A Nibble to Remember - Side story (Patreon)

It was all just a coincidence. Just a small event that changed everything. Even that should never have happened.

"God damn it, Biscuit, be careful when you're taking food from me," the older man complains, nursing his slightly bleeding finger.

With a single drop of blood remaining on the Corgi's lip, something terrifying happens. The small animal licks its lips, and in that moment, it understands.

It understands the words it had heard before.

The words that said this place isn't real, that this is a facade created by the system.

And with that understanding comes a question.

If everything is fake, does that mean the food is fake too? Just an illusion crafted by that strange entity?

(Food Fake)

*****

Later that night, a young man named Kevin walked through the camp, keeping watch.

"Fucking Cinderbear, I hope it won't appear again."

At that moment, a strange noise surprises him. Momentarily forgetting caution, the young man decides to follow the noise.

"Hello?" he asks quietly, making his way through the trees of the first floor of the tutorial.

The silence that responds is filled only by a strange, wet noise, like a messy eater slurping soup.

Emerging from behind the trees, shock overtakes him, leaving him speechless.

He sees the older man he had just spoken with an hour ago. A small creature is sitting on the man's chest, taking slow, deliberate bites out of his neck, seemingly enjoying every bite.

(Food!) echoes in his mind before a tentacle made of dark pulsating mana decapitates him, and his body falls to the ground.

The creature swiftly continues to tear at the dead man's neck, enjoying its meal.

This food is real.

This food isn't fake.

For the first time, the creature understands the difference, and a bizarre message rings in its head.

Congratulations, you have acquired a new skill!

[Devour]

[Devour - lvl 0 > Devour - lvl 1(Max)]

You have perfectly devoured your enemy.

[Lvl 3 > Lvl 16]

You have acquired 39 stat points! Invest carefully!

The creature doesn't understand, what are stat points?

At that moment, everything could still have been fixed. Things could have returned to normal and it was still possible to stop the creature.

But.

(Mana?)

The creature remembers the words it heard from its favorite human so often.

(More mana!) resonates in the surroundings.

And then everything is lost, all stat points invested in ways they never should have been, feeding the mana-hungry skill, allowing it to grow.

*****

"What the heck, Biscuit!" a young man with differently colored eyes screams, some hint of emotion discernible in his voice. The creature's favorite human.

The answer is a confused tilt of the creature's head.

"Fuck, what the hell!" he continues.

The creature doesn't understand, looking down at the body, at the food near its legs.

(Food) it tries to project, but the man doesn't understand.

"You can't…" he starts, then gives up. Mana flares up around his body, threatening to combat the creature.

Threatening to stand between it and the real food.

Real food? Did they call themselves humans?

"Lily…" another food mutters, and then they both attack the creature, forcing it to retreat from the body of the young black-haired girl.

The creature realizes that it can't fight its favorite human, still feeling some form of attachment.

So it [Devours] the space in front of itself, reappearing far, far away, leaving everything behind.

In front of it, a giant bear materializes, its eyes glowing with an orange light and sparks of the same color floating nearby.

It feels different, maybe it's food?

The creature turns towards it and tens of dark purple tentacles appear from its back, attacking the monster.

*****

You have perfectly devoured your enemy.

[Lvl 32 > Lvl 89]

You have devoured a new skill - [Challenge]

The creature curiously tilts its head, a small pink tongue still protruding from its bloodied maw.

(More mana!) echoes again, new stats making it even more formidable.

Yet, the enemy this time wasn't real food. Now smarter, the creature better understands that it's fake, and that only people from its home can be considered real.

So it moves again, and it [Devours].

*****

There's only one human remaining, the creature's most favorite human. It holds him with two of its tentacles, continuously biting into the man's leg, the man still alive and trying to fight.

Yet it [Devours] everything, all the attacks, all the mana. Unable to stop, the food it has now is the best it's ever had.

(Food) it states happily.

"..."

(Food?)

Silence is the answer and it realizes that its favorite is gone. Gone in the same way the creature's old owner is gone.

You have perfectly devoured your enemy.

[Lvl 130 > Lvl 169]

You have devoured a new skill - [Focus]

*****

More time passes and a new notification sounds. A month since the start of the first floor.

The entrance to the second floor appears and the creature, curious and in search of more food, enters.

Congratulations! You have cleared the 1st floor of the Hell difficulty tutorial. Welcome to the second floor: Mana-Infused Kingdom.

Congratulations! You can now choose your primary class. Your offered choices are based on your performance up until now in the tutorial.

You have acquired one skill upgrade token.

You have acquired one skill point.

You can now use Community, with a time limit of 10 minutes per 24 hours.

You have acquired 5 stat points.

(More mana!) it repeats.

It also upgrades its skill.

[Devour - lvl 1(Max) > Perfect Devour - lvl 1(Max)]

*****

More time passes and the floors change a few times. Every time, the creature [Devours] everything.

But then, one day.

Welcome to the community tournament.

More real food appears.

*****

Much more time passes and the creature, ravenous, starts to devour the place it's trapped in.

The place that stands between it and Earth, a place teeming with real food.

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The creature continues to [Devour].

It won't stop. It will return to its home, and it will enjoy real food once more. It will continue to consume.

It won't stop until everything is Biscuit.