"No wonder he's stronger!" Venix thought to himself in amazement.

After the last Sheep died, Venix could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking around, he saw eight dead Sheep scattered on the ground.

"Hey, this is a good harvest." Venix smiled.

Venix pondered for a moment. Should he extract the animal carcasses, or absorb them using the ability?

After using the ability, Venix didn't receive any materials dropped by the Animals.

" ability provides me with Exp and certain enhancements in my body..." Venix contemplated.

At this moment, he could be said to have made quite a harvest. If he extracted the Animal carcasses, he would obtain some valuable materials or perhaps good equipment that he could sell at a high price to other players.

Although Venix planned to make money in the game, his current condition didn't lack money or have any urgent needs.

"I'm lagging behind other players in terms of levels, and there are certain improvements when I the carcasses of other Animals. I don't know what it means, but it might be useful in the future." Venix decided quickly.

Then Venix walked like a duck on the ground, approaching one of the Sheep.

Increasing his pain level to the maximum, Venix felt the same intense sensation as before.

Without wasting time, Venix extended his beak and touched the Sheep's corpse on the ground.

But unlike before, the ability did not activate automatically.

Venix was confused, but because he had better control of the energy in his body, Venix began to figure out how to activate his ability.

The ability activated just like activating the Skill.

However, because he had better control of the energy in his body, Venix began to understand how to activate his ability.

"Let's give it a try." Venix attempted to channel energy inside his beak.

Perhaps due to the game system settings, Venix felt an illusory tooth appearing inside his beak.

A dark red aura emerged from the gap in his beak!

[ Ability Activated! ]

"Success!" Venix exclaimed excitedly.

Then, as before, he opened his mouth and bit into the Sheep's body.

Instantly, the illusory teeth inside his beak absorbed all the nutrients from the Sheep's body.

The Sheep's body was fully absorbed, transforming into specks of energy entering Venix's body.

Crack ~ Crack ~

The sound of bones could be heard within Venix, and his cells began to repair and perfect his body even further.

"Ahhhh ~" Venix prostrated himself on the ground, enduring the pain caused by the ability.

Like before, the pain lasted for 5 seconds and faded over time.

"Huff ~ I can endure this much." Venix thought to himself.

[Player Gained 50 Exp]

After absorbing the first body, Venix gained 50 Exp.

"There are a total of eight Sheep. That means I can get an additional 400 Exp in total, right?" Venix felt this was not a loss for him.

400 Exp is equal to killing two additional Sheep.

That way, Venix continued to the next carcass.

One body took about a full minute to be completely absorbed.

Every time Venix absorbed an animal's body, he screamed in pain.

Finally, with the fifth Sheep, Venix felt that the pain in his body after devouring an animal's body was diminishing.

"Has my body reached a certain standard or have I started to get used to the pain?" Thinking about this, Venix could only shudder.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Venix didn't know the answer.

He thought that only a masochistic player could adapt to the level of pain in this game, but he didn't expect that he himself was getting used to it.

Of course, Venix was not a masochist.

Three minutes later, Venix had successfully devoured all the bodies of the Sheep.

"Open profile menu," Venix ordered.

[Name: Lord Chocho]

[Species: Bird]

[Level: 5]

[Experience: 1100/1600]

[Skill : , , ]

[Ability : ]

Seeing his level, Venix felt delighted.

Venix had chosen the name Lord Chocho for his bird character because he thought it sounded funny.

Then he checked the real-time clock on the system interface.

Six hours had passed, and it was now eight in the evening.

"I need to rest, and prepare dinner," Venix mumbled softly.

Then Venix chose the 'Exit Game' option.

In an instant, the large Black Bird figure vanished into a spark of light, dissipating into the air.

Back in the real world.

Inside the game capsule, Venix slowly opened his eyes.

The Game Helmet covering his head automatically moved and released itself.

The game-capsule door opened, and Venix reached out to touch the edge of the game capsule, guiding his body to sit down.

"Uhhh... My head is a bit dizzy," Venix slowly massaged his head with his right hand.

Playing the game for only six hours had really mentally exhausted Venix.

Venix tried to stand up and exited the game capsule.

After leaving the game capsule, Venix felt hungry and his stomach growled.

"I've played games for a full 12 hours before, but I've never been this hungry..." Venix furrowed his brow.

Upon returning to reality, Venix also realized that his body was fatigued and lacked the energy to move around much.

"I'll order food from outside then," Venix shook his head and grabbed his phone from the bed.

Selecting food, Venix contemplated for a moment.

He was quite hungry right now and felt like he could eat more than on a regular day.

Venix chose to order five portions of food, one for his younger sister and the rest for himself.

But, after a while, Venix decided to buy only four portions of food.

Exiting his room, Venix headed straight to the living room.

There, his younger sister, Yuna, was watching TV, but she was more engrossed in playing on her phone than the TV show she had turned on.

"I've ordered food from outside; it should arrive in about twenty to thirty minutes," Venix told his sister, taking a seat beside her and watching TV.

"Eh? Big brother, aren't you cooking tonight?" Yuna asked, however her eyes were still fixated on her phone.

"No. I'm feeling a bit tired tonight," Venix said wearily.

Yuna turned to look at her brother, then back to her phone.

As if she sensed something was amiss, Yuna shifted her gaze back to her brother Venix, who was sitting beside her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Venix felt his sister's gaze was unusual.

"Is big brother sick? Why didn't you tell me?" Yuna asked with concern.

"Eh?" Venix was puzzled and touched his face.

He seemed perfectly fine.

Seeing that her brother appeared unaware, Yuna opened her phone's front camera and allowed Venix to see his reflection through the phone's camera.

