NOVEL WEB Chapter 7
“In times like this, observation is the way to go.”
There’s no refund on skills, so I can’t take it back anyway. Pointing fingers now won’t change a thing. I guess I haven’t actually lost anything, have I? Maybe I’ll hit the jackpot again, just like with evolution. At least that’s what I’m hoping for.
[Observation (F) Lv.5 skill has reached its maximum proficiency. Observation (F) Lv.5 → Observation (F) Lv.6]
[Digestion: Increases the rate of digestion]
Just as I thought, a skill that left me wondering if it would actually be useful. I mean, I’ve never turned into a slime or had any serious stomach issues before. But my gut feeling must be onto something. I won’t know unless I try.
[Digestion: The process of breaking down food into absorbable substances]
A textbook definition that hit me like a lightning bolt.
Slimes digest their food inside their gastric sacs. If digestion is the skill that speeds up this process, it means I can absorb more nutrients in less time. What would happen if I could consume more nutrients in a shorter amount of time?
Energy accumulation.
The more energy I accumulate, the more my activity levels will obviously increase. If this skill aids in the very act of breaking down food into absorbable forms, my gastric sac might even enhance its function.
Simply put, it feels a bit like an experience buff.
It’s not the same as a real buff, but the efficiency boost is the same.
Of course, all of this relies on the skill of predation existing in the first place. If I just had the digestion skill, I’d end up being a body that doesn’t need digestion at all.
But if my digestion level increases significantly, my gastric sac could become usable not just for consumption but also in combat. It’d be like icing on the cake, or more like giving wings to a tiger.
Whether it can be used in combat or not, I’ll have to test it.
Quickly luring a rat with stealth, I swiftly trapped it in my gastric sac. With my weak regeneration, surely the rat wouldn’t die on me. As expected, the rat struggled with all its might to escape my gastric sac, but it was all in vain.
“Sizzle! Sizzle!”
The entire process of digestion took only about a minute. I can handle a rat. Beyond that, I’d say it’s pushing it.
Even thinking of hardening, I’d say the maximum I could swallow alive would be a squirrel. But thinking of its primary effect rather than using it as a weapon, it might even be the experience buff I was looking forward to.
The effect of a digestion skill at F-rank, and even level 1, exceeded my expectations. That anxiety about not feeling a thing vanished in an instant.
Of course, it would have been great if they had informed me beforehand.
Grumbling, I opened my status and saw [EXP 282 / 1582]. I was a bit unsettled that the remaining experience was in the four digits, but it was nothing I couldn’t fill within a day or two.
The real problem is undoubtedly the achievement criteria that must be present at level 10. Last evolution required consuming an animal over 3 kg. What could it be this time? I was already worried.
It was only natural for it to be harder than last time… I just hope it doesn’t rush me. I wanted to progress leisurely and safely.
Since there’s an eel or some big fish around, it’s going to be tough to find more in the gastric sac. Last time, the threat of inflating my body worked, but who knows if it will work again, so maybe I should just leave…?
From a distance, even with presence detection and heat detection not reaching, I instinctively sensed something that made my body shiver.
[Weak Intuition (F) Lv.2 proficiency has reached max. Weak Intuition (F) Lv.2 → Weak Intuition (F) Lv.3]
Something approaching slowly and sluggishly set off alarm bells in my gut.
If I don’t run now, I’m going to die.
The owner of the eel? Nothing compared to that. A monster of a different caliber. I could tell without seeing, hearing, or sensing that it was something that could only be called a monster. Frozen in fear, I jolted back to reality with the sound of splashing water.
Immediately, I curled up, ready to roll away. The other animals didn’t seem to have registered its presence yet and didn’t show any signs of moving.
My heat detection reached level 5 and pinpointed its location from afar. That was definitely not good news. It meant the distance had shortened. My mind went blank. It was now too late to escape.
[Acquirable Skill List]
1. Tentacle (F)
…
161. Weak Stealth (E)
[Acquired Weak Stealth (E) Lv.1 skill]
[Weak Stealth (F) Lv.7 has merged with Weak Stealth (E) Lv.1]
[Weak Stealth (E) Lv.1 proficiency has reached max. Weak Stealth (E) Lv.1 → Weak Stealth (E) Lv.3]
[Remaining skill points: 6]
In desperation to survive, just as I was about to use weak stealth, the system message chimed in.
[You can link with Transformation (F) Lv.4 skill. Do you want to link?]
Without a moment to think, I dismissed the system message.
[Temporarily acquire Mimicry (F) Lv.1 skill]
Something I didn’t have for a moment seeped into me.
