MCAG Chapter 65

Episode 65

“A kraken…?”

“Yeah. A kraken—that giant squid-or-octopus monster. It’s a cephalopod, so its body is flexible enough to move freely underwater. Plus, all those long tentacles? Imagine how efficient it would be to use them to trap and crush that thing.”

He listened to me and seemed to be pondering.

“Is it not a good idea? You can’t make it?”

“No… it might work. Though it’ll take some practice.”

His positive reply made me feel oddly proud because I felt like I’d finally contributed somehow.

Anyway, we needed to get moving. If my hunch was right and those two were facing the main zombie right now, we were losing time here.

“Do-yoon, let’s find the main zombie first. I don’t like how quiet it’s gotten—”

The water suddenly heaved, sloshing violently. A wave crashed into my open mouth mid-sentence.

“Cough! Ugh—! What the hell was that?!”

“Noona… I think it’s coming this way.”

“What?”

It was as he said. The faint song we’d heard earlier began swelling again, louder, closer.

Whoa. Let’s calm down—don’t let its song ensnare you.

“Since we have to fight underwater, I can’t physically go in and control things while monitoring the situation. I’ll share my vision with the shadow. But focusing on that means I can’t pay attention to you, Noona.”

“It’s fine. More importantly, make sure you kill it properly.”

He nodded, eyes shutting.

I was useless in this underwater battle. All I could do was watch and pray it ended soon.

There was nothing I could do in this underwater battle. All I could do was watch him, praying this ended soon.

Observing his face up close as his eyes remained shut, I suddenly recalled what had happened earlier. The sensation of his lips brushing against mine resurfaced when I touched my lips, making my face burn hot.

Stop thinking about that. Get a grip.

I shook my head lightly, trying to shake off the thoughts, but it wasn’t easy because his face kept drawing my gaze.

His hair, damp and glistening, clung to his skin. His long, thick eyelashes trembled faintly, delicate water droplets clinging to their tips. His already fair skin looked starkly pale against his dark hair, almost ghostly. But what captured my attention most were his lips—soft and moist, flushed a healthy pink despite how long we’d been submerged.

Damn it. The more I looked, the more I wondered why he had to be so pretty? He was prettier than most girls up close.

I felt an inexplicable sense of jealousy. I continued studying his face for a long time. When I realized I was licking my lips every so often, however, I felt like a creep and got embarrassed. My ears burned with shame.

Me, of all people. My first kiss… No—that wasn’t a kiss. Just… lips barely touching. So… a peck? Yeah, that’s more accurate. But still—with him?

Was this what they called a “successful fangirl moment”? I definitely liked the protagonist until I entered the game, but that had been admiration for a character. Sure, I’d once fallen hard for his pretty illustrations, even obsessed over them—but I never wanted to actually kiss him! I really didn’t!

Just then, his delicate brows furrowed.

“Ah, damn it.”

His muttered curse startled me.

What was wrong?

I rolled my eyes downward, staring at the ripples that had started to form in the water surrounding us. What was going on below…?

“What the hell is that?”

I blinked, doubting my eyes. A whirlpool had formed underwater, pulling us toward it.

“W-wait, Do-yoon! What’s going on? Why is this—?”

“Noona, hold on tight. Don’t let go.”

“Huh?”

I didn’t understand what was happening, but following his advice seemed wise, so I clung to him. Soon, I realized why he’d warned me.

Ugh—! So dizzy!

When the whirlpool first formed, the water’s surface had stayed oddly calm despite our bodies being dragged. But after his words, waves erupted violently, churning until I couldn’t even keep my eyes open.

Gritting my teeth, I held onto him as we were tossed wildly—until my feet suddenly hit something solid.

What…? It felt firm yet squishy…

I was wondering about the strange sensation on my toes for a moment, but after floating helplessly in the water, having something to stand on dissolved my panic. My tense muscles relaxed. Slowly, I opened my eyes—and gaped.

Was this… the shadow?

Beneath my feet was a dark, sturdy mass. Around us sprawled black, branch-like tendrils—no, tentacles, thick and studded with suction cups.

“Hah… As expected, it’s hard to make something this size.”

He slowly opened his eyes, their focus hazy and distant. I looked into his eyes in mesmerization, before snapping back to reality and shifting my gaze to the shadow again.

“How is it, Noona? Do you like it? Does it meet your expectations?”

“Huh? Oh… Yeah. It’s better than I imagined.”

“That bastard was tricky. Kept using hostages like shields, squirming away like an eel. It pissed me off.”

Whoa…

His words barely registered. A kraken this massive… It looked like it was ripped straight out of a sea monster movie. Pitch-black, every inch of it oozing menace.

I’d told him to try making one, but never expected this—a colossal, hyper-detailed monstrosity. I’d assumed he’d conjure a human-sized squid, not a god-tier cinematic abomination.

“Noona. Are you listening?”

“Yeah. I am.”

“It took a lot out of me to make that, so please focus on me, not the kraken.”

“Mhm…”

When I answered half-heartedly and carefully scanned the monster, something wrapped around its tentacles caught my eye. Upon closer inspection, I recognized them as familiar faces.

Seo Ga-eun? Park Jun-woo?!

“Why are they…?”

“I told you. The bastard used them as shields.”

“You mean those hostages…”

“As you said, it seemed it was playing with them. They were already in bad shape when I found them.”

Hearing his words, my anger toward the main zombie flared even hotter.

A zombie using humans as shields now?

“Are they both still breathing?”

“Probably.”

“Where is that bastard?”

“It’s still below. It’s more resistant than I expected—so it was hard to pin it down.”

As the words faded, a pillar of water erupted from water as if a stream of water from a fountain, only to vanish moments later. In its place, the bastard came into view, hoisted aloft by the giant octopus’s coiled tentacle.

As I already knew, its visuals were horrific. But… What’s that? A gray rod was impaled in its back.

A pipe? No way…

I stared at the woman limp in the kraken’s grip.

She really was something else when it comes to strength. No ordinary person could’ve driven that in.

“Kreeeeek!”

Its shrill scream tore through the air—nothing like the canary-like voice from before. Being caught by the kraken must’ve enraged it beyond measure. To bare its teeth and screech like this…

I muttered blankly, staring at the scene.

“As expected, that’s not a beluga. There’s no way a beluga has such terrible teeth…”

Just then, two tigers burst from the water, sinking their fangs into the zombie’s torso, ripping it apart. More tigers circled, tearing chunks of flesh until its thrashing slowed, then stilled.

Finally, when only bones remained, the kraken hurled it underwater. The water darkened crimson as zombie fish swarmed the remains. I grimaced at the gruesome feast—until a system alert blinked before us:

 

「Congratulations. Stage 5: Aquarium has been cleared.」

 

Oh, it’s finally over.

Relief washed over me the moment I saw that notification, and my whole body went slack. Smiling, I stared at the corpse being devoured—then froze. Wait. It’s dead, so why…?

A whirlpool began spiraling around its remains.

“Do-yoon—something’s wrong!”

“Damn it! It’s sucking in the shadow too—why?!”

Panic flashed across his face, but before we could act, the vortex grew bigger, swallowing the kraken.

No—!

My scream died as the whirlpool yanked me in. Spinning helplessly, my vision blurred—until a shimmering blue light pierced the chaos.

A gem…?

Realizing it was the Stage 5 reward, I instinctively reached out for it—but my body wouldn’t obey. My consciousness faded away as the world spun faster and faster.

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DAMN these people can’t catch a break fr

BTW MY FINALS ARE OVERRR

now to find a summer internship… welp