đ„© Chapter 1: The Price of a Chance
The air in the Martial Hall Market was thick with the scent of dried blood, synth-nutrients, and the controlled chill of refrigerated beast harvests. Most shoppers were armored Apprentice Warriors, their movements economical and focused. They paid no mind to the frail figure standing nervously at the lowest-grade meat stall.
This was Su Ron.
"Five kilograms of Black Boar muscle," he said, his voice just slightly too tight. He was a non-combatant in a combat-driven world, and every Warrior who brushed past him felt like a walking mountain.
The butcherâa scarred woman with the rough hands of someone who dealt with Warlord-level beasts dailyâtossed the crimson, vacuum-sealed package onto the scale. "Twenty thousand yuan. Last of the day."
Su Ron's heart hammered against his ribs. It was the last of the savings his late parents had managed to accumulateâa small fortune for a powerless person. It was the price of his life, or a gamble on his future.
He handed over the payment chip. The transaction was complete, but the whispers around him were not.
"Look at that weakling," a passing Apprentice Warrior scoffed to his partner. "Five kilos of Soldier-Level Black Boarâis he trying to commit suicide? A normal human can't even digest that density without an Apprentice Stage 3 foundation."
"Let him," his partner replied, adjusting his arm guard. "Just another fool who read too many power-up comics. He'll get a severe internal fever and waste his parents' money. The System is cruel."
The scorn stung, but Su Ron forced himself to ignore it. He clutched the heavy, cold package of meatâhis only hopeâand headed back to his cramped, rented room in the low-rent district adjacent to Sector 1.
He was a time traveler. He had only awakened his memories yesterday, realizing he was trapped in the brutal, cosmic setting of the Swallowed Star novel, a world where the strong could crush planets and the weak perished in the slums. At 23, he had no talent for genetic cultivation. He hadn't even reached the threshold of Apprentice Stage 1, and he knew, with chilling certainty, that he was destined to be fodder.
But his past life memories had come with one thing: the Foodie System.
Its function was terrifyingly simple and promising: Su Ron could get completely random rewards for eating. The higher the genetic grade of the ingredient he consumed, the higher the level of the potential reward.
He had gambled everything on the Black Boar.
Back in his tiny apartment, which smelled permanently of dust and stale air filtration, Su Ron began to work.
He unwrapped the Soldier-Level meat. It was dense and dark, possessing a faint, metallic odor of raw energy. Most people cooked beast meat in nutrient solutions or stewed it for days to break down the tough fibers.
Su Ron simply cut it.
The knife moved with impossible grace and speed. He hadn't touched a knife since his previous life, yet his hands moved with the flawless precision of a master chef. This was the Maxed Cooking skill, a surprise newbie gift from the System. He cubed the meat, seasoned it with basic salt and pepper, and began to pan-fry it over the apartment's electric hotplate.
The process was simple, but the result was transcendental.
Sizzle. Pop. The air thickened.
The raw, metallic odor vanished, replaced by an intoxicating aroma that was both rich and fresh, savory and subtly sweet. The Black Boar cubes caramelized perfectly, their interiors still juicy and steaming with potent biological energy. He piled the entire five kilos onto a single, ridiculously large metal tray.
The smell didn't just fill the roomâit escaped. It seeped under the door, through the vent, and poured out the window and down to the street below.
On the walkway, an elderly cleaning bot stopped dead. A group of teenagers playing holo-games froze, their noses twitching.
"What is that?" one teenager murmured, wiping a thread of saliva from his chin. "It smells like... the perfect dinner."
The aroma was a weapon. It bypassed hunger and went straight for the primal desire of fulfillment.
Inside, Su Ron was shaking. Even he, the one controlling the cooking, couldn't fight the urge. He grabbed a fork and speared the first chunk of Soldier-Level meat.
The taste was overwhelmingâa perfect blend of rich, wild game and pure, refined energy. He ate without stopping, his hunger overriding all caution. The meat was tough, but his jaw worked tirelessly. Five kilograms vanished in minutes.
As he swallowed the last bite, a strange, profound heat erupted in his stomach. The biological energy of the beast meat, which should have overloaded his weak body, was instantaneously absorbed by an unseen force.
Then, the long-awaited notification rang:
[Ding! Complete One Meal.]
[First time eating a Soldier Level Beast Meat.]
Su Ron waited, breathless, leaning against the counter. His entire future hung on the next line.
[Ding! Congratulations Host for getting: Perfect Super Soldier Serum.]
Su Ron's eyes went wide. He checked his Inventory with frantic excitement.
[Perfect Super Soldier Serum]
After consuming, you will receive a massive biological infusion, instantly elevating your body to Apprentice Stage 3 strength (Advanced Apprentice-Level).
Apprentice Stage 3! He wouldn't be a peak human, but he would be past the threshold, stronger than perhaps 80% of the civilian population, and finally able to join the training halls! It was the immediate leap he needed.
Without a doubt, he snatched the small, clear vial from the System Inventory and emptied it into his mouth.
A wave of scalding fire instantly flooded every nerve ending, every muscle fiber, every cell in his body. His blood seemed to turn to liquid iron, and his bones screamed in protest as they began to warp, condense, and strengthen at an astronomical rate.
He fell to the floor, his vision dissolving into blinding white light as the Perfect Super Soldier Serum forcefully rewrote his genetic structure. His last conscious thought was the raw, dizzying painâa pain that promised power.
Su Ron lay sprawled on the cold metal floor of his apartment, utterly unconscious, his body transitioning from a powerless weakling to an Apprentice Stage 3 warrior waiting to be awakened.