The forest on the border between Veridia and the neutral territory had a reputation as the "Forest of No Return." But so far, the only thing not returning was my sense of fullness. We had been walking along the root-covered trail for six hours, and my stomach growled to the rhythm of death metal.
"Lady Elena," I groaned, brushing branches from my face. "Are we sure this is the right way? Lila said she saw signs of civilization on the map, but all I've seen so far are squirrels staring at me with contempt."
Elena, leading the way as the pathfinder, didn't turn. "Stop whining, Rian. Lila's map was drawn in crayon on a napkin, so the accuracy is questionable. But my instincts say there's something ahead."
"Something like food… or a monster?" I asked hopefully.
"Hopefully food," said Lila, perched on my shoulders (yes, we were taking turns carrying Lila since her short legs couldn't handle the climb). "I want fried chicken!"
Lady Seraphina walked beside me, graceful even though her clothes were dirty. "My father once told me of a hidden village in this valley. Desa Seruni. He said it's a paradise for fugitives. A place where sorrow does not exist."
"No sorrow?" I snorted. "Places like that usually charge a high entrance fee. Or they're second-rate cults."
Yet my skepticism shattered as we broke through the final wall of undergrowth.
Before us lay a sunlit green valley, bathed in the golden light of late afternoon. At its center stood a village that… was perfect. Too perfect.
The houses were made of polished mahogany, with straw roofs aligned without a single stray strand. The streets were white stone, spotless, without a speck of dust or horse dung. Flowers bloomed in every window in colors so bright it was as if the saturation had been cranked to 100%.
"Wow…" Lila gawked. "It's so pretty!"
"Strange," Elena murmured, her hand reflexively touching her sword hilt. "A monster-infested forest, and yet a village without defensive walls? Suspicious."
We walked down to the village gate. No guards. Only an old man with a long white beard stood there, smiling broadly. He wore a pristine white robe.
"Welcome, Travelers!" he greeted in a warm, friendly voice. "You must be tired. Welcome to Desa Seruni, where happiness is the ultimate law."
[System Alert: New Zone Discovered.]
[Name: Desa Seruni (Beta Version).]
[Population: 50 Souls.]
[Danger Level: ??? (Data Corrupted).]
[Advice: Do not eat random apples.]
"Data corrupted?" I muttered warily.
"Thank you, Old Man," Elena replied politely but coldly. "We only wish to rest and buy supplies. We have money."
The old man, introducing himself as Village Chief Banyu, chuckled merrily. "Money? Oh, no, no. Here, we do not use money. Everything in this village is communal. You are our guests. Please, enter. We have prepared a welcoming feast."
"A feast?" I interjected. "You knew we were coming?"
"We are always prepared for guests," he said, his smile unwavering, eyes not blinking a single time.
We exchanged glances. Seraphina nodded slightly, signaling that we had no choice; night was falling.
We were led to a large inn at the center of the village. The interior was lavish for a remote village. Beds were soft, the water warm, and the aroma of delicious food assaulted our noses.
That night, a long table was set in the village square. The villagers—men, women, and children—gathered. They were all beautiful and handsome, dressed in spotless clothing. They smiled at us. Kept smiling.
On the table sat a whole roasted chicken, thick corn soup, steaming bread, and fresh fruit.
"Please, Heroes!" called Village Chief Banyu. "Eat to your heart's content!"
Lila was ready to pounce on the chicken leg, but I stopped her. "Wait."
I brought out my black pan, still in Semi-Sentient mode.
"Check it first, buddy," I whispered to it.
I touched the pan's bottom to the soup. No reaction. The pan did not vibrate angrily or change color.
[Pan Analysis: Food Safe. No poison detected. No sleep magic. Deliciousness level: Factory Standard.]
"Safe," I said. "Go ahead."
We ate voraciously. It was delicious. Very delicious. The chicken tender, seasoning perfect. But… for some reason, my tongue—blessed with the title "Isekai Chef"—felt something was missing.
"How is it, Rian?" Elena asked, chewing bread. "Good, right? You're being paranoid."
"It's good," I said softly. "But it tastes… flat. Like eating a wax replica of food that can be eaten. No 'soul' in this cooking. No flaw whatsoever. Not even a burnt edge or missing salt."
"You're complaining about being given perfection," Elena teased.
As we ate, I observed the villagers. They did not eat. They only stood around the table, smiling, clapping each time we took a new dish.
"Good? Good?" a young woman asked Lila. "Good!" Lila replied.
Five minutes later, the woman asked again, in the exact same tone and intonation. "Good? Good?"
Lila frowned. "Yes, Auntie. You asked that already."
The woman paused, eyes empty, then smiled again. "Good? Good?"
Lila shivered and moved closer to me. "Big Brother… is she… broken?"
I set down my spoon. My gamer instincts screamed. Repeating patterns. "Elena, Seraphina," I whispered. "Don't make sudden moves. Watch the person sweeping near the well."
They glanced. A man swept the yard. He moved the broom left, right, paused, looked at the sky, then swept again. The motion was stiff, repeating every ten seconds. Exactly the same.
