I'm a proper student; I only take nine kinds of potions every day.

As Evan looked at this "family of four," his pupils dilated almost imperceptibly for a moment.

The "Not Human" family.

All four members of the family were present.

"Sir."

The middle-aged man stopped two steps away from Ivan, revealing a gentle and impeccable smile.

His voice was steady and gentlemanly, with the tone typical of well-educated people of this era.

“My daughter is a devoted admirer of Miss Hearst. May I ask if she may come in and meet her?”

He looked down at the little girl beside him.

The little girl raised her head and looked timidly at Evan, her big eyes filled with pure longing.

Ivan remained unfazed.

"No."

The middle-aged man's smile remained unchanged.

But he took a small step forward.

His right hand reached out with a speed so fast it was almost imperceptible in slow motion, and grabbed Evan's left wrist.

The force of that hand was outrageously strong.

If it were an ordinary person, just that pinch would cause them to scream uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry then."

The middle-aged man's voice remained gentle.

But his eyes, which were originally gentle behind his glasses, suddenly became deep and profound.

The color of his pupils darkened from light brown to an almost black hue, like the color of sewage sediment at the bottom of a well.

next moment.

His fingernails suddenly extended outward at a speed that defied the laws of physics, the tips becoming long, hard, and exhibiting a purplish-black, oily sheen.

The five purplish-black claws pierced directly into the flesh of Evan's exposed wrist.

You have been injected with corpse poison.

You have been infected with putrefactive fungi.

You have been infected with a bone marrow parasite.

Three status indicators appear on the panel.

"It's okay, you're just taking a nap."

"You'll be back to normal in an hour."

The middle-aged man's voice remained gentle.

"Corpse poison?"

Ivan's mind raced.

"I don't know if it can be reversed."

Just as he was pondering...

The copper plague struck first and went berserk.

[Copper Plague has consumed the corpse poison! Progress +2%.]

[Copper plague has devoured putrefactive fungi! Progress +1.5%.]

[The copper plague has devoured the corpses of the bone marrow parasites! Progress +1.2%.]

Ivan paused for half a second.

"Huh? How did the parasite turn into a corpse?"

"Oh... he must have died from my blood poison."

As the copper plague kept spawning devouring notifications like a godlike streak, the memories of the old hunter in his ear surfaced at the same time.

The sound came from beside the fire.

"Ghouls. Humanoid monsters that live in groups."

"Its physique is about three times that of a normal person. It is a scavenging type of monster that can reproduce on its own and can also be transformed from ordinary people."

"It excels in close combat and has sharp teeth and claws. Its claws carry a large amount of tomb virus, so be careful not to get scratched."

"Their core ability is shapeshifting. They can mimic any normal human they have ever seen, including appearance, voice, and habitual movements."

"Aside from worldly scams and espionage, the supernatural is not very dangerous."

"Many ghouls have even become accustomed to the way of life in human society, giving them a unique advantage in dealing with corpses."

"They usually only abduct ordinary people and turn them into new ghouls when their population is facing a survival crisis."

The old hunter's whispers hadn't stopped.

Ivan has already made a move.

He completely ignored the five sharp claws piercing his wrist, and with a flick of his wrist, his left hand precisely gripped the middle-aged man's wrist.

The burst of power from his 5.4 physique instantly immobilized that wrist.

Leverage resources.

work hard.

Ivan pulled sharply.

The middle-aged man's seemingly stable body was pulled up from the spot by this force.

With a quick turn, the two had moved from inside the carriage to the connecting area outside the carriage door. A cold wind, carrying the smell of coal smoke from the platform, hit them in the face.

Ivan pressed the claw against the brass railing between the carriages, then stood in front of him, looking down at him.

"Everyone is a two-faced freak."

A bright smile slowly spread across his lips.

"What are you pretending to be so profound for, Mr. Ghoul?"

Chapter 63: Dried Bone-Bone Ghost Claws

The moment of speaking.

That middle-aged man, or rather, that ghoul.

I could clearly see a fleeting glint of gold in the depths of Evan's originally black pupils.

Vertical pupils.

He knew very well what that touch of gold represented.

"hunting……"

The middle-aged man instinctively wanted to back away, but he was shocked to discover that the witcher was incredibly strong.

It actually overwhelmed my physical condition.

At the same time, a sharp pain shot through the five fingernails that had pierced Evan's wrist.

He looked down and his pupils immediately contracted.

Those five claws, originally purplish-black and as hard as metal, were being corroded by something at a visible rate.

The tips of the nails begin to soften and peel off.

"What the hell?!"

He had no idea that such a thing would be in the other person's blood.

He instinctively tried to pull his entire hand away from the other person's wrist.

But Evan's 5.4 physical strength suppressed him so much that he couldn't move at all.

Corrosion continues.

The black corrosion had spread from his fingernails to the first phalanx, and the purplish-black flesh began to peel off piece by piece.

The middle-aged man's eyes hardened.

Click.

A crisp sound of bones breaking.

The hand that Ivan had been holding tightly slipped from the middle-aged man's wrist on its own.

Taking advantage of a crucial moment when he held back, the middle-aged man instantly sprang back a meter, creating distance between himself and Evan.

His right sleeve hung limply, but there was no sign of pain on his face.

Only vigilance.

"Witcher. I mean no harm."

The moment he spoke, his eyes changed from the deep and assertive look they had just had to the clear and gentle gaze of an ordinary middle-aged man.

"I can take back all the toxins that were just injected into your body."

"We just want to... do us a favor."

Ivan stood there, slowly pulling the severed hand out of the wound.

The hand that had already separated from its owner's body was changing at an alarming speed.

The outer layer of human skin quickly lost moisture, shriveled, peeled off, and turned into thin, paper-like flakes that drifted in the wind.

Beneath the skin was a slender, thin claw with protruding joints and skin covered with a layer of purplish-black sheen.

The fingernail has been corroded to the point of being just a remnant, and the first phalanx is about to be destroyed.

Ivan looked down at his left wrist.