Side story - A Nibble to Remember

Side story - A Nibble to Remember

It was all just a coincidence. Just a small event that changed everything. Even that should never have happened.

"God damn it, Biscuit, be careful when you're taking food from me," the older man complains, nursing his slightly bleeding finger.

With a single drop of blood remaining on the corgi's lip, something terrifying happens. The small animal licks its lips, and at that moment, it understands.

It understands the words it had heard before.

The words that said this place isn't real, that this is a facade created by the system.This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.

And with that understanding comes a question.

If everything is fake, does that mean the food is fake too? Just an illusion crafted by that strange entity?

(Food Fake)

Later that night, a young man named Kevin walked through the camp, keeping watch.

"Fucking Cinderbear, I hope it won't appear again."

At that moment, a strange noise surprises him. Momentarily forgetting caution, the young man decides to follow the noise.

"Hello?" he asks quietly, making his way through the trees of the first floor of the tutorial.

The silence that responds is filled only by a strange, wet noise, like a messy eater slurping soup.

Emerging from behind the trees, shock overtakes him, leaving him speechless.

He sees the older man he had just spoken with an hour ago. A small creature is sitting on the man's chest, taking slow, deliberate bites out of his neck, seemingly enjoying every bite.

(Food!) echoes in his mind before a tentacle made of dark pulsating mana decapitates him, and his body falls to the ground.

The creature swiftly continues to tear at the dead man's neck, enjoying its meal.

This food is real.

This food isn't fake.

For the first time, the creature understands the difference, and a bizarre message rings in its head.

Congratulations, you have acquired a new skill!

[Devour]

[Devour - lvl 0 > Devour - lvl 1(Max)]

You have perfectly devoured your enemy.

[Lvl 3 > Lvl 16]

You have acquired 39 stat points! Invest carefully!

The creature doesn't understand, what are stat points?

At that moment, everything could still have been fixed. Things could have returned to normal and it was still possible to stop the creature.

(Food) it states happily.

"..."

(Food?)

Silence is the answer and it realizes that its favorite is gone. Gone in the same way the creature's old owner is gone.

You have perfectly devoured your enemy.

[Lvl 130 > Lvl 166]

You have devoured a new skill - [Focus]

More time passes and a new notification sounds. A month since the start of the first floor.

The entrance to the second floor appears and the creature, curious and in search of more food wobbles inside while swinging its short tail from side to side.

Congratulations! You have cleared the 1st floor of the Hell difficulty tutorial. Welcome to the second floor: Mana-Infused Kingdom.

Congratulations! You can now choose your primary class. Your offered choices are based on your performance up until now in the tutorial.

You have acquired one skill upgrade token.

You have acquired one skill point.

You can now use Community, with a time limit of 10 minutes per 24 hours.

You have acquired 5 stat points.

(More mana!) it repeats.

It also upgrades its skill.

[Devour - lvl 1(Max) > Perfect Devour - lvl 1(Max)]

More time passes and the floors change a few times. Every time, the creature [Devours] everything.

But then, one day.

Welcome to the community tournament.

More real food appears.

Much more time passes and the creature, ravenous, starts to devour the place it's trapped in.

The place that stands between it and Earth, a place teeming with real food.

Error detected within the tutorial's 5th round, group 4. Unable to ?*#äúé3-

The creature continues to [Devour]. The creature maintains its [Focus], and then [Challenges] the system.

It won't stop. It will return to its home, and it will enjoy real food once more. It will continue to consume.

It won't stop until everything is Biscuit.