Our group was immediately surrounded by the villagers.

The one at the very front, a man with the head of an octopus, walked so close to me that I could almost feel the slime on his tentacles.

When I went to the real world, I'd asked the boss for a mask that hid my true identity. I didn't want my so-called family to see my true face, after all.

The mask itself was quite high-level, so Octopus Face and the others didn't recognize that I was their boss.

"Monsters? Who said that?"

His deep voice rumbled, and the others immediately distanced themselves from us.

"They're the ones who said it! The five of us were in the back!"

Octopus Face came closer and closer with the other villagers, and Gerard, my fiancé, held Anna tightly in his arms.

Meanwhile, my parents stood forward, protecting them while pointing at me instead.

"She's the one! We've all had a proper education, so there's no way we could be so prudish!"

"Yes, this wench is the one who cursed you out! You must punish her!"

With everyone pointing fingers at me, Octopus Head wrapped his tentacles tightly around me in an instant, muttering under his breath, "Find the chief. Lock her up."

The players, who had been wondering how to find the chief, perked up immediately.

Gerard immediately suggested, "Let's follow these villagers!"

Then, he even started praising Anna, "You're so smart, Anna! You solved our first problem immediately!"

Anna's cheeks flushed red, and she accepted the praise without a hint of guilt.

"It's nothing, really. Sylvia just had it coming for not keeping her mouth shut!"

To them, I looked as if I was almost going to suffocate from the tentacles that were wrapped around me, but it was all just a ruse.

If anything, I was beyond satisfied.

After the update, just the attack power of my villagers alone was enough to kill two or three players without any issue whatsoever.

What I was more curious about was what changes the village chief, who had always been the quintessential kind and caring old man, would bring.

The party walked for another ten or so minutes, before they finally realized that the villagers walked at a snail's pace. As anxious as they were, however, none of them dared to ask the villagers to hurry up.

The last person who had offended the villagers was still wrapped in tentacles, after all.

Under the blazing sun, the party walked for an entire half hour before arriving at the village square.

"Is this a stone altar?"

"Aren't altars par for the course when it comes to myths about the sea? What's there to be surprised about?"

The party discussed amongst themselves carefully, before Afro exclaimed, "Wait, that altar isn't made of stones, it's made of human skulls! Wasn't this supposed to just be an A-ranked dungeon? How did so many people die here?"

At the center of the square stood a massive watchtower built entirely from human bones.

The village chief appeared, and with his face that looked no different from a human's, he stood out against the non-human-looking villagers.

When he saw the outsiders, he walked towards us with a kind smile.

"Ah, do we have new visitors? Are you here to stay in our village? Don't worry, we love visitors around here, so you'll definitely have a lovely ten-day stay here!"

Then, he waved his hand, gesturing for Octopus Head to set me down, before looking at me meaningfully.

Then, he scolded, "Have you learned nothing, you lot? You must be polite when dealing with visitors! Apologize to them now!"

The party's eyes glistened with hope.

"The village chief seems like a sensible enough person… If we stay with him, we won't be in any trouble, and-"

The very next second, all of our faces were splattered with warm blood.

Octopus Head had cut off one of his own tentacles, handing it toward us with its other tentacles.

"Apology. Eat."

The still-writhing, bloodied tentacle made Anna and the others retch instantly.

At that moment, the village chief took out a handbook bound in human skin, with the words Villager's Code of Conduct written in blood.

He smiled, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth.

"Once you've eaten your fill, you can learn about the rules in our humble village."

No one was willing to eat.

Once again, all eyes turned toward me.

Without shame, they shoved all the tentacles into my hands.

"You're the one who angered the villagers! This apology is meant for you, so stop dilly-dallying and eat it already!" Gerard barked at me like an order.

I looked up, and everyone else looked away while Afro forced me down.

"Looks like we can only progress if we eat these tentacles! What, are any of you volunteering to eat instead? Show of hands?"

Quickly, the strangers held me down to the ground, while my own father stuffed the writhing tentacles into my mouth.

The suction cups clung to my throat, suffocating and painful, and I couldn't help the tears that came flowing out of my eyes.

Finally, I collapsed onto the ground, while the others accepted the handbook from the village chief.

With disgust on her face, my mother threw a copy of the rules at me.

[Rule 1: Each villager must throw one stone into the sea every day.]

[Rule 2: Villagers cannot leave their rooms at night.]

[Rule 3: The Villagers' Code of Conduct is proof of identity. The chief will inspect it every night.]

…

And so it went on, all seeming like rules that didn't hurt in the slightest as long as you followed them.

But then, the final rule seemed to be the key toward clearing the entire scenario completely.

[Rule 10: Defeat the final boss to clear the scenario.]

How were we supposed to defeat the boss?

Everyone fell into deep thought, silent.

At that moment, the village chief handed everyone ten gold coins each, used to buy items at the small shop in the village.

By the time I caught my breath, they had already rushed off to buy gear for survival.

After exchanging a glance with the village chief, I quietly followed them as well.

After Afro took a look at all the items that were on sale, he exclaimed, "Look at all the anti-bird items here! I'm telling you, the final boss must be some sort of seabird!"

