My Dating Sim Just Got an Update - Chapter 66

Seafood like crabs—well, crustaceans, technically covered in hard shells and mutated to such massive sizes were a nightmare to deal with using stones or crystals. Ren Chenxi found it much more efficient to simply use a rod to flip them over.

Activating an R-grade “Acceleration” card, she moved with blurring speed, flipping all eight giant crabs onto their backs on the sand. While they struggled to right themselves, she stepped forward with her iron rod, systematically smashing the eight legs and the pair of pincers of the crab closest to her. As she finished the first, the others managed to flip back over and charge again. She repeated the process: flip, smash legs, flip, smash legs. One by one, the seven remaining crabs were rendered immobile, left lying helplessly on their backs while she went around to finish them off properly.

By all rights, Ren Chenxi should have treated such fat, fresh crabs with more care—leaving them whole would have made for a better meal later. But these crabs were covered in “Grease” from her cards, smelling strongly of gasoline. She wouldn’t take them even if they were free. She smashed the greasy shells to pieces, collecting 8 bottles of gasoline, 5 Level 2 crystals, and 3 Level 3 crystals before cautiously moving toward the next cluster of red dots.

This time, she threw stones at the location of the dots, but no crabs emerged. Looking closely at the sand, she noticed thirteen red dots and several small holes in the ground. She knew exactly what was hiding there. Approaching one of the holes, she drove her iron rod deep into the sand and pried upward. Hey presto a giant razor clam popped out.

This thing was massive, ten times larger than any “King Razor Clam” she had seen before. Whether cooked with minced garlic or salt and pepper, it was bound to be delicious!

Ren Chenxi nearly drooled at the thought, but she managed to keep her composure. Just as she was admiring it, the clam tried to burrow back into the sand. Not on my watch! You’re my dinner tonight! She pinned it down with the rod, then stepped forward to grab it with her bare hands.

Suddenly, the razor clam retaliated. Its “attack” consisted of spitting a glob of water right at her.

No wonder Zhang Tongqi had said shellfish didn’t have much offensive power; this was almost comical. Once the clam finished its watery assault, Ren Chenxi pulled out a large black plastic bag—the one she’d used for crystals earlier to store her prize.

She couldn’t put live creatures into her system inventory, so she would have to manually bag as many as she could and carry them back to the base.

One clam wasn’t enough. Finding the iron rod clumsy for digging, she swapped it for an iron shovel. It was shorter with a wooden handle, making it much easier to scoop up the remaining twelve razor clams into her bag.

Exhilarated by her haul of thirteen super-sized razor clams, she continued scanning the mini-map for new targets. Not everything under the sand was a clam; she occasionally dug up more crabs or even mantis shrimp. For the crabs, she had to break their legs and pincers before bagging them; for the mantis shrimp, she simply chopped off their front claws.

Before she knew it, the tide was coming in, a shallow layer of seawater covering the sand beneath her feet. Her first black bag was already overflowing. The crabs were the biggest space-hogs, so to manage the haul, she ended up using three large bags and a massive iron bucket she found in her inventory likely something she’d grabbed from a hotel kitchen earlier. She still had four more of those buckets left.

Pulling out another bucket, she began harvesting snails, abalone, oysters, and scallops from the shallows. She left her full bags and the first bucket on a dry patch of sand. Since there was no one else around, she wasn’t worried about thieves. Besides, she had cleared every red dot in the immediate vicinity.

She wondered if she was just lucky today. Other ability users who had fled this beach spoke of Level 5 and 6 mutated seafood lurking here, yet she had only encountered low-level creatures so far. Were the mid-tier monsters away today? Or were they afraid of something? She had specifically saved two SR “Explosion” cards just in case they showed up.

Just as she was questioning her luck, she glanced at the mini-map. A single red dot was charging from the deep sea toward her position at a terrifying speed. Ren Chenxi immediately activated an SR “Acceleration” card and bolted back toward the dry sand. When she used her first R-grade acceleration card, she realized she had twelve left, so she had synthesized ten of them into two SR-grade cards.

While an R-grade card gave a 10% speed boost for 30 minutes, an SR card gave a 100% boost for an hour. Since these were personal buffs, they wouldn’t be negated even by high-level enemies.

With 100% extra speed, she flew across the sand. As she grabbed her bags and buckets, the red dot breached the surface and lunged onto the beach.

It was the octopus monster. But there was a problem—it wasn’t Level 7 anymore. It was Level 8! The damn thing had leveled up! Her SSR “Explosion” cards, which she estimated would deal 30% damage each to a Level 7, would now only do 20% to a Level 8. Three SSR cards plus an SR “Critical Hit” buff only added up to 80% damage. That left 20% health remaining—how was she supposed to finish it? She couldn’t synthesize more cards fast enough!

Screw it, if I can’t beat it, I’ll run! She decided to retreat to safety and draw more cards. She abandoned the three bags, grabbing only one iron bucket as she turned to flee. With her speed buff, she felt she could outrun it. She still had an SSR “Shield” card that could last ten minutes, which she held in reserve.

But plans never survive contact with the enemy. Just as she was about to clear the beach, the octopus lunged. Its massive tentacle whipped through the air, slamming down toward her. Terrified, she dropped her buckets and instantly activated an “Invisibility” card.

Holy crap, that tentacle has to be sixty or seventy meters long!

She vanished instantly, and the octopus lost its target. However, the Level 8 beast seemed able to sense her general presence. Even though she was invisible, its long tentacles began wildly thrashing and sweeping across the area where she had disappeared.

Using her speed, Ren Chenxi nimbly dodged several strikes. Just as she was about to use her SSR “Shield” to make a break for it, several thick green vines whipped through the air, wrapping tightly around the octopus’s massive tentacle.

Those vines.  they belonged to Mu Ning! Ren Chenxi spun around and saw a slender figure with flowing long hair standing at the far end of the beach.

That lunatic! Why is she here?!

Ren Chenxi didn’t have time to run over and demand an explanation or tell her to run. The octopus, its attention now fully on Mu Ning, launched a furious attack at the newcomer.

The massive tentacles slammed into the sand with thunderous “thuds,” sending plumes of sand and dirt flying. Mu Ning used her water ability to form a protective bubble around herself to block the debris, but before she could counter with her vines, a tentacle shattered the bubble. The strike didn’t stop; it continued barreling toward her.

Seeing the tentacle about to crush Mu Ning, Ren Chenxi didn’t hesitate for a second. She threw her SSR “Shield” card onto Mu Ning.

Bang! The massive tentacle hit an invisible barrier in mid-air and bounced back with a recoil.

“Run!” Ren Chenxi screamed at the top of her lungs, but her voice was instantly swallowed by the roaring sea wind.

Mu Ning looked confused. She had braced herself for a devastating blow, but nothing happened. She looked up at the octopus; the Level 8 behemoth had fully crawled onto the beach. Its eight massive tentacles were now surrounding her in a dense, suffocating circle.

While Mu Ning wondered why the damage had stopped, the octopus was even more baffled. Feeling provoked by this tiny human, it raised all eight tentacles and began a frantic, violent barrage on the spot where she stood.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Every strike directed at Mu Ning was repelled by the shield, but the blows landing on the sand around her were so powerful they created deep craters. Ren Chenxi ran toward her in a panic. This couldn’t go on—Mu Ning was trapped, and once the ten-minute shield expired, she was dead!

Whoosh, Ren Chenxi launched an SSR “Explosion” card directly at the octopus’s massive head.

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