Chapter 18: To starve

I woke up starving to death. My eyes were shut, but I was slowly coming back to my senses. Two sturdy hands were locked on my throat. They were tight on it. I could feel them going all around my collar. Slowly and painfully, I opened my eyes, letting out a childish moan. I was hurting all over. This time, I wasn't poisoned. I just starved immensely.

Getting fully aware of what happened, I inwardly cursed. If only I could just… not have to 'ensure survival'. Jumping from Receptacles to Receptacles would start to annoy me before long, I thought. And all of it is due to the fact that the System made it mandatory on me, the Player, to, for the present time, always have a humanoid Receptacle on hand. Why, because 'dwelling' within such a (humanoid) Receptacle was apparently one of the conditions I had to fulfill for the Game to go on—whatever that was.

What I could tell you was that, thankfully, in less than a week, I wouldn't have to be doing that anymore. Jumping from one Receptacle to the next, I mean. That had to do with a certain 'Character's Creation' quest the System mentioned… but that story was for another time.

For the time being, what was important was that I just woke up as a certain Tiny Bro human boy. My forehead was bleeding a little, I remember I had to headbutt Tiny Bro when I subdued him. I coughed twice.

In front of me, seemingly lying down with me like a father gently wrapping his arms around his son while sleeping, was a middle-aged swordsman with dark hair. His eyes were shut too. Mine were shut seconds ago, but his would never open anytime soon.

I wasn't a son sleeping soundly with his father anyway. Getting the swordsman's hands off my throat, I stood up to a sitting position. "Argh," I groaned, "my stomach's on fire." The more I was woken up, the fiercer the sensation grew. The pain, I mean. For how long had that body been starving? There was no way to know.

After a few minutes, I could tell it had been at least a week. Wrapping my arms around my meager stomach, I clutched it and wished for food. Without me knowing it, tears even gathered in the corners of my eyes and dropped down my hollow cheeks. Life sure could be difficult with me. Bending over to the ground, I prayed for it to stop, go away, and never bother me again, but it only served to increase the pain I felt all over my feeble legs and arms.

With trembling limbs, I managed to get myself up barely. Glancing at the black swordsman, I shook my head. Back when I 'dwelled' in that guy, I had no idea how big he was. With this tiny body, I can see how massive the guy was. But anyway, was that important? I was famished, and I needed a way out of this. I didn't complain. Not yet. With a problem on my hands, my life had at least a little meaning to it.

"Yeah. I need to nourish that up. And quickly," I nodded to myself. Otherwise, how else was I supposed to live, hm? Could the way I lived up till now be called 'living', however? Was it anyone else's routine? I didn't mention it, but I was lost. It kind of frustrated me, at times. I know I usually was quick to be angry, but as I was starving right now, my frustration reached even higher heights.

But let's not think about my misery. Abiding by my motto: Let's just go on with the flow. Whatever direction I was taking didn't matter. There were just facts and I'd go along with them. The facts, at present, urged me to go and eat something.

To devour something rather. A whole cow would do. And real food this time. Not anything else. Not grass. Not leaves. Not dirt. I didn't even enjoy the taste of it anyway. On top of that, was it nourishing even a little? Hardly from what I recall. My former stomach could testify to that.

"So I must eat."

The sun dawned in the East. It was still pretty much nighttime. And I was starving. No need to worry, though. "I know where to find food," I stated, heavily trudging on out the back alley. The first steps were the most difficult. That famished body of mine was on the verge of collapsing, but I forced it on. Strengthening myself with mana, I found it was easier to move. Magical energy was a thing I didn't lack, thankfully.

It was quite hard to see in this darkness, too. Mana would have my problem fixed again, however. Mana Perception sure came in handy.

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Walking was tiring. The first steps were the most laborious ones, but I quickly grew used to my condition. My oh-so-poor condition. I spent ten minutes trudging along the darkness of dawn, and I arrived at the commercial street. My old friend would surely… give me food? "Crap. It's dark. Didn't he say 'not before noon' or something?" God, that realization came hard on me. There were barely a few people out there, working on laying out their stalls and stuff.

Having observed that, like a mechanical robot, I lifelessly turned backward. And once again, I disappeared in the dark of this somber alley. I was looking forward to seeing, smelling, touching, and tasting my good old cup of noodles. Hah, and that's funny enough.

As if making the mistake of coming here before the first lights weren't enough, I also made the mistake of realizing one sad thing. If I was no longer that friendly owner's favorite adventurer of the Guild, would he still feed me? Failing to recognize that, I still looked forward to eating some of Yum Yum Starry Spicy Magical Noodles. For now, my motto was still on. Let's just go on with the flow.

Go on with the flow? What other options to quench this insupportable sense of starving? I was back to my alley and my swordsman. "Here I come, then, lil' babies." Standing ready, I readied myself for the hunt. A rat responded to my call. Squeaking, it ran past me in a flash. In my furry, I jumped at it and… no. I didn't jump at it, my legs wouldn't take me up. All I did was grunt, bit my tongue, then pass out. I had no vigor at all.

When I woke up, who knows how many hours after, I was still in so much pain, but I lifted myself up on instinct. At once, I took off and headed to the friendly owner. After I got out of the back alley, the position of the sun told me it was past noon. Phew. I was glad. Though I still was in a terrible condition to walk, I fought on, up till I reached the food stand.

You better not fail me, old man! I thought. After a few minutes that felt like hours, at last, I arrived back at the same place I ate so well the day before. What was more, I could see him. The same old man, very stout and bald, a cheery smile on his face, a huge beard hanging at his neck, with that same old white hachimaki headband wrapped up around his bald, shiny head. It was him, my savior. Promptly, I was presented in front of him. "You!" As he didn't have a client for the moment, he ceased all activity and turned to me, pointing a jerky finger at me. "You dare come back!" His hearty smile was gone, and he looked at me with exasperation.

"Ha-ha-ha… Yup. Me again, old pal." I chuckled awkwardly, scratching my forehead. "Old man… B-Brighten up, why don't you… Where's your smile at—"

A strong hand was placed on my shoulder, yanking me back. "Ow!" I turned backward, or rather was turned backward, and a young man glared daggers at me. "You again, huh?"

"Do we… know each other…? Let go."

"I wish we didn't. Father, you know, he takes pity on you. Where are the other thugs? Your filthy brothers, eh? He fed you before… But how do you thank him? How did you thank us? You have some nerve coming back here." With the same hands with which he grabbed my shoulders, he drove me away further to the sidewalk.

We caught too many eyes, but now we were okay. And the young man in his twenties questioned me more. He asked me where were the others. He also said we never did a thing without us three. He talked to me about how they, merchants, in these times of difficulties and wars, struggled to put food on the table. How wrong was what my brothers and I did. And despite all of this, he explained his old man's weak heart drove him easily to tears and that because of that— "Say no more, young man."

"What!? 'Young man'!? Show some respect!"

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