My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 73

The Costume Card

The Level 8 crystal core couldn’t be revealed, and the corpse of the 8th-order mutated octopus couldn’t be brought back to the base to be processed. Mu Ning took out the phone she always carried—the very same one she had used to call Ren Muhui before the apocalypse. Unfortunately, its only remaining function now was to tell the time.

“It’s past eleven. It’ll be late by the time we get back anyway. Why don’t we deal with this octopus corpse first?”

            

Since no other luck-seeking survivors were on the beach today, they had to process the mutated octopus quickly. After this, anyone who came to the beach looking for seafood would have no way of knowing that the mutated octopus from the depths was already dead. Even if they noticed something was amiss, they would at most assume that another, more powerful sea creature had eaten it.

After all, no one would dare imagine that two mid-tier espers could actually team up to take down a high-tier mutated octopus.

Hearing Mu Ning’s suggestion, Ren Chenxi agreed that it was best to deal with the octopus monster’s corpse right here on the beach. She turned in a different direction, faced the sea, and released the corpse.

            

The moment the colossal body of the octopus monster appeared on the sand, Ren Chenxi noticed a new red dot pop up on her mini-map, only to stealthily vanish a moment later. Even in death, even with its crystal core removed, the coercive pressure of a high-tier mutated sea monster still lingered on its corpse. Ren Chenxi, a player, could still feel the intimidating pressure emanating from the body.

But so what if it was intimidating? You punk, you’re just a slab of seafood waiting for me to take you home and cook you up now~ An octopus this big could probably feed their whole group for a year, right?

Ren Chenxi stared excitedly at the octopus monster’s corpse while pulling two large cleavers from her inventory. She gave one to Mu Ning and, with a few swings, started hacking away at one of its tentacles.

            

One strike landed, but the tentacle didn’t break. It felt somewhat soft to the touch, but who would have thought it would be so tough?

Smack! Mu Ning, standing beside her, also brought her cleaver down. But the sound wasn’t like cutting meat at all—it was more like slapping it.

It was over. Even Mu Ning, a 6th-order esper, couldn’t cut it. Forget feeding them for a year; they wouldn’t even be able to get a single bite! As expected of an 8th-order octopus monster, its toughness was truly not something mere mortals like them could casually consume.

            

“What do we do?” Ren Chenxi looked at Mu Ning, troubled. “We can’t cut it. This corpse… Should I just toss it back into the sea… and, and feed it to the other fish?” It pained her to even say the words, given the sheer waste. This was the apocalypse; food was precious! An octopus this size could be blanched, stir-fried, or grilled on a teppan… to just feed it to the fish was an absolute waste!

Mu Ning gazed at the octopus monster’s body, her expression just as regretful. “Actually, the meat of mutated beasts also contains a small amount of energy. The energy in a single piece of this 8th-order octopus’s flesh might not be much, but with a body this huge, it adds up to a lot. Why don’t you… put it back in your space… aigh, but that would take up so much room…”

“But what’s the use of putting it in my space?” Ren Chenxi didn’t mind the space—it was just one slot, after all. The fundamental problem was, “We can’t even cut this octopus meat with a knife, let alone chew it. Even if we keep it forever, we won’t be able to eat it…”

            

“We can’t chew it, but Tantan has a very strong bite. I think it might be able to…”

As Mu Ning spoke, she stubbornly swung the cleaver a few more times but still couldn’t leave the slightest mark on the tentacle. She then summoned an ice spike. The spike managed to pierce the monster’s flesh, but pulling it out was another matter. At this stage, Mu Ning’s control over her mutated ice-system ability was limited to freezing and summoning ice spikes; she hadn’t yet explored its other uses. Besides, her palm was still injured. Just the act of trying to pull the ice spike free made the wound begin to throb again.

“If you still have enough space, maybe we should just keep the octopus corpse for now? We can bring Tantan to the beach every now and then to let it eat some of the meat?”

            

In any case, the biggest threat in the sea was gone now. Their group would only be coming to the beach more and more often in the future.

The moment Mu Ning mentioned that Tantan might be able to chew the octopus meat, Ren Chenxi had already summoned the Apocalypse Mall panel and started searching for a sharp cleaver. She was already heartbroken at the thought of feeding such a large octopus to the fish. Hearing that mutated beast meat also contained a small amount of energy made it all the more precious. If she was going to feed this amazing meat to something, she’d much rather feed it to Tantan!

But the octopus corpse was huge; it would be difficult to take out at the base. And having to bring Tantan to the beach every time… never mind the possibility of running into other survivors, just the fact that her little carpet had shown an immense interest in all the seafood she’d brought back to the apartment since it was a kitten meant that if she actually brought Tantan to the beach, the entire cat would probably go insane.

            

No, no! Absolutely not! She could not bring Tantan to the beach! She would have to find a sharp tool in the Apocalypse Mall that could cut the octopus meat.

As Ren Chenxi searched, she actually found a long blade that looked incredibly cool and sharp. Its original price was 100,000 crystal stones. The item details described the blade as being forged from some kind of rare ore, a rare metal, and a series of other materials Ren Chenxi had never even heard of. The materials sounded gaudy¹, the name was gaudy, and the price wasn’t cheap. So, in Ren Chenxi’s eyes, this blade had to be pretty reliable.

