Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was under a street tree that emitted a faint light.

* Popong.

Along with the sound of bubbles popping, a faint light appeared before my eyes.

“Huh?”

Animal friend discovered!

A blue lizard.

‘Is it really a lizard?’

Judging by the faint phosphorescence shimmering along its spine, it didn’t seem like an ordinary animal.

Spirit Flame ‘Hwayo.’

Level: ???

Traits: ???

‘Where did it come from?’

I didn’t know, but it was a good find.

‘So I just have to catch this guy, right?’

I cautiously crept toward it, keeping an eye on its movements.

It tilted its head with a dull expression, not looking wary at all.

“Come here.”

I reached out my hand.

* Fwaaah!

Its mouth opened wide, and blue flames surged toward my palm.

“Ah, hot!”

Shaking my hand with a fuss, I suddenly froze.

I couldn’t quite process what had just happened.

“What, what is this? Since when does a lizard breathe fire?”

It wasn’t even a monster.

‘I’ve never heard of anyone raising a demonic beast before.’

There were skills in this world for handling summoned creatures, sure—

—but judging by the way it was wandering aimlessly along the roadside, this one wasn’t a summoned beast.

It was a complete lore-breaker for the world of .

‘Hwayo’ seems to be in an irritable state because it’s hungry!

Let’s try giving it some food!

“Where am I supposed to get food?”

If you don’t have any, then make some and give it!

“…Even when you speak, it’s always like that.”

I didn’t know what kind of person had made this children’s game, but every single word felt like it had a hidden jab.

‘Can’t it just obediently let me catch it?’

Thinking that, I reached for the lizard again, but it once again let out a ‘Fwaaah!’ and breathed fire.

* Fwaaaah!

“Ow, hot! You’re driving me crazy.”

Scratching my head roughly, I had no choice but to get up.

“You stay right here. If you don’t want to get caught and sold off to some apothecary, stay put! That’s a warning!”

Muttering threats that it probably wouldn’t even understand, I quickly left the spot.

My destination was the school store.

‘Luckily, it shouldn’t take long to get there.’

After running for a while, I spotted a small two-story building that looked like a convenience store.

‘Since I don’t know what it likes, I’ll just get everything.’

Without thinking too much, I bought a bunch of pet snacks and hurried back.

When I returned to the street tree, panting, the lizard was nowhere to be seen.

“What? Where is it?”

After searching for a while, I found it not too far away.

“Phew… I thought you’d run away.”

It was at the lakeside, lapping up the water.

“Here, eat this. I bought it for you, so eat it all.”

I dumped the pet food from the bag in front of it, peeling the canned food and sausages so they’d be easy to eat.

“Go on, eat.”

Just as I was about to set the snacks near it, the lizard opened its mouth again.

* Fwaaah!

“Hot! I knew it, damn it.”

With it breathing fire in caution, I had no choice but to toss the food from a distance.

Only then did it sniff and start showing interest.

“Yeah, go ahead and eat.”

I rummaged in the bag and took out a boiled egg.

It was food I had bought for myself to eat later.

‘Since I have a frail constitution, I should snack here and there to replenish my strength.’

Just as I peeled it and was about to put it in my mouth—

“What the…?”

The lizard’s eyes turned toward me.

Then it quickly crawled over.

“What’s wrong? Is this a thank-you gesture or something?”

When I saw the lizard flailing at my feet, I frowned.

It had ignored the pet snacks I threw and come straight to me.

Was it showing gratitude?

That thought vanished the moment I realized what its eyes were fixed on.

“Wait… this?”

It wasn’t looking at me—it was staring straight at the boiled egg.

“Why not just eat the other stuff…?”

Grumbling, I held the egg out.

It swallowed it whole in one gulp.

“Can you even taste it when you eat like that?”

After devouring three eggs in a row, its gluttony finally stopped.

-The Spirit Flame ‘Hwayo’ has lowered its guard toward you.

-This is your chance to bring it to the farm!

‘That easy?’

So all I had to do was feed it? What a simple creature.

Well, animals were usually like that.

‘Now that I think about it, I heard lizards are naturally like that.’

I’d heard before that lizards don’t really recognize a “master,” but instead think of someone as simply “the one who feeds me.”

Feed them and they’re docile, but there’s no loyalty in their hearts.

-Hold it and say, ‘Animal Registration.’

“This really does feel like just picking it up off the street.”

I carefully cupped the creature in my hands.

‘It really is beautiful.’

Hwayo’s skin, shimmering with a blue glow, was dazzling.

“Animal Registration.”

In that moment, my vision flashed.

Hwayo’s body was wrapped in light and slowly vanished.

-You have successfully registered the Spirit Flame ‘Hwayo’!

-Your first animal friend has arrived at the farm!

I quickly looked at the Animal Farm screen.

Unlike before when it was empty,

a single lizard was now crawling in a corner of the blue field.

Spirit Flame ‘Hwayo’

Level: 2

Mood: Happy, full, stress 0%.

Traits: Flame-breathing lizard. As its level increases, the power of its flames and available skills also increase.

‘Looks like it really did register.’

Judging from its info, it seemed to like the field it was wandering in.

‘Level? What’s that about?’

Even with just one animal in the farm, there were still so many things I didn’t know.

-To increase its level, keep it in a happy state!

