"Aaaah! It bit me!"
"Hey, babe, you okay? You little shit!"
Pow!
Some rabbits struck first.
"Aw, come here, you cutie."
Whoosh.
Other rabbits never approached even when players reached out for them.
A hundred out of a hundred.
Not once did the rabbits show affection to people first.
Don't judge too soon.
I wondered if the rabbit I'd met was just unusual, so I approached a random one nearby and stood next to it.
The rabbit, nearly the size of a Welsh Corgi, was busily munching on grass.
"Hey, you. No wonder you're getting fat, scarfing it down like that."
"Kkwi-u?"
"What're you looking at?"
For the experiment, I was deliberately gruff.
"Kkwi-uung."
Swish.
As I squatted down, it came right up to me.
"What do you want me to do about it?"
Boing!
It twitched its nose for a moment before leaping onto my lap.
...Heavy.
"Ugh. You're a regular pig."
I kneaded its plump rear over and over.
The sheer volume made it feel good in my hands.
"Kkwi-u..."
It seemed pleased and flopped over beside me.
"What is this?"
For some reason, the rabbits seemed especially fond of me.
Why was that?
I'd majored in ecology in college and learned about countless animals and plants through documentary filming, but I wasn't some master tamer. I wasn't a beast trainer.
"Just natural talent? Or do I smell like something?"
Sniff sniff.
I lifted my armpit and took a whiff.
No smell at all.
"Well, whatever."
I set down the chubby rabbit and headed toward Talia Village.
Sure enough, the rabbit toddled after me, but I ignored it.
I was curious if it would follow, but I didn't look back.
Thud!
"Ugh, got it."
"Good job, babe. See? You can do it if you try."
Voices of a couple drifted from the receding back mountain.
Maybe the rabbit that had been following me had just been killed.
Even so, I didn't look back.
Getting attached to game critters would only hurt me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Creeeak.
I entered the Adventurers' Guild.
"Huff... huff..."
I'd run over, sweat beading on my forehead.
My own little fake-out to pretend I'd worked hard.
"Hm? No rabbits? Your sack's still empty."
Guard Captain Hans looked at me and asked.
One slip of the tongue and I'm screwed.
Guard Captain Hans was the NPC handling the hunting quests available in Talia Village.
If he branded me as weird, my early-game growth would lag behind others.
So I had to negotiate within a range he'd accept.
"S-Sir, I can't catch rabbits."
To make sure Silmaria's AI fully registered my disposition, I just went for it.
"...What do you mean? Rabbits are easy prey."
Hans said, puzzled.
"I like animals. I just couldn't bring myself to kill a rabbit."
His brow furrowed slightly at my words.
"...Hmph. Tsk."
He rubbed his chin and clicked his tongue.
Not a good reaction.
"In that case, let me ask you this. Rabbits are a menace to our village. As you said, they eye our precious crops greedily. That's why I asked you to protect the village's assets... If an animal stole something precious from you, would a animal-lover like yourself take no action at all?"
My heart chilled at his question.
My mind started turning rationally.
Stronger reaction than expected.
One wrong move and this could go south.
I had to clear this quest.
Failing the first quest would make Hans dislike me, cutting me off from gains in Talia Village.
If I doubled down here saying rabbits were too cute to kill, he'd peg me as a clueless idiot.
I need him to respect me.
Show him I'm different, and make it convincing.
Not some weakling too timid to hunt rabbits, but someone with profound philosophy born from noble reflection.
Capture alive. That's best.
I hadn't refused the rabbit hunt without a plan. I'd prepared an alternative before coming to Hans.
Normal rabbits were nimble and hard to grab by hand, but the dim ones in the back mountain didn't flee quickly.
Probably consideration for newbies.
"Captain. I want to help with the rabbit population problem too. So, how about I capture them alive instead?"
I laid out a reasonable compromise.
The quest core was reducing the back mountain rabbit numbers.
Dead or alive, it amounted to the same for thinning the herd.
If I brought live ones and left disposal to him, the reward might shrink, but linked quests wouldn't break.
"...Capture alive?"
"Yes. I'm confident catching monsters, but I go soft only for cute animals."
Hans pondered my proposal.
He kept tapping his chin with his finger.
His sharp eyes bored into my face.
After a moment.
He spoke without softening his expression.
"Fine by me. But I'm curious about your thinking, so one more question."
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly.
"Yes. Ask away."
I straightened my shoulders proudly.
Then Hans spoke.
"What do you think of adventurers who hunt rabbits? From your view, they're cruel animal killers."
I'd expected that kind of question.
And maybe it was probing to extract data for building my algorithm.
Crisis and opportunity.
Animal lovers can be hypocritical.
The ideal slogan that all life is precious resonates across borders.
But animal lovers get flak in certain cases.
A French model mocking Korea's dog meat culture got slammed as ignorant—China, Vietnam, and Switzerland had it too.
