Miss Simmons nodded. "It's your best bet."

Emm looked down at the disgusting monster in his hands. Its eyes were still open, staring right back at him.

Hell no.

"Come on, can't you just whisk me away and give me some normal food at the camp?" Emm asked. They had to have something that was actually edible.

"Not possible, I'm afraid." She stared at him intently. He stared right back.

"Use that teleportation trick on me! You're crazy fast."

Her eyebrow started twitching.

"Not. Possible. That was my [Quick Step]. Its range is short, and its cooldown is far too long. No, I would have to carry you in my arms like a baby, and you'd never survive the trip," she said. "And even if you did, all the food we have is too high in mana concentration anyways! It would make things worse."

She turned around and flailed her hands through the air. "Ugh! Why am I even explaining myself to you? Just eat the goddamn monster."

She stormed off, leaned against a nearby tree, then lit a pipe and started smoking. Ignoring him.

To Emm, it sounded like she was just making up excuses. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Fine!" he shouted behind her back. She was walking away.

Really, no normal, non-magic food? Emm took a deep breath, trying to collect himself. He had wasted valuable seconds arguing.

He found a part of the snake's flesh where there wasn't any dirt and brought it to his mouth. Mentally preparing himself, he tried taking a bite out of it- but the moment it came close to his nose, the smell assaulted his sense, making him gag. He instinctively snapped it away from his face and turned his head to the other side.

It hadn't even touched his mouth, and he'd almost puked. He couldn't do it. It was like forcing yourself to eat shit. Impossible.

He took a few deep breaths through his mouth, then went with a new tactic. He pinched his nose with one hand to block out the smell, shut his eyes closed, and tried to take a bite out of it again.

This time he actually managed to get it inside his mouth- it was cold and slimy- but the moment the flesh touched his tongue, he uncontrollably spat it back out. The taste was egregious, and his mouth burned hot. He nearly puked. It was the most disgusting thing he'd ever tasted, and it wasn't even close.

Emm felt pressured, seeing everybody's eyes on him. Eating it would've been easier if they weren't there, looking. Judging.

He was also well aware that he'd spilled the beans in front of them all. He was [Level] 1, or even [Level] 0. He couldn't level. They'd improve in leaps and bounds and leave him behind if he couldn't handle himself against the tougher monsters. He didn't want to become a complete outcast.

Maybe it would have been smarter to fake it, lie, and keep his situation a secret. On the other hand, faking it was probably impossible. He didn't have access to a single [Skill], after all. And he hated liars from the bottom of his being.

"Can I at least get a knife or something?" he asked.

One of the guys got up and approached him. He was one of the two who the leader had called out earlier, but Emm couldn't remember their names. He wore thick glasses and a yellow hoodie, which was now splattered with blood. His brown hair was messed up, too. It was obvious that he'd been in several fights with the monsters. All the dried-up blood on him couldn't have been a result of just a single battle.

He handed Emm a knife, and Emm instantly used it to cut into the snake. Blood flowed out, and he kept cutting until he held a small piece of 'pure' meat, extracted from the middle. He flicked it around to drain it of all the blood he could. All he had to do was to trick his brain into treating it like a particularly weird gummy bear, and maybe then he could force it down his throat.

Closing his eyes again, he stopped hesitating and put it into his mouth. By pure strength of will, he chewed on it as long as he could, his taste buds overwhelmed by the bitterness. He swallowed it, and felt his throat start to burn.

It's just sushi. Everybody loves sushi. It's just sushi.

He repeated the mantra in his head while cutting out more small chunks and eating them one after another. The burning sensation from inside of him got more and more intense with each new bite. He felt it like a warm glow centered in his stomach, slowly spreading outwards.

But after the fifth piece of meat, Emm lost control. He put his hand over his mouth, but that only made it worse.

He retched, expelling out all of his hard-earned progress onto the ground.

Emm almost broke into tears at the sight of the puddle of vomit. It was pitch black. The coffee he had that morning, he realized.

He took a moment to recenter himself, and wiped his hands and mouth. He extended out his arm towards the glasses guy, still standing behind Emm.

"Help me up?" Emm asked. He was so weak he couldn't stand up by himself.

Glasses-guy nodded and pulled Emm onto his feet.

"Emmanuel," he introduced himself and went for a handshake.

