《Great chef-adventurer RPG》 Chapter 1: A letter A loud sound reached Diego¡¯s ears. Unfortunately, it was not the alarm. ¡°Lalala laaaaaaa!¡± His eyes drifted towards the clock. It was seven in the morning. Not too early, but also not too late. Regardless, it was a time quite a few people still slept. ¡°La la laaaaaaaaaa!¡± Diego slowly put aside his blanket. He tried his best to calm down. Unfortunately, this was not the first time such a situation happened. Grabbing the blanket again, he threw it to the other side of the room in a fit of rage. With eyes half red from the lack of sleep, he walked towards the door. ¡°I¡¯m going to beat the shit out of that kid!¡± After a few steps, Diego tripped on a few empty cans of beer, and fell hard to the floor. After a couple painful seconds, he let out a roar of frustration: ¡°Fuuuuuuuck!¡± Grabbing the blanket, he went back to sleep. Working during the night was no easy feat. His body and his mind were in a dire need for some peace and quiet. . . . After an unknown amount of time, Diego woke up yet again. This time it was almost evening. He proceeded to wash his face, and brush his teeth. His schedule was a real mess, and not something a normal human being would have. The room he was currently in was rather small, and simple. Thankfully, he had a bath, and a kitchen, making the whole place decent, and manageable. Diego moved around with barely any enthusiasm. Tonight, he had to go to work yet again. A shitty job, with a shitty pay. Nevertheless, he had to do something.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. A knock on his door changed the whole atmosphere. He had no friends, and his relatives were living fairly far away. ¡®Who could it be?¡¯ Going towards the door, he opened it. In front of him was a middle aged man dressed in long clothes, and with a pretty large bag in his hands. ¡°Mr. Diego, right?¡± His face was almost as bland as that of Diego¡¯s. ¡°Yes. And you are?¡± looking at the man, a few ideas crossed his mind. ¡°I¡¯m a delivery man.¡± Rummaging through his large bag, he took out a letter. ¡°This is for you.¡± After those words, the man left with an expressionless face. Diego understood very well what that face meant. Simply put, the man was not happy with his job at the very least. Closing the door, Diego went and sat down on the bed. Looking at the letter, he was rather curious. ¡®Who could it be?¡¯ Slowly opening the envelop, he found a set of keys, and a piece of paper. Dear Diego, If you ever find the life in the city boring or to overwhelming, you should definitely consider moving to a different place. Back in the days, when I was way younger, I came across this kind of situation. Moving somewhere more ¡®peaceful¡¯ proved to be one of the best decisions I made in my life. It was hard at the beginning, but well worth it after some time. If you also decide to take a similar step in life, then let me help you. The keys that came along with this letter are from a modest house I used to live in many years ago. It is now yours. The address in on the back of the letter. Sincerely, your great grandfather Diego After reading those words, he glanced yet again at the keys. All of a sudden, he felt a jolt going through his spine. ¡®Is this a scam or something?¡¯ Everything being fake was highly possible. Diego put his hands in his hair, and pondered carefully. ¡®Did I have a great grandfather with the same name as me?¡¯ After a few minutes, some very old memories came back to him. From his mother side, he had indeed a great grandfather with the name of Diego. The memories were not that clear, but he was almost certain such a man existed, and came to see him when he was very little. Grabbing his phone, he called his mother in order to check. However, in the next second, he cancelled the phone call. ¡®¡­¡¯ Minute after minute went away. A rare silence took over. All of a sudden, Diego moved. Opening his old laptop, he checked the address that was written on the back of the letter. A few moments later, he found something. ¡°Star village?¡± A village located in the middle of a vast mountain range that was around one hundred kilometers away from his current position. Looking at a few photos, Diego couldn¡¯t help himself but say out-loud. ¡°Such a beautiful place!¡± The village was situated at an altitude of around one thousand meters, and was surrounded by mountain peaks that reached a height of even six kilometers, resulting in a marvelous place. ¡®I want to go!¡¯ though Diego. Chapter 2: Taking a risk His current lifestyle was draining him out. If not for a big change, he at least needed a small vacation. Forget about the whole situation being a scam or not, he wanted to go to that place for a few days in order to relax. The letter was now as a bonus, and it brought the feeling of adventure. If he were to call his mother and ask for more details, that would ruin to some degree the current special atmosphere. ¡®Let¡¯s do it!