Chapter 8: The Price of Survival

Ren shook his head violently, forcing the haunting voice out of his mind.

He instantly remembered his promise to meet Elysia at the garden near the royal castle. If he wanted to figure out what was truly going on in this world, aligning himself with influential figures like her was his best shot. At least, that was his assumption. Judging by her refined attire and graceful mannerisms, Elysia Grace was clearly someone of high status within the kingdom.

Without wasting another moment, Ren bolted, leaving the empty lot behind.

As he reached the main cobblestone avenue, the capital was buzzing with morning activity. Sunlight bathed the lively streets where merchants shouted their daily offers and workers navigated heavy horse-drawn carts loaded with goods.

Ren scanned his surroundings, looking left and right.

Where exactly is this garden near the castle? he wondered, his eyes searching the unfamiliar streets.

He clicked his tongue in frustration. It’s absurd for Elysia to expect me to know the way when I’m practically brand new to this world. Though, he reasoned, she probably assumed he knew the layout since his body originally belonged to a local.

Talk about terrible luck... Ren sighed, his shoulders slumping as he walked. I transmigrated into this brutal world, got attacked by a monster on day one, lost my leg, watched six royal soldiers get slaughtered, and even after surviving all that, I’m stuck with a System power that’s restricted by a Dark God.

Suddenly, his stomach let out a loud, aggressive growl.

Ren’s eyebrow twitched. Right... I haven’t eaten a single thing.

He paused, a wave of caution washing over him. Will creating food with the System trigger the Nyx Seal percentage?

He called out internally, System, can I synthesize food?

[NOTICE: YOU CANNOT CREATE FOOD. THE SYSTEM CAN ONLY SYNTHESIZE INANIMATE OBJECTS. CP AND CM ARE DERIVED EXCLUSIVELY FROM MATERIAL MATTER, NOT ORGANIC SUSTENANCE.]

Figures, Ren thought with a faint sigh.

He reached into his dark shirt pocket, feeling the copper coins and five gold pieces he had earned from helping Elysia yesterday. Scanning the street, his eyes caught a bakery stall stacked with warm, crusty loaves of wheat bread. He immediately headed over. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

As he stopped in front of the stall, the baker—a middle-aged man wearing a flour-dusted brown tunic—furrowed his brows. He stared at Ren’s face, his expression suddenly turning dead serious and tense.

"Wait..." The baker paused, his voice trembling slightly. "Aren’t you the porter who went out with the royal expedition squad last night?"

Ren’s hand froze halfway to the bread, his jaw tightening as he took a step back in surprise.

Instantly, several nearby townsfolk turned their heads, their expressions shifting to sheer shock.

"Hey, he’s right!" whispered a man in the crowd. "Isn’t that the porter from yesterday’s expedition?"

"Wait, why is he back alone? What happened to the six royal soldiers?" another voice chimed in.

Trying to keep his composure, Ren picked up a loaf of bread and looked at the merchant. "Uncle, how much for this?"

"T-Two copper coins," the baker replied mechanically, unable to take his eyes off him.

Ren glanced into his shirt pocket, seeing his stack of coppers alongside the five gold coins. He pulled out two coppers, placed them on the wooden counter, and turned to leave.

"Hey, hold on a minute!"

The baker stopped him, leaning over the counter. Sweat beaded on the man’s forehead, as if his instincts were telling him that something horrible had taken place.

More onlookers began gathering around, closing in on Ren.

Ren turned around, his expression hardening as the surrounding whispers reached his ears.

"Wait, didn’t the kingdom officially announce earlier this morning that the expedition squad was wiped out?"

"Yeah! So why is this porter still alive?"

"He should have been the first to die! The report confirmed that all six soldiers were elite kingdom troops. How on earth did a mere porter survive such a massacre?"

"I heard royal intelligence found the bodies shredded to pieces..."

Ren’s eyes widened. A heavy realization hit him—logically, he shouldn’t have survived at all. The only reason he was standing here was because of the System. Unbelievable as it sounded, it was the absolute truth.

Flashback visions tore through his mind—the horrific, grinning face of the monster slaughtering the six knights, the sickening sound of tearing flesh, and the moment his own leg was severed.

Ren’s face drained of all color, turning deathly pale.

"Hey! How did you survive?!" several people demanded at once, crowding closer.

Suddenly, an innocent voice popped up from the crowd.

"Mister... what did the monster look like?" a little girl asked, tilting her head with naive curiosity.

The innocent question triggered a fresh wave of horror. Ren instantly recalled the beast’s grotesque, grinning face—thick, foul saliva dripping directly onto his hair right before it moved to devour him.

His heart hammered violently in his chest. A sharp surge of stomach acid rushed up his throat as the vivid brutality of the creature flashed right before his eyes.

Ren clamped a hand tightly over his mouth, stumbling back a step as a wave of intense nausea hit him, ready to throw up right then and there.