Bang!

  Bam!!

  Thud!!

  The noise slammed through the room like something heavy being dragged and dropped. Instantly, the overhead light flicked on, flooding the cramped space with harsh white glare as Mario's roommates jolted awake.

  Mario heard it too.

  His eyes fluttered open, then immediately narrowed as the light stabbed into them.

  "Urgh…"

  A low growl slipped from his throat as he raised a hand, palm pressed over his eyes, blocking the brightness.

  He tried to push himself up, but his eyelids felt heavier, as if sleep itself were pressing him back down. His body refused. After a brief struggle, he gave up, letting his eyes close again.

  "What's that sound?" one roommate asked. From the voice alone, Mario could tell he was an older man.

  "Should we take a look?" a younger voice followed, sharper, more alert.

  The third man glanced at Mario, still lying on his bunk.

  "What about you?"

  Mario slowly shook his head. He turned his back to them and pulled his long briefcase close, hugging it against his chest.

  Footsteps soon echoed outside—hurried, overlapping, growing louder as more people woke and rushed toward the source of the disturbance.

  Mario fell asleep again with the fading rhythm of boots ringing in his ears.

  ---

  Slowly, he opened his eyes.

  His head felt muddled, heavy with leftover sleep. He rubbed his eyes with his thumbs before carefully sitting up on the bunk. The air felt still, stale.

  Yawn~

  The sound escaped him unconsciously as his thoughts gradually aligned. He looked around at the unfamiliar room, the stacked bunks, the dim corners.

  "Where a—" he muttered, then stopped.

  'Right. I'm heading for the capital.'

  Growl~

  A dull ache bloomed in his stomach as it protested. Hunger gnawed at him. He stood, reached for his briefcase, and slung it with practiced ease.

  Before leaving, he noticed his roommates were still asleep, bodies slack and unmoving. He didn't linger. He stepped out and headed toward the cafeteria.

  ---

  He sat at an empty table and carefully placed his tray down. The metal made a soft, restrained clink against the surface, the faint sound briefly swallowed by the cafeteria's ambient noise.

  As he was about to eat, Mario noticed a peculiar pinkish meat resting on his tray, its color slightly off from anything he was used to seeing.

  'What is this?' he wondered, before poking the meat with his fork.

  The meat was so soft that when he lightly prodded it, it bounced the fork back as if it were some kind of gelatin rather than flesh.

  '…It doesn't appear to be meat from any livestock that I know of.' As the thought formed, he cut a small piece and lifted it closer to his nose.

  Sniff~

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  'It smells like fish… so it should be fish meat based on the scent… but the texture doesn't match.'

  Mario then glanced around at his surroundings and noticed that everyone else was eating and seemingly enjoying the same meat without hesitation.

  '…I suppose it isn't poisonous, then.'

  With that conclusion, he took a small bite.

  The moment the meat touched his tongue, a strong yet delicious fish-like flavor burst across his taste buds. As he chewed, the rich flavor deepened further, spreading slowly and pleasantly through his mouth.

  Gulp~

  '…I-it's so tasty.'

  Although his outward expression didn't change in the slightest, Mario couldn't help but praise the taste inwardly, a quiet surprise surfacing beneath his usual composure.

  Despite his simulated self having lived a wealthy life within the simulation, he had never tasted anything quite like this before.

  Without wasting any more time, he continued eating slowly and quietly, chewing with deliberate focus, as if trying to memorize the sensation.

  In the middle of eating, he heard people whispering about something, causing him to briefly pause his meal.

  "Did you see that thing earlier?"

  "Yeah… that thing was enormous. And scary."

  "It looked like it could devour a person in one bite."

  "Especially those sharp teeth…"

  "…It took a lot of people just to drag that thing onto the main deck."

  "I heard they're still not done cleaning it…"

  Mario frowned slightly, not understanding at first.

  Then, faintly, a memory stirred—something loud, something sudden in the middle of the night. At the time he had been far too exhausted to care.

  '…Is it because of that?'

  10 minutes later.

  Burp~

  The meal was far tastier than anything he had eaten in real life or even within the simulation, making him release a slow breath of satisfaction. After a few minutes of rest, he stood up and returned the tray to the counter.

  He stopped outside the cafeteria for a moment, lingering in thought, before deciding to check what he had heard about earlier.

  As he walked, he noticed many others moving in the same direction, their pace noticeably quicker, their curiosity drawing them forward like a quiet current.

  When he arrived, a crowd had already gathered near the front, leaning over the railing, murmuring as they stared down at the main deck below.

  "Whoa, look at that…"

  "It's… ugly."

  "Wahh—Mommy, it's scary!"

  "It's fine, dear. It's already dead."

  Mario slipped between bodies, quietly excusing himself as he pushed forward.

  When he reached the front and looked down—

  He saw it.

  A massive creature lay sprawled across the deck, its dark green skin dull and rough. Its enormous mouth looked capable of swallowing a grown adult whole. From its head protruded an antenna-like appendage, ending in a dim white sphere.

