POV: First Person (Protagonist)

  Some time passed, and I could no longer eat the dragon's corpse. Its body had rotted badly, and the taste was even worse. Besides that, I wasn't gaining any more skills from eating it.'Maybe too much time has passed? I can't really tell.'

  I left the dragon's body behind and went to the spider's corpse that I had killed. I didn't eat her because I didn't feel like it—just that. I admit I was worried about raising the "Taboo" skill level.

  I didn't read the story far enough to know what happens if the skill reaches level 10, but I don't want to find out.

  'But her body…' Someone had eaten it. At least most of it. What remained was rotting as well.

  I sighed and turned around to continue my search for the pce Kumoko used to reach the Lower Stratum of the byrinth. However, after exploring for only about five minutes, I encountered a strange monster.

  It was simir to an "Elroe Basilisk," but slightly different.

  Its eyes were rger and more unpleasant. Its arms were bigger, and its tail was longer. It was definitely over three meters long! Normally, those monsters don't exceed one meter.

  And its scales, which are usually gray, were brown.

  'Just like the spider—its color changed.'

  Earth Basilisk (Anomaly/Variant) LV7

  Stats

  HP: 1,456

  MP: 1,126

  SP: 1,156/1,246

  Offense: 1,234Defense: 1,152Magic: 938Resistance: 1,105Speed: 1,558

  'Again with this variant thing… Did this creature eat the dragon's flesh? Well, the dragon's corpse isn't far from here, so it makes sense.'

  But one thing caught my attention.

  Petrifying Demon Eye LV9

  That skill is dangerous! The monster noticed me, and I edited my speed to 10,000 and vanished from its sight. Then I appeared right behind it and pierced it with my leg after boosting my strength.

  After that, I bit it as well and poisoned it.

  I felt a strong urge to vomit—why does it taste so bad?

  I spat the blood out of my mouth, and it slowly died on the ground. After that, I considered leaving, but when I looked at its status, it had three skills that interested me greatly.

  Petrifying Demon Eye, Magic Power Perception, and Magic Power Operation.

  I need to obtain those st two skills in order to use magic. I really want to use magic.

  'The taste is horrible, but I'll eat it.'

  I began tearing pieces off the monster and chewing while thinking about random things—mainly about my past life. Many things came to mind, but one thing I noticed was…

  I don't remember my name.

  I remember what I looked like—average—but I don't remember my name.

  I also don't remember the name of my mother, who killed me.

  Are my memories that "damaged"?

  I looked at the dungeon ceiling while chewing the foul-tasting meat and tried to remember my name.

  In the end, I couldn't.

  ####

  As soon as I finished eating the lizard, I was disappointed to receive only one skill—but it was one I really wanted.

  "Magic Power Perception LV1"

  The first thing I felt was slight dizziness. I didn't expect to feel dizzy after acquiring the skill, so I was confused. Along with the dizziness, I sensed something floating in the air—a warm energy falling over my body.

  Is this magical power?

  The amount of it in this specific area is extremely concentrated. I can feel a strange pressure all over my body. This is so strange. 'I'd better get out of here.'

  I started walking, but the magical power I was detecting only increased. I began to feel nauseous because I'm not used to it. I also sensed a massive amount of magical power concentrated nearby.

  A dense and mysterious magical power.

  I slowly approached and began descending. It was a path that went almost in a straight line.

  'Wait, am I heading to the Middle Stratum?'

  I started to feel excited, but unlike what I expected, I didn't find a path to the Middle Stratum—just a seemingly endless path. There was a huge amount of magical power gathered there, but nothing else.

  I was deceived.

  I turned around to leave, but the moment I turned my back, something happened.

  Break!

  The wall of the byrinth shattered, and something emerged.

  A massive mouth lunged at me, ready to swallow me whole.

  Huge teeth—I could even see venom dripping from its fangs.

  'A serpent!'

  I edited my speed and escaped at the st second. My eight legs moved at high speed, and I shot out of the hole like a bullet leaving a gun barrel—I even went airborne.

  Seconds ter, the serpent appeared.

  Its body was completely brown, covered in hard scales.

  Its scales almost looked like a dragon's.

  It burst out of the hole and lunged at me with its mouth wide open. It tried to bite me but ended up biting the byrinth wall instead. Its fangs were sturdy and did not break.

  Then, as I breathed in relief, I sensed something dangerous approaching.

  Something appeared floating in the air and flew toward me at high speed.

  'What is that? Earth magic?' I ran along the wall as the byrinth walls crumbled under the magic's power. 'This serpent can use high-level magic!'

  I used my Appraisal skill and saw that all of its stats averaged around 5,000, and it had the skill "Earth Magic LV9."

  And why does a serpent like this have such a high-level skill and such high stats?

  Well, this thing is also an anomaly/variant.

  'Why am I only encountering these variants now? Is it luck or bad luck?'

  They give a lot of EXP, so I guess it's luck.

  But seriously, if these monsters start appearing frequently, the Upper Stratum—which is supposed to be considered the "beginner area"—will become impossible for low-level adventurers to explore.

  What a mess.

  ParodyGirl