Hunger

Before leaving the village, Jon tried to find at least a little information about other villages he could get. He began to search the entire house, looking for books, newspapers, and anything that contained information about the world he was currently living in. However, Jon did not find a single book, not even a piece of paper. He felt strange, it was very unusual to him.

After a month of patience and preparing his physical and mental condition, Jon felt ready to leave his home. Although his body was still very thin compared to a normal body in general, at least the protruding ribs that were visible before had decreased, and his body was slightly plumper than before.

In the morning, when his mother was washing clothes and his father was working in the fields, Jon left without taking any supplies, only with a very long cloth that he used as a robe. The cloth was so long that it touched the ground and continued to be dragged in the direction Jon walked.

Jon left without saying goodbye.

Since the first day Jon woke up as Merlin, he realized that he had never seen Merlin's parents eat or drink. Whether they ate and drank secretly or not at all, Jon thought that with his departure, he could relieve some of the burden his parents carried.

On the other hand, his parents also knew that Jon would leave home. However, they didn't stop him. They looked at each other and smiled, tears slowly flowing from their eyes.

Shortly after Jon left, the bodies of Merlin's parents turned into fragments of light and slowly flew towards the sky until their bodies completely disappeared. Not only that, the house where Jon lived and the vast land he saw earlier began to reveal their true form. The houses gradually emerged one by one after being destroyed by Jon's departure. The vast land he saw earlier looked worse, darker, and drier.

Everything there looked like a depiction of hell.

One hundred meters away from Jon's house, there was a tall building that looked like the leaning tower of Pisa, but it was actually straighter than the original one. Jon was unaware of this.

There was a story going around about an incident that occurred in the village of Railis a year ago. A toddler was reported to have recited a level one spell that could summon creatures from the underworld, which eventually destroyed and wiped out the entire village. The toddler was Merlin Yvkiasha.

At that time, after Merlin passed out from using the spell, numerous monsters appeared in Railis and ravaged the village. Almost all of the villagers died as a result, including Merlin's parents. The monsters that appeared were not ordinary monsters. On average, they had great strength and were at a medium to high level. This was due to the emergence of an anomaly dungeon, which was truly different from any other dungeon in the world. The dungeon was one of the reasons why the monsters that appeared around Railis became so strong.

As a result of the incident, the human population in Merlin's kingdom drastically declined. It was rumored that nearly 50% of the humans in Merlin's kingdom lived in Railis, and only a few of them managed to escape, most of whom were protected by the royal army.

Jon, who was actually Merlin, was unaware of all of this.

On the other hand, Jon had already left Railis. He had been walking for almost two hours and had managed to find another village that was in much better condition than his previous one, a village called Balma. What was most important to Jon was not the condition of the village, but the fact that there was a lot of life in the village, which reduced his worries about loneliness.

As Jon stepped into the village, two guards stopped him.

"Hey kid! Where are you from? Where are your parents?"

"They're... at home."

"Why are you outside? Go inside, it's dangerous out here."

Just as Jon was about to continue his journey, he was stopped by the village guard for the second time. The guard grabbed Jon's shoulder.

—What's going on? Who is he? He's dressed so strangely and carrying a sword. Is he a thug? But he seems to be a village guard? Security guard? I don't know, maybe.

On the other hand, the guard was only slightly curious about Jon.

Seeing a little kid wandering around outside the village seemed very suspicious, especially considering the direction he came from was the cursed village of Railis. And there was only one road from the village of Balma to Railis, which Jon had just passed through.

However, the guard quickly dismissed his thoughts, thinking it didn't make sense for a little kid to have just returned from Railis. He thought maybe it was just a coincidence and their negligence in monitoring the movements of people entering and leaving Balma, especially young children.

"Hey, if you want to play, stay inside the village. Don't cause trouble that will bother us. Our salary is too small for this job, so please, boy... be a good kid."

"..?"

—Shut up.

Jon then entered the village. After a few steps, he was amazed by everything he saw in the village. Cool air, lots of plants and trees, clean roads, and of course, many people coming and going in the village.

It was very different from the village where he lived. Jon wondered why Merlin's parents were so comfortable living in that uninhabited village and why they didn't move and live in this village instead. The distance wasn't too far, Jon thought.

Jon was quite surprised by the design of the buildings around him. The buildings had a European style from the 1980s, and it made Jon think he was thrown back in time. Jon also saw several shops selling unique items that he had never seen before.

As Jon's eyes were busy looking at everything in the village, he almost collided with someone who was tall and carrying a lot of baggage, making it hard to see Jon who was smaller. However, with quick reflexes, Jon managed to avoid the collision.

"Whoa!! Be careful, man! You're a damn jerk." Jon yelled at the person.

Jon was very surprised because he almost got hit and injured. However, at the same time, he felt deja vu. His body felt like it had already experienced and remembered something similar before. That's what allowed him to easily avoid the collision.

—I can't believe I was daydreaming like that, I really didn't see it coming.

On the other hand, the person in front of Jon realized that he almost hit a little child. He tried to avoid Merlin's body, but his two legs collided with each other and he fell down, scattering the items he was carrying.

Jon saw the incident but continued on his way without caring about what had happened because he felt that the accident was not his fault.

"I'm sorry, are you okay? Wait...who did you just call..." the person who almost hit Merlin started to say, but Jon had already gone far away from him.

