Serie opened her information panel.
[Name: ██████]
[Codename: Mad Eater Witch]
[Gender: Female]
[Age: 9735 years old]
[Race: Demon | Witch]
[Attributes: Strength F | Stamina F | Charm C | Agility F | Spirit F]
[Evaluation: Thousands of years of hunger have left her strength at less than one in ten thousand. Feed her and see, if you can.]
[Ability: Wasteful Devour: Greedily devour anything, gaining Gluttony Counts. This not only heals injuries but also enhances your various attributes and has a chance to acquire the abilities of what was devoured. (Current Gluttony Counts: 0)]
[Background: Thousands of years ago, priestesses opened a rift to the abyss, releasing a chaotic entity that harbored primal hunger.
Queen Maya, blinded by the lust for power, made a blood pact with it, bringing her the illusory dream of eternal monarchy. But arrogance and foolishness ultimately made her pay a heavy price.
It began with banquets of flowing mead and delicacies, then livestock that couldn't be slaughtered fast enough, and finally, citizens fleeing throughout the city.
Ultimately, the entire royal city was flattened overnight, leaving only a barefoot girl treading through the mud in the morning light.
Whether it was the madness flickering in her eyes or her face, almost identical to the queen's, both pointed to the girl's true identity and the queen's final fate.
Now, she has been awakened by an intruder...
It's time for breakfast.]
Serie's emotions while looking at the information panel were like a roller coaster, rising and falling.
At first, when she saw that this was an almost ten-thousand-year-old demoness, and her race was the formidable-sounding demon, she almost shouted, "This is a sure win!"
But then she looked at the attribute values...
Damn it, how was this any different from Serie herself? Everything was F at a glance!
Only her Charm was slightly higher, at C.
But compared to Serie's own Charm, this C wasn't high either.
She wondered if it was because she had been gathering dust in the tomb for too long.
Calculating it this way... she was even worse than Serie!
So what was the point of this body's existence?
Serie didn't understand until she saw the Mad Eater Witch's ability, and her complaints turned into surprise once more.
It turned out this was a growth-type witch.
From a game perspective, it was even the most imba infinite growth type.
As long as she continuously "stacked layers" and developed, she could directly declare herself invincible in the late game.
No wonder the initial stats were so low.
Indeed, if a late-game hero also had high early-game stats, then nobody else would have a damn chance to play.
Serie tried to understand the abnormal ability she had acquired using her understanding of computer games.
But just as she was pondering, her already rumbling stomach suddenly began to convulse violently.
She curled up into a ball. This was nothing like the ordinary hunger she could somewhat tolerate back at the Control Bureau; it was as if someone had literally hollowed out her internal organs and then lit a fire in her abdominal cavity.
Serie clutched her flat stomach, cold sweat trickling down her cheeks, soaking through her black linen dress.
She struggled to prop herself up halfway.
"So hungry... No, I need to find something to eat."
Serie anxiously looked around.
But where would there be food in a tomb? Besides the damp rock walls, there was only sand and dirt.
The few burial pottery jars had long been rummaged through by her, completely empty.
Spiderwebs were everywhere in the corners, but not a single spider was to be seen.
If the hunger-crazed Serie could really find a spider now, she would genuinely dare to chomp it down, crunchy and all.
She was truly too hungry!
"Hunger-crazed" was not an exaggeration for Serie.
Blood red truly spread across her eyes with the hunger, and not only was her vision a crimson blur.
If someone were standing in front of her at that moment, they would be startled to see her originally deep-pool-like green eyes now glowing with an eerie, vivid red.
"Ughhh—"
Serie screamed internally, but the Mad Eater Witch's body couldn't speak at all.
The metal muzzle also crushed her muffled cries into indistinct whimpers. She scrambled to the stone door on all fours, her sharp nails scraping several white marks on the bluish-gray rock wall. The person who built this tomb apparently never intended for anyone to enter, much less leave.
Blood beads quickly formed on her fingertips, and her shoulder was almost dislocated from bumping it. The stone door remained completely unmoving.
This body, with all its Strength, Agility, and Stamina at F, was practically a living corpse. Forget pushing the door, she nearly twisted her ankle just running those few steps.
Serie slumped to the ground, her small face filled with despair.
"Oh my god, no way..." She stared at her trembling fingertips. Was she really going to starve to death here?
From the Mad Eater Witch's ability, she was indeed invincible in the late game, but the problem was how to get through this miserable early game?
Forget this thousand-pound stone door; even if a stray dog came running from somewhere, it would probably turn into a life-or-death struggle, right?
Moreover, even if Serie escaped the tomb, what then?
Outside the tomb was most likely a desolate wilderness. Where would she find food?
Even if there was food, how would she eat? This metal muzzle was so tight it made her cheekbones ache, making it hard to even swallow saliva.
Why was she so unlucky?
Every single game started on hell difficulty?
Serie angrily grabbed the muzzle, her fingers gripping its edge, knuckles turning pale from the excessive force, and fingertips a strangely dark red.
But her strength was truly too little; trying to pry open this metal muzzle with bare hands was like trying to smash a rock with an egg.
With a click, a piece of her left index finger's nail peeled off, and blood splattered onto the black metal surface. She trembled all over, gasping in pain, cold sweat sliding down her temples. But even so, Serie held on like she was grasping a lifeline.
She took a deep breath, as if about to give up, her chest heaving twice. Then, suddenly, she frantically dug at the muzzle's seams again.
The metal edge was stained with dark red blood, and the skin on her palms was already scraped raw.
But having finally gained an abnormal ability, with a faint chance to turn her fortunes around, how could she give up so easily?
This bit of pain was nothing at all!
A beast-like growl escaped Serie's throat, as if she had the resolve to succeed or die trying.
Her teeth ground together, making a harsh sound. She stared at the mottled wall in front of her, forcefully prying at the metal muzzle on her face.
This sudden burst of ferocity was not without reason.
After all, she currently had two bodies; the real Serie was still lying in a containment cell at the Control Bureau.
Although there was also the threat of death looming, it was far less urgent than the present situation.
This realization made her suddenly become ruthless, shoving her fingers into the muzzle's gap. The sound of tearing flesh mixed with the smell of rust exploded in her nasal cavity.
In an instant, several pieces of metal, having endured thousands of years, suddenly broke off, and the metal muzzle split into several pieces with a clang.
Serie was carried by inertia, stumbling to her knees, not even bothering to pull out the metal shards embedded in her palms.
Hunger and pain had long since broken through her rational defenses.
By the time she reacted, her mouth was already wide open, revealing triangular, serrated teeth gleaming with a chilling white light.
Serie, too hungry to be picky, bit into the largest metal shard, tearing at it like a starved hyena at rotting flesh, her jawbone emitting a teeth-grinding metallic screech.
The Mad Eater Witch's mouth was like a meat grinder, easily grinding the hard metal and swallowing it like potato chips.
Though called potato chips, the taste and texture were far inferior. The sensation of metal scraping against her teeth and tongue was bizarre, like swallowing many spiky coins.
However, Serie no longer cared about the taste; these unpalatable metals were rapidly filling the emptiness in her stomach.
[Mad Eater Witch used Wasteful Devour on "Metal Muzzle"]
[Gained 700 Devouring Layers]
[Strength F → Strength E]
["Hardness" + 70%]
["Hardness" current progress 70%, upon completion will gain ability Tough Skin]
The prompt sounded, just as written in the information: Serie could eat anything and gain their corresponding Gluttony Counts and abilities.