Gremlin Forest. --------------
Tang Gon was so tired after completing everything. The tutorial, alone, took away most of his energy. Honestly, outside of the system, it might have just been a few hours at most, but the tutorial inside the system had felt so much longer, days, years even.
It was a miracle that he even got out of there alive, it just felt so realistic while it was happening. He had all five of his senses while inside, everything was there, nothing was missing, even the smallest details weren"t overlooked by the system.
But now it was all a blur to him. The steps and paths that he took for years inside, now flashed by in his mind as seconds. Everything had felt so real, his fatigue, his hunger, his thirst.
Yet somehow, the opening of the chest had taken more energy out of him than all the years inside the tutorial combined. It was what really drained him.
Maybe if he had opened the chest before the tutorial, he would have been completely fine. Maybe a minor headache afterward, but fine nonetheless.
Many didn"t know this, but opening the Treasure chest required energy. In the games, it was time but in real life, or in this world, the energy was required. Not mana or magic, but an unexplainable sort of power that everyone had. A power that was uncontrollable, but still useable.
No one knew the exact specifics on how to use it, but it was just there. It would unknowingly affect all aspects of people"s life. From the smallest to the biggest life-changing events. And over the years, people had used this energy to open the treasure chests that would appear from time to time. But they just believed it to be normal, never knowing about the energy or questioning the reasons and logic behind everything.
But regardless of what it was or what had happened, all Tang Gon knew was that he was tired.
And after having nothing to do, all of the fatigue gathered over the days rushed back at him all at once. The fatigue rushing back towards him completely overwhelmed Tang Gon. He became so tired that he basically collapsed on the ground, his body forcing him to take the much-needed rest.
...
A half-hour later, with all the rush gone, Tang Gon was awoken by the rumbling of his stomach. It was a half-hour of sleep, but that was all Tang Gon needed.
In normal cases, most would need a solid 12-14 hours of sleep after all the fatigue, if not more. But the system had once again helped Tang Gon without his knowledge.
The first time, which wasn"t mentioned was when he first felt the killing intent. It wasn"t much, but the system did shield him to a certain degree, more than anyone knows. A truth that will come to light a few years down the road.
Anyhow, during his sleep, the system had mended his body and provided enough nutrition to help him overcome his lethargy. Basically the system had cleansed his body and gotten rid of his need for sleep and rest temporarily.
The only evidence of that was the silent message in his inbox describing what had happened.
[Ding! Host"s present state is currently reaching an alarming state, the system has taken the liberty of temporally suppressing the Host"s critical need for sleep]
The system had basically filled in the remaining hours of sleep that he needed to focus and concentrate.
But even then the system had only taken care of his sleep. Right now, his mind was telling him to focus on how he was going to eat.
He was just too busy over the past few days, it was still bearable when he was completing the tutorials inside the system, but the moment he had time to think about it, all that came to his mind was the rumbling of his stomach.
Uncertain of what to do, his first thought led him to ask the system.
"Food?" asked Tang Gon to the system uncertainly.
The system provided him with all kinds of cheats, but it was still uncertain if it could provide him with food. However, it would be amazing if it did.
And to his utter delight and amazement, it seemed that the system was truly the almighty system. It could provide him with almost anything, and that included food.
"Food. Miracle of life." Tang Gon, happily muttered underneath his breath.
All of a sudden, Tang Gon"s face turned cold. His body, rigid and slack as he focused his entire attention straight ahead. His breath was starting to pick up in antic.i.p.ation of what was to come.
To anyone that was spying on Tang Gon, it would seem that something major was going to happen. Something life-changing, even more so than what the system did to Tang Gon.
Yet, in the middle of the atmosphere so tangible, all that was heard was the whisper. The whisper that completely ruined the serious and worldly atmosphere. The n.o.ble air that was once there, now completely vanished, disappearing just as quick as it was formed.
But ignoring all of that, the only thing that was on Tang Gon"s mind was "What is good?"
Nothing did really happen, but the way Tang Gon sternly focused himself does make one wonder. It felt like there was nothing more important than what he was currently doing. Truly a life-changing decision for a foodie.
Tang Gon completely ignoring the judging glares of the readers, sincerely believed that this was an important decision, if he could have food, he might as well make it good, no?
The search bar in front of him caused Tang Gon to further scrunch his brows. Taking a deep breath in, Tang Gon resolutely typed in "meats" with the keyboard underneath.
Thinking that this was it, Tang Gon excitedly, but still patiently waited for the screen to finish loading.
All types of meats started to cover the screen. There were meats from all kinds of animals. In fact, anything was possible, as long as you could name it, it was there. Cow, chicken, duck, pigs, everything. Going further down the list, there were even some meats from other places, far beyond. Two-horned jaguar, queen hornet, slime, and even a snow gator.
Who knew slimes even had meat? But according to the system"s mini description, they had an energy core that was similar to the prize meats of other creatures. That was how amazing the system was, able to extract meat from slimes.
Feeling beefy, Tang Gon eliminated the other choices. He wasn"t ready or that adventurous to try all the foreign delicacies, maybe another time.
[Chuck
Sirloin
Round
Short plate
Flank
Brisket
Foreshank
...]
It was a gluttons heaven, everything sounded amazing, but the thing that caught his eyes the most? Ribs. Juicy succulent ribs. Ribs so tender that they would fall off the bones.
[-3 Clicker Points]
The sudden familiar ding from the system caused Tang Gon to look back down from his daydream and into focus.
Tang Gon was already excited. And the 3 Clicker Points being taken away only made him grow even more with excitement and antic.i.p.ation.
A large rack of ribs for only 3 Clicker Points. How amazing was that? He was ready, ready to go all out and devour that enormous rack of ribs. It would truly be divine.
The tenderness of the juicy meat, the spices from the dry rub that would trap the juices inside and then explode after a bite, the slightly charred sides that would undoubtedly enhance the flavors by giving it that extra bitter and slightly sour taste. G.o.dly. That was what it was, G.o.dly.
But at the same time, Tang Gon was afraid. What if the system only gave him a tiny piece of ribs for 3 Clicker Points? What then?
Tang Gon as if having a moment of enlightenment, calmed his mind.
"Think positive." He didn"t want to jinx things.
There could only be good things that would come around, right? After all the system did say a single Clicker Point could be traded for Gold and unimaginable wealth.
Well, maybe it didn"t say that, but the currency exchange function basically downright implied it. The system wouldn"t be that cheap in giving a small piece of rib, Right?
But with Tang Gon"s excitement and readiness to eat, you could imagine his surprise when the ribs appeared.
It was humungous, enormous, impossibly large. But there was a single problem.
It was pink. The ribs were raw. b.l.o.o.d.y Raw.