If You Really Can't Hold Back

"Sure enough, Black Bread had to be eaten using the Synthesis Table. Even without adding Deer Meat, it could be made into porridge, and the effect was far better than bread. Otherwise, I might end up getting myself killed inside this cabin."

Colin muttered to himself. On the first day alone, the fates of quite a few people had probably already been sealed.

Without dwelling on it, Colin looked at his two subordinates, whose eyes were practically glowing, and ladled each of them a bowl first.

"Finish eating within fifteen minutes. Then we'll continue exploring."

Holding the steaming, fragrant venison porridge personally served by their Lord, the two Servants were moved to tears.

In their hazy memories, as Servants, they had needed to labor an entire day just to obtain a little food that could never fill their stomachs. Only then could they exchange it, under the lash, for a piece of bread that was likely moldy, sour, and mixed with dirt.

Before this, both Servants had thought that the food Colin would grant them would be that piece of bread.

That Hardened Black Bread.

Even though it was as hard as stone, it was still a rare delicacy to them.

Because it truly was not moldy or foul-smelling, and it probably did not even contain sand or dirt!

But neither Servant had expected Colin to let them drink porridge directly—not the kind of "rice porridge" where not a single grain of rice could be found in the bowl!

There was even meat in it!

As the sweet Meat Porridge was slurped into their mouths, fragrance and vitality instantly overflowed through their hearts. For the first time, the Servants felt the beauty of life.

But as they drank, their eyes began to redden and moisten. Their facial muscles felt sore and stiff, and they had an overwhelming urge to burst into tears.

Their hearts were filled with gratitude and emotion.

It had been about three minutes. It seemed fine. Colin checked their personal information, and only after finding no special statuses such as [Poisoned] or [Unconscious] did he finally feel at ease enough to drink the thick porridge.

He just did not understand why a "Suffering Citizen—Confessor Priest" would drop venison, but that did not stop him from eating it.

He just had to eat it cautiously.

At that moment, Colin heard the two Servants say hoarsely, "Lord, you truly are a good person."

Those were words from the bottoms of their hearts, completely unrelated to the system.

"R-Really?" Colin looked guiltily at the porridge in the pot.

After the three of them each had a bowl, only about half a bowl remained in the Stone Pot.

Colin seemed to remember something and looked at Servant No. 2, at the palm-length, centimeter-deep wound on his arm.

"You were injured protecting me. There isn't much left in this pot, so I'll give you the remaining half bowl. Recover from your injury as quickly as possible."

When he had fallen into "mental confusion" earlier, that Aberration had not failed to attack him, but Servant No. 2 had forcefully blocked every attack.

Colin might have been chopping away merrily afterward, but without him, even if he had not been completely overwhelmed, he definitely would have been injured.

Servant No. 2's arm had been hurt because of that.

If nothing else, rewards and punishments had to be clear, right?

So Colin did not skimp.

"Lord, h-how can I accept this? Fighting for you and dying for you are a Servant's duty. The priority now is ensuring your strength—"

Servant No. 2 wanted to refuse, but under Colin's "stern" gaze, he tearfully ate three large bowls.

"I wonder how the other Survivors are doing now."

When eating, Colin really was not used to doing so without looking at something.

He took out the Unknown leather scroll and began scrolling through it.

As he savored the delicious venison porridge, he browsed the Regional Channel.

"I'm so hungry. My throat feels like it's on fire. I'm begging for food. As long as you have food, I'll do anything you ask, sob sob sob."

"Sorry, I can't help you. No one knows how to light a lamp right now, so there's no way to go out and explore, much less give food away."

"Sigh, even if someone knew, they wouldn't say. There are a thousand people in one region. This is a game of life and death—how could anyone be that kindhearted?"

"Girl, if you really can't hold back, you can eat your Servants. They won't resist."

"They're living beings. How can I possibly eat them? What if, what if—"

"What if you get infected with Prion?"

"Just don't eat the brain."

"Wait, 'they'? Are your two Servants female? Then you must be a woman, or you wouldn't have female Servants. Sigh, I feel like I've learned even more useless knowledge."

"A woman? Not interested anymore."

"Eat them. Don't hesitate. If you don't, you'll starve to death alive like that Survivor in some guy's region on the World Channel. Live one day at a time. Hang in there, everyone."

"Stop bragging, scaring people, and encouraging cannibalism! Let me tell you, no one will starve to death on the first day. Everyone has the same physical condition. People might only starve to death after tonight."

"I want to eat Black Bread. I want to drink water."

".Get lost."

They were talking about eating people again. Colin's mouth twitched, and his stomach churned.

He had no idea who had started this trend, but it had turned the Chat Channel into a complete cesspool.

Still, Colin knew that most of these people were just talking big. If they did not leave their Wooden Cabins, their physical exertion would not be too severe.

At the very least, lasting until night would not be a problem.

So before then, most people probably would not go to such extremes. As for whether that small minority had actually done such things, Colin had no idea.

"Come to think of it, since this is a global game, even if only one in ten thousand among the billions of humans figured out how to light a lamp, there should still be at least a hundred thousand people. Among those people, is there really not a single one willing to reveal the method? Or would they be warned or... erased if they said it?"

Colin frowned and thought about it, but he had no clue. Without any hints, he could not come up with an answer.

Forget it. He would have a sip of porridge to calm himself down first.

After finishing the porridge in one gulp, Colin opened his [Inventory] and checked what he had gained this time.

He could have reviewed his haul while drinking the porridge, but since there was human flesh in there, he had not done so.

After all, he was not one of those medical students. His mental fortitude was not strong enough to dissect something while eating.

Normally, Colin might not even dare kill a chicken.

But unexpectedly, the Chat Channel was not much better than his Inventory.

"'Filthy Bone' and 'Rotten Meat Chunk' are almost useless."

Colin looked them over. Unlike the Deer Meat, these two items had come from that Confessor Priest.

The description said Bones could be ground into powder for fertilizer, while the meat chunk could be cooked and eaten like Deer Meat, though it might cause gastrointestinal discomfort.

The problem was that the Confessor Priest had clearly been human when he was alive. How could Colin possibly bring himself to eat him?

And using human ashes as fertilizer was far more disturbing than using feces and urine.

Still, Colin did not throw them away. What if he truly reached the end of the road...