Coveted After Becoming a Monster [Quick Transmigration] 4

Chapter 4:

The birds chirped crisply as the red sun slanted downward. A long, thin trail, unusual for the flat, sandy beach, stretched from the edge of the woods to the coast, ending in front of Ji Yulin, who lay unconscious on her back.

Regardless of whether octopuses could sweat, Li An, who had painstakingly dragged the glass jar all this way, still extended two chubby tentacles to wipe her round head.

A normal adult could have easily carried the jar over, but it had been such a struggle for her.

Li An felt a little dejected, but she quickly suppressed the emotion and looked up at the person before her.

She moved the tentacles she had used to wipe her head and carry the jar, still holding the injured one aloft. Li An deliberately chose a clean tentacle and poked Ji Yulin’s forearm.

The person didn’t react. It was likely due to hitting a reef while swimming ashore. Her diving suit was torn in many places, and in the sunlight, her pale skin was almost transparent. If not for the pulse still beating at her wrist, Li An would have suspected this person was…

The little octopus shook her head violently, casting the terrible thought aside. She then extended two tentacles to Ji Yulin’s waist, stuck her suckers to the diving suit, and easily pulled herself up.

Maybe being a little octopus isn’t so bad?

I can use whichever tentacle I want, and climbing things is no effort at all?

Li An comforted herself as she reached Ji Yulin’s abdomen. Four tentacles moved in unison, and she quickly scurried toward Ji Yulin’s neck.

When her path was blocked by a certain roundness, the creature very politely lifted six of its tentacles, using only the tips of two to move, practically flattening itself into a piece of dried octopus as it carefully passed through the middle.

Even as an octopus, one must be a very polite octopus.

Li An nodded to herself, completely forgetting what she had done to Ji Yulin’s hand back in the ship’s cabin.

But she had no mind to reminisce at the moment. It hadn’t been noticeable before, but the closer she got to her head, the more she could feel Ji Yulin’s abnormal body temperature.

It was hot enough to startle an octopus.

Li An flicked her tentacles, the image of a sizzling octopus on a hot plate inexplicably appearing in her mind.

No, can’t think about that. Although she didn’t know if people in this world ate mutated octopuses, Li An had no desire to taste how peppery and delicious she might be.

Her blue eyes darted around. The tentacle that had just poked Ji Yulin’s forearm now poked her cheek.

Fortunately, before coming ashore, Ji Yulin had struggled with her last bit of strength to remove her mask, saving Li An the trouble of having to figure out how to take it off.

But then again, if Ji Yulin had kept it on, she probably wouldn’t have had to bother. She could have just declared the mission a failure.

Thanks to Li An, the rescue target wasn’t abandoned by humanity and thrown to the beasts, but instead died of suffocation right at the start of the storyline, next to the little octopus who was supposed to protect her.

Li An couldn’t bring herself to smile. Her mood soured even more, especially after she failed to wake Ji Yulin no matter how much she poked.

The number of tentacles poking her face increased from one to two. They pressed against both cheeks and gently shook her.

Wake up, you’re going to burn up if you don’t wake up.

At some point, the tide had crept closer, nearly touching Ji Yulin several times. The red sun was also slowly setting. Though summer nights came late, it was time for this one to arrive.

Her cool tentacles were becoming warm from the heat. Li An couldn’t be bothered with anything else. She swapped in two different tentacles and pressed them against her, trying to cool Ji Yulin down a little this way.

She continued to shake her head, her anxious tentacles forgetting to control their strength. The delicate face was smeared with transparent mucus, and there were even round, red marks left by her suckers.

Perhaps this method had some effect. Her pale lips parted slightly, and a hoarse murmur escaped.

But the first few sounds were too faint for Li An to hear. She clung to Ji Yulin’s cheek and leaned closer.

“…Water… water…”

This time she heard it clearly. The two tentacles, now slightly red from the heat, retracted. Li An nodded her head, pretending not to see the two new round, red marks on Ji Yulin’s cheeks. She propped herself up on her tentacles and scurried down, grabbing the glass jar on her way, and ran back toward the trees in the same manner as before.

She remembered seeing a few coconuts in that area earlier. Perhaps because of their hard shells, they hadn’t broken when they fell. They would be perfect for feeding Ji Yulin.

At some point, the sound of birdsong had disappeared. A pair of dark eyes stared intently at the little octopus until it reached the base of a tree.

With a forceful stomp on a juicy root, a mutated, snow-white, red-billed gull spread its wings and dove straight for the little octopus.

The wind shrieked. The octopus in the bird’s eyes grew larger and larger, but in the next second, there was a thump.

The seagull let out a sharp cry.

Looking at the little octopus, it had already flipped the jar over, completely covering itself. Now it was turning around and making a face at the bird through the glass.

I was ready for you.

She had noticed this guy staring at her earlier, but she wasn’t sure if the seagulls here ate mutated octopuses, so Li An had kept the jar with her the whole time.

It was a case of the weak octopus being bullied by the bird. If it were a large octopus from the sea, the seagull would never dare to approach, fearing it would be dragged into the water by a single tentacle.

The seagull, infuriated, chirped and advanced again. Its beak, noticeably larger and sharper than a normal seagull’s, pecked at the glass jar several times. Not only did it fail, but the impact hurt even more, and it cried out a few more times.

