Hungry God: Good evening, everyone. I'm planning on doing a livestream exploring places that seem haunted. Are there any places y'all can recommend?
...
Lilith: Another scripted haunted abandoned building exploration? Shoo!
6L6i6: I know a place. Do you know the abandoned mausoleum near the Eve cemetery? It's locked, but you can enter it through the window on the second floor.
└Animatronic: Damn. You here again? Hahahaha how many horror livestreamers have you victimized with that recommendation?
└6L6i6: If those guys were legit, they would have had the guts to move forward.
└Undie: You're the one who recommended Samo to the abandoned mausoleum? Hahahahaha.
└Sisi: That was very pathetic. Have you seen the way Samo cried? Hahahahaha. He kept screaming for his mom. He even peed his pants.
└Cold7: Can you guys have some sympathy? I heard Samo was still in the hospital. He seemed to have suffered some broken bones after jumping off the second floor.
└Sisi: No sympathy for frauds.
└Undie: (2)
└Animatronic: (3)
Xievian looked at the replies to his post. The topic started to shift toward the livestreamer Samo.
Samo is a popular livestreamer who has almost 5 million followers. His persona is the typical tough guy. Real men cry tears of blood type of tough.
Xievian had seen his livestream before. Rather than saying that it is a legitimate raw exploration, it is more appropriate to call it a 'movie' because it is obvious that it was scripted.
Although he had a lot of haters, he also had a lot of fans who supported him. But with his image as the tough guy, the reaction that he showed during the livestream at the abandoned mausoleum sickened his viewers who weren't used to him acting like what the netizens called a 'sissy'. It was such a stark contrast to his image that his reputation shattered.
Looking at the abandoned mausoleum, Xievian planned to take a look at that place. If the place meets the system's standard, then that's it.
But before going, he was very curious about his personal data.
[Name: Xievian Lus
Age: 24
Strength: 85/100
Dexterity: 70/100
Spirituality: 93/100
Health: 50% (Under a curse)
Mood: Depressed and curious
Player Level: 0
Ability: Devour
Ability Level: 1 (Error. This ability is uncontrollable data.)
Additional Information - Can eat anything.
Side Effects after usage:
Mental:
Mild - Weakness, hallucinations, slight hunger, and loss of control. Lasts for about an hour.
Medium - Increased appetite, everything will look delicious, and madness. Lasts for 10 hours.
Severe - Unknown
Physical:
Mild - A rip in the mouth. Will heal immediately after the skill usage.
Medium - The rip in the mouth will last longer, the user's eyes will turn bright reddish gold, and the user will continue in hunting mode physically. Lasts for 10 hours.
Severe - Unknown
Way of Upgrade: Eat. Eat anything. Eat everything.
Note about the side effects: It is like a Russian Roulette game. You just never know. Players need to rely on luck. The probability of either getting the mild, medium, or severe side effect is randomized.
Titles: System Devourer (Error) and Abandoned Child.
Effects:
System Devourer (Error): Gives the ability to sense other system users.
Abandoned Child: None.
Authority: Beginner
Life Points: 15 (The system's initial gift of Life Points is 30, but half of the points were spent to halt the curse from consuming the host's life.]
Xievian's attention was on the 'System Devourer' and the Life Points.
System Devourer? It seemed that there's finally an answer as to what happened to the system. He ate it? Doesn't feel like anything.
But when did he get this ability? Does everyone have this ability and just need something to activate it, or is having a dormant ability the system's criteria for selecting a host?
Was it strong? How did it manage to eat the system? Or did the system mess something up and get devoured? Then again, what does it mean by uncontrollable data? He had many questions but no answers as of now.
He saw how it works. His mouth will rip open? He can accept that emotionlessly, but as for the eat everything, he felt a strong sick urge to vomit. Xievian is almost fine with everything, but he is very peculiar about what he eats. To put it simply, he's a picky eater. The hunger that he is feeling now is probably a side effect belonging to the mild category that the system mentioned. There is weakness and hunger, but he doesn't seem to have any hallucinations.
In order to upgrade it, he needs to eat something, right? He assumed that what he should eat shouldn't be ordinary food? He hopes they taste good, or else they better kill him.
Xievian is a bit cautious about the side effects. Is there a way to negate that? If upgraded, will the side effects lessen?
Then the curse part, that's the first time he's heard about it. He's cursed? By whom, and what do they wish to achieve by killing him? The curse even took some of his Life Points. He assumed that the effect of the curse should be draining his life.
Actually, the moment the doctors said that they don't know what's happening to him or what is going on, Xievian immediately gave up without a fight and just waited for his death after consulting five doctors. Dying is not a big deal for him, as he had nothing. At that time, he thought, maybe this is God's will? It's his end.
Still, the arrival of the system did rekindle his will to live. The only reason he gave up easily is because he felt there was nothing left in his life worth living for. Now, with the system opening a new world for him to explore, maybe he will have the drive to strive forward. He will devote himself to exploring the other side, and maybe, on his journey, he will find what he was looking for.
...
The taxi driver hummed while listening to the music. It's a good way to calm his nerves. It's already 12:00. If possible, he no longer wants to take passengers during this dead of the night. Usually, they are drunk or just plain sketchy.
He looked steadily at the road. He saw that on a dim corner of the sidewalk was a man waving his hand at the incoming taxi.
Hmm, a passenger?