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System Error: The Imp Who Shouldn’t Exist (Web Novel) - Chapter 5: Status (a)
Chapter 5: Status (a)
This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl
Heat. Glorious, pooling heat. The imp reveled the warmth gathering in it's gut.It skidded to a stop, a chunk of its arm gone, but it steamed as it sealed, already healing. Crunching down on the black fragment still in its mouth, swallowing the blood and gore whole, it then dashed back into the fray.
The dead littered the pit floor. Twisted, torn and steaming. Six Corpse Worms still moved, and the imp was already sprinting toward the next.
It ducked a snapping maw, leapt onto anothers side, and bit deep into its bone mask. The black shard cracked. The worm spasmed, dead before it hit the ground.
Another lunged. The imp didnt stop.
Stabbing its claws into the side of the creatures body, it climbed fast, tearing into the worm's side as it writhed. Teeth found the black again. Blood sprayed.
Four left.
The ground pulsed underfoot, flesh and bone growing wild with the fresh blood. Tumors burst open mid-stride. Bone stalks pushed up like spears.
The imp adapted.
Every movement counted. It started cutting tighter angles, timing bursts. It wasnt avoiding damage, it was controlling it. Flesh tore, but not deep. Bruises, not breaks. Cuts that sealed fast enough to fight through.
The next worm was desperate, forcing it to open its mouth too early. The imp shoved its arm in sideways, forced the jaw down, then bit the face clean off.
Three left.
One came from the flank. The imp caught it just in time, ripped it's face apart before it could fully lunge.
Two left.
Then it slipped, foot skidding across a pulsing stomach sack growing from the ground.
That second of imbalance was all the worms needed.
Broken teeth sank inthe imps foot tore clean off.
It hit the ground snarling. No time to recover. The last two were already on top of it. As the worms closed in from both sides, something inside the imp refused.
For the first time, it felt pride. Indignation. It wasnt prey.
Claws digging into the fleshfield, the small demon launched upward between them, mouth wide. One worm coiled around its torso, crushing. The other lunged for its throat.
The imp twistedtearing the biting worm's jaw off at the hinge, then slammed its elbow into the skull of the second.
Reaching out, it gripped into the worm's rotted skin, ripped it close, then tore into its face.
The last worm dropped, twitching, bone mask falling away in splinters.
Collapsing to its knees, breath heavy, steam rolled off the imp's body. Blood boiled in its wounds. It was healing. Wounded, bleeding, but alive.
It crawled over to the nearest corpse, sank its teeth in, and fed.
[System // Notification]
[Quest // SURVIVAL // Complete]
[Conditions // Remain-alive]
[Reward // Level-Up / Basic-System-Access]
[Distributing....]
[Level-Up // +1]
[Soul Integrity // +1%]
[AP+3]
The imp froze mid-bite.
'...strange.'
It didnt feel stronger, but something deep inside shifted. A slow, creeping pressure rolled up its spine and settled behind its eyes.
Lost in this mysterious feeling, it was completely caught off guard when the next hit came.
[System // Notification]
[Basic System Access // Unlocked]
[Inventory Space // Unlocked
[Racial Ability // Savage Feed // Unlocked]
It hit the ground seizing. Its limbs jerked as bloodied foam spilled from its throat...then every muscle locked.
A scream never made it out. The pressure behind its eyes ruptured, and for a moment that felt like forever, it couldnt breathe.
Close to full panic, the release that finally hit felt like a hammer to the chest. Air rushed in, followed by what felt like a wall being torn down inside its head. Color. Sound. Meaning. The world split open, and the imp could breathe again.
[User has displayed potential beyond its species. Unexpected.]
It caught that.
Sitting up, it coughed blood and rubbed its eyes.
What... happened?
[User has gained initial access to system functions. Think: Display.]
Watching the bones of its foot continue growing, muscle and skin knitting over veins and tendon with a hiss of steam, it snarled with a sigh.
'Display.'
Instantly, a glowing, dark red panel appeared. Before, it had seemed weightless, almost faded. Now, it had form and mass. Reaching forward, its claw touched the screen, then recoiledhesitated...then pressed again. Racial Profile.
It felt warm.
Gold lettering shimmered under its finger. Its mind twitched, then pulled. The knowledge unlocked earlier began to surface. New words began to mean something.
Imp?
[Lowest-ranked demon... lucky.]
It ignored the voice and kept reading.
[Racial Profile // Imp]
[Classification // Lowest Tier Demon]
[Origin // Formed from ambient hate / fear / excess soul waste]
[Lineage // None]
[Status // Mindless by default]
[Note]
[No recorded evolution. Considered a cursed strain. Non-viable. Born with no True-Name.]
[Physical Profile]
[Height // 2.53 ft, upright]
[Skin // Leathery, blistered / red, gray, or ash-black]
[Tail // Prehensile, sometimes spiked]
[Social Position]
[Absolute bottom of infernal hierarchy]
[Behavioral Traits]
[Feeding // Consumes flesh, bone, trash, ash, corpses]
[Communication // Screeches, barks, limited mimicry]
[Movement // Erratic, swarm-based, highly territorial]
[Reproduction // Environmental spawning only, all male]
[Personality // None, pure instinct]
Male?
He glanced down. Nothing. Just bare, leathery skin.
Seems...unfair?
[Keep reading. Suggestion: Place your finger at the bottom of the screen and drag upward.]
He stopped patting the smooth spot, tilted his head, then followed the instruction.
As the screen shifted, more text slid into view.
He squinted, reading slowly.
[Combat Profile]
[Weapons]
[Claws // Flesh tearing]
[Teeth // High bite pressure]
[Tail // Stabbing, choking]
[Innate Traits]
[Heat Resistance // Immune to fire/low-tier Hellflame]
[Dark Vision // Full clarity in pitch black]
[Wall Crawling // Vertical/inverted traversal]
[Stealth // Near-silent when calm]
[Minor Shifting // Limited liquefaction to slip through cracks / Unstable]
[Magic Affinity // None]
[Lifespan // Hours]
[Weaknesses // Weak to Light / Easily enslaved by ritual, authority, or spellbinding]
Any excitement the imp once felt faded. Every line of text screamed the same thing.
Trash among trash.
Im weak.
He stared past the screen, eyes fixed on the rotting bodies of the Corpse Worms. His stomach hardened, black and low, like a knot pulling tighter.
You made me different... Im not like them. I want to be stronger. I want to understand these things you put in my head.
[Bloodlust detected. Recommendation: Feed.]
No feed! Make me stronger!
[Suggestion: Complete system familiarization. Press tab labeled User Profile.]
He snarled, rage and need crashing together beneath his skin. For a moment, he lmost ignored the voice.
But then he pressed the tab. Another screen unfolded, clean and bright.
At the top was an image. His own face staring back.
