Ian was furious.
Absolutely furious.
Human selfishness was on full display in him at that moment. He had thought he was the only one in the universe sleepwalking through a fantasy world, only to find out that those nightly nightmares were not some exclusive perk reserved just for him.
Who would not be mad?
Seriously.
There was a second Alice now.
Ian felt genuinely miserable. He had somehow ended up with a trashy, disappointing cheat ability. His rage meter filled in an instant as he charged forward, trying to grab the man by the collar through the serving window.
However,
after several frantic attempts,
"Damn it! Get closer!"
Because his arms were too short, Ian could not reach through the little head-sized window and grab the man at all. The hunched chef even smacked his hands a few times with the soup ladle.
Of course,
that only worked for a few hits.
Then Ian caught the ladle.
"Who are you? Why hasn't your soul accepted my blessing?"
The chef started wrestling with Ian over the ladle. As they tugged back and forth, he also asked his question.
He was clearly confused by the fact that Ian had not fallen into the same puppet-like state as Kara.
"A hopeless soul!"
That was the chef's judgment of Ian's "abnormal" condition.
"The hell I am! You love talking about blessings so much? Fine, I'll give you a proper blessing right now!"
Ian drew back his fist and prepared to smash the glass barrier in front of the window.
But then,
"Move over. It's mealtime. I need to eat."
Kara, eyes dazed and expression vacant, squeezed in front of Ian.
She had apparently been standing in line behind him this whole time.
Now she looked like she had completely run out of patience.
Sure enough,
she stared fixedly at the glowing green food behind the serving window, swallowing over and over, with a dreamy little smile on her face and naked hunger in her eyes.
"Yes... this is how it should be..."
The chef nodded in satisfaction, then pulled out another ladle from behind himself and scooped up a bowl of thick soup bubbling with eerie green foam, handing it to Kara.
Kara took the bowl blankly and slowly lifted it, looking ready to drink it.
"No, Aunt Kara! You cannot handle what's in that bowl!"
Ian strongly suspected the creepy chef was working off a Gul'dan playbook, just like Ian had gained something tied to the Hulk.
"I'm hungry!"
Kara, still in a daze, struggled with Ian over the bowl. Naturally, she was much stronger than him. Seeing that the soup was about to reach her lips, Ian could only activate his super wisdom in desperation.
"I'll do it! I can handle it!"
Ian glanced at his skill panel. The Berserker class had plenty of skills that traded negative effects for temporary boosts in strength.
And he still had one unused class skill point.
That was proof that keeping something in reserve was always important.
Seeing Kara about to be affected, Ian thrust his head forward and slurped the entire bowl dry in one go.
"The taste is actually pretty good?"
Ian smacked his lips in surprise.
It looked disgusting.
It smelled disgusting.
Yet somehow it had a strangely addictive aftertaste.
"I get it now! Stinky tofu! A brand new version of stinky tofu!"
Ian felt as though he had finally deciphered the recipe. At the same time, a new status appeared on his panel.
[Blood Curse]
It was a very green-looking status effect.
It would slowly mutate Ian's body, while also eroding his mind and guiding him toward corruption and madness.
"Yes, that's right... for victory! For the new world!"
The chef did not seem angry at all that Ian had stolen Kara's bowl. Instead, he smiled with deep satisfaction, as if things were finally proceeding as they should.
"So you want the world to know pain too?"
Ian smacked his lips again. He did not feel corrupted at all.
Of course,
the physical changes were visible immediately.
Ian looked down at his own hand and saw green energy pulsing beneath the skin. It was not especially intense yet, more like something lying dormant and quietly gathering strength.
[You are undergoing fel corruption. EXP +1]
It had to be said,
this was by far the most severe negative status Ian had acquired since becoming a Berserker. A normal person would probably already be panicking.
But instead,
"I'm about to level up! This tastes amazing! I love it!"
Seeing the chef serve another bowl to Kara, Ian immediately snatched that one too and chugged it down.
Kara's face showed genuine irritation at having her food stolen.
"Wait, you..."
The chef, meanwhile, stared at Ian in shock.
"You actually have this much affinity? Good, good, good. You're exactly the kind of devout and gifted warrior I need."
Once the chef recovered from his surprise and saw Ian drain the second bowl with obvious satisfaction, he became ecstatic.
He hurriedly started ladling out more.
One bowl after another, he kept handing them to Ian.
Gulp gulp gulp.
Gulp gulp gulp.
Gulp gulp gulp.
Ian accepted every single one.
As time went on,
he drank more than ten bowls of the green soup in a row. The chef, who had initially grown more and more excited, gradually realized something was wrong.
Under normal circumstances, the boy should have already begun his full transformation by now.
"There's something wrong with you!"
The chef angrily stopped serving more green soup.
"What? Stingy much?"
Ian looked around, then dragged over a nearby water hose and deftly shoved it through the lower gap under the serving window straight into the giant soup pot.
Even though [Blood Curse] said it would affect sanity, Ian did not feel himself going mad in the slightest.
Nor had drinking that much soup unlocked some kind of Hulk transformation.
His strength had not gone up either.
So where was the promised bigger, stronger body after drinking the magic brew? As a Berserker whose stats leaned heavily in one direction, Ian was fully prepared to sacrifice intelligence if it meant his strength could finally surpass his spirit.
Unfortunately, fate did not understand him.
"You tell me, did you water down the demon blood? You bastard!"
Ian slurped away furiously through the hose while pulling out his knife and continuing to grind levels like crazy.
Do not misunderstand.
This was not because his sanity had dropped.
It was because Ian realized the soup was an incredible tonic. After drinking a little, he could use Regenerative Surge, steadily farm experience, and avoid the hunger crash that usually followed.
It was practically the perfect leveling broth tailor-made for him.
[You are undergoing fel corruption. EXP +1]
[HP Loss. EXP +2]
Ian's knife was moving so fast it left afterimages. Between the two separate streams of experience gain, he was getting double the joy. Before long, his whole aura changed.
He leveled up.
[Strength: 5.8 -> 8.5]
[Constitution: 4.7 -> 6.7]
[Intelligence: 2.6 -> 2.7]
[Spirit: 6.8 -> 7.1]
[Level Up Reward: Class Skill Point +1, Rank Weight Increased, Incorrect Data Cleared.]
(End of Chapter)
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