“Welcome back to Asteria, Roe.”(System)

 

I logged back in the next day. Being Saturday, I was free to spend as much time in-game as I wanted. I had a plan to help me gain a few levels and thus raise my attributes. This plan, however, required intelligent prey. The kind of prey that was intelligent enough to be insulted and tricked. 

 

I was going to hunt some gang members.

 

Almost every urban area in Asteria larger than a village had at least one gang inhabiting it’s alleys and back roads. I was going to exploit that to get some somewhat intelligent creatures to trick and fool into falling for a simple trap. 

 

As the world came into focus I immediately began heading for the alleys. 

 

Seeing the town change from clean, well-maintained roads that looked as if they were built yesterday, and buildings that looked aged yet well cared for, to paths with cracked and broken streets, sometimes made of dirt instead of stone. And buildings that looked old and decrepit with just a hint of life behind the walls of those closest to the main streets was, surreal.

 

I wandered the paths for several minutes, passing by various landmarks that told of a great history here. Even a place that looked like it was the original village that this city grew from. 

 

I took out the bag of coins that came with my starting equipment, and began twirling it around, humming as I walked.

 

It took a few more minutes before I came across my first victims. They were a group about three men strong with the leader being slightly cleaner than the others, he even had a sword sheathed on his waist. The biggest guy looked like a gorilla all things considered, his eyes almost comically small and hidden behind a flap of skin that could be considered his eyebrow. The last guy was short yet carried himself with a grace the other two didn’t, he had at least three knives sheathed on his belt and his steps were far more silent than they should’ve been.

 

The leader guy noticed me first, his eyes drawn to the money bag I was still swinging around. He whispered something to his buddies and they looked at me and grinned. The big guy moved to block my way forward and the little guy vanished from sight, likely cutting off my escape. 

 

The leader walked up to me. And I pretended to just notice him, I stopped humming and clutched my money bag close to my chest.

 

“What do we have here, a girl who doesn’t seem all that concerned about what she might run into here in the dark alleys. Who knows, she might just run into a couple thieves who would want to steal the money she’s so carelessly swinging around.”(Victim #1)

 

I kept my silence.

 

“She doesn’t seem to have any weapons. She can’t really hide anything actually dangerous in those rags. Herman! How much MP does she have?”(Victim #1)

 

“Practically none boss. Heck she couldn’t even cast a spell if she wanted to.”(Victim #3)

 

The second voice spoke up behind me, it must’ve been the little guy. So he can sense someone's MP huh? That’ll make the surprise so much better.

 

“What? No item’s, no MP. It’s like she’s begging to be robbed. Heck we should just put her outta her misery or somethin’.”(Victim #1)

 

“Heh ha ha ha!”(Roe)

 

I started giggling.

 

“Huh? What’s so funny?”(Victim #1)

 

“Well you see,” I pointed my right hand at him, “you’re an idiot.”(Roe)

 

“What did you say?!”(Victim #1)

 

He grabbed my outstretched arm and brought his face closer, clearly trying to be intimidating. I smiled at him as my arm turned into several tentacles that wrapped around his arm and kept me anchored to him. He had a funny look on his face as he failed to understand the sensations his arm was sending him. He Barely registered that my arm had turned into tentacles before the rest of my arm transformed into a massive gaping maw. He didn’t even scream as his body was drawn in and eaten. 

 

My arm was now a massive purple-skinned blob with teeth-like protrusions along the “Mouth” and several additional eyes. The other two were frozen in shock, confusion, and fear. Not understanding what just happened.

 

I felt the guy I had just eaten begin squirming, but my insides grew sharp fangs and began biting him over and over. 

You have gained the skill [Bite 1].

 

Proficiency threshold reached, the skill [Bite 1] has increased to [Bite 2]

 

Proficiency threshold reached, the skill [Bite 2] has increased to [Bite 3]

 

As biting him became easier and easier. I felt within my stomach, a sensation I hadn’t felt since the family reunion two years ago.

 

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What gave Rowan the urge to barf was not the fact that she was eating a human-like creature. This man really was just a game NPC and it was trivially easy to dehumanize him until performing immoral acts on him was only mildly disgusting. 

 

Nor was it the fact that her arm had transformed into an eldritch abomination and lovecraftian horror. This was her plan all along and she’s seen artwork for lovecraft fiction before, she could handle this.

 

Neither was it the fact that she just killed something. This was, after all, just a game. A game where respawning was a thing. The value of life in a video game was very different to the value of life in the real world.

 

No, what threatened to make Rowan regurgitate her breakfast and the last remains of last night's dinner, was the sensations. Body altering traits, skills, and spells all felt extremely unpleasant. The feeling of your body being remodeled like clay or putty was distressing. The game did have several features in place to mitigate the sensations, and several racial traits that changed the players form didn’t make any drastic changes and thus reduced the burden on the mind even further.

 

But the shapeshifting traits were never designed to accommodate lovecraftion biology. Rowan’s transformation overloaded the systems accommodation functions and hit her with the full brunt of the alien sensations of having her body changed and altered.

