The Tentacle Villa
A deer, pierced by a tentacle, had its blood drained dry before being dragged into the darkness beyond the window. Since then, the only sounds emanating from the villa were the unsettling noises of something chewing.
Crunch.
Crackle.
Snap. Crunch-snap.
My body trembled instinctively at the sound, which resembled a giant beast gnawing on bones. 'So, the entire villa really was a single living organism...!'
In terms of classification, it was an ambush-type. In the soul-like games I used to play, the classic example was the 'Mimic,' a monster that disguised itself as a treasure chest to ambush players. And the thing in front of us now was a massive, scaled-up version of that.
It was an ambush-type monster that would skewer you with tentacles and drain you dry the moment you tried to open a door or walk past, thinking it was just a villa. 'In this situation, retreating is the only way to survive.'
As I’ve said before, there was no benefit to fighting a monster like this right now. It was the pinnacle of inefficiency. It would be better to wait until I had converted the underground parking lot into a proper workshop. Until then, it was best for our health to pretend we didn't see each other.
'Revi! Just come here!'
Having made my decision, I quickly gestured for her to come over quietly, mouthing the words. But Revi just shook her head?
"...?"
Was she refusing because, as an android, she couldn't just stand by and watch a monster? ...No. Even though I’d only known her for a few days, I knew Revi wasn't a 'battle junkie' who would prioritize monster subjugation over my life.
Which meant there was only one reason she couldn't move, even though she was supposed to be guarding me.
Snatch.
She had already been caught.
"...!"
"Chanwoo-nim. Run! Please, hurry!"
I had been relieved, thinking only the deer had been skewered. But it seemed the monster hiding within the villa had scattered other tentacles all around the perimeter. Currently, a red line that looked like a tentacle was wrapped around Revi's left ankle. She lifted her leg to show me, shouting as if she knew she was about to be dragged away.
"Kagagagagagagak—!"
At the same time, an eerie, screeching cry that seemed to vibrate the very air echoed from inside the villa. Then, Revi was pulled into the air, tracing a parabolic arc as she followed the tentacle wrapped around her ankle.
"Revi!!"
Just before she fell, Revi tried to cut the tentacle binding her ankle with the blade held in her hand. But the red, thread-like tentacle didn't even show a scratch, despite being struck by a plasma-infused slash.
"It won't cut? ...Ugh?!"
BOOM!
The tentacle that had pulled her high into the sky slammed her into the ground with terrifying speed. The impact seemed to transfer directly to Revi. Like the combat android she was, she didn't let go of her weapon until the very end, but she collapsed, splayed out on the ground, coughing up a small amount of blood.
"Revi. Pull yourself together!"
"...!"
"Roll to the side! You'll get crushed!"
There was no time to rest. Tentacles were erupting from every window of the villa, raining down viciously toward the fallen Revi. At my shout, she finally regained her senses and began rolling to dodge the attacks.
"Ugh...! Haa!"
Slash.
Slice.
Suddenly, unlike the thin ones binding her ankle, thick, heavy tentacles—the same type that had pierced the deer—began to emerge. Revi, unable to just keep dodging, swung her blade again. This time, it seemed they were susceptible to 'effective hits,' and the villa's tentacles were sliced away one by one.
"As I thought... was only 'that one' strange?"
"Revi!"
"Chanwoo-nim. Please, step back."
Our base, the motel, and this villa district were about an hour's distance apart. It wasn't a distance guaranteed to be safe for a normal human like me to travel alone. Not that I had any intention of leaving Revi behind to go alone, anyway. And because Revi knew that my survival was guaranteed only if she were present, she didn't run away, but instead told me to hide somewhere quietly.
"I will defeat this thing and then join you!"
She aimed her blade at the 'Queen'-class monster before her, her golden eyes burning more fiercely than ever.
Not all monsters are of the same rank. Just as there are 'ranks' among humanity, there were classifications for the monsters that dominated the Earth in Star's Doll, the world's apex predators. Those ranks were based on chess pieces, starting from the lowest grunt, the 'Pawn,' up to the final boss, the 'King.'
