My Abyss bloodline didn't just track monsters — it kept tabs on people too.
Creepy? Maybe.
Useful? Definitely.
Yeah, I am still lower in the bushes, waiting patiently. Let them do the hard work, I thought. Let them bleed and sweat for me.
After what felt like an eternity to me—fuck, how long does it take to kill one giant serpent when there are four of you?
Right in front of me — just an F-1 serpent.
And those same people who used to call me trash? They were trembling, stumbling, swinging like scared kids.
While I was crouched behind the bush, all I could see was their true colour.
All that talk about "talent" and "pride" turned into shaky hands and panicked swings the moment things got real.
I was getting bored just watching them.
The whole time, all they did was yell, blame each other, and swing like idiots.
"Finally!" I almost yelled out loud. For god's sake, the damn serpent was finally dead.
Another five minutes and I swear I'd have died here just from boredom.
And then what? Some historian would probably build a monument —
'Here lies the great Shen Yan, who perished bravely while watching four idiots fight a snake.'
Yeah… a real heroic ending.
Before they could even catch their breath, I saw the trees behind them start to move — leaves shaking, branches swaying.
And then I saw it—not one, not two, but three more of those damn snakes sliding out from the trees.
I blinked once, deadpan. "Yeah… sure. Why stop at one, right?"
Their bodies were thick as logs, tongues flicking like they were already tasting the next meal.
"Hissss… hiss… hisss."
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they sounded like that.
Don't ask why I'm making the noise myself — probably boredom.
The four of them froze.
Even from where I was hiding, I could see their hands shaking. Liu Fang's flames flickered like a dying candle, Chen Wu's iron fists looked more like dead weight, Zhao Min's vines snapped before they even hit anything, and He Jian—the so-called Iron Boar—actually took a step back.
Their faces went pale fast.
They'd barely managed to kill one, and now three more were staring them down.
I almost felt bad for them. Almost.
"Run," Oops. I said that one aloud.
They didn't need me to tell them to panic — they were already falling apart.
I couldn't hear them from here, but I could guess the lines.
Something like, "Shit! Three more!"
Then maybe, "We can't handle this!"
And the grand finale — "Retreat! Retreat!"
Yeah. Real brave words for people who called me trash.
They weren't warriors. Hell, they weren't even close.
Just scared little chicks — flapping, screaming, running like the forest owed them mercy.
I couldn't help but grin as I watched them scatter into the trees, the big serpent slithering right behind, poison dripping off its fangs like it was drooling for seconds.
I leaned forward a little, still hidden, my grin stretching wider.
"Thanks for the assist," I muttered, voice low. "I'll take it from here."
Because now, right in front of me, lay the corpse of the dead Venomfang.
My chance.
I turned my head left and right, scanning the trees. Nothing moved. No footsteps. No eyes watching.
What lay in front of me was the dead Venomfang.
No core inside — they'd already carved it out.
Typical.
Monster cores in this world were worth more than a human life.
Pity. Sad. Whatever. That's reality.
Still, watching them fight for a few glowing rocks while more snakes were crawling their way?
I had to hand it to them — real dedication.
Die rich, I guess.
My grin faded a little as I looked at the body.
Cores would have been nice, sure… But the corpse?
That was worth more to me than anything they could ever dig out.
"Now…" I whispered, my lips curling into a grin. "Let's see."
I raised my hand over the serpent's body.
"Void Eater"
The word left my mouth like a command, and my palm flared black.
Something spilt out—dark, writhing, alive.
Shadows. No… not just shadows.
They looked like snakes, dozens of them, pouring out from my hand, their bodies twisting and coiling in the air. Their eyes glowed faint red, their fangs dripping black mist.
They slithered down and wrapped around the Venomfang Serpent's corpse.
Then they struck.
CHHK—
Dozens of shadow snakes bit into the flesh at once. The sound was wet and sickening, like meat being torn apart.
The Venomfang Serpent's body shuddered as the shadows wrapped tighter, dozens of black snakes coiling around its flesh.
They writhed and constricted, sinking fangs deep, pulling chunks of meat that melted into black mist the moment they tore free.
The body twitched, collapsed in on itself, shrinking smaller and smaller as the shadows dragged every scale, every muscle, every drop of flesh into nothing.
Until there was nothing left.
Not a scale. Not a bone. Not even a drop of blood.
Vanished.
For a second, my hand twitched on its own; shadow-snakes flickered across my hand before vanishing.
I stared at the empty ground where the body had been, my chest rising and falling, my lips curling into something darker than a smile.
"…Perfect." I whispered.
Then the System screen blinked in front of my eyes.
[ Void Eater Activated ]
[ Devoured: Venomfang Serpent (F-1) ]
[ Experience Gained: +500 ]
[ New Skill Gained: Venom Fang ]
[ Venom Fang (F Rank Skill) – Adjusted to Host ]
[Effect: Host can imbue venom into body and weapons. Venom can flow through nails, teeth, or any weapon held by the host.]
[Seed Growth: +1]
[Taint: 0]
[ Abyss Fragment Consumed ]
[ Progress: 1 / ??? ]