Chapter 37

Shi Jian felt the fish monster was simply awesome—because of its large size, one fish was equivalent to several princes.

After the prince, Shi Jian once again found her new lighting device—

The fish monster.

Not only did Shi Jian get the light she had longed for, but as she stood there, she also noticed scattered food around the fish monster: bananas, apples, tangerines, oranges… and some bread, cakes, and drinks.

Of course, the cakes and such had all been smashed, with cream splattered everywhere.

Those had been pushed by the ship’s waiters on carts, meant for the second-floor ball. After all, before the fish monster appeared, the prince had held a grand ball, so food and drinks were naturally abundant.

Now the waiters had vanished—if lucky, some might still be hiding somewhere alive; if unlucky, they were probably inside the fish monster’s belly.

There was an orange at Shi Jian’s feet. It looked perfectly round and intact, except for a bit of dust on the surface.

Standing there, Shi Jian realized she was indeed a bit hungry, so she simply picked up the orange from the floor.

She peeled the orange to eat.

Based on her filming experience, standing still too long looks stiff. She couldn’t exactly lean on the fish monster’s leg to pose, so holding an orange was a good choice—not stiff, and it could fill her stomach.

To the viewers in the livestream—

This scene was really striking and impactful.

On one side was the ugly, gigantic fish monster, which looked very grotesque: a fish head with legs, two big whiskers beside its mouth, bulging eyes on the sides of its face; but next to its leg was the dazzlingly beautiful Shi Jian, who now looked completely like a princess version. She didn’t look like she was eating an orange, more like she was filming an orange commercial.

Together, the combination created a first-class visual impact.

…

【So weird, watching it a billion times.】

【This composition is perfect, if it were a magazine cover I’d buy it instantly, screenshotting like crazy.】

【I never thought watching a horror game livestream would inspire my art. This feeling— the streamer is my muse goddess, following her fast!】

【Flowers x99】

Many viewers got creative inspiration from Shi Jian.

【??? Can someone seriously discuss what’s going on? Where are those saying the streamer’s courting death? She’s alive and well, even eating an orange. (LOL)】

Those who said Shi Jian was courting death had gone silent.

【I’m a serious person, I’m here. The streamer is so pretty… no, so smart. Did she know the fish monster had a blind spot all along? She went out just to grab something to eat?】

The other streamers in the basement thought so too.

After Shi Jian rushed out, some streamers crept to the door and slightly opened the crack to observe.

They had imagined many scenarios—Shi Jian getting caught by the tongue, then being stuffed into the fish’s mouth without mercy. But in reality, Shi Jian was casually standing by the fish’s leg, eating an orange?

Some bold ones, seeing Shi Jian unharmed, gathered courage and imitated her, rushing over to her. The curly-haired girl was one of them.

Three people gradually gathered beside Shi Jian and then silently mouthed the same questions as the chat. Of course, everyone was careful not to alert the fish monster, so they all used lip-reading.

All depended on lip movements.After listening, Shi Jian was totally confused. She had indeed thought about the fish monster’s visual blind spot, but only realized the food was there after arriving.

Shi Jian said the food was just a coincidence, but except for the curly-haired girl, the others didn’t seem to believe her.

A male streamer even tried to comfort Shi Jian, “Everyone understands, being smart in the dungeon isn’t a bad thing, it’s a great quality—you don’t have to hide it.”

Shi Jian, who didn’t want to fake being smart because she knew she had normal intelligence and feared backfiring, was speechless.

“Fine, whatever makes you happy.”

Besides these three, others in the basement also wanted to rush out, but the fish monster’s visual blind spot was limited.

Its leg near the basement door could only hold four people including Shi Jian.

When the fifth person tried to rush over, even though Shi Jian and the others tried to squeeze in, it was no use.

That streamer was quickly and directly grabbed and eaten by the scarlet fish monster’s tongue.

Another streamer died.

Shi Jian: One fish leg can only hold four people.

The other fish leg could probably hold some too, but they couldn’t get past.

