Ultimate Gamer System: Factory Must Grow!

Chapter 20 Hungry no more

Theo's first night... Or rather, his first sleep in this foreign new world was surprisingly nice.

Sure, he was deprived of all the goods of the modern world like temperature control, a comfy bed, or even something as simple as a pillow...

But after nearly an entire day and night of constant stress, work, and planning, even the bed made out of blocks of foliage squeezed down underneath his weight allowed him to get some proper rest.

Sadly, the same couldn't be said about the moment when he woke up.

'Wha...'

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Jumping up, Theo ended up striking his head against the ceiling of the small, coffin-like hole he dug into the side of his base before replacing the stone floor with dirt.

"Where the hell..."

Theo's heart nearly jumped out of his chest, only for him to finally recall what was going on.

'Where the hell am I? What the hell is this place? What the hell am I even doing here?'

Theo thought only to then shake his head.

"As if any of those answers were going to just come to me, huh..."

Shaking his head with exasperation over his naive wish for answers, Theo then clasped his open palm against his cheeks, hoping for the bit of pain to help him sober up from his drowsiness.

'Come on, man, you know what you need to do,' Theo thought, sitting on the edge of his green bedding, resting his elbow against his knees while hiding his slightly burning face within his palms.

A moment later, Theo stood up and jumped a few times to get the blood pumping through his veins.

"I need to get back to work. But just before that..."

"Well, it shouldn't hurt much to try, huh?" he muttered before using his other hand to pick one of the tiny balls and then throw it into his mouth.

The taste was... pretty bland, as if processing the berry somehow robbed all of the flavor value out of it. And yet...

'Wait, that's actually good,' Theo thought, his eyes skyrocketing on his face when he felt just this one bit, less than a proper bite... somehow deal with the empty sensation in his stomach.

"But if that's the case..." Theo's eyes rolled up only to then continue rolling all the way to the point where they landed on the bits of dried berry that scattered all over the floor.

"It's clear rock, the same place spring water usually comes from, so..." Theo gulped his saliva, "it wouldn't hurt anyone to pick them back up?"

A split-second decision later, Theo threw the rest of the berry mush he still had in his hand over to his mouth before getting down on his knees and grabbing all the berries he could find within the narrow circle of light cast by the torch he whipped out from his inventory.

Not long after, he managed to gather every last piece he dropped before, all before stuffing them into his mouth and then biting into another berry to wash this tasteless food down his throat with its momentary, divine juice.

"Damn..."

Shaking his head in exasperation as he felt somewhat sated for the first time in what felt like ages, Theo then took a glance at his hunger and thirst level.

The change wasn't all that massive, reaching nowhere near the levels of the high-level foods of the blocky or survival games.

For now, what it was worth, however, they pretty much eliminated the most urgent of Theo's worries. And all out of nowhere, the major reason for why he was in such a hurry to defeat the boss of the local area was no more.

'Still, knowing I can survive off those berries doesn't change the fact that for as long as that boss lives... I won't have any form of peace. Not when every outing to gather more of them comes with the added risk of being torn to shreds.'

Theo closed his eyes and leaned down, resting his hands against his knees as he took his time to chase the last remnants of his drowsiness.

"Either way, the Oilrat has to die. And if I want to make it happen anytime soon, then I've wasted enough time already."

Shaking his head, Theo took a deep breath before slowly, gradually letting it out.

"No matter what, I will finish that damned trap by the end of today!"