━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
In Sprigfield, many factions were going through an upheaval. They had just received a piece of news that had spread out like wildfire.
"Are you sure it's him?!"
"Yes, no doubt, Sir! Just look at the video! That legendary orange wolf is a straight giveaway!!"
"Legendary? What's legendary about a ginger wolf? Anyway, so what if people call him the Demon King? He's just one man! No need to freak out…."
Some would instantly look down on him. After all, they had seen countless heroes in other games. So what if they could 1 v 5 or even 1 v 10? Once confronted with an organized army, they would die all the same!!
Others couldn't help but be wary of him:
"This guy's bad news. First, there's the tavern, then that incredible mana renewal thing, and finally all the rumors about him from the Tutorial!"
"Rumors?"
"They say he's a demon that devours people, monsters and devils alike with a gentle smile on his face."
"That's obvious propaganda!!"
"Is it? I've done business long enough to know that some businessmen do feel like demons. They'll exploit every little weakness and drive you in a corner with a smile. Then it's game over!"
"You mean?!"
"I'd much rather if the devouring was literal. At least that would be easy to guard against…."
Then there were the hopeful ones:
"What?! He's here?! He's an NPC, right?! That means more quests!!! It seems Sprigfield is about to get lucky! Quick, where is he?!"
"Boss, we lost track of him. He wore a disguise, turned a corner, and was suddenly gone. It was like magic!"
"Are you kidding me?! Even a brick would do a better job at tailing him! Fuck, you guys are all useless!"
Many factions started looking for Jack, whether for Quests, to open dialogue or simply to crush him. But they all had to drop the search quickly:
[Chaos Is Spreading In the Area!]
[Event! Sprigfield Town Is Under Attack!]
[Quest! Help the Militia Clean Up the Field!]
They came as a swarm, a swarm from Hell!
— Shriek! Shriek! —
"Oh god, are you kidding me?!"
"Are those freaking Zombie Rats?!"
━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
Hungry, so hungry! Rats were always hungry!
It knew hunger, it knew it all too well! It had always felt hungry, but it was even hungrier recently! It could feel its body change, and it needed energy, way more energy!
Its kind used to be bullied by every living creature. They'd scurry in the shadows, barely managing to steal enough scraps to survive. It was a pitiful existence but the only one they knew.
But ever since that day, they were different! That powerful energy had changed them! Now, the more they ate, the stronger they became and the more numerous they grew.
Their time had come!— or it should have been.
The food was lacking, and it limited their growth. There was only one place in the entire region with enough magical food for them to grow even stronger.
It was a paradise filled with nice-smelling orange things.
Sadly there were the two orange protectors and the smiling Demon. The latter was the worst! He looked human, smelled human, but wasn't!
Every night they battled for food— and got utterly crushed.
Regular humans were easy to escape from. As long as one avoided the silver rods, then everything would be fine. The Demon was different.
He'd cackle as he summoned hellish fire. Their newfound power was useless against him. But even then, they kept attacking because they needed to eat.
This time something strange happened. The Demon didn't send fire everywhere. No, he touched their bodies gently.
Had he run out of fire?! Many shrieked in excitement! No, he hadn't…he had just chosen a new method to kill them, one even scarier! His touch would destroy their bodies from the inside!
This particular rat fought to the best of its abilities, but a single touch was all it took. It died like the rest of its kind. But, somehow, it wasn't the end.
Somehow it could still move even dead! It could feel this new dark energy coursing through its body, and it was so wonderful!
Dying had made it weaker, but the pain was gone, the fear was gone, and the hunger had changed. This new energy was full of possibilities!
Before, they had been feeding on scraps and then larger scraps, but with this power, they'd be able to feed on living creatures!
That's when the Macabre Rat finally achieved enlightenment. It would share this power with its brethren! They would eat the humans, and they would grow limitlessly stronger together!
It knew where the others would spawn: it could feel it! In the dark night, a macabre rat was happily going around slaughtering its brethren.
One after the other, the creatures rose again as they were granted a new unlife…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
In the pumpkin farm courtyard, Jack was celebrating. He really fucking loved this new ability!
From now on, he'd be able to act strong: "Wanna fight? I don't even need a weapon to end you!" is what he'd say.
But just as he was rejoicing, peculiar messages popped in front of his eyes:
[Title: Bringer of Chaos has Activated!]
[Caused Mayhem in the World!]
[Brought About a Disaster!]
[Congratulations!]
"Wait, what?" Jack couldn't help but exclaim, puzzled.
"Is there an issue?" Pumpkin Girl asked on the side, frowning in worry as she glanced in the town's direction.
"Nope, at all!" He reassured her. A gentle kiss was all it took to make her forget her concerns as she beamed in joy.
But this time, she wouldn't settle for just a kiss as she gently dragged him toward the quiet farmhouse. Her smile was so enchanting as she promised to take really good care of him…
Should he check the town just in case?
Sprigfield Town, right? Never heard of it!
In any case, it wasn't like the macabre status could just spread by itself. Disaster? The system sure was a drama queen!
This would be minor trouble at worst….
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[A/N] Hype! Feb Mass Release Time! 🔥
Day 17: There are priorities in life! Let it be known! 🎃
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)