"Seems like whoever defeats that thing will get the reward for this scenario!"

But at that point, none of them had enough coins to buy anything that would have been useful.

More ironically, the highly-priced items were all the gifts that the Swans had discarded, the ones that I had tried to give them upon returning.

The discomfort in my throat still hadn't faded.

I took out my coins, planning to buy a digestive solution, but Anna's voice came from beside me.

"Mom, Dad, I want to buy the Sea Maiden's Dress. This banquet dress is too heavy and hot…"

The outfit she was talking about cost ten gold coins, which was the maximum amount everyone had at the moment.

Thus, no one was willing to spend any money to buy something so useless.

Then, my father ordered, "Take out your money and buy her that dress, Sylvia!"

"Why should I? I was the one who helped you eat…"

My mother cut me off coldly. "What do you mean, helped us? You're the one who called them monsters, so you deserved it."

Gerard stepped forward without hesitation and tried to snatch my pouch. I clutched it tightly, refusing to let go.

"If Sylvia doesn't want to help, then forget it…" She sniffled pitifully. "I'll just continue dragging everyone down, wearing this dress.

"She can buy her digestive solution, and the seabirds are going to have a better appetite to eat us all after it eats her…"

The moment she said that, the others stepped forward.

However, since this was a survival game that meant life and death, none of them were willing to be used as pawns so easily.

"That outfit is basically useless anyway, that's true. How about this? We can split her ten coins in half. We'll take five, and you four can take the rest for her dress. Deal?

"Besides, she already swallowed part of a monster's body. She might mutate soon anyway. Giving her coins is pointless."

Just by discussing amongst themselves, my fate was already sealed. No one bothered to care about any input that I had.

I was a girl by myself, after all, and there was no way I could go against the nine of them.

So they naturally took my coins by force.

Anna pouted and sweet-talked her mother into contributing another five gold coins, allowing her to purchase the Sea Maiden's Dress.

"Wow, this dress is so comfortable! It's so cool and form-fitting that it feels like it's part of my own skin!" Anna exclaimed happily.

Meanwhile, they had choked me to such a degree that my face had gone red.

The handbook listed the house assigned to each player.

Everyone else had roommates or companions, while I was the only one assigned to live alone.

My handbook was the only one left behind after everyone else had their pick, after all.

Anna smirked, clearly finding the whole thing quite amusing.

"Wow, you really are unlucky, Sylvia. How about this? If you become my watchdog, I'll do the honors of making a doghouse for you out of rocks myself!"

Gerard smirked, curling his lips. "Forget it. She looks like she's going to die right there on the doorstep! Eugh, just thinking about it gives me the chills…"

Leaving me behind, everyone returned to their assigned houses.

I headed back to my own wooden cabin.

The village chief was already waiting for me there.

Given his level, it wasn't surprising that he had recognized me.

The moment he saw me, he burst into a series of strange chuckles. "They sure bought their full just now, hm? This is going to be entertaining!"

The moment he said that, I knew the previously useful items had probably been altered in the update.

For example, the Sea Maiden's Dress used to be a purely beneficial piece of equipment, but now, even I didn't know what effects it had.

The village chief eagerly urged me to take a walk around the village.

But when I returned, I discovered my handbook was gone.

I didn't even need to ask who had taken it.

I marched straight to the house where the Swans were staying and pounded on the door.

They opened the door, annoyance written all over their faces.

"Spit it out!"

"Where's my handbook?" I questioned.

"What does that have to do with us?"

Afro and the others lived just next door, and they watched us with interest. It wasn't hard to guess that they had already joined forces.

They wanted to see whether losing the handbook would be the trigger that would cause any monsters to appear and devour me.

That way, they could figure out how to complete the final objective of defeating the final boss.

I took a deep breath and looked at my parents.

"Do you really want me to die on the very first day?"

Completely unsurprisingly, they replied, "You ungrateful girl! We gave birth to you, so it's only fair that you use that life for our sake! If we sacrifice you, we can save everyone. Why can't you see the big picture?"

Hah.

I shouldn't have had any expectations for them in the first place.

I asked again. "Are you sure you want me to attract the monsters so that you can test out your weapons?"

"Oh, don't waste your time. You're probably halfway to a mutation anyway, so might as well use your life to help us!" Afro chipped in.

I didn't say another word, only returning quietly to my room.

At night, the village chief came to check our handbooks.

I was the only one who didn't have one, so I was brought to the watchtower that was covered with human bones.

Suddenly, the sea wind picked up, the trees throughout the village creaking and groaning in the darkness.

Bird calls filled the night air, along with the sound of what seemed to be countless birds flapping their wings all at once.

The players didn't even sleep a wink as they gathered, discussing what was going on.

"We were correct! Those human bones were left behind by players who'd lost their handbooks and got eaten by birds!"

"For the rest of our time here, all we need to do is help the villagers out, earn enough coin, and clear the levels by dealing with those birds!"

Sadly, their guesses proved to be completely wrong.

The next morning, I appeared before them once again, completely unharmed.