Gluttony (3)
They devour everything. Their own kind, their mother, even nature itself. In the end, they swallow even the gods. Unforgivable creatures—they must be cut down, those that devour without end. Shall we not slash them?
■■ Quest: Gluttony
Automatically in progress.
Reward upon completion: Legendary skill suited to your class
Quest—probably a hidden quest, I guessed. Normally, I'd be jumping for joy like, "Hidden quest, hell yeah!" But...
With that grotesque scene unfolding right in front of me, anyone would freak out and panic like I did.
I glanced at the system message, then looked back.
Don't freak out.
The maggots started wriggling all at once.
Countless ones—you couldn't even begin to number them!
LV 3 Maggot-Maggots, Giant Maggots—each the size of a finger, no, a palm!
Impossible to count how many there were.
Just looking at it drained my sanity. That was the real reason players ignored the gloomy girl's request.
Lost in the horror, I finally tried using a skill.
Horizontal Slash
But I couldn't cleanly slice through all those maggots. No dramatic sweep clearing the field.
Two reasons: one, the maggots were too big. And more importantly, there were too damn many.
Their sheer mass clumped together—I couldn't brute-force through with my strength.
A few on the surface died, and with the mother fly gone, I leveled up.
"Not bad."
Bloodied and sticky, I sat and stabbed the maggots one by one.
It took time killing them individually, but I could manage. Sometimes skewering two or three at once.
But the maggots didn't stay put.
They did something no intelligent being would: the forbidden act. Taboo.
Awake, their first move was matricide.
Driven by instinct, they tore into their mother's corpse.
The ones eating leveled up: 8 LV, 9 LV... up to 10 LV.
At 10, they pupated instantly.
From Maggot-Maggots, Giant Maggots to Fly-Flies, Giant Flies.
"Holy shit."
It happened so fast I couldn't react—like their lifecycle compressed to 3 seconds.
The freshly emerged flies didn't fly right away. Their wings were wet.
They flapped weakly, drying them.
I couldn't stomach the sight—sliced them quick.
Vertical Slash
Sent slashes at the necks of those drying wings nearby.
Power increased.
Link: Vertical → Horizontal Slash
Shwaaack!
Sliced a few, but strength failed—some survived.
Not many left. Maybe... a hundred.
"Tch."
Angry at kin-slaying? Some flies charged me.
On the ground, unevolved maggots climbed my shoes.
So... time to bolt.
I stomped maggots off my feet and ran.
Bzzz! Whirr!
Dodged filth shots with side-glances, evaded body-slams nimbly.
Pretty confident in reaction speed.
Similar attacks came repeatedly—parried with sword, ducked.
Luckily, fly patterns were simple.
Ran blindly, no idea where.
Squelch, squelch, squelch! Shoe heels pulling from mud, stepping back in.
Bzzz. Whirr. Bzzzz.
Wing vibrations overlapped.
Suddenly, wings quieted—but I kept running, oblivious.
Even realizing now, ears still rang.
Probably aggro dropped at distance; they returned.
"Huff... whew."
Gluttony? Yeah, perfect monsters for it.
Not just cannibalism—matricide.
Average in bug world? Who knows.
But glad it wasn't cockroaches...
"Don't even wanna imagine."
Chills. Cockroach dies, larvae hatch, eat mom's flesh...
"Ugh!"
Don't think it.
"Where the hell am I?"
Ran blindly in forest—lost.
Followed path-like trail, but dubious.
"Keep going to the end."
Crunch, crunch. Leaves underfoot, trees swaying in wind like waves.
Sounds shattered silence.
"Not lonely."
Ninzen-do, nursery for geniuses? Strongest because Ninzen-do, or vice versa?
"More praise."
Impressive tech.
Followed forest path—found building. Shrine-like.
Not a shrine—scarecrow meant Sword Training Hall.
No NPCs wandering. Makes sense—ramshackle, unlivable.
"...Mmm."
Eh? A person. Under the building.
"Hold on~! Heave-ho."
Rushed, pulled her out.
Cute face, delicate features, long black hair.
Who'd expect someone under? Uninhabitable.
Person? None. Livable? Nope. Innocent.
"What were you doing?"
Handed last 500ml bottled water from inventory—she chugged, tiny burp, spoke.
"Ugh, got hot lately... sought cooler spot, ended under building."
Not right in the head. Intelligence like...
"Caveman?"
"...Talking to me?"
"Anyone else here?"
Glared ungratefully. What? Wrong?
Shot back glare—she sighed, lamented.
"Didn't wanna be like this. Poured all savings into this Sword Training Hall—no students, just flies!"
"Ah, yeah."
"Nearly demolished by village researchers! 'Swordsmen obsolete' bullshit..."
Swordsman! Suddenly wanna help.
Grabbed her hand, nodded.
"It's fine—strongest swordsman here now. I'll help."
No clue what, but solidarity.
Eyes sparkled, leaned in.
"Hot damn! Swordsman!? Wowee! Self-intro? I'm Idiot! Yours?"
"Whoa whoa whoa."
Name Idiot? Insane devs.
Solidarity turned pity.
"I'm Paura. Definitely help."
"Yesss! Let's do this!!"
Crush dev who named pure woman Idiot.
"First! Follow me!"
She grinned wide.
"Hey! Harder. Don't stop swinging."
Not what I signed up for. Unwanted.
Dunno how, but following orders.
"Too many stray thoughts!"
Thwack!
"Ow..."
Scalp throbbed from wooden sword taps. Hurts, bitch. Name now Idiot—wait, always was.
Anyway, Idiot it is.
"Hah... huff, how long!?"
Sweat poured. Salty drops hit mouth.
Idiot slung practice sword over shoulder.
"Hmm, think that's enough. Posture good from first swing."
"Okaaaay."
Dropped sword in dirt, collapsed. Limit.
Sweat cascaded like waterfall.
Guidance from expert.
Oh, nice. Thanks, Idiot...!!
Like wuxia tropes? Save elder, get fortune...
Chin in hand, dumb thoughts—heard her mutter.
"Grows this fast... Finally that Empire mission from long ago...!"
"Empire...? Mission?"
Empire. Fantasy staple.
"Mission... hear me out?"
Abandoned kitten face. Reluctant nod—chattered from tiny mouth.
Boring, pedantic explanation. Summary:
Empire's ecology research site. Researchers first, then guards.
Monsters manageable till exceeded threshold.
Empire sent extermination: Empire Guard Captain and crew.
Guard created to protect researchers—hence Guard.
Captain: her. Idiot.
Planned quick in-out, but researchers' curiosity stalled.
Couldn't ignore—stayed, built Sword Training Hall.
Fun training with guards at first...
All but Idiot wiped in cull.
Demoted for failure; researchers scorned her.
"Researcher bastards."
Come out, fake-nice shits. No greed, no wipe.
"Whoa, calm. My fault."
Grabbed sword, stormed toward village—she clung.
Deep shadow on Idiot's face. Chest tightened.
Truth: backstory bugged me earlier, masked cheer.
"...So, what help?"
Cold, rational.
"Exterminate the flies."
Sensing mood, calm reply.