"He's… like a wind-up doll," Seraphina whispered, horrified.
"System," I thought. "What is this place, really?"
[Deep Analysis in Progress…]
[Result: This zone is the "Recycle Bin" of the world Aethoria.]
[Entities 'Villagers' are failed NPCs discarded by the Creator God due to bugs or personality flaws.]
[They have no souls. They only run the last script before deletion.]
I shivered. We were having dinner in the middle of a data graveyard.
Suddenly, Village Chief Banyu approached. His smile stretched unnaturally wide, nearly reaching his ears. "Are our guests full? If so, it's time for 'Integration.'"
"Integration of what?" Elena stood, hand on her sword hilt.
"To become perfect," Banyu said. "We need new variables. We need your souls to patch our corrupted code."
Instantly, all villagers stopped smiling. Their faces went blank. Their eyes turned static, like broken TV screens.
"Souls… give us your souls…" they chanted in unison. Their voices were not human, but a painful digital hum.
"Lila! Smoke bomb!" Elena shouted.
"Out! Out!" Lila panicked.
The villagers began moving closer. Their motions glitching. Their hands stretched unnaturally, turning into sharp pixels ready to tear us apart.
"Rian! Pan!" Elena drew her sword, slashing at an approaching villager. But her blade passed through as if cutting air. No blood. The villager's body flickered, then returned to intact.
"Physical attacks don't work!" Elena yelled. "They're not real!"
"We must attack the source!" I shouted. "System! Where is the Core or Heart of this bug zone?!"
[Core Location: Well in the village square.]
[Advice: Destroy the local server.]
"To the well!" I shouted.
We ran through the crowd of ghostly NPCs. They tried to grab us. Pixelated hands tore at our clothes, leaving a cold, burning sensation on our skin, like being touched by nothingness.
Seraphina screamed as her leg was grabbed by a child with a flat, eyeless face. "Help!"
I turned. My black pan vibrated violently. "Don't touch my friends, you Glitch Bastards!"
I didn't hit the child. I struck the ground in front of him. [Active Skill: "System Override – Chef's Anger"] I channeled a bit of corruption energy from within me into the pan. A shockwave of black-red spread. Unlike Elena's sword, my energy could affect them.
The child screamed a computer error sound, and his body shattered into blue light fragments.
"Rian! Your power can harm them!" Elena realized. "You're the only one who can clear a path!"
"Good! Make me the battering ram again!"
I ran ahead, swinging the pan left and right like a madman swatting flies. Each strike erased the existence of the NPCs. DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!
We reached the edge of the old well. Inside, there was not water, but a whirlpool of green and black binary code spinning wildly.
"Destroy it!" Elena commanded.
"With what? Lila's bombs are gone!"
I looked into the well. Then I looked at my pocket. One gacha item remained, unused because its description was bizarre.
[Item: "Instant Rising Yeast (Disaster Type)."]
[Description: Makes anything expand 1000x in 5 seconds. Do not use on a bloated stomach.]
"Here we go!" I grabbed the packet. "Everyone back! I'm about to make this village 'stuffed'!"
I tore open the packet and poured it into the code well. "Eat this, Bug!"
For a second, nothing happened. Then, a rumbling sound emerged from the depths of the earth. The well began to overflow—not water, but a massive white dough expanding at lightning speed, swallowing the square, houses, and glitch NPCs alike.
"Run to the hill!" Elena shouted.
We ran as fast as we could up a hill on the village edge. Behind us, the giant dough wave engulfed the entire Desa Seruni. The NPCs couldn't move, trapped in the sticky, ever-expanding dough.
"Nooo… we're not perfeeeeect yet…" Chief Banyu's voice sank beneath the rising dough.
We reached the hilltop, gasping, watching the absurd scene below. A once-beautiful valley was now covered with giant dough.
Lila stared in awe. "That's… bread pudding in the world…"
Elena dropped to the grass, catching her breath. She looked at me incredulously. "You… destroyed a ghost village with bread dough?"
"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" I grinned, even as my hands trembled. The pan felt hot. The corruption energy I used… it felt delicious. Too delicious. Worryingly so.
Seraphina approached, gazing at the now-silent village. "They… failed souls. At least now they can rest."
I nodded. But from the corner of my eye, I saw a system notification that made my blood run cold.
[Side Quest Completed: Cleaned System Trash.]
[Reward XP: +2000.]
[Side Effect: Your actions have attracted the attention of the world's 'Admin'.]
[Corruption Meter: 0.60%]
I quickly closed the notification before Elena could see. "Let's sleep," I said quickly. "Tomorrow we need to find another path. And please, nobody asks for bread for breakfast. I'm sick of looking at dough."
That night, we slept under the stars, far from the fake comforts of Desa Seruni. But I couldn't sleep soundly. I felt a giant eye in the sky watching us, watching me, waiting for the right moment to press the Delete button.
And worse, my pan started mumbling in its sleep. It vibrated and clanged softly, as if dreaming of devouring more souls.