The Gourmet Metropolis sat in the heart of the Human World, one of its most dazzling cities. At its center rose the world-famous Gourmet City, drawing foodies from everywhere—home to the famed Gourmet Tower, Setsuno's Diner, and more.
That was where Shun and Hojo Miyoko were headed.
They stepped out through the front gate of Shokurin Temple—and moments later, the temple behind them faded from sight.
They knew where they were going. The problem—no, the challenge—was how to safely leave the temple's hidden domain.
Shokurin Temple was secret not only because it was built from Invisible Cedar—wood with a will of its own that revealed or concealed the temple according to a visitor's heart—but also because it stood within a vast, peril-thick wilderness: the Sea of Trees.
It was one of the Human World's designated danger zones.
A true ocean of plants, it smothered the sky with ancient trunks and tangled boughs. The terrain shifted, paths were nonexistent, and to make matters worse, the cedar's nature—and the temple's ambient field—distorted magnetism and even one's sense of space: ordinary compasses failed, and it was disarmingly easy to lose direction.
Even those who had once found the temple rarely remembered the way back clearly.
"How… do we get out?" Miyoko looked at the endless ranks of titanic trees—each one looking the same, the horizon swallowed in bark and shade.
On the way in, the system had teleported them to the gate. Walking out under their own power proved far harder than expected.
Shun's expression tightened. He closed his eyes and extended his senses.
After his breakthrough, Food Honor had greatly sharpened his perception. He could faintly feel the "moods" of the surrounding flora, and the flow of energy through the grove.
This was the first test after leaving the temple. If they couldn't even clear this, they had no business standing in this world.
After a moment, Shun opened his eyes and fixed on a direction.
"Miyoko, stay close."
With Food Honor now at Advanced, finding a way out by following those currents wasn't difficult—provided nothing else got in the way.
So Shun led, Miyoko followed, and the two of them picked their steps through the Sea of Trees.
The forest was too quiet. In a place like this there should have been beasts everywhere; yet after half an hour, they saw not one.
The silence didn't soothe—it chilled. An unseen pressure pressed at them, like something watching from the dark, keeping everything else at bay.
"It's too quiet," Miyoko whispered, unconsciously edging closer, eyes scanning. "I don't like this."
Shun's brow creased. His Food Honor sense was keener; he could feel that the emotion of this area wasn't calm but frightened, as if something terrible had just passed through—or was still nearby.
"Something's here."
He quickened his pace. Skirting a giant tree so wide it would take ten adults to encircle it, they reached an opening—and stopped cold, pupils tightening.
Scattered across the clearing lay four or five hulking carcasses.
Armored Boars, Capture Level 20—famed for stone-hard plates and devastating charges.
Now they were silent heaps. The plates that shrugged off blades were raked with gouges to the bone—vast claw marks carved like soft clay.
The air was heavy with iron and blood.
"What happened here?" Miyoko's voice faltered.
You couldn't blame her. She had learned the basics of Food Honor, but she'd never left the temple these past two months; the outside world was still a blank map.
"It's coming."
It was Shun's first encounter with something like this as well, but he was steadier.
A thunderous roar exploded from the thicket—followed by a visible wave of dark-red force that scythed through trees like straw!
A colossal shadow burst from the woods at impossible speed, landing among the boar corpses.
A tiger—monstrous in size, grotesquely fierce.
Its coat was not natural hue, but a deep dark red.
Its eyes blazed with tangible crimson fire, seething with hunger and violence. Fresh blood still dripped from its claws—the killer of the Armored Boars stood before them.
Shun frowned, riffling his memory for anything like this from the "plot," finding nothing. The Gourmet World held too many beasts; only a fraction had ever been named.
No intel. They'd have to feel this one out—carefully.
Then the system's long-silent chime rang in Shun's mind.
Ding—Quest triggered: [Elevate Yourself III].
Quest: [Elevate Yourself III]
Objective: Your first step after leaving Shokurin Temple is to defeat the beast before you. Capture the Dark-Red Blazetiger with everything you've got.
Rewards: New system feature unlocked; Realize "Shoku-arts Armament."
…
"Capture."
Shun's eyes narrowed. The requirement was harsh—but the reward was irresistible.
A new feature, and Shoku-arts Armament.
Even if he had to go all-out, he would bring this thing down.
"Miyoko—scared?" Shun asked, smiling instead of shrinking, excitement flickering in his gaze. "This is our first battle."
Miyoko had felt a pinch of anxiety—but hearing him, a surge of courage rose to meet it. She wanted to see what two months of grinding had truly forged.
She squared her stance, breath steadying.
"Let's do it."
…
(End of Chapter)
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