It seems smaller this time. But it is still a behemoth. Massive. Gargantuan. Its mere eye eclipses my full body. And I’m large. Aren’t I? I’ve grown this much. I’m big. Aren’t I? A vast expanse of dark blue. Pulsating freckles. It used to be uncaring. The eye that peers into the nothingness used to hold no interest. That has changed. My tentacles freeze up. My blood is as cold and heavy as lead. Its eye lolls about. Turns to me. And shines up in predatory interest.

I need to get out of he-,

I don’t even have time to close my eyes before the inevitable happens and my world darkens, each of my 42 eyes is blacked out, dragged into the interior abyss of a creature beyond me, a creature so diametrically opposed to me, so massive and humongous I can barely understand its presence, such a creature has eaten me, taken me in, robbed me of the life I intend to lead, but just as the cold white claws of despair start digging into my supple flesh, I realize something odd, something strange. I can see. Not blackness, not darkness. The lights of the stars.

But only one eye. Yes, a mere single eye perceives this. A single tertiary eye, connected to two tertiary tentacles and a small, tertiary mouth. A single, lonely consciousness. Stuck only just outside the leviathan’s massive mouth.

I understand the situation in a flash. The rest of my body is toast. This is the only part of myself that I can save.

I bite off the remaining strands of my own tentacle. In the very same instant, I can feel the consciousnesses still trapped within the leviathan lose life and fade. It’s a terrifying feeling, but necessary.

It doesn’t seem to have noticed my semi-escape. I only have two of my tertiary tentacles to use, but at this moment, it has to be enough. I pull my body across the expanse of scaly flesh covering its nose and mouth. Can it feel me? Does it know I’ve escaped?

When I get to the edge, I let go. It doesn’t even look at me. I am nothing.

...Yet.

I’ve never been the vengeful sort, but right now, in this very moment, I want to surpass that creature.

Whatever the cost.

-Which, I know, sounds pretty ominous, but… I really wanna do it! That son of a bitch ate my whole body, heck yeah I’m returning the favour! And that means that I need to be shooting for the stars. No lazing about, although that is technically what I’ll need to do, most of the time.

...See, eating rocks is great and all, but you know what gave me a ridiculous amount of points? Those damn crystals.

Sure, I emptied that old asteroid and all, but if I were to find an equally bigger, or maybe even a larger one, I could probably also find tasty crystals or other things that’ll give me more points. My line of thinking is: if I’m big, I can’t die. And to get big, I need points.

But until I find a really big asteroid to explore, I’ll be eating and upgrading whatever I can.

Most of my body has already regenerated, so there’s nothing stopping me from just… continuing my feasting.

Within only a minute of floating aimlessly, the full extent of my body has regenerated, and, by golly, I prefer having like a dozen eyes over having a mere one. I can see so much more. Including the asteroids I'm about to eat.

498 -> 503

Here we go.

I get right back to work, but at the same time as I work I keep an eye out for especially large asteroids.

503 -> 621

Nothing yet.

621 -> 746

There are some really big proxy-planets in the distance, but they are way too big for me to accurately explore.

746 -> 888

Large asteroids float by me while smaller shoot past. None are either small or large enough. None, except-,

888 -> 1 002

-That one. Right over there, floating gently, slower than myself but still heading away from me. Not as round as the moon-like proxy-planets in the distance, but still round enough to prove that it’s far larger than any average asteroid. I’m drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I bite off a few last asteroids and begin my trek towards it.

1 000 -> 1 002

I grab a hold of a large asteroid and hoist my body onto it. Then I toss my body through the stream towards another large asteroid. The immense asteroid grows closer.

A skip, a jump, a hop. Eat a passing bug.

1 002 -> 1 007

This whole situation, what with slinging myself from asteroid to asteroid, really makes me feel sort of like Tarzan. Just a guy going to his destiny. As one ought to, yanno? Jump. Hop. Scotch. Skip. As one should.

And… here it is. With one final jump, I clamber onto the immensely large asteroid, taking a look at the place I’ll be exploring for God-knows-how-long.

It’s really barren. It’s got that grey kind of half-shimmer to it, but there’s nothing else of interest. The ground is sharp and filled with pebbles. Small craters and medium craters and big craters riddle the whole thing since there’s no atmosphere to keep out asteroids. These are uninteresting to me though. No, I’m much more intrigued by that hole over there.

See, it’s right down in the middle of a massive crater. Everything considered, the crater must be a few hundred meters wide (assuming I’m human-sized, which I almost hope I’m not) and about fifty deep. And right in the side of this massive crater, there’s an equally large cavern. Big enough for me to fit into with a dozen meters to spare.

-I’ve got myself a target, then!

...Now, on the topic of jumping fifty meters down a hole. It should be fine, right? The gravity is pretty weak here anyways, so…

It’s just a fifty-meter drop. Octopuses fall down in water all the time. Space octopi are much unlike that. Just gotta. Step over. Fall.

…

I close all my eyes and stop over the edge. It’s much worse than being in space. There’s no wind to whip at me and I have no ears to hear the roaring of nothing, but I still feel that sinking feeling of falling, of not knowing what’s coming and when it’s coming or-,

Tok. I step down onto the ground.

A small cloud of space-dust rises, but I’ve got my hands full trying to still my heart. That was fine! Easy peasy!

T-, to the hole!