[No one is watching. The reward will be given now]

The Mobius Superstring allowed me to receive my reward only after a considerable amount of time had passed.

Creepy.

Whooosh.

The space split open, and out of a purple void, a stack of fifty thousand won bills popped out.

I promptly picked up the money and stashed it into my backpack.

I rushed over to my parents' home.

"Phew...Hoo..."

*

My heart was slamming in my chest. I was worried about the large sum of money in my bag and that someone had been watching me.

It couldn't have been a harmless coincidence that someone had been looking at me in that deserted alleyway.

"Who could it be?"

I quickly arrived home and pressed the one million won into my mother's hand.

Her eyes widened.

"What is this?"

"Oh, not much. I've been doing some translating in addition to working at the convenience store."

"What? Translating? Were you that good at English?"

"Of course, Mother."

My mother smiled brightly.

She had been the pillar of this house.

She was single-handedly taking care of this family of three.

I can only imagine the amount of pressure on her shoulders.

I would easily get by with the money I got from the convenience store and have more than enough for this month.

"Thank you, dear. You've worked really well. How are your studies coming along?"

"Great, of course."

I had a comfortable and warm conversation with my mother for the first time in a while.

I scarfed down the food my mother had prepared for me before going into my old room.

My younger brother was hunched over in the room.

"Aren't you going to say hello to your brother?! What're you..."

My younger brother was crying.

I found something strange on the back of his uniform.

I felt like I was losing my mind as I approached him.

"What's this?"

My brother flinched as he turned back towards me and hushed me with tears in his eyes.

I silently nodded at my brother's pleas and quietened down.

I couldn't understand what was happening.

He was covered in bruises, burns, and awful things were written across his back in permanent marker.

I felt anger bubbling in my stomach.

"What happened?"

"Be quiet. Mom's going to hear."

"All right, all right. Now tell me what happened."

In the midst of all this, my younger brother was trying to keep all of this a secret from our mother.

Although he was only in middle school, he was so considerate.

I couldn't believe this had happened to him.

"They're some kids in my class," my brother said curtly.

I could piece together what had happened.

Some troublemakers were pretending to be gangsters in his class.

It would have been all right if they were 'playing' gangsters at school, but they had crossed a line when they had bullied students that were weaker than them.

I was reminded of an idiotic hyena of a boy that had looked down on me for being docile and had tried to bully me.

I had beat him up so badly that he never dared to look my way again.

I had been a weakling myself, but the other boy had been even worse.

"How long has it been going on for?"

"It's been a while. It was never this bad, though. They flipped out because I refused to pay them money."

"Have you been giving them money before?"

"Yeah... I'm so sorry."

"No. There's nothing for you to apologize for."

I could feel rage stirring within me.

I rarely got angry, but I now my hands were trembling with wrath.

I felt so sorry for my little brother.

This boy had no father, and the only male figure he had was me, his older brother.

While this poor boy was being abused and beaten, I had been spending my time fooling around with a girl I barely knew.

"I'm sorry."

my anger boiled over, and I felt like crying.

My younger brother looked at me and tapped me lightly.

"Bro, don't go overboard now."

He was a brave boy who could joke even in a situation like this.

"Open social media and show me what they look like and tell me their names."

"Why? What are you planning to do? Don't make this into a big deal."

"I'm being serious. Tell me who they are."

It had been a really long time since I showed my stern face to my little brother.

The last time had been when he had been mouthing off to Mom because he was going through puberty.

"Okay. Don't look at me like that."

My brother showed me those bastards' despicable faces on his phone.

I wanted to use my powers to order them to harm themselves in my current state.

I wanted to hurt them for what they had done.

But I was going to fall asleep any time now.

Moreover, I didn't have any Superiority Points saved up.

"Jun-soo. Hold on a little bit, all right?"

"Yeah, okay. I don't expect much, but don't go out and do anything that will hurt you. I can always report them or ask the school for help."

"All right. I'll try to solve it before it gets to that point. Just wait a couple of days. You don't have to go to school. I'll make up something and tell mom."

"Really?"

My younger brother was not a model student either.

Like me, he wasn't very smart.

However, I had never expected that something like this would happen. I had always assumed Jun-soo would have an everyday school life.