¡¯ In the end, it wasn¡¯t like the place was in another country or at the other end of the world. It was only a few hours away, reducing some risks by quite a bit. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± Browsing through the internet, he was searching for a method to reach that place. ¡°Why won¡¯t it load the page?¡± His internet connection fell, and Diego had to restart the hot-spot from his phone. ¡°Piece of sh¡­¡± he stopped mid-sentence. His current mood was very good, so there wasn¡¯t any reason why he shouldn¡¯t mind his language. With a quick restart, the internet worked again. A couple of minutes later, Diego found what he was looking for. That place had a train station, and he could travel by train. This option resonated with him on the spot, marking the end for his search. ¡®Now, I need to pack a few things, and tell the people at work I won¡¯t be coming for a few days¡­¡¯Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Suddenly not going to work wasn¡¯t a very nice thing to do, making him feel a little weird. After some consideration, he decided to inform them through a text. This whole ordeal might cost him his job, but thankfully, he had a small sum of money put to the side, enough for him to last a couple of months with the rent and daily expenses. Giving up on some things in order to have some money in case of a special situation, proved to be a good decision after all. Furthermore, he was also eyeing a few other jobs for some time already. They were still shitty jobs, but at the very least, they didn¡¯t require him to work night shifts. That being said, Diego sent a message at work then started to pack a few things in a backpack. ¡°I will leave tomorrow morning.¡± Some time later, his phone rang. It was from work. ¡°¡­¡± If he answered, Diego was almost sure that his mood would be ruined, so he rather not. A few moments later, he received a message. Reading the message, Diego smiled bitterly. If you don¡¯t come tonight at work, you don¡¯t need to come back at all. Despite the job being a shitty one, he still felt a little down. A very weird, and hard to explain feeling. Letting out a sigh, Diego continued with what he was doing. He had to, at the very least, try. Humming something that he liked, his mood turned for the better. Truth be told, he didn¡¯t have high expectations about that letter, however, that village made him very excited. His backpack was ready, and now, he didn¡¯t want to do anything but wait for the morning to come. Time slowly passed away, while his mind drifted to various places. After an unknown amount of time, he fell asleep. . . . ¡°Lalalala!¡± Diego woke up, and this time, he smiled when hearing the uneducated kid. A few seconds later, the alarm also rang. Getting up, for the first time in a while, he washed his face and brushed his teeth in the morning. His heart started to beat faster and faster. Excitement ran through his veins once again. It was finally time. Changing his clothes, and taking his backpack, Diego left through the door. Chapter 3: Towards Star village After some time, Diego finally reached the train station. Without any impediments, he bought his ticket then sat down on a nearby chair, waiting for the arrival of the train. Usually, he wasn¡¯t a very punctual person, however, this time, he came a little earlier. Taking advantage of the time left, he looked all around, wanting to get a good look at the city before departing. Despite that, there wasn¡¯t much to look at, because that small area seemed rather lackluster. Minute after minute flew away, and the train finally arrived. There weren¡¯t many people in the train station, probably, because it was during the week, and most of them were already at work. Looking at his ticket, Diego got inside, and started to look for his seat. The train was one of the older versions, having multiple chambers with a maximum of six seats. Three seats on one side, and three on the opposite direction. The window was quite large, offering a great view outside. Simple, but to his liking. After all, he wasn¡¯t that pretentious when it came to these things. ¡®Number 87¡­¡¯ Some compartments were full of people, some were half empty, while some didn¡¯t have any passengers on them. In short, it wasn¡¯t very crowded. Besides the time of the day, another reason for that was most probably the main destination of the train, which was quite far away, and having only a few stops in between. After a couple of minutes, Diego found his seat. As he was entering, he noticed that the room was rather empty. More exactly, there was only one person inside. ¡®What were the chances of this happening?¡¯ thought Diego while taking a good look at the other passenger.