Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

"Olivia, what is the problem? Are you okay?"

Already, Thalia’s arms were glowing softly as she poured healing magic into her body, but whatever the problem was, it was apparently immune to healing magic...

Olivia slowly raised her head to stare at them both, and then with tears in her eyes said, "I’m hungry..."

"..."

Ark and Thalia glanced at themselves before staring back at her.

"You are joking, right?" he asked in a flat tone. "You’re acting like you were about to die just because you are hungry?"

"It’s not ordinary hunger! I haven’t eaten in six days, you don’t need to eat, and Thalia. Thalia..."

Her stomach rumbled and Olivia seemed to reduce in size, squeezing her belly so tightly that Ark felt she might just rip it in half.

She was right about eating though... Esau and Sazan had been the ones in charge of the rations, so once they died, the rations disappeared with them.

Ark did not need food, and Thalia, let’s just say she was well fed prior to the journey. Olivia, on the other hand, had toughed it out, saying that if Ark could handle it, she could too.

"I guess we’ll have to make a stop at a restaurant first." Ark offered her a hand. "Alright, get up, let’s go."

"I can’t stand up..."

"..."

"You’ll have to carry me."

"...huh?"

Ark let out an audible sigh. Why was she competent when it came to battles, but childish when it came to other things?

He stared at her as she curled up into a ball, watching him with watery eyes.

’She kind of reminds me of Cracker...’ Ark mused. Maybe it was a bird thing?

He squatted down beside her then said flatly. "Get on..."

Olivia wasted no time to crawl up his back. It made him wonder if her stomach pain was really as bad as she claimed it was.

Once she was comfortable on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck, she asked, "By the way, Ark. Did we already sell the wyvern eggs?"

Ark stood up and began walking towards the door.

"Nope, we are going to do that after eating."

"Ah, I see."

A few seconds passed.

"Then what happened to my wyvern eggs? I can’t seem to find them in my inventory."

Ark froze at the doorway.

"What do you mean, Olivia?" Thalia asked. "You sold them to Ark for the axe."

Thalia’s gaze met Ark’s and he shook his head, signaling that she should not press further.

"Oh, yeah." Olivia chuckled, but Ark was sure she didn’t remember anything of what had happened. "On to the restaurant then!" She fist bumped the sky.

He pulled the door open. "You’re awfully energetic for someone who is starving..."

"Ehe~" Olivia suddenly sniffed the air. "Hmm? Ark, why do you smell so good?"

"I noticed it a while back as well..." Thalia said.

Ark froze. "H-huh, what are you talking about? It’s nothing... let’s go, we will be late—"

"Wait." Olivia’s eyes suddenly narrowed, her green eyes turning a shade darker. "Did you use my shampoo?!"

<••>

In order to avoid unnecessary time wastage, Ark picked out a restaurant that was very close to the adventurer’s guild.

They were met by a beastfolk waitress a minute after they were seated, and were presented with the menu.

Olivia stared at it like it was a math puzzle before ordering several different types of food. Thalia, on the other hand, ordered raw meat, and was about to place the menu down when Ark requested it.

"Wait." Olivia stared at him in shock. "Are you really going to order?"

Ark’s eyes slowly perused the menu. "Mmhm."

Olivia and Thalia shared a look. "You plan on switching back to your human form?" Thalia asked.

"Nope..."

Olivia’s forehead creased as she contemplated. "Then how exactly are you going to eat?"

"You’ll see..." Ark pointed at a certain spot on the menu, and the cat girl nodded.

"Your food will be here in five minutes!"

"First you steal shampoo for your bald head, and now you want to eat..." Olivia grumbled under her breath.

’Ouch...’

"Hey, I already said I was sorry."

"You used half of the entire bottle! It costs fifty thousand credits per bottle!"

"F-Fifty? Why would you use shampoo that expensive!"

Thalia calmly sat between them both, wishing she could vanish into thin air.

Just like the waitress had said, five minutes later, the table was filled with all sorts of food. Only Olivia’s order had taken more than half of the table...

"Do you plan on finishing this?" Ark wondered if she was the type that would sample food then throw away large portions of it.

But on the contrary, Olivia nodded. "Of course, I would have ordered more if we had time."

Ark gave her a blank stare. "It’s a wonder how you’re not fat." He said his thoughts out loud.

"Hey!"

Thalia laughed and Olivia turned her attention to her. "Thaliaaa... Stop encouraging him!"

"Uhum... I’m sorry." Thalia cleared her throat.

The waiter then arrived with Ark’s order, placing the plate in front of him.

"Aha, thank you." He said as he stared at the plate. "I didn’t think you would actually have it on the menu..."

The waitress smiled. "You would be surprised by how many times this gets ordered. By beastfolk especially. Please enjoy your food."

She bowed before she left.

Ark picked up a piece, only to discover that both girls were staring at him.

"What?"

"Give me back my excitement. I thought I was going to see you embarrass yourself while eating." Olivia frowned, before her gaze moved to what he had on his hand.

"Isn’t that a bone? What are you going to do with a bone?"

Sitting on Ark’s plate was a pile of well-seasoned bones...

Ark pointed the bone at her. "Hey, that is racial discrimination. Are you really talking down on my ancestral food?"

Olivia sighed and buried her face in her bowl of noodle soup. "I don’t have time for this..."

Ark, on the other hand, lifted the bone and placed it in his mouth before biting down, easily crushing the bone.

The system had advised him to eat calcium if he wanted to grow taller. At first, Ark had bought calcium supplements, but it was only recently he realized that bones could work.

He did not have lips or a tongue to assist him with chewing, but once he crunched down on the bone, it dissipated, vanishing into his own.

Ark could feel a minute change, but it was so little that it was as if nothing had happened. So he continued consuming the bones one after the other, all while Olivia gave him strange looks.

And when he was done, a screen appeared in front of him—

__

Bone Density +2

Bone Mass + 0.5

Bone Flexibility +1

__

"Oh?" Ark read through the notification. He never doubted the system’s words, but he was pleasantly surprised to see that it actually worked.

He was not any taller... but it was a start.

They spent the rest of their time chatting while eating, and then when they were done, it was time to head to the guild.

Ark had a few things he would like to discuss with Eva...

<••>

Eva, one of the guild receptionists, sat at her desk with a glum look on her face.

She was staring wordlessly at the glass doors of the guild, watching as multiple people passed by. None of them were the people she wanted to see...

’How many days has it been now?’ Eva wondered. It had been more than a week since she gave out the wyvern egg quest, and yet, there had been no word from the adventurers.

Eva felt her insides twist with worry. She already knew what had happened....

Very soon, another poster would be placed on the wall, and a fruitless search for the missing adventurers would begin.

’This is all my fault...’

She should have warned them more, she should have begged them even not to take the quest, and yet she allowed them to go.

’I’m a terrible receptionist.’ What kind of receptionist couldn’t even protect or guide adventurers properly?

"Eva." A stern voice called her.

She immediately wiped her eyes and straightened as the woman approached.

"G-good morning, senior." Eva bowed.

The woman did not return her greeting. She stared at her with disdain, her pen tapping repeatedly on her notepad.

Eva swallowed as the woman opened her mouth to speak, only to ask the question she dreaded to hear.

"How much?"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!