Chapter 3: Cooking Up a Contract

[Quest ‘Real Combat Training’ has been created.]

Quest Rank: Normal

Description: Hunt ten rabbits outside the training ground!

Reward: Shabby Leather Armor

“Wow! How long has it been since I last saw this?”

As soon as I stepped outside the training ground, a small plain and countless trees came into view.

A bright landscape I hadn’t seen for quite a while during my time as the number-one ranker before regression.

Back then, my hunting grounds were all places like the ‘Grave of Grief’ or ‘Arachne’s Web Shelter’.

The small plain was full of rabbits I’d seen earlier.

And of course, new users hunting them too.

“Argh!”

“No, why is this thing so fast!”

“How are you supposed to catch this with a sword?”

The rabbits’ movements weren’t particularly strange.

Aside from the fact they weren’t fleeing, they were actually very similar to real rabbits.

But that was precisely the problem.

Because an agile animal like a rabbit was never going to get hit by a clumsy wooden sword like that.

‘I struggled quite a bit when I first caught them too.’

As I was fondly recalling those memories,

one of the three trainees who were having trouble spotted me.

Soon, his face brightening, he approached.

“Ah! Hey, you came out after taking the real combat training quest too, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then let’s form a party! With you included we’ll be exactly four, so we can do a driving hunt.”

“Ah, I’d rather not….”

With a four-person party, the quest goal would be four times as much.

I’d have to hunt forty rabbits, including their share.

Not wanting to waste time on that, I immediately refused his offer.

“You’ll regret it. Well, go ahead and try catching one.”

His face clearly showed the intention: ‘Try it if you can!’

It was a situation that could have been irritating, but to me it just seemed cute.

Twitch!

“There’s one over there. If you fail, you’ll party with us right away, right?”

“Sure, why not.”

I didn’t even need to take out the newly acquired sword.

A wooden sword was enough for rabbits.

Hop!

A pure white rabbit darted around, with me at the center.

As if taunting me, ‘Catch me if you can~’.

Swoosh.

I raised my sword and took a stance.

The rabbit’s movements?

Compared to higher-tier monsters like werewolves or vampires, it wasn’t even worth worrying about.

Predict its path.

Thwack!

One hit.

“Gasp!”

The rabbit struck by the wooden sword rolled on the ground without even a chance to squeal.

At the same time, the number ‘1/10’ appeared on my quest window.

That was one.

“Mister! How did you do that? That’s insane! Can you tell us how?”

“How…”

If I had to explain it, it would be predicting the rabbit’s movement and swinging the sword one step ahead?

Even if I told them, there was no way they could do it.

If they could, they would have finished the rabbit hunt in no time.

Looking at him staring at me with sparkling eyes, I gave a convenient excuse.

“I guess it’s just talent.”

“……”

I moved on to find new rabbits to complete the quest.

The trainee left behind muttered to himself.

“Damn talented bastards. Drop dead!”

***

[10/10]

“It’s already over.”

It felt like I spent more time looking for rabbits than actually hunting them.

Anyway, the quest was complete with this.

Now I just had to return to Mr. Dustin.

After finishing a few more minor quests, my time at the tutorial training ground would be over.

But.

‘Should I go a bit further in?’

It felt a bit disappointing to just go back like this.

Because if I just kept following quests and hunting the same way, nothing would change from my previous life.

Of course, I could grow stronger faster than before.

Become number one by getting stronger faster and further.

And after that—

‘The same life as before regression would unfold.’

Right before I died, I thought,

‘If I knew this would happen, I should have lived doing whatever I wanted.’

I had no intention of repeating the same life in this one either.

As soon as I made up my mind, I turned toward the opposite side of the training ground.

“I heard there were boars further in?”

***

“Wow, I’d only heard about it. There really are boars?”

“Oink!”

After walking about ten minutes through a dense forest, I reached a stream.

There, a boar was leisurely drinking water.

To be precise, it wasn’t an ordinary pig but a wild boar covered in brown fur all over its body.

As soon as it spotted me, it snorted and threatened me.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten yet either.”

Thinking about it, I remembered that just before dying— no, before regressing — I had gone out to grill some meat for the first time in a while.

Though I ended up getting hit by a truck without even doing the shopping.

Remembering that made the snorting wild boar look irresistibly delicious.

Swoosh!

“Would wild boar meat be a bit tough?”

“GWOEK!”

Did it sense killing intent from my words?

The boar charged recklessly, baring its thick tusks.

In my previous life, I would have just stabbed it right between the eyes mid-charge, but now I was only level one.

I had the skill, but my stats weren’t high enough to back it up.

Tch!

“Inventory!”

Thud!

I lightly sidestepped, and the boar shot past right in front of me.

Just as I put the wooden sword into my inventory and drew the one-handed sword,

a heavy sound came from the side.

The boar had lost control of its speed and slammed its head into a tree.