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. At the seat that was right in front of him sat a beautiful girl. She had bright red hair that was pretty uncommon as far as what Diego usually saw on the streets. ¡°Hello!¡± said Diego, making eye contact for a moment. ¡°Hey!¡± The girl had green eyes with some black makeup around them, that in combination with the red hair brought forward quite a strong first impression. Diego put his backpack at the designated place, took off his jacket, and sat down on his seat. Instinctively, his eyes moved yet again to the girl in front of him. Her skin was of a whiter nuance than most, and she had quite a few freckles on her face, and below her neck. The freckles gave off a weird feeling, but he didn¡¯t mind their presence too much. She had small breasts, and looked a little skinny, however, her legs seemed to be quite attractive. Unfortunately, he could not take a look at her ass because she was sitting down. All of this being said, from his perspective, she was well above average in terms of overall looks. All of these thoughts went through his mind in a relatively short time. ¡®What is she reading?¡¯ Diego¡¯s eye drifted to the book that the girl was reading. How to make a lot of money The title was quite suggestive, and the book was pretty thick. ¡®There sure are a lot of pages in that book¡­¡¯ It was the first time seeing such a title, and he was a little interested. However, the thickness of the book made his interest go away very fast. ¡®Should I start a conversation?¡¯ A part of him wanted to try his luck with the girl, and get to know her better. Since she was still reading that book, he decided not to bother her. After a few more minutes, the train finally departed. Looking through the window, Diego smiled. He was feeling very good, something that did not happen in a long time. Between his thoughts, the title of the book came to his mind over and over again. ¡®How to make a lot of money¡­ is it really that hard?¡¯ Looking at how thick the book was, one would think it was a very hard ordeal. But for some reason, he thought that it was very easy. ¡®Then why do I have so little money?¡¯ The contradiction made him grin. Turning his head, he caught the girl looking at him. She quickly looked back at the book, like someone being caught doing a bad thing. At that moment, Diego¡¯s heart started to beat faster. Chapter 4: Bianca ¡®Would you look at that?¡¯ He could feel a little interest towards him from the other party. That might not be much, but nevertheless, it made him feel good. It didn¡¯t take long, and the train left the city behind. The scenery started to change bit by bit. The weather was marvelous, so he could fully experience the ride. At this point, Diego felt better by his decision to make the trip, even thought that was a somewhat risky move. After a few dozen minutes, the girl closed the book, and put it down on the small table. ¡®This is my chance,¡¯ thought Diego. He really wanted to talk to her. Despite that, he found it hard to say something. ¡®Just say something¡­¡¯ The circumstances were more than favorable, and the girl didn¡¯t seem to be totally indifferent. Furthermore, he wasn¡¯t an adolescent anymore, but a young adult. Despite that, he still felt nervous. Partly because he found the other party very cute, partly because in the last few years he barely spoke with any girls. He was mostly busy with trying to find a decent job, and place for himself. After a few more minutes of internal struggle, Diego finally said something. ¡°Can that book help you with making a lot of money?¡± his voice was a bit stiff, resulting in a weird tone. Eye contact was made for a moment. The girl took the book in her hands, looked at it briefly, then put it back on the table. ¡°Not really¡­¡± An unusual instance of silence followed. Diego was a little unprepared for that answer. ¡°But there are a few good pieces of advice inside.¡± She was also somewhat nervous. ¡°And is it worth it to read such a thick book for that ¡®good¡¯ advice?¡± Maybe the question was a tad rude or too direct, but he was genuinely curious what she thought about the matter.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. His question surprised the girl. Moving her hand through her hair, she said: ¡°I¡¯m having the same question¡­¡± ¡®And?¡¯ wanted to immediately ask Diego but held it in. The girl got up, leaned over the small table, and opened the window. Now, her body was on full display in front of him. Diego¡¯s previous guesses were right, her legs, and her ass were very attractive. In fact, he might just as well rank them number one amongst everything that he saw until that moment. Taking the book, she threw it out the window. Sitting down again, she continued: ¡°It was definitely not worth it. For now, I¡¯m done with these kinds of books.