The Anomaly Beyond The System

Chapter 111: Life inside the Worm’s stomach

Inside the Giant Maw worm’s stomach—

Within the enormous, suffocating darkness inside its body, a man was buried beneath a massive slab of broken concrete.

Only his head was visible, while everything below was crushed under the debris.

A nauseating squelching sound echoed throughout the enclosed space repeatedly, blending with the heavy vibration reverberating through the creature’s insides.

Several long seconds passed in complete stillness before—

“Haaa…!”

Lucian’s eyes snapped open violently as a loud, hoarse breath tore out of his throat.

“Haaa… haakhh…!”

For a brief moment, his mind remained blank.

Instinctively, he tried to move his body, only to immediately feel something impossibly heavy pressing over him from above.

His head turned, his gaze flickering upward, only to widen as he noticed the large slab of broken wall pressing over his body, pinning him beneath it mercilessly.

Fragments of concrete dug into his skin, inflicting a faint pain.

“Ughhh…!”

With a loud, strained groan, he pressed his palms onto the surface beneath him.

Veins bulged faintly across his forearms as he pushed himself upward with all his remaining strength.

Slowly, the massive slab rose inch by inch, tilting faintly as he pushed himself upward, along with the weight crushing him beneath it.

Another pained groan escaped his lips as he finally lifted himself and, with one final push, shoved himself completely out from beneath the rubble.

Lucian stumbled forward the instant he got out.

“Ha… haa…”

His heavy breathing echoed inside the enclosed space, along with a constant buzzing he could hear ringing in his ears.

His mind was completely disoriented before slowly, he lifted his head, only for his eyes to widen once again as he focused on his surroundings—in both shock and disbelief.

Despite the heavy darkness settled inside the place—

He could see clearly.

Every disgusting detail.

The grotesque inner flesh pulsating above him rhythmically.

The walls twitching faintly like a living muscle.

Large vein-like structures spread throughout the enormous chamber.

And the distance between himself and the upper surface—which was too high to reach.

“I’m inside its stomach, huh…?”

Oddly enough, Lucian didn’t feel as surprised as he should have, because the last thing he remembered—

Was staring directly into the giant worm’s open circular maw before everything went black.

It took him several moments to settle that thought inside him.

His legs suddenly faltered, his balance nearly collapsing before he steadied himself after a few seconds of struggle.

His breathing came out uneven and slightly ragged, each inhale feeling like a struggle.

“What a disgusting smell…”

His nose wrinkled instinctively as he said that.

The stench inside this place was truly disgusting, making his stomach churn faintly.

There was nothing more revolting than the smell inside—though the sight of its inner flesh was no less repulsive.

His right eye began to go dark as something warm was dripping from his forehead, almost blinding his vision completely on one side.

Lucian immediately raised his hand and pressed against his head.

And the moment his fingers touched the wound—

“Agh…!”

A sharp pain shot up through his skull.

He instantly pulled his hand away, letting the pain settle slightly before he touched the injury over his head once again.

Despite the sharp pain, he gritted his teeth and slowly tried to analyse the wound.

He could feel torn skin through the numbness and the pain—as if needles were being pricked onto his skull.

His eyes unconsciously dropped downward.

Toward the thick, viscous liquid beneath the slab he stood upon.

The surface below churned faintly with every movement of the creature from the outside.

Dark fluid stretched limitlessly beneath him.

He turned his head slightly backward, and only then did he understand where he was standing.

A broken chunk of floor.

It seemed the monster hadn’t swallowed only him, but an entire portion of the building alongside him.

Which naturally meant the people inside it were likely devoured too—though realistically, there was almost no chance that any of them had survived.

Leaving that aside—

Lucian’s gaze dropped over to the floor, where shards of mirror had fallen.

He didn’t know if he was lucky to find what he wanted—or unlucky for being inside a monster’s stomach in the first place.

Slowly, he walked forward and picked the largest shard carefully.

Then raised it before his face.

As his face reflected against the mirror piece—

His expression froze completely.

And unconsciously, his heartbeat sped up.

Because on his head—

On the right side of his face—just above the forehead—there was a sharp, grotesque tear of flesh stretched across his scalp

The skin was split open badly, and thick, dark blood continuously dripped from the wound.

The blood covered almost half of the portion of his face—some of it dripping into his eyes and partially blinding his vision along with it.

His hand holding the glass shard trembled faintly.

For several long moments, Lucian simply stared at his reflection silently.

Taking a slow breath, he finally threw the shard aside.

The broken glass fell into the dark liquid with a faint splash

After a few seconds had passed, he grabbed onto the other side of his hoodie firmly.

Then yanked the fabric from the shoulder with a sharp tear.

The cloth wasn’t as clean as he wanted—covered in dust and blood—but he had to make do for now with no other choice.

