OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 326: Cannibal

Chapter 326: Cannibal

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Emir blinked, materializing before the family for what felt like the millionth time.

If asked he couldn't say how long he spent there, at times he might say a few years, three or four, while at others, he would claim ten times that number.

It was an unending cycle of running and dying, sometimes slow, most times fast, immediate.

The slow deaths annoyed him quite a bit, he didn't enjoy killing himself, but he had to do it, he certainly wasn't a fan of bleeding out to death.

Anyhow, during that time, however long it was, he got closer to his destination but it seemed that it was impossible.

Dying by an explosion appeared to be an almost sure outcome.

It was random, true, but it was also inevitable.

No matter which route, he would die. Even with the best route he eventually reached, it wasn't enough, he would still die a few buildings away from his destination.

All of that was something he had realized early on, which made him figure out another way that he could solve the conundrum he found himself in.

But that wasn't something that he wished to do, so he delayed it and kept delaying it, even if this unending cycle of death was the result.

He wanted to make sure that he couldn't get the job done using the first way, but it appeared similarly inevitable to the explosions.

This showed how disgusting 'it' was, that he was willing to go through death for God knows how long to just dodge this solution.

Yet 'that' very thing was going through his mind as he sat down and watched the family cut their flesh to eat.

His face showed boredom, however, his mind was far from experiencing that.

Emir-

BOOM!

Blink.

Clicking his tongue, he sat back down, relaxing his back on the wall, and continuing his thoughts.

Emir noticed one thing that was certain in this accursed virtual world.

The explosions would only happen to him, not to any other human or building.

But that was obvious, what was more important was that it wouldn't happen if he stayed next to a human of this world, so it wasn't just this family, but the others as well, because yes, there were others and they acted similarly as those in front of him.

Another thing to note was that those people were Felix's victims, so he figured out that Felix ate up to twenty-five and a half meals, the 'half' in that number caused by his peculiar diet of babies.

Now, the victims didn't notice his existence until he talked to them, so unless they interacted he could stay next to them indefinitely and they would be none the wiser.

It didn't take a moment for him to come up with a plan back then, which involved bringing one of them along to his destination, as a form of protection against the explosions.

Yet his attempts to carry the smallest of them were never not annoying. Killing them or knocking them out would undo the protection they had, so he had to keep them awake, and when awake they retaliated, usually resulting in both of them dying, either by a storm or fall.

He-

BOOM!

Blink.

He, after many attempts gave up on that method and continued with the first, delaying what he figured out...

Cannibalism was a theme.

All humans in this virtual world ate human meat.

He was the outlier.

It was as if the world had an immune system and he was the parasite invading it.

Emir bet that this was the reason why only he experienced the explosions. Because unlike the explosions the storms were neutral, they affected all.

So he had to become like them.

Become a cannibal.

Be like Felix, become someone who wouldn't cause him any stress. Become a part of the immune system.

Only then would he be able to reach the destination.

This was something that he deemed as absolutely disgusting, his body revolted against doing it, even if it was virtual, it was too dirty for him.

Yet... he had to do it.

It seemed that Lyra had figured this out or at least had come close to figuring it out since the

start.

'No wonder she looked at me like that...'

After letting out another sigh, Emir stood up and approached the family.

"Hey, hey, can I join you guys? Didn't eat yet."

The father of the family looked up, surprised but not for long, as he ushered him to the table.

"Welcome, welcome, please, come sit next to my daughter."

Emir smiled while nodding his head as he approached them.

"Thank you."

Sitting down, he looked at the head of the table, watching as the man took out a knife, and slowly brought it towards his left arm, his face showing absolute happiness.

Squelch...

His blood splashed on all those around him as he began to cut. Although he had abnormally

high strength, it still took a long time since he didn't break his bones first.

First was the skin, then the meat, and then, after a crack, the bone, Humerus, was cut.

He did all of that with a calm face and the mother did the same.

Like before, the daughter struggled, her technique sloppy, but eventually, she managed to cut

her arm off too.

It was Emir's turn next as she passed him the knife with a trembling hand. Grabbing it off her, he hovered it over his left hand and his grasp on the knife's hilt tightened. Then, showing no hesitation, he slashed down, cutting his arm in one fell swoop. Like them, he showed a serene smile, attempting to fit in, already used to the pain of missing

limbs.

Those next to him showed no reaction to his feat and continued throwing the leftovers, like skin, bone, gunk, and tough muscle into the bowl.

Emir did the same, preparing his own hand to eat, but he was much cleaner in comparison, doing everything neatly... Well, as neat as this situation allowed him to be.

Once done, everyone except him began eating.

He watched them at the start, but as he noticed slight suspicion coming from the dad, he took

a piece of meat that he previously cut and neared it to his mouth. Sighing a third time, he raised his head, stretching his neck straight, and dropped it, gulping

it at once, not allowing the raw piece to stay a moment longer in his mouth, and feeling it

travel down his throat.

It truly was a disgusting feeling. Like forcing down a rotten tomato that had tough, rubbery

skin, dirt, and a few rock-hard worms within the red flesh.

But even then, after all that he did... it seemed that he wasn't in the clear.

The father had noticed his rushed actions. He was caught by the immune system.

"Is something wrong?... Are you not one of us?"

And before Emir could reply...

'...What?'

He pulled a gun out of his pocket.

Bang!