¡± Diego kept quiet. ¡°Do you think that was too much?¡± ¡°I would have burned it first,¡± said Diego. He saw his fair share of weird stuff, so this much wouldn¡¯t faze him. After a brief pause, the girl started to laugh. It didn¡¯t last long, but it came from deep within. Extending her arm, she said with a smile: ¡°My name is Bianca!¡± Her deep green eyes were still a little moist from the earlier laugh. Diego also extended his arm: ¡°I¡¯m Diego!¡± ¡®Fuck yea!¡¯ A small, but very sweet victory. The taste of success was exhilarating. ¡°Where are you headed? If you do not mind me asking, of course,¡± asked Bianca. They were still holding hands. Diego felt slightly awkward, but he refused to let go of her hand first. His grip was gentle, and she could take her hand away whenever she wanted. As for him, he wouldn¡¯t mind holding her hand until the end of the ride. Diego pretended like nothing unusual happened: ¡°I do not mind. I¡¯m headed towards Star village.¡± Bianca¡¯s eyes became a little wider: ¡°What a coincidence, so am I.¡± Diego was surprised: ¡°In that case, maybe we can go for a drink later¡­¡± It was a little too early to say that, but he had to strike the iron while it was hot. Right at that moment, Bianca¡¯s phone rang. She retracted her hand, and took out her phone from her jacket. ¡°Sorry, I have to answer this call.¡± With these words she went outside the chamber to talk. He could see her outside, but he could not hear a single word that she was talking. The train was pretty noisy, and apparently, she was also talking in a low voice. ¡®Well, at least I said it,¡¯ thought Diego, proud of himself. Time slowly, but surely ticked away. Bianca was still talking at the phone. Diego was enjoying both the scenery outside and inside. However, he would rather talk a little more with her. After an entire hour, she finally came back. She got fully dressed, and took her luggage. ¡°I need to make a stop at the next station. Maybe we will meet again later at Star village.¡± ¡°Sure, have a nice day!¡± ¡°You too!¡± and she left. Diego felt bitter: ¡®Maybe, huh?¡¯ His proposal was rejected, and in the end he remained empty-handed. ¡®Well¡­ at least I tried.¡¯ The whole situation didn¡¯t seem bad at all, however it abruptly took a turn for the worse. The fact that he tried made him feel more at ease. Despite that, there was still some bitterness left. Leaving those thoughts to the side, Diego resumed looking at the scenery outside, and tried to make some order with his thoughts. Chapter 5: Arriving at the village Just like that, his time in the train slowly came to an end. The change in scenery was proof that he was getting closer, and closer. Unlike the area where the city was located, this place was surrounded by big mountains, and deep valleys. It was a gigantic change, and Diego loved it. Taking his phone out and taking a look at it, it was indeed time to prepare for arriving. Putting his jacket on, and grabbing the backpack, Diego left. Only a hand-full of people prepared to get down as well. Just like that, the train stopped, the doors opened, and he stepped down. A gentle breeze blew in his face as he was looking ahead. Huge mountain peaks could be seen all around. Despite the fact that it was summer, most of them were still covered in snow and fog. Turning around slowly, Diego took a good look at everything. There were a few flat areas, but mostly, the terrain was pretty uneven, like a stair leading towards the sky. ¡®Wow!¡¯ Compared to the large, plain areas where he usually lived, this was very different. Countless trees, flowers, and different types of grasses were within reach. If he wanted, Diego concluded that in two hours, he could leave the village area, and find himself at the beginning of a great wilderness. Such a thought made him heart pump faster, and his lost adventurous spirit arose sharply. From a glance, the village shouldn¡¯t have more than a few thousand residents. Apart from the train station zone, he could only see a few main roads that were made up to normal standards. The presence of the train station, and a few larger, commercial buildings not that far away were rather conspicuous, and seemed out of place. Other than that, everything was pretty simple.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The village was surely underdeveloped, that being one of the main reasons not a lot of tourists were seen around, despite the picturesque landscape. ¡°This is it!