Chapter 17: A Lesson for the Greedy

“Mr. Dustin, Mr. Jackson. Thank you for everything.”

“Go safely.”

“Hoho, I’m the one who’s grateful. I trust that you will carry on that one’s will well.”

“Chef, thank you for sharing the seasonings too.”

“Don’t mention it. They were leftovers anyway. …Go safely.”

“Yes!”

Neigh—!

With that, I finished saying goodbye to everyone at the training ground.

I climbed onto the carriage prepared for graduating trainees and gave them my final farewell.

“Alright, let’s depart. Giddyup!”

The starting point I chose was the Difaran Empire.

But even if I chose the Difaran Empire, there were many places a user could go after the tutorial.

Since it was an empire, there were countless towns and cities within it.

Among them, the place I chose was Benes, one of the major cities.

It was where I, a beginner before regression, had lived for a while.

“Sir, due to circumstances, I need to stop at a rest stop for a bit. After you get off, you’ll need to transfer to another carriage.”

“If it’s a rest stop, you mean Dever Village?”

“Oh, you know it well.”

It was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t travel the whole way at once, but it didn’t matter.

Since I had just graduated from being a trainee, carriage travel to the major city was free.

“But these days, the situation in Dever Village isn’t very good.”

“What do you mean?”

“I hear the crops failed completely this year. And perhaps due to a lack of guards, the public safety isn’t great either.”

“Ah…”

Villages basically have a vigilante group composed of villagers.

But that was just a group of volunteers, after all.

They couldn’t be called proper guards.

Thanks to that, it wasn’t uncommon to see bad things happening in small villages.

More than that, the crops failing…

‘Was this always the setting?’

Before regression, I had gone straight to the major city without passing through Dever Village.

So I had no memory of hearing such details.

“Well, it’s still a place where people live, so how bad could it be? We’ll be there soon, so just relax!”

“Yes, thank you.”

The cool breeze quickly swept past the outside of the carriage.

Since I had time, I decided to check my status window.

Checking one’s own stats was the most important thing to do when facing an enemy.

Know yourself, know your enemy, and a hundred battles, a hundred victories, as they say.

“Status window.”

[Lee Chang]

Level: 9

Class: Executive Chef

Fame: 2,300

Strength: 35 / Agility: 35

Vitality: 35 / Wisdom: 37 / Dexterity: 35

Satiety: 82 / 300

“This is no joke.”

In Unreal World, the stats given per level were 5 points.

I had distributed the acquired stats roughly evenly.

Whether before regression or now, I had always aimed for a jack-of-all-trades.

That aside.

A level 1 user typically has average stats of 10, so normally, a level 9 user would have average stats around 20.

But my stats were clearly abnormally high.

Thanks to various achievements and the stat increases from the [Cooking Mastery Manual].

‘My fame is ridiculously high too.’

Fame was an element with various functions, such as acquiring titles or serving as a basic condition for quests.

For a player who just graduated from the training ground to have fame over 2,000!

I was probably the first.

‘Having high satiety is also quite good.’

Upon changing class, my satiety limit increased from 100 to 300.

While it was also a resource for using Cooking Swordplay, having higher satiety meant being able to sustain strenuous actions for longer.

Simply put, it was like having increased stamina.

‘Come to think of it, my satiety has already dropped below 100.’

Since I had departed as soon as the morning sun rose, I hadn’t eaten.

Without hesitation, I opened my Food Storage, took out the candied sweet potatoes I had made yesterday, and held them.

Munch!

The effect of Food Storage.

It preserved the condition and temperature of ingredients and food exactly.

Thanks to that, even after a day, the candied sweet potatoes were still warm, as if freshly made.

Growl!

“Huh?”

“Haha… Sorry, sir. I haven’t eaten yet either.”

“Shall I share some with you? I have leftovers anyway.”

“Oh! If you’re offering, I would of course be grateful. I’ll enjoy them.”

Wasn’t food always better when shared?

Even simple food tastes much better when eaten together than alone.

That was one of the new things I had realized since regressing and restarting Unreal World.

“Ooh! They’re still warm as if freshly made! The combination of sweet potato and sugar… I feel energy surging through my body! Haha!”

“If it’s not enough, just say so. I have more. Haha.”

“Then thank you!”

Holding the reins and driving the carriage required steady consumption of stamina.

Though it looked easy, it was more demanding than one might think.

As such, the health recovery rate increase option from the candied sweet potatoes would be of great help to him, the coachman.

Thus, I was able to become quite close with the coachman through the candied sweet potatoes.

After filling my satiety to over 200,

I chatted with the coachman, losing track of time, and before I knew it, we had arrived at our destination.

“Sir, we’ve arrived. Thank you for the delicious meal! May I ask for your name?”

“Ah, my name is Lee Chang. And yours?”

“Haha, my name is Ike. If I ever get the chance—no, I’ll make the chance to repay you.”

“It’s fine. Still, if the opportunity arises, I hope we can meet again later.”

“Of course! Well then, I’ll be going!”

With those words, Ike turned his horse and quickly led the carriage away.

In a direction completely opposite from the city.

