In the hallway, a man was being tightly wrapped up by countless semi-transparent strips of cloth, stained with blood and bits of flesh.
The owner of those strips was a woman in a filthy white dress, blotched with blood and smeared with strange black stains no one could identify.
Her black hair was a tangled mess like a ball of tumbleweed, covering her face. Her body was as skinny as a stick, and her joints were bent into jagged angles, making her gait grotesquely twisted.
On her back yawned a massive crack. From that fissure, countless semi-transparent strips stretched outward like tentacles, wrapping around the corpses lying on the floor and stuffing them into the crack. The sound of bones being crunched to pieces and flesh being chewed echoed shrilly through the corridor.
That man had clearly ignored the System's warning and stayed outside, so he had been caught by the Corpse Eater.
The strips of cloth tightened around him and turned him into a gigantic cocoon. No matter how violently he struggled, he couldn't escape from it.
"No! Help! Somebody help me! Help! AGH!!!"
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Just like the other corpses, the man was dragged into the fissure on the Corpse Eater's back and then ground to pulp.
Rover shuddered, a chill running down his spine. What made it even worse was the information panel floating above the Corpse Eater's head, though…
[Corpse Eater - ???]
There was nothing there except three large red question marks. Rover had no idea what that truly represented. He only knew it meant this was an exceedingly terrifying and dangerous existence.
Selina and Nanoe squeezed up beside him to peer outside through the small viewing slot. Naturally, they also saw everything that had just happened.
Selina was so frightened she clamped both hands over her mouth. It was her first time witnessing something this horrific. Unable to hold it in, she bolted into the bathroom to throw up.
Nanoe's face had gone completely pale. She gripped Rover's hand tightly, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.
Rover already knew how he was supposed to deal with the Corpse Eater thanks to the Survival Guide. Even so, theory and reality were two completely different things.
So what if he knew the Corpse Eater liked sweets? Did he really dare to stand in front of that monstrosity?
Besides, how could he be sure it wouldn't just kill him the moment they met?
Rover's hands were shaking a little, and hesitation started to creep into his heart. Nanoe's hand clamped down on his wrist, as if refusing to let him move.
She looked at him and gave a small shake of her head, her face full of fear and worry.
She was thinking the same thing as he was. Even with the Survival Guide, there was no such thing as certainty when facing a lunatic existence like that.
Crack! Crack!
Crack! Crack!
The Corpse Eater moved along the corridor, its cloth strips writhing like tentacles as they continuously fed corpses into the crack on its back.
In truth, there weren't many zombie bodies left on this floor because Rover had converted most of them into Omni Points.
The remaining bodies were all other Survivors, since Rover couldn't convert those.
The Corpse Eater crawled closer and closer to Rover's room. Rover's fists clenched so tightly that sweat poured from his palms like rain, making it clear just how nervous he was.
He could either stay quiet and hidden inside the room.
Or he could take a risk. He might die, but he might also gain something incredible.
Crack! Crack!
Footsteps mixed with the sound of breaking bones drew nearer and nearer.
The Corpse Eater stopped in front of Rover's door, gathering up the corpses lying outside his room. Its strips of cloth even absorbed all the blood and scraps of flesh smeared across the floor.
Seeing the Corpse Eater at such close range, Rover and Nanoe both felt a wave of nausea rise in their throats.
They didn't dare throw up, and they didn't even dare breathe too loudly. All they could do was tremble as they stared at the grotesque creature in front of them.
Crack! Crack!
Once it had cleaned up every last trace of the bodies, the creature continued shuffling forward, its twisted gait so unnatural it was sickening to watch.
"Ha… ha…" Nanoe finally let out a shaky sigh of relief.
Even though she knew this thing's job was just to clean up corpses, she still couldn't suppress the terror that seized her whenever she saw it.
She collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily, fine beads of sweat dotting her beautiful face from sheer fright.
