"...but not too many," Liam muttered to himself, his deep voice echoing inside his oversized helmet.
Spring had warned him about causing trouble. In a game where the "Gods" are literally watching the livestreams, being the person who depopulated the starting village's poultry population was a fast track to a ban—or worse, a patch.
Liam moved through the shadows of the wooden houses. He tried to be quiet, but a Vanguard in an iron plate trying to "sneak" sounded like a bag of silverware falling down a flight of stairs.
Clank. Squeak. Clatter.
He found three more chickens huddled behind a shed. They looked peaceful. Liam adjusted his grip on his starter shield.
If I hit them too hard, the meat bruises, he thought. If I hit them too lightly, they scream.
He lunged. THUD. THUD. THUD.
Three clean shield-bashes. The chickens dropped instantly. Liam stood over the pile, his red eyes scanning the alley for witnesses. Satisfied, he picked them up. This time, there was no visceral craving. No drooling. The [Absorption] skill remained silent.
He took a tentative bite out of one.
"Bland," he whispered.
He opened his status panel. [Absorption Progress: 4 / 1000]. It counted, but it didn't trigger a new recipe.
So, as Liam analysed, repetition yields diminishing returns for the soul but provides raw data for skill-building.I need variety. I need... higher-tier ingredients.
Liam had just turned to leave when a voice sliced through the air like a cold blade, snapping his focus from the forest back to the village.
"...Hey."
Liam jumped. He didn't just flinch; his entire armoured body lurched upward, his greaves clashing together with a loud K-GONG! He spun around, heart hammering. He hadn't heard a single footstep. That was the problem with cat-players—their Agility stats made them silent as ghosts.
Elizabeth stood there. Her cat ears were twitching, and her tail was swaying in a rhythmic, suspicious arc. She looked at the three dead chickens in his arms, then up at his visor.
"...Hey," she said again, her voice softer, almost pitying. "Can I add you? I'm... well, I'm worried you're going to try to eat someone if no one is watching you."
[Friend request received: EllieTheWarrior]
Liam stared at the notification. Ellie. In the real world, she was the untouchable Rank 1 prodigy scholar. Here, she was a cat-girl offering to babysit a "toddler" who ate raw birds.
If I accept her, I can always see her position, Liam reasoned. Keeping track means I can avoid accidental encounters.
He clicked [Accept].
Elizabeth let out a visible sigh of relief. "Okay. Good. Just... try to find a pot, okay? I'm going to go grind some levels so I can carry you later."
She waved and vanished into the crowd. Liam watched her go, then turned his gaze toward the forest edge. Something had flickered there—a faint, golden shine.
His stomach did a somersault. His mouth watered.
That's not a chicken, he thought, his pupils dilating. That's a Boss-tier ingredient.
He was halfway to the treeline, intent on the golden shine, when a hand caught the back of his collar, hoisting him backward.
"Wait there, young Liam."
Liam stopped, dangling slightly. He turned to find Spring, the NPC, looking at him with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"You should take a quest before running out there," Spring chuckled, setting him down. "And I see you've gotten your chickens. Thanks for leaving a few for the other players. Frogs not to your liking?"
[Affinity with NPC 'Spring' increased to 100%]
[+1,000 EXP granted]
DING!
[LEVEL UP!]
Liam stared at the blue light. Wait, 100% affinity just for not being a greedy jerk? This NPC is easy to manipulate.
He pulled up his stats. He had 20 new points. He looked at his Defence 35. With the 50,000% buff from the soup he was about to make, Defence was currently irrelevant.
Glass Cannon Tank build it is, he thought.
[ATTACK: 30 -> 50]
[Status Window - Level 2]
NAME: Little Liam
CLASS: Vanguard
HP: 150 / 150 (Vanguard Scaling)
STAMINA: 100 / 100
DEFENSE: 35 / 100 (+5)
ATTACK: 50 / 100
INT: 10 / 100
LUCK: 10 / 100
Spring clapped his hands. "Now, before you go charging off to get eaten, I've got a job for you. Go find a party and take down fifty [Rabbit Toads]. Bring me the returns, and you can keep the meat."
[Quest Available: The Leap of Flavour]
Liam accepted instantly. He typed: [...What is a Rabbit Toad?]
Spring just smiled—the kind of smile a chef gives you before they tell you the secret ingredient is something gross.
Leaving Spring, Liam turned back to the marketplace. He needed a kitchen, so he sold three of his chickens to a stall owner for 15 silver, carefully hiding the one with the bite mark.
"Not that one," the woman barked, pointing at the "chewed" chicken. "I'm not buying something you've already sampled."
Liam felt a rare heat in his cheeks. Understandable, he typed back.
He spent 60 silver on a [Basic Cooking Starter Kit]. Pot. Knife. Ladle. It was cheap iron, but to Liam, it felt more important than any legendary sword.
[Silver Remaining: 5]
Soon after, he walked to the community Quest Board. Groups were forming everywhere, but one caught his eye.
[Party: 2/3]
Roles: Rogue, Healer.
Seeking: Front-line Tank.
Target: Tana Forest Grinding.
He clicked [Join].
[Party Chat]Rogue: "...You mute?"
Liam typed: [Yes.]
Mirra (Healer): "Do you know how to play front line? You look... small." Liam checked his 50 Attack stat, remembering the soup's imminent massive buff.
Liam typed: [I won't die.]
Rogue: "Confidence is high for a loli-tank. Fine. Meet at the forest entrance."
Liam closed the panel. He could feel it again—that strange, warm presence. It wasn't the system's artificial heat. It felt like standing next to a stove on a winter morning.
Hestia, he thought. She's watching.
He adjusted his oversized helmet, gripped his pot, and started waddling toward the forest.
Rabbit Toads, he thought, his mouth watering again. I wonder if they taste like frog legs or buffalo wings. Either way, he was going to find out.
As he stepped into the shadows of the Tana Forest, the local wildlife did something the Rogue and Healer didn't expect. The chirping stopped. The rustling ceased.
Most players felt like they were entering a dungeon.
But for the monsters of Tana Forest, it didn't feel like a Vanguard had arrived. It felt like the kitchen door had just opened—and they were the only things on the menu.