Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!

Of course, with us floating in zero gravity, the word "run" was purely metaphorical.

Still, semantics didn't matter right now.

I locked my eyes on the target I'd just fired upon, a grotesque mass huddled in one place amidst the mossy, radioactive walls. Even after taking a direct hit from my mining laser, the creature barely flinched. As anticipated, it remained largely unaffected.

That was to be expected, considering what we were up against.

Yes, as you've probably figured out already, the entity that had somehow breached this space was none other than the "boss" monster meant to guard outside the cube. The terrifying, invincible alien—Glop-kun!

I'll never understand why the devs chose that name. Trying to be ironic? A misguided attempt at humor? Anime references gone wrong? Either way, the cutesy name did absolutely nothing to represent the horror it embodied.

It was an enormous, semi-transparent blob made of viscous, liquid-like matter—completely inorganic, yet somehow alive. Its gelatinous body pulsed and moved with intent. And the worst part? Its fluids were hyper-corrosive, capable of melting through even the most advanced ship hulls in seconds. A living slime monster with zero weaknesses. Literally indestructible!

"Hurry up! Move, now!" I barked, quickly firing another shot at it.

Eva seemed to snap back to reality. Without missing a beat, she grabbed Cassandra by the arm and drifted backward, then raised her gatling toward Glop-kun and let it rip.

{I'll cover you two! Get the fuck behind me!}

Her shout rang out as she unleashed a barrage.

Beam after beam pummeled the alien abomination. But, as expected, none of the attacks caused visible damage. It simply absorbed the hits like splashes of water against stone.

Still, the kinetic force of the projectiles was enough to push it upward, pinning it temporarily against the ceiling. Using that brief opportunity, I darted toward Eva and Cassandra, rejoining them without issue.

"This is bad..." I muttered under my breath. "I didn't think it could actually enter the sealed cube."

{W-What the hell is that thing?}

Cassandra's voice trembled. She was visibly shaken, overwhelmed by fear.

"That thing?" I echoed, pausing for a brief second to consider my words. "Well... it's complicated. Let's just call it the Terminator. Because if it catches us, we're finished. Terminated."

Honestly, that nickname suited it better than the absurd one the developers gave it.

"Eva, keep laying down fire!" I ordered quickly, moving ahead of them. "I know your attacks won't kill it, but we just need to stall it! As long as it's distracted, we can grab the Egg and escape!"

What was once a simple fetch quest had now transformed into a survival horror scenario. A relentless, unwinnable chase where our only shot at success lay in locating the objective before being cornered.

But finding something the size of a fist in this vast, pitch-black void? That was a whole different nightmare. We had zero landmarks, no frame of reference, nothing to guide us. And if we drifted too far from the walls, we'd lose our sense of direction entirely.

'In this kind of situation, splitting up might help cover more ground, but…'

If we split up, we'd also have to defend multiple directions at once. Glop-kun's body was massive, and given enough time, it could lash out from anywhere, targeting each of us separately.

Splitting up was simply not an option. It was too dangerous.

{Shit...! I'm overheating!}

Eva's cry jolted me to attention.

I turned and saw the barrels of her gatling glowing an ominous white—far past safe operating temperature. It wasn't just the result of continuous fire, but also the ambient radiation and heat saturating the environment. This place was a death trap for standard weaponry.

"Switch out with me! I'll take over cover fire!" I shouted, pushing past her and raising my weapon. "You two—pull me toward the center of this place! The Egg is likely there!"

{G-Got it!}

{Leave navigation to me!}

Their responses came fast. No hesitation.

I felt two sets of gloved hands grab my shoulders, and we began drifting deeper into the void. I kept my weapon trained on Glop-kun, holding the trigger and trying to maintain suppression.

Trusting them with our movement, I focused entirely on containment.

I flipped the visor's display to infrared mode. Radiation interference made the image somewhat distorted, but even so, Glop-kun's liquid body stood out clearly as a dark, shifting mass. That's when I noticed something alarming.

'It's spreading… slowly but surely.'

It had expanded across roughly fifteen meters of ceiling space already. Still manageable, but if it spread further...

If it got any bigger, there'd be no way to hold it back. None at all.

*ZIIIN!*

My mining laser discharged, lighting up part of the monster's body with intense red heat. I watched a chunk of the slime boil off and evaporate in my view.

But then... it regenerated. Instantly. Effortlessly.

As though I hadn't even hit it in the first place.

"Fucking hell...!"

If I wasn't worried sick about our survival, I would've already fired the micro-blackhole generator round. But in this confined, sealed-off space, creating a gravitational suction—however brief—could be catastrophic.

