MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

Mister mage, was it? 

The man who approached them alone had a noble face, was well-off judging by the rings on his hands, and seemed very energetic. 

This guy could have almost seemed endearing…if he weren't completely naked! His eyes shone with desire, his breathing was quick, and his face flushed red. He was even mumbling: 

"M-magic, magic, so much magic!" 

Yeah, buddy, it's usually magic when rain suddenly turns into flying daggers of doom….usually. 

"H-how did you do that?!" He exclaimed in shock before regaining a sliver of composure. "Pleased to meet you, I'm the official recruiter of Sprigfield Town from the Tower and—"

He politely started to introduce himself, only to freeze, stunned by their reactions. 

- The elemental was leaving, not caring one bit about that new human. He had done his part of the bargain…for now anyway. It was time to head back to the lake. 

- The monk was staring at the man's naked body suspiciously. His deep frowning expression frightened the mage. 

- Jack had grabbed the Macabre Rat by the neck and was bringing it inside. The creature was playing dead in his grasp. 

How long had it been since the mage had been ignored?! Heck, even at the Tower, he would have gotten a wave of welcome at the very least! 

Inwardly he was already panicking. He had clearly mentioned Tower, and they didn't even react. How was that possible?! 

But then he stared at the Macabre Rat in the man's hands. It emitted such vile energy! 

"S-sir, where are you bringing it?!" 

"Inside. I still haven't decided if I'm gonna make pie or stew." Jack replied before disappearing into the farmhouse. 

The mage was at a loss. Pie? Stew? WTF?! This was an extremely dangerous creature! Usually, he would have already rushed to grab it from him, but he felt incredibly wary. 

He knew that whoever had summoned the rain had the power to crush him, the town, and fucking everything around it! He turned toward the monk.

"What about you, Sir? Could you please—"

"Sorry, you're very handsome, but I don't swing that way!" 

"….. -_- ?!?" What now… 

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Jack looked at the creature that was listless even by undead standards! 

The rat's eyes were completely still as it had seemingly lost the will to live. It had tried to accomplish a revolution, only to fail magnificently. 

Still, this sure was highly peculiar. 

1. Why had it suddenly developed intelligence? Was it really just the effect of the title? 

2. Why had it wanted to kill him? Was it simply because he had killed tons of its brethren over time? 

He couldn't help but feel curious about the thing. He quickly grabbed his secret weapon, stuffing it in the creature's mouth. 

There were many misconceptions about the undead. Many were convinced that they were totally unfeeling and brainless, but some emotions did get through. 

The primary one had to be hunger. The rat unconsciously started munching on the pumpkin sandwich roll. 

The effect was almost instantaneous as (un)life returned to its eyes. The dark light in them started flickering in shock. 

"You're conscious again? Damn, I knew her cooking was OP, but that's really fast!" He chuckled. 

Technically undead could eat. It was mostly useless, but they could extract the mana inside the food. It just happened that the Pumpkins his lover grew contained mana. 

Understanding that Jack was feeding it, the light in its eyes flickered with complete confusion. 

Why?! Why would he do this?! The creator was right in front of its teeth. All it had to do was give a quick bite and it would be free, it would—

That's when the human attacked it!! It could feel the weight of the human's hand going back and forth on its head, ruffling the fur…..but why did it feel so good?! 

— Jack used Demonic Headpat! It's super effective! —

Macabres only knew to devour the living. 

Macabres were impossible to tame. 

Macabres were 100% evil. 

Yet the rat was gently bruxing as it happily rubbed its head against the hand, taking in as much demonic energy as possible. But then it suddenly froze…what was it doing?! 

"You feel it's unnatural? Do you feel like you should be a killing machine? That's what Demonic Energy will do to many." 

"So what if you're dead? All that matters is what's deep in there." Jack gently stabbed its side with his index. 

"What will it be? Do you want to live? Do you want to eat more pumpkins? Do you want more of this?" He approached his hand as he stared at the creature. 

At this moment, he spoke the creature's language. 

It hungered for the life it had lost. 

It hungered for mana-rich food!

It hungered for Demonic Energy! 

The creator it had so wanted to devour was now offering it all to it. Actually, why had it tried to destroy him in the first place?! It didn't even know! Then it felt a change… 

[Macabre Rat Initiating a Magical Contract!] 

[Do you wish to accept? Y/N] 

"Tch— Why are you even asking…of course!" 

[Analyzing! Analyzing!] 

[Contract with "Moon Moon" Detected!] 

[Canceling Proposition! Cannot Establish—]

The rat's eyes dimmed with disappointment. It could somehow feel what was happening. 

