"Pfft—"
Flesh splattered.
After cutting off half a tentacle with an axe, Natsuki rolled away without hesitation, dodging into the distance.
The next second.
Bang!
Another tentacle descended from the sky, smashing down with a whistling sound.
The Yaarctopus was enormous, but its movements were not clumsy; on the contrary, it was quite agile. Even in nature, octopuses have always been known for their agility.
However, Natsuki's movements were even more agile, and he would run after each axe swing, never being greedy for more attacks.
Coupled with the countless giant mosquitoes harassing it from the side, the Yaarctopus roared repeatedly for a time, but to no avail.
"Kaguya, should we go help?"
Chika said anxiously.
Kaguya crossed her arms over her chest, saying very calmly, "Don't go."
"Eh?" Chika looked over in confusion, "Are we just going to watch from the sidelines?"
Yukino's expression was serious, and she said in a low voice, "Those mosquitoes won't harm Natsuki-kun, but they might attack us. Rushing over would only cause Natsuki trouble."
"Exactly." Hayasaka's pretty face was pale, and she pressed her fingers to her temples, her expression slightly pained. "What we need to do now is wait for the right moment, not act rashly."
… …
Earlier, when Natsuki was leading countless mosquitoes on a walk, Kaguya returned first and quickly explained the situation to everyone. Then, Hayasaka stepped forward, dived into the sea, and used the taunting item to lure the Yaarctopus to the shore.
When Natsuki described his encounter, Hayasaka was still dismissive, thinking that mental pollution was nothing and she could handle it.
It was only when she truly faced the Yaarctopus and suffered mental pollution that she realized how painful it was to be polluted.
Fortunately, before heading to the swamp, everyone had formulated various contingency plans. Natsuki had already applied the Possession Skill to the girls. If Hayasaka couldn't hold on, the other girls would use the Possession Skill, actively consuming a Possession Mark, to temporarily control Hayasaka's body and continue fleeing and luring the enemy.
Even so, there were still many dangers along the way, and it was with great difficulty that the Yaarctopus was lured onto the sea.
Although players were stronger than ordinary people, most players were still no match for true monsters.
The battle continued.
The once beautiful beach was now a mess, as if it had been bombed, with splattered blood and flesh everywhere.
"Hoo… hoo…"
Natsuki wiped the blood from his face, breathing slightly.
Even he began to feel tired from such high-intensity combat.
Given the Yaarctopus's size, being struck by a tentacle wouldn't be instantly fatal, but it would definitely cause injury. Natsuki was expending a huge amount of energy and stamina, having to dodge, attack, and evade the Queen Mosquito's harassment.
At the same time, the mosquito army also suffered heavy losses.
These mosquitoes had very little intelligence. Under the Yaarctopus's mental pollution, they defected in droves. In their self-slaughter, the ground was covered with fallen mosquitoes, and even the sky-darkening mosquito army had visibly thinned out.
Of course, the most battered creature among them was still the Yaarctopus. More than a dozen tentacles had been severed by Natsuki, and its body was covered in bloody wounds. Although the damage caused by the mosquitoes was low, enough ants could kill an elephant, making the Yaarctopus unbearable.
Splat!
A giant black tentacle swept through the air, directly splattering dozens of mosquitoes that couldn't dodge in time.
With more than half of its tentacles severed by Natsuki, this Yaarctopus began to retreat into the sea.
"Trying to escape?"
Natsuki's eyes narrowed.
How could I let you escape!
This is an opportunity not to be missed, and it won't come again.
Once the Yaarctopus escaped into the sea, recreating the current scenario would not be so simple. He had to seize the opportunity and directly kill this fellow!
With his thoughts racing, Natsuki made a decisive decision.
"Time Stop!"
As the Time Stop skill activated, time in the entire nightmare realm suddenly froze.
Blood and flesh splattering in mid-air.
Giant mosquitoes suspended in the air.
The Queen Mosquito with greedy eyes.
The worried girls in the distance.
Everything was instantly frozen.
"I only have three seconds. Even activating "Psychic Power 100%" isn't enough to kill this Yaarctopus, so..."
Natsuki raised his right hand and clenched it forcefully towards the Yaarctopus.
Accio!
