Chapter 3
The cloud's many eyes twitched.
One by one, they flickered from side to side, unfocused—searching.
The monster drifted around Aldin in a slow circle, close enough that the air felt syrup-thick. Then—
Its tentacles exploded outward.
They stabbed violently into the stone around him, cracking the dungeon floor as if testing it. Aldin didn't flinch. He couldn't. His body was locked rigid with terror, lungs burning as he forced himself not to breathe too loudly.
The creature leaned closer.
Its eyes spasmed with manic motion, purple ooze leaking from their corners, dripping down its surface like tears of rot. The pressure intensified, crushing, invasive—
Then it pulled back.
As if uncertain.
A low groan echoed from deeper in the chamber.
A dying goblin, pinned beneath rubble, gasped weakly.
The monster reacted instantly.
Its tentacles fired again, crossing the distance in a blink. They pierced the goblin and the surrounding ground all at once, anchoring, dragging—
The goblin's body collapsed inward.
Vanished.
The cloud swelled.
Bigger.
Its mana surged, thick and suffocating, washing over Aldin in waves that made his vision blur.
And that was when it clicked.
It's not looking.
It was listening.
The monster wasn't reacting to him.
No mana. No movement. No sound.
Aldin's heart hammered—but he forced it down, clamping his jaw shut even as panic clawed at his throat. He was empty. Eli had drained him dry.
To the creature—
He was nothing.
The cloud drifted closer one final time, eyes rolling uselessly over his unmoving form.
Then it turned away.
It floated off, tentacles lashing outward as it hunted down other wounded creatures scattered across the dungeon floor. Each scream was short. Each death fed it further.
Aldin lay there, shaking silently.
Alive.
Not because he was strong.
Not because he was special.
But because, for once—
Being worthless saved him.
The pressure lifted.
The purple light pulled away from him like a receding tide, and Aldin watched in disbelief as the monstrosity turned its attention elsewhere. Its massive form drifted upward, then shot through the chamber, accelerating in a violent blur.
It was leaving.
…It couldn't find me, Aldin realized dimly. No mana. Nothing to eat.
He felt like he could finally breathe again after holding it in for so long.
The thought barely finished forming when he exhaled a trembling but deep sigh of relief—
And choked.
His lungs seized as violet mist burned its way down his throat. His vision warped, spinning violently as his body locked up mid-breath.
"—gh…!"
The purple fog was still there.
It clung to the ground, invisible until it was too late—seeping into his skin, flooding his veins. His fingers went numb. His legs stopped responding.
Paralysis… Poison… Dizziness— all at once?!
"No—no—no—!"
Aldin forced his mana to respond.
[Beast Exorcist].
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Nothing.
Again.
Still nothing.
Panic set in as he thrashed weakly, rolling across the stone while the paralysis crept upward from his feet to his knees—slow, merciless.
My torso is next.
Again.
[Beast Exorcist].
Why isn't it working?! Damn you Eli! I don't even have enough mana to dispel this!
His movement—his desperate struggle—
It was enough.
The dungeon screamed.
Far above, the massive cloud froze.
Dozens of white eyes snapped back toward him.
"No—!" Aldin's heart slammed against his ribs as the creature reversed course, purple light flaring violently.
It came back.
Faster than before.
Tentacles burst from its core, spearing downward as Aldin screamed and threw himself sideways, the world spinning—
He barely missed them.
Stone shattered where he had been a heartbeat ago.
He kept on rolling himself, hoping that he could somehow evade the monster's grasp…
Momentum carried him forward—
And suddenly, there was nothing beneath him.
Aldin rolled once—twice—
And vanished off a nearby ledge.
The dungeon swallowed him whole.
Aldin fell.
Cold swallowed him whole.
His body smashed into a roaring river below, the impact knocking what little air he had left from his lungs. The current seized him immediately, dragging him away like debris, spinning him end over end through darkness and churning foam.
Above, the purple glow lingered for a moment.
The cloud monster hovered at the edge, eyes twitching violently—then stilled.
New sounds echoed below.
New prey.
It drifted away.
The river didn't care.
Water flooded Aldin's mouth and nose as he thrashed weakly, limbs barely obeying him. His chest burned. His vision blurred.
