Author's Note: I wanted to do some world-building for "The Only Reset" to explain how certain aspects of the game work in it. These topics will likely have no bearing on TOR's story and are not necessary to understand it, but they can give a little information if you want to know more about the world TOR is set in. It's similar to "Checklist" in that regard.


The Effects of Monster Food on Non-monster Individuals' Diets

Since monsters are mostly made up of magic, their food is also comprised of magic. While this magic can heal magical wounds inflicted on a humans SOUL, it cannot provide proper sustenance for humans indefinitely. It provides the user with energy, but it does not replace dead cells in a human. As a result, a human will inevitably die if not provided with at least some carbon-based food. Nevertheless, due to not needing to burn glucose and the greatly increased longevity granted by certain cells entering stasis, the body can utilize monster food to survive many, many months without organic matter.

The longevity given to many cells in a human's body by monster food may, at least in part, be due to either the human's body and/or the magic in the food being able to recognize that certain cells are not needed while being sustained by magic. Typically short-lived cells in the digestive track enter a type of stasis while the body is "fed" magic, and the healing properties of the magic causes plasma and white blood cells to decrease in count but increase in average life span due to the relative lack of anomalous material in the bloodstream for it to fight off¹. The stasis itself is maintained by a portion of the magical essence consumed. Most plasma and white blood cells remain in the marrow during this magically induced cell stasis, and few new cells are produced. Hair, fingernails, and toenails mostly stop growing along with the epidermal and dermal skin layers. The magic from monster food can be stored in the body to a limited extent, depending on the size and age of the individual consuming it.

Note that as a result of some of these effects on human health, dependency can result after a body has been on a largely magic-based diet for extended periods of time. While there are no known psychological dependencies associated with monster food, a human that has been on a predominately magic-based diet for a significant period of time should be gradually weaned off magic and back on to physical food slowly over the course of a week or so to give it time to readjust to a normal diet. There have not been any recorded negative long-term effects associated with a person that has been on a largely magic-based diet and then reverted back to normal foods, though this may be a result of the short period of time that these phenomena have been under study.

Attempts to prolong human life via a magical diet are risky, as magically resistant or immune diseases are a major threat to persons with such low plasma and white blood cell counts. It also does not rejuvenate or place into stasis any neuron cells, and current technology already allows for most humans to survive up to the point where the brain starts to degrade. Magically-induced immortality is still not a reality or a feasible goal on normal humans. It is unknown what effects it may have on hybrid beings, as covered below.

Hybrid beings are relatively new and few in quantity. As such, only limited testing of the effects of monster food on them has been accomplished. Most trials are still on-going, but short-term data implies that the diet has a similar effect on hybrids as it does to humans, but to a greater degree. A hybrid could theoretically go years without physical food, but it's unknown what effect this may eventually have on their health long-term.

¹The magical healing will purge most bacterial and viral substances from the body with the exception of benign or magically resistant or immune agents.