'Kill monsters, eat meat' 'I mean, Kill monsters, save lives. Got it.' 'Tut, I could've sworn that the first one sounded better.' She wasn't a girl looking for freedom or self-righteous liberation by a hero, or whatever shit a girl who suffered for almost all her life would crave. -the shit of a life she was living was horrible, but it was bearable, and so she got used to it. Rather, instead of freedom, what this little missy wanted was money. Lots and lots of them so she never has to worry about the next day. Money - bountiful enough that when she has to spend, she doesn't need to look back or calculate her assets to see how much she has left. Money - bountiful enough to get all the fried chicken she could ever dream of. Yeah, you heard it, fried chicken. For those who did not have money to spare leisurely, getting fried chicken was like a pipe dream to them and she had been one of those unfortunate souls. A comfortable roof above her head and no worries as to when she would get ordered around to steal. No worries about when she would get her next meal-- That was her liberation. And she got it. Just that, she got it most absurdly. Awakened! Those were the people ruling the world, alongside beastly and deadly monsters who threatened the safety of average human beings. And those awakened call the shots. Alice never dreamed she would one day be awakened, and compared to others with their game-like system displaying their attributes and strength; she had a full-grown man whom only she could hear, watching her back at every turn and telling her what to do. He was kinda a pain in the ass but she couldn't complain. It was this gift he had bestowed on her that made her the most powerful Awakened there was with stats that even S-class awakeneds couldn't compare to. She was the boss, now. Mwa-hahahahaha. But life didn't go as easy and leisurely as she planned. With great power comes great responsibility, right? Well, in her case with great power comes great hunger. She couldn't go a moment without getting hungry and her stomach had become a bottomless pit. And to get food, she needed money, and to get money, she had to hunt monsters. The monsters plagued humanity, causing catastrophes and taking lives mercilessly. Those monsters, as scary as they may be, were her target and she had to face them head-on. The bigger the monsters the more money she would gain. Yeah, that was the plan, but... This guy acting as her system seemed to have other plans, putting her at the forefront of 'justice' and having her clean the mess he somewhat created. 'Ugh, I can already sense a shadow of foreboding. Someone, please tell me I'm not acting the main character role. I just want to eat, okay?'
Alice rolled her eyes and got on top of one of the tentacles she had cut off, which was floating on the water.
The Kraken's weak point, which was supposed to be its tentacles, was actually deep inside its massive head.
So, if she wanted to kill it and keep sure it didn't regenerate, she would have to dig deep into its head.
Two of its tentacles charged at her from above and she sliced them off, causing its black blood to rain on her.
"Ugh, I'm going to need a serious bath after this!" Alice said and swung her axe aside to take off the black blood.
*Luckily, there is water all around you*
Alice's eyes turned glazed and she said, sarcastically,
"Yeah, thanks for the reminder."
Before washing up, she decided to finish up with the Kraken.
Evading it when there was no footstool was difficult and she got smacked a lot of times by the tentacles but it was not enough to kill her.
Her small and frail-looking body had been strengthened beyond her imagination, and even hits from an S-class monster like that couldn't do much damage to her.
"Time to get this over with." She charged for the tentacles coming at her like spears and the monster that kept on shrieking horridly. "Dude, shut up. You're making a lot of disturbing noise."
She cut through the tentacles and headed straight for its head. Even if it had quick regeneration abilities, it couldn't be as quick as her speed.
She got to its head and leaped up, but was obstructed by more tentacles.
"Out of my way!" She cut through them all in a flash and her axe landed on the Kraken's head. It gave out a shriek, swinging its regenerated tentacles heavily in defense but she made her way into it before the wound closed up.
It even started releasing its poisonous liquid from its spores in defense but Alice was already inside it.
And from inside, she invited lightning bolts.
It roasted the kraken and it sure as hell smelled like roasted octopus.
Alice sniffed the air and her mouth salivated,
"Oh my, can I take a bite?" She wouldn't stop drooling. "It's been a while since I put anything in my mouth. Just a bite won't kill me, right?"
*It will, actually* the voice in her head said and she froze.
"What? Why? It smells so good." She said.
*There are toxins in these monsters. So unless they are processed properly and professionally, your body will get corroded by these toxins and you will die.* He said and she pursed her lips, regretfully.
To think there was such a thing that would stop her from stuffing her belly.
She really wanted to eat. She wasn't even feeling the bananas she ate anymore.
*Let's move on. We still have a lot to do*
"Hey, don't boss me around." She retailed, taking out her frustration at not being able to eat at him.
*Fine. You can stay right here and delay heading back out to eat. Your choice* it said and she gritted her teeth.
He had such leverage on her by bringing up food to persuade her every time.
She was tired and bored of endlessly killing monsters. And most importantly, she was hungry.
It felt like her stomach had become a void and if she didn't eat soon.
"Alright, let's do this. No more messing around." She said to herself.
But before heading towards the exit, she got into the water, rinsed off the black blood all over her, and sighed.
"I'll probably get dry before long, right?"
*...*
After a few more floors, stealing a crimson griffin's egg with the plan to fry and eat it, running away from its mother and a very large number of griffins, killing them off and told she couldn't eat the egg because of toxins, getting angry and attacking the next floor that was filled with lame and weak orcs...
She was so damn hungry and felt like she could fade away at any moment. It was an exaggeration but not all of it was as eating was also vital to her growth.
She only got to eat something, when they got to a floor that had a forest environment. Other than the monsters there, there was a spring that had real fish. Not monster fish. It was crazy and though the voice asked her to be cautious, she couldn't care less.
"As long as it's not monster meat, I'll be fine." She said and caught all the fish in the spring.
It was to the point that the voice almost shook its nonexistent head.
The events just went on and on, with Alice never taking anything seriously and always getting scolded by the voice, they finally arrived at the fiftieth floor, once again seeing the tower as it was in the beginning.
If their guess was right, then it had probably been a month since they entered the dungeon and she was still far from completing the 100 floors.
Yet, she could feel she had grown considerably in strength and agility.
'Guess it was telling the truth when it said the more monsters I kill, the more powerful I get.' she thought, staring at her hand as she clenched and unclenched it. 'Is this like some kind of level-up shit? I can't see it but it seems I indeed have a system somewhere. I feel so much strength flowing through me. Like I'm able to even move a huge mountain. Is this what being powerful feels like?'
*Let's move on.* The voice said to her and her eyes turned glaze.
Could it stop giving her orders already?
She already lived most of her life taking orders and that was because she had no choice if she wanted to live. But now, even when she was free from that bondage, she was still taking orders.
It was annoying.
But oh well, she had already come this far, so just listen to his words and not take it as an order.
She picked up her hammer and looked up.
Ahem, I really wanna drop a spoiler but I'll hold it in for a while longer