[You have consumed 80 Terror Cores.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[...]
[Hollow Core Level: Lvl 16.]
With every single level up, Somnu felt a rush of energy course through his entire body, perhaps even his soul. The renewed thoughts from deep within his psyche attested to that fact.
He didn’t want to admit it, but a few seconds later, and he might have actually died for good.
Despite the pain and agony he was still feeling throughout his body, it didn’t begin to compare to what he had been experiencing just moments ago.
Now, the convulsing had stopped, his temperature returned to normal and he was slowly able to breathe again.
Although he still didn’t dare to move, he could tell the chunks of flesh that were bit and ripped out of him, along with the rotting flesh on his face, had both been healing rapidly with every single level up.
And after 8 levels, the wounds were regenerated enough that he could rely on his boosted general abilities to heal them slowly for the next few hours.
“That… was close…” He mumbled, finally trying to move his body slightly, aiming for the nearest wall.
“!”
That’s when Fala finally noticed her master’s supposed dead body moving. She had stayed snuggled into his hair until his body gave out and died. At least, that’s how it must have seemed to her..
However, now…
“Caaw! Caaw! Caaw!”
She didn’t even spare a second and attacked the rising corpse, digging her talons into it.
“Hey! Stop it! What’s gotten into you?! I’m not a zombie!” Somnu tried to defend himself, every move sending new pain signals to his brain.
“!”
Hearing him talk as always, Fala’s onslaught came to a halt. She stood for a moment, simply looking at her master. If a crow could have wide eyes, she would have definitely shown them.
Although she couldn’t comprehend how he could have possibly survived, Fala reflexively flew into his chest.
“Caaw!”
“Aww!” Somnu let out as he caught her.
He was sure he had glimpsed a tear from the bird, but he chose not to comment and instead held it close to his chest and stroked the feathers on its back slowly. Leaning on the wall behind him, a slight cold breeze passed the silent hallway, allowing them a moment of calmness.
“It’s okay, I’m fine… we’re both fine.” A soft smile formed on Somnu’s face, accompanied with a sigh of relief that released all the accumulated tension in his body.
In his last moments, Somnu had at least wanted to make sure Fala would be safe and no longer affected by the zombie creature’s rotting effects.
He had been glad she was okay then, and once again, was glad she still was now.
But that did not compare to what the crow companion had gone through. She had been summoned to witness the death of her master and the very reason of her existence. She had decided to die along with him, to stay with him to the very end.
Her feelings, a crow’s feelings, could not be described.
Crows hold grudges for generations, perhaps forever. However, they also held other feelings for just as long.
“!”
Finally coming to, Fala suddenly flew out of her master’s arms, quickly disappearing down the hallway.
“W-what are you doing? H-hey!” Somnu tried to call after his crow companion despite the pain.
Seeing her refuse to turn back again, he gave up and leaned back on the wall.
“Probably scouting…” He figured, then pulled up the pop-up messages he had missed, or refused to read while on the verge of dying.
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]
[Rank of Nightmare Creature: Specter.]
[Specter Name: Contagious Corpse.]
[Contagious Corpse: A walking rotting corpse based on the fear of being eaten alive, Vorarephobia, and the fear of decaying matter, Seplophobia. This Nightmare Creature typically chases its prey down, quickly inflicting it with a rotting effect and forcing it to eat its own flesh.]
[Specter Level: Lvl 1.]
[Specter Level: Lvl 1.]
[Specter Level: Lvl 1.]
[...]
“Seriously…? All these zombies were level 1?” Somnu felt another headache creeping in. “These levels don’t mean much unless there is a big gap, huh? I was level 8 you know…?”
Despite his words, he was grateful for that very fact. If it was any different, he would not have been able to beat the level 14 Specter, Slowing Bunny, with a level 2 Hollow Core of his own. He wondered if Grudgekeeper had been the reason for his win then.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]
“!” Suddenly, another message popped up.
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]
[...]
[Rank of Nightmare Creature: Lurker.]
[Lurker Name: Dancing Worm.]
[Dancing Worm: A worm based on the fear of worms, Scoleciphobia. This Nightmare Creature typically latches on to other Nightmare Creatures and attempts to leech off of them.]
“I forgot… There were flies and worms on the corpses…” Somnu shook his head, he would have preferred to not remember, despite the headless corpses still laying around him.
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]
[...]
[Nightmare Creature Rank: Lurker.]
[Lurker: Soul-Sucking Mosquito.]
Seeing as it was the same type he had already beaten, Somnu skipped the rest of the pop-ups and moved to the additional rewards.
