The Final Odyssey, the fantastical journey of a cat boy

"Thump—thump—thump—thump—thump—thump—thump—"

The electronically simulated bells rang for a full thirteen times before stopping. Then, a somewhat eerie female voice replaced Huang Yan's voice and came over the loudspeaker.

"Friends, welcome to Yifa Shopping Mall... It's midnight, 1:00 PM. The hour of the demons has arrived; please open your eyes when it gets dark."

Although she knew this was part of a pre-designed "game," Alicia's body still trembled slightly. Fish shook his head and began to survey his surroundings, searching for usable weapons and equipment.

Unlike the last time he woke up in the dorm, when at least he had a baseball bat to use, this time, the bathroom he was in was completely empty. Even the glass mirror, which seemed like a weapon, lacked any tools to smash. As for things like the toilet and faucet, they were naturally useless—unless she planned to shove that monster's head into the toilet water and bully it.

Besides that, he and Alicia had no equipment at all—although Frostleaf and Xiaoxing's smart combat armor was still there, it had reverted to the form of close-fitting bulletproof vests due to the cessation of its functions, just like Phoenix Flame before. It could only block attacks that were aimed directly at the torso and was basically useless for anything else.

Furthermore, both women were wearing only light, flowing silk dresses covered in dense bows, semi-transparent lace, and delicate decorative ribbons—presumably quite adorable on the runway. Unfortunately, they were hardly adequate as clothing, let alone providing protection: the skirt length below the waist was only that of a miniskirt, meaning even the slightest movement would result in a wardrobe malfunction!

As for their feet, they were wearing cotton slippers with cute rabbit patterns. Although they were barely usable, they were clearly not suitable for strenuous exercise, let alone running.

"It's dark, please open your eyes—it's dark, please open your eyes—it's dark, please open your eyes—" The announcement outside continued to repeat, sounding like a broken phonograph. "Attention everyone in the mall, an extremely dangerous monster has entered the mall. Please do not call the police, as the police have no jurisdiction over this matter. Please handle the problem yourselves."

"Tsk." After searching repeatedly without success, Fish finally picked up the mop from the plastic bucket in the corner. Because it hadn't been wet for a long time, the mop had long since dried and hardened, and was "happily" fixed to the bucket. He had to step on the edge of the bucket and pull hard to get the mop out.

Although this thing was really unsuitable as a weapon, it was at least a solid wooden stick nearly two meters long, which could still be quite useful in extreme situations. After picking up the mop, Fish carefully carried it in his hands and walked out of the bathroom.

"This seems to be the first floor," Fish said after looking around. "Be careful when you walk, don't get too close to the store—there might be danger inside."

Like all large shopping malls, this one was filled with rows of shops, some selling furniture, toys, and candy, others flowers and various electronics. Although all had "closed" signs, most shops were unlocked, and merchandise was still on the shelves. However, the mall's main lighting was off, with only a few green and red emergency lights flickering in the corners and at the shop entrances, providing barely enough illumination.

Of course, Fish had no interest in furniture or toys. What he really wanted to find was a shop related to weapons—but the mall didn't have any such shops. In the kitchenware shop he first found, Fish only saw rows of pots, stoves, and ladles, but not the kitchen knife or other knives he wanted.

"Strange, they don't even sell kitchen knives here?" After peering through the window of the kitchenware store for a while, Fish muttered with some regret, "Looks like it's really difficult."

"That's right," Huang Yan's voice came through the loudspeaker again, "The game has started now, and the broadcast will be forcibly shut down soon. Although I just saw a rough outline of the game script, I don't have time to go into details—in short, remember two things: try not to get separated from others, but also don't be too trusting of those behind you..."

"What did she just say?" Alicia asked.

"I don't quite understand either. But this level is indeed a bit difficult to deal with." Fish continued to walk a few more steps forward, and then was pleasantly surprised to find that there was actually a small clothing and shoe supermarket in front of him!

Although the store was completely devoid of light sources except for a green "EXIT" sign and a decorative neon light, Fish cautiously entered and began taking clothes off the shelves one by one—first, he grabbed two pairs of underwear, then two pairs of safety shorts with lace trim. After all, the lack of underwear underneath was incredibly unsettling, and these things would at least make him feel a little better.

Next, Fish found the shoe counter, but was somewhat disappointed to discover that most of the shoes there were flashy high heels, which, while certainly eye-catching enough to attract men, would be nothing short of blatant prostitution in a death game. Fortunately, in the corner of the counter, he found a row of sneakers, the largest pair of which would fit Frostleaf's feet perfectly.

Next, Alicia did the same, replacing her soft cotton slippers with a pair of the smallest size sneakers.

"Finally, it would be great if I could find a slightly more practical trench coat." Fish tried on the sneakers and said with satisfaction—as a horse-like new human, Frostleaf, in addition to horse ears and a horse tail, also had a certain degree of "hoof-like" characteristics in her feet. Although she didn't walk on her middle toe like a real horse, the front of her feet was indeed more developed and had a soft callus layer, making her more suitable for running fast than ordinary humans. Having a good pair of shoes was very important for Frostleaf to take advantage of her running ability.

"The outerwear counter is over there," Alicia pointed to the other end of the shop—where more than a dozen plastic mannequins were lined up, each wearing a different women's outfit. Unfortunately, most of the women's outfits on these mannequins were fluffy and soft, pretty but impractical Lolita dresses, maid outfits, or even wedding dresses! Apart from covering a larger area, they weren't much more practical than the dresses the two women were originally wearing.

