Relaying what they learned from the three builder brothers, Zen informed them they would head into town first, where the missing sheep would most likely be.
“I’ll look for the red-hooded girl and hunter in the forest,” he informed. “You should proceed to the town without me. Someone else should also find the Shady Merchant in case there are more hints.”Akiko quickly volunteered to return to the Shady Merchant. Sasha was more than happy to reunite with Zen’s party at the small village.In no time at all, the group of four reunited, and Zen waved to Sasha when he spotted her in the sky.“That was fast,” he commented. Those leathery dragon wings looked so cool! Sasha grinned. “I took the shortcut,” she shrugged. Unlike Oritha and her friends, she did not need to follow the winding path on the hills.So far, Liu Feng had no luck locating any forest dwellers. Akiko was still only halfwaThe marketplace was small. There were only five stalls in the area, and already, the shopkeepers were packing up. Splitting up with Oritha, Zen talked to the butcher to see if he had seen any lambs today.“Mary lost her kids? That’s unusual,” the butcher frowned. “It is usually Little Bo Peep who would lose them. Unlike Bo Peep’s well-trained lambs, who knew how to look for their forgetful owner, Mary’s lambs are considered pampered. They usually follow her everywhere she goes. How would they go missing?”Hearing more of the back story made Zen think this wasn’t a simple case of lost lambs. Unlike Bo Peep, Mary’s lambs seemed dependent on her. Something else must have happened. Unfortunately, that was all the butcher NPC knew. Zen thanked him and moved on to the next NPC, a cheesemonger.“Do you know what happened to Mary’s lambs?” he asked.The surly cheesemonger dressed in a white apron wit
“You found them!” Mary gushed as Oritha let Snowball down at last.Unlike earlier, the white lamb was very docile in front of its owner. Zen could hardly believe this was the violent kid from earlier. Sasha and Damian were already making themselves comfortable in Mary’s home, playing with the other lambs in her front yard.Nuzzling into Mary’s palms, Snowball gave Zen a stinky side glance that quickly disappeared as soon as Mary told them dinner was ready. Trotting inside with a waggling tail, Snowball took the lead, and the other lambs followed it inside. Zen and Oritha followed them just as the sun disappeared in the distance.Inside, Mary’s cottage was as cosy as her personality. The steaming hot tray of food was set on the table, and Zen instantly recognised it by its smell.“Is that shepherd’s pie?” he asked with drool almost trickling down the side of his mouth. The smell alone was already enough to convince Z
Ping!Checking the system notification after he had taken his first bite of the delicious lasagne shepherd’s pie, Zen noticed he had successfully learned Mary’s recipe. However, it was a unique item.===Unique Recipe: Mary’s Shepherd’s PieDescription: Warms the body, heart and soul from within. Full of Mary’s affection.*Special effects:Cold immunity for 6 hoursMental attack resistance for 2 hoursNostalgia effect (decreases fighting will by 50%)===Cold immunity for six hours? Even if it were measured in the in-game time, this was huge! The gamer remained motionless as he read on. The other effect was also decent against mental debuffs. However, the player who consumed this item must deal with a critical drawback. Zen was not someone keen on fighting enemies head-on. That 50% decrease in fighting will barely affected him. However, for the combatants, it could be a huge drawback. Logically spe
The plan was simple. The one who boys would distract the black sheep owner when he went to the market for his morning grocery trip while the girls would sneak into his property to shear his sheep. Although they had no idea why the Shady Merchant wouldn’t obtain other types of wool, it was not unusual for the odd man to seek rarities that were difficult to procure.“If he refuses to comply, can I have permission to render him unconscious?” Damian asked, raising a very valid point. Shearing sheep might take some time, and there were only limited conversation cards they could use with a disgruntled and paranoid old shepherd.Although Zen was against the idea of harming the NPC, it was likely the most effective. However, most NPCs in the game were immune to attacks from players.“How do you intend to knock him out?” he asked.Sasha quickly offered some tips on how to knock out an old man immediately with a good neck slice.“Yo
“We’re going to tail him now,” Damian whispered to Zen once the old shepherd left his house for his daily grocery trip. The man wore a brown hat that bore many harsh weathers. “Good luck!”Waving to the cheerful cyborg who had gotten the easier part of the deal, Zen wondered how they should avoid those women in the courtyard. According to Sasha, they were constantly hovering around the black sheep.“They might actually be lambs,” the blonde sniper commented after a while. “I don’t think sheep drink milk. They should be eating grass.”Swooping down from the roof silently, Sasha hugged Zen from behind and carried them both back onto the roof so he could observe the situation by himself. Zen blushed in embarrassment at how easily a girl carried him. Although he was in the body of a teenager now, he still remembered being a grown man in his previous life.When they finally got onto the roof, Zen immedi
