Maggots, lots of maggots

What? My head's spinning. I can't hear anything. All of my senses are out of whack.

Where am I? I tried to lift my sore body up off what I assumed was the ground only to vaguely feel something squishy on my hand. I looked at my hand with my blurry vision while trying my best to ignore my splitting headache.

"What the hell?" I said in surprise. I hastily tried to stand up only to trip up and fall back. I rolled off a small pile of… bodies.

It made me realize that I had accidentally stuck my hand into someone's rotting skull. I held back the urge to puke and instead tried to focus on why I was here.

This probably where they drop the bodies of those that failed the gene exaltation. Maybe Requi actually thought he killed me?

Well, F*ck. I started to retch and inevitably puke on the ground. Luckily all I had was some bland noodles. Should I thank poverty?

With my recovering vision, I glanced around what seemed to be a medium-sized cavern full of cadavers. Wait, I can see it all as clear as day.

I scrutinized my body only to find myself wearing nothing but underwear. Unfortunately, this meant that all of my things were gone including my phone. No, wait that was all I had anyways... The timing is a bit ill fated, I just paid for service too.

I then heard a loud screech. It reminds me of the waste worm I faced in sector B. wait... There were actually multiple screeches.

A pile of rotting corpses, if that isn't enticing for maggots and worms I don't know what is. This was bound to be trouble.

Do they have a feeding period or something? How come they didn't eat me while I was asleep? Well, that doesn't matter. All the better for me I suppose.

I then noticed a large problem, I didn't have a weapon. Putting aside the large quantities, without a weapon I was bound to die anyway.

Plop. Plop.

Suddenly, I noticed an issue. With my still recovering hearing, I had failed to notice the origin of the screeches.

Large maggots started to rain from the ceiling and onto the pile of corpses. I now felt like puking a second time but…

Plop.

A maggot landed next to me. Unlike other mutants, it didn't seem quite grotesque. It was simply a giant maggot. Nonetheless, I prepared myself to get into a life or death struggle…

Eh, They ignored me… Why?

The maggot started to calmly make its way towards the bunch of corpses. It was as if I was simply a ghost. Are maggots not aggressive? Earthworms aren't either yet I was attacked so how come?

More plopping sounds resounded in the area as more and more maggots rained from the ceiling. Not interested in seeing maggots feasting on human corpses, I searched around for an exit. If they weren't going to be attacking me then I have no reason to kill them.

Thanks to my improved night vision, I managed to easily spot a wide opening. I ran towards it with surprisingly lightened steps. Is this what it means to be exalted?

SKREE

Hm? I stopped my sprint and glanced behind me. Some of the maggots were giving me what I presumed were aggressive looks from a distance.

Why do they care about me all of a sudden? Could it be? I lowered my sprint and instead slowly walked away. The maggots seemed confused and got back to their usual business.

Wow. The mad scientist Requi actually gave me superpowers. I guess landing in a pile of corpses afterward makes for a good origin story.

Does this mean I become invisible? Or do they just fail to notice me? Regardless of the reason, this is much better for me. I can easily escape any mutant I face in the future. Not only that but such a useful power is bound to prove useful in combat as well.

With the right set of skills and a weapon, I could become a top tier assassin. This skill isn't all bright, at least I can't conclude it is so until I test more of its perks. For example, does it mean that unless I start running people can't see me?

Now, I am not big on humans in the first place but I am not going to be eating mutant beasts out in the wilderness. At least I'd rather not. I need to be able to interact with people freely or else my journey will quickly come to an end.

I let out a tired sigh, life is far too troublesome at times. I really don't know what keeps me going.

I walked my way to the exit. Before long, the maggots and their wriggling noises were too far to be heard. My senses all seemed to have recovered so I ran forward without issue.

BZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZ

I instantly became alert after hearing the buzzing sound. That was most definitely not my phone. I have nothing on me. It is truly regrettable as it means I lost my title of waste king.

I looked up towards the source of the noise only to see a giant fly. It seemed to be plotting something mischievous as it looked at me from the high ground.

Which meant it could see me. Were the maggots' senses simply too poor to notice me?

Regardless of the reason, I had to prepare myself for a serious fight

The giant fly which was plotting my demise from the air swooped down quickly. I barely had any time to react and jump aside.

The thing was simply too damn fast. If it wasn't for my newly improved capabilities I would have been eaten by a giant fly in one fell swoop. With its great maneuverability, the fly didn't even give me a chance to stand up.

I grit my teeth and kicked out at the flying menace as it rapidly approached, I didn't allow its beady eyes to scare me off.

The fly deftly avoided the kick and spit out some green acid at me from the side as it continued flying on its way.

I rolled aside and heard the sizzling acid burn the stone floor. The thought of being hit by such an attack made me shudder.

Luckily this thing isn't very smart or it would have taken advantage of its large body to take me out. Maybe its basic instincts as a fly were still in play even after undergoing such a large mutation?

Without a definitive answer, I had no choice but to prepare myself for another one of its assaults. The worst thing is that with so many maggots, there were bound to also be many flies. I am not sure if I can afford to waste my time here.