The disparity in size and strength between the two was undeniable. Under the effect of the Accio, Natsuki's body shot through the air like a cannonball, arriving in front of the Yaarctopus's eyeball.
In the Time Stop state, the Yaarctopus's murky and cold single eye was also frozen, and even its mental pollution couldn't be activated.
Upon closer inspection, one could see a translucent membrane covering this single eye, clearly providing a defensive effect. No wonder many previous mosquito attacks had no substantial effect.
"Two seconds..."
Natsuki didn't hesitate, decisively raising the bloody axe in his hand and suddenly chopping down.
With his current hand speed, without needing to consider defense, he could chop ten times in one second when attacking at full speed.
"...Last second!"
The long three seconds finally passed, and the stopped time resumed flowing.
Pfft—
The Yaarctopus's gigantic, tire-sized, cold eyeball suddenly shattered, and a foul-smelling liquid splattered into the air.
"Eh, eh, eh, what's going on?"
When Time Stop ended, the girls regained their ability to observe and saw Natsuki appear in mid-air at some point, and the Yaarctopus's single eye exploded as if a fish bladder had been stepped on.
"It's Time Stop!"
Soon, a girl reacted.
"The President used the Time Stop skill!"
At the same time.
The Yaarctopus, with its shattered single eye, trembled all over and suddenly let out a painful wail it had never made before, followed by its remaining tentacles suddenly thrashing wildly.
Bang!
Natsuki, in mid-air and with nowhere to brace himself, was directly hit by a tentacle and sent flying backward.
"President!"
Chika finally couldn't hold back and ran over, her eyes teary.
"I'm fine..." Natsuki rolled to his feet, spat out the blood in his mouth, took a deep breath, and said, "After blowing up its eye, it can no longer perform mental pollution."
"Natsuki-kun, be careful!"
Tsubame shouted worriedly.
Buzz, buzz, buzz.
The Queen Mosquito vibrated its wings, its eyes greedy as it swooped towards Natsuki.
From beginning to end, its target was never the Yaarctopus, but to drain all of Natsuki's blood.
Facing the incoming Queen Mosquito, Natsuki took a deep breath, decisively turned his head, and randomly chose a girl to use the title skill [Warrior of Love].
The title effect could only apply to one target at a time. As Natsuki shifted his target, the Queen Mosquito awoke from its "Obsessive Love" state, its wings immediately trembled, it stopped its dive, and flew back into the sky.
Looking at Natsuki on the ground, a hint of bewilderment flashed in the Queen Mosquito's eyes, not understanding why it was so fixated on an ugly creature.
Turning to look at the raging Yaarctopus, a hint of fear flashed in the Queen Mosquito's eyes. It suddenly shrieked and turned to fly towards the swamp.
The other mosquitoes, hearing the call, naturally followed the Queen Mosquito without hesitation.
"Phew, the mosquitoes are all gone..."
Seeing this, the girls all breathed a sigh of relief.
It was actually hard to tell for a while which was scarier, the mosquitoes or the tentacle monster.
"The Yaarctopus is going to escape."
Yukino suddenly reminded them.
Natsuki turned his head and indeed saw the Yaarctopus retreating towards the sea. He decisively stood up and said:
"Don't let it escape."
Chika clenched her small fists and said:
"Hit it!"
Previously, with countless mosquitoes surrounding them, the girls couldn't get close. Now that the mosquito army had left, they could finally advance with confidence.
"Don, the Outlaw, it's you!"
Chika pointed her finger and used the Seize and Eliminate Evil skill.
During the previous warm-up activities, the Young Miss had a Seize and Eliminate Evil skill pasted on her. At this moment, she quickly arrived in front of the Yaarctopus, extended her right hand, and pressed down on a tentacle, saying:
"You're under arrest!"
As Kaguya touched it, the tentacle immediately froze in mid-air.
Juju covered her chest and breathed a sigh of relief:
"Thankfully it worked..."
However, the next second.
The Yaarctopus's other tentacles suddenly thrashed out.
Kaguya decisively retreated into the shadows, dodging the attack.
"What's going on?" Chika's eyes widened, her voice filled with disbelief, "It was clearly controlled, so why can it still move?"
