Episode 6: Into the Deep Forest

Once dawn broke and the forest was bathed in light, I began my preparations for departure. I built a fire, finished my meal, and sharpened the stone I was using as a knife. Occasionally, a pseudo-croc would check on me, but perhaps due to the bonfire, it didn’t attack.

As I busied myself checking my shoes and weapons, I suddenly realized the pain in my feet was gone. Yesterday, running barefoot through the forest should have left me covered in cuts, but they had completely closed up.

The wound on my chest was the same; not even a scar remained. The recovery speed was abnormal. I thought again that this body is definitely not normal. However, this is an extremely grateful ability.

Preparations complete, I steeled myself and entered the forest. I was dressed like a primitive man: a loincloth and pochette made of leaves and vines, a breechcloth made of the pseudo-weasel fur, and sandals made of tree branches.

My weapons were a crude spear, a stone knife, the pseudo-croc tail whip, and stones for throwing. It was pitifully meager, but for now, this was all I had to work with.

The moment I stepped into the forest, the sunlight was almost entirely blocked, making it dim. The scent of dense vegetation stimulated my nostrils. The screeching calls of beasts and birds echoed noisily in the distance.

The grass underfoot grew up to near my knees, making it wet and annoying, and the accumulated layers of leaves and branches were spongy with morning dew, making it hard to walk. Furthermore, large insects I’d never seen in Japan flew around or crawled on the ground. An untouched primeval forest stretched out endlessly.

I hadn’t even advanced 10 meters before receiving the forest’s baptism. My exposed upper body and shins were scratched by leaves and branches with every step I took. They were small scratches, but blood began to seep out.

This body has high physical abilities, but it must have originally lived wearing clothes. Unlike natives who live naked, the skin doesn’t seem accustomed to forest activity. The scratches started to get irritated and itchy. I stuck large leaves onto my upper body and shins to serve as protectors. If that causes a rash, I’ll just have to try different leaves until I find ones that work.

Also, I used a slender branch about a meter long to clear spiderwebs as I advanced. Webs larger than a human were commonplace and strung up everywhere. The spiders themselves were over 30cm including their legs; God knows what kind of poison they might have. Occasionally, there were tough webs that the branch couldn’t clear, so in those cases, I had no choice but to go around.

I didn’t think a primeval forest would be this harsh. In Japan, most forests have been touched by human hands and reforested, so there are usually paths or footholds making walking relatively easy. In that sense, true virgin forests are rare. Plus, with so many climbers and hikers, you can usually sense traces of human presence somewhere, but here, there is absolutely no sign of that.

Moreover, there is an atmosphere filled with killing intent, hatred, and hostility everywhere—something I couldn’t feel in Japan. It feels like I’m being subjected to pressure. It’s almost as if the forest is rejecting humans.

But I had no choice but to move forward. I have no destination, but staying here won’t solve anything. Even if my pace is slow, I have to proceed step by step while staying vigilant.

Also, just in case I get lost, I marked thick tree trunks with my spear as I walked. This was to avoid losing my sense of direction and walking in circles, something I had experienced while hiking in Japan. In Japan, pink ribbons are often tied to tree branches as trail markers, but here, nothing like that exists.

As I ventured deeper into the forest, leech-like creatures occasionally fell from above, sticking to my body and sucking blood. I frantically brushed them off, but they kept falling one after another, so there was no end to it. Fortunately, they didn’t seem poisonous; they sucked blood, but other than itching, there was no pain or swelling with discoloration.

It was annoying as hell, so I observed the falling leeches and thought about how to avoid them. Watching one leech falling toward my head, I willed “Go away!” Then, the falling leech changed course about 30cm above my head, as if flicked away, and fell to the ground.

I did it! I involuntarily pumped my fist.

Remembering how the pseudo-panther had dodged my thrown stones with something like Telekinesis, I wondered if I could do it too, and it turned out to be surprisingly easy. After testing it a few times and paying attention, I was able to dodge them 100% of the time.

This made walking much easier, but if possible, I’d be grateful if I could naturally avoid the leeches without looking. Through trial and error, I reached a point where I could avoid them about half the time, and as I continued walking, perhaps getting used to it, I began to avoid them quite consistently.