¡± Looking one more time at the letter, Diego¡¯s legs started to move. There were a few people here, and there, but not a lot. After a few minutes, he arrived near those conspicuous buildings. Just as he thought, there were a few stores, a hotel, and a restaurant. Simple, but probably sufficient to cover the basic needs of the people there. ¡®If only I could build some sort of business here¡­¡¯ thought Diego, seeing the immense potential of the area. ¡®Even if the people here are not that rich, there is a train station after all. With a little publicity on the internet I could most probably attract a few tourists here¡­¡¯ Rummaging through his pockets was, however, enough to greatly dampen his entrepreneur vision. He had barely enough money on him for a small vacation, not to mention any capital to start something serious at this place. ¡®Maybe I should make some cookies and sell them near the train station?¡¯ thought Diego, laughing heartily. Taking a few more steps, he stopped. ¡®That wouldn¡¯t be so bad¡­¡¯ A few moments later, he slapped himself on the forehead: ¡®What am I thinking? Firstly, I need to check if that letter is fake or not¡­¡¯ Seriously pondering about that letter, made him quite excited once again: ¡®Alright, let¡¯s go!¡¯ The place wasn¡¯t a maze, so he found what he was looking for after a relatively short time. Truth be told, he had very low expectations, and was there mainly for a few days off. The whole letter ordeal was just a simple reason to make him move, and to spice things up a little. After all, his imagination was pretty developed. ¡°This¡­¡± In front of him was a log cabin with a big sign on it. Diego¡¯s restaurant The building was looking unexpectedly good, but there was something else even more interesting. More exactly, a stone wall. Just to the side of the restaurant was an approximately two meters tall stone walls that extended over a large piece of land. There was also a door to that stone wall. Just like with the restaurant, there were a few words written on top of it. Diego¡¯s residence Diego gulped: ¡®Is this for real?¡¯ Carefully looking left and right, he made sure there were no signs of activity. After not seeing anyone, he took the keys, then glanced at the two doors. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­¡¯ Chapter 6: A strange artifact With unmasked excitement, Diego arrived in front of the restaurant¡¯s door. First, he tried to open the door without the keys. ¡®It¡¯s locked!¡¯ Gulping, he tried one of the three small keys. ¡®Not this¡­¡¯ it wasn¡¯t matching the keyhole. He proceeded to the next one. Unlike the other, this one seemed to fit perfectly. Turning it to the side, he heard a gentle sound. Pressing again on the door handle, the door creaked open. ¡®No way!¡¯ Keeping his guard up for anything dangerous, Diego pushed the door fully to the side. At this moment, he was greeted by a big room. There wasn¡¯t any danger in sight, so he took a step inside, getting a closer look. There were a few wooden tables and chairs. In addition to that, there were also a few wooden flowers. They looked quite exquisite, and were clearly made by an expert. Almost everything being made of wood gave the place a very rustic feeling. ¡°Anyone here?¡± Diego¡¯s loud voice was met with silence. Since no one was there, Diego quickly analyzed everything. It was a spacious room, but not a whole castle. It took him only a few moments. ¡°A restaurant without any cooking devices? Where did they make the food then? Or maybe this place was never opened?¡± The big room was split into two by a wall that had only one small window in it. The bigger area was obviously for customers, and the other for preparing the food. Weirdly, the ¡®cooking¡¯ place could only be reached through a locked door. It was the same key that opened the restaurant. There was some decent space there, but apart from a long counter, there wasn¡¯t anything.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Furthermore, there was a third door. From the ¡®cooking¡¯ place to the back of the house. It was locked with the same key. ¡°Apart from the lack of any cooking utensils, this place is not bad at all¡­¡± Everything was simple, but it contained a very special rustic beauty that was very hard to come by in a city. His curiosity was at a peak, so Diego quickly proceeded to check if he could open the door in the stone wall. ¡®Shit, I feel like some sort of thief¡­¡¯ Nevertheless, he continued. Using another key, he opened the door, and carefully stepped inside. No human activity could be seen, in fact, everything looked like no one had been there in a long time. Tall grass, logs, and sticks of various sizes, rocks that were out of place, and much more. In the middle of all that, and a few dozen meters ahead, was another wooden cabin. Glancing left and right, he approached the building. Before trying to open the door, he noticed a small river not that far away. ¡®Would you look at that¡­¡¯ Using the third, and last key, he opened the door. In front of him was a single room. It was fairly spacious, it had a bed, a table, and a fire place. Looking at the table, something attracted his attention. He got closer. ¡°What is this?