In the middle of the continent, not too far away from Atlas, a man was trapped in solid darkness.
...
I could feel myself sinking deeper and deeper into the pool of acid below me, and my sense of time had stopped.
The sun should've risen by now, but the darkness continued to persist, so I must've sunk really far down then.
How many years has it been… ten?
Most of my youth was wasted down here, so when can I escape? Actually, is it even possible to escape from this?
All that's been in my vision besides the occasional bubbles is this one panel:
[Devour is being used]
The innate skill that I've had ever since being born, which also deemed me a failure due to its one-time usage and it, is my only skill.
Most people are born with multiple skills, but I was born with only one.
My parents still had hope for me when I was young… but I guess they gave up as I'm now down here after being washed away by a raging waterfall.
I remember the suffocating feeling as the thick and burning acid filled my throat and it tore at my skin.
Thousands of hands seemingly scratched me until my skin was on fire, and this repeated even inside my own body.
I've gotten used to the pain now, but it definitely shattered something inside of me.
Ah, that's right, it must be that… it's my sanity.
[Devour has finished]
[Devouring Contents]
All of a sudden, I regained most of the feeling in my arms, but I wasn't even able to have control over them as they moved on their own and swung upwards.
I tried to resist it, but my arms were locked in place, and suddenly, a bright green light floated down towards me, illuminating my severely burned and scarred arms.
Then, in the next instance, the jaws of a grotesque monster appeared around my left hand and right hand.
They made a biting motion that caused the acid around me to swirl and swirl until it felt as if I was being sucked down into a whirlpool.
[Devouring…]
Bloop… Bloop… Bloop…
All of a sudden, a familiar feeling came rushing back as I was suffocating from the acid.
I tried to swim upwards but felt no feeling in my legs, and as my arms were locked in place, I couldn't do much but lay there and feel despair wash through my body.
…
"HUFF… HUFF… HUFF…"
The acid around me had drained out of the large pit, and my skin was crackling and popping as if it was made out of molten magma.
My white skin was kind of a paleish-gray, and cracks ran throughout my body as if an earthquake had erupted from inside of me.
The cracks leaked blood but then slowly healed as if my body was fighting with itself.
A searing pain came from my heart, but for some reason, it was bearable, and I was able to stand up, noticing all of the changes in my body.
I looked to be about twenty years old now, and you would think my knowledge would've fallen behind the usual kid.
But, you underestimate me.
In order to try and prove my worth to my parents, as getting thrown away due to my one-time use skill was inevitable, I studied hard.
So hard, in fact, that sometimes I would have sleepless nights, and the next day when I went to school, my fingers would start bleeding due to my fingernails beginning to peel off.
I was so far ahead of my class, but due to my singular one-time use skill… THIS DAMN SKILL! I WAS THROWN INTO A PIT OF FUCKING ACID!
"I'LL KILL THEM! I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD, I'LL KILL THEM!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Cracks formed around me in the giant dirt pit, canopied by massive leaves which stretched over the now dried waterfall.
[Single Use Skill has finished activating]
.
[Conditions fulfilled]
[1. Drink From the Acid Pit of Jörmungandr]
[2. Unleash Your Rage Across the Land]
.
[No System Met]
[Your Destiny has been installed]
[Please prepare yourself for a few minutes of pain]
.
All of a sudden, a wave of nausea hit me like a truck, and I fell to my knees, puking green acid, which seared my throat.
But, the pain was bearable as the one seemingly melting my chest felt much worse than this puny pain.
"AHAHAHAHAHA!"
My mind felt like it was melting, and my muscles felt excited yet angry at the same time.
『Status』
[Name: Kaiser]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 1/10] (0/100) XP Needed
[HP: 15/15 MP: 15/15 SP: 15/15] - Normal Human
[Strength: 1] - Sub Human
[Speed: 1] - Sub Human
[Magic: 1] - Sub Human
[Miasma: 5] - Non Human
[Intelligence: 1] - Sub Human
[Skills: [Poison Manipulation]
[Passive Skills: [Toxic Immunity]
…
After glancing at my status, I only smiled wider as I had gained a new skill that seemed very promising.
Also, a stat that I was unaware of: is Miasma.
Plus, I even managed to achieve a passive skill which I assumed was helping the constant cracks on my body not widen any farther.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, a strand of my hair dripped down onto my face, and my original black hair was now a ghostly white.
"Ah, I also need a haircut," I muttered, but before any of that, I needed to escape this hole and try and make my way out.
The sides were completely smooth, but small rocks were poking out, and as I had nothing else to use, I tried to scale my way up by using the small rocks as support for my feet.
It took a few tries of running as fast as I could, but eventually, I just barely managed to crawl my way out of the hole and brush my hands along the lush grass.
"Ah, how I've missed you," I muttered as I ran my fingers through the grass.
[A few gods have taken notice of you]
Suddenly, a panel that made me raise my eyebrow appeared, but before I could try and touch it to gain more information, it disappeared into thin air.
Still a bit confused, I tried to mull over what they could've been, but before I could really get thinking, I heard a loud,
HISSSSSSSSS