A blue window materialized in the air right before his eyes.
[STATUS]
[Name: Max 79UG03]
[Level: 3]
[EXP: 0/100]
[HP: 120/120]
[MP: 120/120]
[Fatigue: 0]
[Class: Glutton (Unique) | Rank: ???]
[Title: null]
[STR: 12]
[AGI: 12]
[CON: 12]
[INT: 12]
[STA: 12]
[WIL: 12]
[Skills: Devour (Rank: ???)]
[Traits: Toxic Immunity (Rank: ???)]
[Devoured Experiences: 1]
Max’s jaw hung open as he scanned the information. His eyes locked onto the class line almost immediately.
’It doesn’t have a rank...’
That made no sense to him. From everything Max had studied, every single class on Earth was categorized with a letter rank from F to S.
That rank dictated a Player’s growth, power, and ultimate potential. Yet his rank was completely absent, marked only by three question marks.
He focused his mind on the class title, and a sub-window expanded beneath it.
[Class: Glutton (Unique)]
[Rank: ???]
[The user converts consumed matter into personal growth without limits.]
Max stared at those last two words. Without limits. The sheer absurdity of the claim made his mind reel, and he eagerly kept reading down the floating screen.
His stats made sense given that he had leveled up twice from killing the Goreboar, granting him a solid boost across the board. But then his gaze landed on his primary skill, and the System revealed its details.
[Devour (Rank: ???)]
[Cost: 0 MP]
[Target deceased matter to extract its essence.]
[Select one parameter per consumption:]
[Experiences] [Stats] [Memories] [Skills] [Class]
[Note: Yield rate is influenced by the power disparity between the user and the target. Parameters are listed in order of increasing rarity.]
Max’s mouth dropped even wider as he read through it.
’I can absorb stats? And not just stats... skills? Someone’s class?? Are those memories listed there too???’
He knew there had to be limits. The System note already suggested he wouldn’t get full efficiency from every meal, but that didn’t make the skill any less ridiculous.
It was standard knowledge that Players could only raise their stats by leveling up or using rare items that sold for hundreds of thousands, or even millions of credits!
Yet here was the System casually telling him that he could simply absorb stats from what he killed.
’And I still got stats from leveling up naturally,’ Max realized with excitement. ’It isn’t even replacing standard growth; it’s stacking on top of it!’
He stood up from his bed and paced the hospital room a few times before sitting back down with his hands clasped together and his head bent low in thought.
’It all makes sense now.’
No wonder his class was unranked and represented only by question marks.
Something this absurd, an ability that blatantly shattered the rules of the universe couldn’t possibly fit into Earth’s standard ranking system.
On top of that, it didn’t cost him a single drop of mana to use.
His breathing quickened with thrill.
’This is dangerous.’
Max could easily imagine the consequences if the world ever learned he could steal stats, skills, or classes just by devouring something.
They wouldn’t just treat him like a Player; they would view him as a threat to the global order.
A sudden, unhinged amusement bubbled up in his chest. Max threw his head back and began to laugh.
It started as a chuckle, then spiraled into a manic laugh as he marveled at how wildly the universe could come full circle.
Right as he was laughing, the hospital door pushed open.
A young nurse walked in carrying a tray of medical supplies and food. She froze and her eyes widened in terror at the sight of a white-haired patient cackling maniacally in the middle of the room.
She dropped her tray with a loud clatter and bolted back down the hallway.
"Oh, no... Not the food."
Max laughter stopped after he saw what happened.
People had always criticized his laugh while he was growing up.
"Hey, stop laughing... You laugh like a devil."
"Good lord, is that how you laugh? That’s next level weird."
"Seriously, Max, tone it down before you give someone a heart attack."
Max hadn’t thought much of it back then, but growing up he came to realize they might have been right. Still, he couldn’t help it.
He was just the kind of person who got genuinely amused over the most insane things.
Max let out a quiet sigh.
’None of that matters now. What matters is that I’m a Player, and I have the chance to become the best one to ever exist!’
With a fresh grin, his eyes moved down to the next unranked entry on his display.
His Trait.
Most Players awakened a Trait alongside their class. Usually, it was something simple that made their abilities work better, like Enhanced Perception or Accelerated Healing.
But what appeared on Max’s screen belonged to a completely different realm.
[Trait: Toxic Immunity (Rank: ???)]
[The user cannot be harmed by any form of toxic substance. You are immune. (Passive)]
Max dropped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling.
This one was just too crazy. Even more insane was that it was the ultimate punchline to four years of his life, delivered by the System with a straight face.
He had spent his entire adolescence trying to find a way to make monster flesh safe for humans to eat.
Every single approach had failed because condensed mana wasn’t a chemical impurity you could wash out, it was what the meat had become.
He hadn’t solved the scientific problem through research. He had simply bitten a monster pig in the head, and the universe had handed him a note reading:
<Problem solved. At least for you.>
’So I couldn’t fix the food, but I fixed the mouth.’
And then, about two seconds later, because his brain had never once in its life been polite about timing, a much more interesting question popped up.
’...Wait. What does this do to a Poisonmancer?’
He sat up straight again, eyes gleaming.
Poison-affinity mage classes were rare, vicious, and feared. Their entire combat identity relied on landing a single hit and waiting somewhere comfortable while their target succumbed.
Guilds paid stupid money for a good one because a single Poisonmancer could bring down a target far stronger than them if the fight lasted long enough.
Against Max? One of those was just a person putting on a harmless light show.
The System was explicitly stating he was fully immune.
’So even if an S-Rank Player hit me with poison, it wouldn’t harm me at all. Crazy!’
Max grinned again. His class truly couldn’t be compared to anyone else’s. In fact, there was no class he had ever heard of that could stand a candle against his.
A deep sense of satisfaction filled him. He could already imagine diving into Gates, hunting, and eating as much high-tier monster meat as he wanted.
But he still had one last line to explore.
He took a deep breath and focused on the final line of his status window.
[Devoured Experiences: 1]
Click.
Max was just about to go through that entry when he heard the door handle turn.
Two men in black suits wearing dark sunglasses walked in. Neither of their expressions looked friendly.