It seemed he had other places to go, as he had mentioned.

“Right, shall I take a look around?”

As mentioned, this was my first time in Dever Village, so I looked around with curiosity.

Wooden buildings, typical of the countryside.

The air was refreshing, completely different from the city.

Since I was here, I thought about visiting a restaurant, but strangely, the people’s condition seemed off.

“Hello. Where can I find the restaurant?”

“…Haah.”

Instead of an answer, a sigh that seemed to sink into the ground.

Then, they vaguely pointed with a finger and walked on.

It felt unpleasant, but their condition looked too poor to argue.

‘I heard the crops failed. Is that why?’

All the villagers looked lifeless, their skin lacking vitality.

Some were so severe their cheeks were sunken and their arms looked as thin as straw.

‘Will the restaurant even be open?’

If it was this bad, it wouldn’t be strange if the restaurant had closed.

Half-resigned, I walked toward the restaurant.

And finally, a sign came into view.

[Dever Restaurant]

Whoever named it, it was truly simple.

Well, since it was said to be the only restaurant in the village, it seemed like a fitting name.

Just as I reached the doorstep of the restaurant,

I heard unexpectedly loud noise coming from inside, though I had worried it might be closed.

Of course, it wasn’t the sound of people eating.

“We need to go hunting, so bring out the food quickly!”

“What kind of restaurant doesn’t have food?”

Crash!

“Users.”

I could tell immediately, even before opening the door.

The only ones who would fail to read the village atmosphere and cause a scene like this were users.

Besides, there was no way an NPC would talk about hunting while asking for food.

Since I was already at the doorstep, it would be awkward to just ignore it.

Feeling embarrassed as a fellow user, I sighed briefly and opened the door to enter.

“You must have emergency rations or something, right? I’ll pay, so sell me some!”

“That looks like a food storage. Let’s search it.”

“Oh dear, please don’t. We barely have enough left for my family to eat. If you take that, my whole family will starve…”

“So what? Is that important right now? My leveling up is more important.”

As expected, they were users.

Just as they shoved aside the restaurant owner, who was clinging to their ankles and pleading, and were about to head toward the storage,

they must have heard the door open, as our eyes met.

“Huh? You came to fill your satiety too? They’re not open, so go back.”

“Yeah. We need to fill our satiety soon too, or it’ll get dangerous.”

For users, it was almost unheard of to die from low satiety.

Usually, when satiety reached zero, they would fall into a near-death state and be logged out.

It was a different concept from death.

After some time, if they logged back in, their satiety would be partially restored.

For NPCs, however, it was different.

If they died from low satiety, that was the end.

They didn’t fall into a near-death state like users, and if they died, they couldn’t be resurrected.

“Hey. Didn’t you hear what they said? Stop causing trouble and leave.”

“Well, look at Mister Justice here.”

“Ah, suddenly you’re pissing me off.”

The two scowled and approached.

From their equipment, they didn’t seem like complete beginners fresh out of the training ground, but even so, beginners were beginners.

Seeing the two of them approaching with hostile expressions was almost laughable.

Still, I had no intention of fighting inside the village.

“If it’s because of satiety, take this and go.”

“Oh, candied sweet potatoes?”

“How’d you get these?”

Their goal was satiety, after all.

If I gave them food, they would leave.

…Or so I naively thought.

“Check the option! It’s Magic-grade? Crazy.”

“Hey! Where did you get this? If you have more, share some!”

“Haah…”

I could only sigh.

Human greed truly had no bounds.

“You’ve achieved your goal, haven’t you? Stop causing a ruckus and…”

“Oh! There’s some bread and jerky left in the storage! This should be enough. Let’s take it!”

“Yeah? Wow, with food and a Magic-grade dish, we’ve hit the jackpot!”

“Oh dear, please don’t! If you take that, my whole family will starve! I’m begging you!”

“Ah, stop grabbing me! So annoying.”

No good.

These guys were hopeless.

No matter that it was a game, such behavior…

In fact, the true residents of Unreal World were closer to the NPCs than the users.

As such, most users actively interacted with NPCs.

Behavior as brutish as this would only negatively affect those interactions.

And more importantly,

“Ah, right. You! You have more Magic-grade dishes, don’t you? They say good things should be shared, right? Give us a little more.”

“Yeah! Between fellow users and all.”

“Please! Give it back. I’m begging you!”

If I had my way, I’d cut down both of them in one stroke.

But I couldn’t just draw my sword and attack recklessly—doing so could label me a criminal.

As I was thinking this,

[Quest ‘Dever Restaurant Commotion’ has been created.]

Quest Rank: Normal

Defeat the ruffians who have raided Dever Restaurant!

Reward: Increased affinity with Dever Village residents.

Heh—.

“What’s with this guy, why’s he laughing?”

A quest appeared right on cue.

Just by looking at the quest details, I could tell that self-defense was justified.

“Chorong.”

Whoosh!

– Kkyuu!

I summoned Chorong and simultaneously drew the sword from my waist.

“Have you lost your mind? You think you can take us on two-to-one?”

They still didn’t grasp the situation.

Time to teach them a lesson.

“Shut up and come at me.”

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