First Kill — The Wyvern

It took longer than I expected for the poison to spread.

The more the pterosaur thrashed around, the more its guts must have started churning.

Oh-ho! It's getting bigger. It's working.

Through my sunglasses, every corner of its body lit up red. It started in a single organ, then one by one the rest of its insides glowed the same furious crimson, until the color finally ran all the way out to the tip of its tail.

"Kyae, kyaeeeek!"

"Damn, you're fast!"

It was in pain—its diving speed never quite got up to full throttle. The worse it got, the more carefully I kept my distance. Close enough that it always looked like it might grab me. Far enough that it never actually could.

Holding that kind of focus burned through my Decay Mana at an ugly rate.

Fly's not cheap, huh.

It felt like it was eating at least twice what Shield cost.

"Hey! You're feeling it now, aren't you?"

"Grrrrr…."

A low growl rumbled out of it as the fatigue finally started to show. I flipped it a cheerful double bird just to twist the knife a little more.

"Kyaeeeek!"

"What, you gonna yell me to death? Hahaha!"

It wasn't catching me. Not anymore.

"Grrrr…."

Something felt off.

In a blink, the whites of its eyes flooded scarlet. Goosebumps prickled over my whole body like a current running under the skin.

Why is its throat swelling like that?

Like it was about to spit something up. Mana boiled and seethed inside the pterosaur's neck.

My bad feeling, as always, refused to be wrong.

"Whoa whoa whoa! That's cheating! Was the hop goblin meat I fed you not good enough?"

I'd even put effort into the seasoning.

One way or another, the thing was furious. The mana that had been gathering in its mouth launched straight at me.

"Oh, shit! Cancel Fly! And Shield!"

Whoom, wheeeee—

I dropped into a vertical freefall to get clear of the energy blast.

Ugh—static shock.

So this was what a bungee jump felt like. The moment I vanished from its line of fire, the blast tore through empty air.

PAAAANG!

"Whoa… that would've killed me. Fly!"

I kicked Fly back on midair and jerked to a stop.

Little bastard. Didn't think I'd dodge, did you?

It looked seriously pissed. I'd been pretty confident I could dodge that blast—Intuition had already been screaming the danger signal.

Once it dumped all that mana in one go, its whole body flushed red.

"Hey! So long! Venom Explosion! Hahahaha!"

"Kyae, kyaeee?"

A high-pitched peeeeng rang out as its body lit up. Violet light flooded every inch of it, and for a second it looked like it was swelling—

BOOM!!!

"KYAAAAAAAK!!!"

Every drop of poison I'd packed into its system detonated at once. Days of careful self-harm, finally cashing out.

"Hahahaha! You idiot! You shouldn't have gotten greedy! Who eats ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that much of anything?!"

The boom died away into a rising column of purple smoke. Then, unable to stay airborne any longer, it plummeted toward the sea. Far below, it shrank to a black speck and vanished with a distant splash.

"Hoo… that was rough."

My first real fight. All that work, finally paying off. All I had to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠do now was wait for the quest complete message.

"…So why isn't it popping?"

Don't tell me it's still alive.

If it was still breathing out there, who knew when I'd run into it again.

"No way!"

I dove for the ocean. Its body was still visible on the water, purple fumes still clinging to it.

"Kuooh…."

Just its head and belly were barely clear of the waves. It was wheezing, nothing more—no strength left to move.

"Scared myself for nothing."

Thump.

I landed carefully on its stomach.

"Grrrr…."

Its eyes still burned as it forced itself to look up at me. Like it hadn't lost yet.

"What are you glaring at? You lost. To me. Dumbass."

Step. Step.

I walked slowly toward its snout. Once I was close enough to its head—

"What, you wanna have a staring contest? Quit it. Venom Shot."

I jammed a Venom Shot straight down its throat.

"Guluk, guluk… gurrr."

"Venom Shot! Venom Shot! Venom Shot!"

I pumped it full until its belly swelled. Its shredded body finally went still.

"Urgh! What the hell is this?!"

The messages hit at the same time as a wave of raw pain. I'd tempered my body with poison for this exact kind of thing, but Pain Resistance did not seem to be doing its job.

"Ghk— damn. My veins are going crazy…!"

Still, pain and I were old friends. I didn't know which stats had gone up, so I just watched my body for changes.

Do your muscles actually grow when your stats rise?

Building mass this easily would make gym trainers foam at the mouth.

"Hoo… hoo… it's over."

Outwardly I didn't look that different.

Muscles a little bigger, maybe? My mana sense feels wider, though.

I could feel the change in my mana. It was the stat that had climbed the hardest since I'd come underground, so I was extra sensitive to it.

Anyway…

"This thing was a Wyvern?"

One of those dragon subspecies? No wonder it wouldn't die. Thinking about it, a regular pterosaur wouldn't be firing energy blasts either.

Don't tell me that energy blast was… a Breath. One of those things.

It probably was. The way the mana had gathered hadn't felt ordinary at all.

"No wonder the poison didn't take right away. Guess it's got some toxin resistance."

My master's poisons had been focused on turning me into a Poison Human. That was why my own toxins still weren't strong enough. Watching how hard it was to poison something like a Wyvern made it obvious.

