Chapter 18. Possibility
The possibility that Ian hadn’t returned to the past.
It was a possibility I’d considered from the moment I realized I’d returned to the past.
But it was a possibility I had quickly shaken off.
Because I was certain Ian had returned to the past.
And that certainty came from none other than the mechanism behind my ability, Predation [S+].
Predation [S+] is an ability that allows me to consume the heart of a living being and acquire their abilities.
And I had consumed Ian’s heart and obtained his abilities.
But what I didn’t know for sure—was whether it was an absorption of abilities, or a replication of them.
In other words, did I take the ability from the consumed being, or merely copy it and keep it for myself?
If it was absorption, the original would lose the ability.
If it was replication, the original would retain their ability.
However, there was no way to confirm this.
Not even during my days as a Predator for the Allied Forces had I resolved this question.
No creature could live without a heart, so I couldn’t confirm whether the original still had their ability after I’d consumed it.
But if…
If my Predation is based on absorption, then I must have taken Ian’s abilities from him.
If it’s based on replication, then both Ian and I would possess the same abilities.
But either way—
“Ian definitely returned to the past.”
That fact remained unchanged.
The abilities I knew Ian possessed so far totaled three.
Solo Leveling [EX]
Player’s Will [EX]
And… Regression.
Through consuming Ian’s heart, I obtained both Solo Leveling [EX] and Player’s Will [EX].
But I did not gain the Regression ability.
Whether my Predation was absorption or replication didn’t matter.
Either way, if I had absorbed or replicated Regression, I should possess a skill like Regression [EX].
But I didn’t.
I only had Solo Leveling [EX] and Player’s Will [EX].
There was absolutely no skill or ability related to Regression in me.
Which meant…
“I didn’t absorb the Regression ability.”
That means the ability still resides with Ian.
Whether my Predation works through absorption or replication, the lack of Regression in me means it still exists in Ian.
And that’s possible because Predation doesn’t always allow you to absorb all of a target’s abilities.
Sometimes it takes multiple attempts—dozens, even hundreds of times consuming the same creature’s heart—to fully acquire all of their powers.
I had not completely absorbed or replicated all of Ian’s abilities.
Thus, Ian still possesses the Regression ability.
Ian definitely returned to the past.
More importantly—
==[Find the Hero!]==
[Objective] – Locate the Hero
[Reward] – ???
[Failure Penalty] – The End of the Continent
This Main Quest was proof that Ian was somewhere on this continent.
The only mystery was—why hadn’t he shown up in the past 17 days?
“Let’s wait just a little longer.”
That didn’t mean I was going to sit around and do nothing, though.
◆ You have consumed the additional genetic material of the Ice Troll!
◆ The skill ‘Regeneration [C+]’ has been upgraded to ‘Regeneration [B-]’!
A translucent message popped up before me, signaling the end of the Predation process.
“It really upgraded?”
I had hoped for it—but it was just a hope.
I didn’t expect an actual upgrade.
A skill getting upgraded from a single Predation is nearly unheard of.
In the case of Nutrient Synthesis [C], I had to hunt eight Alacrons to evolve it.
“Let’s check the details of the upgrade.”
As soon as I spoke, the upgraded Regeneration skill info floated in front of me.
◆ Regeneration [B-]
Consumes stored nutrients to repair damaged parts of the body.
The type and amount of nutrients consumed varies based on the injury’s location and severity.
Temporarily disables pain perception by numbing sensory nerves.
Absorbing additional genetic material will further enhance this ability.
With the upgrade to [B-], a new feature was added to Regeneration.
“No pain, huh?”
Not feeling pain may seem like a good thing—but it’s not.
Pain is a survival mechanism.
All living beings instinctively avoid pain, helping them detect and escape danger.
The instinct to avoid pain is the most reliable defense mechanism we have.
But what if you couldn’t feel pain?
You wouldn’t be able to recognize danger.
You wouldn’t even know you’re hurt.
Even if you’re bleeding out—you’d feel nothing.
In that sense, being numb to pain is like having a serious illness.
But what if you had Regeneration?
Then pain would be meaningless.
Even if you got hurt, you could instantly recover.
“That’s actually pretty amazing.”
More than just “okay”—it was phenomenal.
Even with Regeneration, the pain of shattered bones and crushed flesh would remain.
That kind of pain would drain your mental strength.
Sure, Player’s Will [EX] helped prevent mental breakdowns, but it didn’t actually erase the pain.
But if I could temporarily block the pain?
“Then I could regenerate recklessly.”
I would become a true regeneration monster.
I had acquired the most important and useful feature for a regenerative fighter.
All that effort to take down the Ice Troll’s heart had been worth it.
“No wonder the Emperor had them all hunted down.”
But now that I’d returned to the past…
Monsters with rare abilities like the Ice Trolls still existed freely in the wild.
Before the Emperor starts his conquest… before the Imperial Army wipes out the continent’s ecosystems…
I need to collect all of these abilities.
