'A hollow fish? Hmm…' Ben began to recall his webnovel knowledge. 'I feel like hollow is usually associated with creatures pretty high up in the tier system. I mean, the word just has aura, you know? Maybe drinking its blood is actually a fortuitous encounter?' Ben speculated.
"Hollow fish? Are you sure, Elder Hua?" Elder Sky sounded quite shocked as well, which made Ben even more confident that it was a high-tier monster.
"I'll confirm it with the monster journal." Elder Hua picked up a worn out leather book from a shelf started flipping through it.
"Let's see, soul-type, Tier 3…yup, here it is." Elder Hua showed Ben and Elder Sky the diagram, which was a more detailed and explored version than the one Ben drew. A lot of paths were mapped out, with each path splitting into more and more paths. The sheer size of the maze dazed Ben. Even so, he noticed that not everything was mapped out.
"The hollow fish is a huge Tier 3 soul-type beast spanning over an estimated 5 kilometers. Even with its huge size, due to how much empty space there is inside it, it's actually quite fast and light. Even though it's only Tier 3, considering how it's a soul-type, most people would go insane within a few hours." Elder Hua gave a deep look at Ben. Seeing his confused expression, she sighed and continued to explain.
"Compared to body-type and mind-type, soul-type beasts are much rarer and harder to deal with. Not much is known about them, except that they are usually not strong physically, but can turn anyone into a deranged idiot within a few hours. Even mind users are not exempt from this. Additionally, soul beasts are known to distort a person's perception of reality. An hour can feel like a day, a hundred meters can turn into a kilometer." Elder Hua kindly explained.
'Huh, no wonder I felt like I traveled much more than 5 kilometers. Although I felt like I only spent one or two days in there. Heh, maybe I have plot armor?' Ben thought to himself.
"It's really fortunate that you've only lost your ability to speak as well as some memories. Most of the time, victims would need to be euthanized."
'Oh shit, lucky me, I guess.' Ben was assured. He was definitely the protagonist and definitely had plot armor. Look at these people kindly explaining things to him! Look at how he survived an encounter most people would die from! If Ben's reading experience meant anything, this meant that the next thing she would say was that the blood actually gave you more mana or something. Wait, thinking that isn't a flag, is it?
"Now, Naeron, could you…draw what happened to you? Or if you can write numbers, can you describe how long you felt like you were in there?" Elder Hua's tone sounded like a primary school teacher.
Ben wrote "1-2".
"Is that in days?" Elder Hua asked.
Ben nodded. He then drew the path he took. To the heart, to the liver, then going back past the heart and through the beast's mouth. He then wrote "15" next to it.
"Kilometers?"
Nod.
"Hmm…" Elder Hua started to write down some notes in the monster's journal.
'I guess survivor experiences are valuable information? The person who explored so many paths must be quite strong then," Ben thought. He then drew himself drinking the blood of the heart and the liver, anticipating Elder Hua's reaction.
"This…" Elder Hua looked Ben in the eyes. "You're fucked."
…
Ben followed the sergeant back to the three-story building. This time, he went inside.
'I guess this guy is Naeron's father after all…' Ben had mixed feelings, as he pretty much killed the original Naeron and is now pretending to be this guy's son. Moreover, he was quite depressed about what Elder Hua had said.
'Apparently, I'm Rank 1, which means consuming Tier 3 material will probably kill me by slowly turning me into an irrational monster. That's fun. I also learned that the "awakening ceremony" was a month ago, which means I'm pretty much at the bottom of Tier 1. Shouldn't I have been transmigrated a bit before the awakening ceremony? This is so bull.'
Ben lamented about his terrible luck, but he was still alive for now, so at least he can try and do something about it.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he barely noticed his surroundings. A voice broke him out of his thoughts.
"Oh dear…" A woman with long, auburn hair and hazel eyes rushed down the stairs and hugged Ben. Her arms trembled, while tears flowed down her face.
"My baby is back and alive! Thank you lord!"
Ben awkwardly hugged his "mother" back.
"Are you okay Naeron? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm…okay." Ben awkwardly imitated this world's language. He seemed to be able to learn a lot just by listening. It felt like he was unlocking vocabulary that he's learned a long time ago.
The father opened his eyes in shock.
"Kiddo…you can speak?"
"Kind of," Ben spoke in English.
"And back to gibberish…sigh." The father massaged his forehead.
"Honey, what happened?" The mother asked with concern.