Those four weren’t completely safe either, because one crew member who had escaped from the basement was eyeing a bottle of wine in the distance.

Shi Jian and the curly-haired girl warned him, “It’s too far from us, it might be dangerous. Better not to get it.”

But the crew member was a drunkard. His eyes stared fixedly at the intact wine bottle lying on the ground. “I can’t stand not drinking for a day. The fish monster has a blind spot and can’t see us, right? It doesn’t seem farther than the place we came out from, does it?”

He wasn’t unafraid, but was optimistic and his craving for alcohol overcame his caution.

After saying that, the crew member sneaked over to grab the wine bottle.

He got close quickly and successfully took it. Shi Jian saw the joy flash across his face; he even looked toward Shi Jian and the others, signaling it was safe.

But Shi Jian clenched her teeth hard and shook her head at him, because along with his joy came that deadly fish monster’s tongue.

Shi Jian and the others were closer and noticed the tongue extending sooner.

The fish monster’s tongue was very fast. Shi Jian felt that if it were her instead of the crew member, even wearing Barbie pink high heels, she probably wouldn’t escape.

Let alone the crew member.

The crew member bolted, screaming painfully. The wine bottle dropped to the ground but was still caught by the fish monster’s tongue.

Shi Jian once again heard up close the sound of the fish monster’s mouth crushing bone.

Shi Jian “…” held back from screaming, only loosening her teeth when sure she wouldn’t scream.

She had bitten too hard; her teeth were aching.

While others in her field loved getting porcelain teeth, Shi Jian didn’t follow the trend. Her teeth were all natural, and fortunately very white from careful care.

Shi Jian was glad it was her own teeth—if they were porcelain, biting that hard might have cracked them.

“What should we do?”The curly-haired girl asked Shi Jian, and another male streamer also watched her; instinctively, everyone began to rely on Shi Jian.

After all, Shi Jian came across as a total boss.

She was a female streamer who danced with the prince without being bewitched, toyed with the fish monster, and decisively ran out of the basement.

Now, by the fish monster’s leg, there were only three of them left—Shi Jian and two others. Actually, one more person could still come out of the basement, but since two had died in succession, everyone in the basement was too scared and no more movement happened.

Shi Jian had just faced death and was still buzzing in her brain, facing these questions.

Shi Jian: ?

Ask her?

How would she know? Who else could she ask? She came here just to soak up the light.

Shi Jian: “... Maybe we could eat some food?”

“Seems like there’s no other way now, and we can’t get out.”

The curly-haired girl and the male streamer felt this made a lot of sense!

On the surface, Shi Jian said to eat something, but everyone imagined Shi Jian meant—

To replenish energy, conserve strength, not struggle blindly, not sacrifice blindly, just wait here for the right moment, and once a weakness shows, rush out.

…

So the three of them stayed under the fish monster’s lighting, occasionally eating some fruit to fill their stomachs. They didn’t have to go far to get the food.

The crew member who tried to get the wine served as a reference point—where not to cross.

With nothing else to do, they started chatting—

“This banana is pretty sweet, want one?”

Shi Jian: “Thanks, actually the orange is good too.”

【New here, can someone explain what this dungeon is about? Are they having a picnic? That monster nearby must be fake, it’s right next to them but doesn’t attack?】

【Young one, don’t be rash. You don’t know what’s going on. Though it looks like a picnic and they’re doing picnic stuff, that monster is actually pretty powerful. (Starts rambling)】

【I know this one! There was a similar scene in Rose Castle before. Any old fans of Shi Jian? Know about the Rose Castle vegetable garden?】

【Raise hand, raise hand! I know, I know, haha, I thought the streamer was talented back then, and now it seems she bet on the right horse.】

Shi Jian soaking up the light didn’t mean she completely ignored the fish monster. Holding fruit in her hand, she felt something was off.

The nearby male streamer already voiced her feeling.

“The fish monster hasn’t opened a blind box for a while.”

