"Woah, this is actually so fire," I said, staring at myself in disbelief.
A whole day had passed since I started hunting Black Beetles. By now, I must have killed over fifty of them — maybe even more. Honestly, I'd lost count. They all went down with just one hit.
At first, I couldn't understand why they died so easily. But when I finally looked at their bodies closely, the answer was clear. Their meat, which should've been soft and fresh, was burned and blackened from the inside. They weren't dying from impact — they were dying from electricity.
"But still, to think the drop rate in these sanctuaries is this low… I'm really gonna have a tough time later," I muttered with a sigh.
'I guess... Han Sen really was a lucky fella.' I remembered Han Sen actually getting beast souls like he was winning lottery one after another.
Even though killing them was easy, finding them wasn't. I had been hunting nonstop without taking a break, but the beetles were scattered and rarely appeared together. I also made sure not to wander too far from the shelter — getting lost here would be suicide.
Still, after all that effort, I finally got my first ordinary beast soul on my forty-ninth kill. It turned out to be the Black Beetle Armor.
The moment I activated it, it had shot out and covered my entire body instantly, the smooth black surface blending perfectly with my movements.
I tested it right away, punching the air while summoning electricity. To my surprise, the lightning still sparked around my fist even with the armor on.
A grin spread across my face. "This ability is actually overpowered, huh?"
After that, I hunted several more Black Beetles since they were the only beasts I could find nearby. I ran into a few other people during the hunt, but they didn't pay me any attention — and I didn't bother with them either.
"Hmm, I guess this is enough?" I muttered, staring at the dozens of dead Black Beetles lying around me.
I had tried eating their meat earlier, but honestly, it was awful. It felt like biting into a raw egg — slimy, sticky, and with a nasty fishy smell. Even though their flesh was partly cooked from the electricity, it still tasted terrible.
"I'm not really a picky eater, but… am I seriously supposed to eat their intestines too? They're filled with filth," I groaned, wrinkling my nose. Just thinking about it made my stomach twist.
In the end, I only ate the softer, more tender parts of their meat — the least disgusting ones. After eating pieces from around seven beetles, I managed to gain about twenty-four geno points.
But soon enough, the notifications stopped appearing. No matter how much more I ate, there were no new messages telling me I'd gained more geno points.
I stared at the half-eaten beetle meat in my hand and sighed. "Guess that's the limit for ordinary geno points…"
My eyes felt heavy and hazy after staying awake for two straight days. My body was sore, and with only a few geno points to my name, my stamina was nearly gone.
"This should be enough for today," I muttered, opening my status screen.
---
Su Xing: Not Evolved
Status: None
Life Span: 200 years
Requirement for Evolution: 100 geno points
Geno points gained: 24 geno points
Beast Soul gained: Ordinary Black Beetle
Type: Armor
"This isn't really strong in any way," I sighed, staring at the dull blue text. "But what can I even do without proper equipment?"
Just as I was about to close the screen and head back, a new message appeared in the corner of my vision.
[You've got a new notification.]
I blinked in surprise, then tapped it. The message expanded into a larger translucent panel floating before me.
---
[INFO PANEL]
Name: Su Xing
Age: 16
Race: Human
[Lightning Arts — Phase 1] [New]
Static Steps (Lv.1) — Proficiency: 0.0%
Lightning Body (Lv.1) — Proficiency: 0.0%
Lightning Fist (Lv.1) — Proficiency: 0.09%
Storm Sense (Lv.1) — Proficiency: 0.0%
[LOCKED SKILLS]
Lightning Arts — Phase 2 [Locked]
Information: err_24
Note: Reach Level 5 in every unlocked skill to proceed.
[Core Skill] [New]
Unawared Existence (Lv.EX) — To prevent higher beings such as Han Jingzhi from using you, your existence will have an extremely low presence.
Warning: Taking actions that cause major changes may reveal your presence.
I stared at the screen for a long moment, trying to digest what I had just read.
Han Jingzhi… that name alone made my chest tighten. He was the great-grandfather of Han Sen, the main protagonist. Though, in truth, the real great-grandfather's identity had been erased so that the fake Han Jingzhi could take his place.
From what I remembered, Han Jingzhi was more than just a character — he was the mastermind behind everything. To him, the world was like a chessboard, and people like Han Sen were just pawns in his grand plan. With his Chaos Element, he could even predict the future to some extent.
So it wasn't impossible that he might already know about me.
But then again… maybe not. This body I was in had once belonged to someone real — I hadn't just appeared out of thin air. Because of that, Han Jingzhi probably wouldn't notice me, at least not yet.
Still, one thing was clear after seeing this "Unawared Existence" skill. It wasn't there for nothing.
I exhaled slowly, staring into the empty night sky.
"If I ever mess with Han Sen's main opportunities…" I muttered under my breath, "…I might just get erased from existence before I even realize it."
"And with this, I can say goodbye to my future knowledge. It's basically useless to me at this point," I muttered, my voice heavy with disappointment.
The idea that I couldn't rely on what I knew anymore hit harder than I expected. Everything I remembered from the novel — the events, the opportunities, the future — it all lost meaning if I couldn't act without risking exposure.
With tired steps, I dragged myself back toward my room in the shelter. My legs felt like twigs, and my body ached from two sleepless days of nonstop hunting. I hadn't even bothered to bring back any of the beetle corpses.
Why? I was exhausted as fuck.
When I finally pushed open the door and collapsed onto the rough bed, I let out a long sigh.
"Well," I murmured, staring blankly at the ceiling, "is it actually that bad?"