"The soup's ready. Want to try some?"
Raven poured the chicken soup into a bowl made from a coconut shell and handed it to her.
Claire felt a little embarrassed to accept it, but her stomach was growling, so she took it.
"Thank you," she whispered.
She looked at the chicken soup and smelled its refreshing aroma.
She carefully took a sip and was surprised by how hot it was.
"Be careful. It's still very hot," Raven warned.
Claire smiled awkwardly and nodded. She blew on it for a moment before taking another sip.
The savory, slightly salty, and spicy flavors mixed together on her tongue, making her sway unconsciously with happiness.
She sipped it again and ate the tender, delicious pieces of chicken.
"[Ding! Obtained 10 affection points!]"
The love tank above Claire's head increased from 25 to 35.
Raven smiled silently. Getting affection from Claire was actually very easy.
There were two ways: violence and gentleness. The violent way was to force her to obey his wishes and control her with strength.
Claire was now just a weak, helpless woman, so he had a huge advantage in suppressing her.
Little by little, he would corrupt her mind until she couldn't live without him.
That method was rather cruel, but Raven wasn't afraid to do it. Still, it was very boring.
Love born from hatred felt different from love that came from the heart. Perhaps Claire would become loyal to him later, but her hatred would be difficult to erase.
Therefore, he wanted to conquer her in the gentlest way possible. When that time came, Raven was sure Claire wouldn't refuse to sacrifice herself for him.
A woman's heart, after all, was weak and easy to control.
Shaking off his thoughts, Raven took the cooked rice from the cooker, placed it on a leaf, and gave it to Claire.
Then he took the roasted chicken and placed it on top of the rice.
"Eat. Tomorrow will be a tough day for us," Raven said seriously.
The first test had not yet been given, so he and the others had no clear idea what it would be.
Nevertheless, he was sure the test would be extremely difficult.
Claire gave a vigorous nod. Her wariness toward Raven slowly subsided.
"By the way, you cooked it with your ingredients, right?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yes, I cooked it with mine. Why?" Raven feigned uncertainty.
Claire didn't answer right away. She thought for a moment before rummaging through her bag again and taking out all the ingredients, along with the cooking tools, and handing them to Raven.
"It's all yours. So you don't have to spend your own to feed me too," she said earnestly.
Raven was surprised. He looked at the ingredients hesitantly and asked, "Are you sure? Aren't you afraid that tomorrow I'll take everything and leave you? You'll starve to death, you know?"
He wanted to test this woman's determination. If she stuck to her principles and initial intentions, Raven would give her a big round of applause.
Only a fool would dare to hand over their food supplies and entrust them to a stranger like him.
Surprisingly, Claire remained calm and replied casually, "I'm sure you're not that kind of person, Raven. Am I right?"
Her blue eyes held such strong confidence.
Raven froze for a moment before chuckling softly.
"You're really strange. Alright, I'll take them. Don't worry, I won't leave you. I was just joking."
He put the food supplies into his magic bag.
There was no way he would leave a woman as beautiful as Claire, who had an SS rating from the system. Only an idiot would do that.
Moreover, Claire's trust in him made him certain of one thing: conquering this woman wouldn't take long.
Claire smiled and continued eating. Raven also started eating. His stomach was aching and growling.
But suddenly, a mysterious panel appeared in front of them.
[Congratulations to those of you who survived the monster horde in the hall earlier. You are the chosen ones who can begin the first test. I hope you can continue to survive and become one of the hundred people who remain until the end. Alright, enough small talk. Now, the first test will begin in eight hours!]
[First test: Kill five level 1 monsters and one level 2 monster. Reward: 300 experience points. Note: The first test must be completed within twelve hours after it begins. Anyone who fails will die!]
[Additional note: You will be given a weapon to fight with. You are free to choose whatever you want to use.]
After reading the panel, Raven and Claire were shocked. Their expressions turned serious, clouded with anxiety.
"What's going on? Why was the test suddenly announced?" Claire asked anxiously.
Raven regained his composure and analyzed, "Isn't that normal? We've been wandering aimlessly for a day. Now we finally have something to do, so you should be happy."
There were two things he was worried about: food and the tests.
The food problem had been solved, but the tests had not. Now that the first test had been announced, they had a goal to work toward.
Claire felt that Raven's words made sense. She took a bite of her roasted drumstick and asked, "So, do you have a plan for the future? I mean, defeating a level one monster must be very difficult, right? And we also have to defeat a level two monster."
Her expression showed fear and hesitation. She was still traumatized by the monsters that had chased them in the hall earlier.
She wasn't confident she could kill them.
"To be honest, I don't have a plan at all. But if we want to survive, we have to conquer our fears. Otherwise, all that will be left are bones," Raven said indifferently.
Was he scared? If he was honest, he was terribly scared. Monsters, goddesses, demons, and so on were things he once considered nothing more than fantasy.
But now everything was real. Unfortunately, he and everyone else cast out by Earth had no choice.
They only had two choices: die or fight.
Claire fell silent. His words were true and undeniable.
"Alright. Instead of thinking too much, let's finish our food first. After that, we'll choose a suitable weapon for battle," Raven said.
His gaze shifted to the side, where a notification panel appeared in his line of sight.
[The gift has been distributed. Do you want to choose your weapon? Yes/No?]