The father started explaining the situation. In the meantime, Ben started to explore his surroundings.
'This is quite the cozy house!'
The living room has a couch, a table, and lots of miscellaneous fishing gear. The dining room has a rectangular dining table, with a chair at one end and two chairs on each side. Well, they weren't really rooms, but two spaces connected to each other.
On the wall, there was a family drawing. The mother and father stood in the background, with three children in front. There was a girl with short auburn hair in the middle, who looked to be in her 20s. To the left of her was a toddler, and to the right of her was a young-looking Naeron.
'So I have two siblings…' Ben was going to have quite the tough time fitting into this family. He was an impostor after all.
'This family seems rather affluent, living in a three-story building and having a painting made for them. Makes sense, considering the father is an Elder and also a military officer. Well, maybe it's a school and not the military in this world?'
Ben also saw a bathroom and bedroom, but just as he was about to continue exploring upstairs, a kid walked downstairs. He had a buzz cut, seemed to be around 11 years old, and was a bit paler compared to the rest of the family.
"Hi." The kid briefly greeted before going to the dining table and eating some fruits.
"Hi." Ben copied what he said and went upstairs. He was going to settle down first before planning how to solve his problem.
…
After Ben finished exploring the house, he consolidated his findings. The first floor hosted guests and had amenities; the second floor was mostly living quarters; the third floor was mostly storage space, along with a bathroom. Of course, the bathroom on the top floor is obviously superior to the ones below it.
Right now, he was at the dining table along with his little brother. Ben confirmed their relationship by eavesdropping on his parents' conversations. He was almost sure that the girl in the drawing was his older sister, although he didn't know if she was at work, not on this island, or deceased.
The mother served dinner, which consisted of grilled fish, a type of meat that Ben's never seen in his life, unidentified vegetables, and shrimp. It looked and smelled like paradise, but Ben decided to watch how the others ate before digging in.
The father sat at the end of the table, while the mother sat across from Ben. Then, as if they've practiced this countless times, everybody except Ben drew an eye shape in the middle of their chests, drew a vertical line through the middle, and said, "Praise the Lord!"
Ben awkwardly copied their actions a step later, earning a soft glare from his mother. She quickly eased her expression a moment later though, giving him a sad smile.
They started eating, and Ben experienced actual food for the first time in a long while. A myriad of flavors exploded in his mouth, beckoning him to keep eating. He downed a cup of water, went to refill it, then downed it again.
'I feel like a man on death row eating his last meal.' Ben had quite a dark thought.
"So, Naeron, let's discuss your future." The father suddenly spoke.
"You have a couple of choices in front of you. Number one is to quickly break through Ranks so you can properly absorb the Godflesh you ingested. This would be the ideal scenario, although you have too little time to rank up properly and I'm not enthusiastic about your chances."
"Number two is to take the phoron pill. This is an expensive pill that forcibly raises your foundation, but there is a risk of death."
"Number three is to wait and hope the Godflesh assimilates properly. If you wait too long though, you'll lose your potential and can no longer rank up. Think over your decision carefully."
Ben continued eating while thinking about it.
"Option three is out of the question. While I did survive the hollow fish, hoping I will have good luck and not doing anything is way too passive and probably courting death."
"Option one sounds good, and as a last resort I can turn to option 2. In fact, if I really do have good luck and assimilate this so called "Godflesh," choosing option one can help raise my foundations."
Thinking this, Ben held up his index finger.
"Option one?" The father asked.
Nod.
"The most sensible option. Looks like you're still rational." The father nodded.
'That was a test?' Ben was inwardly surprised.
"Me and your mother also think the same. It's known that Tier 3 Godflesh takes about a day to corrupt a normal person, a week to corrupt a Rank 1, and about a month to corrupt a Rank 2. Of course, the time it takes can fluctuate based on how strong the Godflesh is, as well as your affinity with the Godflesh."
"Seeing how your distance perception was distorted and your time perception stayed the same in the hollow fish, your soul affinity is probably quite high. This gives us a little bit of extra time, although breaking through to Rank 2 to gain more time should be your number one priority."
'Just listen and nod…' Ben used the universal conversation strategy, indicating that he was paying attention and absorbing the information. He still only had a few clues about what Godflesh and affinity were, but he could make some educated guesses.
"With all that said, you will continue training with your classmates tomorrow. Right now, you're only number 28! I'd better see you train until you die! Die for that number 1! You hear me?"
"Roger that!" Ben imitated what the man on the ship said.