For reference, when I first opened my eyes in this world, a blue, skeletal monster had tried to attack me because it hadn't found prey the night before, despite it being morning. That thing belonged to the lowest risk level: a Pawn. And the villa-shaped monster currently pinning Revi's ankle and preventing her escape? I guessed it had to be at least a 'Boss-mon.'
Among the ranks of Pawn, Knight, Bishop, Rook, Queen, and King, it was undoubtedly at least a Queen. Yes, it was definitely a monster that met the minimum criteria for a boss-mon.
Swish-swish.
Slice. Slice.
Shing!
...Thud!
"Ugh?!"
Judging by the fact that it was only extending tentacles from inside the villa, it was clearly still in Phase 1. In soul-like games, every single boss had a 'Phase' system—a mechanic that made users weep, where the boss would unleash even more powerful attack patterns only after its health bar was depleted to a certain point. If this thing was a boss-mon, that had to be the case here too. The proof was that the tentacles, which were hidden entirely within the villa, were still only showing themselves through the 'windows.'
However, even that seemed more than enough to defeat us.
"Revi...!"
"Chanwoo-nim... I am sorry... It seems it will be difficult to win."
According to the lore, a Queen-class monster was a being that required an entire platoon of androids to even have a chance of defeating. That was why the story went that the player who defeated a Queen-class monster solo (after dozens of retries) would go on a journey, gaining the attention of R.P.M.
But now that the game had become reality, there was no way to 'retry' by turning back time.
'No...!'
Revi was taking continuous damage because the volume of incoming tentacles far exceeded the number she could cut. On top of that, with her ankle bound, she couldn't even control the distance.
"Damn it!"
To my eyes, the Queen-class monster's attacks were all as clear as day, just like patterns. If this were a third-person game, I could have parried every single one of them and followed up with a counterattack. But again, this was reality, not a game. Furthermore, I was a mere human, not even an android. Even if I tried to hold the blade in Revi's stead and parry at the right moment, I would surely be skewered through the body while clumsily holding the weapon up.
So, what could I do?
"Haa... Haa...!"
"Revi...!"
Sweat was pooling beneath Revi's body like a puddle. She had reached her limit long ago. She was only standing by force of will, to survive and, before that, to protect me. If things continued like this, we would be killed.
...No, considering this world was an 18+ game, it could be a 'parasitic tentacle' type. In the worst-case scenario...
"I... I don't want to give birth anymore!!"
The tentacle-brood-mother ending common in adult games. Revi could end up suffering that kind of open-ended fate, which was only ever mentioned in the original work as a "that's what happened to her" kind of ending.
Thinking that, even though I was clearly a useless human male, I...
Whoosh!
"Ah..."
A swarm of sticky tentacles flew toward her front. The moment Revi closed her eyes, accepting her fate as she realized she would be captured and dragged into the tentacle-covered mansion...
"Revi!"
"Chanwoo-nim?"
I threw my own body, grabbing Revi and barely dodging the tentacle attack. Of course, my back got scraped up in the process.
"Chanwoo-nim, your back... your back is bleeding!"
"It's fine. It's just a scratch."
"A scratch, you say... That was truly dangerous just now! You almost had your spine cut right out!"
I just smiled at Revi's panicked voice.
"It's okay, Revi."
"...!"
Pat, pat.
I then stroked the combat android's hair, just like that time. Just like when I first encountered Revi, when she had held my hands tightly as if to tell me it was okay to be at ease now.
"From now on, I'll fight too."
"Chanwoo-nim...!"
"I know. I'm a human, so I can't fight as well as you, Revi."
But I had the 'veteran' instincts and knowledge that would surprise even R.P.M. I didn't want a vague ending where only one of us survived. If we live, we live together; if we die, we die together. Because I never wanted to leave Revi to be dragged into that creepy tentacle villa alone.
"Believe in me who believes in you."
"...!"
"And believe in you who believes in me!"
I locked eyes with Revi at point-blank range and proclaimed my vow aloud. And the moment I did:
What on earth was happening?
"...Huh?"
The two gauge bars that displayed the playable character's health and stamina when starting Star's Doll. They had begun to appear in the upper-left corner of my vision, labeled with Revi's name.