The deeper the bus flew, descending from the Upper Zone to the Lower Zone, the hungrier Lohan became.
"Why is my hunger only returning now?"
But there was no answer. He couldn't identify why he felt less hungry today, but thinking that if it stayed at this level, he might not even need to eat another "meal" at his house today, he was happy.
Not only because of the credits he saved, but also because he didn't have to taste that stuff so soon.
After taking a disinfectant shower to wash the dirt of the outside world from his body, Lohan wasted no time and turned on the Elysium Neural Helmet.
Slowly, his consciousness traveled back to the game world, with images of hyperspace passing before his eyes as if he were traveling light years in an instant.
The first sensation he felt was that the air didn't stink, the second was the sun's rays illuminating and warming his body.
It took a few seconds for him to get used to not having a human body again, but this time the adaptation was much faster.
Remembering the skill he had purchased before going to sleep, Lohan was excited to see how much he had earned in those 17 hours disconnected from the game.
[Name: Alohn
Race: Slime (Mythical)
Class: Devourer (Mythical)
Level: 01
Experience: 1 / 100
Bio-Mass: 0.17 → 3.87]
Lohan was shocked to see the number.
He knew he would earn a lot, since he had calculated how much he earned per hour, but seeing it now with his own eyes made him very excited.
Even though he wasn't in the game, it was as if he had farmed for 1 hour and 40 minutes non-stop, which for someone who couldn't play all day, was a big help.
Quickly opening the list of evolutions he could buy, Lohan was unsure what to spend his money on.
-- Evolution --
[Membrane Reinforcement Lv 0 → Lv 1 – 1.00 Bio]
Strengthens the outer layer, increasing resistance to impacts and cuts.
[Efficient Digestion Lv 2 → Lv 3 – 1.56 Bio]
Increases digestion speed and efficiency in converting matter. (+10% per level — exponential)
[Core Reinforcement Lv 0 → Lv 1 – 1.50 Bio]
Improves the conversion of matter into Bio-Mass. (+10% gain per absorption)
[Structural Stability Lv 0 → Lv 1 – 1.50 Bio]
Improves basic body control.
[Viscous Flow Lv 3 → Lv 4 – 2.93 Bio]
Increases motor control and gelatinous mobility. (10% increase per level)
[Passive Digestion Lv 1 → Lv 2 – 4 Bio]
Generates Bio-Mass slowly even when stationary.
[Hemolymphatic Tissue Lv 1 → Lv 2 - 2.62 Bio]
During combat or under active damage, the conversion of absorbed matter into vital energy is accelerated by +20%.
-- NEW --
[Instinctive Perception Lv 0 → Lv 1 – 2.00 Bio]
Detects nearby vibrations and movements.
[Mass Expansion Lv 0 → Lv 1 – 2.50 Bio]
Increases the volume and maximum capacity of Bio-Mass.
[Stable Metabolism Lv 0 → Lv 1 – 3.00 Bio]
More constant metabolic rate, fewer digestive pauses.
[Partial Division Lv 0 → Lv 1 – 5.00 Bio]
Consumes biomass to create a small extension to collect nearby matter.
---
Looking at the list with so many evolutions, if Lohan had eyes, they would be shining right now.
'There are so many things I would like to buy right now... but considering my current situation, even if increasing my speed helps me escape, if something touches me, I would still be completely vulnerable...'
The image that came to his mind was of him controlling the jelly around his body to try to detach the larva from himself, but his control over himself was so weak that the ripple he caused had no effect.
Not wanting to continue as just useless and uncontrollable jelly, Lohan chose his upgrade.
[Structural Stability Lv 0 → Lv 1 – 1.50 Bio]
[Improves basic body control.]
As soon as he purchased this evolution, a feeling of euphoria ran through his body, as if he had connected with this body for the first time.
The feeling was warm and refreshing at the same time, unlike anything he had ever experienced before, but when he awoke, Lohan tried to control the jelly to "push" an invisible enemy, imagining the place where the larva had stuck to him, and instead of the soft and slow wave he had caused during the battle, now a more intense ripple arose in that place.
'I think that still wouldn't be enough to expel the larva...'
Taking advantage of the fact that he still had points, Lohan bought another evolution.
[Structural Stability Lv 1 → Lv 2 – 1.88 Bio]
[Improves basic body control.]
Spending another 1.88 Biomass, Lohan was left with only 0.49, but the feeling of evolving again was as incredible as the first time.
'I wouldn't get addicted to this feeling, right?'
Feeling the control over his body gelatin even more precise, Lohan tried pushing the same spot again, and this time, instead of a slight ripple, what happened was a slight crackling of the gelatin in that spot!
Surprised, Lohan tried again and realized that he managed to cause enough friction between one fold and another of the outer membrane of the gelatin for a fraction of a second, to the point that the friction caused a snap like someone snapping their fingers!
Obviously, the force of this movement was nothing powerful compared to the attacks of other monsters, but remembering the force the larva used to cling to him, Lohan felt that this snap would be enough to release the insect.
"If I could release that thing's mouth from my membrane, I could digest it with much less risk than last time!"
Unlike grass, which only gave him biomass, if he consumed insects like that larva, he could get upgrades in his evolution, or even absorb some characteristics of the insect he consumed!
Excited by the change he was feeling, Lohan felt confident enough to look for other insects like that to digest.
But reality was not as beautiful as he had hoped.
He could even sense other insects around him, but with his slow speed of movement, before he could get close enough to absorb these insects, the creatures would probably sense the danger and simply jump/fly away.
So Lohan contented himself with continuing to absorb biomass from the grass or fallen fruit around him.
The advantage of absorbing fruit was that he didn't have to move as much, allowing him to stop for a while to "rest," even though he didn't feel tired in this body, but since the absorption speed was fixed, it didn't speed up his growth at all.
Another positive point was that he was still receiving the biomass from [Passive Digestion], so instead of 2.17 biomass per hour, he was receiving 2.38!
Looking at the list of available skills, Lohan didn't think twice about buying a great upgrade.