I felt awful that he looked so happy that he didn't have to go to school.

"Yeah, I mean it. Take this and have some fun. But only go to places you won't run into them. I'll figure it out," I handed him the card from my pocket.

It was connected to the account I had just received the money in.

"Wow. I didn't know my brother was this cool."

"Shut up and go to bed. And work out sometime. You need to stop something like this from happening again. Have you been to the hospital?"

"No."

"Well, go to the hospital, first thing tomorrow morning. And don't go to school. Do you understand?"

"Alright, hyung!"

He used to be an annoying little brother, but he was listening to me obediently today.

How hard must it have been for him to be so meek?

How long had he been waiting for me to extend a helping hand?

I felt like I would cry, but I held back my tears.

It wouldn't help to cry in front of my younger brother.

"Go to bed. I'm going to get some fresh air."

"All right."

I went outside and told my mother that my younger brother was scheduled to go to a special camp for a few days.

My mother was happily counting the cash that I had given her.

In the meantime, I took my mother's phone and blocked my younger brother's homeroom teacher's number.

"Why don't we all have dinner together tomorrow and eat grilled pork belly at home?"

"That would be nice!" I smiled at my mother and left the house.

"Whooo!"

I wanted to scream out loud, but I held it in. After all, it was late at night.

I would fall asleep soon.

I felt this night would be particularly long.

I wanted to see the bastards that had hurt my little brother so badly.

"Ha... Damn it,"

I felt the anger creeping up again.

I wondered if I could order them to commit suicide.

How many points would it cost?

"Calm down..."

If I did that, my brother would suffer from shock.

I wouldn't care if a few bullies disappeared, but I knew I had to handle it more humanely.

It wouldn't be good if I treated others' lives like nothing because I had the Mobius Superstring.

"Ha..."

I was barely able to calm myself down as I returned to the house.

Both my mother and brother had fallen asleep.

Now that I thought about it, I had been inattentive towards my family, using my busy life as an excuse.

Although I had given both of them some money today, I needed to take care of them more.

"Phew."

I lay next to my brother and closed my eyes.

Kids today were more violent than actual gangsters.

But I was heading towards actual hell, where there was only a fine line between life and death.

*

When I opened my eyes, I was by the Rich Pit.

[Karmon - 1st floor - Rank 101]

Thankfully, my progress had remained unchanged.

I looked inside the Rich Pit.

I could hear pheromone communication that the top dogs were having.

A corner of my brain began to tickle.

-I heard the 101st place was replaced.

-I've heard that too.

-Why hasn't it come over here?

-It should be able to use pheromones to communicate.

-I wonder if it is stupidly wandering about.

They seemed to be talking about me.

When I looked around, every creature looked smaller and inferior.

It was evident that the 100 creatures, ranked higher than I, were all assembled at the Rich Pit to feed.

Like the name suggested, the Rich Pit was situated right under the large hole in the ceiling and was flowing with excrement.

-Hi there, I'm 101st.

-Oh, so you are!

-You're the one who replaced the former 101.

-Former rank 101? What happened to him?

I asked, curious.

-He was kicked out of the Rich Pit.

-Since you're here, you need to take the test.

-What test?

-Only those above rank 100 can live within the Rich Pit. You need to fight the rank 100 and beat him to live here.

There was not much difference between a rank or two, but there were always other variables than rank.

The Supremacists were being selective.

They wouldn't let just anyone into the Rich Pit.

[Join the Supremacists in the Rich Pit. Reward: Level Up]

I stretched my body.

-All righty then, where is this rank 100.

The Dungeon was a jungle anyway.

I had already consumed countless creatures on the first floor. How was 100th any different?

I decided to join the Supremacists at their table. 100th crawled towards me from a distance.

In its own way, the 100th was trying to scare me by exaggerating its movements.

At a glance, he was similar in size to me.

The key to victory would be who would take up a position of advantage and consume the opponent.

Of course, that was only when I hadn't used my Awakening.

-Are you ready?                                                                                         

-Yes.

-What a pity, you're going to become my food right after discovering the Rich Pit. But lucky for me that I don't have to eat this sludge for once.                                                  -You would've fared better if you were the former 101st. At least he was spared death.