After some hesitation, she bought the long blade named the “Apocalypse Super Starfall Swift Blade.” She shook her head at Mu Ning, who was still trying to poke the octopus with ice spikes, and pulled the gaudy weapon from her inventory. “It’s better not to bring Tantan to the beach. It loves seafood; I’m afraid it’ll cause trouble. I just rummaged around in my space and found this long blade. I don’t know when I picked it up. Let me give it a try!”

            

Seeing the long blade in Ren Chenxi’s hand, adorned with all sorts of ostentatious decorations, Mu Ning looked deeply suspicious. “Is this blade… for cutting things?” Why did it look like some kind of decorative art piece?

“…” From the product page, the blade had just seemed a little flashy. But holding it in her hand, Ren Chenxi realized just how ridiculously over-the-top it was. She could only hope that if the blade really was all show and no go, the Mall supported returns.

Fortunately, her worries were unfounded. Although the long blade looked a bit gaudy, it was, after all, originally priced at 100,000 crystal stones and made from all sorts of unheard-of, high-end-sounding materials. Ren Chenxi chose a section of tentacle, and with a single stroke, the appendage that had been impossible to sever was instantly split in two, leaving Mu Ning staring, dumbfounded.

            

“That blade of yours is… very… very… sharp.”

“Heh, at first I also thought this blade was all show and no go, so I never took it out. I didn’t expect…”

With the “Apocalypse Super Starfall Swift Blade” in hand, Ren Chenxi began to dismember the entire octopus monster. She didn’t need to cut it into tiny pieces—just small enough for the sections to fit inside the lobby of their villa’s first floor. But even with the sharp blade and the simple task, it still took her nearly twenty minutes to butcher the creature. And that was with her using her last SR-rank Acceleration Card on herself.

            

Mu Ning tried to help several times during the process, but Ren Chenxi refused each time, citing her injured palm. Left with no choice, Mu Ning could only watch as Ren Chenxi, with her small frame, bit by bit, dismembered the massive octopus and packed it all into her inventory.

By the time Ren Chenxi had finally chopped up the entire octopus and stored it in her inventory, she was inevitably covered in slime. Combined with the ink that had splattered on her clothes earlier, she knew she couldn’t return to the base like this. She had to at least change her clothes to avoid arousing suspicion. Especially Mu Ning—her top and pants were covered in huge, dark ink stains. If they went back to the base like that, wouldn’t they basically be announcing to everyone, this mother went to the beach and fought a mutated octopus today!

There was no other way. Ren Chenxi had to suggest to Mu Ning that they change before heading back. When Mu Ning heard this, her eyes, fixed on Ren Chenxi, lit up with eager anticipation. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes. Are you going to lend me yours?”

            

I’ve used Ren Chenxi’s thermos, and now I get to wear clothes she’s worn. This trip was so worth it~

Seeing Mu Ning’s sparkling² eyes, Ren Chenxi rolled her own with a huff and casually tossed a Costume Card at her. “What are you thinking! I have cards that can change your clothes directly!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the dark, stained outfit on Mu Ning instantly transformed. Fortunately, the new clothes were a long-sleeved, long-skirted, high-collared, and rather normal-looking maid outfit… wait! A maid outfit???

            

Ren Chenxi’s eyes flew wide in disbelief, while Mu Ning awkwardly tugged at her long skirt.

“You… so you have these kinds of hobbies?”

“…” What’s with that look? This mother is a very proper person! Who would have such a creepy hobby! Ren Chenxi threw another Costume Card at the maid-attired Mu Ning, fuming. “The card changes clothes randomly! How would I know what it would give you!”

            

The second time, Mu Ning was changed into a unisex, black, long-sleeved tracksuit. Such an outfit was quite common in the apocalypse. After all, when you had to frequently fight zombies and mutated beasts, this kind of clothing was much more convenient for movement.

Evidently, Mu Ning was quite satisfied with this second outfit. She smoothed down her clothes, then looked at Ren Chenxi with even greater anticipation. Her clothes were changed; now it was naturally Ren Chenxi’s turn~ She really wondered what kind of clothes the card would randomly change Ren Chenxi into. A maid outfit would be great~ A short-sleeved, super-short-skirt maid outfit… would be even better!

Unfortunately, before Mu Ning could fantasize any further, Ren Chenxi manually took off her own dirty jacket and pulled a new beige trench coat from her inventory to put on.

            

“…” The sparkling light in Mu Ning’s eyes extinguished with a soft pop. Her voice was tinged with grievance. “Why didn’t you use a card…”

“…” Mu Ning was aggrieved, but Ren Chenxi was even more bewildered. “Only my jacket was dirty, and I have my own clean clothes. Why would I waste a card?”

“But you saw me wear a maid outfit…” Mu Ning’s voice grew even more plaintive.

            

“…” Alright, making a mighty 6th-order esper, the boss of her own group, wear a maid outfit really was a bit uncool. So, Ren Chenxi offered some consolation. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you wore a maid outfit when we get back.”

“…” Is that what I meant? Is that what I meant!

---

The author has something to say:

            

Mutou (shouting): This mother wanted you to wear a super-short-skirt maid outfit so I could look back at you!

Xixi: Wait… the one I changed you into wasn’t a super-short-skirt maid outfit either!!!

---