"Do all players get gods? That's kinda cool…"
I should probably get candles. Hearth, food, makes sense. Hestia is the goddess of the hearth.
Liam shrugged. "Probably just some event."
He spun away and summoned his status panel:
Level 1
NAME: Little Liam
CLASS: Vanguard
LIFE SKILLS: Basic Cooking, Noob Streamer
TALENT: Legendary Absorption Level 1 (0 / 1000)
HP: 100 / 100
STAMINA: 100 / 100
DEFENSE: 20 / 100
ATTACK: 15 / 100
SPEED: 15 / 100
EXP: 0 / 1000
Unassigned Stat Points: 30
Liam put 15 points into Defence, then 15 into Attack. The numbers jumped. Quietly: Just act normal. He coughed, trying to mask the action. No reason to stand out—yet.
HP: 100 / 100
STAMINA: 100 / 100
DEFENSE: 35 / 100
ATTACK: 30 / 100
SPEED: 15 / 100
EXP: 0 / 1000
With a flick, he opened his mail: Welcome Reward Package!
[Accept] [Decline]
Items were added to his inventory with subtle confirmation tones. He picked up each piece of iron armour, methodically equipping them one by one. As he fastened the last piece, the armour settled around his slight frame—clunky and way too large for this tiny wolf girl. Suitably outfitted, he looked ahead to his new surroundings, ready to orient himself to the starting town.
Ahead, wooden houses formed; this world had a sort of medieval feel to it. Some parts looked modern, while most felt like a 1600's small town. All around, players started materialising, pausing as they acclimated to the world.
Instead of joining the other new players, Liam angled toward a lone stall at the settlement's edge, marking his first active choice in this world. An NPC stood behind it, methodically arranging small herb bundles.
He paused. The NPC looked up, surprised, then softened. Liam typed: [How are you doing?] The NPC smiled. "Well enough," they replied.
The stall sat crooked in the town square, wedged between the main flow of players as if it had settled there before the place grew busy and wouldn't move for anyone. More old roadside lemonade stand than proper shop, it was small and uneven, and its dark wooden frame was warped just enough to show it had been built by hand and left to stand on its own.
The counter was worn smooth where hands had rested, wood dulled by use.
Liam shuffled closer. The NPC straightened a bunch of herbs, meeting his gaze.
He stopped in front of the man sorting tools at the stall.
Liam typed, [What do I have to do here so I can cook?]
The man glanced up at the weapon on Liam's side. "Cooking?"
Liam nodded. The man gave him a longer look. "You're asking that already? Most people worry about staying alive."
Liam didn't answer; he waited.
The man let out a quiet breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "There isn't much prepared food for sale here," he said. "People don't really build kitchens in towns like this."
Liam tilted his head, considering. What was he missing here? Cooking shouldn't be this complicated, should it?
The man hesitated, then spoke clearly, "If you really want to cook, you'll need to gather your own ingredients."
Liam typed, [Where?]
The man whispered, "You can find frogs near the waterline, and there are some chickens behind the outer houses."
Liam watched.
He added, "No one really owns those animals, so you can take them."
"Well. Not officially."
The man said firmly, "Just make sure you don't cause any trouble when you go after them."
Liam gave a small nod [thank you.]
The man studied him, then nodded back. "Yeah. Sure."
Liam turned away from the stall and walked off, already planning his next move.
The NPC, seeing Liam prepare to leave, softened and said, "My name is Spring."
Liam blinked. […Spring? Is it a food?]
"My name."
[Okay, Nice to meet you.]
Little Liam stepped away from the stall and into the open space of the town, refocusing on his next task as the world buzzed around him.
The village spread out before him, players morphing into beasts, sprinting, leaping, practising battle cries, some already live-streaming to two billion others. He didn't stop to watch. He waddled left to right like a penguin, slow and steady, oversized armour shifting with reassuring heft.
He followed the path between two houses, his mind half on his instructions from the NPC and half distracted by the unfamiliar bustle, not really focusing on his direction.
That was when he saw a chicken. It stood between the narrow gap of the buildings, pecking at the ground like nothing in the world had ever gone wrong.
Liam looked at it, then looked around. No one seemed to be paying attention.
He stepped closer, lifted his sword, and tapped its neck with the hilt. A soft crack. The chicken dropped instantly.
Liam stood, staring at it. "…okay." He shifted. "It's a game," he muttered. "It is what it is."
A soft chime sounded. Liam blinked. The notification didn't fully appear, but he could feel it. His fingers tingled.
Warm, strange. His mouth felt off, craving fried chicken, not this.
"…Why do I want to eat the chicken?" He stared at it, fully feathered. "…That's not right."