At that moment, Rover suddenly grit his teeth, quickly grabbed the bag with the upgraded donut and held it in his hand, making a crazy decision in his heart.
Crack!
The door suddenly opened and, to Nanoe's shock, Rover stepped outside, then ordered the door to close again immediately.
By the time Nanoe realized what was happening, Rover was already out in the corridor. She hurriedly pounded on the door, screaming, "Rover! Don't, get back inside! Rover!"
The door was incredibly soundproof, so no matter how loudly Nanoe yelled, he could not hear her.
"Wait!" Rover called out.
Crack!
The moving body of the Corpse Cleaner suddenly stopped, but its torso did not turn. Only its head twisted a full 180 degrees to look toward Rover.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The sound of bones breaking rang out, making Rover's skin crawl. The flesh on the Corpse Eater's neck twisted to an extreme, and the tentacle-like strips on its back began stretching in his direction.
Even though this had been his own decision, Rover's body still trembled instinctively when facing the Corpse Eater.
He clenched his teeth, forced himself to stay calm, and slowly tore open the bag, revealing a chocolate-coated donut with an incredibly sweet aroma.
The Corpse Eater saw the donut and opened its mouth. No real sound came out, only a rasping "Khe… khe…" like the death rattle of someone on the verge of dying.
Rover pressed his lips together, took a deep breath, then said, "Th-this… this is… a sweet… do you… want to eat it?"
His voice stuttered, and his hand shook as he offered the donut toward the Corpse Eater.
The tentacles around him slowly withdrew, leaving only a single strip that gently touched the donut, and at the same time brushed across Rover's hand, leaving behind a layer of utterly disgusting slime.
That strip coiled around the donut and brought it to the Corpse Eater's mouth.
It opened its mouth and chewed the donut, then…
KRIT!!!!
All of a sudden, the crack on its back let out a piercing noise, like something sharp scraping across glass, forcing Rover to clamp his hands over his ears.
KRIT!! KRIT!!
The bizarre screeching continued nonstop for nearly a full minute before finally fading away.
The Corpse Eater stood still, then one of its tentacles reached into the fissure on its back as if rummaging for something, before pulling out two small scrolls and extending them toward him.
When Rover saw the two scrolls, his eyes lit up. He hurriedly reached out his hands.
Thud! Thud!
The two scrolls dropped into his palms, along with a mass of slimy muck and bits of blood and flesh from the corpses it had devoured.
After that, the Corpse Eater turned away and shambled off, continuing its work without paying Rover any further attention.
He clenched the two scrolls tightly in his hands, not daring to check what kind of scrolls they were, and immediately bolted back into the room.
Crack!
The moment the door closed, a soft body hurled itself at him and wrapped around him in a tight embrace. "Rover! Are you crazy? Why? Why did you go out there?" she sobbed.
Nanoe clung to him and shook violently as she cried, her tears soaking into his shoulder. Rover wanted to hug her back, but when he realized his hands were still covered in that disgusting slime, he quickly said, "Don't cry. I'm fine, aren't I?"
"You… you bastard!" Nanoe cursed between sobs.
Rover knew she was only cursing him because she had been so worried about him.
A while later, the two finally separated. Unable to stand it any longer, Rover took the two scrolls into the bathroom.
After washing up, he still felt like his hands carried that stench, like corpses that had been rotting for days, so he scrubbed them again.
He washed until his hands turned red before that horrifying smell finally faded.
He let out a long breath, then went back outside and sat down on the rickety bed, his breathing still uneven.
Even though he hadn't fought or moved much, facing the Corpse Eater had made him feel like he'd just stepped one foot into the gates of hell.
His heart still hadn't calmed down and kept pounding wildly in his chest. Nanoe and Selina hurried over to his side and gently massaged him.
Rover took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and turned his gaze to the two scrolls he had just obtained.
[Strength Cultivation Method – D35]
[Spirit Cultivation Method – D35]