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I'm Contaminated With No Hope Of Recovery
Chapter 58 - Forcing It Down

Chapter 58 - Forcing It Down

[As you are walking, your instincts tell you that you are in danger. You turn around, and see the same dust cat a couple meters away from you.]

The moment that Lem’s simulated self pulled his arm back, the dust cat heeled, stopping abruptly, its figure partially distorted in the cloud of dirt. Even through the obstruction, the cunning in its eyes was unmistakable.

It feigned a lunge, baring its teeth as it lurched towards him.

Hiss!

Lem’s simulated self did not react.

He watched the dust cat while keeping his left arm just beneath his line of vision to block the dirt.

Hiss!

It feigned again, running a meter towards him before turning around in a blur. Its head faced the forest, as though it were about to run up a tree.

In the next moment, it kicked up the ground again, raising another cloud of dirt, as it turned back and lunged forward, its claws aiming for his throat.

Lem’s simulated self struck out with his [Nine Bull Fist] as quickly as he could.

His arm extended in an instant, slipping past the dust cat’s paw and hitting it directly on its shoulder.

The emergent force vibrated on his knuckles before contacting the dust cat, shaking its internal organs.

For a split second, he saw surprise in the dust cat’s eyes, as it began to yowl.

As the force ripped through the cat, it was killed instantly and its scream was cut off abruptly.

Its skin burst open and it was knocked roughly to the ground.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

[You strike out with your quickest punch, hitting the dust cat squarely, and killing it.]

It had been a week since Lem’s simulated self had experimented with raw tyrant sloth meat.

Even though he had stretched his rations to the very limit, they were almost at their end.

Now there was a dead dust cat in front of him.

He had never eaten raw cat before. Perhaps it tasted better than sloth meat.

The long pause and the pangs of hunger told the entire story to Lem. If his simulated self had merely been hungry a week ago, he was ravenous now.

As he walked over to the corpse, Lem knew what was going to happen.

He withdrew his knife, and axed it directly into the side of the dust cat, wiggling it in deeper. Once he had bypassed the skin and fur, he cut directly into the muscle, slicing off a small, bloody chunk, before prying the chunk out.

After a relatively smooth retrieval, he threw it into his mouth and swallowed, not bothering to chew.

A disgusting metallic taste filled his mouth, far worse than that of the tyrant sloth. His body immediately rejected the meat, but his hunger was far more overpowering.

Lem’s simulated self began cutting off little bloody pieces of meat, swallowing them whole as he removed them.

Two pieces. Three pieces. Four. Five.

He choked each one down, ignoring the wretched taste.

It was a matter of survival.

After a few minutes passed, Lem’s simulated self was full. He staggered away from the corpse, putting all of his effort into forcefully keeping the food down.

It would all be for naught if he threw up the meat that he had worked so hard to eat. He needed to keep moving.

He picked up his spear and continued to walk, holding his stomach with his off hand.

[Your rations are nearly out, and you are wracked with hunger, so you feel you do not have a choice in eating the raw meat. You use your knife and cut off small pieces of meat, and choke them down…

Your hunger is fully satiated, and you have replenished some of your rations, but you feel nauseous. You forcefully manage to keep yourself from expelling the contents of your stomach…]

Lem had his doubts over whether his simulated self would succumb to his revulsion and dispel the contents of his stomach later that day.

After all, he knew better than anyone how compelling the urge was.

An hour passed.

Two hours.

Lem’s simulated self was able to keep the food down. Thankfully, there were no further beast attacks in the meantime.

[You fall asleep…]