Chapter 112: The Giant’s Stomach

I obtained a red fruit from the giant’s blood.

-Th, this is!!!

‘Do you know what it is?’

-No. I don’t know. What is this?

“….”

Even Helena, who was close to being an all-knowing expert on labyrinth-related matters, didn’t know the identity of this fruit.

Probably even Raphnel or the head of the Alchemy Association wouldn’t know. I wonder if there’s anyone who knows the identity of this fruit, including Helena’s disciple, Tower Master Mabel?

‘Olivia might know.’

Olivia, who could be considered the embodiment of labyrinth conquest, might know about this fruit.

-Are you going to eat it?

‘Now? You’re telling me to eat a fruit whose identity we don’t know?’

-The bracelet of growth only produces things that benefit its owner, doesn’t it? Let’s eat it now and see what effect it has.

‘No, you. You’re just telling me to eat it out of curiosity.’

-Of course it’s out of curiosity! I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. Aren’t you curious?

‘I am curious, but what if something bad happens if I eat it wrong?’

-Oh my, even if something bad happens, isn’t the Saint here? I’ll definitely help if I can. Come on. Don’t be scared, give it a try.

‘…’

-Now is the time to challenge. I have a feeling. In cases like this, nine times out of ten, you either gain an overpowered ability or approach the realm of transcendence. Come on, hurry up.

This woman is so eager to make me eat it when she’s not the one eating it.

‘What if my body grows after eating it?’

Or my body might burst, unable to withstand the giant’s power.

‘That probably won’t happen. Am I being too cautious?’

After pondering for a moment, I decided to try eating the giant’s fruit.

It didn’t look dangerous to begin with, and Olivia had said that the bracelet of growth only produces things that benefit its owner.

It’s unforgivable as an adventurer not to eat a fruit that clearly looks like an elixir when it’s in your hands.

Let’s take a risk.

‘I’ll eat it.’

-Good. If anything happens, I’ll help right away.

I could feel Helena’s excitement. She was in an extremely excited state right now.

There’s only one reason. It’s probably because a new hidden element of the labyrinth that even she doesn’t know about is about to be revealed.

Usually, people who are deeply into any genre get excited when they hear new information about their field.

Helena, a labyrinth otaku, was in a state of extreme excitement over this fruit she’s seeing for the first time today. It can’t be helped. Shall I live up to her expectations?

‘Phew. Nothing bad will happen, right?’

Hoping that nothing would go wrong, I chewed the fruit.

Crunch.

A bright red fruit about the size of a cherry. When I bit into the giant’s fruit, sweet juice flowed out.

‘It’s sweet.’

-Sweet, huh. Anything else?

‘It’s a bit astringent.’

-Could it be unripe?

‘I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem unripe. Hmm. It also has a strange apple-like taste.’

It’s like a green apple. The crunchy texture too. The taste isn’t bad, but there’s a slightly astringent taste from the skin.

Is it right to eat it raw? Surely there isn’t a separate method of consumption… hmm?

As I chewed and swallowed the second bite of the fruit, vitality began to spring up in my body.

“Ooh…!”

-What is it? What’s happening?

‘Strength.. My body is…!’

My muscles were repeatedly growing and shrinking in real-time. I quickly chewed and swallowed the remaining fruit. There were no separate seeds.

‘Seedless apple..!’

After chewing and eating the seedless bean-sized apple, a pain about three times greater than what you feel when adapting to mana came over me.

“Urgh…!!!!”

I sat down and clutched my stomach.

It’s tremendous pain. But it didn’t feel entirely bad.

I had experienced something similar to this pain a few times in my childhood.

‘Growing pains.’

Yes, this is similar to growing pains. I’m experiencing growing pains right now.

My body didn’t get bigger, but I could feel my muscles repeatedly tearing and healing on their own, increasing muscle density to an unbelievable degree.

Moreover, it feels like my stamina is increasing enormously. Also, when I inhaled, a considerable amount of air entered my lungs. Has my breathing capacity increased too?

While my physical abilities were dramatically increasing, all the wounds on my hands were healing.

-Could this be… ultra-rapid regeneration…?

‘Really..?’

-The speed at which wounds are healing is like troll-level!

‘Crazy…!’

All the wounds on my body were really healing. Even muscle pain was disappearing.

And at the same time, extreme hunger came over me. I’m hungry. I’m starving. I’m so hungry.

-A lot of energy is being consumed for physical regeneration. You need to satisfy your hunger. Quickly eat something! If the hunger persists, your maximum life force will eventually be reduced!

‘This is crazy.’

I hurriedly took out hardtack and water from my inventory and frantically chewed and swallowed them.

It seems my body has gained an effect that extremely regenerates the body by consuming calories.

‘It’s not enough..’

However, no matter how much I ate, my hunger wasn’t resolved.

-You’re still hungry? Even after eating enough for 10 people on the spot?

‘I’m hungry.. It seems a fundamentally different problem has occurred.’