¡± In the middle of the table was a letter, to the left was a black and red bracelet, and to the right a few papers. Taking the letter from the middle, he read it. Dear Diego, I¡¯m glad that you decided to make a change in your life. As a reward, this whole place is now yours. It might not be much, but it should be sufficient to start a few things. Everything has already been taken care of. You should find on the table all the documents required to prove that you are now the new owner. In addition to that, there is something more¡­ The bracelet is my personal, and most precious gift to you¡­ Use it wisely¡­ P.S: There is something under the bed. May you find happiness, your great-grandfather Diego. Diego looked at that bracelet. There was something about it that made him tremble inside. ¡°Isn¡¯t this just a simple bracelet?¡± Taking it from the table, he put it on his left hand. It was a little too big. The colors were a little washed-up, however, by each passing second, they seem to become livelier. Furthermore, the bracelet also shrank slowly. Diego thought that his eyes were making a prank on him. Rubbing them for a few moments, he then looked again at the bracelet. ¡°Shit!¡± He quickly tried to take it off, however, he could not do it anymore. The bracelet wasn¡¯t too tight that it hurt him, but it wouldn¡¯t stretch at all, making it very hard to remove it. Chapter 7: A game like situation ¡°Fuck!¡± Diego tried his best to take it off, greatly startled by the unexplainable event. Alas, he could not do it. After a couple of minutes, nothing happened. Calming down, he tried to come up with some logical explanation. ¡®Is this some sort of new device?¡¯ No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn¡¯t recall seeing or hearing about such a thing. Extending his left hand, he looked at the bracelet from different angles. It looked brand new, and quite pleasant to the eye. ¡°Is that a button?¡± After a more careful look, he saw a small bulge on the bracelet. ¡®Can I press this?¡¯ His finger extended to press what looked to him like a button of some sort. ¡®Wait, what if something weird will happen again?¡¯ Diego stopped abruptly, not sure how to proceed. At the same time, that button could also be the method to get that thing off. At this point, he remembered the letter mentioning something under the bed. ¡®Maybe there is something there to explain what this thing is and how it works?¡¯ Going towards the bed, he got down, and took a look. It was faint, but he could see the lines of a small door. Pushing the bed to the side, he got a better look. Indeed, there was a small entrance to what looked to be a basement. ¡®Should I open it or not?¡¯ Everything was rather shady, and part of him didn¡¯t want to pry further. Nevertheless, his curiosity was off the charts, and finally pushed him to open that little door. ''This¡­'' Diego sat there stunned. He was looking dumbfounded at what was now in front of him. Boiling purple energy was moving slowly in a circle. It was marvelous to the eyes, and unexplainable to the mind. Never before was he in such a bizarre situation. In the next moment, he felt a suction power coming from what he could best describe as purple energy.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Diego wanted to run, but it was too late. ¡°Nooo!!!¡± A frightened scream came out from his mouth. The unknown was scary. Unfortunately for him, the sound also seemed to be sucked in, not managing to travel very far away. A wave of dizziness overcame him, and his vision turned black for a few seconds. When he could clearly see again, he was met with another peculiar situation. Jumping to his feet, Diego used every ounce of his energy, in preparation for the worse. His body was trembling visibly due to the shock. ¡®What is going on?!!¡¯ He was no longer in the wooden cabin, but in a cave. There were a lot of crystals on the walls, and on the ground, giving off light, and allowing him to clearly see the surroundings. Due to the bizarre crystals, and the lights they emanated, the place appeared to be magical. However, Diego could not enjoy the sight. A great feeling of danger took over. Now, he felt like being in a fight or run situation. Unfortunately, there was only one direction he could go to, and that was forward. Forward into the unknown. Being empty-handed in such a situation was not pleasant at all. As such, he immediately took two fist sized rocks into his hands. Fortunately, there were plenty of those around. Something moved, startling Diego. ¡®What was that?!¡¯ In the next moment, he saw it. It was a gigantic rat. It was so big that he almost doubted his eyes. ¡®You got to be kidding me!