  At the center of its head yawned a massive hole. Dried crimson clung to the edges, crusted and dark.

  Its eyes dangled loose from their sockets.

  Ugly. Grotesque.

  White-uniformed men surrounded the corpse, methodically removing its scales. Others sliced into its flesh, cutting pieces of pink and reddish meat—shockingly vivid compared to its repulsive exterior.

  Mario's expression shifted.

  The taste from earlier resurfaced in his mind.

  '...So that was the meat I ate.' Realization dawned upon him.

  Despite the creature's appearance, he couldn't deny it—the flavor had been different. Rich. Dense. Unforgettable.

  Unlike the crowd beside him, whose expressions deepened with disgust the moment they realized the same thing, Mario's expression remained composed, clearly unbothered by the creature's appearance.

  Though his eyes held a faint hint of curiosity.

  He wasn't sure whether that delicious flavor came from the creature itself or from the one who had prepared it. After all, in the simulation, he himself had been a chef—and fish had been his specialty then.

  The thought pulled him inward.

  He called up the proficiency panel within his mind.

  [Skill: Fish Cleaning — 0 Tier (Peak) 158/1000 | Rough Cooking — 0 Tier (Advanced) 410/500]

  His gaze paused on Fish Cleaning.

  Then he turned his head and looked at the creature below.

  Looking at it, he couldn't help but imagine it.

  Strong and muscular hands working through scales thicker than armor, flesh resisting the blade. He could almost feel the resistance in his fingers, the strain it would place on his skill.

  'How far would it rise… if I cleaned a fish like that?'

  However, reality struck as he looked at his thin, pale hands. They were different from the muscular ones he'd had in the simulation, making him fully aware that he and the simulation were entirely separate.

  He let out a breath, then shook his head and discarded those thoughts, closing the proficiency panel after glancing at the grayed unique skill.

  After another minute of looking, he eased himself back out of the crowd and walked to the right side of the upper outer deck, turning toward the sea.

  He placed the long briefcase vertically in front of him before placing both hands on the railing, sandwiching the briefcase between himself and the railing.

  Mario turned his head forward and looked at the sea.

  The vast water stretched out before him, silent and indifferent.

  The salty wind struck his face, threading through his hair, carrying the raw scent of the ocean. It fluttered his bangs and chilled his skin.

  Around him, the noise thinned. Conversations faded. Footsteps drifted away.

  Memories resurfaced in his mind.

  Fragments from the simulation. Blurred images from childhood. Scenes overlapping, slow and quiet, drifting through his mind like debris on water.

  By now, he was already used to the foreign memories from the simulation that sometimes appeared in his mind, though sometimes they were confusing, like earlier.

  He stayed in that position for half an hour, eyes distant while looking at the sea as thoughts occupied his mind.

  Eventually, he exhaled a restrained breath while his eyes slowly regained their clarity.

  He gripped the long briefcase in his hands before turning back and heading toward the cabin.

  ---

  He sat on the bunk bed. The room was empty.

  The others were likely at the cafeteria eating.

  He placed the long briefcase beside him.

  Mario lifted the necklace from his neck and held the key, which served as the pendant, within his fingers.

  He inserted it into the briefcase and slowly turned.

  Click.

  The briefcase opened.

  Inside rested a sword in its sheath, a golden card, and a pouch.

  He ignored the golden card and picked up the pouch instead.

  Opening it, he looked at the dirty copper coins inside. It was savings from the entire week.

  He closed the pouch and placed it back inside.

  Mario's gaze shifted to the sheathed sword. He took it carefully in both hands.

  He first looked at its sheath. It was made of unknown wood that looked sturdy despite being weathered.

  Slowly, he drew it out.

  The blade was black, swallowing light rather than reflecting it. Though passed down and used by the director, its edge remained sharp. No chips, no dulling. As though newly made.

  He wasn't an expert with swords. But in the simulation, he had held a knife his entire life.

  He was familiar with sharpness.

  Mario's eyes shifted and traced the tiny points scattered along the blade's surface—like stars embedded in night.

  After a moment, he slid the blade back into its sheath and returned it to the briefcase.

  Click.

  He locked it.

  Lying down, he placed the briefcase beside him, close to the wall, and closed his eyes to sleep.

  ---

  An unknown amount of time later, a commotion tore him awake.

  Mario frowned and turned his head, watching his roommates rush out of the room.

  He put on his usual mask and spoke in a shy, polite voice to the middle-aged man hurrying toward the door.

  "Um… sir, what happened?"

  The man paused, glanced back briefly, then answered while continuing forward.

  "It's another monster creature."

  He turned again as he stepped out and added, "Boy, hurry up—or you might miss it."

  The door closed.

  Mario paused for a moment, turned toward the window, and saw that the sun was still up—likely meaning it was still the middle of the day.

  'A monster creature, huh…' With that, he walked out of the cabin and followed where the man was heading.