Chapter 3

A heavy silence spread between the two of you.

Your arm holding the roasted meat was starting to tire. Though the system-generated “raw meat chunk” sounded small, it was actually nearly half the length of your arm. So, you returned to the fire pit, pretending nothing had happened, and continued roasting the half-cooked wild boar meat.

[System: Obtained poorly presented wild boar meat ×1, restores 10 HP and 5 stamina.]

Wow.

It even boosts attributes! The poor appearance is one thing, but at least the taste isn’t bad.

Looking up, you saw the blond-haired man still silent. Rather than thoughtful, he seemed to have entered some kind of idle state, requiring interaction to evoke a response... If this were just a game played through a screen, he’d be a perfect NPC, but since you were here in person, it felt eerily silent and chilling.

Unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere, you took the initiative and offered the roasted meat in your hand.

“Here, eat this.”

“This is...”

Edward Newgate finally reacted, surprise flashing across his face as a dialogue box displaying “[...]” appeared above him.

You silently poked the dialogue choices.

Option 1: You must be hungry; I specially made this for you!

Option 2: Damn commoner, hurry up and clean the meat for me—I am a Celestial Dragon!

Option 3: Leave.

“You must be hungry; I specially made this for you!”

An easy answer.

You weren’t really hungry yourself; your character’s stats were full, so no need to replenish.

“Oh? Thanks.”

The white-bearded blond man reached out for the meat you handed over and bit into it without hesitation.

[System: Edward Newgate’s favorability +10.]

So it actually increases favorability. You quickly handed over the second piece you had just roasted.

“Thanks!”

[System: Edward Newgate’s favorability +10.]

You had only roasted two pieces, and since you were still in interaction mode with the blond man, he showed a surprised expression: “Kid, why aren’t you eating yourself?”

Option 1: Because you ate it all—you sure can eat!

Option 2: I’m not hungry, you eat.

Option 3: Leave.

Since you weren’t hungry, you chose the second option: “I’m not hungry, you eat.”

Strangely, after selecting that, your stomach suddenly growled loudly.

Suddenly, you were very hungry.

What was going on? Was this some kind of scripted event?

“Mmm…”

The white-bearded man stared at you, contemplating.

At that moment, a deafening roar suddenly sounded from the nearby forest edge. The bushes shook wildly as a massive wild boar charged fiercely toward the fire, guided by the scent.

Mother wild boar, Lv. 10.

[System notice: Entering battle mode.]

???

How did a Lv. 10 monster suddenly jump out? It was stronger than the previous boar! What kind of cruel “beat the small one, then the big one” setup was this?

You pulled a dagger from your bag, ready to step forward, when Edward Newgate suddenly stood up, towering and strong, stepping in front of you.

[System: Edward Newgate (Lv. 71) has joined the battle. Accept invitation? (Defaults to accept after 10 seconds)]

This NPC uncle was level 71... Was he running around from the final boss map or something? You felt embarrassed, never expecting the game to have a team mode. Without hesitation, you chose [Yes].

The next moment, the blond man’s eyes flared, an intense aura bursting from him. The huge red-named wild boar, unlike a normal boar in size, inexplicably collapsed.

[System notice: Players teamed up to defeat a wild boar! Gained 1180 EXP.]

[System notice: Level up! Player reached Lv. 9!]

[System notice: First time observing “Conqueror’s Haki,” you have learned Conqueror’s Haki Lv. 1.]

Haki?

Winning without fighting? That was so cool!

Your eyes lit up instantly, deciding from now on you would specialize in this skill. It sounded perfect for you—no pain, just killing monsters.

---

Not sure if it was because of the team, but aside from experience and the so-called Haki, no item drops appeared...

The wild boar lay sprawled on the ground, barely alive, without turning into a pile of boar pelts and raw meat like before.

“Gurururu! All right, let’s eat it!”

Edward Newgate laughed heartily, approached, grabbed the boar’s hind legs, and sat back down in his previous spot, beginning to process the pelt.

Curious, you stepped closer to watch, but he waved you off: “Go play for a while, kid.”

Play what?

You weren’t really an eight-year-old child, didn’t want to play in mud or sand, and weren’t ready to enter the forest. The blond man’s motions were mechanical. Curious about his method of handling the boar, you stepped forward again.

“Kid, go play for a while.”

Edward Newgate repeated without looking up.

Noticing his repeated actions and words, seemingly looping the same motions, you circled around him suspiciously.

“Kid, go play!”

Was there no storyline left?

[System: Your newly adopted father is processing wild boar meat. Come back in 10 minutes.]

Oh.

So he wasn’t really your father.

Judging from the previous series of events and the blond man’s mechanical responses, you had to admit this was indeed a game world, one of those stiff, lifeless worlds lacking storyline or interactive dialogue, where silence was suffocating.

Perhaps only the forest animals felt alive, as they moved freely, attacked actively... and even picked at your foot skin.

You wanted to kill a few crabs to take revenge. Even boiled crab would taste good, right? You swallowed, thinking of your newly acquired Haki, and quickly took out your small mirror to check your stats.