 

Ordinary players changing to shapes that were similar to their own still caused serious discomfort even with the system assistance. Rowan’s transformation fundamentally altered her body and overwhelmed the system's assistance functions.

 

She felt every unnatural, vomit-inducing, alien sensation from her arm. She felt the guy inside her, a human-shaped entity, struggling with his last breath and being eaten alive. 

 

She felt everything.

 

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I desperately held back the churning in my stomach that threatened to climb up my throat and kept up my attack. 

 

I felt him inside me. I felt my curved inner fangs pierce his skin and rip his flesh. I felt his entrails get pulled out of his body by my own, feeling like those ultra-long sausage chains. I felt his guts and organs spill from the open wound in his chest. I felt his head crack and crush under the repeated bites and nibbles.

 

You have slain [{100 Thieves Lieutenant} Wendel, level 17] you have gained 765 xp.

 

You have leveled up! Your level increased to 5, all attributes strengthened, you gained 40 attribute points

 

I felt stronger, faster, and my body felt more precise. During this I also felt how far behind my real body my game avatar was physically. I would look at my stats later. I also felt even more nauseous as the feeling of leveling up, the feeling of eating someone's crushed brain matter, and the alien sensations of my body clashed with each other.

 

I used my arm mouth to “eat” the corpse, eliciting another round of vomit-inducing nausea as said corpse was moved through my body, compressed by my [Gluttony] as it moved into my stomach. 

 

You have eaten 1 [Human Corpse, level 17]. You earned 27 Gluttony Points.

 

You have eaten 1 [Shiny Shortsword]. You earned 13 Gluttony Points.

 

You have eaten 1 [Studded Leather Chestplate]. You earned 6 Gluttony Points.

 

You have eaten 1 [Set of Clothes]. You earned 0.79 Gluttony Points.

 

You have Earned the {Human Gourmet} Achievement and got the {Monster} Title.

 

The other two finally recovered. The big guy in front of me squealed and backed away. I was about to step forward when I felt a dull pain in the back of my head, and the world went dark.

 

You have been struck and lost 84 HP

 

You have been slain by [{100 Thieves member} Herman, level 10]

 

Death Penalty Ignored due to [Immortality: Reincarnation]

 

Color returned to the world and I found myself standing in the spawn location.

 

A quick look confirmed that my arm was a normal human arm again. 

 

“System, log out. Headset, turn off.”(Roe)

 

I nearly threw my headset off my face as I sprung from the bed and bolted to the restroom. I positioned myself over the toilet and relaxed. Bile and Stomach acid gushed forth from my mouth mixed with semi-digested chunks of food which looked to me like bits of flesh and bone. This sight triggered a feedback loop of endless barfing and barfing until my stomach quite literally had nothing else to throw up. 

 

The nausea was subsiding and it was getting easier to breathe, so I went downstairs to get a glass of water with which to wash down whatever didn’t leave my throat. All while distracting myself from what just happened.

 

I then went back to my room and logged back into the game, reappearing in the plaza.

 

I figured I should check my attribute menu, see what gains I got from this excursion.

 

Name: Roe Height: 1.4m	Age: 18 Gender: Female	Race: Primordial Human	HP: 84/84	MP: 54/54	SP: 54/54	Level: 5 XP: 831	Xp to next level: 219
STR: 54	DEX: 54	CON: 54	INT: 54	WIS: 54	Attribute Points: 40	Achievements: 4	Titles: 4
Racial Traits:	[Immortality: Regeneration]	[Immortality: Eternal Youth]	[Immortality: Reincarnation]	[True Shapeshifting]	[Gluttony] GP: 46.82
Traits:
Skills:
Titles:	{Progenitor}	{Hardcore Gamer}	{True Immortal}	{Monster}

 

I didn’t remember getting a notification for the first three titles, what are they?

 

{Progenitor} Earned with the “First of Your Kind” achievement. For being the first of your race, you gain an extra attribute point in all stats upon level up.

 

{Hardcore Gamer} Earned with the “Most Hardcore” achievement. For playing as a race with the lowest playability rating, you gain a 10% XP boost.

 

{True Immortal} Earned with the “True Immortal” achievement. For having all three Immortality traits as racial traits, You gain the ability to live without eating, breathing, or sleeping. Though you may still indulge in these things.

 

{Monster} Earned with the “Human Gourmet” achievement. You’ve become a monster that has sampled human flesh. You deal an additional 3% damage against humans and humanoid creatures.

 

What the heck? What is with that {Monster} title. Ain’t it really good in the right circumstances? Regardless, I fulfilled my goal. Now I should be capable of hunting those Murder Bunnies. 

 

“System, log out.”(Roe)

 

I turned off the headset and got out of bed. I needed to get lunch and do my exercises for the day. While I was leaving my room, I was thinking back on that battle when I recalled the feeling that made me want to puke.

 

“Uuughh.”(Rowan)

 

My stomach started churning and I had to quickly put those thoughts out of my mind. I no longer had an appetite.