No—
He forced the skill again.
[Beast Exorcist].
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
His body screamed for air, panic clawing into something deeper than fear.
"I—change my mind," he thought wildly as water filled his throat. I don't want to die.
Images crashed through him—five wasted years, cold stares, being called useless, being spent like currency.
I want to live.
Not for them.
Not for heroes.
For me.
Screw dying so someone else can waste my life.
All they ever did was take.
His effort. His loyalty. His future.
I'm taking it back.
From the adventurers to the monsters…everyone was willing to brand Aldin as useless until they wanted something from him…no more. If he ever got the chance to live again, he would take his life, take his worth into his own hands.
The current dragged him onward, faster now—toward light.
The dungeon walls vanished.
He was drifting out in the wilderness now.
Aldin was flung violently from the river, his body slamming onto gravel and mud far from the dungeon entrance. He lay there, unmoving, lungs on fire.
This is it, he thought dimly.
If I'm dying—
Then I'll die trying to live my own damn life.
Something clicked.
[Beast Exorcist].
Light surged.
Aldin's body convulsed as the poison ripped itself out of him. He collapsed onto his hands and knees, hacking violently. Water poured from his mouth—then dark purple fluid followed, splattering the ground as he vomited up the remaining toxin.
He wheezed, gasping for air—
Then light flashed before his eyes.
Aldin froze.
Shaking, he slowly lifted his head.
A translucent screen hovered in front of him.
[Your intense desire to live for yourself rather than others has met the conditions.]
[Awakening Class!]
[SSS-Rank Class Unlocked.]
[You have now unlocked: Monster Devourer!]
Aldin stared at the floating screen of text in front of him with pure shock. This may have been the power he had always wanted but he never would have imagined that he would have gained it like this.
He fought through the pain and coughed blood all over the dungeon floor.
"How? I was just an F rank a couple minutes ago…!"
He continued to read.
[Effect: In addition to dispelling monster debuffs, you may now absorb abilities from monsters you defeat.]
Aldin stared.
His mind went completely blank.
"…SSS…?" he whispered hoarsely.
Just minutes ago—
He'd been F-rank. He stared at this metal plate around his neck.
He had been Useless.
He had been Disposable.
Is this a dream…? Does this mean my new class has the potential to reach triple S rank?
His hands trembled as he looked at them, half-expecting to wake up on cold dungeon stone, tentacles closing in.
But the screen remained.
Bright.
Real.
Aldin swallowed hard.
After five long years…
"…Me?"
For the first time in his life—
The world had answered back.
Aldin stared at the fading glow of the status screen until it finally vanished from view.
Slowly, reality crept back in.
"…I need to go," he muttered, his voice raw.
Whatever he'd become—whatever Monster Devourer meant—none of it mattered if he stayed anywhere near that dungeon. The image of Rising Dawn flashed through his mind, their smiles, their laughter.
If they see me… they won't hesitate.
They'd already proven that. He indeed carried this new mysterious power, but he was unsure if it would be enough to defeat that guild, and he certainly knew it was not enough to beat that monster. The fact that the royal magus Eli chose to describe it as a deity sent shivers down his spine.
He pushed himself unsteadily to his feet and glanced around.
The terrain was unfamiliar.
Trees instead of stone. Open air instead of suffocating mana.
He sucked in a sharp breath when he realized it. "This is the opposite side…"
The river had carried him far—far enough that he'd emerged on the other side of the dungeon entirely. That meant no crossing paths. No chance of running into them again.
Good.
The Adventurer's Association would have to know. Rising Dawn—Eli, Tiffany, Sara—all of it.
They had to know about the true monsters in this situation. He could not stand by and just let this happen. He was going to report it…
If he lived long enough to report it…
His body chose that moment to give up.
His legs buckled, strength draining as if someone had pulled a plug somewhere inside him. The adrenaline faded, leaving nothing but pain and hollow exhaustion behind.
"…No," Aldin murmured.
His eyelids grew impossibly heavy.
The world tilted—and then gently collapsed.
His eyelids grew heavier and heavier with each passing second.
Aldin hit the ground, consciousness slipping away—