Then, everything went white.
When I opened my eyes again, I felt the cold evening wind brush against my skin.
I moved slightly.
The wet concrete beneath me pressed hard against my back. My whole body ached, like I'd been beaten from head to toe. My breath came in short gasps as the sharp smell of piss and smoke hung heavy in the air.
A car honked somewhere in the distance.
Above me, neon signs buzzed quietly. The sky was dark and cloudy, but the streets glowed with a dirty, flickering light—wet asphalt, grease stains, and grimy alleys. It was disgusting… and completely unfamiliar.
I sat up slowly, careful not to make too much noise.
I was currently only wearing a thin hospital gown that barely covered me. My arms felt weak and thin, my hair stuck to my sweaty face, and my bare feet were cold against the rough pavement.
Where the hell was I?
And more importantly… what had I just been thrown into?
"Oi, look at this freak," someone sneered.
Two men stood across the street—greasy hair, gold chains, cheap leather jackets. One puffed on a cigarette while the other had a bat slung casually over his shoulder. Both looked at me with mocking smiles.
"Yo, what's wrong with your face?" the one with the cigarette laughed. "Looks like someone tried to melt it with acid and gave up halfway."
The other one snorted. "Probably why he's dressed like that. Can't get any women lookin' like a monster."
I said nothing.
My eyes scanned them sharply, calculating their every move.
[Devour available.]
I clenched my fists. The urge to try out my new ability—to see what it could do, and to test if this world was as weak as my previous one—burned under my skin.
The man with the bat stepped forward. "Hey! We're talkin' to you, freak—"
Crunch.
I smashed my fist straight into his nose before he could finish speaking, blood spraying everywhere as he dropped to the ground, screaming.
The other man barely had time to react before I closed the distance, drove my knee into his gut, and slammed my elbow into the back of his head—his body collapsing to the ground like a sack of meat.
But I wasn't done yet.
I grabbed the bat the first guy had dropped, lifted it, and brought it down hard on the second guy's head—once, twice—until I heard the sick crunch of his skull breaking.
Then I turned back to the first guy, who was still groaning on the ground, blood pouring from his face.
I walked over and finished him off with one brutal swing.
A wave of thoughts passed through my mind at that moment.
"If you guys hadn't gotten in my way and given me a reason to kill you, I wouldn't have done it. After all, I'm not some murder hobo. But you had to run your mouth and insult me. I guess the saying 'when you fuck around, you find out' is true… but you just weren't smart enough to know that."
Silence fell.
Only then did I stretch out my hand.
Black mist oozed from my palm.
It moved like smoke, wrapping around their bodies. Flesh sizzled. Skin rotted. Muscle fell apart.
The mist swallowed them whole, leaving no blood or mess behind.
---
[You have devoured: Human (Low Quality) x2]
[+0.1 Strength]
[+0.1 Constitution]
[Acquired: Street Clothes, 6,000 yen, Metal Bat]
---
While looting whatever remained from these two men, I caught sight of my reflection in a puddle beside my feet.
I froze.
The swelling on my cheeks was gone. The grotesque asymmetry of my jawline had softened. The burn-like scars that twisted one side of my face had faded slightly, replaced with rough but healthier skin.
I leaned in.
Still ugly… but no longer hideous.
"…Interesting."
So my ability didn't just give me strength. It was also fixing me—healing the wreck I used to call a face.
I smirked faintly, the expression now less horrifying than it used to be.
I reached down and put on the gangster clothes with less blood on them. The clothes stank. They were tight. But at least they were mine now.
I also took the money and the bat, slipping both into my new jacket.
I looked around.
No witnesses.
No police.
Only the hum of neon lights and the smell of blood in the air.
A small smirk tugged at my lips.
"So this is the kind of world I'm in… heh."
I started walking.
A few blocks down, I heard voices—taunting, sharp, laced with malicious amusement.
A woman was backed into a grimy alley, her back pressed against the wall. Three men closed in with predatory smirks. One grabbed her wrist. She slapped his hand away. They laughed.
I stopped at the alley entrance, my eyes cold as I gripped the metal bat in my hand.
None of the thugs noticed me.
Not until it was too late.
I stepped forward.
Crack.
My bat smashed into the first thug's skull with a wet thud. Bone shattered. Blood sprayed across the alley wall.
The other two turned.
Too slow.
I pivoted, slamming the bat into the second thug's ribs, then struck the last one in the jaw with the end of the bat's handle. His teeth scattered across the concrete like dice.
The thugs all fell—gurgling, gasping, dying.
But I wasn't done with them yet.
I raised my bat again and brought it down, smashing their heads into pulp—one after another. Blood pooled beneath them, mixing with fragments of skull and gore.
Only then did I raise my hand.
The black mist came again—thicker now, more aggressive.
It coiled around their bodies, sinking into their skin, stripping their muscles, and reducing their flesh to withered husks.
---
[You have devoured: Human (Low Quality) x3]
[+0.1 Strength]
[+0.1 Dexterity]
[+0.1 Constitution]
[Acquired: 60,000 yen]
---
I didn't even glance at the girl, who had sunk to her knees in shock.
I turned to her slowly, my expression blank.
"Speak about this," I said, my voice low, "and I'll find you."
She nodded rapidly, terrified.
I walked past her, tucking the new cash I'd obtained into my pocket.
A few turns later, I found a run-down business hotel. Flickering sign, front desk with a sleeping clerk.
I tossed some money on the counter. "One night."
The man didn't ask questions.
Room key in hand, I walked up the stairs, bat slung across my shoulder, the stench of blood still fresh in my nostrils.
I didn't care.
I was alive again.
And this world was ripe for my taking.