Finding a villager who was willing to talk about the obnoxious Raiden was hard. Eventually, the only one willing to share more with the party was the shepherd, who also worked as a part-time barmaid — Bo Peep.“Hm? Raiden?” she twirled her hair with a flirtatious wink. “Buy me a drink, and I’ll tell you. Otherwise, I don’t kiss and tell.”The builder brothers did not lie. Bo Peep was very attractive with her heavy petticoat and skirt riding up her curvy thighs. However, none of the boys were particularly charmed by her. Many regular bar patrons glared at them with envy, but none of those men could compare to the muscles on Oritha’s forearm. Hence, they remained sullenly silent in a corner.To buy a drink, they had to spend one credit. Thanks to the daily quest, it was not a hefty fee to spare. Zen wanted to buy the NPC a drink, but his party members had other ideas.“I’ve seen enough gold diggers like yo
Not wanting to admit it, Zen flopped onto the pasture spread eagle. He was too tired to think or talk or feel. However, Damian’s trash-talking skills were part of the reason they managed to arrive at their destination before sundown. Sasha scouted ahead and found a flock of sheep that belonged to a boy who seemed lonely. After confirming he was Raiden, they quickly met up with her.Ping!While Zen was still trying to refill the oxygen in his lungs, his party members had successfully completed the second main quest. They sheared the black sheep in Raiden’s flock and even offered help with the others.Happy to have company in a long while, Raiden smiled and talked for hours until it was evening. Then, as if reluctant to part with the company, he offered them a place to stay overnight.“It gets dangerous after dark,” he warned. “Why don’t all of you come with me and stay for the night?”Accepting his generous offer, the
“Now?” Sasha’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “But it’s dark out!”Hooting with laughter, Oritha shrugged. “You have wings. As long as your legs don’t touch the ground and the wolves don’t grow twenty meters tall, you’ll reach the village safely. Besides, you fly faster than Zen runs. You could probably deliver it by daybreak.”Looking at Oritha with disbelief, Sasha narrowed her eyes.“When have you been good at English?”Glancing back from the oven, Zen noticed Damian slowly trying to duck under the table when Oritha grabbed him by the back of his shirt. Knowing them, it was likely Damian’s idea. Oritha was a quick learner whenever it came to non-academic studies.“I repeated what he said,” she dragged the flailing cyborg back up the table with a wide grin. “Maybe you should go now. We have round two of dinner to start.”…Maybe all the A
Collecting the rewards for successfully defeating John’s cousin, the party members of Godly Food jumped into the portal leading to the next floor. Zen knew that the dungeon had different themes on every ten floors. The tenth floor of each themed stage would be different from the other stages in difficulty. It was why the vanguard team struggled with the twentieth floor’s boss. In addition to the stage mechanic’s difference, the final boss was also tougher to deal with. If not for the monstrous capabilities of the combatants, Zen doubted they could breeze through the first ten floors as quickly as they did.Anticipating a village or town vibe similar to the other floors from before, Zen was stunned to find himself in a rocky cave full of darkness. It had ominous vibes, and only Liu Feng moved confidently in the darkness. Everyone else minimised exploring further without a light source.“We’ll log out here,” Akiko informed Damian. “Y
After entering the boss dungeon den, Zen shivered. It wasn’t similar to a wolf’s den. If anything, it appeared closer to an actual dungeon, as if someone had deliberately attempted to imprison the boss here. The stale smell of dogs and many broken chains of different sizes on the ground spoke volumes about John’s cousin.Unlike the short werewolf, who remained in his werewolf form constantly, the boss was a monster who could transform. Depending on the moon cycle, it could be a violent and bloodthirsty monster or a broken man who lived in constant fear and misery of his curse.“He changes according to the moon cycle once the rampage begins,” Akiko explained. “I took a while to figure out how to kill him, even on the first run. He’s immune to damage on a blood moon. We need to finish it as soon as possible.”With a full party participating in a boss battle, Zen had faith they could conclude it before even the blood moon p
Finally approaching the final boss’s cave, Zen wondered if the storyline would change because they had let Han murder John brutally. His body had been hacked into pieces and scattered around the rotting forest. The maggots would get to it soon and reduce it to bones. Yet, the cruel butchering session remained fresh in Zen’s mind.Everyone in the party knew that feeling all too well. Having lived in the underworld, they sympathised with Zen, who had lived like a civilian his whole life. Although not everyone participated directly in the act of murder, they knew what it meant to take a life. Even Damian had seen it happen. He knew how to interrogate for information and was quite adept at the craft when required.“Don’t think too much about it,” Liu Feng was the first to break the silence. “He wasn’t even real. This is a game designed by the Godfather to find the next successor. It’s just another test.”Even if it wer
