My head throbbed faintly as I opened my eyes. My vision was still slightly blurred, and my body felt limp, as if every ounce of energy had been drained away. I blinked a few times before I could finally focus.
A short distance away, Eve and Lei were arguing in front of a small table. Eve was stirring something in a bowl with an annoyed expression, while Lei stood with his arms crossed, looking just as irritated.
"That's not how you do it, you idiot," Eve grumbled.
"Am I a chef?" Lei retorted sharply. "Just make it yourself."
"I can't make it myself!"
"I don't know how either!"
How long were they going to keep bickering like this? It felt like part of their daily routine, even when I wasn't around.
I tried to sit up and lean back a little. "What are you doing?"
Startled, they both instinctively turned toward me. Eve rushed over, and without warning, she shook my shoulders. "You're awake?! How are you feeling? Are you dizzy? Does it still hurt?"
My head immediately started throbbing again.
Yes. Dizzy. Because of you.
I didn't even have the strength to brush her hands away. "Eve... stop it."
"Ah!" Eve gasped and quickly pulled her hands back. "Sorry, I was just so shocked."
Lei stepped closer, fixing me with his usual sharp glare. "I heard from that bastard that you killed a pack of wolves last night."
"Yeah!" Eve looked at me in a panic. "Is that true?"
"It's true," I answered honestly. "Kael and I killed a pack of wolves in the forest."
"Are you crazy?!" Eve snapped at me. "You pushed your body too hard! Look at the result, you passed out!"
We had only known each other for a day, yet she was worried about me as if we'd been friends for ages. I couldn't tell if she was just too kind... or too naive.
I gave a small smile. "Sorry for making you worry."
Eve puffed out her cheeks. "You have no idea how panicked I was when I saw you unconscious."
"Oh, right," I asked, "where's Kael?"
"Why are you looking for that bastard?" Lei clicked his tongue coldly.
I ignored him and looked back at Eve. "Did you guys bring me here last night?"
"No. Kael brought you."
"...What?"
"He arrived last night carrying you. He looked like he was in a rush."
I froze.
Kael... carried me? With his own two hands?
Good grief.
Kael. Carried. Me.
Is the world playing a joke on me?
"Where is Kael now?" I asked quickly.
"He left early for the Western Region."
I fell silent for a moment. According to the novel, Kael was indeed supposed to be there by now. I had thought my presence might alter the plot a little. It turned out it hadn't changed things that much.
It was still too early to tame Kael.
Even so, things were proceeding according to my plan.
"I don't know if you're stupid or what. You were reckless enough to fight a wolf with a weak body like that. You don't even have a shred of magic." Lei suddenly spoke up again.
Honestly, his words were incredibly cutting. Couldn't he just keep quiet? My blood pressure spiked every time he spoke.
"Anyway," Eve said softly, "thank goodness you're okay." She picked up a bowl from the table and handed it to me. "Here, eat this. You need to recover quickly."
I stared at the contents of the bowl.
"What... is this?" I suddenly had a bad feeling when I saw the kind of food in the bowl. It looked like porridge—or rather, meat porridge.
Just from the color, I could tell this was the sort of slop usually served to pigs.
My stomach suddenly churned.
"It's porridge!" Eve replied enthusiastically. Meanwhile, Lei crossed his arms and nodded proudly.
What exactly was he so proud of regarding this pig slop?
"You guys made this yourselves?"
"Of course! It was pretty tough, but we pulled it off."
This is what you call a success? Were your noses blocked? Couldn't you smell this porridge? It reeked like goat vomit.
Did I really have to eat this? Eve looked incredibly enthusiastic, eagerly waiting for me to taste her creation. Even though Lei always wore a cold expression, I knew he was just as excited.
I swallowed hard, staring intently at the special porridge they had prepared. My hand actually trembled as I reached to scoop it up.
"Oh, Kim? You're finally awake." Liam suddenly walked into the tent.
Liam! Perfect timing!
"What's that?" Liam glanced at the bowl I was holding.
"It's porridge made by Eve and Lei. Want to try it?" I replied quickly. "I don't really have much of an appetite right now, but I think I'd feel more like eating if I saw you try it first."
"Really?" Liam immediately took the bowl I handed him. "Should I give it a try?"
"Go ahead." I grinned broadly.
Without a second thought, Liam scooped up some of the porridge and ate it. Eve and Lei looked even more excited, eagerly awaiting his reaction.
One second.
Two seconds.
Liam's face turned red, and his cheeks puffed out as if he were about to throw up. "Ughh...!" He instinctively covered his mouth with his hand.
"Captain?!" Eve and Lei shouted in panic.
Liam immediately ran outside and vomited up all the porridge he had eaten. Eve and Lei stood frozen in shock, their eyes wide.
"What kind of food is this?!" Liam shouted angrily. He stood up abruptly and turned around, glaring at Eve and Lei with irritation.
"Did you two make this porridge?! Do you want to kill her?! Food like this belongs in a pig's trough, not on a human's plate!"
"P...pigs...?" Eve and Lei remained motionless; Liam's words had cut deep—piercing their hearts and wounding their pride.
I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn't ended up eating that bizarre concoction. Even though it meant sacrificing Liam, I had managed to save myself. Watching Eve and Lei get berated like that made me feel a twinge of pity, but it didn't seem like something I needed to worry about.
...
...
We finally set off for the western region after resolving the issue with Eve and Lei. I hadn't expected it to take so long. Liam had even punished them by making them do 100 push-ups.
That was... insane.
They are rode horses, while I traveled in a carriage. It actually worked out well, since I'm not very good at riding horses anyway. The upside was that I could study the system during the journey.
[The second disaster will begin in 10 days.]
System notifications kept popping up. Ten days was a short time, I needed to quickly gather useful items for the upcoming disaster.
Kael should have finished his task successfully by now. I just had to be patient and wait.
[Baa!]
I nearly screamed when Bong Bong suddenly popped out of the system screen and startled me. That damn dragon nearly gave me a heart attack.
Bong Bong laughed. [Startled again? Have you been waiting long for me?]
I glared at it in annoyance. "Not really. I could handle this on my own without you."
[Huh? Don't be like that.] Bong Bong rubbed its body against my arm.
If not for its incredibly cute appearance, I would have crushed it to a pulp ages ago.
[I came to give you some important information. Remember the system error from yesterday?]
I remembered the incident—that strange moment when the system malfunctioned just as I was trying to check my own status.
[I asked the system coordinators, and even they don't know why it happened. For the time being, the system will operate automatically to determine your stat increases.]
"Who are the system coordinators?"
[I can't say. I lack the authority.]
If the system coordinators are the ones managing the system I use, then there must be a reason why I was brought into this world.
But who are they? Are they human, too?
[I'll keep monitoring the situation. Since I can't visit you whenever I want, I'll use the private chat feature.]
Bong Bong floated in front of me and tinkered with my system screen.
[Like this.]
The system screen suddenly transformed into an online chat interface. It looked just like a messaging app.
[Let's communicate this way from now on. Meeting you consumes too much causality. I have to go now.]
Bong Bong vanished instantly, as if swallowed by the system screen. That little thing always came and went as it pleased, and it visits rarely yielded any crucial information.
Even so, its words had piqued my curiosity about the system.
The carriage came to a sudden halt, prompting me to look out the window. However, I couldn't see a thing because the window was too small. I decided to step out of the carriage instead.
The moment I stepped out, the pungent smell of blood hit my nose. I saw Liam, Eve, and Lei standing at the front and immediately walked over to them.
My eyes widened as I saw the wolf carcasses lying on the road.