As if reading my thoughts, the text appeared before my eyes.

“So it’ll just level up if I leave it alone?”

-To level up faster, you need experience points. You can also gain experience through battles.

“Battles?”

That was completely unexpected.

“Battles?”

Were they telling me to make it fight now? I didn’t understand.

How was that even supposed to work?

‘Could it be… I can handle it like a summoned beast?’

Wasn’t it the same idea?

‘Yes!’

Realizing this, I exclaimed.

‘Maybe Hwayo’s abilities actually work on monsters!’

A shiver of excitement ran through my whole body.

‘An animal with special abilities… if I can control it…?’

This will work!

‘But… how?’

-To use Hwayo’s abilities externally, it must reach Level 3. At that point, its combat functions will be activated.

“Really? Then…”

So all I had to do was raise its level?

‘I have no idea what kind of combat abilities it’ll have, but it’s still better than having no possibilities at all.’

Hwayo’s level was 2.

It was right on the verge of reaching Level 3.

‘I’ll do whatever it takes to raise it by just one more level. Just one step!’

I didn’t yet know how exactly it could use its abilities, but compared to when I knew nothing, this was hopeful.

A moment of burning desire surged through me.

‘I can grow too! Then I can escape the livestock pen!’

That happy thought carried me through the day.

The moment I woke up in the morning, I checked the Animal Farm.

A small game screen floated in the air.

“Did you sleep well?”

On the screen, Hwayo was curled up, seemingly fast asleep, with only a “Zzz” sign hovering over its body.

Its experience bar still hadn’t budged from 0%.

‘Well, that’s expected since it’s done nothing but sleep since yesterday.’

It would’ve been nice if sleeping could raise its experience, but it didn’t seem to work that way.

I had heard combat was only possible from Level 3.

‘Then for now, how am I supposed to raise its experience…?’

I still couldn’t figure out the method.

The only hint I had was to keep it in a good mood.

I had a vague idea.

‘If I feed it and play with it… maybe that’s enough.’

After all, this was a game.

If I raised it well with love, wouldn’t the experience go up naturally?

‘If there’s no progress in the next few days, I’ll just try a different approach.’

I quickly changed into my school uniform and set out for class.

The weather was refreshing, but the atmosphere around me felt heavy.

The stares from the students pricked at me like needles.

‘I’m getting a lot of attention.’

It was only natural.

The incident where the princess revealed her identity and punished Villed had spread far and wide.

With so many contemptuous looks directed at me, a normal person might have felt ashamed.

‘But I don’t feel anything.’

Neither I—nor Villed—cared in the slightest.

If anything, I felt like glaring back and asking what they were staring at.

I had a good guess as to why.

‘It must be because of this body’s influence.’

Villed was a thug to the bone.

If I shouted back here, I’d be no different from him.

‘I’ll just ignore it and get by.’

I didn’t want to lose my own sense of self.

As much as possible, I wanted to resist Villed’s personality.

When I turned my gaze elsewhere,

I made eye contact with a group of students.

‘Those guys… they were Villed’s underlings.’

But they broke out in a cold sweat and quickly looked away.

It was clear they intended to cut ties with me.

That was natural.

‘The princess publicly declared her hatred for me, and the academy also handed me severe punishment.’

I’d already had a bad reputation as a twisted noble, but after the princess incident, my standing had completely collapsed.

It was the same in the game.

After Chapter 1’s completion, Villed was shoved to the sidelines and barely even appeared.

‘His ruined reputation lasted all the way until the protagonist’s graduation ending.’

But I didn’t care.

There was only one thing I wanted.

‘I don’t care about anything else. A normal life is the best life.’

That was my goal.

I didn’t want to get involved with the protagonist, and I just wanted to escape the livestock pen and graduate safely.

‘The protagonist will protect the world, and I’ll just graduate peacefully after leaving the livestock pen.’

Graduation from Yggdrasil was essential to be acknowledged by the Dedenkman family, Villed’s family.

‘He’s the son of a noble, after all. If he graduates, it’s a life of luxury forever.’

If I could just graduate, a prosperous life awaited me.

Considering how sick I was of the school farm, I needed this kind of mental victory to keep going.

‘Yeah, I’ll endure it just for that.’

When I arrived in the lecture hall, I looked around.

After finding a decent spot and sitting down, it wasn’t long before the professor entered.

“Starting today, we’ll begin preparing for the group test. Here’s how it works.”

It was what I had expected.

‘Sure enough, it starts today.’

I already knew the details.

‘Group dungeon exploration.’

In teams of three, students would explore a dungeon artificially created by the academy.

‘The difficulty isn’t that high…’

…but that was only true for the protagonist, with their high stats and rapid growth rate.

In contrast, Villed’s stats were bottom-tier among beginners.

‘Still, I know all the details, so…’

It wouldn’t be a big problem.

Any weaknesses could be covered by the information I already had.

Besides, I wasn’t doing it alone.

“The groups will now be announced.”

The teams had already been decided.

I was placed in Group F4.

“Move to your group’s table and start discussing your strategy.”

Following the professor’s words, the students stood and gathered with their assigned teams.

‘F4…’

Two people were already seated at the F4 table.

A blonde-haired girl and a black-haired girl.

“Ah…”

Both of them looked at me like they had just seen a ghost.