part of it, it might not die."
Jian Jing: "Then we'll pour fuel oil on the upper floors too."
"Good."
Time was short, leaving no room for careful deliberation. After roughly finalizing the plan, everyone got busy with their tasks.
Raj and Andrei were responsible for moving the oil. The fuel storage had plenty of oil, but it couldn't be operated by computer and had to be extracted manually, which took some time.
After successfully obtaining the fuel, they carried large and small barrels to the seventh floor to pour it out - the monster had expanded again, and the eighth floor was now inaccessible. They spread the fuel as much as possible in flammable areas, especially near passageways, to preemptively cut off the tentacles' retreat.
Jian Jing, Wu Lie, and Kumiko Terauchi, who all had some physical training, were more agile. They split up to move meat from the kitchen's freezer area, scattering it in the corridors to lure the tentacles to feed.
This job was more dangerous, as the monster could catch the scent at any moment and show up early.
As a precaution, Jian Jing specifically brought a bucket of oil, pouring it at stairway entrances and other areas, planning to ignite it if danger arose to create an escape opportunity for the others.
However, Raj and Andrei were the first to encounter danger.
They met the lone Screenwriter on the sixth floor.
"Hey, help me out," the Screenwriter called to them, limping as he spoke. "I'm injured, wait for me."