The Mode That Made Me Hungry

"Slaughter stones containing the power of a Slaughter Immortal?"

"It's power perfectly suited for killing or harming others. Not bad, right? Plus I disguised it as spiritual energy, so nobody will even notice unless they touch it directly."

"Acceptable. Considering the value of my life as well, how about this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠price?"

I glared with open dissatisfaction at Cheon Nan-cho, who was snickering her way through a conversation with a neutral NPC. Right — unlike me, Cheon Nan-cho didn't look like she had personal trade mode applied to NPCs, so of course she could buy things from merchant NPCs the normal way.

I'd give her credit for the ambitious plan of restocking the warehouse I'd blown up during the invasion event. My real problem was the simple fact that a gray dot had entered the base at all.

There was no telling when a misfortune event or an eok-kka event might trigger. Of course I couldn't relax!

And the petty, ugly jealousy of I can't even use things that haven't received an [Item] judgment! was just a bonus.

I knew that now that Cheon Nan-cho had reached the Golden Core realm, she needed cultivation resources for training, and that meant trade or plunder. I knew that!

I knew!

But still!

"Hey, if you don't wrap up this deal soon, I don't think I can stop that one — I mean, my master. She's seriously going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to kill you."

"Ahaha, I see. Understood. A shame, but let's end today's trade here. Until our next transaction."

"Yeah. See you next time."

Whether she genuinely hadn't seen the clouds of killing intent billowing up and choking the air around her throat, or whether she was just pretending not to, the moment the deal with the cultivator who'd introduced himself as a wandering merchant was finished, Cheon Nan-cho flew to Yu Hee in a desperate rush and clung to her with her whole body.

"That one… I'm not going to kill him, so let go."

"I don't believe you."

"Tch."

Come on — the standard rule with merchant NPCs is that you pickpocket them or buy out their entire stock and then kill them to recover the money and the experience points, right? And since the goods a merchant NPC sells only restock at that merchant's own base, cleaning them up afterward should be perfectly fine!

But Cheon Nan-cho was glaring daggers at me, so I had no choice but to give it up.

What a waste. That merchant NPC felt like he would've dumped a mountain of experience and slaughter energy.

More precisely, he gave off the thick, nose-stinging scent of fragrant blood that had aged and soured like old wine left to turn to vinegar.

If I stabbed a guy like that, I just knew the sweetest dessert of slaughter energy would come pouring out—

"Ah."

Caught in the unconscious current of that thought, I cocked my head so hard my neck cracked.

I had become a cultivator. I only wore a human shape. I neither ate nor slept nor excreted — and yet, somewhere in that unconscious impulse just now…

There had been appetite.

"Come to think of it."

Not long ago, I'd also been making every excuse in the book to mimic sleep under the name of "rest."

Which meant…

"Some other goddamn mode must have activated."

Among all the new modes unlocked by the innate ability that evolved when I hit Golden Core — level 300 — there had to be a culprit.

For example.

"Looking at how Summon still works fine… it's not [Ironman Mode]. So [Survival Mode], then."

A shitty difficulty-spike mode that jams system values for [Fatigue], [Satiety], and [Thirst] into your character.

I remembered it as one of the godawful modes made by the same bastard who created [Ironman Mode]!

And originally, [Fatigue], [Satiety], and [Thirst] were supposed to show up as UI elements — but they weren't visible at all, which meant the reality patch had stacked on top of it, and I had to judge everything by pure sensation!

"No wonder my mouth's been so dry lately!"

"You're not even a mortal, and food with no spiritual energy does nothing for cultivation. Why force yourself to choke it down?"

"Because there are penalties if I don't?"

When [Fatigue] drops, you get a stat penalty. When [Satiety] drops, a skill penalty. When [Thirst] drops, a level penalty. What any of that has to do with anything, I have no idea. Take it up with the guy who made the mode.

Not that yelling at that Ironman ghost bastard would deal any damage!

I dipped the bug's foreleg in honey and crunched it down with wet, grinding chews.

It was a material item, but its essence was a clump of spiritual energy that had cohered even while my monster's corpse was being converted into experience. So of course it received an "item" judgment.

Which meant I could eat it like this.

