Episode 3: A Terrifying World

Feeling uneasy about staying in one place, I walked downstream along the riverbank. The terrain was rugged and rocky, but traversable. My makeshift shoes were doing a surprisingly good job.

The river flowing beside me varied in width depending on the rock formations, but it looked to be about 10 meters wide on average. The flow would speed up into small waterfalls or slow down into pools, keeping my eyes entertained. The water was an astonishingly beautiful emerald green, sparkling in the sunlight.

Come to think of it, Nishizawa Gorge in Yamanashi Prefecture was like this, though on a smaller scale. The colorful, ever-changing flow of water there left a strong impression on me. If I had a map app with GPS like back then, I could pinpoint my location, but I had no such thing, and the place I was walking now was completely unfamiliar.

However, even this beautiful location underwent a complete atmospheric shift once you entered the adjacent forest. Sunlight was blocked, making it dim, and the accumulation of fallen leaves and dead branches made walking incredibly difficult. On top of that, there were swarms of large insects unlike any found in Japan. I tried entering the forest once, but immediately encountered bee-like insects the size of a fist buzzing around in droves, so I got scared and left right away.

So, here I am walking on the rocky bank, but a beast has been tracking me from within the forest for a while now. I caught a glimpse of it—a black panther, or perhaps a giant black cat. And it feels like it’s the size of a horse. I don’t want to fight something like that, but it doesn’t seem keen on letting me go.

The rocky riverbank was coming to an end. The river beside me dropped about 20 meters via a series of waterfalls, and sheer cliffs rose on both sides, forming a gorge.

At the same time, the rocky bank disappeared, replaced by trees growing right up to the edge of the cliff. From here on, I couldn’t walk along the riverbank; like it or not, I would be forced to enter the forest.

But if I enter the forest, the pseudo-panther is waiting. The forest is its territory. The odds are stacked against me no matter how I look at it.

I decided to make my stand here on the rocks. For some reason, the pseudo-panther won’t leave the forest. If not for that, it would have attacked me long ago. Is there a reason? Is it perhaps afraid of the pseudo-crocs from earlier?

Whatever the case, it works in my favor. In this spot, unless a pseudo-croc jumps out, I don’t have to worry about attacks from behind. Keeping a wary eye on the pseudo-panther, I gathered stones of various sizes scattered on the ground.

There was a spot where driftwood had piled up, so I picked up a few long pieces of wood. I didn’t have time to make a spear, but using these to keep distance should help defend against claws and fangs to some extent.

But honestly, I’m scared. Fighting a beast larger than myself isn’t a joke. If I had a gun, that would be one thing, but I don’t think I can win with these crude weapons I’ve gathered. But I have to kill it! If I don’t kill it, I’ll be killed.

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it! Kill! Kill! Kill!

I desperately repeated this to myself to steel my resolve. Having time before the fight is actually troublesome; it lets the fear creep in.

Once my resolve was set, I decided to launch a preemptive strike. I glared at the forest, sharpening my senses to locate the beast. After searching for a while, I sensed a sinister, aura-like presence. It was the same feeling I got from that bear.

Straining my eyes and ears toward that spot, I detected the glint of eyes watching me from the bushes and the sound of quiet breathing. This body really is amazing; every ability seems to be at a very high level.

I threw a stone the size of a golf ball toward it. If that provokes it to come out of the forest, fine. If it runs away, that’s fine too. Thanks to this body’s incredible physical ability, the stone flew straight and fast toward the pseudo-panther.

The pseudo-panther looked surprised and leaped aside, dodging the stone. It probably had never had things thrown at it before; it was so startled it lost its balance.

I threw the next stone without missing a beat. Hitting it would be lucky, so I just threw it while intensely thinking, Hit! The off-balance pseudo-panther looked unable to dodge, but its eyes flashed, and it slid its body sideways.

What the—!?

The pseudo-panther’s legs were fully extended, yet it moved sideways without any leverage. Did it move its body in mid-air just like that bear?

That was surprising, but what also shocked me was that the stone I threw slid in the air as if chasing the pseudo-panther. The stone hit the pseudo-panther’s hind leg and bounced off, flying backward.

“Gyan!”

A lot of surprising things happened at once, but the pseudo-panther was wounded and, flying into a rage, charged toward me.

This time I threw a stone the size of a softball. Just like before, I willed it: Hit! The pseudo-panther jumped, kicking off a tree trunk to change direction, but again the stone curved toward it. It seems the stone curving wasn’t a coincidence.

However, just as I thought it would hit, the beast’s eyes glowed, and the stone curved in a wild direction and flew away.

“What the hell?! Does this thing use Telekinesis or something?!”

No, wait… maybe I’m doing the same thing…

There’s no time to think. The pseudo-panther was closing the distance at tremendous speed. Still, its movement slowed slightly as it reached the boundary between the forest and the rocky area.