It wasn't until she reached the end of the mannequins that Alicia found the clothes she wanted: a blue wool tracksuit.

"This one's nice!" Alicia exclaimed excitedly, reaching for it. But as her fingertips touched the tracksuit, she immediately realized something was amiss: the tracksuit seemed a little... Moreover, it also has a warmth that a plastic mannequin would never have.

Could this be...?

"It's another NPC participating in the 'game'!" Fish exclaimed, pulling Alicia back a step. Just as he said, the blue knitted tracksuit was on a corpse. The corpse was sitting among rows of mannequins. She was a thin little girl whose head was completely missing from the jaw up, as if it had been torn off by some powerful force.

"Holy crap..." Even Fish, who had witnessed countless deaths, felt a violent nausea when he saw this scene and almost vomited immediately.

"The blood hasn't congealed yet..." After calming down a bit, Fish took a deep breath and reached out to touch the body. The sensation in his hand made him realize that the victim had likely been killed within ten minutes, or even less! "The blood is still warm!"

"Huh? Could it be..." Alicia shuddered.

Fish didn't continue speaking, but both of them realized what had just happened: clearly, after "open your eyes when it gets dark," this little NPC girl had run into the clothing and shoe store and immediately encountered an "extremely dangerous monster," and her life ended tragically in just a few minutes.

This also means that the monster probably didn't leave at all!

The instant the thought crossed Fish and Alicia's minds, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew into the supermarket at just the right moment. The Newtypes' keen sense of smell immediately detected a very ominous odor: a pure, unsettling "beastly smell," a pungent stench reminiscent of rotting flesh and animal dens. Moreover, this beastly stench was so distinct that the two confirmed one thing instantly.

"That guy is nearby!"

In the darkness, Fish swung the mop handle purely on instinct. The slender stick accurately struck a massive creature, eliciting a terrifying roar that sent chills down his spine. Although the stick was like a straw compared to its enormous body, it struck the behemoth's most vulnerable spot with perfect accuracy.

Those are eyes.

Of course, this was no coincidence—the moment he made his move, Fish could feel that his body knew exactly how to attack his opponent's weak points. Every minute movement, how to make it, when and how to exert force, was engraved in the deepest part of his muscle memory.

As for the reason... The creature that had been flipped over was one of the most frequent opponents that Shuangye had encountered during her long-term training in the forests north of the Ten Victories Marquisate and the Penglai Duchy. Because she often practiced against such creatures, Shuangye had naturally accumulated a wealth of experience.

"A bear!" Alicia exclaimed in shock as the large creature screamed and collapsed to the ground. "It's a bear!"

"This isn't your average bear." Fish glanced at the mop handle in his hand and noticed it was broken. "This guy's not normal."

"Well?"

"It is the host of 'Tai Sui'." Fish was not surprised at all when he said this - after all, in this series of death games that focuses on "Tai Sui", it would be too strange if the monsters released had nothing to do with "Tai Sui".

However, even compared to the two mutated bears encountered in the abandoned village in the forest a few weeks ago, this creature was simply too... astonishing. This beast had fur as black as night, and it looked like an Asian black bear, but its size was larger than the largest brown bear. Even when it was lying down, its height was similar to that of Frostleaf.

Even more terrifying, although this creature didn't grow strange tentacles like the previous two bears, its forelimb claws had become like rows of short swords, exceeding a foot in length! After being hit in the eye, it began wildly swinging its claws, and as a result, the aluminum alloy shipping container next to it was sliced ​​into pieces the instant it was hit, just like tin foil.

"Retreat quickly," Fish whispered. Normally, he would never let this opportunity to finish off his opponent slip by. But neither he nor Alicia were armed, and that behemoth was clearly not something they could handle bare-handed. More importantly, his intuition told him that there was probably more than one monster nearby!

His premonition came true as he left the small supermarket.

A massive shadow suddenly descended rapidly from the dark top of the mall, silently swooping down on the two. Fortunately, as a new type of human with a horse-like physique, Shuangye inherited the horse's extremely strong vigilance and excellent hearing, developed over millions of years of evolution amidst countless enemies. Although the shadow was almost "silent" to ordinary people, Shuangye could clearly hear the sound of its wing membranes gliding through the air.

"Get out of the way!"

Fish grabbed Alicia tightly, narrowly avoiding the shadow's dive. However, after passing the two, the creature didn't leave empty-handed—its claws seized another little girl who happened to be behind them, wearing the same loose dress, and dragged her back towards the ceiling.

Suddenly, the little girl, her feet off the ground, let out a series of pitiful screams, successfully attracting the attention of the giant bear that had chased after them from the clothing supermarket. Distracted by the sound, the bear did not immediately pursue Fish and the others, but froze in place—as a result, it was sprayed with a large cloud of white powder, leaving it unable to see or breathe.

"Over here! Over here!"

As the fire extinguisher was being sprayed vigorously at the target, a voice shouted, "Follow me!"

Without hesitation, Fish immediately ran towards the man. Then, the man, having exhausted all the dry powder and carbon dioxide gas in the fire extinguisher, forcefully hurled the extinguisher at the giant bear, and before the bear could react, rushed upwards along the already out-of-service escalator in the mall.

"here!"

After rushing down the elevator, Fish and Alicia followed the man into a shop on the third floor of the mall. As soon as they entered, another person who had been waiting there quickly pulled down the metal roller shutter door, sealing the entrance to the shop.

"Alright, you two, we're safe now." The man who had used the fire extinguisher to cover Fish and Alicia said as the roller shutter behind them was lowered. "At least for now."