“Just a tutorial mob, after all.”

Stab!

“Squeal!”

I plunged the sharp sword into the boar’s flank as it faltered.

The sword went in with some difficulty.

As expected, even with skill, my low stats made the penetration feel somewhat shallow.

At least the blade was sharp.

If it had been the original reward, the ‘Rusty Old One-Handed Sword’, this wouldn’t have been possible.

“That doesn’t matter.”

Crack!

I gripped the hilt firmly and twisted the sword embedded in its flank half a turn.

A crisp system notification rang out along with the sound of its ribs breaking.

[Level increased.]

I didn’t have a particular reason to hunt the boar.

But it was a boar that most players wouldn’t have been able to catch until they graduated from the training ground, even if told to.

I had hunted it in a single blow.

Of course, probably due to my low stats, the hand gripping the sword was slightly red and swollen.

“Heave-ho.”

Slice—

I began skinning the boar lying dead on the ground.

Butchering.

It was one of Unreal World’s systems.

Just because you hunted a monster didn’t mean its hide or meat would drop automatically.

Only by going through this butchering process could you obtain material items, what people called “junk items.”

[You have acquired Wild Boar Meat.]

[You have acquired Wild Boar Hide.]

“Right, let’s get ready now.”

Clatter—

As soon as I got the boar meat, I moved to the riverside and started picking out stones.

A few suitably angular stones.

And the flattest stone among those in the stream.

I dug a small hole in the ground as far away from grass or trees as possible, and stacked the angular stones to form a rough frame.

Then I placed the flat stone, cleaned with stream water, on top.

“Done!”

The barbecue was ready.

What was I missing now?

Fire, of course.

A level two trainee, who had just gained one level, could hardly make fire without any tools.

But I wasn’t foolish enough to prepare all this without knowing that.

“Radiant sun. Blazing flames. Warm heat.”

I closed my eyes and extended my hand forward.

Spirits.

I gradually began to feel that sensation that most people couldn’t even grasp.

A faint power that existed in every user.

But a power that almost no user ever used in their lifetime.

Feeling it, I drew it as much as I could onto my palm.

“Run Asterra. Difi Aul De Gipiaseu.”

The words that flowed from my mouth next were not human.

Spirit language.

A language that only spirits could use.

Because I had once commanded the Spirit King, I knew at least this much; even most spirit mages rarely knew the spirit language.

As I uttered a bit of the spirit language,

a warm energy gathered around me.

“Fire spirit, Salamander.”

Whoosh!

A very small spark appeared on my palm.

It wriggled, as if dissatisfied with its form, and gradually began to take shape.

Leaving the red flames behind,

limbs extended from its elongated body.

Soon, the fully formed creature took the shape of a lizard.

A red lizard wreathed in blazing flames.

It was a low-class fire spirit, a Salamander.

[You have summoned the low-class fire spirit, Salamander.]

Normally, the standard procedure was to acquire a class and summon a spirit through a mentor NPC.

Or else, perform a hidden quest and contract a spirit as a reward.

But I, using a trick with the spirit language, had summoned a spirit at just level two.

That brought one problem.

“Hmm, I succeeded in summoning, but… what should I give it?”

– Kkyu?

Normally, you would receive a teacher’s help or use a spirit stone.

To contract a spirit, an appropriate offering was necessary.

I had managed to summon it in a hurry, but I didn’t actually have any decent offering.

‘Since it’s a low-class spirit, it shouldn’t need anything extravagant…’

I looked around, but as expected, nothing much stood out.

The dense forest, the cool stream.

And the stove I had made myself to cook the meat.

“Ah!”

Seeing the stove, a good idea came to mind.

It was worth a try.

The Salamander, intrigued by the world it was seeing for the first time, kept turning its head on my palm. I spoke to it.

“I’ll make you something tasty. Want to contract with me?”

– Kkyuu?

It tilted its head.

As if asking, ‘What’s tasty?’

“It’s not a spirit stone, but it’s edible.”

– Kkyuuu?

“Juicy meat, crisp vegetables, cold juice… Ah, juice might not suit you?”

Still not fully understanding my words, it tilted its head the other way again.

But soon its eyes sparkled brightly.

It had become curious about what I said.

“How about it?”

– Kkyuu!

[You have successfully contracted with the low-class fire spirit, Salamander.]

[If the terms of the contract with the spirit are not fulfilled, the contract may be forcibly terminated.]

[Skill ‘Spirit Summoning Lv 1’ has been created.]

“Alright!”

To be honest, I wasn’t sure.

Whether the Salamander could even “taste” food.

Before regression, I had once offered food to Ignis, but there was no particular reaction.

‘Well, if it doesn’t work, I can just use magic.’

If the contract fails, I can just try again.

So for now—

“Salamander, could you go into that pile of stones and light a fire?”

– Kkyuu!

Time to eat the meat.