Seizing that opening, I grabbed as many golf-ball-sized stones as I could hold in both hands and threw them all at once.

Hit!

As I willed it, most of the stones flew straight, but a few curved to chase the pseudo-panther’s movements. The straight stones acted as a distraction. It dodged two of the curving stones, but one caught it in the face, hitting its eye.

“Gyaf!”

The stone lacked momentum, so the damage was minor, but hitting the eye was lucky. I thought it might flee, but the pseudo-panther burned with even greater rage and charged out of the forest without hesitation. It seemed it wouldn’t be satisfied until I was dead.

I felt an immense psychological pressure. It felt almost like physical force was being applied to me. No, I was actually feeling it. I nearly froze in place, but this body shook it off.

I won’t let you kill me! That thought dispersed the pressure.

As the pseudo-panther lunged, I lifted a large chunk of rock with all my might and swung it. It must have weighed over 100kg.

The pseudo-panther’s eyes glowed as it tried to dodge the rock. The rock tried to veer sideways, but I didn’t let go. Using brute force, I fought against the movement and shoved the rock toward the pseudo-panther’s head. The beast extended its front paws to attack with its claws, but the rock caught its head a split second faster.

“Gugya!”

A sound like crushing bone echoed, and the impact transferred to me. Running headlong into a rock weighing over 100kg naturally didn’t end well for the pseudo-panther; its skull cracked, revealing the contents inside.

The forceful movement and impact sent me flying, and I lost my balance and fell. Despite its split skull, the pseudo-panther didn’t go down. It staggered but still lunged at me.

As it raised a claw to strike, I instinctively swung the whip I had acquired earlier while still lying on the ground. The whip snapped with a hum, catching the pseudo-panther’s front leg. The flesh tore easily, and its toes, claws and all, were blown away.

“Pigyaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!”

With a scream, the pseudo-panther lost its balance and collapsed, writhing on the rocks. The power of the whip was astonishing.

I immediately stood up, lifted the rock chunk again, and dropped it on the pseudo-panther’s head. Its head was crushed flat, scattering blood and brains. This should have killed it completely, but at that moment, a black mist-like substance emerged from its body.

What is that?

The black mist drifted in the air for a few moments before dissipating. What was that just now? A soul? An astral body? A black mist appeared when the pseudo-croc died too; it seems I hadn’t imagined it.

I stayed still for a while, but nothing else happened. I don’t know what that was, but the pseudo-panther is definitely dead. The tension left me, and I collapsed on the spot. I don’t really understand what happened, but thanks to strange events and luck, I feel like I won.

Looking at the dead body of the pseudo-panther, it was truly massive—seriously the size of a horse. Even with the corpse right in front of me, I didn’t really feel like I had won. Seriously? Did I seriously win? That was the feeling. I don’t have to worry about being attacked anymore. That thought alone swirled around in my mind.

The bleeding from the pseudo-panther was severe; the area was quickly turning into a sea of blood. This isn’t good. The smell of blood might attract other hostile creatures. I mustered my strength to stand up, grabbed the pseudo-panther’s legs, and dragged it toward the river.

Judging by its horse-sized body, it must weigh 500kg, but at this point, even with this body’s physical strength, it just felt heavy. Still, this young body managed to drag it over the rocks, albeit with difficulty. It really is superhuman physical ability. Without this body, I would have been dead long ago.

I somehow managed to drag the corpse to the river and shove it in. It was carried by the current and fell to the bottom of the gorge. When the body surfaced, a massive number of pseudo-crocs appeared from who knows where and swarmed it. Watching from the rocky cliff, the pseudo-panther was reduced to bones and sank within minutes. The sight made me shiver.

What a terrifying place. I think I understand why the pseudo-panther hesitated to leave the forest. Was the one I fought a stray? I was lucky to only deal with one.

Once their meal was finished, the pseudo-crocs sank back into the water and vanished as if nothing had happened. They seemed satisfied. I collapsed on the spot once more and let out a long breath.

Seriously, where is this place? I really can’t believe this is the Earth I know. Or are there creatures like this in the Amazon or Africa that I just don’t know about?

Even a panther, as far as I know, is a medium-sized cat, much smaller than a tiger or lion. But this pseudo-panther was bigger than even tigers or lions.

And then there’s that. The special ability it seemed to use when its eyes glowed—moving in mid-air and altering the movement of objects with its mind. I couldn’t tell if the bear’s eyes glowed, but it showed a similar ability. Even more surprising was that I curved the trajectory of the thrown stone in the same way.

What is actually going on? Can the creatures of this world, myself included, use the supernatural power of Telekinesis? Is this a world where psychic powers are the norm?

I don’t know… There are just too many things I don’t know.

I had no will to get up and remained sitting there for a while.