He tightly wrapped the cloth around his head, clenching his teeth as he did so.

Wiping the blood from his right eye using the back of his hand, he slowly walked toward the edge of the floating concrete slab.

The concrete beneath him was drifting faintly atop the creature’s stomach fluids.

Lowering himself carefully—

Lucian crouched near the edge.

Then hesitantly pushed his fingers into the dark liquid below.

After several tense seconds of dipping, he pulled his dipped hand back out.

His brows furrowed faintly.

“It’s not acid…?” he muttered to himself.

He had expected the liquid to be something like hydrochloric acid inside a human’s stomach.

Strong enough to even dissolve metal coins.

But it seemed that wasn’t the case, and the fluid inside its body was different from what he had thought.

Then suddenly—

The entire surface beneath him began vibrating violently.

The thick fluid ripped intensely, and the floating slab he was standing on shook hard.

Lucian quickly stepped backward and steadied his balance from nearly falling again.

‘I’ve got to get out of here as fast as I can,’ he thought with a grim expression while steadying his breathing.

The disgusting chamber around him continued pulsating, squelching sound echoing through the creature’s insides.

Turning his head, Lucian searched for the nearest section of stomach wall he could reach.

The moment he found it, he ran toward the edge of the slab and shot upward explosively.

His body crossed through the air before landing heavily over another drifting chunk of broken concrete.

The moment he landed, the slab shook under his weight, gradually sinking below, into the viscous liquid.

With another leap, his body shot forward and landed over another large segment of the building.

This was a much larger piece, and part of the floor had sunk inward, leaving only the upper half of what looked like a room visible.

His left hand shot up instantly.

His fingers grabbed the edge of the tilted floor above him, concrete crumbling faintly under his grip.

“Ugh…” A painful groan escaped his lips as he felt something shift in his arm, and his arm trembled under his weight.

The previous injury he had sustained during the Dire Wolf battle reopened completely.

The damaged flesh tore even further from the strain, fresh blood trickling down his arm through the bandages that had turned red a while ago.

Ignoring the pain completely, he climbed over the floor with ease despite his condition.

“I’ll truly die at this rate…” he couldn’t help but let his thoughts out.

[Even if you don’t die, the injuries you are inflicting upon yourself aren’t something that will heal within days.]

Akahsa’s voice chimed in his head, though he could hear a faint—almost hidden worry flickering through their connection.

“Thank you for worrying about me,” Lucian spoke, carrying a fake happiness in his voice.

[What, still angry at me?]

Her eerie yet strangely melodious voice rang in his head once again, her words sounding as if she were genuinely hurt.

But Lucian barely reacted.

He leaped over to another platform, his right leg shaking silently as the injury in his thigh opened up, blood seeping through his pants slowly.

[Well, whatever.]

Her tone shifted, turning calm once again.

[Just don’t kill yourself… not again.]

There was a true, completely genuine worry in her voice.

“Hm”

That was all he answered, his body leaping from one unstable platform to another—through whatever he could find to land.

He didn’t know whether the thick liquid below him was toxic… or even acidic.

But he still didn’t want to be inside it for long, so he continued taking the safe route available.

The dry path he could find.

Within minutes, he reached the end of the available path.

Before him was a gigantic wall of grotesque stomach flesh that pulsated with revolting movements.

There was still some distance between him and the wall, and unfortunately, there was no more platform to reach there.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Can I escape through its mouth again?” he asked out loud.

The question lingered in the air for a couple of seconds.

Then—

[No,] Akasha answered calmly.

[There is a very large distance between you and its mouth, and it would be difficult for you to reach it, especially in your current condition.]

After a brief pause, she continued.

[You are currently near the end of its body, so I think you should forget that option.]

Lucian nodded faintly.

So the only remaining option…

Was forcing his way out.

A dagger suddenly appeared in his hand from his inventory.

His fingers grasped the hilt, tightening the hold as he took a deep breath.

Lowering his posture slightly, he exploded upward, closing the distance between the platform and the pulsating stomach wall.

The moment he reached it—

Both hands shot up instantly.

The dagger tore directly into the fleshy tissue, and at the same time, his other hand slammed against the wall, fingers digging desperately into the slick flesh.

His nails tore through the tissue painfully.

His weight dragged him down for a small moment before he stopped falling.

Lucian hung there against the massive stomach wall.

“Haa… haa…”

His breathing turned rough and uneven.

But before he could do anything else—

A deep grumbling noise echoed throughout the creature’s insides.

The world around him shook violently.

The thick, digestive liquid below him erupted into massive waves.

Lucian’s eyes widened.

“Fuck me—!”

His curse barely escaped his mouth before—𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

The violent surge swallowed him whole—engulfed by the same thick viscous liquid.

100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter

50 Golden Tickets = 1 extra chapter

This is the most I can do by now. Might increase the number of releases if you support me more.