There’s gotta be at least-, what, five dozen? I’m seriously not sure, they all blend into each other to form some sort of big, solid expanse of fluff, and in all honesty, it ain’t pretty. The mass of spiders heaves, and just going by the look those hundreds of eyes are giving me, I can tell in an instant that it - all these spiders - knows that I am not the hunter here. I am the prey, and they are my undoing.

Fear grips my mind as I buckle down like a frightened cat, all my mouths pointed at the enormous manifestation of too many spiders to count as it allows itself to topple, to wobble, and to fall onto me. Some of the unlucky souls hit my mouths, which are only barely large enough to encompass them. I want to choke on them, but I must swallow. At least five spiders enter my gullet this way, with their brethren pushing on behind them, all of them forming an avalanche of white that clouds my eyes and covers my body.

101 -> 151

I am covered by them all, unable to move, stuck. Pushed on by their brothers above, more spiders are shoved into my mouth.

151 -> 181

My tentacles grab after the spiders feebly, clutching only torn-off white mould.

And in an instant, I expect to be swarmed as with the insects. Insects… -Buggy! Is Buggy alrig-,

I feel his body squished beneath me, cushioned and safe beneath my soft flesh. Phew. Still…. When the insects covered me like this, swarmed around me like feeding locusts, they actually bit into me. The spiders are doing no such thing. They’re just sort of pressing themselves against me, practically feeding me with themselves, what could that possibly be useful f-,

181 -> 221

...Infection.

Immunity. I upgraded it, it shouldn’t be-,

It doesn’t hurt. There’s no pain, but I feel it in my bones. Like thousands of little invisible eggs hatching within my body, spores spreading out their insides, taking root in my body. My Immunity fights valiantly and so does my Regeneration, but it’s far from enough. I’m losing ground. Everything considered, one of my arms seems completely overtaken, the insides now made up almost entirely out of the mould, the consciousness harboured inside it slipping from my grip.

D-, damn it!

I can’t let the infection spread!

In a meek attempt to keep my losses down, I bite off the infected tentacle. I can’t see it, but the moment I remove it from my body, I can feel the consciousness within it is fully destroyed. If I don’t do something, the rest of me’s going that way, too. Two of my other arms are in a similar situation, and being force-fed infected spiders is just exacerbating the issu-,

221 -> 271

...Points! Shit!

How much does the next Immunity cost?!

Upgrade Immunity? Cost: 90 (you have 271)

Do it! Do it twice!

271 -> 61

I feel it in a moment. The unhatched spores degrade, the infection is kept at bay, but it isn’t completely eradicated. As a matter of fact, it isn’t even decreasing. Just significantly slowed down.

61 -> 91

-And with each spider I’m fed, the infection quickens. This is a losing game. By the time I’ve saved up enough points to upgrade Regeneration, I’ll already be dead. There is nothing I can do. The spiders are all around me. There is no exit. No escape. No life. Give up. Give in. Die. Stop fighti-,

-Gah! Shut up!

White fuzzy thoughts are meddling with my mind, spreading and numbing me with cotton hands!

I’m not giving up, not now, not ever!

But two of my arms are fully infected, and my main core is on the brink. Only one of my arms is somewhat untouched. Is there really no hope? Is there nothing I can do?

...No, there is. The consciousnesses in four of my arms may be as good as gone, the main one in the core is almost overtaken as well, but one is still alive and clear, and if there’s one thing I know, it is that octopus tentacles can survive on their own! No matter if the head is there or not!

I bite off my one healthy tentacle, and in that very moment, I shift my consciousness into it, giving up the many for the few. Somehow, I feel somewhat stupider...

But it isn’t enough to escape. For the final time before it dies, I force my main body to throw its arms about, creating a bastard of a ruckus, throwing some spiders off and squirming far too hard for them to sit still. In this moment, I am able to distance it from my healthy tentacle, The spiders flock to my almost-dead main body, swarming it and leaving my unresponsive arm alone. I wait a moment. Another moment. Only when the consciousness in my main body fades fully do I move. I scootch my body towards the crevice I came from.

The spiders leave my main body, dispersing enough for me to get a final look at it. It’s completely white. Covered in white.

It rises. My breath hitches.

The zombified creature that used to be me stands, and its many eyes open. It stares at me, and I stare at it.

An invisible switch is flipped. The spiders turn to me.

Oh shit.