Chapter 25: Setting Twenty-Five

Setting Twenty-Five: Monster Hunter (Part 7)

The white creature resembled a giant jellyfish. Its umbrella-like bell, like a pale gossamer canopy, covered a rounded inner body. Eight long, thread-like tentacles hung from the edge of the bell, making it appear even larger. It floated silently in the air, its snowy tentacles veined with blood-red lines—evil yet strangely beautiful.

To be honest, this form was far more pleasing to the eye than the previous flesh-ball. But Shan Ziwei had no mood to appreciate its evolving aesthetic. He closed one eye and shakily used Reconnaissance.

[???
Attribute: ?
MP: ?
SP: ?
Type: ?
Stance: Hostile
Relationship: Adoration (Active)
Description: Beware the tentacles.]

Like the teddy bear in Toy Town, the scan returned only question marks. The ominous description made his heart leap to his throat. The monster before them had clearly reached a level they couldn’t handle. Shan Ziwei and Sha Polang both knew this—and so did the monster, evident from the fact that it no longer fled, but actively drifted toward them, dragging its long tentacles without a care.

#Revenge time#

The only silver lining was that its increased size and changed movement had slowed it down—slow enough that Shan Ziwei and Sha Polang could outrun it with a few steps. Escape seemed viable. They exchanged glances, still deciding to test a Bishop-rank monster—fleeing without trying would be too bitter.

“Bang!”

Shan Ziwei fired at the monster. It didn’t dodge, letting the bullet strike its bell, then continued lazily drifting toward the white-haired youth. His inner “WTF” flared—he couldn’t Reconnaissance its SP changes, but judging by its leisurely attitude, his attacks were clearly negligible, possibly not even breaking its defense.

“My turn!”

Beside him, Sha Polang raised her gun and fired. A sniper hunter’s attacks were obviously far stronger than a tracker hunter’s. The monster didn’t ignore her bullets like it had Shan Ziwei’s—it raised a tentacle to block.

“Slap.”

The bullet deflected off the tentacle, missing the body entirely. Though the tentacle was severed, the monster didn’t seem to care, regenerating a new one as it continued drifting.

So this was a Bishop-rank monster? Facing its formidable display, Shan Ziwei didn’t lose heart—instead, he grew more calm and analytical.

As long as they could attack—as long as they could break its defense and deal damage—they had the advantage of speed. They could kite it indefinitely.

“What the hell!”

Sha Polang’s shout broke his concentration. He looked up—the monster was still out of attack range. What had made her scream was the blood-red lines slithering rapidly across the floor.

“!?”

Shan Ziwei’s pupils contracted sharply. The source of the red lines was the severed tentacle on the ground. The crimson veins that had been patterned on the monster’s tentacles seemed to have independent will—they slid off the severed appendage and crawled across the floor like red serpents, racing toward their feet.

They both stepped back simultaneously, firing at the lines that nearly reached them. Unexpectedly, the charge had been a decoy—the lines twisted at an impossibly soft 90-degree angle and darted down the stairwell.

They paused, then realized what was happening and rushed to the stairwell. To avoid her grandfather interfering during combat, Sha Polang had left him on the landing below—positioned so she could both fire and keep an eye on him.

But they were too late. The red line had already climbed onto the old man and was slipping into his open, screaming mouth.

“Gulp!”

The old man clutched his throat, making a swallowing motion. Both Shan Ziwei and Sha Polang instinctively pursed their lips, their hairs standing on end. Soon, visible changes appeared—his veins surfaced across his skin in vivid red, making him look like the monster itself, covered in bloodlines. Yet despite this bizarre transformation, his expression became eerily calm. He let out a relieved breath, brushed himself off as if shaking away nonexistent dust, and straightened his clothes.

Sha Polang called hesitantly, “Grandpa…?”

Hearing her, the old man looked up. In an instant, his face twisted with terror, eyes bulging as if he’d seen the most horrifying monster in the world. Shan Ziwei instinctively glanced behind him—the old man’s expression was so convincing he almost expected the monster to have teleported right behind them for a surprise attack.

“Holy crap!”

Sha Polang let out an incredulous cry. After confirming the monster was still trudging toward them unhurriedly, Shan Ziwei turned back to see the old man fleeing downstairs at a speed that would be impressive for a man half his age. As a granddaughter who had to constantly confirm her grandfather’s safety, Sha Polang immediately dashed down after him.

“Hold on—I’ll go get him back!”

—Come back! I can’t handle this alone!!!

Left on his own, Shan Ziwei lowered his outstretched hand and clutched his weapon pitifully. He fired a weak shot at the approaching monster—watched it ignore his attack again, its tentacles reaching out to grab him—and this particular sufferer, devoid of pride, chose to flee.

“Slap, slap, slap…”

A rhythmic soft sound came from behind. As Shan Ziwei rounded a stairwell corner, he couldn’t resist glancing upward. That glance nearly sent him tumbling down the stairs. The monster, apparently aware that speed was its weakness now, was beating the floor with its tentacles, shaking off all the red lines.

Without the bloodlines, the monster looked even more crystalline and ethereal. But Shan Ziwei wished he could paste those lines right back on. The tiny crimson threads burst outward like fireworks, racing across the floor toward him in a radial pattern. Startled, he jumped down the stairwell, rolling as he landed—nearly crashing into a nurse helping a patient.

“Hey! What are you doing!”