Li An wasn’t in a hurry. After being chased and captured all day, she had a lot of pent-up frustration. Now, finally seeing a seagull she could bully, she suddenly had the illusion that she wasn’t so weak after all.

She even extended a tentacle, pulled down her eyelid, and shot the seagull a glare.

The seagull was furious but could do nothing about Li An. It eyed her sideways, waiting to see how long she could stay in there.

But Li An showed no concern. With her round head pressed against the bottom of the jar and her tentacles on the ground, she scurried forward like a hermit crab, her steps surprisingly faster than before.

The seagull was dumbfounded. It stared as Li An ran a good distance before spreading its wings and chasing after her on its thin legs, wobbling from side to side. Then, it lowered its white head and tried to peck her through the gap between the jar’s rim and the ground.

Li An, who hadn’t let down her guard for a second, released her tentacles. The jar dropped, and with a crisp clang, the sharp beak hit the glass wall again.

Li An even turned back smugly and made another face.

Even for a seagull, this creature was infuriating enough to make its feathers stand on end.

And so, on the beach, there was an extremely angry seagull, its rear end in the air, pecking like a chicken at a moving glass jar. The little octopus inside was cute but mischievous. Whenever the seagull slowed down, it would turn and taunt it. The continuous clang clang sounds, with their varying intervals, even seemed to have a certain rhythm.

This music only paused for a moment when Li An reached a coconut the size of a soccer ball.

The little octopus stopped moving forward. Instead, she turned to face the seagull and made another face. The seagull, which had been momentarily confused, was angered again and pecked viciously.

But the little octopus didn’t move. She just tilted her head, and the glass jar leaned to the left. The bird’s beak immediately hit the coconut, making a dull thud.

The seagull grew even angrier and pecked faster, but this time it couldn’t even touch the glass jar; all its pecks landed on the coconut.

Amidst the thud thud thud, the hermit crab octopus became a lion dance octopus. A sly glint flashed in her clear, gem-like eyes.

So what if there’s a coconut on the ground? I can’t open it by myself. Of course, I need a little outside help.

Li An, who had been repeatedly beaten down since she woke up, finally found a bit of confidence in a seagull. The gloom in her heart eased slightly, and she swung the glass jar with even more vigor.

Thanks to Li An’s continuous efforts, the coconut shell finally cracked open slightly, and the coconut water was about to gush out. Startled, Li An quickly extended a tentacle and turned the crack upward. This risky move almost got her pecked by the seagull, but thanks to her quick reflexes, she let go of the jar and covered herself completely.

Having succeeded, she stopped taunting it and obediently shrank back, watching the seagull peck at the glass.

She wasn’t worried about it breaking. Li An had discovered earlier that this jar, though it looked like glass, was unusually sturdy. It had collided with countless shards after falling into the sea, hit a reef, and was even thrown ashore by Ji Yulin, yet it didn’t have a single crack. It could certainly withstand a weak, mutated seagull.

Without Li An’s taunts, the seagull pecked for a while and then gave up. With a very sore beak, it flapped its wings and flew away.

Li An waited patiently for a while. After making sure the creature was completely gone, she lifted the glass jar, rim facing up. She pressed her tentacles against the coconut and carefully tilted the crack downward, letting the juice flow inside.

After filling the jar, she set the coconut upright, held the glass jar above her head with two tentacles, and steadily walked back toward Ji Yulin.

On the way, she couldn’t help but marvel once again that having many tentacles was a good thing. Even with one broken, she had more than enough.

When she returned to her original spot, Ji Yulin was still unconscious. The earlier murmurs had stopped. Li An touched her with a tentacle; her temperature was even higher than before.

Li An grew more anxious. Getting water was easy, but feeding it to her was a big problem. Besides, a single coconut didn’t have much juice. If she wasted it, she wouldn’t be able to lure another stupid seagull.

The little octopus agonized for a moment, then washed a tentacle in the seawater and dipped it into the jar. The coconut juice in the glass instantly decreased by a third, and the octopus tentacle swelled up considerably.

She didn’t dare to delay. She hurried back onto Ji Yulin’s body, then pressed the tentacle to her pale, thin lips. It easily pried open her lips and teeth and slipped inside.

“Water…” The unconscious person seemed to sense it and once again let out a vague murmur.

Hearing this, the little octopus pushed her tentacle in a little further. Her blue eyes stared at Ji Yulin without blinking, extremely nervous.

Come on, drink…

The chubby tentacles on her neck unconsciously pressed down, kneading like a kitten, leaving faint red marks.

By now, the red sun had sunk below the sea, its last rays shimmering on the waves and reflecting in Ji Yulin’s eyes.

She was beautiful, with deep-set, delicate features, but not in a flamboyant way. Instead, she exuded a gaunt, cold aura. Even in this wretched state, with stray hairs stuck to her cheeks and her pale skin flushed with an unnatural red, the innate pride and aloofness in her bones remained, reminding one of a white orchid on yellowed rice paper—a single flower, pinned to a slender branch sketched with a few strokes, so stark that even the lonely, waning moon served as its backdrop.

But some creatures are just mischievous, insisting on smearing rouge on the white magnolia. Red marks spread from her neck to her cheeks, and even her thin lips were pressed into a vibrant color by the tentacle.

“Water…” the heavily bullied person murmured again.