Absorbing spiritual energy or spiritual power through the act of eating was a perfectly ordinary practice among cultivators, after all!

"That said, most cultivators don't bother caring about the taste."

"But it tastes like absolute garbage. At least dipping it in honey makes it bearable."

I watched Cheon Nan-cho heave and grunt through mining work on the training ground floor while I pulverized the honey-slathered material item with teeth wrapped in slaughter energy and my enormous physical stats, then swallowed the shards.

"So what kind of training are you even doing? Grinding? Playing miner?"

"I'm mining slaughter stones! Trade materials to restore the warehouse goods we blew up! High-quality spirit stones!"

"What? Why does the base even have a mine like that?"

"Because every time you train here, Hee-a, slaughter energy and killing intent pour out of you. And this place has zero spiritual energy except for the spirit stones in my bag."

"So? Mmph, mmph."

"So nothing. A mineral vein steeped in the slaughter energy and killing intent you keep spewing just formed in empty ground. That's all."

"Chew, chew."

"Ugh, I don't care, I'm exhausted! Give me some of that too!"

Cheon Nan-cho flung her pickaxe aside, and the two of us gorged on honey together. Being cultivators, there was zero risk of a sugar headache, getting fat, or diabetes no matter how much sweet stuff we ate, so we truly pigged out without a care in the world.

Only I got hit with a penalty from overeating.

Unfair!

Anyway, I'd confirmed the culprit mode, and I'd enjoyed the base as much as I wanted.

"Deactivate Survival Mode."

"Turn it the fuck off."

Only after burning through ninety percent of my slaughter energy — which had grown massively in both quality and quantity since reaching Golden Core — could I finally deactivate a single mode.

The fact that modes applied only to me personally could now be turned off, even if they ate a lot of slaughter energy, was a genuine relief. Thank god for that!

If I had my way, I'd shut off this goddamn Xianxia Mode first!

"Oh, by the way, Cheon Nan-cho. I've got a question."

"What is it this time?"

"You said cultivators are usually short on cultivation resources, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Then why not just plant a ton of them and grow them? While cultivators are off training for decades or centuries, wouldn't the resources just multiply on their own?"

"Listen, Hee-a."

"Yeah."

"That's not called growing them. That's called abandoning them. Without constant care, they'll get choked out by weeds and die. And you'd still need to secure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the spiritual power, spiritual energy, and resources to raise cultivation materials for decades or centuries."

"Couldn't you just set up the environment right?"

"No. Cultivation resources take time, sure, but they also suck spiritual energy out of a huge area. The kind of mass farming you're talking about is only possible for giant sects."

True to her role as a walking help menu, she wiped out my curiosity in an instant.

But that wasn't why I'd asked the question.

"Hmm… what if I applied my innate ability?"

"What weird thing are you trying now?"

"Activate [Farming Mode]."

I activated Farming Mode — which, despite the name "farming" at the base, was really just six 3×3 tiles that periodically duplicated registered consumable items below Unique grade.

"If I plant consumables… cultivation resources here, they get copied on a timer."

"Copying spiritual energy? That doesn't make any… wait. With your innate ability, Hee-a…"

"As long as the spiritual energy isn't too dense — Unique-grade and under — it copies. But if you don't harvest the copies on schedule, the duplication stops."

"If you had something like this, you should have told me sooner! We could have planted a whole field and been copying already!"

"Ah, this one only appeared after I hit Golden Core."

Leveling up had unlocked more than one or two modes. Just reviewing the combat-side modes alone had taken forever. And since even checking or inspecting modes burned through slaughter energy nonstop, it was bound to take even longer.

This trash game always came back around to mode power in the end!

Which is exactly why Xianxia Mode is garbage.

Even for a game, what kind of mode makes you play a single title for years? As long as you can clear the Heavenly Tribulation events, your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lifespan just keeps stretching, and the default class — cultivator — doesn't even have a level cap?

I'd quit out of sheer boredom, I swear!

And then the reality patch stacked on top so I couldn't quit or drop the game at all, so of course it was a nightmare!

And that nightmare is my actual situation! Yeah, this really fucking sucks!

Except this time, at least, that particular problem wasn't on the table!