[You can't eat or drink with the Food Poisoning effect.]

This is the real issue here. And it has a long-ass timer too.

[Status effect: Food Poisoning 8:33.]

[Status effect: Recovery (food) +100% Regeneration Speed 1:18.]

This is bad, no matter how I look at it. The system won't let me drink the antidote either, so it can't help to detoxify it. With that slow regen bonus, the food could buy me an extra HP or two in the remaining minute, yet the rats can cause way more.

The only way to survive is to kill them first. And this is where the other effect of food poisoning comes in. The dizziness, nausea, and throwing up at random are anything but helpful in combat. This is especially true with these small targets moving at lightning speed.

[You killed a Death Rat +100 Exp.]

The only time they slow down a bit is when they change directions, or when my vomit catches them off guard. That's when the shield has to strike, because, unlike the dagger, it can land a guaranteed hit. This leaves me open to attacks from the rest though.

There is no good solution.

That last kill cost three damage. Without the potions, healing back up will take more than a minute. Seven HP left, and five rats. Which one will run out first? While the only thing keeping me on my feet is the stamina potion, they don't get tired.

Could I make more attacks by using my feet too? Would kicking or stepping on them cause enough damage to kill them? There's only one way to find out. The first kick misses by a huge margin and they bite right through my boots in retaliation.

This leaves one of the monsters wide open for an attack, and to keep my defenses up, this time it's up to the dagger. It hits, yet won't kill him. This is the first time it happened. They might be tougher than the other rats after all.

[You killed a Death Rat +100 Exp.]

Kicking him away with my other leg does the trick, and the shield keeps the others at bay. Okay, six HP and four rats. This can work. They try to run around me to flank and tire my character out, but as long as the stamina potion lasts, that won't happen.

Another bites the blade of my dagger, and since the aim is better this time, he turns into pixels too. I stab him in the face and his tail drops, which is weird, but there is no time to question the game mechanics. Kill them, kill more, kill them all before they kill me!

Their counter-attack finds me at the worst moment. Here it comes. You can't hold the shield once the gag reflex kicks in. The remaining three monsters bite me everywhere at once. A new debuff appears to add salt to the injury.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

[Status effect: Bleeding.]

Rats and HP: three all. And now this. The food's regen bonus runs out, increasing my hit points to four before the bleeding knocks it back down. Okay, at least the bandages won't depend on the food poisoning.

They must die before bleeding out though, since there is no way to treat the wound with them around. What a mess, I threw up everywhere on the street, yet this at least slowed them down again. One rat gets squashed beneath my feet, and another tastes the shield.

[You killed a Death Rat +100 Exp.]

[You killed a Death Rat +100 Exp.]

Great success. The last one bites me again, and the two remaining little hearts on the HP bar throbs like it's the end of the world. It might as well be if he doesn't go down fast because the bleeding is there too.

The fucker is behind me, and spinning around too fast makes the dizziness worse. Can I hit it before he bites again? No, the dagger stabs the ground, and the rat tries to jump at me. The shield blocks his path, but he hangs on, attempting to climb over it.

"No, you're fucking not!" He gets smashed against the pavement together with the shield over and over. I don't care about the system message confirming its death, got to make sure not even his pixels can reach me. It's too early to relax though, the bleeding didn't stop.

Now I'm at one HP, no regen bonus, only sickness. Applying bandages is more complicated than chugging down a potion, and the game won't do it for me. The blood rushes out of my thigh, so that's where I have to apply the pressure.

The dressings were on the fourth slot of my inventory, after the three types of vials and before the food. My vision is getting blurry and that last little heart wants to jump off the HP bar too. Push it down, circle it two or three times tight, tie it off, and check the debuffs.

The bleeding is gone, the only one remaining is the sickness. Is it already getting dark or is my character about to pass out? The Pharmacy. They could cure me there, they dealt with bleeding and sickness from the rats before, and it's not even that far.

Forget this quest, C-rank missions are way above my pay grade. How long did it take to kill the first twelve rats? And there are sixty more. Yeah, no way. They'd respawn on me before clearing the first room if I even lasted that long.

This had to be the hardest earned twelve-hundred Exp and single rat tail so far. And it cost me five potions and almost my life. If a quest says the difficulty is above average, don't go anywhere near; lesson learned. Okay, so which way to the Pharmacy?

The minimap shows six people approaching, all yellow dots, and stop at the house my quest arrow points. Did they come for the same job? A full party? Yeah, figures. It's hard to see their faces in the dark, only their names light up, but none are familiar.

"Okay, it didn't escalate further than C-rank, so let's farm it." A young voice reaches me from the distance. "Looks like someone already started it, but they will respawn after midnight anyway. Lilith, do you have Stone Skin ready?"

"Yep, and the Exp boost artifacts as well." A female answers, even though none of the names spell Lilith above their heads. My way leads past them, and they notice my sorry state. The girl looks at me, her only visible feature in the dark is her red hair. "Hey, did you start the quest?"

"Ugh, um..." I try my best to answer, yet what comes out is a stream of vomit. My character can't do anything about it but aim it away from the players. It covers my boots in a mix of potions instead. They jump back and laugh, what else would they do?

"It sure looks like he did." The first voice confirms with a giggle, grabbing my shoulder. "Dude, you shouldn't take C-class missions alone at your level. Or did you have a party? Wait, you have a high standing with the Boss, Lilith, cast Cure on him!"