“It’s official, we need to step in,” Soze said as he looked at the chaos that had spread out across the Training Field. All over the place players were fighting, madly competing over the remaining huts. Honestly, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem if it wasn’t for the fact that there wasn’t any structure or rules to it all.

A decent number of the players had access to healing magic like Yang or had just stocked up on healing potions and were repeatedly fighting over and over no matter how many times they lost.

“They can’t possibly maintain this,” Yin said. “Unless they all have magic they will eventually run out of items, won’t they?”

“Maybe, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping them,” Yang said. “I swear I just saw some guy get stabbed and just start fighting someone else.”

“But why?!” Soze said, exasperated. “We just spent two weeks on an expedition with these people. I know they’re smarter than this!”

“Don’t underestimate how stupidly petty gamers can be,” Yang said. “I’m guessing that everyone has more or less figured out that more houses will be built, so they’re just competing over who gets a hut first.”

“But if they know it’s not a big deal then-”

“They’re doing this BECAUSE they know it’s not a big deal,” Yang explained. “These people have been tolerating all the bullshit this game has thrown at them for months now. Anytime there was an actual argument to be had they would handle it peacefully or with a quick spar because they get that we can’t have too much infighting. But this is something that everyone wants and will be settled one way or another once all the huts have been built. When it comes to MMOs, entire wars have been fought for less than this. Gamers can be petty as hell." Yang waved her hand as if presenting the scene to Soze. "This is them letting themselves be selfish for the first time in a while.”

Soze sighed. “...Do you really think that this will all work itself out?”

“Trust me on this, things will be chaotic for the next few days, maybe over a week, but eventually it will all be fine.”

“Perhaps, but can the village afford to have so many people behaving so baffoonishly?” Yin asked. “The food stockpile will certainly drain if most of the hunting force is neglecting their duties.”

“Yeah, and a bunch of them are still using their equipment,” Soze noticed. “If they wreck their gear before the next raid it’ll be problematic.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Yang asked.

Soze was silent for a moment. “...can you get everyone’s attention for me?”

“Sure.” Taking a few steps forward, Yang took a deep breath.

*HEY!*

Soze flinched and Yin was forced to cover her ears as the Tank player bellowed, her voice practically shaking them down to their bones. For a moment Soze almost thought that Yang’s roar had drowned out the sound of fighting, only to realize a moment later that the other players had simply stopped to figure out who was shouting so loud that they could probably hear her in the real world.

Yang turned to Soze. “How’s that?”

“Uh yeah,” Soze said while rubbing his ear. “That works. Thanks.”

Yang smiled coyly and stepped back. Soze walked forward and looked out over the stunned and confused crowd. He opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off.

“Hey, timeout! Didn’t you say it was fine for us to settle this out here?!”

“Yeah man, don’t be such a cuck.”

“Okay, first of all, please never say that again,” Soze said, rubbing his temples. “Second, you all can go right back to whatever the hell you were doing, but first I need to set some ground rules. First of all, in case anyone has forgotten, we have another raid in about two weeks, so please have whatever this is sorted out by the end of the week. Second, stop using your actual equipment and healing potions! The last thing we need is all of you breaking your gear and using up precious items right now!”

Several players looked away shamefully, clearly knowing that using up their limited healing items for such a minor issue was incredibly shortsighted.

“Last of all, please remember to do at least a little hunting now that we’re back. We may have saved up a decent amount of food in the Kitchen, but that won’t last if you all are going to laze about for the next week. Now, do I need to repeat myself?”

A cacophony of no’s came from the crowd of players. Some sounded disappointed, others annoyed, but overall Soze felt like he made his point.

“Alright, have fun, try not to kill each other.”

Soze was a little insulted when several players started fighting almost immediately, but he quickly realized that these players were all unarmed and unarmored.

‘I guess they have those Toggle Skills that Yang came up with,’ he thought.

The most of remaining players seemed eager to rejoin the brawl, hastily fumbling through their menus. Some of them just tossed aside their weapons since that was faster. However, Soze also noticed a few players off to the side who started talking amongst themselves instead of fighting and he hoped that whatever they were talking about would help to settle this situation sooner.

“Hopefully that’s all settled,” he said as he turned back to Yin and Yang. “I’m going to the Kitchen. You girls hungry?”

“I suppose I did miss lunch in all this confusion,” Yin said.

“Maybe later. I need to get in there,” Yang said as she started walking toward the brawling players.

“Must you?” Yin asked, exasperated.

“I’m getting that bed.”

“Yang, unless I’m mistaken you haven’t eaten today.”

“I’m fi-” Yang was cut off by a loud grumbling from her stomach. It probably would have been less noticeable normally, but with all of them having superhuman hearing it was as clear as day. Yang blushed as Soze chuckled. “M-maybe I’m a little hungry.”

