The beast lunged.
Dante didn't think. He had no time. His muscles moved purely on instinct — or maybe it was the system acting through him.
He rolled to the side at the very last second. The creature's claw tore through the ground where he'd just been lying, spraying mud and leaves into the air. A gust of hot wind brushed past his face, thick with the stench of rot and blood.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
He stumbled to his feet, bare soles slipping on damp moss, barely managing to stay upright. His heart pounded violently, like it wanted to burst through his ribs.
The wolf turned its head toward him — all three eyes snapping open at once. The third one, centered on its forehead, glowed like a burning coal. Red. Intense. Malicious.
[Warning: Mutated Wolf — Mid-sized beast-type race. Threat level: moderate.]
[Active ability: Toxic Claws — prolonged contact causes paralysis.]
"I'm naked! What kind of tutorial is this?!"
The monster snarled. Greenish foam dripped from its fangs, sizzling against the ground where it fell. Its claws looked more like blades than nails. Its massive chest rose and fell in steady rhythm, as if calculating the next strike.
Dante turned and ran. The trees blurred past him. Branches whipped against his skin. The ground shook with every thundering step the creature took behind him, like the entire world was trying to crush him.
By reflex, he grabbed a branch from the ground — thin, dry. Fragile. But better than nothing.
[Suggestion: Use the environment.]
His eyes scanned ahead. A thick root jutted out of the ground. An idea struck — crude, but maybe just enough.
He stopped abruptly. Pretended to trip.
The wolf lunged with a feral snarl, front legs stretching forward, eyes burning with murderous intent.
Dante rolled to the side at the last moment.
The creature crashed face-first into the root.
*Crack!*
The impact rang out loud and hard. The beast yelped in pain, stumbling, disoriented.
This was it. His chance. His only one.
Dante turned, grabbed a heavy, jagged stone, and ran back. With a scream more animal than human, he rammed the rock into the wolf's side eye with everything he had.
"DIE, YOU BASTARD!"
The wolf howled. Black blood sprayed, hot and thick like used motor oil. Its jaws snapped wildly, but Dante was already on top of it, smashing the stone again, and again, and again — brutal, desperate, unrelenting strikes.
"THIS IS… FOR THE PLANE… FOR THE NOVEL I NEVER FINISHED… FOR ATTACKING ME RIGHT AFTER I WOKE UP!"
The branch snapped in his hand. The stone cracked in half. The wolf's fangs splintered under the blows.
And then… silence.
The creature collapsed on its side, limbs twitching. A final breath escaped. Its three eyes dimmed like candles snuffed out.
Dante stood over the corpse, panting. His arms trembled. His lungs burned. His breath came in broken gasps, tearing at his throat.
"Huff… Huff… Huff…"
He looked down at his hands.
Both were covered in blood — dark, sticky, rotten. The liquid dripped from his fingers, pooling on the forest floor. His palms were shaking. Not from fear — but from adrenaline. A raw, primal flood surging through his veins, still processing what had just happened.
He had killed something.
With his own hands.
His stomach twisted. His legs trembled. Cold sweat ran down his back. But he didn't cry. Didn't scream. He just stood there… staring at his hands.
As if they still didn't quite belong to him.
[Predation Vital activated.]
[Absorbing attributes of the defeated creature...]
A screen blinked to life in front of him, slicing through the moment with clinical precision:
---
[CODEX OF PREDATION — ABSORPTION IN PROGRESS]
Assimilated Attributes:
• STRENGTH +0.8
• VITALITY +0.6
• Passive Skill: Poison Resistance (Lv.1)
• Assimilated Trait: Enhanced Smell (Lv.1)
Current Total:
• STR: +3.3
• VIT: +1.5
• SKILLS: 1
• MONSTROUS TRAITS: 1
New branch unlocked:
Unstable Beast Core — allows light physical mutation during life-threatening situations.
---
"This is real... I just… absorbed him?"
His body tingled. Every cell seemed to scream. The muscles in his arms throbbed — and something inside them felt more… solid. As if reforged in the heat of combat.
[Note: Food intake recommended. Newly formed body requires stabilization.]
The hunger hit like a hammer.
His stomach growled, deep and painful. A gaping black hole spinning in his core. He looked at the wolf's corpse. The blood still sizzled in its wounds. The stench was unbearable — metal, decay, and sulfur.
But then he remembered: Poison Resistance (Lv.1)
Maybe… this was part of the test.
"This is gonna suck…" he muttered. "But if I throw up, at least it won't be on an empty stomach."
He found a stone with a sharp edge and cut into the beast's rear leg — searching for a patch of flesh that looked less spoiled. Steam still rose from the meat.
He brought it to his mouth. Hesitated.
Then bit down.
Fibrous. Hot. A metallic, almost acidic flavor. He chewed slowly, eyes shut. Every bite was a war against his instincts.
He swallowed.
His stomach churned. Cold sweat ran down his spine.
But he didn't vomit.
A chill passed through him… then faded.
[Passive Skill: Poison Resistance — progress increased.]
[Poison Resistance: Level 2 unlocked.]
"Hah… that's disgusting. But useful."
He took a deep breath and crouched beside the corpse. Using the sharp stone, he began skinning parts of the creature. He had no idea what he was doing — but something guided his hands. Instinct, or maybe the system.
He cut strips, tied them with vines. It wouldn't be pretty. But it would cover the essentials.
When he finished, he was filthy. Covered in blood, mud, and dried sweat. His hands still tingled. His eyes burned. But he was alive.
And now… clothed. Kind of.
He looked up at the sky through the trees.
Breathed deep.
The forest had gone still — as if the world itself acknowledged his victory.
Or maybe… it was just waiting for the next threat.
The tension didn't leave him.
But something inside him had shifted.
He turned. One step. Then another.
With every footfall, he felt the weight of the fight.
Of the blood.
Of the promise the system whispered into his mind.
A whole new world waited to be devoured.
And Dante… had just taken his first bite.