Starting with the powers available in the northern snow mountains.
“Let’s head up further.”
I began climbing to the higher peaks of the snow-covered mountains.
* * *
A week passed quickly.
It had now been two weeks since I entered the snowfields.
I hadn’t left once in that time.
I didn’t have time to leave—and didn’t need to.
Food? I ate monster flesh.
Water? I used Nutrient Synthesis [C] to burn calories and produce it.
The only real problem was sleep.
The mountain cold was brutal—deadly, even.
It wasn’t suitable for camping out.
But digging into the snow was tolerable enough.
◆ Your Toughened Skin [D] resists the freezing cold!
It was thanks to Toughened Skin [D] that I could survive.
Still, it wasn’t easy.
But compared to the Special Forces days? This was nothing.
Back then, sleeping outside was the easy part of the mission.
Sometimes we weren’t allowed to sleep for days.
There were even times I had to survive a whole day in a sewer.
By comparison, I had plenty of food, a place to sleep in the snow…
“This is paradise.”
So I pushed sleep aside and focused solely on hunting.
Unfortunately, there weren’t that many monsters to hunt.
The snowfields had a low population due to the harsh climate.
In two weeks, these are the monsters I hunted:
2 Dermexus
14 Alacrons
1 Ice Troll
And—
“Only one Rex.”
I managed to kill a single Rex.
A monster with stubby legs and a menacing jaw—yet herbivorous.
Not all monsters are carnivorous.
Still, even herbivorous monsters are aggressive toward humans.
Any creature in the monster classification posed a threat to people.
At any rate, I managed to hunt one Rex, which was essential.
Why?
Because this monster’s adaptation to the cold was through a developed endocrine system.
It burned more calories to generate heat.
But since it couldn’t create something from nothing, it had to manage its metabolism.
The snowfields lacked the vegetation to support such metabolic needs.
So Rex adapted by atrophying its muscles, the body’s most calorie-consuming tissue.
By giving up muscle strength, it gained speed, regeneration, and heat retention.
From Rex’s heart, I acquired:
◆ Promote Metabolism [E+]
Activating this skill enhances the user’s endocrine system and drastically increases metabolism.
– Strength decreases by 25%
+ Agility and Stamina increase by 10%
This skill can be toggled [On/Off].
Absorbing additional genetic material will enhance the skill.
Looking at total stats, it’s a net loss of -5%.
But since it’s a toggleable skill, I could activate it only when needed.
That made it highly useful in situations requiring fast movement.
“If I keep upgrading this… it’ll be OP in no time.”
If I continue enhancing it, it won’t just be useful—it’ll be broken.
“Let’s take a look at my current skill set.”
Before I could finish speaking, translucent text appeared before me.
==「Acquired Skills」==
◆ Solo Leveling [EX]
◆ Player’s Will [EX]
◆ Predation [S+]
◆ Regeneration [B-]
◆ Toughened Skin [D]
◆ Nutrient Synthesis [C+]
◆ Promote Metabolism [E+]
Thankfully, the skills were displayed in a simplified list.
If they weren’t, the screen would’ve been flooded with walls of text.
Thank goodness for that.
“Let’s see…”
Aside from Promote Metabolism [E+], there hadn’t been huge changes.
Because I hunted the most Alacrons, I managed to evolve Nutrient Synthesis from [C] to [C+].
That slightly improved calorie conversion and even allowed me to synthesize essential minerals like sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, etc.
“But I couldn’t get Keratin Enhancement.”
Monsters with that ability were extremely rare.
And in these mountains, there were some creatures I absolutely couldn’t mess with.
For the same reason, I couldn’t find monsters with ESP abilities.
“A shame…”
Still, I wasn’t empty-handed.
I’d absorbed abilities I couldn’t get in my past life.
More importantly—
“I must’ve gained a decent number of levels too.”
A translucent message smoothly changed before me.
==「Player Information」==
[Name] – Adrian Whitewolf
[Level] – 13
[HP] – 1,600
[MP] – 0
[Stats] – Strength: 22 | Agility: 8 | Stamina: 15 | Mana: 1
[EXP] – 53.2%
“I was level 8 when I entered… so that’s 5 levels gained.”
Not bad for just staying in the snowfields.
Aside from leveling up, I also gained bonus stats.
Fighting monsters and chasing them naturally strengthened my body.
That’s why my stats were higher than average for my level.
“But agility is still hard to raise.”
So I had invested all my bonus stats from leveling into Agility.
Which made Promote Metabolism [E+] even more valuable.
Agility is a difficult stat to grow, and I was severely lacking in it.
“From now on, I’ll invest all my stat points into agility.”
Meanwhile, I’d train my Strength and Stamina through physical discipline.
With Regeneration [B-] and Nutrient Synthesis [C+] as support skills, I could enhance my body faster and more effectively.
“Time to head back now.”
Of course, not acquiring the Keratin Enhancement skill was a shame.
But—I was exhausted.
Even if I could endure the cold… I was reaching my limit.
