"...Damn it, this one tastes like shit too," Loran said as he started eating the last of his fish.

He had managed to clean them well enough, but it didn't change the fact that half tasted raw, the other half was overcooked, and a few bites tasted like charcoal.

"Maybe I should ask Aman for some tips. I know I don't cook much, but I thought I would've improved a little since getting stuck in here."

Loran had never cooked much in reality, either eating with his family or having instant ramen when no one else was home. Switching from that to the food available in NEO had been a bit of a shock, but this was worse. He hadn't realized it, but Aman, Calix, and the other players who worked in the Kitchen were all damn good cooks with nothing but fresh ingredients. Despite the survival situation he was living in Loran was actually eating better than he had been in reality, making his own shitty cooking skills stand out in stark contrast.

"Whatever," he said while tossing the half-eaten fish skewer over his shoulder, "I'm full anyway."

Climbing to his feet and picking up his pack, Loran began walking in the direction of the village again.

Then he came to a sudden stop, turning to look across the water.

With his stats and Skills, Loran had easily been able to notice movement on the far side of the river, he just tuned it out since it had nothing to do with him.

But now something was moving towards him.

Not towards the water, directly at him.

Staring at the trees Loran eventually saw the source of the movement.

It was a Hell Pig. At first he thought it was just a normal pig, but then he began to notice the peculiarities.

The first was that the boar was, for lack of a better term, built like a brick wall. Most animals typically didn't look muscular, either from a healthy layer of body fat or from just having a lean shape to them.

The Hell Pig in front of Loran looked to be about 0% body fat and 200% cast iron muscle. Every move the creature made exposed muscles so defined they could make bodybuilders cover themselves in shame.

The second thing he noticed was the scars, or the lack thereof. Because Hell Pigs primarily attacked by charging directly at something, older pigs would have faces covered in scar tissue; but this one, despite being so large, only had two scars running parallel on the right side of its face.

Lastly was the eyes. Even from across the river Loran could see the Hell Pig staring him down. There were other things moving around them, and he knew that the boar could sense them, but none of that seemed to matter. Aside from its ears twitching in response to nearby sounds, the Hell Pig was entirely focused on Loran.

Loran used [ANALYSE].

[NAME]: ???

[SPECIES]: Hell Pig

[LEVEL]: 25

[STATUS]

{HP}: 220/220

{SP}: 440/440

[END]: 22

[STR]: 60

[AGI]: 26

[DEX]: 19

[PER]: 34

[SKILLS]

[CHARGE] Lv.10

[HARDENED SKULL] Lv.10

[HIGH NUTRIENT DIET] Lv.10

[DESCRIPTION]

A Hell Pig that is close to earning a name. Description to be updated.

'What the hell? So it's almost a named monster?' Loran's face scrunched up. 'Earned...I guess the naming system works like the Skill system, but why wouldn't it just be named? It's not like players are ever 'close to earning a Skill.'

Loran closed the menu with a sigh and looked back at the Hell Pig. It was still getting closer, glaring at him from across the river. He didn't know why this animal seemed so focused on him but it was off-putting t say the least. 'Well, at least I don't have to deal with it.' Loran began walking away but continued watching the beast in case it tried to do something.

The Hell Pig turned to continue following him; soon it reached the edge of the water and continued walking.

Loran stopped in surprise. 'Can Hell Pigs swim?'

He had never seen one willingly enter the water, and it didn't seem like their hooved feet were capable of propelling them very well. As the pig moved deeper, Loran decided to set down his pack and approached the water. He hadn't wanted to engage with the beast, both because it seemed dangerous and because the river should've been a perfect barrier, but it seemed like the pig was about to put itself at a significant disadvantage by going into the water.

'If it really tries to cross I can probably keep it in the water and slow its movements. At that point, stabbing it to death with the sword should be easy.'

As Loran approached the boar threw itself forward, running through the shallow water before becoming completely submerged. He expected it to poke its head out of the water before slowly floating across, only to be stunned when it just stayed under.

"I... what?" he said out loud. Loran just stood there, motionless and confused as the Hell Pig made its way across the river bed. In fact, it was actually moving a little faster than he had been expecting.

