"I hate the taste of Cock... Ewww..."
Kyle bent over, clutching his mouth as he nearly puked out his guts, his entire body violently rejecting what had just entered it.
’I fucking hate the taste of cockroaches.’
Kyle bit his lips and stretched his hand toward the glass of water sitting on the counter. He grabbed it and greedily drank its contents in desperate hopes of washing away the inhumane disgust of the cockroaches’ taste.
It did not go down well.
The water only spread the revolting flavor even further across his tongue.
His face twisted into one of absolute misery.
After draining the glass, he slammed it back onto the counter just in time.
Ding!
[You have successfully consumed 3 Cockroaches.]
[System has rewarded you with 3X the Resilience and Adaptability of a Cockroach.]
[You have gained a Cockroach Companion.]
[Soul Essence: 3/100]
Kyle forced a smile before slowly raising his head toward the storekeeper standing behind the counter.
The man’s expression had completely frozen.
His face was filled with equal parts shock, horror, and disbelief.
"Kids these days are truly animals..." he whispered under his breath.
Unfortunately for him, Kyle heard every single word.
He frowned.
He rolled his eyes.
’Yeah, I wouldn’t be eating cockroaches if not for my broken system. If this bastard were in the same situation, he’d probably be chewing them with ketchup.’
Suppressing another urge to gag, Kyle forced another smile before dropping a few paper notes—the city’s credits, onto the counter as payment for the man’s rather... unsavory merchandise.
Without another word, he turned and walked out of the pet store, throwing it one final disgusted look before disappearing onto the street.
Just earlier that day had been his Awakening Ceremony.
The usual cliché.
Walk up to an enormous obsidian crystal, place a hand upon its surface, and awaken supernatural abilities capable of changing your entire life.
While others awakened incredible talents like weapon creation, fire manipulation, enhanced speed, elemental control, and countless spectacular abilities kyle would’ve gladly killed for...
He had awakened something entirely different.
[Talent Rank: SSS-Ranked]
[Talent: Soul Devourer System]
[Description: User can gain the abilities and powers of any Being consumed, multiplying them by whatever fortitude the System sees fit...]
[Error...]
[System has encountered a Glitch.]
That was all Kyle had seen after awakening his talent earlier during the ceremony.
Curious about what exactly the system meant by a glitch, he had left the ceremony as soon as possible to test it himself.
Which had somehow...
Led him to a pet store.
Kyle facepalmed himself as the memory replayed inside his head.
He had opened his system and searched for the conditions required to copy abilities.
It simply read:
[User can only copy abilities from Beings personally killed... with the exception of Human beings.]
Simple enough.
Or so he had thought.
The moment he stepped into the pet store, reality had slapped him across the face.
Hard.
His eyes had landed on a harmless little chameleon.
Immediately...
[Error! Animal not eligible.]
"...Huh?"
He turned toward a turtle.
[Error! Animal not eligible.]
His heartbeat immediately accelerated.
He quickly moved from cage to cage.
A rat.
[Error! Animal not eligible.]
A snake.
[Error! Animal not eligible.]
A lizard.
An owl.
A rabbit.
Every single one.
Not eligible.
Kyle’s heart gradually sank lower and lower while his breathing became heavier.
The weight of what the system had meant by "Glitch" slowly settled onto his shoulders.
His entire future...
Was beginning to look absolutely screwed.
He leaned heavily against one of the counters, his mind threatening to break beneath the pressure.
Then—
Ding!
[You have found a suitable animal to consume.]
Kyle froze.
His head snapped around so quickly his neck nearly cracked.
His eyes searched frantically until they finally landed on it.
"...What the hell?"
His face stiffened.
"A fucking cockroach?!"
[Consume the Cockroach to unlock its abilities.]
Kyle shook his head, forcefully dismissing the memory before another wave of nausea overtook him.
Even now, he could still remember the crunch.
He suppressed another urge to throw up.
Now he was heading home, having successfully absorbed the essence of the cockroach.
He summoned the system.
A number of glowing runes immediately materialized before him.
[Bestiary]
[Slots: 1/3]
[Slot 1: Cockroach]
*Undying Resilience: Death does not come easily to a cockroach unless its head is destroyed. Such a blessing has now been bestowed upon you.
Kyle grimaced.
"Blessing my foot..."
*Steel Bone: Your skeleton has grown considerably stronger. Steel itself might even be a fair comparison. Broken bones now recover ten times faster.
*Good Companion: A bug can also be a good companion... right?
Kyle’s eyes widened.
"What the hell are these rewards? This system is insane!"
Both rewards sounded almost unbelievable.
Bones comparable to steel.
Resistance against death itself.
And the craziest part...
He had obtained all of this simply by eating three cockroaches.
Three.
What if he devoured a hundred more?
’...No. Scratch that.’
Kyle immediately felt his stomach churn.
His hands instinctively flew to his mouth as he nearly vomited again, vividly recalling the revolting taste and horrifying crunch of those cockroaches.
’I’d rather die.’
Then his gaze shifted toward the final rune, and he frowned.
’If I see one more roach today, I might actually puke out my guts.’
[Slot 2: Empty]
[Slot 3: Empty]
Kyle dismissed the runes before letting out a long sigh.
At least his heroic and completely selfless sacrifice of devouring cockroaches hadn’t gone entirely to waste.
"With resilience against death and bones tougher than steel... maybe I can survive well enough..."
He slowly tightened his fist.
Then his eyes drifted upward.
"Hopefully I won’t perish on the First Floor either."
With that, his attention shifted from the road ahead to the gigantic structure standing in the far distance.
A colossal building.
Its height stretched beyond the clouds themselves, disappearing into the heavens, while its impossible width seemed to extend endlessly across the horizon.
Even from several kilometers away, its sheer scale was overwhelming.
The moment Kyle looked at it, a suffocating pressure instinctively settled over his body.
A chilling aura.
One that whispered of countless deaths.
Of despair.
Of things no human should ever witness.
That demonic monument towering over the world...
Was the Tower.
The purgatory of mankind.
And the hell Kyle Monroe intended to conquer...
As nothing more than a cockroach.