Chapter 179 Silence [3]

Chapter 179 Silence [3]

I felt a certain flow from deep within my abdomen.

....It was a familiar sensation, and my body started to cool down. I felt my consciousness return, and I reached out with my hand to grab the other pills scattered across the ground.

∎| EXP + 1.4%

∎| EXP + 1.1%

∎| EXP + 1.7%

∎| EXP + 2.0%

∎| EXP + 1.1%

Notifications continued to flash across my vision.

I started to feel bloated after a certain point, but I didn't care and continued to gorge the pills in my mouth.

I was in such desperate need of mana that the bloating did not affect me.

'More, more....'

And it wasn't just that. Seeing the notifications flash across my eyes, I started to get greedy. I wanted to see more of those notifications.

It was hard to increase one's power.

.....This was the easiest increase I had ever had.

I couldn't get enough of the feeling.

But,

"Uekh...!"

After a certain point, I had to stop. Holding onto my stomach, I turned my body and held onto my mouth.

"Huep!"

Mana had already coated my body, and the heat no longer affected me. I felt a rumbling in my body and I started to gag.

I spat out the pills that were in my mouth. I had done that unconsciously, or more like, my body appeared to reject them, forcing me to spit them out.

It became clear to me that I had reached the limit of the pills that I could eat.

"Huuu... Huuu..."

Taking deep and steady breaths, I held onto my mouth and did everything in my power to prevent myself from puking all that I had ingested.

I had a feeling I'd lose all the progress were I to puke.

"Uekh."

Strange sounds came out of my mouth as I did so.

However, in a matter of a few minutes, I was able to retain everything.

Only then did I relax.

"Haaa..."

My chest heaved up and down rapidly while I slumped back and stared blankly at the ceiling of the room.

It took me a few moments to collect my breath and sit up.

Although my insides were still churning and twisting, I knew that I didn't have much time. Grabbing whatever pill was left on the ground, I looked around me. There was a lot of miscellaneous stuff around.

From food, and water, to unnecessary things like clothes and the like. While it was smaller compared to the bunker supply area, it was still nothing to scoff at.

Grabbing a bag, I tossed whatever I thought was useful and headed out.

".....They'll hate me for sure after this."

I had practically emptied their entire pill storage.

Sure, those probably weren't anything important considering that the most important stuff was locked elsewhere, but to me...?

Yeah, those pills were certainly great.

Creak...

The wooden floor creaked under my steps. Coming out of the supply area, I held onto the handrail of the stairs and carefully moved down.

While it was true that I had recovered, I was still feeling lightheaded.

I would need more time before I could fully recover.

"It should be here."

The library was located on the second floor. A large metallic door greeted me the moment I stepped on the second floor.

Taking out the keys, I put them in the slot and unlocked the door.

Cli Clank—

Immediately after opening the door, a certain smell swooshed over me. From the musty scent of the aging paper and ink, mixed with the earthy notes of wooden bookshelves and the subtle, sweet hint of leather book bindings.

.....It was a smell that told me that I was in the right place.

"Finally."

Just standing where I was, I could see thousands upon thousands of books. Compared to the public library, the book selection was much wider and organized.

In fact, the Black Hound Guild was the best place for this type of information.

Compared to the other Guilds, they were the ones that specialized in information gathering with regard to the monsters found in the Mirror Dimension.

I grabbed the next book and opened the index. I paused halfway through my actions as I heard a certain sound coming from behind me.

Creak...!

The wooden floor creaked a few meters away from me, and I froze on the spot.

I didn't even turn to look back.

Creak.

The wooden floor creaked again at the sound of a step.

Anxiety started to gnaw at me then.

Creak, Creak—

Eventually, a shadow cast over the area next to me, allowing me to catch a glimpse of a hunched-up skinny figure with long hair that stopped at its shoulder.

I didn't so much as make a sound.

I couldn't make a sound.

'It'll find me if I do.'

The silent eater.

.....It detected its prey through sound.

They were blind and had no sense of smell. The only way for them to hunt was through noise.

It was for that reason that I stopped moving.

I moved, and I was done for.

Especially since I could tell from just a glance the creature was stronger than me.

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

Shifting my hand towards my chest, I tried to calm my beating heartbeat. It was progressively growing faster and faster.

Creak...

The floor creaked again.

I sat still without making a sound.

The silence felt stifling.

Almost suffocating.

Sweat started to form on the side of my face.

Creak, Creak—

In the background, the ground continued to creak. The sound was getting closer and closer, and I felt my breath leave my body.

".....!"

I almost flinched on the spot as I gripped my clothes harder.

Appearing right beside me was none other than the Silent Eater, its face a few inches away from me. With wide eyes and a grotesque grin, its eyes appeared to be locked onto me.

Panic bloomed in my chest as I stopped breathing.

"....."

All that surrounded me was silence.

A silence that seemed to want to engulf me entirely.

"....."

I remained still, staring at the Silent Eater without making a move.

It stared back at me.

Every second felt suffocating, and the sweat trickling down the side of my face added to the anxiety that I was feeling.

But finally, the creature moved its head and looked away.

"...."

Creak.

Creak, Creak—

Its steps grew more and more distant, but despite that, I continued to remain still on my spot.

It was only after several minutes had passed that I finally took a subdued breath.

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

The sound of my heartbeat drummed loudly within my mind, and it took every part of me to make any sound.

Fortunately, I was able to keep it down after a few minutes had passed.

'.....I just barely made it.'

Shifting my attention back towards the book in front of me, my gaze eventually fell on three words.

[Index - Tree of Ebonthorn (Page 516)]

My heartbeat, which had steadily calmed down, sped up again.

But this time, it wasn't out of fear.

No, it was out of excitement.