In short, using it would be our absolute last resort. A contingency reserved for when we're completely trapped with zero options left.

I pulled the trigger, sending out a concentrated five-second beam in each burst.

Using that, I kept "trimming" the edges of the expanding enemy, slowing down its relentless crawl into the remaining space inside the cube.

"Oh!"

Suddenly, as the girls continued dragging me through the void... my vision was swallowed in darkness. I lost visual contact with the enemy entirely.

'It went beyond the infrared vision's range!'

Realizing that, I hastily cycled through the visor's available view modes.

Infrared was no longer viable—its range too limited. Visible light? Useless, since it was pitch black. That left me with one remaining option: night vision mode.

I switched over. The darkness gave way to a hazy field of green.

The radioactive "grass" covering the walls gave off faint radiant heat, acting as a crude illumination source. It was just enough to outline the monster's form. Although faint and blurry, I could make out its shape—almost the same hue as the surroundings, blending disturbingly well.

*ZIIIN!*

Still, that was more than sufficient. I locked on to the target again and resumed firing.

I kept up the pressure, beam after beam, pushing my mining laser to the brink. Gradually, it began to overheat. And if it hit the Curie point, the entire weapon would shut down, rendered completely useless. I wanted to switch out with Eva, let her resume suppression, but—

Yeah, not happening. The ambient heat was still crazy high, and her gatling's barrels were still glowing white-hot. No chance she could fire it anytime soon.

Just as frustration began gnawing at my thoughts, I remembered one potential trump card.

"Cassandra, tag in for me! Use your grenade launcher!"

If memory serves right, she had brought a few D-32 Annihilation Rounds. Basically, souped-up HE grenades designed for maximum destruction. They'd be ideal for suppressing Glop-kun, even if not killing it outright.

{E-Ehhh?!}

Cassandra squeaked, hesitating, but nonetheless pulled the pistol-shaped launcher from her holster. She gripped it with both hands, but her finger hovered awkwardly, unsure where to place it.

'Crap. She's never fired a gun before!'

Ideally, I'd just grab the launcher and fire it myself. But, of course, due to integrated lock, I couldn't. The integrated IC chip wouldn't allow unauthorized use for at least another full minute.

"Tsk! No time for this!"

I reached for her waist, yanking her toward me. I wrapped my arm firmly around her, pressing her close so she wouldn't drift off. Then, with my free hand, I reached over hers and guided her trigger finger into place.

"I'll guide your shot. Just pull the trigger when I say. I've got you—don't worry!"

{Y-Yesh...!}

She stammered—wait, did she bite her tongue? Whatever, not important.

With my help stabilizing her aim and grip, her finger found the trigger with no trouble. We synchronized our breathing, keeping the launcher steadily aimed at Glop-kun's last known location. Then, with a small nod, I signaled.

She fired.

"...!"

The vibration from the shot traveled from the launcher to her arms, into mine, and reverberated through both our bodies. A loud, concussive boom echoed through the suit as a high-velocity round shot forward at Mach-3, landing squarely in the monster's center.

Then, all at once, the space lit up in blinding brilliance.

The D-32 Annihilation Round, true to its name, created a controlled annihilation reaction—obliterating everything caught in its blast radius. It mimicked an antimatter-matter reaction, turning mass directly into energy in a fraction of a second.

The flash of light? That was matter being transformed into raw energy before collapsing into a micro-singularity, vanishing instantly.

"Shit...!"

Worse yet, I had forgotten to switch off night vision.

The brilliant burst was amplified severalfolds by the visor's enhanced optics. Although the safety system activated shortly after, it was already too late. My vision went white—completely blinded.

I staggered, stunned, but thankfully, Cassandra and I were still latched together in a tight embrace.

{A-Arthur?! Are you okay?!}

Cassandra's panicked voice rang out as she realized I wasn't responding normally. I raised my hand immediately, cutting her off.

"Don't worry about me. Check on the terminator first!"

I didn't expect that to kill it—it was too tough to die from that. But if it trimmed it down even a little, that would buy us valuable time.

Though I couldn't see, I could sense her shifting through vision modes in quick succession. Then came her voice:

{I-I'm not sure… but it looks like half its body—from the center outward—completely evaporated!}

"..."

That's good enough.

We must've gained a few crucial seconds with that blast, at least.

And then, just as I was gathering my bearings again, Eva, who had been wordlessly towing both Cassandra and me, suddenly brought us to a stop.

{Arthur, we've reached the center!}

She called out, and then immediately added:

{But... I don't see any egg around here!}