But the feeling kept growing. Really? Is this me now—craving feathered chicken? Liam swallowed, exhaled.
"…whatever, this is what I am now."
He crouched down, picked it up, and without overthinking it, Liam took a bite, and it was delicious.
A sharp inhale cut through the space in front of him.
Liam froze. He looked up. Standing a few steps away was a girl.
Short pink hair. Blue eyes. A face he recognised immediately.
Elizabeth. Her character looked almost identical to how she looked in real life, just sharper and cleaner, as if the game had polished everything slightly. The difference was in the details. Soft pink cat ears rested on her head, a matching tail swaying slightly behind her.
She was staring at him. Not politely either.
Because in front of her was a small child, a different version of Liam, a tiny wolf-like girl wedged between two houses with a fully feathered chicken hanging from his mouth, like a dog caught with the Christmas ham.
They stared at each other for a second. Liam still had the chicken in his mouth. "MMMF…hi," he mumbled around the chicken.
Elizabeth reacted first. She stepped forward quickly and, without hesitation, reached out and grabbed the chicken, pulling it straight out of Liam's mouth. Her eyes narrowed as she confronted him. "What are you doing?" she demanded.
Liam blinked. His hands felt empty. She took his chicken—my chicken, he thought.
Elizabeth held it at arm's length as if it had personally offended her. Her face shifted rapidly from horror to disbelief, eyebrows drawing together. "Where are your parents?" she continued. Now frowning in concern, she looked him up and down. "You can't be in here alone. Are kids even allowed to play this?"
Liam stared at her.
She took a step closer, crouching slightly to his level, her voice lowering, though still charged with anxious urgency. "Why would you try to eat that? It's raw. It's…" she stole another look at the chicken and then back at him, her confusion clearly mounting over her alarm. "It still has feathers."
A panel lit up in front of Liam, interrupting the tension.
[Congratulations on your first kill.]
Elizabeth kept going. "Do you even know what game this is? You can't just go around biting things. That's not how… things."
[Absorption Skill Progress: 1 / 1000]
You absorbed 1 [English Chicken]
"…work," she finished, her voice wavering as she felt her certainty slipping, growing more exasperated watching him remain unbothered.
Liam's eyes were focused slightly past her.
[Recipe Unlocked: Chicken Soup]
Elizabeth frowned. "Are you even listening to me?"
[Chicken Soup Effect: User: +50,000% resistance to melee attacks for 24 hours]
[Others: +5% resistance for 5 hours]
Liam read it once, then again.
Elizabeth waved a hand slightly in front of his face. "Hello? You just tried to eat a chicken."
Liam didn't respond. He was still looking at the panel.
Elizabeth straightened slowly, her body language stiffening as her alarm faded into outright confusion. "Why are you not reacting to this properly?" she asked, frustration starting to replace her earlier concern.
Liam finally looked back at her, "…that seems good," his deep voice mumbling.
Elizabeth stared at him, "…what seems good, and why do you sound like that?"
He pointed slightly at nothing, ["The soup."]
Elizabeth looked around like she might find the answer written somewhere else.
Then back at him, "…what soup?"
Liam didn't answer the question, instead shifting his gaze between Elizabeth and the chicken she still held, his focus lingering on it before looking back at her.
["…can I have that back?"]
"…what are you doing?"
Elizabeth stared at him, her brow furrowed as she tried to process too many things at once. Her suspicion showed through her confusion. "…Is this a bit?" she said slowly, her uncertainty now tinged with disbelief. "Am I being pranked right now?"
Liam didn't answer. He reached forward, grabbed the chicken from her hands with a quick, firm motion. Then he immediately turned and scurried away, as fast as a small, heavily armoured wolf girl could manage.
'Why did I have to run into her?' Frustration and embarrassment squeezed Liam's mind. Elizabeth. Of all people. Now she thinks I'm a child—helpless, foolish. The shame pressed harder in Liam's chest, sharp and raw, nothing to do with the game.
That was …that was bad.
He slowed down slightly once he was out of sight. Exhaled through his nose. Frustration twisted in his chest. "…great."
He opened his inventory and shoved the chicken inside without looking at it.
A notification appeared: You killed an [English Chicken] +50 EXP
Liam glanced at it, then away.
"…I'm going to need a lot of these."
Level: 1
NAME: Little Liam
CLASS: Vanguard
LIFE SKILLS: Basic Cooking, Noob Streamer
TALENT: Legendary Absorption Level 1 (1 / 1000)
HP: 100 / 100
STAMINA: 100 / 100
DEFENSE: 35 / 100
ATTACK: 30 / 100
SPEED: 15 / 100
EXP: 50 / 1000