Yukino frowned and analyzed:
"Octopuses have multiple hearts and memory systems, so perhaps they can be immune to skills."
"It's not immune." Hayasaka said in a deep voice, "The tentacle that the Young Miss just grabbed didn't move; it was the other tentacles that moved."
Haruno quickly said:
"So, only by controlling all of its tentacles can it be done?"
Chika said anxiously:
"But Copy and Paste takes time, and the tentacle monster is about to escape into the sea. There's simply no time, is there?"
Natsuki took a deep breath, and blue psychic energy arcs suddenly flickered around his body. He said in a deep voice:
"If Copy and Paste isn't fast enough, then cut off all the other tentacles."
Before he finished speaking.
The ground beneath Natsuki's feet suddenly exploded into two craters. Amidst the flying sand, Natsuki, enveloped in blue electrical arcs, arrived in front of the Yaarctopus in an instant, moving with a speed even more agile than a cheetah's.
"It's "Psychic Power 100%!""
Chika exclaimed softly.
Using "Psychic Power 100%" required pre-charging, just like a coin. Natsuki had naturally prepared in advance and completed the pre-charge.
At this moment, with psychic power fully unleashed, countless blue electrical arcs suddenly enveloped his hair and body, and even his eyes turned blue.
In the 100% state, all of Natsuki's attributes received a leap-forward improvement: speed, strength, agility, and even thought speed, all became stronger.
The originally fast tentacle attacks, in Natsuki's eyes at this moment, had become slow-motion, and he didn't need to distract himself with thinking about how to dodge.
Then... Natsuki raised his axe, and with a swift motion, it fell.
Puff, puff, puff, puff, puff!
It was as if blue electrical arcs were leaping and flickering around the Yaarctopus. In less than a minute, all of the Yaarctopus's tentacles were severed.
"Chika!"
Natsuki shouted.
Chika understood and quickly extended her right hand, once again using the Seize and Eliminate Evil combo skill:
"Don, the Outlaw, it's you!"
At the same time.
The Young Miss, who had been hidden in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity, appeared out of thin air and reactivated the combo skill's arrest effect.
The Yaarctopus, which had already reached the sea and was just one step away from escaping into the sea, suddenly froze its massive body.
What happened next goes without saying.
With its single eye blown out, all its tentacles severed, and its main body captured by Seize and Eliminate Evil, this octopus anomaly was completely turned into fish on a chopping block, left to be slaughtered.
Of course.
Natsuki was well aware of the principle that villains die from talking too much. Without any unnecessary words, he continued to attack until the Yaarctopus was completely killed, only then finally stopping.
As the anomaly's main body was killed, the entire island space immediately trembled, and cracks appeared in the air, as if it was about to shatter.
"Phew, it's over."
"We can finally leave."
"Desert island survival, ends here."
"..."
Noticing that the nightmare was beginning to shatter, the girls all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Eh, President, what are you doing?"
Chika suddenly asked curiously.
The other girls looked over with strange gazes and saw Natsuki hiding in front of the Yaarctopus, holding an axe, eagerly cutting it repeatedly. The cut flesh disappeared directly in his hand.
"Don't just stand there, come over and help me put this octopus into the backpack!" Natsuki said excitedly, "This thing can be put into the [game] backpack!"
"No, it feels so disgusting." Chika wrinkled her dainty nose and complained, "If the President wants to eat octopus, we can just buy some when we get back to reality."
Tsubame was a little worried and whispered:
"Has Natsuki-kun been severely mentally polluted?"
It was clearly just a disgusting tentacle monster, yet he showed a quite fervent expression, as if looking at a rare treasure.
Yukino crossed her right arm over her chest and nodded, "It's very possible."
Natsuki shouted, "Hurry up and help, this thing is an ingredient recognized by the game; real-life octopuses are useless."
"Eh, eh?"
Upon hearing this, the girls finally stepped forward, but they still found the octopus disgusting and were slow and unwilling to exert effort.
Chika complained, "Even if it's an ingredient, the President doesn't need to be so fervent, just getting a little bit is enough."
Natsuki said decisively, "No, the more the better."
Tsubame asked, "Eh, why?"
Natsuki said, "Because it can strengthen virility."