Jon was still confused about his purpose in the village. He felt useless and was just wandering aimlessly. Moreover, he was very hungry at the moment. Since leaving Railis village, he hadn't eaten anything.

Jon thought, what could a four-year-old child do? In his soul, he was a 17-year-old teenager, not an ordinary one, but a notorious school thug feared by all the students in the city.

Unlike before, where his followers would surely help him, Jon had to do it alone with the body of a weak and skinny little child. In fact, Jon still didn't know who he was, who Merlin was, and why he was in that world.

Shortly after, Jon saw a group of armed people entering the village with their clothes covered in blood.

The group consisted of four people wearing hoods that covered their heads. The hoods they wore were covered in bloodstains, and each of them carried sharp weapons, arrows, and shields. Lastly, there was a woman carrying a large object wrapped in cloth.

—Who are they? Their appearance is so strange. And what is he carrying? It's so big. His body is small but he's able to carry something that large. Even I might not have been able to carry it before. By the way, why do I often see people carrying sharp weapons? Is it legal here? Is there no law? What kind of place is this? It's so strange.

Shortly after, the group that Jon was observing entered a fairly large place and came out carrying food and a bag filled with gold, silver, and bronze coins. One of them even flicked a gold coin into the air repeatedly so Jon could see it.

—What is that...gold? Gold coins? Are gold coins the currency here? I don't know. Wait...don't tell me they're a group of robbers?!! Did they just rob that place?!! Look! Their clothes are even covered in bloodstains. I'm so hungry, should I threaten them?

Jon intended to ask for a little share of what they had or he would report them to the guards or even shout if they were a group of robbers. However, Jon felt hesitant because his small body wouldn't be able to do much. Even small children wouldn't be afraid of him.

Jon thought hard about what he should do. Right in front of him, there was an opportunity to fill his empty stomach. Jon didn't want to beg or seek someone's mercy, even though he was a weak little child. Jon had his pride. Although what he was trying to do now was not much different from begging, it was more towards the criminal side.

Jon stood for a long enough time observing the movements of the four people, who seemed to be stopping at a bar. Jon actually didn't care what they were doing in that place, whether it was robbing or stealing.

—Ah!! Damn it! I'll just go to them! I'm not afraid!

He didn't care anymore, in his mind there was only hunger. Jon didn't want to waste the opportunity in front of him.

Do it or die of hunger.

Jon approached the four people having lunch in a bar and sat on the same chair as them.

"Hey, what are you doing here, kid?!" said one of the men with thick hair all over his body.

"Kid?! Calm down, I need to stay calm," Jon thought to himself.

"Hmm? Who is this naughty boy?" asked one of the four men in front of him who had the biggest body.

"Why are you all being so harsh on him? Relax. Jose, you're not yourself today. He's just a kid, there's nothing to worry about. Hey... kid, who are you? What are you doing in a place like this? Are you lost?" asked the only woman among them.

One of them chose to stay quiet and ignore the situation.

Jon remained silent, he was really nervous. He tried to concentrate and focus. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"I know you're robbers, I won't report you, so just give me the bag and some food, or I'll scream."

The atmosphere suddenly became silent, even the whole bar suddenly became quiet.

"Pfft!!! BUAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! HEY!! This kid says, this kid says we're robbers?!!! BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

The hairy man laughed at his statement, and it made the people in the bar laugh too.

"Hey Fenrir, you're already drunk. It's only been a few drinks-sueekkkkkk!!!", said the last man who had many tattoos all over his body.

"Hahahahaha! You're so pathetic, X!" said Fenrir, the man with hair all over his body.

—What's wrong with these damn people?! Are they... are they all in on it?!! Damn, and also... this guy, really makes me so angry. He's been calling me a kid! One or two times, I might still be patient, but... he's gone too far.

Jon clenched his fists, his anger reaching its peak. Unconsciously, Jon had stirred something within him. He stood on the chair, and when something inside him was about to come out, one of the four people offered food to Jon. The man had the largest body among the four.

"Do you want this? Take it, eat. Forget them, forgive me for calling you a naughty child earlier, take this as my apology," the man offered food to Jon.

Jon, who was very angry, couldn't hold back his hunger. His emotions instantly subsided after eating.

"Ah, thank you," said Jon.

"You're welcome."

However, the laughter of the people in the bar continued to disturb. Fenrir, one of the four, kept laughing at Jon.

"BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Look at him?!! GAHAHAHAHA!" Fenrir exclaimed.

"Hey, Fenrir, shut the fuck up! Don't be noisy! Do you want me to burn your feathers again, huh?" Zeta retorted.

"Ahaha..ha..ah...I'm sorry, Zeta."

"By the way, what's your name boy?"

Zeta asked Jon.

"Jo-uh......Merlin, yes...Merlin Yvkiasha."

The atmosphere became quiet for a moment after Jon mentioned his name.

Soon, while Jon was eating, he was suddenly threatened by various weapons by the three other people who asked for his name. Jon raised both his hands holding the chicken leg and his mouth chewing food.

He was really surprised.

"Hey!! Hey! Hey! Calm down, I'm just a kid. What's wrong with you guys?!!" said Jon.

"Don't move, if you move... you die," said one of the three.

—What's going on here?!! Damn it! Why is it like this?!! Ahh, damn it!! Stupid!! Why am I so stupid?! Of course, they were just playing with me?! They trapped me by giving me food! Of course, they would be angry when I found out they were robbers! Damn it.