The torn edges of his flesh sprouted new granulation fibers like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Those tender strands of fresh meat wriggled like tiny tentacles, closing inward in a circular formation—and at a speed no human body should ever achieve.
In just a few seconds, the gaping wound that had been the size of a bowl had already shrunk to the size of a fist—
Albert's breathing turned unsteady. He stared at his chest as though he were witnessing a monster.
As new fibrous tissue rapidly formed, the scabs lodged between the muscles automatically peeled away on their own, requiring no extra effort from Albert to clean them off.
Once the growth reached a certain point, the granulation tissue stopped spreading. By then, his wound had become a perfectly circular shape.
Suddenly, two rows of razor-sharp, silver-gleaming ring-shaped teeth flipped out of the freshly healed pink flesh without warning, arranging themselves neatly along the wound's edge.
This could no longer be called a "wound." Albert thought, No—this is clearly a mouth meant for feeding.
And it was exactly the same as the one belonging to that creature hidden inside the six-eyed sand spider.
A soft sigh drifted through the air.
"Who?" Albert lifted his head, scanning the empty room, almost thinking another mutant creature had broken into the campus.
But the next second, a foreign notification echoed in his mind.
[You have discovered a new species: Multi-headed Parasite Eel.]
[You have acquired biological skills: Regeneration, Devour.]
[Multi-headed Parasite Eel: an omnivorous creature that survives, feeds, and hunts by parasitizing large organisms. It can eat anything. Possesses astonishing regenerative abilities—severed limbs regrow rapidly. Unless its brain is destroyed, it will not die; even if half its head is cut off, it can still survive.]
[Unfortunately, the host crushed its brain. Before dying, the parasite eel muttered "You win," and voluntarily handed over its innate skills.]
"…" The information was overwhelming. Albert took a few seconds to process it before asking the question he wanted to know most: "Who are you?"
The voice paused.
[Put simply, I'm the god of this world.]
Albert: "?" Lunatic.
[You don't believe me? Without me, you would've died. I gave you a new life.]
"And also made a mouth grow on my chest," Albert coldly reminded him. "Should I be thanking you?"
[You don't like it? It's very convenient for eating.] The voice sounded genuinely surprised.
"Not really," Albert said. "It's ugly. And no normal human holds a bowl up to their chest to eat."
[My oversight. How about this?]
The tear on Albert's left chest vanished.
Instead, his left hand began to itch. Lifting it, Albert discovered that the grotesque mouth had indeed transferred to the center of his palm.
[You can try controlling it—just like opening and closing your normal mouth. In fact, when you don't need it, it can stay completely shut.]
Albert followed the instruction. He watched the upright teeth retract one by one, the tiny fangs twisting slightly as they folded inward, disappearing into the flesh and assuming a non-predatory, mild appearance.
A few seconds later, the mouth closed entirely, leaving only an invisible seam.
Late that night, the bonfire on the school field was still burning.
To prevent further mutant attacks, Hayes had stationed a team of his own men, taking turns keeping watch with several strong boys on Miguel's side.
The night was already cold, and by dawn, the temperature had dropped nearly ten degrees further. Many people were freezing, huddling together for warmth. The beast-shifters had all taken on their animal forms—the thick fur kept them far warmer than their human bodies ever could.
After leaving the administration building, Albert followed directions from one of the guards and found Hayes in a quiet corner of the campus.
The man clearly didn't like being around others. The area around him was empty; his massive beast body curled atop a thick blanket, forming a patterned, furry ball.
At the sound of approaching footsteps, Hayes's sapphire-blue beast eyes snapped open. Seeing it was Albert, he merely flicked his head lazily and stretched out his tongue to lick his damp nose.
"Come here," he said in a lazy drawl. "Since you're an injured patient."
With that, he exposed a portion of his fur-covered belly.
Even in the sub-zero cold, the big snow leopard's body radiated a comforting heat; faint wisps of warmth rose from his fur, condensing into pale mist in the air.
What a blessing.
