"RICH-ARD! RICH-ARD!"
The forest quaked with a chorus of hisses, clucks, growls, and assorted strange noises as the crimson-combed rooster strutted proudly at the head of his ragtag army. Dozens of chickens marched like feathered soldiers. Hundreds of lizards scuttled behind them in disciplined waves. Snakes slithered in sleek lines. Rabbits hopped in sync, their eyes filled with the fierce determination of warriors or perhaps mild confusion.
To Richard, however, all of this looked majestic.
He nodded solemnly, as if leading an army capable of conquering the heavens themselves.
Yes. This… this was what a proper overlord in those movies looked like.
Suddenly, he lifted a wing high.
"STOP!"
The command rippled through the group like a shockwave. Hundreds froze instantly and the entire army screeched, skidded, or tumbled to a halt. Several snakes crashed into each other like wet noodles. Chickens clucked in alarm. The large black-scaled lizard at the front, caught off guard, nearly face-planted into a bush.
Richard ignored the chaos behind him and closed his eyes.
Inside his mind, the world darkened, leaving only a glowing crimson filament, a thin road of shimmering light cutting through the mental darkness like a guiding flame. His Talent pulsed, showing him danger points, kill zones, ambush sites.
"This is the most dangerous point," he muttered to himself.
Then, he opened his eyes, beak tightening in grim determination.
"Lizard!"
Instantly, hundreds of lizards looked up and growled something that could be translated into a word "Yes boss?" in near-perfect unison.
Richard's eye twitched. His comb trembled. He resisted the urge to grab the nearest rock and bonk himself.
He briefly considered naming every single one of them later to avoid such confusion.
"Ahem. You!" he jabbed his wing toward the largest black-scaled lizard, his long-time rival. "Yes, you. You take a couple hundred and guard this point."
The black lizard straightened proudly. "YES BOSS!"
Richard nodded approvingly. Then looked at the rest of the lizards, hundreds of bright, hopeful reptilian eyes staring directly at him.
He sighed. 'I need to give each of them a name eventually… This is getting ridiculous.'
Richard continued, gesturing toward the looming trees.
"According to my Talent. This point will have the most otherworlders passing through. Don't let a single creature of weird shape and two legs pass."
The lizard saluted so hard its tail smacked another lizard.
"Understood, boss!"
"Good. Your strategy is simple. Wait in the trees, hold your rocks, and once they approach…"
Richard flapped dramatically.
"Drop everything. Drop rocks, stones, branches… drop yourselves if needed."
The lizard nodded vigorously. The army behind it echoed:
"YES BOSS!"
"HISSS!"
"CLUCK!"
"GRAWR!"
"SQUAAK!
"But, boss," the big lizard asked nervously, "what if the otherworlders… survive the rocks?"
Richard stared at him as if he had asked the stupidest question in the chicken universe.
"Then you finish them off."
"Oh…"
"You're the strongest one in the group," Richard added matter-of-factly. "Naturally, responsibility falls on you."
The lizard puffed its chest, emboldened. "YES BOSS!!"
Satisfied, Richard fluffed his feathers and strutted forward with the remaining battalion.
…
A hill rose before them, draped in trees and flowers. Richard halted again, glancing back at the army behind him.
All of them looked… different.
They all had grown stronger. Bulkier. More confident.
From a week of hellish training combined with his recent Path buff, their bodies had absorbed strength they never could before. Some chickens had leg muscles that made even the rooster himself nervous.
But among them, certain individuals stood out.
There was a hen with legs like loaded springs, she could leap tree times as high as any other hen. Then, a rabbit so muscular its biceps bulged beneath its fur. And finally… a snake.
A snake that made Richard's back feathers tremble.
Not because it was big. Not because it was strong.
But because whenever he called it, it hissed four times first before answering.
"Hiss. Hiss. Hiss. Hisssss."
Creepy. Very creepy.
Richard shuddered out of his reverie. Then coughed.
"Anyway."
He pointed at the outstanding hen.
She clucked proudly, chest puffing out like she had won a beauty pageant.
"You guard this point," Richard instructed. "Same strategy."
She saluted. The other chickens clucked in unison. The muscular rabbit hopped beside her, flexing.
"Good. Don't let anyone pass."
Leaving another batch behind, he turned and marched on accompanied only by the creepy snake and the buff rabbit.
…
They encountered several beasts on the way but animals, sensing the aura of danger or perhaps simply the absurd size of Richard's army, moved out of the way instinctively, watching from bushes or branches.
They arrived at a serene lake shimmering under the sunlight.
Richard pointed at the most muscular rabbit.
The rabbit immediately flexed its chest and arms in response, posing as if basking in sunlight.
Richard blinked. "...Yes. You."
The rabbit flexed harder, the lake surface trembling as if from the shockwave of its sheer enthusiasm.