Even after many years of not being on talking terms with the rest of the family, Hans fitted right in when delving blows at the cowardly werewolf. Mai ripped out chunks of flesh with her teeth, snarling at it the whole time while Laura expertly force-fed the werewolf with different herbs with particularly nasty effects.Even with regeneration abilities, John could not recover from herbs that tasted nasty, gave him muscle cramps or made him itch all over. Laura truly knew how to make someone suffer, and Zen watched with morbid fascination at their different uses. Her apothecary skills were no less effective than those of Herbologist Hernie.“Can you heal him again?” Damian asked. “Han needs another round. Mai roughed him up a little too good.”With a priest in the party who did not worship any known religion, the torture session became smoother and more effective. No apology from John would appease the family’s anger. Although Zen did not
After listening to the story about John, Laura’s expression hardened. “That son of a bitch!” she spat. “How dare he prey on my granddaughter! Where is he now?!” Slightly terrified by the murderous aura, Zen reported that Sasha and Damian had the werewolf at Gabrielle’s hut. Mai had been ripping him a new one each time he regenerated. The girls had been doing a great job of making him miserable. Han was already there. “I can’t believe I’m last at the party. That wolf deserves to die. Even death is too cheap a price to pay after what he did to my husband and son.” For once, Zen agreed. Even if John was merely a character in the game, he deserved death. The fact that the game administrators did not grant John invulnerable stats meant that it was possible to kill the cousin of the floor boss. While waiting for Laura to pack her ‘tools’ and herbal surprises, Zen approached Liu Feng and thanked him for accompanying them. In real time, it was already past regular l
Studying advanced herbalism from Laura took more time than Zen expected. Thankfully, the game had a way of providing cheats for him. Instead of cramming all the knowledge into his head that would give him a splitting migraine, it provided a useful guidebook that would prompt him on what a particular herb does upon location and what combinations he could use it for with other known herbs. The problem was, to truly master this skill, he had to pass the final test. Laura’s pop quiz only had ten questions. However, there was a timer. While Zen could attempt it infinitely, there were thousands of herb combinations to remember. Not having any formal education in either of his past lives, the young chef faltered. “You may use anything in this cottage as a reference for your test,” Laura smirked. “All the best. I hope you won’t disappoint me.” Stressing over the best method to find what he needed, Zen tested a few things. Firstly, when Laura said that the new skill would inst
While the other party members gathered the family members for a reunion, Zen and Liu Feng finally found Laura’s cottage after taking a wrong turn. Funnily enough, it was the Seer who pointed out how they had been going in a circle before Zen realised he had misinterpreted the map. Knocking on the cottage door, Zen waited with his sworn brother. From inside, he could hear someone coughing badly. “Who is it?” the cranky old lady hacked as she cracked open the door. Instead of seeing her sloppy son or nosy granddaughter, Laura saw a cute priest and a handsome, long-haired warrior. The new adventurers surprised her. Were they lost in the forest? “What do you want?” she asked briefly before launching into a new coughing fit. It was a particularly nasty cold that had persisted for a week now without any signs of recovery. Despite all the herbal medicine she made, Laura did not see any signs of improvement. Perhaps she was getting on in age. Smiling, Zen show
It was a shame Zen was not with them. Sasha would have gone for a few more rounds, using the cowardly werewolf as a punching bag after Zen healed him. The more they dug information out from the pervert, the worse Sasha’s temper was. Damian did not stop her. The draconian needed somewhere to vent her anger, and it was best for it not to come his way. In truth, the cyborg felt a little sorry for Gabrielle, even if she were just a fictional character created for this virtual dungeon game. The cowardly cousin of the floor boss was no different from lowly thugs borrowing the influence of their powerful relatives to cause mayhem. Whimpering in fear and pain with his tail tucked in between his legs, the werewolf defect who could not transform into a human no matter the moon cycle kept a close eye on Sasha. Under the watch of the merciless draconian female, there was nowhere for him to run. He told them what they wanted to know and was alive for now. Given how tightly they w
Using hand gestures, Sasha signalled the countdown and Damian prepared his stunning spells silently. They only had one chance to catch the secret admirer off guard. Whatever he was doing was disgusting enough. Han wasn’t lying about the obsession. The stalker werewolf was plucking flower petals and chanting Gabrielle’s name to see if she would love him back. Each time the flower petals ended on a no, he would crush the flower, stomp on it and pick a new one, confessing his disturbing love to her before plucking off the petals of a new flower.“Oh, Gabrielle! What sweet rosy cheeks you have, all the better for me to bite into them when they are ripe! They were pink when you were a babe. They were red when you had a fever. I wonder if they’d bleed if I bit them… would you cry in pain and fear? It makes me so excited to think about it! Just wait a little more, my angel. You’d soon be an adult, and we could finally be together!”Disgu