Hayes's gesture cleared away some of the chaotic thoughts crowding Albert's mind. After a moment of hesitation, Albert took off his shoes and obediently lay against Hayes. The snow leopard's body curled back up, his thick, warm fur wrapping around Albert like a natural blanket, instantly driving away the cold.
Hayes pressed his nose against the back of Albert's neck and inhaled deeply.
"Sleep."
Albert spent the entire night wrapped in the enormous snow leopard like the filling of a spring roll.
Toward dawn, he was suddenly jolted awake by an intense wave of hunger.
[I'm hungry,] the voice said in his mind. [You feel the same, don't you?]
Albert lifted his head slightly to glance at the big cat beside him, careful not to wake Hayes, and communicated inwardly.
"What did you do to me?"
He'd eaten perfectly well the night before. There was no reason he
Before falling asleep, Albert had faintly sensed an emptiness in his stomach, but he hadn't paid it much attention. He hadn't expected that after just a few hours, the hunger would intensify to the point where his stomach felt as though it were being scorched by fire.
As if he had been fasting for an entire week.
[This isn't something I did to you. It's the effect of your innate skill. The Multi-headed Parasite Eel's biological instinct is to feed—constantly. Your appetite will become exponentially larger than before, and your hunger will return far more quickly. You might finish a meal half an hour ago and immediately be hungry again.]
[Feel it for yourself. Aren't you so hungry your vision is tinged red? Doesn't it feel like you could eat anything? Including… the snow leopard beside you.]
As it said this, the voice crackling with static actually chuckled.
"…" Albert's expression was blank. "Do you think that's funny?"
Joke or not, he knew the voice was telling the truth. Ever since that grotesque second mouth had appeared on his body, Albert could clearly feel a new desire rising within him.
A beast-like desire—
A desire to devour everything.
Even… when looking at Hayes.
Right now, the massive snow leopard before him looked like a gigantic pastry rolling right up to his door—fatally tempting. He hadn't felt it so strongly last night, but now—
Albert's Adam's apple bobbed as he forced himself to look away.
[Surprised? Don't be afraid. This is normal. The parasite eel's second instinct is to parasitize and devour mutant creatures countless times stronger than itself. The stronger they are, the stronger the desire to consume them. And of course, this kind of hunger is something ordinary food cannot satisfy.]
Hearing this, Albert's eyes shifted slightly. "Then what am I supposed to eat?"
[Go to the field.]
Albert had barely begun to slip out of Hayes's arms when the movement woke the other man. The snow leopard, big as a boulder, groggily opened a pair of sleepy beast eyes and cast Albert a sideways look.
Albert said calmly, "I'm just going to the bathroom."
The whiskers on the snow leopard's cheeks trembled slightly, as though considering something. Two seconds later, he couldn't hold back and extended his warm, damp tongue, licking up and down Albert's neck a good dozen times.
Out of concern for Albert's injuries, Hayes had restrained himself last night—even refraining from licking him. Practically a saint.
After all, in the two months since the apocalypse began, he had only ever encountered this one rare blade of grass. Sustainability and long-term development were important.
Now, finally getting what he wanted, Hayes released a long breath, his pent-up frustration from the entire night dissipating. He settled down again contentedly.
"Go."
Albert: "…"
Why did this feel inexplicably like he'd just been used?
He steadied himself and started walking out.
The sky was still a hazy mix of gray-blue, balanced on the edge of dawn. Most people on campus were still asleep.
The corpses of last night's Bloodscythe Ants were still piled in one corner of the field. After the group's picking and dismantling, there wasn't any edible flesh left, only segmented pieces of their exoskeleton.
Even though Albert already had a guess, when the voice told him to walk toward the pile, he still felt a reflexive rejection from deep within.
Had he fallen so low that he had to eat leftovers?
And even if the quantity was enough to fill him… with those two rows of sharp teeth, there was no way he could chew through something this hard.
[Don't make that face. I didn't give you this ability so you could scavenge garbage. What I want you to absorb is energy.]
"Energy?"