-That can’t be. You’re not regenerating your body through calorie consumption? What on earth is this? This is the first time I’ve seen something like this. Is it a different kind of ability from fat regeneration?

Helena was confused. She couldn’t find a solution either.

The hunger deepens. This isn’t hunger for food. My body was fundamentally craving something else.

‘Could it be…’

I got up and approached the giant’s corpse.

Why does the smell of blood seem particularly delicious?

Gulp.

Saliva pooled in my mouth.

One step. Two steps.

I approached the giant’s corpse.

-Wa, wait! What are you doing! An uncooked corpse..! Ah!

Despite Helena’s attempts to stop me, I put my mouth to the giant’s corpse.

I had a strong feeling that I needed to eat this. I need to eat demon flesh.

Mana.

Yes, what I’m lacking right now is mana.

Chomp.

I tore into the open wound and bit off a chunk of flesh.

My face was covered in giant’s blood.

Chew chew… gulp.

“Ah.”

Finally, I feel my stomach filling up.

The hunger has decreased a little.

Yes, demon flesh was the answer.

-Wait! Are you really okay? It’s not good to eat it raw!

From the start, I felt hungry even after eating enough food for 10 people in one sitting.

The fact that I could chew and swallow meat without any problems after wolfing down that much in just 2 minutes means there was a problem to begin with. Eating some raw meat probably won’t cause problems for my stomach.

‘I’ll be fine. My stomach seems to have… changed a bit.’

To be precise, it seems to have become giant-like. After eating the giant’s fruit, I gained a giant’s stomach. The increase in physical abilities is important, but what’s more unusual is that my stomach has become enormously large, sturdy, and amazing.

“Hey, Porter. What are you doing?”

“Ah, Saint.”

“No, your face is covered in blood. Did you bury your face in the giant’s corpse…? Why on earth….?”

“Well, you see.”

“You… Are you possessed by a demon?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Is it a curse? Saint Shower.”

“Whoa! Ugh.”

The Saint poured consecutive purification blessings on me.

There was no pain at all. It felt good to have my body purified, but it’s a bit too dazzling.

“It’s not a curse either. What on earth are you doing? If you’ve gone mad, ask Rosie for a hug. Don’t bury your face in a corpse by yourself…”

“No, I’m not crazy.”

“If you’re not crazy, why are you burying your face in the giant’s corpse? Do you know how creepy you look right now, Porter?”

“Well, you see. It’s like a side effect of an accessory I have.”

“Is it another of Raphnel’s works? No, what kind of accessory makes you eat corpses?”

“It’s hard to explain in detail. For now, it’s a side effect. It seems I need to eat demon flesh to return to a normal state.”

“Huh… So that’s why you were eating the giant’s corpse?”

“Yes. But Saint.”

“Yes?”

“Can I eat a little more? I’m still hungry.”

“….You’re a weirdo. You’re a weirdo. It’s unbelievable watching you. Really. You suddenly strip naked while eating a sandwich. Now you’re eating a demon corpse? Anyone who sees you would think you’re more of a heretic than the heretics.”

“I think so too. It’s regrettable.”

“Haah. Eat as you please. Eat cleanly and cut off the parts with saliva so they don’t rot. Understand?”

“Yes. I’ll clean up properly afterwards.”

The giant’s corpse is also a product in a way. If there are bite marks before we sell it, the price will drop.

‘Haah. Still, I’m relieved.’

After tearing and eating the giant’s flesh, my hunger subsided a bit.

-The pros and cons are clear.

‘Indeed.’

The effects of the giant’s fruit were as follows:

First, increased physical abilities. I feel like my overall stats have increased significantly, starting with strength.

Second, high-capacity stomach. I gained what you might call a giant’s stomach. Ordinary food doesn’t fill me up. I still felt hungry even after eating enough for 10 people. Instead, I gained ultra-rapid regeneration. It seems this can only be resolved by eating demon flesh.

‘If I can just procure demon flesh…’

-You can continuously use ultra-rapid regeneration.

Moreover, since eating demon flesh raw doesn’t cause indigestion, it seems I could hunt and eat in real-time to recover my body?

Gaining an iron stomach that can handle eating anything without problems was a bonus.

‘Not bad. Rather, it’s good.’

Since I never feel full no matter how much I eat, it means I can eat as much as I want of anything I like.

And I can always use ultra-rapid regeneration ability if I eat demon flesh? For me, who has a spatial pocket, this wasn’t even a penalty.

‘Reward. This is a reward.’

I felt like I received a proper reward for my efforts.

It’s time to accelerate the labyrinth conquest.

Even my stamina has increased unbelievably.

‘I can go on consecutive labyrinth expeditions without feeling tired.’

Olivia was right when she said the bracelet of growth was the best among support artifacts.

I wonder if only giants give fruits? I don’t think so. This, if you feed it the blood of boss-level demons, wouldn’t it always give a fruit?