I was still weak.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Master had said even Poison Humans had ranks.

I'm only at the entry level right now.

No need to rush it. Once I got back to Korea, I'd start eating every poison I could get my hands on. Cyanide counted as poison, right?

"So… what am I supposed to do with this…."

The Wyvern's corpse bobbed on the surface. If I could sell it piece by piece…

"I wouldn't have to worry about food for months."

I pulled the beginner dagger out of my inventory.

Shhk, shhk.

My plan to carve it clean in one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠go died immediately.

"Why is this so tough?!"

Attack +1 dagger, ladies and gentlemen.

"Ah, crap… this is not the way…."

Not that I had better options. I laid my palm against its chest.

"Accelerated Decay."

A basic magic that sped up the breakdown of organic matter. Absolute fundamentals. The only real downside was the stench.

Mana flowed from my palm into the Wyvern's chest.

Sizzle.

"Blech— ugh! Cough, cough— yeah, selling the meat is a lost cause."

The smell was unbearable. Master used to use this same method when he was prepping ingredients for me. I shook out my hands and watched the chest rot.

After a long while the hide peeled back, leaving a hole big enough for a person to crawl into.

The heart should still be useful for something.

I tore out the organ that looked like the heart and stashed it away.

"Poisoned on top of everything else. Yeah, no one's buying this."

At least the bones, claws, and talons had taken less damage. Not being poisoned was already a win. I hit them with Accelerated Decay again and stripped the remaining bits free.

Crrrk.

Harvesting the body took longer than I expected.

"It's already night."

The sun had gone down. A huge full moon filled the sky. The Wyvern was so torn apart you wouldn't even recognize it anymore. Its body began to sink.

Time to head home.

"Before that, though—let's list this."

I put the remaining scraps of half-rotted Wyvern flesh up for auction.

"Done!"

More points were always better. For someone starving, it might even count as food. Their last meal in this world, maybe—but still.

"Man. How far did I fly? I can barely even see the island."

If I just kept flying, I'd get there eventually. And so the night of my first real battle deepened.

"Holy shit… without Intuition I would've been screwed."

The second I started heading the wrong way, Intuition kicked in and steered me home. There wasn't even any land out here to send an SOS from. Pure luck.

Still, wandering B1 had taught me one thing.

"There's really no one here but me."

No matter which way I looked, it was nothing but ocean. Not a single fish in the water either. The seawater was definitely salty, so… where had the Wyvern been getting its food?

Complicated.

Food first. The fifty points left in my wallet were my entire fortune.

"Wow. Bread and water. It's been a while."

I grabbed food from the shop window. That left me with thirty points—exactly enough for two loaves of bread and one bottle of water. I was not going to starve to death out here… right?

If it comes down to it, I can just live on poisoned Wyvern meat until I get out….

It reminded me of those old castaway survival shows I used to watch as a kid. Those were the days….

What kind of insane nonsense was this.

I had thirty points right now. It wanted me to scrape together three hundred and thirty-three times that? That much money could buy a thousand loaves of bread.

"Hey! You're reading my mind, aren't you?! Answer me!!!"

I yelled into empty air. All I got back was the wind brushing past my ears. No matter how I looked at it, something was wrong—the quests kept unfolding like they were listening in on my thoughts.

"Fine. So you want me to struggle for it, is that it?"

Whatever. I was getting out of here. I had no intention of rotting on this island forever. It wasn't like there was no way to earn points down here either.

First, check on that meat I listed yesterday.

I had no idea what anyone planned to do with it, but the bid kept creeping up. In practice, you could use it for anything. Toss it to a pack of goblins and they'd gobble it down happy as anything—and then get poisoned.

"Wait…! That's insane."

Maybe an unexpected jackpot was about to drop. It wasn't Intuition talking—just a gut feeling. And even if it failed…

"I've got nothing to lose."

I sorted my thoughts and opened the community board. A flood of junk info scrolled past; I ignored all of it. Until the awakeners on Floor 1 actually killed their boss, the same situation would just keep looping. That was what gave me the idea.

I baited them with the one topic Floor 1 cared about most.

That title was enough. Too much and it'd backfire. Moderate was best.

Author — PoisonGass.

My first real community post. My hands shook a little, but I could push through it.

"Hoo… why am I even nervous about this."

— It's poison.

Extreme poison. The strongest poison. Poison I made myself. Super poison!!!

"Th-that should be enough."

Comments would start rolling in soon. I might even pull more attention than FakeMage.

"That's what you get for playing hall monitor."

If I just announced I was the first mage, the attention would've been instant—but I didn't want that. You never knew what kind of weirdos were running around the Tower. I had no interest in getting hunted by them.

That freak who was chasing me, for one. Too dangerous.

The office worker who'd been firing magic bullets at me. Just thinking about him made my teeth grind. I was pretty sure he was the reason I'd ended up trapped down here alone. Meeting Master was the one silver lining.

"I'm taking it easy today."

I pulled out a sunbed to recover from the aftermath of my first real fight.

I woke earlier than expected the next morning. Probably because anticipation had kept me from sleeping properly.

Heart racing, I tapped the post I'd made.

"Holy… it exploded."

Just like I'd predicted—the reaction was massive.

Just… not the kind of explosion I'd been hoping for.