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An endless frozen wasteland stretched as far as the eye could see. Snowflakes drifted steadily from the sky. No signs of life stirred anywhere.
It looked like a dead world—until, all of a sudden, the sky lit up.
A swirling vortex appeared, large enough to see with the naked eye, glowing against the pale white sky.
From within its radiance, a black silhouette slowly stepped out.
Venom.
He glanced around at the desolate landscape before leaping down from the vortex. His legs sank deep into the snow, all the way to his thighs.
Above him, the portal began to shrink. Smaller, smaller, until it too vanished into nothing.
"System, where the hell am I? Why drop me in the middle of an icy wasteland this time?"
Venom looked around helplessly. The endless snow gave him no clues.
Last time the system dumped him into a world, he'd landed inside a damn metal container.
This time he had ended up in a frozen wasteland of ice and snow. Just how unlucky could he get?
"Teleportation points are random. The system can't control the destination. As for where this is? The host will have to find out on his own."
Venom let out a sigh. Figures. His so-called system was basically just a soulless robot—no warmth, no personality, just cold responses.
If he couldn't rely on the system, then he'd just have to rely on himself.
Picking a random direction, Venom trudged across the endless white expanse. He walked for who knew how long, the frozen wind howling in his ears, yet still saw no trace of human life.
At one point, he even started to wonder if this world was completely uninhabited.
"Hm?"
His spider-sense suddenly flared in warning.
The moment it did, Venom leapt into the air.
A split second later, the snow beneath where he'd just stood exploded upward, and a gigantic beast burst out, jaws wide open.
If he hadn't moved in time, he would've been swallowed whole.
"ROAR!"
The monster hauled itself out of the snow, frustrated that its prey had slipped away, and bellowed furiously.
Venom smirked. "Well, I am a little hungry. You'll do nicely."
His arm morphed, the black liquid forming into a gleaming blade.
The monster clearly sensed the provocation. It roared again and charged at him like an avalanche.
Venom sidestepped at the last instant, letting it thunder past him. As it did, he lunged forward, grabbed a fistful of its fur, and yanked himself onto its back.
The beast bucked wildly, thrashing to shake him off. Venom clung tight, his claws digging in, then plunged the blade straight into its flesh.
The monster shrieked in pain, blood spraying across the snow, but it couldn't dislodge him.
The struggle dragged on. Slash after slash, Venom carved bloody grooves into its hide until the snow beneath them was stained red.
Desperate, the monster bolted across the tundra. Spotting a looming wall of ice ahead, it roared and barreled straight for it.
Venom instantly understood. "Trying to crush me, huh?"
Just before impact, he leapt free.
The beast smashed back-first into the frozen wall with bone-rattling force, then slumped to the ground, dead.
"Giant creature slain. Reward: 100 life points."
The system's voice echoed in Venom's head.
"One hundred, huh? Not bad."
He was a little surprised. Normally he'd have to take down dozens of ordinary humans to rack up that much. But considering this thing's massive size, a hundred points felt fair.
Venom approached the corpse, his arm-blade slicing into its thick hide. He cut loose a chunk of flesh, about the size of a fist, and held it in his palm. The black liquid wrapped around it, dissolving the meat within seconds.
"Rich in nutrients," he muttered, licking his lips. That one small piece carried as much nutrition as ten whole cows.
His appetite spiked. With both arms morphing into blades, he tore into the carcass.
Minutes later, all that remained was bones and a loose pelt.
Off to the side, Venom picked his teeth with a claw and let out a satisfied burp.
Something had changed. His body had grown.
Where he'd once stood just over a meter tall, he now loomed over four meters, bulkier and more powerful.
That was the nature of a symbiote. While bonded to a human host, Venom fed only on the host's nutrients—never too much, or he'd risk killing them.
But here, after devouring an entire monster, the sheer flood of energy had forced his body to spawn more black liquid, expanding his mass and form.
And so he grew larger.
Full and satisfied, Venom rose and resumed his trek across the frozen wasteland.
"....."