The surrounding Supremacists tried to scare me off from their pedestals. I silently waited for the 100th to approach me.

-Bon appetit! Don't feel too bad. At least you got to see the Rich Pit before you died. 

-You should have stayed in the fringe with the other inferior creatures!

-Oh, you were drawn here by the voices, but they were the voices of grim reapers.                  -You were going to die anyway!

The 100th came right up to me and opened his mouth wide. It thought that I had frozen in fear.

[Activate Power 2 - Awakening]

Kraaaa. My body swelled, and for a second, all of the creatures around me looked small. I was looking down on them.

-What?

"Kkuruk!"                                                                                                          I widened my jaw and swallowed the creature whole.

"Kurreh!"                                                                                                      It screamed in surprise.

Gulp.

It was in my stomach, dissolving into mush.

[Level Up!] [Lv.8301 / Power: 0.8301] [Activate Power 1 - Learning Rate 1000%]                                   

I returned to my normal size. But I couldn't help but draw attention.

I had consumed the 100th, so it would be a given that I was now 100.

-What was that?

-How did you do that? You got bigger.

-Are you a Skillholder like Uz?                   

Uz? I should remember that name.

I hadn't been able to use my Ability Absorption yet, but I felt like I would use it soon.

-Yes.                                                                                                                           

  I answered curtly.                                                                                 

-Wow! What a Skill! To think you can expand your body like that!                                             

-You are the new 100! Welcome to the Rich Pit.                                                             

The creatures began to move. I guessed as to what they were doing.                   

-You're... not 100?                                                                                               

[Karmon - 1st floor - Rank 94]                                                                                         

I had consumed the 100th and had leveled up as a result.

The other Supremacists thought I would take on the 100th rank but were surprised to see that I advanced even further.

-I don't just expand in size. I can also hide my strength.

-Wow! Does that mean your rank changes as well? That's amazing.

-You're ranked higher than I.

The creatures ranked 95 and above kept their distance and began to speak to me respectfully. They had been prepared to take a swing at me but had been surprised when the tables had turned.

-You can communicate with others and take breaks between eating here.                        -Breaks?

Rank 85 was calm.

It was confident that it was strong enough to beat me with, seeing as there were nine places between us.

I would think not...

-Yes, that's right. Breaks. When you were outside of this Pit, you would have spent every second finding something to keep you alive. It's different in here. The higher your rank, the longer your break is.

I could guess what this society was like.

All of the creatures on the first floor had a one-minute time limit between feedings.

[Time left to survive: 45s]

If you didn't eat within that time, you would die.

You couldn't spend the one minute idling about.

You would need to crawl around looking for the next thing to consume.

However, it was different if the food flowed down from the ceiling above you.

-I understand. How long is my Breaktime?

-4 seconds.                                                                                                                             

-What?

-If the lower ranks don't eat diligently, then the higher ranks would get buried in this junk. Serve them joyfully. I'm in the same position as you.

I couldn't believe what I heard.

It was worse to be in the Rich Pit if you were lower-ranked.

The only upside was that you would never starve to death.

However, they would have to consume the filth in agony, more often than any creatures outside the Pit.

It was worse than being a slave.

-Well, all right.

Since I had entered the Rich Pit, I would consume diligently.

I began to eat up the piles of sludge.

I had no intention to be ranked so low for too long.

Although I was disgruntled, I would pretend to be okay.

[Level Up!] [Lv.8312 / Power: 0.8312]

I continued to feed while activating my Learning Rate to 1000%.

I felt my levels rising quickly again.

"Kkuruk."

I began to think.

It would be better for me to leave the Pit and consume all the other creatures and return to the Pit when I'm much stronger.

-94! So you're the new guy. Don't think of trying to get out. I'll eat you if you try.

Threatened 32, with its large body crawling towards me.

It wanted me to stay and continue consuming silently so that I didn't disturb its rest.

Only those ranked 100 or lower would have the capabilities to consume these large amounts.

-All right.

"Kkurek."

I continued to look around while eating.

I had entered the Rich Pit because of the Mirror Quest and to collect information.

But spending more time here was useless for me.

This was especially true if you were ranked as low as I was.

