Cooked

"Owwwwwwwwwwwww! Adiiiiiiiiiiiii…! Everything huuuuurts…!"

"My lady!"

A pained voice broke through the seemingly endless steam, and Adrianna cried out in desperation.

"Y-young Zane! F-find my uniform! I have a full-heal scroll in the apron's inner pocket! Go and start an encounter and heal our lady!"

"!!!"

Zane, who didn't even cry out and instead was blindly charging towards the sound of Melinda's pitiful cry, froze up hearing Adrianna's call.

"...!"

That definitively was the correct option!

Although in a different area, the superstorm event was still taking place! No matter if the painful damage Melinda suffered was from the fight, trap, or hazardous terrain, it could be healed!

Just like back in the Chainlink port city when the two of them were affected, no matter what happened and how hurt she was, Melinda could be healed the same way!

Healing Melinda as soon as possible was particularly important as anyone afflicted with the burn effect would be suffering from the burn damage each second until healed...

...or dead...

"UNDERSTOOD!"

The monstrous servant called out, dropping to the ground to see below the rising steam and charging towards the maid uniform tossed away by the explosion.

"MY LADY!"

As Zane unceremoniously tore through the fabric to get to the scroll and dashed away in search of any creature that could count as an encounter, Adrianna did find Melinda and shrieked in horror at the sight.

"...Adi… M... my eyes don't work…"

Melinda cried out while standing on a dried-up clay platform that definitely hadn't been around before, at least not to the maid's memory.

 But where Melinda stood wasn't important at the moment - the state she was in was.

The gold-haired girl's skin became brightly red, similar to the carapace of a cooked lobster. Even though she had her eyes open, her eyeballs were strangely puffy and milky white, very much like boiled eggs.

"My lady! I'm here! Everything will be alright! Mister Zane already went to start an encounter so you could be healed!"

The maid rushed over and hurriedly reassured the wounded girl while making an odd motion as if she wanted to hold her but was too afraid of inflicting more pain as… well… everything looked sore.

"Adi… Everything hurts… but this hand feels the weirdest… Could you tell me how it looks…? Is it really bad? I think I'm moving it but the sensation is completely wrong..."

"!!!"

Melinda groaned, slowly lifting the hand she smacked the water with, and casuing Adrianna to tremble as her face turned greenish at the sight…

"...hhurh...!"

....the maid got nauseous at the sight of the cooked flesh that had burst through the crimson skin…

"Adi?"

Melinda asked in confusion, unable to see the maid - and tried to move her hand some more…

"MY LADY! DON'T!"

Yet as she did that, her flesh started peeling off the bones of her fingers, making the maid scream out in horror and hurriedly grab Melinda's hand in an attempt to keep it all together.

"GHHH!"

"I'm sorry! My lady! Please, endure it! Young Zane will surely be done in a second… YOUNG ZANE, HURRY UP!"

Melinda hissed through her teeth from the almost impossible sensation to put into words, and Adrianna assured her in a trembling voice before turning to the side and calling as loud as she could.

"Adi…? Is it that bad...? I mean, it hurts really bad, but I don't think I'm like, dying or anything…"

"My lady, please don't worry! Everything will be okay! I promise!"

The gold-haired girl asked, doing her best to make a joke, but the desperate maid was too shaken to follow up and cried out, unable to take her eyes away from the bare bones showing through the cooked flesh of Melinda's hand…

*****

As for Zane, he was having a very difficult time finding any monster as the earlier hunting spree of Melinda and Adrianna, as well as the sudden steam explosion of the lake, appeared to leave the area deserted, chasing off any remaining creatures.

"....fhucking…! Ffff... UCK! ANYTHING!"

The monstrous servant growled, bearing his triangular teeth while clenching the complete heal scroll in one hand as he looked around for any motion.

Time was literally working against them, with a set amount of health points being depleted from Melinda's health pool every few seconds… The only good part about that part of the game sipping into reality was that this particular game didn't have any effects or attacks dealing percentage damage, meaning that the more vitality - and therefore health points - someone or something had, the safer they were.

Even Melinda at the moment was…

"...huh…? Is it even moving…?"

For a second, Zane stopped in his tracks and focused on Melinda's health, which he could perceive thanks to the party connection.

The set amount of points was deducted each couple of seconds because of the burn effect, that an unchangeable truth of the world...

…but for some reason… The overall amount of Melinda's health points didn't appear to be decreasing visually aside from the amount already missing…

"...OUNG ZANE! HURRY UP!"

"!!!"

Still, the next moment, Adrianna's scream stopped him from caring about it, and the monstrous servant continued the search.

"B-bu… bu-hi?"

"...!"

As if waiting for that exact moment, something rustled behind a bush to Zane's left, and a dazed Pigkin Orc stood up with a confused grumble.

"!!!"

*CHOMP*

"BU-HIIIIIIIIIIII!!"

The next moment, Zane was already there, and the Pigkin Orc let out a high-pitched squeal as most of its whole hand and most of its right forearm got chomped off in a single swift bite by the monstrous servant!

"NGMNG! Heal party leader, Melinda Fenrioette!"

Zane gulped down the monster's hand and called out while ripping the scroll in half, making it unleash the green light.

"BUHIIII!"

"..."

As the pigkin orc fell to its back, squealing in pain, Zane breathed out in relief, sensing Melinda's health pool refilling and the burn effect she suffered from disappearing.

"Fuuuuk…! She's okay… she will be okay… Praise be the developers and this easter egg..."

Zane breathed out while leaning back until he plopped on the ground, letting his head hang down as the level of adrenaline in his bloodstream slowly returned to normal.

"...buuu… bu… buhi…"

"..."

After a moment, Zane looked up at the dazed Pigkin Orc clenching the bleeding stump while letting out a few short squeals.

"...you know what? I'm not going to finish you off. I appreciate your participation in helping that girl. Off you go."

"!!!"

The monstrous servant breathed out and waved his hand, shooing the monster away and making it stare at him in complete bewilderment.

"I'm serious. Here. It's a cheap one, but its effect should at least stop the bleeding."

Zane added, reaching out to his back pocket, pulling out a basic low-grade health salve, and tossing it to the Pigkin orc's feet before standing up.

"Actually, that might not be enough…. Let's see! Aha! This."

"Buh?!"

The monstrous servant furrowed his brows after a critical look at the potion before glancing to the side and letting out a gasp at the sight of a herb just growing out there in the wild that he recognized, making the Pigkin Orc flinch.

"This one. This one gets you back some health. See? If you want to get better, eat those."

Zane plucked the herb and casually bit off one meaty leaf, swallowing it and tossing the rest of the plant right next to the already offered salve at the Pigkin Orc feet.

"Have a good life!"

"!?!?"

He added and left the flabbergasted monster behind.

"...bu-hi…?"

Not quite sure what to make of it, the Pigkin Orc let out another confused squeal… and then it picked up both the salve and the herb, giving them a hesitant sniff.