A certain actress's mom spewed hate comments at a national athlete who liked dog meat, yet fed her own pet beef and duck, drawing public ire.
Canada's harp seal protection movement rose over extinction fears, but they were abundant and hunting was encouraged. Animal lovers distorted facts and stirred hysteria just because they were cute.
Guard Captain Hans seemed programmed with that info.
"No. They're just doing what's necessary. Why would I condemn them? I have no right to."
"...Oh ho?"
"Managing risks is obvious for safety. But people vary, don't they? Beliefs too. I respect them. So I'd appreciate respect for my disposition too."
I laid out my view coherently.
Hans gave a faint smile of interest and spoke.
"Got it. Then capture 10 rabbits alive and bring them. To honor your wishes, we'll sell them as pets to other villages."
"Yes, sir! Thank you!"
Bow!
I bowed energetically and headed back to the mountain.
Better grab plump, healthy ones.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙]
[You have gained 10 experience points by bonding with the rabbit.
[✨ LEVEL UP! ✨ ]
The moment my level rose, I dumped 5 points into Strength.
"Kkwi-ut?! Kkwi-u! Kkwi-u!"
"Hey! Hold still!"
Shove.
I stuffed the tenth rabbit into the sack.
They thrashed wildly, making the sack writhe violently.
"Kids. I just saved you from death. You should be grateful to me, got it?"
Slump—
As if understanding.
Amazingly, the rabbits stopped struggling.
But these low-intel rabbits couldn't possibly understand speech.
"...No way?"
Worried they'd suffocated, I hurriedly reopened the sack.
"Kkwi-u?"
"Kkwi-u!"
"Kkwi-u!"
"Kkwi-uung..."
Seeing my face, they whimpered pitifully.
Of course. Rabbits the size of Corgis wouldn't die that easily. Unnecessary worry.
"Nngh... damn."
I slung the sack over my back with all my might.
Then trudged forward with everything I had.
"Hoo... hoo..."
But after a few steps, I was out of gas.
Humanly too heavy.
Should've carried five at a time.
"Nngh... ah, can't do it!"
Five steps in, Stamina hit zero. No strength left.
I collapsed in place.
"Haa... you lot, not even pigs, ugh, outta breath."
I wondered if I'd suffered pointlessly.
My mouth tasted sour.
Could've easily filled ten with small young ones, but greed got me. For pets, cute babies sell better than adults anyway.
Ugh, my mistake.
Bad head, suffering body—just like now.
"Hey! All out!"
I undid the sack.
Didn't care if they ran.
Couldn't carry ten at once anyway.
Kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi!
"Shit."
No running—they swarmed me, rubbing against my body. The musky rabbit scent stung my nose.
Having picked the plump ones, all over 6kg heavies, my body shook with thuds.
"Get off!"
Kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi!
I resisted, but bottomed Stamina left me weak.
Ah, stress.
Like ten kindergarteners begging nonstop for toys.
"Wh-what's that guy?"
"Gasp! The rabbits are coordinating! Babe, run first!"
"Kyaaah!"
The couple hunting flirtatiously earlier fled in panic.
To them, I looked like live rabbit chow.
"Freeze!"
I flailed my arms and bellowed, finally halting their frenzy.
Playful to them, torture to me.
"From now on, absolute obedience to my commands. Got it?"
Kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi!
Perfect timing on the reply.
"Got it?!"
Kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi-kkwi!
Loud barks too. Nice.
"Two columns, march in step. Solo action gets you speared, so be ready."
"Kkwi!"
"Kkwi-u!"
"Kkwi-uung!"
Patpatpatpat.
"...?"
Just testing, but they formed two columns.
Simply amazing.
It's a game, so whatever.
I led the ten rabbits toward Talia Village.
"Kkwi?"
"Kkwi-u?!"
But the line had magnetic pull—other rabbits started trailing behind the ten.
"Kkwi-u!"
"Kkwi-uuu!"
The count grew one by one until the procession was unmanageable.
"...What the hell."
The idiots staged a mindless great migration.
Why follow, you morons?
YouTube gold.
I activated third-person recording.
A hundred rabbits marching in two columns was spectacular. Rare footage—views incoming.
Silmaria vids dominated YouTube view ratios.
"Heh?"
"Whoa, what's that?"
Players hunting rabbits saw it as an event, staring curiously.
"Halt!"
I stopped before the rabbit train grew more.
All encountered rabbits had joined the rear.
Walking slowly, I halted—the followers froze too. Over a hundred easy.
"Whoa, you cuties come on your own."
I approached the eleventh and stroked its forehead.
"Kkwi-uuu..."
Pleased, Number 11 went limp fast.
Eyes glazing, ready to doze off.
"Exp time!"
I kneaded its back and butt vigorously too.
[⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙]
[You have gained 10 experience points by bonding with the rabbit. ]
About 20 seconds of hard petting, and exp flowed in.
"Next!"
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