Ren walked down the street toward Sector 9's waste management facility, chewing on a mouthful of gravel he had scooped up from a construction site.
To anyone passing by, it looked like he was aggressively chewing gum. In reality, he was grinding granite stones into fine powder with his reinforced teeth.
CRUNCH. CRACK.
[Consumed: Granite Gravel (0.5 kg)]
[Stored in Void Stomach.]
[Hunger Timer Reset: 58 Minutes remaining.]
"This is going to be annoying," Ren muttered, swallowing the stone dust. The [Endless Hunger] was no joke. Every hour, a gnawing emptiness clawed at his insides, feeling less like hunger and more like his stomach was trying to digest itself.
But the upside was undeniable.
He focused on his stomach. He could "feel" the inventory inside him.
3 kg of Granite Stones
2 kg of Rusted Iron Fence (Consumed on 4th Street)
0.5 kg of Glass Shards
He was a walking armory.
He arrived at Sewer Entrance 4B, a heavy blast door set into the side of a drainage canal. A group of ten men in orange vests were waiting, looking miserable. They were all [Sanitation Workers] or [Cleaners], mostly middle-aged men with low stats who had given up on the dream of being Hunters.
"You're late, Walker!" barked Foreman Garris, a burly man with a beer gut and a Level 8 [Overseer] class.
"Sorry, boss," Ren said, falling into line. "Had to grab breakfast."
"Whatever. Listen up, trash rats!" Garris shouted. "Today is a routine purge. The sewers under District 4 are clogged with [Sludge Slimes]. They aren't dangerous if you keep your distance, but they're acidic. Don't let them touch your gear."
Garris gestured to a young man standing apart from the group. The young man wore pristine leather armor and held a staff tipped with a red ruby. He looked about Ren's age, but his posture screamed arrogance.
"This is Kael," Garris said, his voice dropping to a respectful tone. "A Level 12 [Apprentice Pyromancer] from the Blaze Guild. He's here to burn the nests. You lot are just here to scoop up the ash and keep the tunnels clear for him. Do not get in his way."
Kael smirked, inspecting his fingernails. "Try not to die, janitors. I don't want to waste mana burning your corpses too."
The workers grumbled but said nothing. This was the hierarchy. A Level 12 Mage was a god compared to them.
Ren just watched Kael with a blank expression. Level 12 Pyromancer... Intelligence probably around 25. Mana maybe 50.
Ren checked his own stats.
Strength: 185.
Mana: 45.
If Ren flicked Kael on the forehead, the Mage's head would probably explode. But Ren kept his head down. He needed the money, and he needed the seclusion of the sewers to feed his hunger without witnesses.
"Move out!" Garris ordered.
The sewers of Sector 9 were a nightmare of gothic architecture and industrial filth. The tunnels were fifty feet high, lined with brick and dripping with green condensation. The smell was enough to make a normal person retch, but Ren, with his [Sanitation Worker] resistance and his new Void Stomach, felt strangely hungry.
As they marched deeper into the gloom, lit only by the workers' headlamps, Ren lagged behind.
He spotted a loose iron valve wheel on a rusted pipe. It was about the size of a dinner plate.
He looked around. The others were focused on Kael, who was lighting the way with a ball of fire in his hand.
Ren grabbed the valve. He didn't pull it; he just bit the rim.
CRUNCH.
It tasted like oxidation and cold metal. He took three massive bites, devouring the solid iron wheel in seconds.
[Consumed: Rusted Iron Valve (2 kg)]
[Mana Restored: +0.5]
[HP Restored: +1]
"Hey, Walker!" one of the older workers, a man named Miller, whispered. "What are you doing back there? Keep up, or the slimes will get you."
"Just checking the pipes," Ren said, wiping a speck of rust from his lip.
They reached a large junction chamber. The water here was sluggish and thick.
"Stop," Kael ordered, raising his staff. "Movement."
From the dark waters, shapes began to rise. They were blobs of translucent green jelly, pulsating with a sick light.
[Sludge Slime (Level 3)]
[Sludge Slime (Level 4)]
There were dozens of them. Usually, slimes were solitary scavengers, but this was a swarm.
"Ew," Kael sneered. "Burn."
He pointed his staff. "Fireball!"
A grapefruit-sized ball of fire shot out, striking the nearest slime. WHOOSH. The slime hissed and evaporated into steam.
"Easy," Kael laughed. "Next."
He fired again and again. The workers cheered, relieved they didn't have to fight.
But Ren narrowed his eyes. He saw something the others missed. The water level was rising.
"Boss," Ren said. "Something's wrong. There are too many ripples."
"Shut up, Walker," Garris snapped. "Let the Mage work."
Kael fired another spell, but suddenly, the water exploded.
A massive shape erupted from the canal. It wasn't a normal slime. It was a towering column of black, corrosive muck, easily ten meters tall. It had three glowing red eyes floating inside its gelatinous body.