...
Upon hearing about the virility-strengthening attribute, many girls still had little understanding, just as men cannot comprehend women's obsession with beauty, girls also cannot comprehend men's obsession with virility.
"V-virility strengthening?!"
Juju's eyes widened at the words, and then her small face quickly flushed red.
After regaining her memory, she already knew why Natsuki was so unrestrained with her, because the two of them were already in a zero-distance relationship.
Lewd!
Too lewd!
He's already so exaggerated, and he still wants something like virility strengthening? She'll be taken advantage of to pieces!
But... collecting more doesn't seem to have any downsides.
What if Stupid Natsuki's body isn't up to it in the future?
Someone on Twitter did a survey, and it seems many young people's bodies aren't in good shape...
Juju's small face was crimson, and she quietly increased her collection efforts.
"Eh?"
During the collection process, Juju suddenly discovered that besides herself, there was another person also collecting a large amount of octopus ingredients.
"It's Hanamori... Could it be that Hanamori-chan has also..."
Hayasaka noticed the gaze and tilted her head to look over.
Their eyes met.
Hayasaka blinked in confusion, then very naturally shifted her gaze away.
"Eh, did I misunderstand?"
Juju blinked, successfully deceived by Hayasaka's acting.
A moment later.
The black crack of the nightmare space finally covered the entire sky, and then with a crash, the entire world suddenly shattered.
Looking at the still massive Yaarctopus, Natsuki sighed regretfully, closed his eyes, and a slight dizziness suddenly struck him.
"Eh, is this the hotel lobby?"
"Are we back?"
"Everyone, quickly look outside the door!"
...
Natsuki turned his head and looked outside the hotel door, only to see bright sunshine outside the main entrance, and the corrugated iron fence clearly visible.
At the same time.
The game finally gave everyone the eagerly awaited notification:
[Reality Guard Mission Completed]
[Mission Objective: Nightmare Hotel has been eliminated, you will receive the following rewards]
[1500 game Coins]
[10 Free Attribute Points]
[3 Random Skill Scrolls]
[1 Skin Card]
[1 High-Quality Item]
[1 Dungeon Exemption Card]
...
Now with the game's endorsement, there was no doubt that the anomaly had truly been eliminated.
At the same time.
An incredibly familiar voice suddenly sounded behind everyone.
"Why is the hotel lit up... Eh, eh, eh, where are my clothes?"
"My clothes are gone too!"
Another familiar voice sounded, very shyly.
The girls turned their heads and saw a gyaru looking bewildered, and beside her was a black-haired girl; both girls were shyly covering their bodies.
It was Marin and Sayu, who had violated the rules and turned into dolls.
As the anomaly was eliminated, the punishment disappeared, and the two finally returned to normal.
"Marin..."
Natsuki couldn't help but rush forward and immediately pull the gyaru into his embrace.
No one was jealous.
Even Kaguya wouldn't care about jealousy at this moment.
The countless shared experiences of life and death, and the bonds, had long been inseparable.
"Eh, eh, eh?" Marin let out a soft cry. Hugging in front of everyone, and without a single piece of clothing on, even a hot girl would be shy. "Natsuki, what's wrong?"
"Let me put on my clothes first..."
Marin's pretty face flushed red, and she quickly used a succubus Skin Card.
"Waaah, Marin-chan!" Chika also ran over and hugged Marin, "This is truly amazing!"
"Marin-chan, it's good that you're okay! It's good that you're okay!"
Juju was equally excited, tears even welling up in the corners of her eyes.
Her relationship with Marin had always been the best, without exception. Seeing Marin appear safe and sound now, she was naturally overjoyed, almost on the verge of tears.
Kaguya came to Sayu's side, took out a spare set of clothes, and said gently, "Sayu, put on your clothes first."
"Mm-hmm..." Sayu quickly took the clothes, covered her body, and asked curiously, "Everyone looks so strange... Did something happen?"
"That's a long story..."
Natsuki took a deep breath, let go of Marin, turned and hugged Sayu again, and said gently, "We'll talk outside."
Marin blinked, then hesitated, "But the anomaly..."
Chika hugged Marin and happily shouted, "The anomaly, of course, has been eliminated!"