I wanted to keep rushing up in rank.

"Kreeeeupp."

The higher-ranked creatures were clever.

They kept crawling around the periphery, keeping the other creatures in line.

[Level Up!] [Lv.8394 / Power: 0.8394]

During this time, I kept ascending ranks.

One interesting thing that I discovered was that the ascension rate had slowed as I gained strength.

Although I had become close to level 9000, I had yet to reach 89.

I guess there was a big difference.

"Grrrrrrrrr."

I found a corner of the Rich Pit guarded by 45.

Although I couldn't eat it, I could push it aside and escape the Pit.

I would spend a little more time getting stronger and then try to escape as soon as I hit 79.

"Kkuerk."

[Level Up!] [Lv.9055 / Power: 0.9055]

I was eating near the creature ranked 45 when I felt my surroundings become noisy.

-Oh, Ruler of the First Floor!

-What brought you here...?

-It's Uz!

I turned around to see the strongest creature on the first floor.

It was larger than any other creature I had seen.

-Are you the newbie? Hmm, I heard you were ranked 94, but it seems you ascended to 85.

-Yes. that's correct.

-Haha. Hiding your strength and growing your body! You'd make a great servant.

-I will do my best.

-Hurry and ascend higher than 50.

This Uz was as arrogant as his rank suggested.

When Uz had turned around, I smiled and activated my third ability.

[Activate Power 3 – Ability Absorption. Target: Uz]

I felt a storm stirring up in my body.

I felt Uz's ability get quietly absorbed into my body.

I experienced a searing pain in my body which soon transformed into a strange new organ.

[Ability Absorbed: Poison-stinging Antena]

[You have attained the necessary information and skill to utilize this new ability]

So, he had been hiding something like this.

Uz wasn't just the largest creature around.

Other than communicating using pheromones, he had naturally evolved a poison-stinger that would let him paralyze his prey.

If I had fought him without this knowledge, I would have been in hot water.

This ability would allow me to gain valuable information other than stinging my prey.

"Kkurk."

[Target - 1st floor - Rank 45]

I ate for about four hours non-stop and increased my level.

I moved around frequently to not draw attention to the speed I was moving up in rank.

For the moment, I pulled away from 45.

-Oi, Newbie! You're working pretty hard. You're pretty useful, aren't you? But your rank is higher than I heard.

-You must have heard wrong. I spent a long time in the fringes.                                                -Rags to riches, huh?

I continued my grueling feast, and soon I was seen as a skilled newcomer by everyone.

I stayed away from creatures that could properly gauge me and my progress.

The worst thing that could happen was them realizing I could level up quicker than anybody and then attacking me altogether.

[Karmon - 1st floor - Rank 78]

After focusing on eating for five hours, I finally reached my desired level.

I had planned to reach rank 71, but thankfully, I didn't need to worry about it as I had been fortunate enough to steal Uz's ability.

While Awakening allowed me to become temporarily stronger, the downside was that I didn't know exactly how strong I would become.

I needed to factor the uncertainty in before proceeding.

The only beings I could overtake using Awakening were creatures not ranked too high.

"Grruruk."

However, the situation would change if I used the poison-stinger.

My goal wasn't to kill or consume but to harm the creatures enough to make them flee.

"Grreug."

-I apologize, Rank 78! Let me get out of your way.

The hierarchy was clear, even among the lower ranks.

To the point where it was uncomfortable.

[Target - 1st floor - Rank 45]

I crept around the pit until I found my target.

As always, it was enjoying its allotted break time while supervising the lower-ranked creatures.

"Kkhugg."

-Oi, you! Don't come too close to the edge. You should be able to rest for about eight seconds. Why are you trying so hard? Are you trying to impress somebody?

I closed the 45th Rank.

-Can't you feel my pheromones? Go back inside!

A strong wave of pheromones assaulted me, but I continued to get closer.

-Are you crazy!?

Rank 45 snapped its jaw open angrily.

All of the lower-ranked around us cowered in fear.

[Activate Power 2 - Awakening]

"Grrrrrrrr."

I grew my body and pushed it up to stand beside the creature.

Following my instincts, I blasted the poison-stinger at it.

"Kkurak!"

