Is it wrong to have a quiet life as a Minotaur in the Dungeon? (Danmachi, Minotaur SI)

I could just hear my grandmother saying the phrase "you are what you eat" and "what did I tell you" in quick succession upon inspection of my new body.

I died by choking on a piece of steak, of all things.

And I had been reincarnated as a Minotaur.

Ironic.

I, the devourer of cows, have become the man-cow.

"Uoooooh!"

"SHOouuuu Eaaat!"

I tried to tell the other Minotaur to "shut it", but unfortunately, my vocal cords do not support the English Language.

Guess I have to wait for the pre-requisite communications upgrade as with all Isekai protagonist hahaha-! It's totally not coming.

The monsters in my current world spawn from walls, which means, it's fucking Danmachi.

No easy cheats for me, unless I happen to be in the Asanagi doujin, in which case, being a Minotaur in the Dungeon would be pretty awesome.

After a few more seconds of maintaining the choke-hold, the monster I forced on to the ground finally breathed it's last. Thank goodness... now what? Oh yes!

I smashed it's skull repeatedly until I could break off the chunk of flesh and bone that my prey's horn was attached to.

Damn horns were stupidly tough... I would know, I had them too.

Once I managed to grip the horn just right, I recall the soft pulse of power in my body that fueled the inhumanly tough blade-resistant skin I had, traced the source and mentally mapped it on to the body of the dead Minotaur beneath me.

Then I stabbed the horn right above it's Magic Stone, with a roar, I dragged the horn across to cut a good amount of flesh away before using my hand to tear the core of my deceased kin out of its corpse.

I plopped onto the ground when its body exploded into dust. I totally should have stood up first.

Looking at the eery glow of the purple crystal filled me with a brief sense of dread, just thinking about how my "heart" was essentially a mineable battery for anything from magical artifacts to fucking household appliances reminded me of how fucked I was in this world.

There's a 50,000 Valis price tag on my magic stone alone, that's about 4500-5000 dollars in purchasing power above ground, about two months wage for an ordinary citizen but considered "chump change" to the big boi Familia's like Loki, Freya, Ganesha, and their respective adventurers.

For the Middle Floors, I was a slightly large fish in a small pond. To the dungeon as a whole, I was a tiny little killer piranha that could occasionally kill some worms (Level 1 adventurers) that passed by. Sadly, most of the worms are usually accompanied by higher-level adventurers around these parts, so I can't expect to meet an adventurer here and not get killed.

That said, I had no clue on where I was at the timeline, while the affairs of the surface world wouldn't seriously concern me in my day-to-day life, it would affect my long-term survival policies and plans.

If it was a time of great upheaval like that of the Evilus period (after Zeus and Hera got kicked out), then I had better chances of surviving as crazy "hero-tier" adventurers like Finn and Riveria should still be around Level 4, with the rest of the Familia being at a much lower overall Level.

The rapid power increase from devouring magic stones should at least give me a chance to flee if their members were at that level.

But I wasn't going to devour the magic stone that I had earned by mortal kombat just yet. For all I know, the process of becoming an Enhanced Species would be like Re:Monster's monster evolutions, requiring a good night's sleep at a safe place.

If the Dungeon was sentient, or if other monsters had the ability to tell a monster monster-killer apart from the rest of it's "allies" during or after the evolution process, then my life would be a hell lot more difficult.

And so I decided to take a bigger risk while I was still "in the clear".

I was going to hunt other monsters while carrying magic stones and my Minotaur horn. Of course, I would put my loot down when I was going into the fight, and use the "Drop Item" (another part of my species that has been commoditized) as a weapon.

My only other real "choice" was to eventually die to some overpowered Adventurer looking for small change or happened to explore the part where I happened to be. I needed to be on the move, survive in places where fewer adventurers would venture forth to, I had to go deeper into the dungeons past Rivira and into the much larger floors where it was easier to hide.

And to do that, I had to become stronger. Even if it puts a target on my back from other monsters, I would rather fight and die by monsters rather than some adventurer looking for some cash.

It's the principle of the matter.

Also, I like having more power, it makes me feel safer than I actually am. At least I can die like an overconfident fool than a cowardly fool.

Or someone that choked on steak.

At least Isekai me with a Truck damnit!

After several hours of repeating some "100% dishonorable" tactics of stabbing monsters by jumping them when their backs were turned, I managed to collect a large pile of magic stones that I could carry in my arm as if I just got back from a moderate shopping trip.

I had to travel deep into the less trodden paths until I found a secluded spot somewhat near a Monster Pantry.

Note to self, try the sap, it smells damn good. Well, maybe when I'm hungry again.

Right now, I had another meal to attend to.

Although I wasn't Japanese in my previous life, it is customary of Isekai protagonists to do the "Itadakimasu" thing when trying out meals in another world, and so, I did so.

"Iiiiitaaarhimaaa...!"

At least I tried.

Just our of curiosity, I also tried sucking on magic stones, hoping that I could siphon magic energy like that but alas, it was not to be.

And so, risking yet another death by choking on my meal, I began gobbling down magic stones like a glutton.

It was like many tiny explosions detonating off all at once within my body, my senses began to sharpen, the world slowed down around me and my nerves as if it was being electrified by the power coursing through them.

Yet it felt so right!

Again and again, I devoured the stones of power until there was nothing left, as I did so I felt my body evolving to a new form with every handful of magic stones. Somehow, I simply knew what was happening by instinct, a "voice" so much like my own was telling me that "this and that" was going to happen to my body.

Then there were things that I didn't want, bulky, grotesque changes, that would make me too much of a killing machine and too little of a "practical survivalist" monster.

No!

I yelled back at the "voice" in my head.

And then it wavered, another image formed in my mind, I didn't like this either.

I repeated the process until I got what I wanted. By the time the last transformation happened, I managed to steer it directly towards the image I had in mind, creating one final modification that I dearly wanted.

I stood up quicker than I ever could before, testing my limbs by throwing out some punches, I found that I could pull off some human-like techniques with my newfound dexterity and efficient frame. My sense of balance was now equal between my "bull-charge" position and when I only stood on two legs.

Feeling true hunger for the first time, I took my "Horn" weapon and proceeded to the monster pantry, slaughtering every monster in my way including the Infant Dragon that took way too long to use it's fire breath before catching a bull's horn to the eye.

I fed upon the "sap" secreted by the crystal formed by the dungeon and my new loot. This time, there were only two "growths" that I could keenly feel, one of which came from the Infant Dragon while the other came from the dozens of monsters slaughtered by my hand.

As expected, I was a bit like an adventurer, in that I had diminishing returns in my status gains.

Now then, it was time I made a move-on from here to a safer place downstairs.

Then the Goliath broke out of the crystal wall on the 17th floor while I was on my way down.

"... Yeah, sorry. I'm just going to go back now."

Thank goodness it couldn't follow me back up!

I found another pantry, killed its residents, ate some good stuff and secluded myself for the night. Ah well, guess I should rest and wait for some overpowered adventurers to go kill the Boss Monster for me... and then wait until they go deeper, way deeper, into the dungeon so I won't see them for a long time.

What was a lonely Minotaur supposed to do now?

I could train myself but... first... I needed to test out my new body.

"Fuck yeah, this is more like it."

I sighed with relief as I finally stopped rubbing my newest appendage.

Ox cocks were the best.