An error from the previous chapter has been corrected. The edit limit is not 15,000 but 20,000!
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The first thing I noticed was a monkey standing at the center of the group that was four times larger than the others. It had a threatening aura surrounding it.
He's dangerous. That was my first thought.
If I'm not careful, that thing could injure me.
So I used my Appraisal skill to check its status.
Anogratch (Anomaly) LV8
Stats
HP: 11,598
MP: 10,045
SP: 12,102 / 12,409
Offense: 15,489
Defense: 12,459
Magic: 10,445
Resistance: 13,599
Speed: 9,498
When I saw its status, I was impressed by the numbers.
Isn't that way too high? And this guy is also one of those anomalies! Why did an anomaly appear here?
From what I understand, this anomaly works like a virus or an infection.
The monsters that ate the flesh of that dragon—the first anomaly I encountered—became anomalies themselves. In other words, whenever a monster eats the flesh of an anomaly, it becomes an anomaly.
That's why I had been encountering so many anomalies in that area. That was where the dragon appeared, and many monsters ate its flesh.
Damn, so this "virus" really is spreading throughout the labyrinth.
Well, I did leave the bodies of anomalies behind. I didn't eat that spider, and I also didn't eat the entire body of that lizard.
Even part of the dragon was left behind, slowly rotting.
Now, every time an anomaly dies, a new one appears… or several new ones.
This "headache" has turned into something much bigger than I expected.
I smiled and looked at the monkey that was rapidly approaching me. After letting out a sigh, I used the Space Step skill, which I had edited to Level 10, and moved upward.
I tried to hide so I could think of a strategy, but the giant monkey knew exactly where I was.
ROOOAARRR~~!
It roared like a true giant monster and beat its chest like a gorilla.
Then it pointed in my direction, and the thousands of smaller monkeys around it rushed toward me.
They began climbing the walls of the labyrinth as if it were nothing.
They reached me in an instant, making screeching monkey noises, but I used Space Step and teleported to the other side of the wall.
Then I edited all my stats (except Magic) to 5,000.
I need to kill all these smaller monkeys first.
I approached them in an instant and used the Intimidation skill. Even though it wasn't at a high level, it was enough to scare them.
Then I began swinging my legs while running through them.
My legs, which were like blades, sliced through their bodies like butter.
I "danced" among them, and their numbers quickly began to decrease.
How many of them are here? Around 40?
I opened my status and checked my SP, but it wasn't draining that quickly.
I continued slaughtering them while they tried to tear me apart and even threw rocks at me. However, I wasn't injured.
The giant monkey—their commander—continued giving orders, but no matter what they tried, they died.
The giant monkey began losing patience, and that made me excited.
Then, finally—
[ "Abyss Anomaly Taratect LV1" became "Abyss Anomaly Taratect LV2" ]
My SP recovered and increased significantly.
SP: 2,000 / 2,000
2,000 SP without editing. That's a very satisfying number.
I looked at the giant monkey that was preparing to attack and shouted in my mind.
'COME. I'LL KILL YOU!'
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I changed my stats to 15,000 and then removed the edit I had made to Space Step. After that, I raised the level of the System Corruption skill to 10.
As soon as I did, I used the skill on the giant monkey.
The moment it activated, all of the giant monkey's skills became corrupted. It couldn't use any of them.
Because skills like Strength and other stat-enhancing abilities were corrupted, its overall status dropped slightly.
I smiled excitedly and lunged forward.
I passed through the bodies of several monkeys and reached the giant monkey's feet.
I climbed up its leg and slashed the back of its knee—a deep cut.
I struck the same spot twice with my two front legs.
As soon as I did that, it roared in pain and fell to its knees.
I jumped away and then ran up the wall at high speed before leaping toward its head.
The monkey noticed me approaching and tried to strike me, but I used Space Step LV1 to teleport a short distance and avoid its hand.
Then I launched my thread toward the back of its head and swung around, wrapping my web around its head.
Quickly, its stats began to decrease.
However, the decrease was slow.
The monkey struggled and brought its hands to its face, trying to tear away my webs. Unfortunately, it quickly managed to rip them off and became even angrier.
Even with its injured leg, it stood up and attacked me.
He's fast!
He closed the distance in an instant, but I used Space Step again and teleported onto his arm.
I ran along his arm toward his head and then used my leg to slash the side of his head.
Huh?
The wound was shallower than I expected.
When his head was injured, the monkey roared loudly. This time, I felt my body tremble.
'Is he using some kind of skill? But his skills are corrupted!'
The monkey's eyes, which had been completely black before, turned red.
He slammed his feet against the ground.
I noticed the wound on his leg regenerating rapidly.
Then the monkeys around us also had their eyes turn red.
'Hey… this isn't good.'
I used Appraisal again and noticed that the status of all the surviving monkeys had increased.
The giant monkey's stats had also increased.
'He's stronger than me now!'
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