The cavern stretched endlessly before me, jagged walls flashing past as I pushed my rotting body to its limit. My torn rags fluttered against my decayed flesh, and with each step, I could feel the strain in my muscles—or what was left of them.
The horde was still behind me.
The sound of chittering laughter and tapping of their clawed feet against the stone floor still echoed through the cavern as it grew closer to me.
I had been much faster than before, but so were they. If anything, they were just as fast, if not faster.
I can’t keep this up.
Even with my boosted agility and endurance, they would still overtake me in a matter of time. Their numbers didn’t dwindle and their chittering never stopped. Their relentless pursuit was starting to terrify me.
I’d been running full speed for nearly twenty-five minutes, weaving through rock formations, leaping over uneven terrain, and yet—they were still there.
Shit, I’m just delaying the inevitable. I can't keep this up
My dead body could ignore the pain and fatigue from pushing myself to my limit, but I still had limits.
I was running out of energy.
And If I ran out before finding a way to deal with these Imps, I wouldn’t make it out alive.
I swallowed dryly.
There was only one option, and it was a risky one.
If I can’t lose them, I’ll have to kill them.
But how? I had never fought this many enemies at once, let alone ones that would never stop moving unless I tore them apart.
Hope seemed bleak.
Then I saw it.
A narrow crevice in the rock wall leads to a midsized enclosed area.
A bottleneck.
Perfect.
I dashed inside, spinning to face the entrance, my breath ragged—not because I needed air, but because I was desperately trying to think of a way to survive.
Twelve Imps.
I clenched my fists, nails biting into my rotting palms.
No more running.
I had to fight.
[Unarmed Combat]
I was prepared for the assault.
The first Imp lurched into the crevice.
I moved before it could react.
[Unarmed Combat - Lv. 1]
I snapped forward, swinging my clenched fist.
Crack.
My knuckles slammed into its temple, sending its head snapping sideways. The brittle bone fractured instantly, and the Imp collapsed.
[Target Defeated.]
[Experience Gained.]
The next Imp lunged.
I dodged left, its claws slicing through empty air. My knee shot up, smashing into its ribcage. The brittle bones cracked, and I followed up with a sharp palm strike to its skull, crushing it inward.
[Target Defeated.]
[Experience Gained.]
I exhaled sharply. Two down. Ten left.
But then I fucked up.
The next Imp came at me faster than expected.
I tried to dodge—but it was too close.
I felt teeth and claws sink into my left shoulder.
Pain flared through me, dull and raw, as its jaws locked down. I snarled, bringing my fist down against its head, but it held on, tearing deeper.
Desperation kicked in.
I raked my claws across its face, my fingernails tearing into rotted flesh.
[Wither’s Claw]
Black rotting decay spread instantly, its flesh boiling and peeling from it inflicted wounds. The Im[ let out a gurgling scream, releasing its bite just enough to I rip my arm free.
Then I grabbed its head and twisted.
CRACK.
[Target Defeated.]
[Experience Gained.]
I barely had a second to breathe before two more were on me.
I stepped back as one Imp lunged, avoiding its first swipe, but I happened to lose track of the one behind it.
The second Imp claws raked across my still-injured left arm—
And ripped it clean off.
I froze.
My vision blurred as I stumbled backward, staring in shock at my own severed limb, now hanging from the zombie’s grip.
Panic.
Pure, gut-wrenching panic.
"Shit. Shit. SHIT."
I snarled, but my mind was racing.
"I—I can fix this, right? Undead Body can fix this with no sweat, right? It has to!"
I lunged forward, tearing my own arm from the Imp’s grasp before discarding it behind me. My remaining hand latched onto its throat, squeezing with everything I had.
It twitched, gurgled—
I squeezed harder, sinking my claws into it, allowing Wither’s Claw to spread its decay.
Bones snapped, and its body went limp.
[Target Defeated.]
[Experience Gained.]
I staggered backward.
My arm was still missing.
Pain pulsed through my body. It was dulled but still extremely painful. I had no time to dwell, however, with the remaining horde still coming.
Then, the two-level 9 Imps arrived and began their assault
They acted differently.