***
[Did that person stop by? Or at least send word… to relay to that person…]
The familiar sound of a bell rang in my ears.
[Team Leader, it’s Woo Taek here.]
“Oh. What’s up?”
As the team leader answered the phone, he glanced at the calendar on the wall and the clock next to it. Saturday, 6 AM. It was still too early to be calling.
Looking into the mirror, he could see the heavy dark circles under his eyes.
Annoyed, though not without cause, he figured that’s why he was getting a call.
[Yes. It seems to be a confirmed Worg.]
“Didn’t you send that photo today? Already?”
[No. It was caught on the observation camera we set up. I’ve put in the request, but no response has come yet.]
Hearing that, the team leader nodded slightly. It must’ve been the camera near Suwon.
[Just checked. Near Chilsunbong.]
“Working hard, huh? You’re gonna exhaust yourself. Take it easy.”
[…Yes. Understood.]
“If you found it, we have to catch it…”
The Worg isn’t a powerful monster. Anyone from the Dawn team can take it down. However, the real problem is finding it. The Worg typically moves at over 100 km/h.
Finding a creature like that roaming around the vast mountains isn’t an easy task. It’s almost impossible.
Plus, even if they manage to catch it, it’d be exhausting and financially draining. It might be better to hand it over to another clan or the government.
[But this one seems a bit off.]
“Off? What do you mean?”
[It eats way too much.]
“What does that even mean?”
[In the footage, it ate as much as its own body size. I suspect it might possess the predation skill.]
“…….”
Having a skill. It meant it was a special breed, causing the team leader to frown.
Especially having the predation skill was unsettling.
When satiety reaches its maximum, it’s a skill that converts it into growth potential, much like experience points in a game.
It sounds like a cheat skill at first, but the amount converted is minuscule, and as long as it’s a living organism, no matter how much it eats, there’s a limit. Even if it feels hungry, the brain thinks it’s already eaten and will refuse to take in more food. In simple terms, it gets stuck and can’t eat.
No matter how much of a monster it is, at some point, it has to bite off more than it can chew. But since there’s even a slight chance it could evolve and break free from being a mere monster, it’s dangerous. What if that leads to accumulating experience and triggering an evolution? We need to nip this potential threat in the bud.
“We need to go hunting…”
[Understood. Then…]
“Send me the footage. Tell all team members to come to Cheonghakdong.”
This was the minimal justification to hand the monster extermination request onto another party.
Having confirmed the Worg’s existence, we could say, “We did our part, now you do yours.”
But if we don’t deal with it for sure, another monster like the purple black tiger could show up. I don’t think I’ll be able to relax until I watch the Worg’s breath run out.
The team leader opened a drawer and grabbed the keys to his beloved XT16.
***
With the synergistic effects of transformation and stealth, along with hardening, I turned completely to stone. The eerie wind it brought along made all the animals panic and flee.
“――!”
Even the owner of the eel was startled, fleeing deeper into the valley. Prey or predator, everyone fled in fear.
The beast snatched up a rabbit in an instant. The chilling scent of blood wafting through the wind wasn’t just from the rabbit; it came from many more animals…
“Awooooo!”
A high-pitched howl held my breath still. Fur as dark as midnight.
Even as dawn broke, only the area around it remained shrouded in darkness. Its massive size, comparable to that of an ox, and the madness in its red eyes signaled that it was anything but normal.
At first glance, it may seem like just a large wolf, but every instinct screamed that it was a true monster.
Unlike a slime, it was clearly a very real monster set apart from ordinary animals.
After effortlessly consuming a rabbit, it strolled over to a nearby stream to drink. With an air of nonchalance, as if it could catch as many as it wanted, the creature looked less like a wild instinct driven by hunger and more like a calculated predator.
It was so alien and unfathomable that it could only be classified as a monster.
If I hadn’t used observation and risked being detected, I might have hastily used it again. Most likely, I’d have been caught and eaten. No matter how much I puffed up, it wouldn’t work on it. A four-meter long eel? Even a snake twice that size would be mere prey to it.
Thinking back, getting hit by an eel made that prior experience seem like a blessing. As I watched it put some distance between us, a sigh of relief escaped my lips. Running away was absolutely the right choice. No matter how fearsome it is, it seems it couldn’t find me, despite my body having completely turned to stone with multiple skills combined.
Just as I thought that, as if it read my mind, it suddenly turned its body.
There was no way a sound could have come from it, but I almost gasped as it reached out with its tentacle toward my mouth. Its clear gaze was fixated on me, and it showed its needle-sharp teeth as it growled.