It’s not like Shi Jian and the others outside wanted the fish monster to open the basement blind boxes; the basement still had enough junk blind box supplies to last a while.

But the fish monster opening blind boxes was usually pretty regular—once every so often.

This time, however, it was taking longer than usual.

The curly-haired girl picked up her phone, “At least missed three blind boxes?”“Could it be because it ate two people?”

It shouldn’t be...

Shi Jian increasingly felt that déjà vu of something big about to happen.

In movies or dramas, the music would have changed by now—urgent and eerie.

After waiting a while longer, the curly-haired girl mouthed to Shi Jian:

Missed the fourth time.

Shi Jian already heard a sound. She suddenly looked behind her—something dropping to the ground.

Fish eggs!

Large fish eggs burst out from the fish monster’s tail. The fish monster hadn’t participated in the blind box draws just now because it was preparing to lay eggs.

The fish monster’s eggs were completely different from Shi Jian’s impression of fish eggs. First, the eggs were much larger than normal fish eggs. Second, the eggs were transparent, and through the clear membrane, she could see fish-shaped things struggling and writhing inside.

Almost the moment the fish eggs hit the ground and blinked, the little fish broke out of the eggs. They looked very much like the fish monster—right after hatching, they already had sharp teeth, which they quickly used to eat through the eggshell covering them, then grew legs just like their mother’s.

They looked like palm-sized, miniature versions of the fish monster.

For a moment, the deck was filled with biting sounds—“crunch crunch”—the little fish monsters breaking their eggshells.

Shi Jian’s body hair stood on end!

Because the fish monster couldn’t see them, but they were not in the little fish monsters’ blind spot—Shi Jian clearly felt herself being targeted.

The very first batch of mature little fish monsters with legs charged toward Shi Jian and the others.

What suffocated Shi Jian even more was that probably because the little fish monsters made too much noise, the fish monster noticed something too. It moved, its large bulging eye slowly turning, and its pupil reflected Shi Jian’s figure.

Its legs had been hiding people all along?

Shi Jian forced a smile and waved a hand: this is exactly what they call “when it rains, it pours”!

If she recited a poem now, would people give her extra points and think she was a beauty with both looks and brains?

Pretending to greet the fish monster with a “hi,” Shi Jian instead fiercely threw the banana in her hand right at the fish monster’s eye.

The banana wouldn’t blind the fish monster, but it startled it. The soft banana flesh stuck to its eyeball and very slowly slid downward.

At the same time, taking advantage of the fish monster’s reaction, Shi Jian made a gap for escape. She ran desperately toward it, shouting loudly:

“Scatter! Everyone scatter!”

“Those in the basement don’t stay inside anymore, the fish monster has spawned little fish monsters!”

The situation didn’t improve; it grew even more severe.

The fish monster was too large—though the vent was opened, it couldn’t get inside, only able to do blind boxes. But the little fish monsters could.

Once the little fish monsters rushed through the vent into the basement, it would be almost a one-sided massacre.

Like wolves entering a sheepfold.

…Just as Shi Jian imagined, faster little fish monsters had already jumped through the vent into the basement, causing noise and miserable cries inside.

“This thing—it's eating people!”

“Run! Don’t stay here, get outside!”

“Who stepped on me? They stepped on my back!”

“Don’t push, I can’t see clearly, turn on the lights, turn on the lights…”

“How can we not push? I want to get out, there are more and more of these things, it’s biting my calf!”

“Mom, I want mom, wahhhh…”

“Listen, we can’t kill the fish monster, but the little fish monsters can be killed.”

That last sentence was probably from a streamer, and Shi Jian heard gunshots.

Crying and shouting, curses, painful groans from bites—once the deck settled, chaos erupted again.

Shi Jian could no longer focus on the basement situation because she was in trouble too.

Though she seized the moment to run past the monster, the little fish monsters closely followed. Resolute, Shi Jian fiercely kicked the fish monster with her Barbie-pink high heel.

The slippery feeling underfoot was uncomfortable for Shi Jian, but the move actually worked.