'Is it strong enough to just ignore the water resistance?'

Suddenly a memory surfaced in his mind, a half-remembered factoid that he had seen while browsing the internet years ago.

Hippos are so dense with muscle that they don't float, and can actually run underwater.

'With this thing's STR...'

Loran tried to find the Hell Pig under the water but was struggling to make it out thanks to the reflective surface of the water and the boar's hide blending well with the dark riverbed. Even [DANGER SENSE] wasn't that reliable as the water current acted like a camouflage.

Suddenly Loran detected a burst of movement; the Hell Pig had used its [CHARGE] Skill directly in front of him and just a dozen feet away.

'Shit!' Loran moved backward, stumbling as his feet were caught up in the water.

The pig burst out of the water with immense power; a few water droplets hit Loran in the face and stung from the force they were propelled by.

'I can't let it hit me,' Loran knew. 'With its stats that Skill will rip me in half!'

He threw himself sideways, flopping ungracefully into the water as the Hell Pig barreled past. Loran scrambled to his feet and out of the water. As he did so the boar came around, far quicker than normal, and began proding him with its tusks.

'It canceled out of the Charge?!' Normally whenever a Hell Pig used the [CHARGE] Skill it would follow through on the attack, either taking the time to turn around or stopping when it hit something. 'I guess that would explain the lack of scars on its face if it doesn't run into trees all the time.'

Loran leapt back as the Hell Pig continued after him. He couldn't attack as long as the pig could use its face as a shield. Trying to create an opening, Loran moved forward to meet the boar's next attack, stepping on its face and jumping over it.

The Hell Pig tried to disrupt him by shaking its head but Loran was already airborne. As he rolled through the air he slashed downward with his sword.

The pig squealed as the blade left a deep gash in its shoulder. Loran pulled the sword back for a second attack, but the beast ran forward to escape his attack range.

'Oh no you don't.' Loran chased after it, knowing that he couldn't let it create enough distance to use [CHARGE] again. After a few seconds, the pig stopped quickly, tilting forward from the momentum and performed a short kick with its hind legs. Loran was completely taken off guard and barely had half a second to evade. Turning his body and raising his arm to guard, Loran could only take the blow with his forearm. The force of the kick sent him flying back and he rolled to a stop about a dozen feet away from the Hell Pig.

'Fucking hell that hurt! Definitely tore a chunk out of my HP too,' he thought, assessing the damage. 'At least nothing's broken, although my bad hand feels even more useless now.'

He didn't have time to think much more than that, as the Hell Pig had activated [CHARGE] again and was running towards him.

Knowing that a simple dodge wouldn't be enough for this opponent, Loran used [SPRINT] to sidestep the attack while swinging his sword at the pig's side. Before the blade could connect the beast once again stopped its Skill and turned its head to face him, blocking the attack.

However, Loran was surprised to see that the blade was able to dig into the flesh of the Hell Pig's face, making it squeal and rear back in pain.

'...Oh hell yes!' Loran thought with a grin, pleased to see something unexpected working in his favor for once.

Part of the [HARDENED SKULL] Skill had always said that while it could negate 100% of damage to the face, it had a certain limit. This made sense to the players, as otherwise it would mean that the face of a random pig could withstand the force of a nuclear bomb. They had no way to know what the Skill's limit was and so they just assumed that they couldn't break it with primitive weapons.

Even the Iron Ant Soldier Blade's incredibly high stats had only been able to just barely surpass that limit, but it was enough to give Loran an edge. This Hell Pig wasn't just strong, it was smart too, and the difference between having damage negation and damage reduction was just the breathing room Loran needed.

As the Hell Pig calmed down and stared at him again, Loran returned its stare with a menacing grin. "Come on then," he said as the readied the sword.

The two stood motionless, glaring at each other with only ten feet between them.

Then the Hell Pig turned and ran.

Loran didn't want to repeat the last time he chased it, so he waited for the boar to come charging at him again.

Five seconds passed.

Ten seconds passed.

Thirty seconds passed.

Loran's confusion slowly turned to disbelief.

By the time the Hell Pig left his detection range, he was simply shocked.

"I...you...What?!"