The nurse scolded, crouching to help the fallen patient. But Shan Ziwei watched in horror as the fastest red line slithered onto the patient and slipped into their mouth. In an instant, the patient’s veins surfaced in bright red. The nurse’s expression froze—before she could scream, the now-terrified patient shoved her violently.

“Help—there’s a monster!!!”

The patient, now resembling a monster itself, shouted. This floor was an infusion ward, crowded with people. The commotion quickly drew onlookers.

“What happened?”

“I heard someone yell ‘monster’…?”

Everyone who saw the red-veined patient stared wide-eyed. But the patient was even more terrified, scanning the crowd in disbelief, their expression reaching peak horror—then snapping into desperate violence. They lunged at the nearest nurse, hands closing around her throat.

“Die, you monster—”

Shan Ziwei didn’t see the end. More bloodlines poured down from above, faster than his all-out sprint. But there was a saying: when being chased by a bear, you don’t need to outrun the bear—just outrun your companions.

Screams erupted one after another from above. Shan Ziwei ran, leaped, and tumbled, reaching the first floor from the fifth in just a minute, then sprinted for the hospital entrance without stopping.

“Yo~” The bald black man showed his white teeth at the frantic white-haired youth. “Having trouble, partner?”

“That monster evolved!” Shan Ziwei panted, describing the evolved creature in detail. He stared at the bald man through the green barrier and said, each word deliberate: “Two of us can’t handle that monster. Either give us support, or give me a pen and paper so I can write my last will!”

“Okay, okay—easy there, friend.” The bald man raised his hands, placating the near-breakdown white-haired youth. “We can provide support. In fact, higher-ups have already called in another team of hunters. Just hold on a little longer.”

A spark of hope ignited in Shan Ziwei.

“When are they arriving?”

“In about two hours.”

—System, would it kill you not to stall for time?!

“No, no, no—actually, 1 hour and 44 minutes.” Seeing Shan Ziwei look like he was about to charge through the barrier and take everyone down with him, the bald man quickly added, “Definitely before the monster’s third evolution! You can wait here for them—and if that monster dares show its face, these babies—” he patted the heavy weapons beside him, “will blow it to kingdom come!”

Shan Ziwei finally exhaled. He started chatting with the bald man through the barrier: “How many of them?”

“Four of them—the strongest hunters we have.” The bald man gave a thumbs-up. “Those old fogeys upstairs saw things getting out of hand and finally decided to bring out the big guns.”

Though he knew it was just game script, Shan Ziwei couldn’t help feeling annoyed at those “higher-ups”—why didn’t they act sooner?!

Four more—that made six hunters total. They should be able to handle a Bishop-rank monster. He just hoped the reinforcements were Chess Pieces, not players. Chess Pieces might get scared or run away, but at least they wouldn’t log off and disappear!

“Ptoo, ptoo…”

Shan Ziwei turned to see Sha Polang stumbling out of the hospital, looking pale and disgusted. She kept wiping her mouth, her face scrunched like she’d eaten something foul.

“Where’s your grandfather?”

“Dead.” Sha Polang said glumly. “Scared to death—literally. Even though I didn’t do it myself, the system counted me as partly responsible and docked 90% of my Club SP.”

Seeing Shan Ziwei’s confused look, she plopped down on the ground and explained.

“I chased Grandpa, but he was terrified, kept calling me ‘monster, monster.’ Then more people showed up, and as he ran, he just fell and stopped moving.” Her face darkened at the memory. “As soon as he died, all the bloodlines scattered—even I got hit. Luckily, I remembered the monster was weak to the solution, so I swallowed some quick and spat the bloodline out.” She spat again to the side, clearly recalling the unpleasant sensation of the bloodline entering her mouth.

Though Shan Ziwei felt she didn’t want to revisit the experience, he asked anyway: “What did it feel like—when the bloodline invaded you? I don’t mean swallowing the solution…”

“I get what you’re asking.” Sha Polang waved dismissively. “When the bloodline entered my body… I think I saw the world through the monster’s eyes.”

She paused, searching for the right words.

“To us, it’s a ‘monster’ because its body is alien and different from ours. But if you reverse it—the monster looking at us, completely different from it—it would probably think we’re ‘monsters’ too. When I swallowed that bloodline, that’s exactly what I felt: every smooth-skinned, flesh-and-blood human looked like a ‘monster’ to me.”

Shan Ziwei’s heart trembled. He couldn’t help pitying the monster—he knew all too well what it felt like to be an outcast among millions.

“Anyway, I never want to experience that again—it was freaky.” Sha Polang sat on the ground, exhausted; clearly this Chessboard had worn her out too. “We can’t take on a Bishop-rank monster. Still want to keep going?”

“Go on, of course.” Before Shan Ziwei could answer, the bald man cut in, beaming at Sha Polang. “Reinforcements are already on the way, sweetheart. You can rest here and wait for them—then go finish that monster off!”

Hearing that, Sha Polang perked right up.

“Really? That’s great—”

“Aaah—!!!”

Her words were cut off by a scream. They looked up to see someone pushed from a high window, falling to the ground—dead on impact. Shan Ziwei’s sharp eyes caught sight of the two figures who’d done the pushing—their faces covered in crimson bloodlines. They cast a dark glance at the familiar figure below before leaving the window.

Xiao Shuai’s aunt and Guo Guoqing’s boyfriend pressed themselves as close to the green barrier as possible, terrified. Shan Ziwei and Sha Polang stared fixedly at the blood spreading across the ground.

[Setting 5: Your conscience won’t let you stand by—try to save the people in the hospital (Survivors: 331/100). (00:00:05)]