To her surprise, it seemed she had kicked one of the little fish monsters to death?

Little fish monsters differed from the big fish monster—their physical defense was weak; to be precise, their skin was fragile.

Shi Jian: Fragile skin—awesome!

She thought her move was pretty cool and didn’t forget to interact with the live audience: “Actually, they don’t seem too hard to deal with…”

The cool and fierce heroine—that’s her.

Not really!

Shi Jian’s interaction cut off abruptly when she realized many fish were still following her. So many fish—thickly packed, all chasing her.

These little fish monsters have fragile skin, but they attack in groups!

“...”

Shi Jian had no time for interaction; she needed to escape quickly.

She tried to rush upstairs but was blocked.

It was the prince’s maids, Xiao Jia and Xiao Lan. Shi Jian hadn’t seen them in the basement before—they must have been hiding elsewhere.

Xiao Jia and Xiao Lan held a large broom and a guard’s sword, respectively, their eyes full of hatred toward Shi Jian.

Xiao Jia accused, “You killed the prince; you must pay with your life to His Highness!”

Shi Jian had no time to deal with them and snatched the broom from Xiao Jia’s hand. “Borrowing this, thanks.”

Then Shi Jian wielded the broom and swept fiercely at the rushing group of little fish monsters.

Let’s go!Sweeping through the fish swarm, many little fish monsters were swept several meters away by the broom.

Xiao Jia and Xiao Lan: ???

The little fish monsters rolled onto their backs on the deck.

Shi Jian felt the broom was oddly practical, so she didn’t plan to return it to Xiao Jia for now. “Let me use this for a bit.” Although she said it like a question, it was actually a statement.

While running, Shi Jian also told the maids the truth.

“It wasn’t me who killed your prince; it was the fish monster.”

“The fish monster is over there, and these little fish monsters are the offspring of the one who killed your prince.”

Shi Jian firmly refused to take the blame. She had no other intention—just stating facts. She even thoughtfully pointed out where the fish monster and little fish monsters were.

The live stream chat was filled with laughter.

“At such a tense moment, I probably shouldn’t be laughing, but I can’t help it. Among so many streamers, clever and strong ones, this streamer is truly unique.”

“I was already laughing hard when she was sweeping the little fish monsters with the broom.”

“Shi Jian: passing the buck. (doge face)”

“Clearly so, Shi Jian: every debt has its debtor. (serious meme)”

The little fish monsters directly faced off against Xiao Lan and Xiao Jia, creating an incredibly ridiculous scene.

Shi Jian kept running but also glanced back to assess the situation.

She was quite hoping the prince’s maids could handle the little fish monsters. She didn’t know their strength, but if they could transform into monsters to fight the fish monsters, that would be even better.

Shi Jian: It’s time for them to show their love for the prince!

However, Xiao Lan and Xiao Jia couldn’t even deal with the little fish monsters. They panicked, turned around, and hurriedly followed Shi Jian.

Escaping for their lives.

Shi Jian: Well, the prince just died recently, and his followers are already climbing walls—just like fanatics climbing fences.

Truly human reality.

...

The little fish monsters were fast, so Shi Jian still had to confront them. The big broom was indeed useful, but the little fish monsters’ teeth were sharp. Eventually, the broom was bitten down to just a stick.

Shi Jian threw the broom away.

The fish monsters reproduced rapidly. Shi Jian was soon caught up by the little fish. When one tried to bite her calf, Shi Jian fiercely stomped down and triggered some kind of switch.

One fish got stepped on, then another pair.

Shi Jian felt numb; she ignored the sticky, slippery feeling underfoot. Now she was like a ruthless robot.

The only reason she hadn’t fallen was that many people were watching.

“Why is this never-ending?”

“I hate fish, they’re so scary.” Shi Jian had officially added fish to her “foods I don’t want to touch” list.At this moment, Shi Jian’s verbal self-control temporarily broke down, and she muttered to herself, voicing her inner thoughts.

But to others, it looked like—

Shi Jian had gone berserk!