¡¯ Not moving an inch, he hoped the creature would go away. Alas, his hopes were futile. After only a few short seconds, the rat ran towards him with clearly bad intentions. Adrenaline kicked in. Tightening the grip on the rocks in his hands, he threw them as hard and as fast as he could. The distance wasn¡¯t big, and his aim was decent. These two factors, coupled with the adrenaline rush resulted in a beautiful headshot. The rat fell to one side, twitching, and struggling to get to his feet. Diego quickly looked around for another, bigger rock. Thankfully, such a thing was right next to his feet. Grabbing a stone the size of his head, he lifted it high into the air, then slammed it into the rat. Blood splattered on the ground and on his jeans. The rat twitched a little more before finally dying. Diego¡¯s breath was uneven. The threat was neutralized, but he didn¡¯t have any time to relax. In the next moment, a few tiny balls of blue light came out of the corpse, and rapidly flew towards him. He tried to dodge, but he was too slow to be able to accomplish that. The orbs of light didn¡¯t harm him, and seemed to be absorbed by his bracelet. To make the things even stranger, a small blue screen appeared on top of the rat¡¯s corpse. Meat x2; bronze coins x5 Take all ¡°What?!¡± Chapter 8: Status, items and experience Right now, Diego had tons of questions. Most of them lacked a proper answer. Backing away, he quickly gathered a few more stones in case another rat or something worse made its appearance once again. ¡°What is happening?!¡± After looking at the bracelet for a few moments, he saw that button again. This time, after a quick consideration, he pressed it. In the next instance, a blue light came out of the bracelet, and formed a screen of light with words on it. It was like looking at a small screen. Level: 1 (10/100 XP) Class: None (Available at level 15) Hit points: 200 Attack: 5 Defense: 6 Strength: 5 Stamina: 6 Agility: 6 Energy: 10 Cooking: 1 Free status points: None Inventory Store (Available at level 10) Skills: None Cooking recipes: None Diego was not unfamiliar with all these terms, after all, he played his fair share of games. ¡®Is this really happening?¡¯ Some excitement made its appearance in his heart. However, the situation didn¡¯t allow him to relax. He was still skeptical, and more information was required to get to some conclusions.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡®Did that rat gave me ten experience points?¡¯ Lifting his hand, he pressed on the word ¡®inventory¡¯. At that moment, another blue screen appeared. It was made up of twelve small squares, and some of them were occupied by something. Magic bow (LVL 1; Unique): A bow with an unlimited supply of arrows. Damage: 20-50 Take out Sell (This item cannot be sold) Iron sword (LVL 1; Common): A decent sword. Damage: 10-20 Take out Sell Small healing potion x3: Greatly speeds up the recovery of the body. Hit points + 50 Take out Sell Leather armor (LVL 1; Common): Simple armor. Defense +10 Take out Sell Diego felt like he was playing a game on his phone. Suddenly, a thought struck him. ¡®Would my great-grandfather try to kill me?¡¯ It didn¡¯t make any sense. ¡®If he wanted to kill me, then planting a bomb at the door, or something like that would have been easier¡­¡¯ Looking at the image of the armor, Diego pressed on the ¡®take out¡¯ words. A faint light came from his bracelet, and in the next second, a leather armor appeared on the ground in front of him. Pants, a sweater, and a pair of shoes. They were brown, and looked quite sturdy. There was a small blue screen above them: Leather armor (LVL 1; Common) Take Pressing on ¡®take¡¯, the clothes turned into light and disappeared from the ground, and appeared once again in his inventory. ¡®Should I?¡¯ Taking them out again, he quickly changed into those clothes. They fit perfectly, were comfortable, and at the same time, felt very durable compared with normal clothes. At that moment, his defense points changed from six to sixteen. ¡®This¡­¡¯ Diego quickly took out the magic bow. It was around one meter long, and had some bizarre blue patterns on it. However, no arrows were in sight. Pulling the string, an arrow magically made its appearance. Aiming at a nearby wall, Diego let go of the string. The arrow flew towards the wall with incredible speed, and power. It actually penetrated the wall, causing an unexpected amount of damage. After a few seconds, the arrow disappeared in the same magical way it appeared. Diego stared blankly in front of him. The noise caused by the arrow attracted something. It was another rat. Instinctively, Diego aimed at the rat, and fired another arrow. Bulls-eye! The arrow struck the rat in its neck, pinning him to the ground. Instant death. For a short moment, Diego saw a number above the rat¡¯s body. ¡®One hundred and fifty? Is that the damage I did?