Paralyzing venom shot out from the stinger into the creature's eye.

"KRAAAAAAAH!"

Rank 45 screamed in agony. It was unable to see anything.

If the venom reached its brain, it could even kill the creature.

Shove!

In my Awakened state, I forcefully rammed into the creature.

Then, I rolled into a stream of excrement I had spotted before.

Splash!

The escape had gone exactly as I had planned.

-78! I'll remember the scent of your pheromone! You're a public enemy of the Rich Pit! If you ever return, I will devour you!

Rank 45 screamed at me from behind.

It was so flustered it had not realized it was paralyzed.

"Kgure."

I exited the river of filth at the right moment.

I took a short break to enjoy my newfound freedom—a break of my own and not something permitted by somebody.

Rich Pit had looked like a land of abundance from the outside but was a site of exploitation from the inside.

High society was different than what it looked like.

[Activate Power 1 - Learning Rate 1000%]

"Kree."

"Kreaaaaa!"

Now, I had no hesitation or remorse.

I gorged on these creatures that couldn't even speak.

I had only one goal: to ascend to Rank 2 and challenge Uz.

"Grreck!"

Countless creatures vanished down my gullet.

[Level Up!] [Lv.12001 / Power: 1.2001]

"Kreeegh!"

[Level Up!] [Lv.12051 / Power: 1.2051]

I continued to eat mechanically for a long time.

Every time I stopped eating, I would see that my surroundings had become empty.

I wouldn't be able to tell whether I was eating excrement or another creature.

I would simply move on to the next area, assuming that my experience would be calculated accordingly.

"Kkelorg."

[Karmon - 1st floor - Rank 33]

I had already raised my rank to the level of the higher-ranked creatures.

There was still some time left in the night.

At this level, I would live a comfortable life at the Rich Pit.

I would be able to take sufficient breaks afforded to me by the lower-ranked creatures of the Pit.

"Ggurg."

However, I was not a simple-minded and inferior monster.

Although I had lived as a loser in Korea, I was still a human being. I would not be satisfied eating excrement and getting to rest for a minute in between feeding.

Entering the second floor was just the beginning of my journey.

"Kerch."

[Level Up!] [Lv.12551 / Power: 1.2551]

-Excuse me, oh Great One! Can you hear me?

Something approached me while I was busily leveling up. Thinking that it might be a creature from the Rich Pit, I got ready to fight.

-Who are you?

- I'm sorry if I surprised you. I'm simply an inferior creature.

[Target - 1st floor - Rank 100]

Was this the creature that had been exiled?

It was unlikely that I would come upon a creature that could communicate using pheromones around here.

They would all dream of a more comfortable life and head for the Rich Pit.

-What's your business?

-I want to take revenge on those that had ridiculed me and exiled me.

-Do you think you can do that with your ability?

-My apologies. However, I have been watching you from afar. Your rank has been increasing like crazy. Your body can grow, and you can use the same poison-stinger as Uz.

I glared at the creature rambling on enthusiastically in front of me as I prepared to consume it.

It knew too much

-You alone are the true ruler of the first floor. You have achieved what others have spent 100 years to achieve in one day. I wish to aid you.

This creature had obviously seen me cannibalizing countless creatures.

However, it had come and spoken to me at the risk of being eaten.

-Are you coming to me in hopes of special treatment in the future?

-I simply ask that you consume a few creatures that had chased me out.

-You are much, much weaker than me. How do you intend to help me?

I continued to eat as I waited to hear the creature's response.

-Thanks to you, I was able to become rank 100 again. I am now able to return to the Rich Pit.

-Are you suggesting that you will spy for me?

-That's correct.

-Fine. I will consume the creatures you point out if I reach the 1st Rank.

-Thank you! I'll go right away. You are an exceptional being.

I cracked a smile at the creature as it hurried away from me. Learning about the current situation of the Pit would only benefit me, and consuming a few more creatures would not be a problem.

[Level Up!] [Lv.13174 / Power: 1.3174]

I would reach it soon—the 2nd Rank. I should achieve it when the 100th returned from his spying. I began to dream about the second floor.

What kind of life existed there?

"Kkuree."

I imagined Uz disappearing down my gullet countless times.