Venix looked at the phone's screen and saw his above-average appearance, with pale skin, as if he were unwell.

"Huh? What happened!?" Venix touched his face and was surprised.

Why was his face so pale?

Venix was unaware that something was wrong with his body. He only felt tired and didn't notice that his face had turned pale.

"I've told you before, big brother, you should exercise regularly!" Yuna complained, touching her brother's forehead with her hand to check if he had a fever.

Venix ignored Yuna's advice about exercising because he knew Yuna wanted him to have a muscular body, possibly to make it easier for him to find a girlfriend.

Honestly, Venix had no intention of finding a girlfriend.

"Eh? His temperature is normal," Yuna said, puzzled.

Her brother's forehead had a normal temperature and didn't show any signs of excessive heat.

"I just forgot to eat; there's nothing serious about it," Venix pushed his sister's hand away from his forehead with a smile.

Although Venix said that, he was also genuinely puzzled by this.

Both of them were confused when a TV started airing a commercial.

"Are you playing Nine Heavens game? Make sure to buy the Super Energy Drink directly produced by the Nine Heavens game developer! With this super energy drink, players will become more energetic and focused while playing Nine Heavens! What are you waiting for? Order now! A package is only $20, and it contains twenty cans of energy drink!"

The ad appeared suddenly.

Venix, upon hearing the ad, furrowed his brow.

The Nine Heavens game developer was composed of brilliant individuals from all over the world. It seemed that entire countries supported this movement and secretly assisted the Nine Heavens game developer.

The Super Energy Drink ad had been launched a month ago.

At that time, everyone thought there was nothing special about the energy drink, just like any other energy drink.

Professional players also endorsed the energy drink, saying its effects were excellent.

However, for the general public, it appeared to be just another marketing tactic.

This product was sold by the Nine Heavens game developer and distributed worldwide.

"This Super Energy Drink is somewhat unusual. Its price is typical for an energy drink, but the ease with which they entered the global market is suspicious, as if every country welcomed this product without resistance," Venix thought to himself, furrowing his brow.

Yuna noticed that her brother seemed interested in this Super Energy Drink.

"Do you plan to purchase that energy drink?" Yuna asked.

"Well, maybe," Venix smiled faintly.

There was a good chance that his current state was a result of excessive play in Nine Heavens. In the game, he activated the pain level and grimaced almost all the time. The mental load was quite heavy for an ordinary man like Venix.

Does this energy drink have an impact while playing Nine Heavens? Venix didn't know, and there was no harm in trying the product.

"By the way, what level are you in the Nine Heavens game?" Venix asked his sister.

Yuna had better VR gaming talent than he did. Venix even felt that his sister had a chance to become a professional player.

"Hehe, I've reached level 6! How about you?" Yuna asked back excitedly.

You're ahead of me; I'm only at level 5... Hey, battling those creatures is really tough," Venix complained.

"I agree with you, big brother. My friends and I had quite a difficult time killing just one creature. In the end, we formed a strategy and took turns attacking the creatures. If I were hunting alone, I couldn't defeat those creatures," Yuna said honestly.

"What difficulties did you encounter when fighting the creatures?" Venix asked.

"For instance, when we block a creature's attack, suddenly a part of our character's body stiffens, and we can only stand still. This is our current major challenge," Yuna said with a serious expression.

"But after we block the creature's attack, and someone else attacks the creature, we usually come out on top. Well, that's our current strategy," Yuna added.

Hearing Yuna's explanation, Venix finally understood what Yuna meant.

They weren't activating the pain level!

Indeed, when a character's body in the game is attacked, it generates a rebound effect within the player character's body, causing a momentary shock. It's only natural for the character's body to stiffen.

But for players who activate the pain level, this doesn't occur, even at the expense of experiencing real pain within the game.

"Have you or your friends tried to activate the pain level feature?" Venix asked his sister.

"Yes, we tried activating the feature up to 10%, and there was a difference. But the pain is really uncomfortable, and we gave up," Yuna said sadly.

Which ordinary person could get used to pain like that?

Venix thought for a moment and decided to tell her the truth.

"The pain level helps players gain greater control over their characters. The higher the pain level, the more control you can experience.

"For example, during battles, when your character's body is injured due to impacts, you won't lose control, and you can continue to control it as usual. But of course... you have to feel real pain within the game," Venix explained to his sister, Yuna.

"Is there such a thing?" Yuna stared at her brother with a surprised look. "Why does a feature like that exist? Won't it just make many players dislike Nine Heavens?"

"Who knows?" Venix shrugged his shoulders. He also didn't know the reason behind something like that.

"The most significant difference among players in the future will be their direct combat strength. Players who use a high pain level will gain more advantages compared to ordinary players," Venix explained, looking at his younger sister.

Venix knew that his younger sister had always been interested in virtual games, and perhaps even aspiring to become a professional player.

However, while not impossible, Yuna knew that competing for a position like that in a large game guild was quite challenging.

"Well, I'm just sharing this information with you. The decision is yours," Venix said with a smile as he ruffled his sister's hair. "If you find it too much, just forget what I said earlier. If you push yourself too hard, I'll personally intervene and stop you from playing the game, even if it means destroying the game capsule."

"I understand," Yuna replied while puffing her cheeks.

Yuna was someone who knew her limits. If she couldn't do something, she wouldn't push herself. Besides, there were plenty of second, third, and fourth options in life.

Half an hour later, the food arrived.

Venix and Yuna had dinner together.

Yuna had one portion of the meal, while Venix actually devoured three portions of food in one go! It truly astonished Yuna!

After eating three portions of food, Venix was finally full, and his face, which was previously pale, slowly regained its color.