[All rewards calculations are complete.]
[You have obtained 24 Transparent Terror Cores.]
[All rewards have been sent to your inventory.]
[Would you like to consume available Terror Cores now?]
Yes, consume all of them.
[You have consumed 24 Transparent Terror Cores.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[Hollow Core Level: Level 19.]
Since he needed 3 more Terror Cores previously, Somnu quickly did the math in his head and made a mental note about this level. He was level 19, with one Terror Core consumed. He needed 9 more for level 20.
Nevertheless, the 3 additional level ups definitely made him feel much better again, both emotionally and physically.
After that, he moved on to something else he had noticed.
“So, no Ego Particles from any of them either.” He commented, then remembered. “Wait, I guess that makes sense since this isn’t part of the Nightmare Layers… No Sleepers means they can’t grow stronger either…”
Just as he took another second to think about it, Somnu realized another contradiction.
“If that’s the case, how did the zombies become Specters? Or are they assigned that rank after they come into being?” He questioned, but without sufficient data on the matter, he couldn’t come to an answer and dropped the matter for the time being.
Instead…
[Crow’s Call]
“...”
Somnu raised an eyebrow at his crow companion after she appeared from the summoning smoke again. For some reason, it had her back to him.
“What’s up with you? I really think we had a bonding moment there, you know?”
“...”
It was strange. Crows were the enemy of scarecrows, and yet, Somnu’s first real friend since childhood was turning out to be a crow.
Some might laugh at him if they heard, but he would make sure no one ever found out.
“Alright then, first things first.” He fixed his posture and decided to just cut straight to the matter. “Did you see more enemies on your scouting?”
“Caaw. Caaw.”
“...” Somnu had received his answer, but the shift in attitude was apparent. “Did you see an exit?”
“Caaw.”
“Okay, we need to find a way out of here. A way back to the First Layer where the enemies are more manageable.” He said, then a sudden shudder took over as a realization popped into his mind. “I guess we were lucky we only met Lurkers and Specters, huh?”
“Caaw.”
“I understand if you don’t want to, but how about eating these corpses?”
“...”
Seeing Fala turn and glare at him, Somnu hunched his back forward.
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked… She was pretty scared there for a second…
“!”
However, a moment later, Fala hopped closer and started digging in, not even batting an eye.
Was she not scared of them?
Either way, Somnu knew she would need to help. The only one who could eat the corpses fast would be Grudgekeeper.
“Wait a minute…” Somnu’s eyes widened. “Wouldn’t that mean I would get full from zombie corpses…?!”
The cockroaches had been one thing, he was grateful for Grudgekeeper eating that in his stead, but this wasn’t something Somnu was just willing to accept.
Do I really need those levels…? I’m fine just leveling my Hollow Core right? Grudgekeeper can wait… He tried to bargain with himself.
“Screw it… You already ate the heads anyway…”
He finally gave in. If he were to somehow survive in this unknown place, he needed every single power up he could get his hands on.
And there was one more thing bothering him.
“Whatever crashed the ceiling above the summoning circle room earlier is still out there…”
He knew he needed to be vigilant at all times.
With his new chance at life, he couldn’t waste it.
***
A few minutes later, the corpses had been eaten and Grudgekeeper had gotten stronger, reaching level 34, missing just 1 Core or Particle for the next level up.
Somnu carefully walked through the angled and brightly lit hallway, following Fala’s lead and eventually reaching a big entrance to another room.
“Is this…?”
Somnu looked around him with awe. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“We’re freaking rich!” He shouted.
He had stumbled on the treasure room, or more specifically, Fala had kindly led him there.
There were chest boxes, mountains of gold coins, and a myriad of shiny objects filling the room, making the lights from the torches almost blinding as everything glowed in the reflections.
“Fill your pockets, Fala! With this, we can get the best equipment to protect the farms!” Somnu shouted while he ran to the nearest treasure. “Oh wait, you don’t have pockets… and you’re a crow… never mind.”
The second he knelt down and reached for the first stack of gold coins, his hand seemed to go right through it.
“...”
He tested it again a few times, closing his hands in hopes of grabbing life-changing treasure. After a fruitless struggle, it finally became clear he would not be able to touch any of it.
“Crow-shit! Is it some kind of illusion, or…?”
Just then, a new pop-up message alerted him.
It was one he had never seen before.
[A Memento is responding to your presence...]
[A long lost Memento is deeply moved by your aspirations.]
[Obtaining Memento…]
“What?!”
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