“Then come eat!” Yin grabbed her sister by the hand and tried to pull her toward the Kitchen. Yang chuckled for a moment as Yin utterly failed to make her move before letting her body follow.

~~~~~

“They remodeled this place too?” Yang asked as they entered the Kitchen.

Until recently, the Kitchen had just been fairly messy, with most of the facilities just being placed wherever was most convenient back when the village had been forming, and they hadn’t had a chance to improve things simply because of how much constant use the area faced. The most organized things ever got was the designated space for raw meats and the section for clean dishes, both of which became obsolete once the version update gave everyone inventories.

However, with a large number of players leaving the village for the raid the cooking team had much more time on their hands, which let them reorganize the chaotic setup.

First of all the area had a clearly designated cooking area where other players weren’t allowed which took up most of the space, sectioned off by a waist-high wooden fence. Before you could walk anywhere and there was some space for people to sit and eat, but with several shelters in the area being abandoned and most players taking their food to eat at The Pit anyway, the cooking team apparently decided to give themselves a bit more breathing room. Even though there wasn’t any place to sit there was more than enough space to walk around, and some people were just standing off to the side to eat anyway, going back for seconds if they were still hungry.

But it’s what was behind the fence that had Yang the most surprised. Several wooden tables had been set up, with numerous bowls filled with the various plants, berries, and other items that the players had learned to use as seasonings. Another pair of tables were set up a few feet away and were both covered with blood and meat. At both stations, a member of the cooking team was using what looked like actual metal knives to prepare ingredients before handing them off to other players for cooking.

The center of the area was dominated by a single large…stove?

It was hard for Yang to describe. It looked like clay bricks had been built up around a bonfire that had been sunk into the ground. A few sections were left open and had some small pots and skewers cooking over them. The center of the odd structure was occupied by a huge metal pot that was at least five feet wide and four feet tall. Aman was stirring the pot with a long stick as other players tossed ingredients into it, a strip of cloth had been torn from his sleeve and repurposed as a sweatband.

“Wow,” Yang said.

“Indeed,” Yin said. “I had much the same reaction this morning.”

“I’ll say. It’s crazy how they just came up with this in the two weeks we were away,” Soze said as they walked up to the fence.

“We were surprised too,” a female player on the other side of the fence said, having heard Soze’s comment. “Rika said that the whole setup with the stove was simple when compared to the ironworking stuff they’ve been building. The pot was the biggest problem just because of how much iron was needed.”

“How did you convince them to make it?” Soze asked. “With how much they’ve been looking to make better equipment, I’m surprised they were okay with it.”

She shrugged. “Aman told them that it would save time with cooking, which not only meant larger portions for anyone who wants it but also more prepping and seasoning the food.”

Yang had been staring at the large pot, taking in the delicious smells, but the cook’s comment immediately had her attention. “Wait, so you're saying that everything tastes even better now?”

“That’s how everyone’s been feeling about it so far.”

Yang’s stomach rumbled again, and she felt herself salivating. Not only had she missed breakfast, but the only food she had eaten for the last few days had been dried rations while making the trip back to the village. To tell her that the delicious food that she had been looking forward to was now going to be even better...

Soze and Yin were amused by Yang’s reaction, having felt the same way that morning when they had breakfast.

“So? What will you have?” the cook asked while handing her a rectangular wooden plate. Taking the plate Yang realized that it was a menu.

A menu with far more options than she had been expecting.

“Hold on, didn’t you guys limit it to three options to make things easier?” Yang asked.

“Yeah, but now that we have the inventory food doesn’t spoil or even get cold. As long as we make food in huge batches we can spread it out over a few days while also making other recipes.”

“That’s…” It almost sounded too good to be true. It was as if the village’s food situation just improved to a point she would have thought impossible just a few weeks ago. Yang began reading through the menu. She felt Soze looking over her shoulder.

‘...Spined Deer stew…wild veggie soup…Hell Pig stew…Moss Wolf stew…’ Yang’s excitement started to wane a bit. ‘I guess the only things they can make in bulk are with the pot, but seeing that it’s all stews and soups is a little…’

“I guess I’ll have the Hell Pig stew,” Yang decided. She glanced at the menu again. “And can I get an extra large serving?”

“Sure, and you two?”

“A vegetable soup please.”

“Ehh…” Soze said, still staring at the menu. “You know what, surprise me.”

“Drinks?” They all told her that they had drinks in their inventories. “Cool. Just a second then.” She then reached into her inventory and pulled out their respective orders. Each one was still piping hot and Yang’s bowl looked more like a small pot. “Just bring those back when you’re done,” she said as she handed them forks and spoons.

They thanked the cook as they began making their way to The Pit.