(Uru - Bluenong)

The hunger in my eyes resembled a pixelated image, and I devoured one cup of instant noodles after another, but I still didn't feel satisfied. My mind became dull and I started to hallucinate.

I suddenly realized that my previously black short hair had grown to shoulder-length...

I saw my proud muscular arms shrink into soft and delicate white hands...

I felt like everything around me had grown slightly taller...

"Miss Bluenong, Miss Bluenong..."

I even started to hear hallucinatory voices.

No.

It wasn't a hallucination. It was time for me to wake up.

With President Ahad calling me using that awkward name, I groggily opened my eyes, and my nose caught a whiff of spicy meat fragrance, which shook my senses like a grenade.

"Did you make barbecue?!"

Even though I wasn't used to sleeping on the ground, and my body was sore all over, I still managed to get up with an unprecedented speed. I stood up like a carp flipping over and directed my sincere gaze towards the great President Ahad, trying to confirm the source of the fragrance.

"We didn't eat anything last night, so I went hunting nearby this morning."

President Ahad chuckled and used a gaze that I couldn't quite understand to size me up. Then, he touched my hair. At this moment, the hungry ghost within me, who hadn't eaten for about thirty-six hours, couldn't care less about those details. Amidst the strong complaints from my stomach, I completely forgot to ask for President Ahad's opinion, sat down by the campfire on my own without his permission, and skillfully picked up a hunting knife next to me. I cut off a juicy rabbit leg from the barbecue rack without any guidance.

"Mmm... delicious!"

After devouring the leg at lightning speed, I praised it like a host from a gourmet show. Although the feeling of hunger was the main satisfaction, the taste of this rabbit leg was indeed excellent. The spiciness of the black pepper effectively eliminated the gamey smell of the meat. The perfectly cooked meat locked in all the juice, and there was a hint of freshness that came from the rabbit meat...

"A perfect score of 100!"

I raised my thumbs up to President Ahad.

However, President Ahad extended his hand, revealing a business-like smile. "That's really great, I'll give you a discount. Ten silver coins, huh! Don't look at me like that, it's a fair price. Think about it, hunting in The Forest of Dragons, a dangerous place like this, is not an easy task. On top of that, I even took care of the cooking for you. No matter how you think about it, this roasted rabbit is worth it!"

I carefully reexamined this penny-pinching girl in front of me, but I couldn't find any trace of her kindness and gentleness from last night. Instead, all I saw was a shamelessly cunning merchant. So, I remained silent and made a gesture of disdain towards her.

"I don't know what that gesture means, but you definitely have to pay for the barbecue!"

This woman is beyond help.

I stared expressionlessly at President Ahad and took out exactly ten silver coins from my inventory, handing them over to the shady merchant. With the assistance of the game system, I could freely divide my cash into gold, silver, and copper coins as currency units, with a conversion rate of 1:100:10,000.

Furthermore, the money distributed by the system also bore the official mark of the Bright Alliance, which meant they could circulate safely in the market and I wouldn't be at risk of using counterfeit money. Facing this phenomenon, I gradually started to believe that there was some kind of correlation between the system I currently possessed and the unknown world before me. Of course, this was only a hypothesis.

However, the feeling of being ripped off early in the morning made me quite uncomfortable. Therefore, I decided to turn my anger into my appetite and work hard to fully convert the roasted rabbit that I had bought with a hefty price into actual economic benefits. But!

When I finished eating the second leg, I realized a very serious problem! Probably because my body had shrunk a lot, my appetite had also shrunk considerably. As a result, this seemingly manageable portion of roasted rabbit had now become a formidable boss that I couldn't handle alone. At this rate, I could only eat about one-third of the whole rabbit meat, so wouldn't the rest go to waste?No! It seems unlikely that it will go to waste for nothing.

I looked at President Ahad, who was sitting on the side sorting weapons, trying to redirect the residual value of the rabbit meat elsewhere. But before I could come up with a plan, the female knight took the initiative—

"This whole rabbit meat seems a bit too much for a little girl like you. Do you need my help?"

Looking at the smiling President Ahad, I couldn't help but feel a chill. Initially, I thought this brave and righteous female knight would be a selfless and upright person. But now, I suddenly realized that she was actually a cunning schemer!

Based on the information she had, she first concluded that I would be hungry when I woke up in the morning. Then, she cleverly set up the irresistible bait of roasted rabbit meat. The moment I took the bait, she sold me the rabbit meat at the fair price of ten silver coins, making me bear the cost and benefit of the whole roast rabbit meat alone! And then, she accurately targeted my weakness, knowing that I couldn't finish it alone, hoping to get a free share in the process...

"What a terrifying woman..."

As a thirty-one-year-old member of society, I felt deeply ashamed of my carelessness and helpless against her calculations. Now, even if I tried to sell the remaining rabbit meat to her, I would probably only get a very low price.

If that's the case...

"Please enjoy it, free of charge."

"Thank you, then I won't be polite!"

I tried to use the most indifferent tone to hurt a certain female knight's pride, but this guild president and senior knight named Ahad didn't seem to possess that kind of beautiful and noble virtue. She was just like a housewife at a supermarket, quickly and efficiently devouring two-thirds of the remaining rabbit meat with elegant and cruel efficiency in response to a simple thank you...

Wiping her mouth with a leaf, President Ahad patted her stomach and said to me, "Thank you for the treat!"

I had never seen such shameless and audacious person.

I made a calm hand gesture to myself, reminding myself not to randomly attack my teammate. Not only because resorting to violence out of dissatisfaction and suspicion was irrational, but also because I couldn't possibly win against her.

The system said I couldn't even defeat a goblin, how could I possibly defeat a well-trained female knight?

"Alright, it's getting late. We should start our journey."

After resting for a while, President Ahad stepped on the campfire from last night without leaving any sparks. She lifted her luggage and prepared to take me to Morpolis City, which she mentioned last night. As I watched her pick up the giant battle axe, I suddenly realized that I had been lost in this unfamiliar world for over a day...

The longer I interacted with President Ahad in front of me, the more I felt that this wasn't the virtual game world I originally thought it was. And if I really happened to encounter that cliché and cheesy time-travel plot, where should I go? What should I do? Do I have to become a hero and overcome all difficulties to defeat some evil demon king?

Please spare me from those troublesome matters...

As I let my imagination run wild, the price I paid was a strong flick on my forehead.

Oh no!

HP-1

Somehow, after changing this body, I became especially afraid of pain. Just being lightly flicked on the forehead, tears almost fell from my eyes. So, I glared at the person who attacked me with dissatisfaction.

"Come on, it's just a small loss for you. Don't be angry, okay?" She smirked.

Was it all planned from the beginning?

I rolled my eyes and made an annoyed hum, walking past the swindler and setting off on the journey alone.

"Hey hey, you're going in the wrong direction!"

I immediately stumbled and almost fell.