They moved faster. Attacked stronger and overall had better Instincts
One quickly approached me before I could react. Its claws pierced me in my ribs.
The blow of the attack sent me flying backward, crashing into the wall. My entire body screamed in pain from the damage.
The area it pierced turned a slight purple as I felt a burning sensation like acid on my rib wound.
Is that a poison skill?
My undead body could resist poisons, but the level difference was enough to cause me enormous pain.
The second level 9 Imp was already on me.
I barely rolled aside before its claws slammed into the ground where I had been.
My body was breaking.
I was losing. And my body wouldn’t withstand another critical attack.
I need something
I need a weapon.
There was nothing around I could use not even a rock.
I looked at my own severed arm.
"Screw it."
I grabbed my own limb and swung it.
THWACK.
The first zombie stumbled.
I lunged, my teeth sinking into its throat.
I ripped, tearing flesh and muscle from the Imp’s throat.
It was weakened, staggered— but still moving.
I brought my severed arm down on its skull.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Its head now caved in.
[Target Defeated.]
[More Experience Gained for Defeating a Stronger Opponent.]
The last level 9 zombie snarled and attacked.
I dodged just in time, stepping to the side.
[Skill: Unarmed Combat Lv. 1 → Lv. 2]
Since the beginning of this fight, I had been using [Unarmed Combat] nonstop, and I wasn’t going to stop now.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
I spun around, using my momentum to smash my knee into its gut.
It stumbled.
I wrapped my remaining arm around its head—
And wrenched.
CRACK.
[Target Defeated.]
[More Experience Gained for Defeating a Stronger Opponent.]
The remaining 4 Imps were lower levels and showed a tinge of fear as I lunged at them, bathed in the blood of their horde.
I swung my severed hand at two of the imps, and the claw of the hand managed to claw out their throats.
[Target Defeated.]
[Less Experience Gained for Defeating a Weaker Opponent.]
[Target Defeated.]
[Less Experience Gained for Defeating a Weaker Opponent.]
The remaining two came at me together as I used the last of my strength to kick them into each other. they both crashed into the stone wall to the side, smashing their skulls.
[Target Defeated.]
[Less Experience Gained for Defeating a Weaker Opponent.]
[Target Defeated.]
[Less Experience Gained for Defeating a Weaker Opponent.]
Then there was silence.
I collapsed against the wall, resting my beaten body.
I stared down at the severed limb in my hand.
Please work. Please work.
I pressed the arm back against my shoulder.
A sickening pull spread through my flesh.
Dark, decayed tendrils wrapped around the stump, pulling the limb back into place. Bones snapped back into position.
[Undead Body - Lv. 4 → Lv. 6]
I flexed my fingers.
"Holy shit."
I checked my notifications, which I had been ignoring throughout the fight.
[Species: Witherling Zombie Lv. 4 → Witherling Zombie Lv. 7]
[Unarmed Combat - Lv. 2 → Lv. 3]
[Night Vision - Lv. 3 → Lv. 6]
[Inspect - Lv. 3 → Lv. 5]
[Mana Perception - Lv. 3 → Lv. 5]
[Wither’s Claw- Lv. 4 → Lv. 7]
[You Have 9 Stat Points.]
I leaned back, groaning.
Then I laughed.
"Did I just beat something to death with my own arm?"
I grinned.
"That’s kinda badass."
“Akashic Record” I called in my mind.
Akashic Record
----------------------------------------
Name: [][][][][][]
Race: Demonic Beast
Species: Witherling Zombie
Rank: Spawn
Class: None
Level: 7
Titles: None
----------------------------------------
Strength: 16
Intelligence: 15
Endurance: 13
Vitality: 14
Agility: 15
Stat Points Available: 9
----------------------------------------
Skills:
Night Vision - Lv. 6
Wither’s Claw - Lv. 7
Inspect - Lv. 5
Unarmed Combat - Lv. 3
Mana Perception - Lv. 5
######### of ###### - Lv. Locked (Remnant - Unusable)
----------------------------------------
Traits:
Undead Body - Lv. 6
----------------------------------------
I stared at my stats, processing the gains I had made. Nine whole points. That fight had nearly killed me, but it had also made me stronger.
