Andy took three or five minutes to finish the food in his hands before entering Nathas's hut. A pungent odor hit him. Thinking that he would be living here indefinitely, Andy felt a wave of despair. Nathas really had no regard for personal hygiene. After training that day, Andy simply couldn't take it anymore and finally resolved to clean up the hut.
Andy got right to work. He leaned his bow against the wall, rolled up his sleeves, and picked up a broom that looked like a bald-tailed chicken. He swept the floor thoroughly. Who knew how long it had been since it was last cleaned? The dust that billowed up nearly suffocated him.
Andy waited outside until most of the dust had settled, then went back in to tidy up the rest of the place. Several bottles were scattered messily across a small table. Was drinking really the daily work of Nathas, a famous figure in this world? Andy couldn't help questioning the Nathas he knew. This man was nothing like the Nathas who had once dominated the world. It nearly shattered Andy's entire worldview.
On the rickety bed—if it even counted as a bed—the legs were propped up with stone slabs, and all kinds of unrecognizable things lay strewn across it. "What's this?" Andy held up a filthy scrap of cloth. He could barely tell it was cloth at all. He brought it closer to his face, and a foul stench shot straight up his nose.
"My God, what is this? Why does it stink so much?" Andy instantly dropped the scrap. It landed flat on the ground. "What the hell? These are freaking underwear!"
Andy cursed Nathas in his heart a thousand and eight hundred times. Nathas's image was utterly ruined.
"Just a friendly reminder: this Nathas is still that Nathas. His living conditions are just a little different right now!" the Monster Spirit said, diligently doing its job. "This Nathas is at Red Skull level in the system."
Andy dropped onto a low stool, exhausted, and thought, "Red Skull level? You're not just assigning that to him? Or is he an NPC in your system?"
"Bullshit! He's a bona fide Red Skull. A little kid like you? He could wipe out dozens of you with a flick of his finger!" the Monster Spirit said, its contempt unmistakable.
Andy had no time to argue with the Monster Spirit. He needed to rest as quickly as possible, then get up early the next day and keep training.
Before dawn the next morning, Andy was already running along the base of Darnassus's city wall with his bow on his back. He had no idea whether running like this would improve his stamina or anything else, but it was the simplest method he could think of.
By the time the sun was high and his stomach started protesting, Andy finally remembered that he had spent the copper coin Nathas had given him. He'd have to fend for himself for food that day.
"Spirit, how can I get something to eat?" Andy asked silently.
"I don't see how I can solve that sort of problem for you," the Monster Spirit replied impatiently.
"You're the only one I can talk to around here. Who else am I supposed to ask?" Andy said with a pout.
"Y-you're twisting my words!" The Monster Spirit was at a loss. "You could go mooch a meal off Hilar, if you're shameless enough! Or you could catch a rabbit or some other animal outside the city, if you're brave enough!"
Andy nearly cursed the Monster Spirit out. What kind of advice was that? Mooch a meal? He really couldn't bring himself to do it. Though he looked like a little kid now, his soul belonged to an adult. He'd rather die than mooch food from that young Elf girl. As for catching an animal outside the city, that was worth considering. There were plenty of high-level beasts out there, though, so he'd need to come up with a plan.
As he pondered, Andy's hand accidentally brushed against the Hunter Crash Course. Right! It was a Hunter Crash Course. He could give it a try! Andy opened the booklet. Its first section was about making hunter traps.
Andy had assumed hunter traps would be like the ones in games—explosive traps, frost traps, and the like. Who knew the traps taught in the booklet were just ordinary traps used by regular hunters, nothing special at all?
Had unreliable Nathas really given him a Hunter's Crash Course Guide? Andy let out a mournful cry. Forget it! He'd figure out how to fill his stomach first. Making a trap was simple: a trap and some bait.
Bait wasn't too hard to find. There were little animals everywhere in the wild. If all else failed, he could sneak into the city and steal a chicken. But how was he supposed to get a trap? He wasn't a blacksmith, and he had no materials. How could he make one?
After thinking it over, Andy tossed aside the Hunter Crash Course and went with a method he'd used in his previous life: catching prey with an upturned basket. Of course, a basket could only catch something small, like a rabbit. Even a particularly strong, fat rabbit would be too much for it.
Andy ran all over the city and even used Hilar's name to get himself a bamboo basket. He also casually pulled a carrot from someone's vegetable garden. With everything ready, he headed outside the city.
After all that running around, it was already past lunchtime, and his stomach had long since gone flat. Before he even reached the city gates, there was nothing left of the carrot in his hand but its stub.
Andy glanced at the carrot stub, pulled up a couple of handfuls of wild grass by the roadside, and went into the woods. He didn't know whether the rabbits in Azeroth ate this kind of grass. He propped up the basket with a small stick and stuffed the carrot stub and grass underneath it. A thin string was tied to the stick, with the other end clutched in Andy's hand.
Andy didn't dare venture deeper into the woods. If he ran into a large beast, he'd be in serious trouble. He set his trap near the edge of the woods and waited for some unlucky rabbit to come along.
Andy was waiting in a nearby clump of grass and was nearly asleep when the sight of a hopping rabbit jolted him awake. This is it! he cheered silently. The rabbit was a little on the big side, though. Andy looked at his basket, wondering if it could cover the rabbit.
The rabbit was unlucky indeed. It had eaten its fill at noon and was wandering around without a care when it crossed paths with Andy, who was lying in wait. It hopped under the basket, its plump rump wiggling as it happily munched on the carrot stub.
Andy yanked the string, and the little stick flew away. The basket dropped with a thud, and the fat rabbit began struggling inside. Andy saw that the basket wasn't strong enough, so he hurried over to give the unlucky rabbit a finishing blow. He couldn't let his catch get away!
"Take this! Foot kick!" Andy unleashed his special move. Just then, the rabbit surged with strength and leaped up, pushing the basket along with it. Unable to see with the basket over its head, it jumped straight at Andy's foot. Andy was delighted. You really are a dumb rabbit!
With a clatter, Andy kicked the rabbit out from under the basket and into the grass. He hurried over, grabbed it by both ears, and tied its legs tightly with the string.
Andy laughed as he looked at the rabbit. "Go on, run! You're not going anywhere now!" Grinning, he carried the rabbit back to retrieve his basket—but when he looked down, he froze. The basket had already fallen apart from his kick, its pieces scattered all over the ground.
"W-what am I supposed to do now?" Andy felt a pang of despair. This was how he was going to get his meals, and now it was completely ruined. And it wasn't as if he'd kicked that hard.
The rabbit came to and squeaked, as if mocking Andy. Andy raised his hand and shouted, "Shut up, you rabbit!" Then he smacked it on the head, and the unlucky rabbit toppled over to the side once more.
Before you continue