January 3, 2026 — 04:07 PM | Wave 2 — Time Remaining: 13 Hr 53 Min
Sizzzzzzle.
The rain changed. The heavy drumming turned into a sharp hiss. It burned his skin.
"Ow! The acid! It's here!"
A cold, metal hand grabbed his shoulder.
"Silence, master of filth," Malenia's voice cut through the dark. She was back on the raft. He could feel her heat. She smelled like copper and sweat. "The beast retreats. Move before the rain melts the wood."
Gilbert looked toward her voice. He couldn't see her face, but he imagined the outline of her body in the dark.
"Madam... I have the specimens," Gilbert whispered. "Let me... examine them? In the dark? It would be a most... immersive experience."
He heard a blade being drawn. Cold steel touched his throat.
"Move," Malenia hissed. "Or I'll let the fish eat your head."
Gilbert gulped. The adrenaline was fading. The exhaustion was ten times heavier.
"Y-yes. Tactical repositioning. Let us proceed. My Dear Malenia."
Courage whimpered. The raft drifted in the ink. The rain hissed. The orange smog grew thicker.
Gilbert sat on the ink-covered platform. He clutched his net. He looked toward where Malenia was standing.
he whispered to the dark.
"I'm too stressed and horny to care."
The raft creaked. The pallets were thin. They were losing ground. But the skyscraper was there.
Thirty minutes later, they reached the base of the building. It was a mountain of scarred concrete and shattered glass. It stood like a tombstone. The acid rain hissed against the facade, sending grey tears down the walls.
Gilbert's lungs felt like they were full of sand. Every kick of his legs in the water had been a payment for the scene he'd scripted in his head.
"Almost... there... Madam," he gasped.
Malenia surged toward the building. She used her shoulder to break a window. CRACK. The glass exploded. She swept the shards aside and stepped into the dry shadows, dragging Courage by the scruff.
Gilbert reached the ledge. His hands were slick with oil. He tried to pull his 3XL bulk up, but his arms were noodles. He slipped, his chin hitting the concrete with a thud.
"Huff... huff... failure..."
Malenia looked back. The silence from her helm was heavy. She reached down, grabbed his collar, and dragged him over the sill. She dumped him on the marble floor like a bag of wet trash.
Gilbert didn't stand. He couldn't. He lay on the cold stone, his chest heaving. The building smelled of dust and mildew.
"Huff. Huff. Huff."
He watched her silhouette move deeper into the lobby. He didn't follow. He just lay there by the entrance, staring at the dark ceiling.
"I pushed the raft. I took the acid damage," he muttered. "The reward better be high-res."
Gilbert lay in a heap of sodden polyester. The cold marble floor pressed against his cheek. He didn't care about the grit. He propped himself up on one elbow. His vision was a blurred, orange mess, but he focused on the silhouette moving away from him.
The sway. Left. Right. Left.
The golden plates of her armor slid over each other with a rhythmic, metallic scrape. He watched the hips shift—a side-to-side rotation that looked like a high-res animation loop. It was heavy. Deliberate.
A thick string of saliva bridged the gap between his lips and the floor. He didn't wipe it. He was analyzing the anatomical fidelity of the view. From the floor, he was a floor-level camera.
Look at the way the light hits the curve. The physics engine in this world is god-tier. Every step is a promise. Every shift of those metal-clad assets is a deposit into the Alpha's bank account.
He licked his lips. The salt and grease stung his skin. He wasn't thinking about the Kraken. He was thinking about the "fun" promise. He was a predator with a browser history that would make a saint weep.
"Yeah. Side-to-side. Show the Master what the grind was for. I'm gonna unlock every hidden scene that golden vault is hiding. I'm gonna see if the tightness matches the render. Fuck, that ass is scrumptious."
He let out a low, wet chuckle that turned into a cough, spraying grey brine on the marble.
[LIVE FEED: UTAH SECTOR CHAT]
gamer_god_69: did he just say scrumptious to a demigod 💀
slc_savage: gilbert is the real boss of wave 2. the horror.
vile_virtue: he looks like a wet bag of laundry 🧺🤡
beehive_babe_99: i hope the acid rain gets him. i cant take him anymore.
provo_prepper_88: the graphics r glitched. look at the shadows.
xX_ShadowEdge_Xx: is he having a boner on the floor? rip chat.
salt_lake_siren: why is he still talking about the physics engine? he's literally dying.
provo_prepper_88: because he's a freak. look at how he stares at her.
beehive_babe_99: i'm reporting this stream. this is too much.
gamer_god_69: lol u cant report the apocalypse. just watch the train wreck.
slc_savage: look at the dog. poor courage. someone save him.
vile_virtue: the dog has a bone knife. he's fine. gilbert is the one who needs help.
salt_lake_siren: malenia is going to kill him. i can feel it.
provo_prepper_88: nah she needs him for the "propulsion." he's a human motor.
gamer_god_69: a motor that smells like piss and fish.
xX_ShadowEdge_Xx: watch. he's going to try and touch her.
beehive_babe_99: if he touches her i'm throwing up.
slc_savage: the ink is everywhere. it looks like a horror game now.
vile_virtue: it IS a horror game. we're just the audience.