My mind went blank, and then it tangled itself again into confusion.
Should I run now? Can I escape? Should I just stay hidden?
All those thoughts swirled around my head.
“Grrr―”
A boiling howl completely dominated my senses. Maybe if I ran right now, I could escape. The monstrous creature’s jaw was ajar, and there was still a piece of the recently eaten rabbit stuck in its mouth. Seeing that, my frozen body stiffened and refused to make a move.
‘I’m going to be eaten!’
Just as I thought it was too late, the monster passed over me, leaving only the sound of crunching bones behind.
As the sun fully rose, I remained frozen until I was convinced that the creature was truly gone before I could finally move.
…I survived. I wasn’t detected. But, but…
[Weak Stealth (E) Lv.3 proficiency has reached max. Weak Stealth (E) Lv.3 → Weak Stealth (E) Lv.4]
Before I could celebrate my skill level up, I turned to see a leftover wild boar carcass. It looked as if it had been left behind, as if to say, ‘I’m done with this meat.’ Despite my hazy state, my hunger-driven body moved on its own.
Indulging in it… I felt miserable.
In the relief of having survived, I felt pathetic that the leftover carcass looked so tempting.
Surely, even a creature like that wouldn’t get much screen time in a story. It would probably just be dismissed in one line like, ‘…was taken down in one blow.’ Yet here I am, feeling incredibly pathetic altogether.
If I had reincarnated as a human, would things have played out differently?
‘Not a chance.’
I know myself too well.
The coward in me wouldn’t have changed much.
Feeling wronged, not wanting to experience such terror again was infuriating. My image of scavenging a corpse made me feel ashamed. Yet here I am, not wanting to tremble in fear. That mixture of pathetic feelings and contradictory indignation surged up inside me.
‘It was just a low-tier monster.’
How could I feel this kind of fear over such a monster? Fury flared up within me.
Instead of fighting, I trembled in fear and begged it to just leave me alone. I pleaded with it to overlook my presence.
‘Damn it…’
Looking down at my own pitiful state was like seeing myself from above.
Ever since becoming a slime, I’ve just been running and running. It’s been nothing but a wild game of chase. But did it really have to be like that?
Maybe I’ve been too complacent. Maybe I could have grown faster. Perhaps I was just shrinking back in pursuit of safety, and now I’m hit with a late realization.
[You consumed a wild boar. Experience and satiety increases.]
Now I kinda regret that. The system’s words were probably a warning.
For the achievement condition to reach level 10 before evolving, the system wanted to help me realize through alternate means.
There’s no more time. If I want to live, I need to grow faster. But I…
I’ve just been hanging around, wanting to grow safely, not a care in the world.
In a world destined to collapse in just a few years, me, reincarnated as a slime, thought it would be fine to pursue safety and grow slowly. That realization left me feeling sick.
I know the reality yet failed to recognize it. Looking back, I had countless opportunities to make better choices.
If I had taken just a little more risk, things could have turned out differently.
Instead of shaking in fear, maybe I could have faced it head-on… who knows?
‘What if, what if I could grow through taking risks.’
Could I have done that? No, can I do it from now on?
No, I have to. I must.
I’ve already had plenty, and yet I cowardly set limits, thinking I could never win. The reason the system set the achievement criteria was to test me – to make me realize how lost I’ve been.
Frustration boiled in me.
The system always pointed me toward the right path and gave me a push.
Only now, facing death, did I feel the reality of myself. I hated the pitiful self that stood there chuckling in the wild.
But it’s not over yet. It hasn’t ended.
Because I haven’t died. I’m still alive.
Maybe it perceived me as an insignificant bug and let me be.
…The thought made me feel terrible.
[Satiety has reached its maximum. Satiety is converted into experience.]
[Digestion (F) Lv.1 proficiency has reached max. Digestion (F) Lv.1 → Digestion (F) Lv.2]
[Predation (F) Lv.9 proficiency has reached max. Predation (F) Lv.9 → Predation (F) Lv.10]
[Predation (F) Lv.10 has reached its max level. Predation (F) Lv.10 → Gluttony (E) Lv.1]
[Digestion (F) Lv.2 proficiency has reached max. Digestion (F) Lv.2 → Digestion (F) Lv.3]
As I devoured the corpse it left behind, I ruminated on my rage. I etched the frustration deeply into my heart.
Then,
[Achievement Condition for Level 10: Defeat the ‘Owner of the Eel’]
—As if to say that was precisely the answer I had been waiting for, the system pushed me toward it.