Richard sighed.
"Just… guard the point."
"OH YEAH BOSS!" (translation) it roared, flexing again.
Richard nodded politely and quickly turned away before losing more brain cells.
…
The stream bubbled quietly nearby as Richard halted yet again. He looked once more into the crimson road in his mind.
"This is the last major point…and the least dangerous one," he murmured.
Yet… the mark on his mental path was just as intense as the others major points. Despite his talent telling him this place would have the least amount of players passing by. Something about it unsettled him.
He turned toward the creepy snake.
"You."
"HissHissHissHisssss?"
"Yes. You know what to do, right?"
"Hiss."
The snake turned to its group, hissing a series of commands. Dozens of snakes slithered up trees like rippling ropes. Lizards and rabbits followed. Chickens cawed and flew off in formation settling into branches.
Richard nodded, deeply impressed.
Even if the snake creeped him out, its leadership was undeniably good, even better than the lizard. Only behind Richard himself in leadership of course.
"Still, be careful just in case" Richard added softly.
The snake paused mid-climb, turned its head as if trying to grasp the intent of his words, then nodded in solemn understanding.
With the last team in place, Richard inhaled deeply.
His role now was different from theirs.
His subordinates guarded the major danger points.
He guarded the gaps.
The hidden choke points.
The small openings where players might sneak through.
Once his path was open in his mind, he began his patrol calm, steady and confident like a general ready for war.
…
"Ah man, why does this game have to be so realistic? They even added the itchy sensation…"
Jake scratched his arms aggressively, brushing leaves off his clothes. His spiky-haired brother, Lake, pushed through the bushes behind him.
"What're you going to do about it, bro? Quit?" Lake teased.
"Quit? Are you insane? No one quits a 100% immersion game!" Jake scowled.
Lake rolled his eyes. "Then stop whining. We need to get to the Novice Village fast. This game is going to blow up! If we establish ourselves early, we'll be rich!"
"You've said that a hundred times."
"And I'll say it a hundred more."
They pushed forward through the undergrowth.
Jake froze.
His Talent panel flashed.
[Talent: Danger Sense - Activated]
His expression hardened.
He raised a hand sharply "Stop."
"You sensed danger again?" Lake whispered.
"Yeah." Jake crouched low. "We need to change direction. Now."
His previous experiences had taught him to trust his Talent.
Jake's Danger Sense had been activated several times since they entered the forest. At first, he ignored it, until the bloodcurdling scream echoed from the direction they had planned to go.
Since then, he trusted every warning.
Lake swallowed hard. "So… where should we go this time-"
Lake froze mid-sentence as his own Talent activated.
His eyes locked on something moving rapidly in the distance.
Something red.
Something fast.
Something huge.
"Bro…" Lake whispered hoarsely. "What the hell is that thing… running around out there?"
Jake followed his gaze but without a talent related to perception he couldn't see clearly until it got closer.
His heart turned to ice.
A two-meter-tall crimson monster sprinted through the forest, tearing through bushes and small trees like paper.
Lake's voice cracked.
"Bro… is that… a f… f-fucking rooster?"
Jake's voice trembled.
"Bro… we need to go. NOW."
But then he suddenly froze.
He looked haunted.
"Bro? Why are you frozen? Move!"
Jake swallowed. His face was pale.
"Lake… we can't escape."
"What are you-"
Jake slowly turned, eyes wide with dread.
"The window to escape… it just closed. The danger is here."
Lake spun around.
The monster was already upon them.
A blur of red streaked past as a talon struck.
"KU-KIEAAA-"
Lake didn't even hear the rest of the crow before talons pierced his chest.
His body burst into particles of white light.
Jake watched his brother vanish. Eyes trembling. Heart cracking.
Then, he too disappeared beneath Richard's claws.
Silence returned to the forest.
..
Two glowing particles that remained of the humans, floated upward before fading.
Richard exhaled, relieved.
The glowing flicker in his mind, the small danger mark at this point, faded completely.
Then.
A soft chime echoed.
[You have killed Early Stage Common Creature: Human ×2]
[Your Life Energy has increased.]
A warm current surged through Richard's veins. His feathers tingled. His muscles tightened. He felt stronger. Sharper.
"Hooooh…!"
He clucked happily in surprise at the sudden gain, chest swelling.
"Not bad, so we can grow stronger by killing otherworlders" he murmured. "It's not much for me, but for my subordinates…"
This amount of life energy is not much for his current Body tier but definitely enough for his subordinates to see great gains.
His eyes gleamed.
'Maybe they will even awaken their Talents sooner with the help of these life energy'
Richard straightened, eyes burning with renewed determination.
"Well then…"
He spread his wings wide.
"…time to continue the patrol."
The forest trembled as he disappeared into the trees once more.