‘A guest has arrived.’
The Cannibal had appeared.
GRRRR—!
The low growl of a beast came from beneath the ceiling.
Through the narrow gap in the ceiling panel he had deliberately left partially open, Joo Do-gyeom observed it.
To put it bluntly, it had quite a grotesque appearance.
It was emaciated, and the skin covering its entire body was folded into countless wrinkles like the surface of a brain. Its eyes were pitch-black.
Its mouth was round and packed with teeth, like the mouthparts of an insect.
But such mouths were not limited to its face. They also covered its arms and hands.
There was one large mouth in each palm and dozens along its arms.
CHOMP, CHOMP, CHOMP—!
The sound of the teeth moving as though chewing the air was chilling.
In fact, the Cannibal’s appearance was one of the things frequently mentioned whenever Cannibal’s Mansion came up in the Hunter community.
-It looks so hideous that I’m genuinely scared it’ll show up in my dreams.
-My stomach’s too weak for me to enter Cannibal’s Mansion.
└Honestly, the rewards aren’t even that good.
└There’s not much fun in doing nothing but getting chased, either.
└Ah, fuck. I just remembered. That sound of teeth chewing all over its body.
└└Just imagining it gives me chills. Seriously. Ah. I shouldn’t have pictured it. I’m watching a few videos for little kids before bed tonight.
Joo Do-gyeom stared directly at that appearance without a trace of concern.
The future he had endured had been filled with horrific beings that looked even worse than the Cannibal, so that was only natural.
Instead, he focused purely on the Cannibal’s movements.
It wandered around frantically searching for him.
Without warning, it would dash toward a corner of the kitchen or abruptly fling open a storage compartment for cooking utensils or a window.
As stated before, its movements were frantic, but also quite swift.
Thanks to that, Joo Do-gyeom could be certain.
‘It’s been weakened about as much as I expected.’
It was the effect of the Tutorial conversion.
‘I’ll be able to kill it soon.’
His eyes gleamed with chilling killing intent.
Perhaps sensing it.
The Cannibal flinched and rapidly turned its head in every direction.
Joo Do-gyeom closed the open ceiling panel and used the small amount of internal energy he had accumulated to perform another martial art.
『Skill acquired: Scattered Flower Shadow (1st Stage).』
Scattered Flower Shadow.
It was an advanced stealth art that suppressed one’s presence and erased even scent and traces.
Maintaining it, Joo Do-gyeom assumed the lotus position.
He then leisurely circulated Heaven Formula Qigong as well, repeatedly inhaling and exhaling.
Although he shared the same space as the terrifying Cannibal with only a single ceiling panel between them, he felt neither fear nor a sense of danger.
***
The Cannibal was a creature driven by instinct.
When prey entered the dungeon, it pursued them, deliberately tormented them, and eventually devoured them.
The entire process brought it pleasure.
And yet.
This prey was somewhat strange.
It had undoubtedly entered the mansion, yet it could not be seen anywhere.
No.
It would have been fortunate if that were the only problem.
Occasionally, the Cannibal even felt as though someone was watching it.
Yet no matter where it looked, it could find nothing.
The same thing had happened moments ago.
It had pretended not to notice anything and walked while staring straight ahead, then suddenly spun around.
SKREE—!?
Nothing was there.
Enraged, it stamped its feet.
Then it became hungry.
Normally, it should have eaten its prey and fallen asleep with a full stomach by now.
This was what happened because it had failed to find its prey.
The furious Cannibal hurriedly ran into the kitchen.
Immediately afterward, it cried out in shock.
SKREEEEEECH—!?
The refrigerator door was open.
Even worse, some of the food that had been inside had disappeared.
The enraged Cannibal flailed both arms wildly and threw a tantrum.
SKREEEEEEEEEE—!
Its fury-filled cry erupted not only from the mouth on its face, but from the mouths on its arms and hands as well, reverberating thunderously throughout the mansion.
***
Somewhere in the ceiling above the Cannibal, which was rampaging at the sight of the open refrigerator door.
Joo Do-gyeom watched it with calm eyes.
‘It’s wearing itself out for me.’
His hands and mouth were occupied with tearing apart and eating the cheese he had taken from the refrigerator.
Despite being a Cannibal, perhaps because it had once been human, it kept ordinary food in the refrigerator.
The cheese he was eating was one such food.
‘It’s probably part of a gimmick intended for the dungeon’s challengers.’
Sometimes, dungeons were kind.
Other times, they were endlessly unkind.
That was simply how dungeons were.
In any case, the meals had been decent thanks to it.
