"I thought I was the MC here. Why am I at the receiving end of this very unfair treatment?"
[Host Is Mistaking Fantasy For Reality]
[!YOUR HUNGER GROWS!]
"Can I really not consume beast mana to ease this hunger?"
[You Can. You Will Be Satiated Only For A While, Stronger Than Ever. Then Your Hunger Will Worsen Because Beast Mana Uses Up The Energy Served By Human Mana To Function]
"There’s really no option."
"I guess I’ll do what I want then."
[Host Must Not Act Stupidly]
"Acting stupidly is my quirk," said Eric with a smirk on his face. He started moving from the spot where many things had transpired for a while now.
’I need to find a way to get back home without the colony guards noticing. It’s well past curfew.’
[HUNGER LEVEL: 63%] Chapters fırst released on novel✦fire.net
’I’m really not going to kill someone just to feed on them.’
A nasty hunger pang however started from the pit of Eric’s belly. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling as he had always been suffering from lack of adequate rations lately, since he was most times too lazy to stop by the Motherbase to grab his rations. But this time, he didn’t know if the hunger pang was due to a normal hunger or the hunger the system was stating.
Pushing the feeling aside, he pushed back onto the unpaved path, his room only on his mind. His mind grew heavy at the unbearable burden that had been put on him. He had feigned nonchalance to the system, but he knew it was all a front. Even now, he was beginning to feel the hunger he had felt a while ago before he took mana from the hunters, and he knew just how hungry he had been to consume something that could fill that strange and biting hunger. Not neglecting the heavenly sensation that ran through him after consuming that mana. He knew it’d take some miracle not to get addicted to mana consumption as it stands.
’But how can I live knowing every human is my main meal now?’
’Sneaky ass system didn’t warn me beforehand.’
’Ugh, it’s not as if I had a choice too. Apparently, the system chose me because of my strong will to live.’
’Should I have willed to die then? Now, countless people will die just because I want to avenge my friend.’
"Will you shut the hell up?!" Eric snapped, sweat dripping down his face despite the cold air of the night.
Soon, Eric was clear of the unpaved road. As soon as he took his first step on the tarmac road, he knew something was off. It was well past 8 p.m., and never had he stayed up till that time outside even during those mischievous times with Void, so there was no knowing how the nighttime always was, since a dire punishment awaited whoever broke the curfew rule. But he knew the street was too empty even for curfew. For one, there were supposed to be armed guards stationed near the residential areas for patrol, but looking from afar, Eric hadn’t seen any living soul to identify thus far.
The bright halogen security lights were all on, so it was very easy to pick any form of movement in the street. Eric moved carefully regardless, not wanting to risk being discovered just because no guard was around to apprehend him.
’Who knows? Maybe they are in hiding. Maybe they’ve always patrolled from the shadows.’
[!YOUR HUNGER GROWS!]
’Will you please tell me if there’s a way to mute your notifications? What the hell?’
[There’s A Way. Die Of Hunger]
[!YOUR HUNGER GROWS!]
Disturbed and hungry, Eric kept to the shadows as best as he could while moving silently towards the residential area. His steps, however, wavered as the painful pang hitting his belly intensified. The first wave of dizziness hit him, but he didn’t stop walking. He switched to a jog after a while, eager to get back to his little room safe and fast. The empty street echoed his careless footsteps while he staggered mindlessly, and after a few more awkward steps, he was now in the residential area but not in the shadows anymore. He had strayed away from the covers of the night and was now out in the open street under the justice of the luminous street lamps.
’I’m growing weaker... I’m... really... hungry.’
Eric expected the guards hiding to rush out and capture him since he had strayed away from the corners, but to his surprise, no one came. The closer he got to the first building, the more he expected a restriction, but all was free until he finally reached his abode.
He yanked the door open with shaky hands after punching in his password, then jumped in. Immediately he was in, he grabbed a metal pole by his bed and smashed the door handle till it was completely damaged so he wouldn’t be able to come outside should he lose control of himself due to this hunger.
He slumped on the bed while clutching his stomach. His eyes were shut tight and he sweated profusely, showing symptoms and succumbing to the great pain that was eating him up.
’No... I can’t kill any more humans. No... No, I can’t.’
[HEALTH IN CRITICAL CONDITION]
[EP IS REDUCING DRASTICALLY]
[Host Will Die If HP Reaches 0]
’I guess this is it then.’
’I’ve returned to life to avenge Void, and I’ve done that... Why should I kill other people so I can live after that?’
’It’s cool to have a system , but I can’t feed on humans. I won’t allow that. No, I won’t.’
’So long, System. Sorry I’m not what you expected from someone who desperately wanted to live. Find a better host.’
"No hard feelings," said Eric weakly as his eyes fluttered slowly to a close. He heard a loud bell sound in his head, similar to the one rung at the Motherbase and which he heard at the time Void was shot on that lonely path.
He knew he must be mistaken as he was on the verge of death. Dismissed as a weird feeling one might encounter when death calls, Eric resigned to whatever was coming. After all, why would the Motherbase ring the bell at 8 p.m. in the night?
Eric closed his eyes finally, weakly, but not without noticing some words being displayed on the notification device that the colony grants everybody to receive information meant for the general populace. On it, displayed in bold, clear green font, was a message:
{THE PURGE BEGINS IN: 23 s}