The atmosphere grew heavy, tension coiling like a serpent ready to strike. Conflict hung by a thread.
The surrounding monsters leaned in, eyes gleaming with feral anticipation. A fight meant injury. Injury meant leftovers. Arms, legs, organs—free meal for whoever dared to scavenge.
But Jack didn't rise to the bait. Instead, his gaze slid past Slime Octopus's bluster, fixing on the translucent panel only he could see.
[ Monster: Slime Octopus ]
[ Threat Level: Tiger (Mid) ]
[ Ability 1: 「Viscous Ink (N)」: Sprays highly adhesive ink laced with potent venom. Obstructs senses and movement. ]
[ Ability 2: 「Powerful Constriction (R)」: Eight tentacles with immense strength and elasticity. Capable of high-speed entanglement and lethal crushing. ]
[ Ability 3: 「Tentacle Regeneration (N)」: Severed tentacles regenerate by consuming life force. ]
Tiger-level mid. One R-rank. Two N-ranks.
Before today? An existence Jack wouldn't dare provoke.
Now?
He was no longer the same monster.
The system pegged him at Tiger-level upper. But that was misleading. Tiger-level upper didn't account for four SSR abilities—each one a cheat code ripped from a Dragon-level peak.
Slime Octopus was stronger than the average Tiger. But compared to Jack?
Invincible among peers.
"So..."
Jack's voice cut through the tension. Hot. Deliberate. Like magma bubbling beneath crust.
"You really think I'd just take that?"
Slime Octopus's eyes narrowed. The suction cups on his tentacles pulsed, opening and closing with wet, grating sounds. Ready to strike.
"Of course I have a problem."
Jack stepped forward. Shorter than the octopus. Less mass. But his dark armored body radiated something else—density. Power compressed. A fist waiting to unfold.
"What problem?!"
"You."
Jack's crimson eyes burned behind his faceplate.
"Should die."
"YOU—!"
Slime Octopus's massive head flushed crimson. Humiliation. Rage. Eight tentacles erupted like maddened pythons, whistling through the air with enough force to shatter stone.
The stench hit first—fishy, sticky, nauseating.
Then the speed.
They're fighting!
Rip him apart, Boss!
Kill that bug!
The crowd erupted. Bloodthirsty roars filled the cavern. They could already see it—Jack's broken body, crushed to pulp by those constricting coils.
But Jack saw something else.
Time stretched.
Beast Instinct activated.
The eight tentacles—each one a blur to normal eyes—slowed. Their trajectories unraveled before him like threads. Power. Speed. Angles. Even the wind they displaced. All visible.
Too slow.
His body moved before thought.
Dark figure blurred—an arrow released. Through gaps too narrow to exist. Between tentacles. Around them. Past them.
One instant he was there.
The next?
Beside Slime Octopus's massive form. Inches away.
"What?!"
Slime Octopus's pupils shrank.
That speed—impossible. Beyond Tiger-level reaction. Beyond anything he'd faced.
Beast Instinct had read him like a book. Overgrowth and Fierce Beast Body had provided the erupting—strength and speed far exceeding Jack's nominal tier.
And now?
Jack was inside his guard.
The surrounding monsters' cheers died in their throats.
Silence crashed down.
What... just happened?
One moment, he was there. The next—gone.
Slime Octopus's sluggish brain barely registered the disappearance before primal terror screamed from its side.
Where—?!
Then it felt it.
Wind. Displaced. Rushing toward its head.
A claw—black carapace, crimson patterns pulsing—ripped through the air like a falling star.
Target: Skull.
PFFFT—!
Like a hot knife through rotten flesh.
Jack's claws punched through slippery skin. Through cartilage. Through everything. Five fingers sank into Slime Octopus's massive head.
Half the skull caved inward.
Blue blood—cheap ink-quality—sprayed between his fingers. Mixed with shredded white brain tissue. Geysering.
"URGH AAAAH—!!!"
A scream no living thing should make. Pure agony. Pure terror.
Eight tentacles thrashed wildly—insane, uncontrolled, desperate—slamming into Jack from inches away.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Sparks flew.
Fierce Beast Body Lv1 laughed at the assault.
Tiger-level mid attacks? Against a Dragon-level copied defense?
Not even scratches.
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
Slime Octopus's remaining eye bulged. Its attacks—useless. Its enemy—untouched.
But it wasn't done.
Its massive head snapped back. Mouth gaped.
A torrent of black liquid erupted—viscous, foul, deadly.
「Viscous Ink」.
Toxin. Corrosive. Sensory disruptor. One of its ultimate trump cards.
Jack's eyes glinted with dark amusement.
"Trade blows? Fine by me."
He ripped his claw free—taking a chunk of skull with it—and retreated in a blur.
But his mouth was already open.
Light gathered. Blazing. White-hot.
「Scorching Heat Bullet」 formed between his jaws—a sphere of annihilation, humming with destructive promise.
The ink fell toward him.
He fired.
SSSSSS—!
Contact. Instant vaporization.
The ink didn't stand a chance. Didn't slow the projectile. Didn't even touch him.
The blazing sphere tore through the black cloud—unstoppable—and slammed into Slime Octopus's chest.
Its remaining eye shattered with fear.
No—
NO—
BOOM—!!!
The explosion swallowed everything.
Blue light. Scarlet fire. Shockwave.
The cavern shook. Monsters screamed—thrown back, burned, blinded. Rock rained from above.
When the light faded—
Slime Octopus was gone.
Where a three-meter Tiger-level monster had stood? A crater. Charred black. Glassed edges. And a few smoking tentacle tips, twitching feebly.
Then still.
[ Killed Tiger-level monster 「Slime Octopus」. Origin Points +20. ]
The system chimed.
Jack stood at the crater's edge, breathing evenly. The crimson patterns on his carapace pulsed once—then settled.
Twenty points. Much better than Wolf-level scraps.
He glanced at the surrounding monsters.
Silence.
Absolute. Utter. Terrified silence.
The ones who'd been cheering for his death?
Cowering. Backing away. Eyes wide with primal fear.
Jack's gaze swept across them—slow, deliberate, amused.
"Anyone else have an opinion?"