Today he had cheese, but yesterday there had been rye bread, and the day before that, sausage made from pork intestines.
‘Not a bad balance.’
Thinking that, Joo Do-gyeom closed the ceiling panel again.
His thoughts turned rapidly.
‘Has it been about a week as of today?’
That was his sense of how much time had passed since he entered the dungeon.
Of course, he had not checked an actual clock, so his estimate was based entirely on instinct and could be wrong.
Even as a regressor and a veteran, he could not be certain when it came to the perception of time inside a dungeon.
Still, it was probably close.
During that time, he had accumulated a considerable amount of internal energy through Heaven Formula Qigong.
‘It still isn’t enough to raise my Rank.’
But with only a little more, it would be enough to perform the martial art he had in mind and face the Cannibal in a decisive battle.
‘Two days at most.’
He would settle things with the Cannibal within that time.
Having made his decision, Joo Do-gyeom took out another slice of cheese and placed it in his mouth.
Munch, munch.
Below him.
SKREEEEEEEEEE—!
A furious cry echoed out.
The cheese tasted even richer.
***
Joo Do-gyeom took a sharp-looking kitchen knife from the kitchen.
At that instant.
『Skill acquired: Kitchen Knife Proficiency (Level 1).』
『Skill acquired: Chef’s Knife Technique (Level 1).』
Knowledge of how to handle a kitchen knife flooded into his mind.
‘Chef of All Things.’
He had acquired the Skills immediately due to the correction provided by his Class.
It was not bad.
The method of handling an ordinary sword, which he had used when he was a Martial Artist, differed somewhat from the method of handling a kitchen knife.
‘It’ll be more efficient if I combine the two.’
That concluded his thoughts.
Joo Do-gyeom tossed the kitchen knife through the air, caught it by the handle, and inspected the blade once more before nodding.
“This is just the knife for killing a Cannibal.”
It was the day of the decisive battle.
***
Skrreee......
As usual.
No. Unlike before, the Cannibal wandered leisurely through the vast central hall in search of prey with its shoulders drooping dejectedly.
Suddenly, a shriek burst from its mouth.
SKREEEEEEEEEE—!
It was neither pain nor anger.
It was joy.
A cry overflowing with delight.
And for good reason.
It had finally found him.
The prey that had entered its mansion.
The insolent sacrifice who had spent all this time hiding somewhere and ravaging its food.
Joo Do-gyeom emerged from one side of the mansion’s corridor with an indifferent expression and pointed the tip of his kitchen knife toward the Cannibal.
“Come.”
The Cannibal tilted its head for a moment.
This was a first.
Never before had anything encountered it inside this mansion and refused to flee.
And with such a frail-looking body?
Merely because it was holding a single kitchen knife?
KEKEKEKE—!
Laughter burst from it.
Joo Do-gyeom also gave a faint laugh.
“They said you had emotions......”
It seemed that was indeed true.
That was fortunate.
‘Jin Woo-seong.’
The former owner of the Heavenly Killer before Joo Do-gyeom’s regression, and a man who had been one of humanity’s worst Villains.
For Joo Do-gyeom to follow what he had said, the Cannibal needed to possess emotions.
Joo Do-gyeom beckoned once more with the tip of his kitchen knife toward the laughing Cannibal.
“Aren’t you coming?”
If it would not come, then he would.
Joo Do-gyeom shot forward.
KEKEKEKE—!
As though it had been waiting, the laughing Cannibal charged straight toward him.
The distance between them rapidly vanished.
Joo Do-gyeom concentrated his internal energy into his eyes.
『Skill acquired: Clear-Eye Art (1st Stage).』
The charging Cannibal’s movements became noticeably slower.
More precisely, they began to appear slower.
It was the power of Clear-Eye Art, which pushed dynamic visual acuity to its limit.
Using it, Joo Do-gyeom easily avoided the Cannibal’s claws as they swept toward him.
At the same time.
『Skill acquired: Shadowless Divine Step (1st Stage).』
He flowed through the footwork like water, stepped into the bastard’s blind spot, lifted his leg, and brought it crashing down.
『Skill acquired: Asura Flame Kick (1st Stage).』
CRASH—!
With a deafening impact, part of the Cannibal’s head was crushed flat, and it sprawled across the corridor floor as though plastered to it.
SKREEK—!
The Cannibal screamed in pain and vomited blue blood.
Joo Do-gyeom used the kitchen knife to sever both its arms.
『Kitchen Knife Proficiency has advanced to Level 2.』
He ignored the predictable message.