The woman with an angelic face and a devilish figure lifted her skirt, wearing pink high heels. Facing the sharp-toothed little fish monsters, each stomp was precise. With a “tap tap tap” of her heels, one fish after another was crushed underfoot.

A dense pile of little fish monster corpses gathered beneath her feet.

Beneath those pink high heels lay countless lost souls—truly a little fish killer.

The heel of her shoe pressed directly onto a fish’s brain, piercing it. The fish died with no peace.

On her beautiful face was a calm and carefree smile, her eyes hollow as if she didn’t even regard these little fish monsters, showing an air of indifference and disdain, as if everything was under her control.

Who was truly more terrifying?

Xiao Jia and Xiao Lan were dumbfounded, suddenly grateful they hadn’t confronted Shi Jian before.

They seemed unworthy.

...

[“Damn, this streamer’s combat power is something else!”]

[“Sorry, I have to apologize for my earlier rash judgment. You can’t judge a book by its cover; she’s clearly the main damage dealer in the team.”]

[“Big sister’s so cool, big sister stomp on me!”]

[“??? The internet isn’t a lawless place! Cuff them, the streamer is right next to me.”]

[“If there were peanuts, it wouldn’t be such a mess.”]

[“No joke, the streamer suddenly has some serious explosive power. I’m willing to call her a war god!”]

[“I’m going to spill the tea—apparently the streamer was shaking her leg secretly in the bathroom to avoid crowds in the newbie dungeon, but she already had viewers in her personal stream and didn’t know.”]

[“Shaking her leg? Getting more interested, tell us more?”]

[“If true, it shows she’s grown—once terrified, now bold as ever, even more inspiring. I’m calling her the ‘Leg-Shaking War God!’”]

Shi Jian was still scared; her hollow gaze was only because her soul had seemingly left her body. She appeared present, but was actually sustained entirely by willpower.

Her smile remained as her final stubbornness. Of course, her verbal self-control had broken, and her expressions were purely instinctive.

Combined with her behavior, that smile carried a hint of madness.

Madness that was oddly captivating.

Shi Jian didn’t know that her future title as the “Leg-Shaking War God” quietly began spreading here. She only noticed the fish suddenly stopped moving.

Like a paused scene in a movie.

Shi Jian wasn’t entirely sure, since she was numb from stomping on fish, but they really had frozen.

Not only that, she felt dizzy. An invisible pressure seemed to press down on her head, making it impossible to lift.

Shi Jian: “...”She couldn’t lift her head, so she used her peripheral vision!

Shi Jian stubbornly forced her eyes to glance sideways. Her efforts paid off—she indeed saw—

In the distance, the fish monster was bound by chains held by a man wearing a special, sharply tailored uniform. The massive fish monster, which even the prince and the streamers couldn’t handle, was now as obedient as a pet. Shi Jian could clearly feel its emotions.

It was intimidated and afraid of the man who had it bound.

Shi Jian didn’t remember anyone on the ship wearing such a uniform. She wanted to look again to see who had chained the fish monster, but no matter how she tried, her gaze couldn’t reach. The dizziness intensified.

The iron chains dragged the fish monster, clanking loudly. Steady footsteps carried the fish monster farther and farther away.

In the end, Shi Jian only remembered the clean, dust-free military boots and a pale, veined hand gripping the iron chain tightly, with clearly defined knuckles.

Shi Jian snapped out of the dizziness, lifted her eyes, and quickly looked around.

The fish monster was gone, the uniformed man was gone.

Only the corpses of little fish monsters remained on the ground.

Shi Jian and the other surviving streamers’ phones rang twice simultaneously—they all received notifications.

Finding no immediate danger, Shi Jian lifted her gauzy skirt and moved away from the fish corpses to check the message.

The screen showed a few lines:

“Dear streamers, hello. We sincerely apologize for the poor gaming experience. The system bug has now been fixed, and you may continue your game livestream journey.”

“To compensate for your loss, double points will be awarded after clearing the level.”