SSS-Rank Extra: I Got a Chaos System

Kazuki's eyes bulged. "COOK me?! You're skipping like—ten steps of process!"

The elves cheered like they'd just won a sacred game show.. Pots were clanged, wood was gathered, and one enthusiastic elf already had a suspiciously greasy apron made up of leaf.

"Wait—hold up! I thought the Leaf decided! It didn't even land!"

The elder was already walking away, muttering, "Leaf soared. The Forest Spirit has spoken. Not my fault it hates monkeys."

Kazuki thrashed in his bindings. "I am not a monkey!"

The fishbone elf paused mid-wood-chopping to make a monkey screech. The others joined in.

"Wow," Kazuki muttered. "Racism at its finest..."

A soft chime echoed in his ears.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

Congratulations!

Title Unlocked: Cooked Heir

"Destined for greatness... or a really good stew."

Kazuki rolled his eyes. "Yeah... I was thinking why were you so silent for a while..."

He barely had time to groan before the elves began cheering louder.

"MOROO SDOOOO" someone screamed.

A dozen elves dashed in with arms full of logs, flinging them into the bonfire. The flames whooshed upward with a thunderous FWOOM—the heat hitting Kazuki's face.

Kazuki's face turned serious, eyes narrowing. "I had enough of this bulls*it."

He tilted his head, spoke in low voice. "System. Can I use a skill now?"

[The Vines binding the host aren't ordinary. They have traces of mana in them.]

[Fortunately, it doesn't seem to restrict hosts mana.]

"Good," he muttered, "Then let's make things spicy."

Kazuki inhaled, deep and steady, before, a yellowish-pristine egg with a perfect oval shape materialized in his hands.

[Skill: Egg Bomb (C) Activated.]

A bead of sweat trailing down his neck from the rising heat. The egg bomb, was awkwardly clutched in his hand.

One wrong move and he'd go from hostage to roasted omelette topping.

Kazuki glanced at the roaring elves still busy chanting "MOROO SDOOOO" like it was a national anthem. Their backs were turned. The fire was crackling. The vines holding him were tight—but not invincible.

The Egg Bomb pulsed softly in his grip, a slow golden thrum like a ticking yolk-shaped time bomb.

"Alright, buddy," Kazuki whispered to the egg, "Don't scramble on me now."

With a flick of his wrist—and a lot of inner screaming—he lobbed the egg straight into the bonfire.

WHUMPF.

A golden flash burst out like divine retribution from the Breakfast Gods. Shockwaves rippled through the clearing, sending logs, leaves, and unfortunate elves flying in all directions like bowling pins hit by a drunk titan.

The vines binding Kazuki cracked and split, brittle from the shock and heat. He tumbled forward, coughing through the golden smoke.

The elf with the fishbone crashed into a tree with a splat. Another screamed something about "egg demons" before fainting.

Silence followed.

Kazuki took a deep breath.

From the ash and smoke, someone coughed. The silhouette of the elder smudged with ash, appeared.

His eyes found Kazuki, his trembling hand pointed at Kazuki.

"The corruption has overtaken the monkey's brain, the demon...demon.... Someone call the guardian of forest."

Behind Elders his followers scrambled one ran off to who's-know-where, other pulled out their weapons.

Elven eyes, glowing with hostility, locked onto him.

Kazuki didn't flinch.

He straightened his back, dusted off dirt, and said flatly, "What could you do to me with such primitive weapons?"

A beat of silence.

Then a whirrr cut through the air as one elf flung a sharpened leaf like a chakram—zing!—it zipped past Kazuki's face, nicking a hair.

His eye twitched. "Okay. Sharp leaf. Cool. Totally normal."

Another elf drew what looked like a blowgun made from bark and puffed—paff!—a dart embedded itself an inch from Kazuki's foot, sizzling slightly.

"Is that—acid sap? Are you guys born in a Pinterest torture board?!"

From behind them, a bulgy elf moved twice the size of other, carrying with him a sharpened bone axe twice the size of Kazuki.

The elder patted his back. "Raksha, make the monkey brain omelette."

The muscular elf huffed.

Kazuki's face paled. "Okay. That one's definitely not vegan."

Raksha cracked his knuckles, then the axe handle for good measure.

The Raksha moved with unnatural agility.

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He charged forward, each footfall shaking the ground like a tribal drumbeat echoing doom.

Kazuki barely had time to think.

Raksha leapt—yes, leapt—with that massive frame, soaring toward Kazuki like a sentient boulder with murder issues.

Kazuki ducked—barely

The axe embedded itself in the tree behind him with a KRUNCH, splitting the trunk clean in half.

Three leafs cut through the air with zing!

Kazuki's eyes widen.

[Skill: Feathered Footwork (D)] Activated.]

His body moved before thought could catch up—Kazuki twisted, turned, and slid like a leaf in a storm.

The first leaf-chakram missed by a hair.

The second grazed his sleeve, leaving behind a thin tear and a piece of burned cloth.

The third? He caught it.

Kazuki didn't have time to celebrate his minor anime moment.

The giant elf left the axe stuck to the wall and punched him.

A blur of brown skin enlarged in his vision.

Kazuki flew backward, his ribs felt like they caved in, spit left his mouth. He hit the ground, rolled twice, and stopped just shy of a suspiciously pointy stump.

He groaned, eyes spinning.

The elder cheered and the Raksha elf roared more like bear than a vegetarian elf

"End the monkey!" someone shouted.

Kazuki stood up weakly, wiping the spit from his mouth.

His vision blurred for a second—but cleared just enough to see Raksha cracking his knuckles again, stepping closer like a boulder set to respawn.

Kazuki exhaled.

"Alright... no more omelette jokes," he muttered, swaying slightly on his feet. "Time to get serious."