The other guy crossed his fingers over his lips, miming, then started spelling out letters with his fingers. He was mute. An okay sign with one hand, combined with a circle from the other hand. And the second letter was obviously an "O", a big circle made with both hands. It took Emm's tired mind a few repetitions before he caught on. There were only two letters.

"Bo?"

Bo nodded, smiled, then shook Emm's limp hand.

"Nice meeting you," Emm said.

He realized he was getting distracted again. It was hard to focus when he was barely conscious.

Emm turned toward Michael and shuffled toward him, dragging the snake along with him. Bo quickly put an arm around Emm's shoulders to steady him and help him walk.

When they got close, Emm wiggled the smelly snake around Michael's face, trying to wake him up.

Eating the [Vinesnake] raw was out of the question. Emm had tried, but his body betrayed him. He wanted Michael to use his [Fire Breath] to cook the snake for him. Maybe that would make it possible to put keep the foul thing inside him for longer than a few seconds.

When the smell failed to wake Michael up, Emm tried to nudge him awake with his leg. Bo's eyes snapped open in understanding, and he chimed in by throwing a few slightly more forceful kicks.

I'm sorry Michael, but it's a matter of life and death. Come on. I need you to wake up!

No effect.

"Wake up!" Emm screamed. His voice was hoarse.

Michael didn't budge. He was out cold.

Okay. Okay. Next idea. Just think.

"Is anybody here a [Pyromancer], or something similar? I can't eat it raw, I'll just end up puking it back."

"No," replied the leader. "But maybe we can start a fire?" He had also gotten close to Emm, looking for any way to help, and immediately started scrounging for twigs and dry leaves around them.

Emm could dig through Michael's pockets for the lighter. However, the forest around them was wet and humid. From what he knew, getting wet wood to burn was a major challenge. Not to mention the time that would take him. At least five minutes or so to get a real fire going. Possibly more than that to cook the snake.

His intuition told him he didn't have that kind of time left. Michael's [Skill] could have cooked it near instantly.

Oh.

Emm slapped himself in the face. He felt like the biggest idiot alive.

"No, stop. No fire needed," he said.

He had tunnel-visioned on cooking and eating the snake in his arms when there was already a perfectly good, cooked snake nearby. The monster Michael had used his [Fire Breath] on.

He only needed to get to it. Or ask someone else to bring it to him? No, it would take twice as long to find it and bring it back. And if he didn't explain the location well enough, he was screwed.

"Can someone carry me?" Emm asked. "There's a burnt monster I can eat."

To his shock, it was the Guide that answered him.

"Where?"

He'd forgotten about her completely, with how dismissive she was of him. He thought she didn't care if he lived or died; she said he was useless.

Emm pointed in roughly the right direction, opposite from where Michael and him had come from. "That way. A few minutes of walking, it could still be on fire. Follow the smoke, I guess."

The Guide went into a low start, then launched herself forward. She turned into a blur, running faster than an olympian could. And soon after, she disappeared from their sight.

There was nothing to do but wait, now. Emm was panicking, rethinking all of his choices. It was him that had been making excuses. He wished he could have just eaten the snake raw, instead of making such a huge scene of it. But deep down, he knew it was impossible not to puke the flesh out. It was vile. And there was no way puked-out food would still regenerate his health.

Not a minute later, the Guide appeared in front of him, holding a charred, still smoking [Vinesnake]. Emm took it in his hands, sat down, and turned his back to the others. It was the moment of truth.

He stabbed into it with his knife.

The first cut revealed completely charred flesh that was burnt to the point of becoming coal, so he tried another location, closer to the raw section of its body. That cut showed meat that looked cooked to perfection. It was burnt on the outside, but the insides looked alright. The flesh was dark, but not bleeding purple.

It didn't smell nearly as bad, either. His nose was filled with more smoke than the foul stench of the monster's blood.

He pulled a piece of the meat out, closed his eyes, and ate it.

It was chewy and tasted bitter, but he didn't puke. Far from it. His stomach accepted the food gratefully. It was a million times more palatable than the raw version had been. His mouth still burned, like he was eating something too spicy, but it was tolerable.

When he realized that, Emm tore into it like a maniac. He cut out piece after piece, chewing and swallowing as fast as he possibly could. Even when he felt full, he didn't stop, paranoid about the possibility of dying.

And at some point, he blacked out, mouth still full of monster meat.