Instead, he drove the kitchen knife into the floor beside the bastard’s grotesque face, which was trembling violently, and unleashed an explosion of killing intent.
“Now, answer me. Who’s the prey?”
S-SKREEEEEE—!
The man-eating Cannibal.
Fear surged within the grotesque creature’s pitch-black eyes.
***
SKREEEEEEEEEE—!
The Cannibal fled while letting out a scream that sounded almost like weeping.
Joo Do-gyeom quietly watched its retreating back for a moment before slowly following it.
Why had he not ended the Cannibal’s life immediately?
Naturally, it was not because he possessed the vile hobby of mocking his opponents as he killed them.
That was the sort of thing Villains like Jin Woo-seong enjoyed.
The ironic part was.
‘That’s how the bastard obtained the Heavenly Killer.’
The Villain, Jin Woo-seong.
He had once been captured by the special strike team led by Joo Do-gyeom.
Among the things he had babbled about at the time was this.
-You’re asking whether it’s true that killing the Cannibal lets you obtain the Heavenly Killer? Whew...... now that’s an interesting question. What do you think? Do you think I’ll tell you?
-.......
-Ah, I’ll tell you. We go way back, Joo Do-gyeom. Don’t look so serious. So the answer is, ta-da—! It’s only half right. More precisely, about one-third? Heh heh.......
-What do you mean?
-It’s true that you have to kill the Cannibal inside Cannibal’s Mansion to obtain the Heavenly Killer. But simply killing it isn’t enough. There are several conditions.
The first.
‘Make it afraid.’
The second.
‘Make it flee and reach the basement.’
The third.
‘Kill it while it’s crying atop the altar in the basement.’
Jin Woo-seong, the madman who had likely enjoyed tormenting the Cannibal until then, burst into laughter.
-Heh heh...... but you probably won’t be able to obtain it anymore, even if you copy me. The Heavenly Killer, I mean. You’ve probably guessed already, but it’s a Unique Trait. Ah, right. You can’t even enter a dungeon anymore, can you? What a shame. Puha...... Guh!
His final cry had come when one of Joo Do-gyeom’s companions, unable to listen any longer, punched him.
Through his regression, Joo Do-gyeom had now reached a point where he could verify the truth.
And he had fulfilled the first condition.
‘Make it afraid.’
That would have been impossible if the Cannibal had no emotions.
And moments ago, he had fulfilled the second condition as well.
Skree, skree, skreeee—!
The thoroughly terrified Cannibal had activated a secret mechanism hidden somewhere in the mansion and opened the door to the basement in order to escape from the pursuing Joo Do-gyeom.
The existence of a basement inside Cannibal’s Mansion was also something he had learned from Jin Woo-seong.
No one had known about it before.
‘This much was true as well.’
In truth, Jin Woo-seong was a liar.
That might seem natural because he was a Villain, but it was simply part of his personality to begin with.
He was a self-indulgent madman whose actions could never be predicted.
Then a man like that had devoured the Heavenly Killer as well.
It had only been natural that he would become one of humanity’s worst Villains.
However, Joo Do-gyeom knew Jin Woo-seong.
The bastard was a liar, but not everything he said was false.
That was why Joo Do-gyeom had been confident that the Heavenly Killer could be obtained here, inside Cannibal’s Mansion.
‘He only mixes a little trickery into solid truths.’
Then had everything the bastard said been true, all the way to the end?
Joo Do-gyeom passed through a narrow, dark passage built from gray-white bricks, starkly contrasting with the bright and extravagant mansion, and arrived at a vast underground cavern.
There, he saw strange ritual engravings covering the entire cavern and a hexagram altar carved into its center.
The Cannibal had hurriedly climbed onto the altar and now crouched there, trembling violently.
After confirming it from a distance, Joo Do-gyeom nodded.
‘......Was all of it true?’
That was unlike Jin Woo-seong.
But on the other hand, it was possible.
As stated before, humanity at the time had possessed no way to verify his claims.
Even so, Joo Do-gyeom did not lower his guard.
The moment he slowly stepped into the cavern containing the bastard and the altar.
RUMBLE—! CRASH—!
With a deafening noise, dozens of layers of thick iron bars dropped into place behind him, sealing the passage he had just crossed.
Immediately afterward.
FWOOSH—!
Blue flames rose from ritual braziers placed throughout the previously dark cavern.
At the same time.
WHOOOOOSH—!
An enormous amount of mana spiraled toward the Cannibal crouching at the center of the altar and was sucked into its body.
『The Cannibal is mutating.』
『The Tutorial effects applied to Cannibal’s Mansion have been drastically reduced.』
『Escape.』