My SSS-Rank Gluttony Talent: I Can Evolve Limitlessly-Chapter 45: Something’s wrong

[Do you want to exit the Secret Orc Area?]

[Yes / No]

Riley stared at the floating system notification for a moment.

Then, his lips curled into a sharp, devilish smirk.

"Wait a minute," he muttered, tapping the [No] option.

’Not yet,’ he thought to himself, eyes narrowing. ’There’s still something that needs to be done.’

A few minutes later...

A flash of green and white light appeared in the middle of the forest, exactly where Riley had used the secret area card.

Riley stumbled forward from the center of the flash, his form now ragged and bloodied.

His shirt was torn at the shoulder, with a cut running along his left arm, oozing a thin trail of blood. Dirt clung to his legs, and his body was layered with different cuts and bruises.

He stood there for a second, unmoving.

Then, a smirk spread across his lips.

’This should be convincing enough,’ he thought, lowering his head slightly to let a few strands of hair cover his eyes.

He knew that if he came out of the secret area looking unscathed, Harty would be suspicious.

The man might have been hiding as an NPC spy, but he wasn’t a fool.

And Riley couldn’t afford to give him any reason to second-guess what came next.

’For my plan to go smoothly... and for that corrupted bastard to drink the poisoned antidote... I need to make myself look more believable.’

Riley flexed his injured arm a little, ignoring the sharp sting that followed.

Though his wounds looked severe, they weren’t actually that bad, as he made sure not to cut any of his viral areas.

Even if he didn’t heal them with a healing potion, his lesser regeneration trait should heal them up within minutes. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

’I just need to keep the wounds fresh long enough for him to see them,’ he thought, reaching under his shirt.

His fingers brushed against the cold steel of two short daggers, tied to his torso with a thin rope.

They were poorly hidden and uncomfortable, but he didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t store them in his storage ring since they were above the rare grade limit, and hiding them in the surroundings would be too risky.

For now, they had to remain out of sight.

He adjusted his stance and turned toward the narrow path behind him—the same one that led directly to Harty’s hideout.

He briefly glanced at the vial in his hands, observing the red fluid within.

[Poison Worm Antidote (Rare)]

The name remained the same despite him having altered the properties and structures.

However, if the name had changed, then it would be too easy to distinguish between the real and fake antidote potions.

That was why Whiteripper was able to go undiscovered for such a long time in his past life.

Riley clenched the vial gently and began walking toward the cave, his expression shifting as he moved.

The edges of his smirk faded, and a feigned crease of concern formed on his forehead.

He even hunched his shoulders slightly—like someone fatigued, wounded, and desperate.

By the time he stepped into the mouth of the cave, his role was complete.

Harty was still inside.

The older man hadn’t moved from his original spot. His body remained slumped against the mossy wall, sweat pouring from his brow as he clenched his ribs.

He weakly coughed out blood, his body trembling weakly.

His current condition looked really pathetic, making it seem like he could drop dead any second from now.

The man’s face twitched when he saw movement at the entrance—but the moment he recognized Riley, his eyes widened in surprise and relief.

"You made it..." he gasped, voice hoarse with pain. "You actually made it back!"

The man tried to sit up straighter but winced, falling back against the wall with a grunt.

"I thought that place was going to kill you, player... Did you get it?" His eyes darted to Riley’s hand, desperate. "Did you manage to get the antidote?!"

Riley’s steps slowed as he approached. He let out a heavy breath and nodded grimly.

"...Yeah," he said, holding out the vial. "I got it."

He extended the potion forward with a tired hand, keeping his voice flat—drained, but with a subtle hint of pride. "It wasn’t easy."

The moment Harty saw the vial, his hand shot out and snatched it. His eyes lit up with raw hope as he turned it over in his palm.

"Red... viscous..." he muttered aloud, shaking the vial gently. "Yes... yes! This is it! This is the real thing!"

Riley nodded without saying a word, keeping his eyes on the man’s expression.

The way Harty was inspecting the potion—with both eagerness and caution—meant he was still suspicious. But the injuries on Riley’s body seemed to have eased some of that tension.

Harty uncorked the vial slowly and gave it a small sniff. Then another.

The faint herbal scent, now altered and masked by the mana potion, still smelled like a rare antidote. Everything about it screamed genuine.

"...You don’t know what this means," Harty said, raising the vial a little higher. "You’ve saved my life..."

Riley gave him a tired smile. "I’m just glad I got there in time."

Harty didn’t waste another second.

He brought the vial to his lips and drank the entire contents in one go, swallowing hard and wiping his mouth afterward.

Riley’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

’There we go...’ he thought, suppressing the cold satisfaction bubbling in his chest. ’Drink every drop, you bastard.’

Harty lowered the empty vial and leaned back against the cave wall again, exhaling in relief.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

Then... a twitch.

A small, almost imperceptible shake of the man’s left arm. Then another.

Riley took a step back, arms folded behind him as he calmly observed the man’s reaction.

Harty’s pupils dilated. His breathing quickened. He began sweating even more profusely now—his veins bulging slightly along his neck.

"...Wait," Harty muttered, blinking rapidly. "Something... something’s wrong."

Riley tilted his head. "Wrong?"

The man’s hands began trembling.

"I-it’s not—this doesn’t feel—"

He lurched forward, clutching his stomach. He continued coughing uncontrollably, his face rapidly growing paler by each passing second.

Bleughh!

Then suddenly, thick, black red blood spewed out of his mouth, and his body collapsed face forest into his own vomit.

Riley’s eyes gleamed darkly as he watched the man convulse helplessly, the ’antidote’ he gave him fully taking effect.

’How terrifying...’ he thought, a strange glint flashing across his eyes.

He had also fallen for this same thing in his past life.

Back then, he had gotten poisoned by those venomous worms, and was unfortunate enough to meet with Whiteripper, who sold him the fake potion in return for the little he had on him.

He even traded some of his items, all because he didn’t want to die and have his level reset once again.

But as one would expect, he had died from the poison, and the last thing he remembered was the mocking smirk on Whiteripper’s face.

’I’ll make sure to get my revenge, just wait.’ he thought, turning back to Harty, who was still writhing on the ground.

"Y-you... you tricked me..." the man said, choking on his own blood. "How dare you... you won’t... get away with this..."