I allocated them carefully: +2 Endurance, +3 Agility, +3 Strength, and +1 Vitality. The second I confirmed the distribution, my body tensed, that same eerie, crawling sensation spreading through my limbs as my stats adjusted.
I clenched my fists, feeling the difference already. My movements felt even sharper, my body more responsive. My strength was rising at a decent pace, but my agility had become my greatest weapon. Despite this, I decided internally that I would take it a bit easy.
After everything that had happened, I needed time to think. Time to process.
The fight against the level 9 Imps had left me battered, and the fact that I had barely scraped through was something I couldn’t ignore. My instincts told me to keep moving, but for the first time since waking up in this corpse of a body, I found myself deciding to take it easy.
The wounds I’d taken had already sealed shut, my Undead Body doing its work, knitting flesh back together as I’d never been torn apart in the first place, and leaving healed the rest of my wounds.
But something was wrong.
The exhaustion should have faded. My body should have returned to its usual state—cold, empty, functional.
Instead, a hunger ripped through me.
Not the dull craving for something missing. Not hunger,r as I could hastily recall.
This was all-consuming. A gnawing, burning void that dug into every nerve, every inch of me screaming for more.
My hands trembled. My vision blurred. My throat felt raw like I’d been starved for days—no, centuries.
I swayed on my feet.
Then, my eyes landed on the corpses.
The Chitterfang Imps scattered around me in heaps of broken limbs, twitching fingers, and vacant, lifeless grins.
Something inside me clicked.
They were mine.
My kill.
My food.
I lunged.
I barely registered it. One moment, I was standing. The next, I was on the ground, tearing into them.
Flesh shredded beneath my fingers. Bones cracked between my teeth.** I chewed, swallowed, ripped, devoured—**moving faster, wilder, like I couldn’t eat fast enough.
More.
I needed more.
The first corpse vanished into my gut. Then, the second. The,n the third.
I wasn’t thinking. I wasn’t choosing.
I was taking.
Their flesh. Their essence. Their everything.
My fingers dug into the next body, my nails slicing through its leathery skin, pulling it apart, stuffing pieces of it past my lips before I had even swallowed the last.
Their meat belonged to me.
Their strength belonged to me.
I was supposed to eat.
I was supposed to devour.
This was right.
Yes.
I understood now.
This was what I was made to do.
I came back to myself just as I reached the last imp.
My hands—drenched in black blood—hovered over its half-eaten body. My teeth ached. My jaw felt raw from overuse.
The meat I had eaten was pale and flavorless but delicious.
I blinked.
A pile of bones surrounded me. Torn, stripped clean.
Ten corpses. Gone.
And the worst part?
I felt full.
I exhaled slowly.
I felt satisfied.
My breath was steady. My body felt strong, and my mind was clear.
But the scene around me—the stripped bones, the torn flesh, the blackened blood soaking the cavern floor—was anything but.
I swallowed. My throat was dry. My hands still twitched like they weren’t sure if the feast was over.
And for a moment, I felt nothing.
No disgust. No horror.
Just dull acceptance.
I had been starving. I ate. My body needed food. I took it. That was all.
There was nothing wrong with that.
It wasn’t like I was human.
I had long understood that by now.
And yet…
A cold feeling settled in my chest. Not regret. Not guilt. But a slow, creeping unease.
Not because I had eaten or what I had eaten. But because of what this meant.
This time, there were bodies.
What if there weren’t next time?
What if this hunger hit again, and I had nothing to devour?
What if I was around people when it happened?
My fingers curled into fists.
I had accepted what I was—a monster.
But if I couldn’t control this, then what?
I exhaled, steadying myself.
This wasn’t just about eating to survive. It was about knowing when I was running low, about making sure I never reached the edge again.
I had to be careful.
Because next time, there might not be corpses waiting for me.
And I didn’t want to know what would happen if I was hungry enough with no options.
I decided to return to the darkened area of the cavern where I had first woken up. It had become home to me in a way, and after the day I had had, I wanted nothing but to go home.
