Chapter 9: The Pest Control

The water was rising. It was up to their chests now.

Ren held the axe high. The tunnel was tight. He couldn’t swing it fully.

Skitter. Skitter.

The sound was everywhere. It echoed off the wet bricks.

“They’re coming!” Chloe screamed. She shone the flashlight down the tunnel.

The light hit a wall of brown shells.

Hundreds of them. Mutated Cockroaches. They were the size of footballs. Their antennas twitched. They moved fast, crawling over each other, covering the walls and the ceiling.

[Mutated Roach (Lvl 2)] [Status: Swarm] [Weakness: Fire]

Ren cursed. “Fire. We need fire.”

“I lost the lighter!” Chloe panicked. “It fell in the water!”

“Then we smash them,” Ren said.

The swarm hit them.

The first roach jumped at Ren’s face.

Ren punched it. His knuckles hit the hard shell.

Crack.

The shell broke. Yellow goo splattered on his hand. The roach fell into the water, twitching.

But three more took its place. They bit his arms. They bit his neck. Their mandibles were sharp like pliers.

[Health -2%] [Health -2%]

“Get off!” Ren roared.

He dropped the axe. It was useless in the swarm. He used his hands.

He grabbed a roach. He squeezed.

[Strength Check: Success.]

The roach exploded.

Ren didn’t stop. He was a machine. Grab. Crush. Throw.

But there were too many. They were covering Chloe. She was screaming underwater. They were drowning her.

Ren felt the hunger spike.

Eat.

He grabbed a roach that was biting his shoulder. He ripped its head off.

He didn’t chew. He swallowed the crunching mess.

It tasted like dirt and old oil.

Ding.

[Gluttony Activated.] [Consumed: Mutated Roach.] [Defense +1] [New Passive: Chitin Shell (Low)] [Description: Your skin hardens on impact.]

Ren felt his skin tighten. It turned a dull grey color.

Another roach bit his arm.

Clack.

It didn’t break the skin. It felt like it bit a rock.

Ren grinned.

“My turn,” he said.

He waded toward Chloe. She was underwater. He grabbed her collar and pulled her up.

She was coughing up water. A roach was clinging to her hair.

Ren crushed it against the wall.

“Move!” Ren yelled. “Behind me!”

He became a shield. He walked forward into the swarm.

The roaches bit him. They scratched him. But they couldn’t hurt him anymore. His Defense was too high for their low-level teeth.

Ren grabbed them by the handfuls. He ate the ones that got too close.

[XP Gained: 5] [XP Gained: 5] [XP Gained: 5]

He was farming them.

The swarm started to retreat. They realized he wasn’t food. He was a predator.

They scurried back into the dark cracks of the tunnel.

Ren stood in the water. He was covered in yellow slime and roach parts.

He looked at Chloe. She was shaking uncontrollably. Her skin was blue from the cold.

“We need to get out,” Ren said. “You’re freezing.”

He picked up his axe from the mud.

They kept walking.

The tunnel changed. The brick walls turned into concrete. The water got lower.

Ren used his Tremor Sense.

He felt something ahead. Not a swarm. Something big.

“Exit,” Ren said. “I feel a ladder.”

They turned a corner.

There was a large junction room. A rusted metal ladder went up to a manhole cover. Light was coming through the holes. Real sunlight.

But sitting at the bottom of the ladder was a lump.

It looked like a pile of trash bags. Wet. Black. Shiny.

Ren stopped.

The pile moved.

It wasn’t trash. It was a toad.

A massive, mutated toad. It was the size of a dumpster. Its skin was covered in warts that dripped purple sludge.

[Mutated Sewer Toad (Lvl 5)] [Status: Guarding]

It opened its eyes. They were gold with horizontal slits.

It croaked. The sound vibrated in Ren’s chest.

It saw them.

The throat sac inflated. It got huge.

“Duck!” Ren tackled Chloe.

PFFT.

The toad spit a glob of purple slime.

It hit the wall where they had been standing. The concrete sizzled. It melted instantly.

“Acid,” Ren noted. “Stronger than the tree.”

He looked at the axe. It was metal. The acid would melt it.

