185 HUNGRY IN THE TOMB
[The tomb of the Gullee family]
"Are you sure we won't get caught breaking into the Gullee family's tomb?" An-ak whispered, his voice filled with doubt and hesitation.
"Stop being such a coward," An-lo snapped, swinging a large hammer at the stone door with a satisfying thud. "No one ever comes here anymore. The Gullee family abandoned this mansion long ago moving to Sodom city."
"But are you sure there's treasure inside? Why would people bury money with corpses?" An-ak asked, clearly unconvinced.
An-lo rolled his eyes. "Rich people are weird. Even in death, they can't part with their wealth. Now, quit whining and help me with this!"
After a few more heavy strikes, the stone door cracked and finally gave way.
"Finally! Let's see what treasures they've hidden in here," An-lo said eagerly, stepping into the dark tomb.
But as they ventured deeper, an eerie, unsettling sound echoed through the chamber.
"What's that noise?" An-ak stammered, his grip tightening on An-lo's arm.
"Z-zombies!" An-lo shouted, his bravado crumbling as he bolted toward the entrance. An-ak, panic-stricken, followed close behind.
-----
"Finally… light," a raspy voice muttered from the dark tomb.
The speaker, Lillrune, staggered toward the tomb's exit, his gaunt, pale body a testament to his long, agonizing confinement. He was barely recognizable, his bones thin and weak, his clothes tattered.
An ethereal figure in the shape of a pig appeared beside him.
"You've had a rough start," the pig said dryly.
"The System really screwed you over by reviving you inside a tomb. Trapped here for over half a year. I'll report this to the higher-ups so they can improve things in the future."
"Those bastards," Lillrune spat, his voice bitter with anger.
After being killed by Lilleo Gullee, Lillrune's body had been buried in the family tomb. But thanks to the System, he had been resurrected as a new player.
Unfortunately, he had been trapped in the sealed tomb ever since.
Despite his skeletal form and the harsh conditions, Lillrune's strength and magic had not waned. If anything, he was much stronger than he had been in life.
"How the hell did I survive this long?" he muttered, still staggering through the remnants of his confinement.
"There wasn't enough food in this place—just the occasional rat, wood, rocks, sand... and corpses," Lillrune continued, his voice laced with disgust.
"You survived because of the sin of Gluttony," Piggy, his handler, answered with a hint of amusement.
"Gluttony, huh? Does that mean I eat everything? I've been starving, yet I never felt weak," Lillrune said, confusion and curiosity creeping into his voice.
"Exactly. Gluttony allows you to consume anything—living or not—and convert it into sustenance. Even their magic becomes part of you. You'll always feel hungry, but you'll never run out of energy."
Lillrune's brow furrowed. "So, the corpses I ate... did I absorb their magic too?"
Piggy nodded. "Yes. That's the nature of your sin. Their power is yours now. But I must admit, your assimilation is stronger than most Gluttony players."
Lillrune scowled. "Then tell me this—if I eat a cock, will I get mine back?"
Piggy snickered. "Unfortunately, no. That's beyond Gluttony's power. You lost it before the System revived you. According to the System, you never had one and you never will again."
"Fuck you," Lillrune growled, his anger rising.
"Don't blame me," Piggy shrugged nonchalantly. "Blame the guy who took it from you."
"I know exactly who to blame—Lilleo Gullee," Lillrune snarled, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles whitened. "Not for killing me. Not even for cutting off my fucking cock. Those are in the past. But for leaving me to rot in this godforsaken tomb for half a year? That son of a bitch is going to pay."
Piggy tilted his head, studying Lillrune with interest. "So, what's your plan?"
Lillrune sneered. "Didn't you hear those grave robbers? The Gullee family is gone from here. I'm getting out."
His hollow eyes burned with fury as he staggered toward the tomb's exit.
"Fuck you, Lilleo Gullee," Lillrune hissed under his breath. "I'll eat you alive."
------
[At the jetty of Sodom Port]
Lillrune waited in the ship's cellar, cloaked in shadows and stifling air. Days passed as he shared the cramped, dim space with crates of goods, piles of refuse, and the relentless scurrying of rats.
He didn't mind. It was better than the suffocating tomb where he'd once been entombed, locked away with the stench of decay and rotting corpses.
At least here, there was food. The rats were plentiful, and Lillrune wasn't too proud to make a meal of them.
"I'll have my revenge on that bastard, Lilleo Gullee," he muttered, sinking his teeth into a wriggling rodent, his expression disturbingly calm.
When the ship docked at Port Sodom, the crew and passengers disembarked, leaving the vessel nearly empty save for a handful of dockworkers unloading cargo. It was the moment Lillrune had been waiting for.
He crept onto the deck, his movements fluid yet deliberate. But stealth wasn't enough.
"Oi! What's this rat doing crawling around on our ship?" barked a burly dockworker, his thick fingers gripping a heavy stick.
Lillrune turned, his icy gaze meeting the man's. "I'm hungry," he said, his voice unsettlingly calm.
The dockworker advanced, raising his stick. "Let's fix that hunger with a good beating," he sneered, swinging down with force.
The blow never landed. The stick froze mid-air, caught by an unseen force. The worker's bravado turned to confusion, then terror, as pale, translucent shapes materialized around Lillrune.
Specters.
The ghosts of those Lillrune had devoured in the Gullee Tomb, their faces contorted in eternal torment, clung to him like a macabre halo. Their cold, dead eyes locked onto the dockworker, whose legs faltered as unseen tendrils snaked around his ankles, dragging him down.
"What the hell are you?" he stammered, struggling to pull away.
Lillrune's lips curled into a cruel smile. "I'm famished," he said simply.