[Boss Monster: Black Tar Ooze (Level 15)]
"A Boss?!" Kael shrieked, his voice cracking. "This wasn't in the report! This is a D-Rank threat!"
The Black Tar Ooze lashed out with a tentacle of sludge. It slammed into the stone walkway, shattering the bricks. Acid sprayed everywhere.
"Run!" Garris screamed, turning tail. The workers panicked, scrambling back down the tunnel.
Kael stood his ground, shaking. "I... I can handle this! Fire Lance!"
He cast a stronger spell. A spear of fire struck the Ooze. The Ooze bubbled, taking the hit, but its mass was too great. The fire sputtered out instantly.
The Ooze roared—a gurgling, wet sound—and swung a massive limb at Kael.
The Mage threw up a [Mana Shield], but the impact sent him flying. He smashed into the wall next to Ren, sliding down in a heap, his staff clattering away.
"My leg!" Kael screamed, clutching a twisted limb. "Help me!"
The Ooze loomed over them, raising its tentacles for a killing blow. The other workers were already gone. It was just Ren and the broken Mage.
Ren sighed. "So much for the escort."
He looked at the Ooze. Physical attacks were useless against slimes; blunted weapons just bounced off, and blades passed right through.
But Ren didn't have a weapon. He had a stomach.
And he had Ammo.
Ren stepped in front of Kael.
"Get out of here, trash!" Kael wheezed. "It'll dissolve you!"
Ren ignored him. He opened his mouth.
He focused on the 3 kg of Granite Stones stored in his Void Stomach.
[Skill Activation: Void Spit]
[Projectile Selected: Granite Shrapnel]
[Velocity Multiplier: High]
Ren took a deep breath, his chest expanding unnaturally. He aimed his mouth at the Ooze's central eye.
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP-THWIP!
It sounded like a silenced machine gun.
Dozens of jagged stones shot out of Ren's mouth at the speed of bullets. They didn't just hit the slime; the sheer velocity caused the air to crack.
SPLAT. SPLAT. SPLAT.
The stones tore through the gelatinous body. Because the Ooze was liquid, bullets usually passed through, but Ren was firing granite buckshot. The impact caused massive hydrostatic shockwaves inside the monster's body.
The Ooze flinched, its form destabilizing.
"Not enough," Ren thought. "Need something heavier."
He accessed the 2 kg Rusted Iron Valve.
He gathered the iron essence in his throat. This wasn't going to be a spray. This was a cannonball.
Ren coughed once, sharply.
BOOM.
A solid slug of compressed iron shot from his lips. It hit the Ooze's central red eye with the force of a anti-materiel rifle.
SQUELCH.
The eye exploded. The force of the shot blew a hole straight through the Ooze's body, splashing black tar against the back wall.
The monster shrieked, losing cohesion. It collapsed into a puddle of lifeless sludge.
[System Notification]
[Defeated Boss: Black Tar Ooze (Level 15)]
[Experience Gained.]
[Level Up!]
[Level 2 -> Level 4]
Silence descended on the sewer.
Ren wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He felt a little indigestion from the rapid fire, but otherwise, he was fine.
He turned to look at Kael.
The Mage was staring at him, eyes wide, mouth hanging open. He looked from the dead boss to Ren, then back to the boss.
"You..." Kael stammered. "You just... did you just spit that thing to death?"
Ren panicked internally. He couldn't let word get out that a sanitation worker had a cannon in his mouth.
Ren grabbed a handful of sludge from the ground and smeared it over his face to hide his expression. He adopted a look of pure terror.
"I... I threw a rock!" Ren shouted, his voice pitching up. "I threw a rock and it hit the eye! It was a lucky shot! Oh god, I thought I was going to die!"
Kael blinked. The adrenaline and pain were clouding his judgment. "You... threw it?"
"Yes! With my hand! Like this!" Ren made a pathetic throwing motion. "And then it just died! You weakened it, sir! Your fire spell must have boiled its core! I just finished it off!"
Kael's ego, desperate for a lifeline, latched onto the explanation. "I... I see. Yes. My Fire Lance did penetrate deep. The internal heat must have been critical."
Kael groaned, trying to stand. "Help me up, janitor. We need to leave."
Ren helped the mage up, keeping his face hidden in the shadows.
"Don't worry," Ren said, glancing at the massive corpse of the Ooze. "I'll clean up the mess."
As they walked away, Ren felt his stomach rumble again.
[Hunger Alert: 10 minutes remaining.]
He looked back at the dead Ooze. It was organic, so it wouldn't satisfy the curse. But... sticking out of the sludge was a glowing, solid object.
The Mana Core of the Ooze. A crystal the size of a fist.
Ren licked his lips. Crystals were minerals. Minerals were non-organic.
"Hey, sir, you go ahead," Ren said. "I dropped my... broom."
Ren ran back. He snatched up the glowing purple core.
"Dessert," he whispered.
He popped the fist-sized crystal into his mouth and swallowed it whole.