Gilbert watched the chat roll by on the edge of his vision. The insults didn't hurt. They were just "low-level trolls" who didn't understand the Alpha mindset. They were NPCs in his story.
"Madam,"
His voice echoed in the dark lobby. "The area is secure. The vanguard has performed his duties. I believe... it's time for that 'fun' we discussed. I've reached the checkpoint."
Malenia stopped. She was twenty feet away, standing near a shattered reception desk. She didn't turn around. Her silhouette was sharp against the dim, orange light leaking through the window.
"The dog bleeds, Gilbert,"
Her voice was quiet. Dangerous.
"And you speak of 'fun'?"
"The dog is a support unit"
Dismissing Courage with a wave of his hand.
"He's fine. He has the bone dagger. He's leveled up. But I... I've taken the brunt of the physical debuffs. I pushed the vessel. I endured te acid. My intimacy points should be through the roof."
He started to crawl toward her, his wet knees squeaking on the marble. He looked like a giant, sodden beetle.
"I've been thinking about the reward," Gilbert continued, his voice dropping to a creepy whisper. "The way you moved in the sky. The way those robes fell away. It was... a high-quality cinematic. I think a deep-dive into our relationship mechanics is in order. A kiss to start? Or maybe something more... service-oriented?"
He reached out, his grease-stained fingers trembling as they reached for the heel of her golden boot.
"I bet those lips are heavy," he murmured. "I bet you could take it all. Right down the throat for the Master."
Malenia turned.
It wasn't a slow movement. It was a snap. Her blade was out, the tip resting right between Gilbert's eyes before he could even blink. The gold of her helm reflected his own sweaty, pathetic face.
"One more word," she whispered. "And I will find out if your blood is as oily as your tongue."
Gilbert froze. He looked up at the blade. He looked at the golden helm. He felt the heat between his legs spike.
"Oh... a domination play," he whispered. "I see. You want me to beg? I can do that. The Alpha is flexible for the right... content."
Malenia's hand shook. Not with fear, but with a pure, white-hot loathing that Gilbert couldn't even begin to comprehend. She pulled the blade back, but she didn't sheath it.
"Find a room," she commanded. "A room with a door that locks. If I see you near me before the sun rises, I will finish what the Kraken started."
She turned and walked away, her armor clanking in the hollow space. Courage followed her, his little bone knife held tight in his paw. He didn't look back at Gilbert.
Gilbert sat there on the floor. He wiped a streak of ink from his chin. He looked at the chat.
"She's playing hard to get," he whispered. "The difficulty spike just makes the eventual completion more satisfying. I love a challenge."
He stood up, his legs shaking. He grabbed his net full of dead and dying fish-men.
"Come on, specimens," he grunted. "The Master needs to find a bedroom. We've got a long night ahead of us and my tank is full of pent up stress."
He started walking deeper into the skyscraper, his wet shoes making a squelching sound on the marble. The acid rain continued to hiss outside. The world was ending, but Gilbert was just getting started.
"Game is game,"
"And I'm the only one playing it right."
Walking through the empty halls and space of he building, Gilbert couldn't find a room suitable- or rather befitting of his greatness.
"Gotta find the right... server room,"
Gilbert wheezed. His voice was a nasal rasp, echoing off the cracked marble walls.
After some comparison between offices, Gilbert eventually chose a room.
It was located just twenty feet from the broken window—close enough to hear the rain, but tucked into a corner where the shadows were deepest. He tried the handle. It turned with a satisfying, heavy click.
"Perfect. The VIP lounge."
Click.
"Privacy settings: On"
He was finally alone with his prizes.
Separating the live from the dead ones.
He tossed the corpse toward the corner of the room, near a filing cabinet. It hit the wall with a wet thud and slid down, leaving a grey smear on the beige wallpaper.
The other two were alive. One was smaller, its fish-head twitching in a rhythmic, frantic pulse. Its mouth—full of needle-teeth—snapped at the air, making a dry, clicking sound. The other was larger, its wiry, human-like arms clawing at the mesh.
"I wonder... if the internal physics are as consistent as the exterior."
He reached out and stroked the creature's rubbery shoulder. The mackerel-man shivered, a ripple of movement going through its grey skin. It let out a low, bubbling hiss that sounded like a tea kettle full of mud.
"I bet the internal mapping on you freaks is a real... revelation. I've been treading water for thirty minutes, thinking about rewards. Malenia thinks she can gatekeep the fun... but I've got my own... side-quest right here."
"Good specimen," Gilbert cooed. "Good... little... waifu."
Several hours later.