He looked at the toad. It was sitting right in front of the ladder.

“Stay here,” Ren told Chloe.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to tip the cow,” Ren said.

He activated Dash.

He ran along the curved wall of the tunnel. He avoided the water.

The toad turned. It tried to track him. Its tongue shot out.

Snap.

The tongue was pink and sticky. It moved faster than a bullet.

It hit Ren’s leg.

Ren didn’t get stuck. He spun. He swung the axe.

Chop.

He cut the tip of the tongue off.

The toad squealed. It pulled its tongue back.

Ren landed on the toad’s back. It was slippery. Warts burst under his boots, releasing toxic gas.

Ren held his breath.

He raised the axe.

“Open wide!”

He drove the axe into the toad’s head.

It bounced off.

The skull was thick. Rubber. The axe didn’t cut; it just bounced.

The toad bucked. It threw Ren off.

Ren hit the water.

The toad jumped. It jumped high. It aimed to crush him.

Ren rolled.

SPLASH.

The toad landed. The impact sent a wave of dirty water crashing into the walls.

Ren was on his feet. He was panting.

Physical attacks didn’t work well. The rubber skin absorbed the shock.

He needed to hurt it from the inside.

Ren looked at the severed tongue piece floating in the water.

The hunger growled.

Check for weakness.

Ren grabbed the piece of tongue. He ate it.

It was slimy. Salty.

[Gluttony Activated.] [Analysis Complete.] [Target Weakness: Salt / Dehydration.]

“Salt?” Ren thought. “I don’t have salt.”

He looked at Chloe. She was holding the bag of chemicals.

“The bleach!” Ren yelled. “Chloe! The bleach!”

Chloe scrambled. She pulled out a gallon jug of industrial bleach.

“Throw it!”

She threw it.

The jug flew through the air.

Ren jumped. He caught the jug in mid-air.

He landed in front of the toad.

The toad opened its mouth to eat him.

Ren uncapped the bleach.

“Drink up,” Ren said.

He shoved the whole gallon jug into the toad’s mouth. Then he kicked it down the throat.

The toad swallowed.

For a second, nothing happened.

Then the toad’s eyes went wide.

Bleach reacts with acid. It creates chlorine gas. And heat.

The toad started to swell. Steam came out of its nose.

It croaked—a wet, gurgling sound.

It started to vomit. Purple foam sprayed everywhere.

Ren backed away.

The toad convulsed. It rolled onto its back. Its white belly was exposed.

It kicked its legs once. Twice.

Then it stopped.

[Target Neutralized: Mutated Sewer Toad (Lvl 5)] [Experience Gained: 60] [Level Up!] [You are now Level 5.]

Ren didn’t celebrate. He was tired.

He walked over to the dead toad. He cut a slice of the belly meat. It was soft there.

He ate it.

[Gluttony Activated.] [New Skill: Jump (Active)] [Description: explosive leg strength. Can jump 5 meters high.]

“Useful,” Ren said.

He walked to the ladder. He checked it. It was rusted but solid.

He looked at Chloe. She was leaning against the wall. She looked like a ghost.

“Can you climb?” Ren asked.

She nodded weaky. “I think so.”

Ren pushed her up the ladder first. He climbed behind her, just in case she fell.

They reached the top.

Ren pushed the manhole cover. It was heavy.

Grind.

Iron scraped on asphalt.

Light poured in. Fresh air.

Ren climbed out. He pulled Chloe up.

They were on a street. The sun was setting. The sky was orange and black with smoke.

They were in the city center.

Ren looked around.

Cars were overturned. Windows were smashed.

But it was quiet here. Eerily quiet.

Ren looked at a street sign.

[Main Street / 5th Avenue]

Across the street, there was a grocery store. The glass front was shattered.

But the lights were on inside.

And standing in the window, watching them, was a man.

He was wearing a suit. He was clean. He held a glass of wine.

He smiled at Ren.

Ren used Analyze.

[Name: ???] [Class: Player] [Level: 8]

A player. A human. Level 8.

Ren gripped his axe.

The man raised his glass in a toast.

Ren didn’t smile back. His stomach growled.

“Finally,” Ren whispered. “Real food.”

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