Tentacle Monster

Sachiko's kitchen.

"First this... then that... and then..."

Watching Sachiko demonstrate the technique and the proportions of the seasonings, Baicang nodded repeatedly. He picked up the ingredients prepared nearby and soon made a rice roll using the method she had just shown him.

"That looks very good, Mr. Baicang."

"Thank you."

Baicang looked at Miss Sachiko, who had just praised him. He had no idea why she had kept blushing as she looked at him the whole way here, making him thoroughly uncomfortable.

Puzzled, he had wanted to say something, but before he could get the words out, Sachiko's face had turned even redder, and she had turned away, unable to look at him. Tanktop Girl had apparently thought he had done something inappropriate to Sachiko and kept giving him strange looks, as though he were a pervert.

I really don't know anything!

Fortunately, once they arrived at Sachiko's home, she returned to normal. At least she could talk to Baicang normally again.

"I'll go see how Miss Tanktop Girl is doing."

Baicang nodded. Just as he was about to taste his rice roll, Mizuki, who had been secretly eyeing it from beside him, snatched it away so fast he couldn't even react.

Munch... munch... mmm!

"Your rice rolls are so delicious, sir! They're only a tiny bit worse than Miss Sachiko's~"

Mizuki winked playfully at Baicang and gave him a thumbs-up in approval.

"Can't you eat the ones Tanktop Girl made? I haven't even tasted mine, and you've already eaten it all." Baicang felt rather helpless around this glutton.

Mizuki looked troubled instead, lowering her head as though she had remembered something unpleasant.

Seeing Mizuki's strange reaction, Baicang looked curiously toward Tanktop Girl on the other side. Both she and Sachiko had their backs to him, and their bodies seemed to be trembling.

"What happened?" Baicang walked over and squeezed between them.

"This..."

Looking at the curved, elongated object on the cutting board, yellow and black and still steaming, Baicang sank into thought.

It looks like... it really does.

"I don't know why it turned out like this either... boo-hoo..."

Tanktop Girl burst into miserable tears, and Sachiko hurried to comfort her.

"It's not that bad..." Baicang looked hesitant. He wanted to pick up the "rice roll," but he was afraid of getting his hands dirty.

"Boo-hoo-hoo~" Noticing Baicang's movement, Tanktop Girl cried even harder.

Beep, beep, beep!

Just then, Baicang's phone suddenly rang. He wasn't the only one; Mizuki's and Tanktop Girl's phones rang in turn as well.

Baicang took out his phone. It was an emergency notification from the Hero Association's Disaster Response Department.

The Hero Association was divided into three departments. The Disaster Response Department was responsible for managing and dispatching heroes, regularly investigating the causes of disasters, receiving reports, providing intelligence, and other such duties.

Whenever someone spotted a monster and reported it to the Hero Association, the Disaster Response Department would dispatch heroes of the appropriate rank based on the disaster's severity.

In an emergency, it would notify every hero near the monster's location to head over immediately. This time, an emergency had occurred.

"A monster has appeared at Golden Apple Kindergarten nearby. It's an emergency, and the Hero Association wants us to get there immediately."

Tanktop Girl wiped away her tears and relayed the notification on her phone, looking gravely at Baicang and Mizuki with her nose still red.

"Golden Apple Kindergarten! Harano goes to school there! Mr. Baicang, please, you have to save him!" Sachiko's face turned deathly pale as she grabbed Baicang's hand in panic.

"Don't worry. I'll handle it." Baicang took hold of Sachiko's hand in return and gently patted the back of it to reassure her.

He nodded to Mizuki and Tanktop Girl, and the three of them immediately hurried from Sachiko's home to the kindergarten.

"Please keep Harano safe!" Sachiko leaned against the doorway in tears, watching the three of them leave.

Mr. Baicang, please stay safe too...

Golden Apple Kindergarten.

"Children, hurry over to me!"

A female teacher with a ponytail was guiding the children running about in panic toward the school gates. The other teachers were also fleeing with crying children in their arms.

Suddenly, a thick green plant root stretched out from beside the classroom building like a tentacle and slammed hard into the wall.

Bang! The impact shattered the classroom windows with a deafening crash.

"Mommy, I'm scared! Boo-hoo~"

Ling Ling, who was running at the very back, was terrified by the sight. She crouched down where she stood, clutching her head and crying loudly.

Harano had already run out through the school gates when he noticed that his good friend hadn't followed him. Looking back, he saw Ling Ling crouching in danger with her hands over her head.

"Ling Ling, don't be afraid! I'm coming to save you!" Harano shouted to her, heading back against the flow of the crowd.

"Harano!" Seeing him turn back, the teacher was about to stop him when she spotted several children who had fallen after running too fast. She had no choice but to go to them first.

"Don't be afraid, Ling Ling. I'll protect you."

Reaching Ling Ling's side, little Harano patted her head, then thumped his chest and assured her with quite a manly air.

Hearing Harano's words, Ling Ling lifted her head from her hands and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. Looking at him standing beside her, she nodded firmly.

"Come with me."

Harano took Ling Ling's little hand and pulled her along as he ran toward the school gates.

At that moment, another enormous tentacle emerged from the side, striking straight at the fleeing Harano and Ling Ling.

"No!" the teacher screamed in despair, holding a child who had just fallen.

Smack! Baicang arrived just in time to block the heavy blow.

Tanktop Girl appeared behind him as well, scooping up Harano and Ling Ling and running back with them.

"Mizuki! Get all the children out first!" Baicang braced both hands firmly against the tentacle and shouted to Mizuki, who was about to come help him.

"Yes, sir!" Mizuki turned and ran toward the children fleeing in tears.

Feeling the tentacle press down with ever-increasing force, Baicang flung it aside, performed a tactical roll, and picked up a shard of glass from the ground. He slashed at the tentacle, but its skin was so tough that he crushed the glass in his grip before he managed to make a small cut.

Rumble, rumble, rumble! More tentacles coiled around the classroom building, crushing half of it into rubble.

Brushing the glass fragments off his head, Baicang hurried back to avoid the falling debris.

Through the clouds of dust, he saw the monster's full form. Standing three stories tall, it was a gigantic, twisted, mutated sunflower. A hazy human face with its eyes tightly shut lay within the flower at its top. Its roots and stems were wrapped tightly around the classroom building, and all those terrifying tentacles extended from beneath its roots.

A plant monster. With that enormous size and incredible strength, it must be Demon-level, right?

Watching the classroom building collapse under the crushing coils and the sunflower monster's tentacles thrash through the air, Baicang felt that this was going to be tricky.

Mizuki and Tanktop Girl were both B-Class close-combat fighters who relied solely on their physical abilities. This type of monster was the hardest for them to deal with.

Although his own physical strength was growing every day, he was still no match for a monster like this.

This is going to be tough.