Watching the captain struggle fiercely in the beast's jaws—
Only then did the fat man realize…
The captain had actually been right beside him all along!
Yet,
He had never once thought
To pause his hurried steps toward his set goal.
If only he had stopped for a moment,
And looked down,
He would have seen how far the captain still had to go to catch up with him…
Sometimes, it's not because you're lacking that others overlook you—
It might just be a height issue.
But it was too late!
Crunch!
The tiger-lion-like creature lifted its head—
Amid the crowd's disbelieving stares (both the first and last time seeing him were equally shocking and unexpected),
The captain's nimble, petite figure went shhhluurrp—!! and slid into the beast's belly like lightning!
Looking at the tiger-lion thing,
Still standing there dazed after its meal,
Mouth half-open, tongue lolling, eyes nervously darting around,
Its eyes as clear and clueless as a college student's,
You could tell it hadn't even had time to taste anything… before it was gone.
While the beast was still stunned, the fat man could no longer hold back his grief. Tears and snot flew as he roared, "Fire! Kill it! Avenge the captain!"
The men were quick, but the beast was quicker!
Bang! Before the gun smoke cleared,
The beast effortlessly sidestepped the first volley of musket fire, brushing past the whistling bullets, pounced on an unbuttoned-shirt guy, and bit through his neck in one chomp. Blood gushed out.
Then, in a second pouncing leap, its long tail swept aside two red-coated sailors…
Mid-air, over ten feet off the ground, it twisted its tiger-like waist to evade slashes from three open-shirted crewmen,
Still suspended,
Its right claw swung like lightning, catching the three before they could retract their strikes.
Instantly, skin tore and flesh split, deep enough to reveal bone.
Its speed and leap height were clearly beyond any ordinary beast.
Right after striking, before anyone could react, its left claw firmly gripped a coconut tree about seven or eight meters up—
A good four or five meters higher than my personal record of three meters—
Just two leaps from this beast, and five of them were already down.
The fat man turned to command everyone:
"Don't be afraid, the guardian isn't as powerful as we thought… If we team up and focus, we can definitely take it down—!!!"
Before he could finish, he saw everyone's faces turn pale, their eyes wide with panic…
His combat instincts screamed danger, his heart sinking.
His sharp gaze swept past the crowd, scanning the dense forest—
Rustling footsteps came from the grass…
Dozens of pairs of crimson, menacing eyes lit up simultaneously among the trees.
A pack of ten or more similar tiger-lion beasts emerged together…
One of the open-shirted men panicked and yelled, "Wrong! This is all wrong! These aren't guardians at all!"
As he shouted,
A white light flashed from his left hand, revealing a panel:
==================[Panel View]==================
Target: Lion-Tiger Beast
Level: 3
Title: Blade of Sharp Claws (Prefix: Sharp Claws, +1 Agility; Suffix: Blade, +1 Strength) [Activates upon entering combat]
[Title bonuses are categorized as: combat activation, passive trigger (when hit), activation trigger, and permanent trigger]
Strength (Value equals Defense, each point adds +10 HP): 4
Agility (When value is double Strength, grants an extra attack): 9
Magic (Value equals Magic Resistance, each point adds +10 MP): 0
HP: 420/420
MP: 0/0
The fat man exclaimed in shock:
"What? They're not even… but they're this strong? Then…." His teeth began chattering uncontrollably.
"Then… how strong must the guardians of the teleportation stones be?!"
After saying this,
The fat man pulled up his own stats panel:
==================[Panel View]==================
Character: Fat Man
Level: 12
Title: Super Sandstorm (Prefix: Super, +1 All Attributes; Suffix: Sandstorm, +2 Magic) [Activates upon entering combat]
Strength: 3
Agility: 1
Magic: 0
HP: 40/40
MP: 0/0
Equipment (All equipment attribute bonuses are floating. Example: Equipment +1 Strength, base Strength 3, actual attack deals 3~4 damage. Same applies to Agility and Magic): Matchlock Gun (+2 Strength, +1 Agility), Scimitar (+1 Strength)
Seeing them summon that interface anytime, I was stunned!
I'm so, so envious—I can't even bring up my own panel for some reason.
I'm like a hardworking farmer with only one harvest a year,
Getting the same annoying, abrupt, monotonous prompt sound every time: "Absolute Defense +1."
In the few seconds I was spacing out, most of the group had already fallen…
I figured if I didn't step up and do something soon,
This place would probably go back to being a deserted island again.
But my strength is limited—I can only save one person.
You're asking about my summon?
Just take a good look at this thing's height… even shorter than the first captain who got eaten.
Last time, I suplexed a wolf, right? Didn't you see how it had to drag things?
If it goes to help… it wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.
Alright, enough talk. Time to save someone, or I might not even make it into this episode.
Otherwise, I'll be stuck hiding in the bushes for another 2000 words or so.
But who to save?
Right now, only these are left:
The fat man, covered in blood… but at least he took down one lion-tiger beast alone.
One open-shirted guy, carrying a telescope, compass, treasure map…
And one… busty woman… Huh? Why are those two still protecting her?
Watching
As the other two, already severely wounded and bleeding,
Still shielded the busty woman, I was genuinely moved.
But,
At the same time, I wondered—in a life-or-death situation, still being protected…
Could this woman's identity be more than it seems?
There must be some major hidden story!
No time for doubts—action now!
Seizing the moment,
Just as over ten lion-tiger beasts pounced toward the three,
I pushed off the ground with my left foot, leaping high into the air,
Grabbed a hanging vine from a high branch, wrapping it around my palm and wrist a few times,
Swinging in a wide arc toward the group,
I snatched one person by the collar.
The person was heavy—I almost lost my grip,
But thanks to the earlier kickoff and the vine's momentum, I slowed the fall just enough.
At the peak of the swing, I used the force to launch forward mid-air,
Under the stunned, bewildered gazes of the lion-tigers and the two remaining survivors,
Holding the rescued person,
I accurately caught another hanging vine from a different branch, swinging again.
At the highest point of that swing, I grabbed yet another vine…
Swinging nonstop between them,
I fled the danger like the wind.
"Who are you? What are you doing? You saved the wrong person!!"
A heart-wrenching shout rang in my ears:
"Don't save me! Save her instead—!!"
"Look at her… those fiery red lips… those delicate hands… that devilish figure!!"
"You… you… you're going to regret this when you grow up!!!"