¡¯ Looking at his status again, he saw that his damage was only twenty-fifty. In the next second, another thought struck him. ¡®Since I hit a vital spot, does that count as critical damage?¡¯ Shaking his head, Diego whispered to himself: ¡°What the fuck am I thinking? This is not a game¡­¡± Despite that, after seeing that his experience went from ten to twenty, the corners of his mouth turned into a very wide grin. Without thinking much, he moved and looted both the rats for a total of four pieces of meat and ten bronze coins. After looting them, the corpses dried out, making it impossible to manually take anything else from them. Diego went towards the wall, and sat down. He was very cautious of his surroundings and still in a state of shock, however, unlike before, this time he had a very big grin plastered across his face. Chapter 9: Killing rats with a magical bow The situation was beyond common sense, and Diego didn¡¯t even know how to react. He was currently in a cave, and sitting down against the wall. His magical bow was ready to shot at a moment¡¯s notice. ¡®If there is a way in, there must be a way out¡­¡¯ The cave was around three meters wide, and three meters tall. To his right was a dead end, and the place where he mysteriously appeared. To his left, the cave continued. No matter the causes for his current situation, Diego had to find a way out. Or, at the very least, a source of water. ¡®The meat from the rats looks acceptable¡­but I don¡¯t have water¡­¡¯ The idea of eating the meat from a rat brought disgust to him, and would be considered only in a very critical situation. The fact that he didn¡¯t manually skin the rat to take its meat made the whole ordeal a tad better. Clenching his hold on the magical bow, Diego got to his feet, and started to slowly advance. The crystals offered a satisfactory level of light, but not sufficiently enough to accurately see what was tens of meters into the distance. Furthermore, the cave wasn¡¯t perfectly straight, and had a rough contour even in the immediate location. After a few dozen meters, Diego came across a crossroad. ¡®Left or right?¡¯ After some consideration, he decided to go to the left. There weren¡¯t any clues at all indicating that one path was the good one, and the other the bad one. ¡®I should leave some tracks behind. Going in circles in this area could prove to be a disaster.¡¯ Like that, Diego started to leave marks on the walls, and on the floor: ¡®This will be tunnel number one¡­¡¯Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. After a few minutes, he spotted another rat. This time, the creature was oblivious to his presence. This was proof that his stealthy movements were effective, and the right choice. Aiming with the bow, he went for the kill. 25 The number was the lowest possible. The rat moved at the last second, avoiding a critical hit. It was purely due to luck. Giving off a frightening cry, the rat looked around for the culprit. By the time the rat spotted Diego, another arrow hit. This time, it was a fatal blow. ¡®Am I good or am I good?¡¯ Diego chuckled. His aim was better than expected. Slowly, but steadily, his fear started to vanish, and be replaced by excitement. Continuing, he came across another dead end. Returning to the crossroad, Diego went right. This time, he marked the walls, and the ground with the number two. Another rat made its appearance. After that one, another one came, and so on. ¡®Go!¡¯ An arrow swiftly flew through the air before forcefully getting stuck in the brain of an unfortunate rodent. This one was special. It was the tenth victim. Diego saw in front of him a few words. Leveled up! At the same time, he felt a wave of energy going through his whole body. ¡®This is?!¡¯ He felt stronger. A very bizarre, but wonderful feeling. Diego quickly pressed the button on the bracelet to check his status. Level: 2 (0/300 XP) Class: None (Available at level 15) Hit points: 300 Attack: 25-50 Defense: 17 Strength: 6 + Stamina: 7 + Agility: 7 + Energy: 11 + Cooking: 2 + Free status points: 3 Inventory Store (Available at level 10) Skills: None Cooking recipes: None Now, there were a plus sign after each stat. Diego¡¯s finger moved almost automatically and put his three free points into strength. A wave of energy came from the bracelet, and extended throughout his entire body. Diego felt stronger than ever. Getting down on the ground, he quickly did a few pushups. It was like he was weightless: ¡°How is this possible?!¡± He was incredibly puzzled. Such a thing was practically unheard of in real life. ¡°More! I need to kill more rats!¡± For a moment, he felt an overwhelming desire to get even more power. ¡°Calm down! Calm down!¡± It took him a few good minutes to manage to somewhat gain his cool again. It was adamant to remain composed in such a situation. Applying what you know is better for you, however, is not always that easy.