Lex walked through the corridors of the gut with an easy stride. If his clothes were torn before, he was now completely naked if you ignore his decay set—at least what was left of it.
His robe was in tatters, barely hanging onto his body. It was more like a cape now. His mask had a huge hole, and we could almost see Lex's deep eyes. However, he still kept those pieces of clothing on him because they offered some protection against poison—although barely, since they were almost destroyed.
It had been about a month since he had arrived in the Rift, and things were going well. In the span of a month, he killed quite a few hollow parasites. Sadly, they were becoming increasingly scarce, which in turn considerably slowed Lex's earnings. It was to the point where he would have been lucky to find one a day.
"Tch. Figures," he muttered, rolling his shoulders. "This corpse is too damn old."
The body had been rotting for centuries.
"The parasites that didn't starve probably died of old age," Lex thought, stepping over a shriveled husk of a parasite he had killed a few days ago. "And even if any of these stubborn shit-eaters could still breed, it was now barely enough to hold off invaders."
Lex didn't really care the least about how his murder spree would affect the corpse's overall environment.
Now that he killed most of the corpse intestines guards, it would soon be defenseless against invaders. Without any defenses, Lex estimated that it would take a week before the guts become infested with invaders.
He had pretty much doomed an entire part of the titan by removing a few parasites.
But that wasn't his problem.
Lex ran a hand along the damp wall, feeling the rough texture. Even a fortress of flesh like this would eventually collapse—everything did.
He then sighed before turning to something that seemed infinitely more interesting: his coins.
[Total earnings: 53,380/200,000]
[Coins: 35,137]
"...Destroying this ecosystem was still so goddamn worth it," he said with a genuine greedy smile as he nodded.
Now that he was stronger, gathering coins was incredibly easy. Thanks to Titan Nemesis, he could kill a hollow parasite without too much difficulty, and he was almost drowning in coins.
Then, as if remembering something, Lex's expression darkened as he slowly sank into deep thought. He had never amassed this many coins before—not because he couldn't, but because of his stubborn obsession with a "perfect ending." Even in his last life, he clung to the belief that he could find a way to die peacefully after completing his perfect ending.
And yet, here he was again, back at the start.
Sometimes, he wondered if Die to Begin had chosen him for this reason. He was stubborn. Too stubborn. Even knowing it was a flaw, he couldn't shake it. That craving for perfection was a curse.
But this time was different. Finally, he was willing to break his own rules and do whatever it took to end the loop. Although he was quite unsatisfied, it didn't matter anymore.
With another sigh, he shook his head. There was no point in dwelling on the past. What mattered was the future. And right now, the future was looking pretty good.
After searching for even the trace of any parasite a little longer and finding absolutely nothing, Lex sighed. "Alright, I get it. I've been too efficient."
He turned and made his way back toward the stomach.
The moment he stepped inside, the usual stench wrapped around him like a thick, rotting blanket. He exhaled through his mask, ignoring it, and found a spot to sit next to an acidic pool.
He was now in a dilemma. Escape the rift now? Or keep farming coins?
Staying was technically profitable, but earning coins wouldn't be as fast anymore. The intestines had been the best grind spot since parasites tended to stick together, but he could not farm there anymore since he had emptied it.
As for the rest of the body, there weren't any good spots on the corpse anymore. He had already emptied the best places, like the only bone marrow still producing red cells, the stomach, and even the gut.
He thought about going to the lower difficulties but ultimately decided against it.
The enemies in the lower difficulties were too spread out and it would be a pain to hunt them down one by one. The Titan's corpse was massive, and the Rift extended far beyond the actual body, covering a vast zone filled with invaders.
These creatures were weaker imitations of the real defenses inside, and most of them were just pests feasting on the corpse. They weren't worth much, so Lex didn't bother with them.
Moreover, there would be another problem if he tried to continue farming in the lower difficulties. Titan Nemesis only worked against creatures connected to the Titan, and most of the enemies outside didn't qualify as "part of a titan".
He exhaled, rolling his shoulders. "Not worth it. Too much effort for too little gain."
His eyes flicked up toward where he came from when he first entered the stomach, the pulsing ceiling above him. For a moment, Lex considered hunting white cells. Those things were the ultimate line of defense of this living fortress and each of them were worth a solid 10,000 coins.
"Tempting. But no."
The problem wasn't whether he could win. The problem was ironically time. White cells were tough, and fighting them required a huge investment in time and money.
His gaze shifted once again to his total earnings.
[Total earnings: 53,380/200,000]
There were about 150,000 coins left in the rift before it closed.
Lex leaned back and, with a neutral face, "150,000 coins... It pains me a bit, but I must let them go. Otherwise, I won't have enough time to collect other stuff."
He had plenty of experience and knew when to be greedy and when to be efficient. Right now, efficiency mattered more.
He stood up, glancing around one last time. "Hope this is the last time I see this place."
Without hesitation, he pulled off his decay worshiper mask and let his tattered robe drop to the ground, leaving him completely bare. Immediately, he felt a slight discomfort in his body but he simply ignored it.
"Administrator authority: Open shop."
[Welcome back, Administrator. 5 coins have been deducted to use your privileges.]
[What do you desire?]
Lex's fingers moved fast, typing in exactly what he needed.
[Item successfully purchased: Escape scroll (600 coins)]