[Player Information]

Name: Edward D. Marlowe (Lv. 9)

Gender: Female

Age: 8

Race: Celestial Dragon

EXP: 0/2560 (next level)

HP: 2207/2207

Stamina: 200

Charm: 6+5→11 (Pretty pink bracelet +5)

Intelligence: 9

Attack: 41+16→57 (Plain white shirt +1, sharp dagger +15)

Defense: 36+3→39 (Plain white shirt +2, plain blue underskirt +1)

Agility: 35+7→42 (Plain blue underskirt +2, sharp dagger +5)

Consumable Fruits: None

Skills: None

Haki: Conqueror’s Haki Lv. 1 (0/100)

Title: None

Money: 0

Backpack: Celestial Dragon’s oxygen hood ×1, precious rum ×3.5, wild boar pelt ×1, raw meat ×4, false brown-spotted toadstool ×8, grass chicken fungus ×10, amber mushroom ×2, laughing mushroom ×8...

Current unlocked map: Demo version initial deserted island (countdown 1 month)

Current character favorability:

① Edward Newgate: 60.

Wait.

When did the blond man’s favorability reach 60? You only gave him roasted meat twice, totaling 20 points.

Maybe his initial favorability after awakening was relatively high?

The game panel’s description of Conqueror’s Haki explained it as a kingly aura that can stun those of lower level. The chance of owning it was as rare as one in millions. Higher levels could precisely control attack targets and range.

0/100.

You had to practice 100 times to reach Lv. 2. That was quite a grind...

Thankfully, the maximum level was Lv. 10, which was barely acceptable.

You crouched down to look for crabs. After about 50 meters, you finally found a small one in the sand.

---

You decisively unleashed Lv. 1 Conqueror’s Haki. The little crab instantly flipped onto its back but crawled back up after about three seconds.

At the same time, your stamina bar decreased by 10 points.

Grind time.

With 200 stamina, you planned to grind 20 times first. Uh, maybe you should save some stamina in case empty stamina meant losing the ability to act—otherwise, that’d be bad.

In the following time, you stunned 17 small crabs and stabbed them with your dagger during their three-second unconscious intervals, gaining 340 EXP total, crabs ×17, Conqueror’s Haki Lv. 1 (18/100).

You were exhausted.

Only 20 stamina left, you panted as you stuffed the crab corpses into your backpack. Out of breath, you returned to Edward Newgate, who had finished processing the wild boar meat.

The ground was clean as before; you noticed no signs of processing, as if he had suddenly taken a wooden skewer for the meat and placed it on the fire. A dialogue bubble with “[...]” appeared above him again.

Option 1: Wow, so much big roasted meat, amazing!

Option 2: Not bad, at least worth some praise.

Option 3: Servant, hand over the roast meat quickly!

Option 4: Leave.

Another easy choice.

“Wow, so much big roasted meat, amazing!”

Honestly, it was quite large... Don’t forget the height and size difference between you and Edward Newgate—you probably looked like a small bug in his eyes, easily fitting in the palm of his hand.

[System: Edward Newgate’s favorability +1.]

“Gurururu, eat up, eat more!”

Edward Newgate smiled and stuffed the roasted meat into your arms.

This uncle wasn’t bad.

[System: Obtained roasted wild boar meat ×1, restores 30 HP and 10 stamina.]

Surprisingly better than what you had roasted... From the stats, it was a success.

With only 20 stamina left, you were truly hungry. Holding the skewer, you bit into the meat decisively. The taste wasn’t as bad as you imagined, though not delicious—just ordinary roast meat flavor, a bit gamey and greasy.

Good enough. As long as it restored stamina, you’d eat it.

While you were enjoying the meat, the white-bearded man suddenly said, “Kid, when I woke up, I found a boat beside me—is that yours?”

Huh?

How could it be yours? You had thought it was his boat.

Turns out, he had drifted ashore alone from the sea.

“No.”

“I see. The boat drifted here with you... Tsk, the weapons are gone, probably left on the newly built boat.”

Edward Newgate finished his muttering, then looked down at you again: “Kid, I’m going to rest here for two days. After fixing the boat, I’ll leave. Do you want to come with me?”

Option 1: Sure, sure! I’ll be wherever Dad is, but I can only live with you for one month!

Option 2: No, I won’t leave with you. I want to stay here and keep exploring.

No option to quit.

Was this a forced two-choice branching story?

You looked at the suddenly appeared options, the surroundings dim as if the inability to quit kept the atmosphere gloomy. What to do? The choice came too suddenly. You actually wanted to keep exploring and leveling up on the island.

You didn’t feel comfortable leaving the “newbie village” without increasing your level.

But Option 1 obviously had a story, and one month away wasn’t so bad... especially since your demo version time was only one month anyway.

If you were going to leave, then leave.

Perhaps to exit this game world, you had to trigger the storyline. Who knew if staying alone on a deserted island for a month without triggering anything would trap you forever?

You’d definitely go crazy; at least with an NPC companion, you wouldn’t have to talk to yourself.

“Sure, sure!”

“I’ll be wherever Dad is!”

By now, you had completely abandoned any shame, dropped the skewer, and scampered happily into Edward Newgate’s arms. After all, you were adept at acting cute and usually used your appearance to win favor.

“But...”

“I can only live with you for one month, okay?”