The two abominations closed in.
The Skelker—that bridge-crawling monstrosity—hissed through its gaping belly-mouth as it arched and twitched, preparing to lunge. Behind it, the massive Maw Heap—a bloated hill of flesh and mouths—oozed forward with disturbing patience, filling the street like living decay.
Daewon stumbled back, the machete in his hands trembling.
"What do I do… what do I…" he muttered, panicked.
His knuckles were white. His heart a war drum in his chest.
"I don't want to die…"
The Skelker shrieked, limbs contorting—and then it leapt.
"AHHH!" Daewon screamed, throwing his arms over his head.
It soared above him, unnaturally fast for its size.
Behind them, the Maw Heap dragged itself closer, mouths muttering unintelligible groans as it tasted the air.
Daewon's thoughts were pure static—until voices rang in his ears.
'Daewon…'
'When will you grow up a bit? You're 20 years old—stop acting like a kid.'
His mother's voice. Calm, scolding. Full of care.
'Oppa…'
'Stop looking at my friends like that! It's disgusting!'
His sister, bratty and annoying, like always.
Daewon's breath caught.
He smiled bitterly.
They were waiting for him. They had to be.
He couldn't die here.
He refused.
The grip on the machete tightened. His hands stopped shaking.
Until he found them—until he saved them—dying wasn't an option.
The Skelker spun in the air, its belly-mouth wide open, rows of needle teeth ready to tear him apart.
Daewon dropped low—ducked—and with a shout, swung the machete up as hard as he could.
CLANG!
Metal met bone.
The blade carved into its neck—but stopped.
He felt the spine.
But the blade didn't go through.
"Fuck!" he growled.
Dark, tar-like blood exploded from the wound, splashing his face and chest. It stank like rot and oil.
The Skelker shrieked, twisting mid-air in fury, but Daewon didn't wait—he rolled away, just before its claws shredded the asphalt where he'd stood.
The gash in its neck hissed, pouring black gore. But it still moved. Still hunted.
He backed off, breathing hard, machete slick with ichor.
"I hurt it… but it's not enough…"
The Skelker crouched low again, preparing to pounce.
Then—
SLURCHHHH.
A thunderous weight shifted behind it.
Daewon's eyes widened.
The Glutwallow had finally reached them.
It loomed behind the Skelker like a mountain of death, its mouths chomping, muttering, licking, tasting the blood in the air. Its presence made the air feel thicker. Heavy. Wrong.
And the Skelker—
It paused.
Daewon didn't understand what he was seeing.
Until one of the Glutwallow's mouths bit down on the Skelker's twisted leg.
CRACK!
The Skelker screamed, flailing, claws slashing—but the Maw Heap didn't care. More mouths lunged, biting at the mutant's back, pulling it in like meat being fed to a grinder.
Daewon stood there, stunned.
"What the f—"
The Maw Heap was eating it.
One mutant consuming another.
The street echoed with wet squelches and bone snaps.
Daewon turned to run—only to freeze.
Another wave of zombies had arrived.
Dozens of them.
Normal ones, this time. Broken humans with sunken eyes and twitching limbs, snarling as they staggered forward like a tide of death.
"Shit…" he gasped.
SLURCH.
The sound came from behind him. Wet. Heavy.
His eyes widened in horror. He spun—
The Maw Heap loomed.
It struck like an avalanche of flesh, its warped mass lurching forward faster than before—and then engulfed him.
"MOTHERF—!"
Flesh wrapped around him like sludge. Countless mouths opened, gnashed, bit. Daewon thrashed in the suffocating, meat-like prison, sinking deeper into its blubbery mass. The stink of bile and rot filled his nose. Maws clamped around his legs, his side, his shoulder—
"FUCK! I am not gonna let you kill me!"
He screamed, hacking wildly with his machete.
"YOU FUCKING DISGUSTING SHIT!"
His blade slashed left, right, carving through gums and tongues and yellowed teeth. Blood—if it could be called that—spurted black and sticky. He hacked again, breath burning, until—
CHOMP.
A set of jaws clamped onto his arm.
"ARRRRGHHHHHH!"
The machete slipped from his hand, vanishing into the pulsing dark.
Pain tore through him like a lightning strike. His veins blackened. He could feel it—the infection. It crawled under his skin like worms. The virus was overtaking him.
More mouths bit. He was being consumed alive.
His legs were buried. His side crushed. Only his head remained above the Maw Heap's roiling surface.
His screams became gurgles.
And then—
"You…"
Something in him snapped.
His eyes rolled back, turning pitch-black. Veins blackened and bulged.
"You're not the only one who can devour!"
He bit down.
Sank his teeth into the Maw Heap's flesh.
Ripped a chunk out—and spat it.
Then he did it again.
And again.
Gnashing, chewing, biting, snarling like an animal possessed.
He didn't care. His left arm was gone. Torn away.
But he refused to die.
And something—something—answered him.
A hiss in the air.
A breathless silence.
Then—
A dark mist erupted around them.
Pitch-black.
It swirled and pulsed like something alive. From within, mouths appeared—jagged and sharp. They snapped and devoured the Maw Heap.
Chunk by chunk, bite by bite.
As the mist feasted, Daewon's flesh began to mend.
His body, once on the verge of decay, now pulsed with strange vitality. His veins turned from black to a glowing obsidian hue. His skin knit back together.
Only his left arm remained missing.
But the rest?
He was alive. Stronger. Changed.
The Maw Heap was gone.
Completely devoured by the mist and Daewon himself.
And then—
DING.
A white panel blinked into existence before his eyes.
[Congratulations.]
[You have successfully awakened.]
[Inner Power awakened: Predation]
[You have devoured a Mutant with Predation.
[+1 Strength]
[Predation has successfully devoured the Zombie Virus.]
[+0.01 Endurance]
Daewon blinked. Panting.
"Wh… What is this?"
More panels appeared, flickering into view. Stats. Skills. Notifications.
"It looks like a… game?" he whispered. "Predation…? What the hell's that?"
No answer.
Only the groaning of the horde.
Dozens of zombies still marched toward him.
He staggered back. His vision blurred.
The stump of his missing arm gushed red. His regeneration had stopped there. Pain throbbed through every nerve.
He couldn't run.
Not anymore.
Not like this.
His knees buckled.
"I…"
Blood leaked from his lips. The world spun.
"I'm… sorry, Mom… Narae… I couldn't keep my promise…"
His eyes closed.
Darkness took him.
He collapsed to the cold, cracked street.
To be continued...
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Okay, how was this second chapter? Liked it?
Am I doing good so far?