Inside The Monster
He doesn't know why he is so stuck trying to live but anyway, he does so, as he held what he believes to be a tentacle of a strange creature nesting inside the leviathan's stomach he couldn't help but question his life choices. The creature was as far as he could see is mass of blood-red dark mass of tentacles that stretched hundreds of thousands of tentacles everywhere forming some kind of web of flesh so it wouldn't fall into the leviathan's stomach acid.
The tentacle he was holding onto was a relatively small one as its width was only his waist, so he could safely wrap his body around it, bigger ones have a width of... he don't know yet. His brain become even more sluggish since coming here stuck in this position for another unknown amount of time.
'I must look ridiculous right now.'
A stubborn flicker of humor sparked in his chest despite the grim situation. It was either laugh or cry, and Sol wasn't much of a crier.
"Great job, Sol."
He muttered under his breath, voice hoarse.
"Really nailed it this time."
***
Mission: Survival of the Fittest
Description: You have been sent to an ancient world of beasts and nature, here, only the survivors spoke the tale and winners take it all, in this world overthrown by nature your only choice is to survive.
Clear Conditions: Survive for a month.
Reward: Return, ???.
Failure: Death.
Countdown: 28 Days, 20 Hours, 15 Minutes, 30 Seconds.
***
Right, he also learned how to check the missions given to him through the Gate, perhaps this is what gave him the hope of survival. A small chance to survive and leave this shithole of the world.
"At least I have food here..."
He then took a bite from the fleshy tentacle, disgusting blue blood gushes out from where he bite, His entire body shuddered in protest, but he forced himself to swallow. The blood tasted disgusting probably the worst thing he has tasted. It was bitter, metallic, and had the pungent aftertaste of rotting algae. The texture was slimy, like chewing on wet rubber... maybe not... but at least the worst one he could remember right now.
His jaw didn't have either sharp enough teeth or strong enough jaw to tear the flesh off so he could only meet the end of the day by drinking its blood.
'Say the truth I just hope whatever I am drinking is its blood and not anything else.'
Still, he couldn't help but make a remark.
"Though, doesn't change the fact it tastes like crap."
The tentacle he was dangling from writhed, as though offended by his culinary critique. Sol tightened his grip, holding on for dear life.
"Relax, buddy. If it makes you feel better, you're the only thing on the menu."
He stared at the bite mark, which was already oozing more of the disgusting fluid. The flesh pulsated faintly, as if alive in ways it shouldn't be. Despite the taste, the blood was warm and thick, and he could already feel a faint surge of energy spreading through his body.
A shiver ran down Sol's spine as the warmth from the blood radiated through his limbs. It wasn't exactly comforting, more like a jolt of raw adrenaline forcing his body to keep moving.
Only god knows what kind of side effects this thing has, his only hope now is just to leave this hellhole before experiencing it in any way possible.
'Should I attempt to climb to the center?'
The course of all this tentacle the creature at the center which looked like a blob of tentacles stayed in the air far above the leviathan's stomach acid silently, It loomed like some grotesque heart, feeding off the ancient beast itself.
As the owner of this scrawny body of his, he knew more than anyone that he couldn't hang from this thing much more, maybe a day or two if he stayed perfectly still and wouldn't consume anymore whatever body needed to keep going for anything else that's useless. But how the hell is he supposed to accomplish that in the first place?
Another set of crawling is it, he crawled towards the center, since he survived till now thanks to this grotesque parasite, it's time to bring it a proper gratitude.
The rational part of his mind screamed that climbing toward the center was madness. But staying down here clinging to tentacles and drinking questionable fluids wasn't a winning strategy either.
'Brace yourself my body, it's time for another desperate crawling.'
Now think about it, did he even walk properly since coming here? As far as he could remember probably no.
***
How should he describe the sensation he felt when came closer to that strange blob of tentacles, he wasn't exactly sure. The closer he got more he felt it, the "pulse" it was generating, the feeling he got wasn't simply physical instead. Every time it pulsed he felt something, his skin prickled as though brushed by unseen currents, and a faint vibration thrummed through his bones, echoing in his chest as if his heart was following its lead.
Both with that he felt another thing, he felt like he was afraid, just like him.
But the fear it was feeling didn't belong to the fear of death like his but for something else, it was afraid of something other than itself.
'Wait... don't tell me it is keeping an egg inside itself? Is it trying to reproduce?!'
A dark realization crept through his thoughts as his gaze tried to pierce through the shell of densely packed tentacles, and just maybe, just with a tiny possibility, he might have seen something inside it. Something that isn't simply thickly wrapped blood tentacles, he saw a shadow of something whole that isn't a simple blob.
'An egg?'
He swallowed hard, his thoughts whirling.
'No, that can't be right. It can't be reproducing in here, can it?'
Okay, let's think about what does that implies... no let's think about what will happen to it if this possible egg of it hatches, will it simply drop dead? Will the tentacle he is hanging from fall into the stomach acid? What the hell is he supposed to do then?
Sol's fingers tightened around the slick, throbbing tentacle as the feeling of dread continued to build in his chest. The pulsations were no longer just vibrations; they were like heavy thuds inside his ribcage, each one as if pulling him towards his inevitable demise.
His breath quickened, the stench of the leviathan's insides filling his nostrils as his pulse beat faster in sync with the strange blob's rhythm. Was the thing inside sensing him? Was it aware of his presence, the intruder disturbing its strange and unholy nest?
He looked up at the mass of blood-red tentacles, watching as they shifted restlessly. His eyes darted around, searching for any possible escape, but all he saw were the coiling masses of flesh and bone that stretched endlessly through the churning, toxic stomach acids below. There was no way out without making a move, without taking a risk.
The tension in the air was thick, and Sol couldn't shake the feeling that the creature, whatever it was, had grown aware of him. The fear from both him and the creature was palpable. The densely packed tentacles of the creature danced in strange patterns almost hypnotizing if you ask him.
Then he got a crazy idea in his mind, one that's from both stress and his dying mind, one that's so irrational and crazy it shouldn't even be considered as the idea. But all this idea is all bloomed from one simple yet very strange question.
'If I put myself inside the creature and beside the egg, will it be able to detect me?'