[Evolution Points: 118/100]
[Evolution Path Unlocked——]
Standing atop the school rooftop, Mu Xiaoxiao overlooked the campus below. From this high vantage point, he could see most of what was happening in the school. The rooftop was deserted—no people, no monsters.
"Tch… that hurts—"
His injuries were severe. Severed tentacles and gnawing hunger were pressing issues, but... as long as he could evolve, none of that mattered.
"That mini-boss gave me 50 evolution points. Not a bad payoff for all that effort," Mu Xiaoxiao muttered, swaying his tentacles as he recalled the girls he glimpsed during the fight.
"I'm a tentacle monster, yet somehow still this pure. Sigh, whatever. Time to evolve—wait, there's a path selection?"
His eyes gleamed with anticipation as he stared intently at the text appearing on his system panel.
[Evolution Path: Incubator]A reproduction-corruption-based evolution route. Grants new skills:
[Impregnation Injection]
[Whip of Desire]
[Evolution Path ②: Devourer Serpent]A digestion-consumption-based evolution route. Grants new skills:
[Decompose]
[Devour]
[Evolution Path: Alien Tentacle Beast]A combat-focused evolution route. Grants new skills:
[Combat Instinct]
[Bloodthirst]
[Evolution Path: Tentacle Monster Type II]A balanced growth evolution route. Grants new skills:
[Growth Advancement]
[Intuition]
[Evolution Path: Tree Monster]A defense-endurance-based evolution route. Grants new skills:
[Nature Affinity]
[Growth]
The moment he saw the list, Mu Xiaoxiao eliminated the first option."'Incubator'? What, am I supposed to become a breeding stud? And those skills are total garbage."
[Whip of Desire]: All your tentacles gain reproductive functions.
"Who the hell needs a skill like that?! What a pretentious name for such a useless effect! Get lost."
Unless someone was a hardcore degenerate, no one in their right mind would pick this utterly useless evolution route.
"The second one's a no-go too… Eating and digesting sounds viable, but the 'Devour' skill only restores stamina? Tch."
[Devour]: Recover and store stamina through consumption.
He felt a twinge of disappointment.
The last three routes, however, were promising. The Alien Tentacle Beast focused on combat. Type II was balanced. And the Tree Monster… was all about tanking hits.
"Evolving from a tentacle monster into a dryad, huh… changing species altogether? A way to ditch this whole 'tentacle' identity," he mused. "But still a monster, just a different kind. Unless any of these evolutions had a human form, I wouldn't consider it."
"The Alien Tentacle path is pure combat, but compared to that…"
Though the Type II option seemed bland at first glance, the moment he checked the skills, he froze.
[Growth Advancement]: Use evolution points to level up specific attributes or evolve individual skills.
"Tch—"
"This is… way better than that lame 'Devour'!"
Still a tentacle monster, sure…
But whatever. Getting stronger was all that mattered now. Species identity? Irrelevant.
Sighing mournfully, Mu Xiaoxiao rolled once across the rooftop and decisively chose his evolution path. As his evolution points were consumed, glowing white particles floated in from all directions, wrapping around his body. The light was radiant yet gentle, warm and soothing, as if it were healing his wounds.
So this… was evolution?
Not bad. His injuries were actually healing.
The glow wasn't dazzling, but it stood out brightly against the approaching night, like the first star in the evening sky.
"With this glow, I feel like I'm evolving into a Pokémon or Digimon..." he joked, eyes closed, basking in the gentle warmth. After about a minute, the glow gradually faded. His first impression wasn't of physical changes, but of his enhanced senses.
Every movement from the zombies in the halls and the monsters below was crystal clear—despite not having eyes. A shimmering line trailed behind a bird flying overhead, marking its exact path of flight.
He swung a tentacle. Anticipating the trajectory, he smacked the bird out of the sky.
"Intuition, huh? A kind of special perception." Mu Xiaoxiao glanced around, then looked down at himself—and promptly jumped in shock.
His tentacles and body had become impossibly smooth and slick. His form had undergone a dramatic change.
"Holy crap?!"
Where his previous body resembled a fleshy octopus, he now looked more like a jellyfish—rounder, smoother… honestly, kind of cute.
"A makeover? Okay, cute is fine, but did my stats go up?"
He opened the system panel.
[Mu Xiaoxiao] (Tentacle Monster Type II)
Strength: D → C (+)
Endurance: C (+)
Agility: E → D (+)
Magic: F → E (+)
Skills:
[Rapid Recovery (+)]
[Breath of Desire (+)]
[Growth Advancement (+)]
[Intuition (+)]
Evolution Points: 18/500
"My stats improved, though endurance didn't level up…" he muttered, tapping the "+" icon next to Endurance. This should be what [Growth Advancement] was for.
A prompt appeared:
[Endurance C → B: Cost 300 Evolution Points]
"Yup, more than I can afford right now… But 300 points isn't that bad. I'll try it when I've saved up."
He tapped on a skill next.
[Rapid Recovery → Hyper Regeneration: Cost 1000 Evolution Points]
"Skill upgrades are damn expensive… but worth it."
Realistically, though, he wasn't going to have that many points anytime soon. A thousand points? He'd have to kill how many zombie tentacle monsters for that? Probably more than the entire student body—this was a Japanese school, after all.
With increased agility, Mu Xiaoxiao leapt atop the water tank on the rooftop. From there, he surveyed the silent, deathly school below. Despite the darkness, his sharpened senses still detected the faintest rustles and movements.
Tentacles swayed beneath his now jellyfish-like body. Mu Xiaoxiao felt increasingly uneasy.
"No sign of a source? These zombie tentacle monsters aren't coming from anywhere visible? They're not in the school itself? And there haven't been any more mini-bosses like that worm thing."
From up high, he could hear distant gasps and cries from fleeing girls. Shaking his head, he dropped the thoughts, then leapt from the rooftop. His fully recovered tentacles wrapped around branches, letting him land smoothly.
Dotted lines in his vision mapped out the incoming attack routes of surrounding enemies.
Aiming for my body, huh?
Mu Xiaoxiao casually turned to avoid the strike. His tentacles surged forward like industrial shredders. Under the moonlight, they danced like a demonic storm, tearing through everything in their path!
Squelch—!
Without even breaking a sweat, he shredded the zombie monster into meat paste. Amid the raining flesh and gore, Mu Xiaoxiao stood like a god of war.
[Evolution Points +5]
"Let the hunt begin—"
He didn't spare a glance for the stunned girl collapsed nearby. With a powerful leap, he vanished into the night. Ever since his evolution, his thirst for evolution points had only grown stronger.
Women?
Tch. What's a woman compared to the thrill of becoming stronger?