The area I was in now was brighter, illuminated by glowing rocks embedded in the ceiling, walls, and floor. The uneven shadows across the rough terrain made the space feel larger than before. It wasn’t a harsh light, but enough that I could see clearly without relying on [Night Vision].
Then, I remembered Inspect had also leveled up twice. Curious, I turned to the nearest wall and activated it.
"Inspect."
[Inspect - Lv. 5] Activated.
[Mana Crystal]
[A condensed core of raw mana, formed naturally over centuries within the depths of the Labyrinthine Tombs Abyssal Zone. Its energy hums faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat. While unstable in its raw form, it can be absorbed, refined, or used to fuel spells and enchantments.]
I froze.
Abyssal Zone?
I activated Inspect again, this time on a regular rock on the ground.
[Inspect - Lv. 4] Activated.
[Abyysal Zone: Labyrinthine Tombs - Floor]
[A cracked stone floor, rough and uneven. Signs of wear, faint claw marks, and old stains suggest past battles. The footing is stable but treacherous in places]
My decayed fingers curled slightly against the stone.
What the hell is an Abyssal Zone?
It didn’t sound family-friendly, that was for sure.
Oh well.
Knowing the name of the place I was in wouldn’t help me in the slightest now, so there was no reason to worry about it.
I headed back to my dark home, using my increased agility to get there in half the time.
By the time I got there, I had noticed that the area was illuminated with the same glowing stone I had seen before.
I was confused, so I decided to use inspect
Inspect.
[Inspect - Lv. 5] Activated.
[Mana Crystal]
[A condensed core of raw mana, formed naturally over centuries within the depths of the Labyrinthine Tombs Abyssal Zone. Its energy hums faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat and glows to those who can perceive mana. While unstable in its raw form, it can be absorbed, refined, or used to fuel spells and enchantments.]
My eyes flicked over the description. It glows to those who can perceive mana.
I read that line again. And again.
I had been leveling Mana Perception for a while now, but I never understood what it actually did. I had just assumed it was some passive thing.
But if I can see mana now… wouldn’t that mean I can use it, too?
The thought lodged itself into my mind, refusing to let go.
How?
I squinted at the glowing crystal, focusing—not on its physical form but on something more.
And for the first time, I noticed them.
Faint, wispy strands of energy radiating from the crystal.
They flickered like thin threads of light, curling and twisting in unseen currents, dancing through the air. I had seen the glow before, but not this.
How had I missed it?
Had they always been there?
I reached out, fingers hovering over the crystal. The strands of mana reacted, shifting subtly as if sensing me.
A hesitation. Then, I pressed my hand against its surface.
A pulse.
A deep, slow hum vibrated through my bones, thrumming in my veins, in my skull, in the very core of me.
For the first time since waking up in this body, I felt something alive.
Not flesh, not hunger—something else entirely.
Energy.
I felt the strands of mana from the crystal coiled around my hand, curling like smoke, like liquid light, like something sentient. It wasn’t just an object; it was a force.
And it was there.
I could feel it.
I inhaled sharply.
The mana of the stone outside my body was reacting with something inside of me.
The strands of mana wavered, shifting erratically as if uncertain—then, suddenly, they lurched toward me.
A sharp pulse ran through my arm, deeper than sensation, deeper than anything I had ever felt before.
The crystal’s glow flickered—soft blue light twisting, dimming—darkening.
The pale glow of mana I had seen before was gone.
In its place, a deep, unnatural purple.
I frowned. That wasn’t normal.
Was I… doing this?
I didn’t feel like I was absorbing anything. I wasn’t trying to take the mana, wasn’t trying to do anything at all.
And yet, the crystal had changed.
The strands of energy were still there, still moving, but their color had shifted, coiling like dark smoke against my fingertips.
I pulled my hand away.
Nothing.
The glow remained. The color remained.
The crystal had changed. Permanently.
I stared at it, waiting for an explanation, insight, response from the Akashic System, or skill.
Nothing came.
I clenched my jaw.
Fine.
I didn’t know what just happened, but I knew one thing.
Mana reacts to me.