"You think I care about that? We'll just have to do it the hard way!" On that note, Jack stormed out of the house, coming back with a flabbergasted naked mage in tow. 

"W-what's happening?!" The poor mage shakily asked. 

"You saw the rain, right? I swear to god, if you don't help me, the entire Sprigfield town will be destroyed!" Jack shouted. 

"W-what?! Why?!" 

"No time to explain. The forces of evil are already on the move! This rat will be our spy to infiltrate their ranks. Or do you want evil to win?!" Jack kept shouting, dragging the man into his pace. 

"W-what no, but!—"

"Good, you got magical ingredients in that backpack of yours? Grab me some Dark Essence, Corpse Grass, and Bloodrock! We have a lot of work to do!" Jack thundered. 

"W-what are you even—"

"Hurry! We don't have much time!! Move your ass, or the ghouls are gonna win this war!!" 

"G-ghouls?!!" 

"Tch— Let's save us both some time. Use a truth serum, or spell, or whatever you have." Jack implored. 

The mage shook in confusion, but he somehow went with the flow, taking a scroll out. 

"This is a tru—"

"I know! Let's hurry the fuck up!" Jack tore it, a silver glow enveloping his body. "Ghouls are scheming in town. I'm planning to infiltrate their ranks using this rat!" 

The silver light slowly dimmed down, but there wasn't any other reaction. This proved that he was telling the truth. Well, he really wanted to infiltrate them… except as an ally! 

"It's all true?!" the mage gasped. 

"Yes! Now, help me draw the magic circle!" Jack worked the confused mage to the bone, making him follow his directives to the letter. 

1. They established a specific magical circle. He even used that one chicken head he had to boost the power.

2. The mage took care of what remained of the mana part. 

3. Jack inserted the Demonic Energy and finished the ritual. 

As it finally activated, the rat suddenly glowed a dark light before it seemed to implode! 

"WTF?!" 

"No worries, it's normal," Jack reassured. 

Then the creature and dark energy were all compressed until they formed a small black bead. It was shiny, and there seemed to be a rat imprint in it. 

"There's one last thing! Quick, wipe your memory; otherwise, the ghouls will know!!!" 

"W-what?! Why would I—"

"Hurry!!! Otherwise, everyone will die!!!" Jack shouted with such enthusiasm that the mage complied. Yep, he really did. 

As the man fell to the ground unconscious, Jack couldn't help but chuckle. Can't progress too much in the path of magic when you're that dumb! No wonder the guy was stuck in such a shitty town!

Still, the man had been a great helper. 

Jack happily grabbed the Demonic Pearl. 

[?!?%$#!!] 

[Analyzing! Analyzing! Analyzing!] 

[Analyzing! Analyzing! Analyzing!] 

Jack shook his head at the bugged notifications: 

"Congratulations! Obtained Pet Summon Pearl: Demonic Rat!" 

"Works like a regular pet, but the respawn isn't free and requires energy!" 

[Congratulations! Obtained Pet—!] 

"Can it! What's the point of repeating what I literally just said? Actually, if you're gonna repeat…."

"Congratulations! Gained 2 Billion XP! Leveled up!!!!" 

"…."

"Tch— You're no fun!" 

[Leadership Increased!] 

[Acquired Title: Slave Driver!] 

[+6.66% Chance to Trick People IF the Goal is Exploitation] 

"Pick one. Is it leadership or slave-driving? Then again, there probably isn't that big a difference." 

The whole Item-Based Pets were supposed to come in a future update when people got tired of just having one. The ritual itself wasn't that hard either, but required a few things: 

1. The mage's help had been vital. The elemental's spell had shaken him so much that bamboozling him had been easy.

2. It normally took a colossal effort to get enough affinity with a creature to tame it like that. It somehow worked since he was the rat's creator. 

3. Regardless of its intelligence, the rat was low-level, making the taming easier. This was pretty much a bargain as far as Jack was concerned. 

In any case, it had succeeded this one time. 

Jack grabbed the pearl with a grin then drove his mana inside. That's when the Macabre Rat spawned. 

"Welcome back, buddy. From now on, you will be known as D.U.R.D.O.C! Do you like it?" 

The rat nodded, puzzled. What good was a name? It wasn't like it would be hard to differentiate it from live rats… 

"Oh, by the way, it stands for "Do Undead Rats Dream Of Cheese." Jack eagerly shared. 

Even the rat understood that it was a silly name. Sadly, it didn't have time to complain at all. 

A commotion was happening outside. The players were being rowdy? What did they want now? Hopefully, there wouldn't be any trouble… 

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[A/N] Hype! Feb Mass Release Time! 🔥

Do Undead Rats Dream Of Cheese?! Thoughts?