However, if my attention was diverted by something like a large spiderweb in front of me, the effect vanished, and leeches latched onto me. Maintaining the consciousness to avoid them is key.

Just when I thought the leech problem was somewhat solved, next came the bees. A swarm of about 10 bees flew toward me. Each one was the size of a fist, which was terrifying, and they looked disgusting.

Killing them poorly might attract more, so I didn’t want to fight if possible. So, I willed strongly to avoid their attacks. Thanks to that, the approaching bees were deflected just before touching me. They repeated their attacks several times, but unable to touch me, they gave up and flew away.

I was relieved, but the back of my head started to sting. I thought a leech had bitten me, but that wasn’t it; the pain came from deep within the nape of my neck. Is this a sign of something?

Suddenly, I remembered the gem-like stone I found when skinning the pseudo-weasel. That was located right at the back of the neck, the same place where I was feeling pain. Could it be that a stone like that is buried in my body too? Touching it with my hand, I didn’t feel anything hard.

So I figured it was just a coincidence.

Still, I think again and again: this body is truly amazing. Not only does it have excellent athletic ability, but it can even use Telekinesis. Using it for real, I realized that it feels like this body originally remembers how to use it. It might be my imagination, but I feel like I understand that if I will it this way, that happens.

Does that mean this was originally someone else’s body? Or was it created that way?

Judging by the beasts that attacked me, supernatural power seems to be an innate ability of animals in this world. If so, Telekinesis likely exists commonly in this world. I have no proof, but it’s certainly an advantageous ability for my survival.

As a test, I willed at a small stone lying on the ground. The stone floated up lightly and rose straight into my hand. Oooohhhh!!! Amazing. Too amazing!

I sent my will into the stone in my hand and tried moving it around. I could make it draw circles in the air or fly in curves, manipulating it pretty much as I thought. However, I couldn’t make it do complex movements like sharp turns or zigzagging flight.

I tested how far away I could manipulate it, and with Telekinesis alone, the limit seemed to be about 20 to 30 meters. Even if I tried to fly it parallel to the ground, it would eventually lose to gravity and fall. If I threw the stone with my arm strength and then sent my will, I couldn’t make it curve sharply, but I could change its trajectory by sliding it.

Naturally, as the stone gets bigger and heavier, the effectiveness of Telekinesis drops. However, that bear was Air Walking its body, which must have weighed nearly a ton. I feel like with training, I might be able to freely manipulate my body in the air too. Thinking that, excitement welled up, lifting my mood.

Come to think of it, there was a psychic boom when I was a kid. Led by U– G–ller, many self-proclaimed psychics who bent spoons with their minds appeared on TV, exciting households across the nation.

I was captivated as a child and rubbed spoons along with them. Naturally, mine didn’t bend.

In reality, almost all of them were frauds and fake psychics. Rubbing a spoon, or throwing a spoon backwards to bend it—thinking back now, it was incredibly shady, and no one bent a spoon without touching it.

However, while I don’t know about spoons right now, the current me can break a twig the thickness of a chopstick without using my hands. This is completely the supernatural power called Telekinesis or Psychokinesis.

I tried jumping and applying will to my body. As expected, my body didn’t Air Walk. Moreover, the pain in the back of my head increased to a stabbing pain. On top of that, I felt nauseous. I got dizzy and crouched on the spot. It seems I can only handle light objects at best; heavy things put a considerable burden on my nerves. Caution is needed when using Telekinesis.

My mood dampened by the headache and dizziness, I realized something unpleasant. If only I could use this supernatural power, I could be unrivaled with a cheat ability, but it’s better to assume other humans can use it as a matter of course. In fact, wild animals are mastering it better than I am.

So far, it seems that the larger the animal, the more developed their Telekinesis is. But this is very bad. If an animal the size of an elephant mastered Telekinesis freely, there’s no way I could stand a chance without a large-caliber gun. From now on, I should assume that large animals can use Telekinesis as a given.

Just as I was getting used to walking in the forest, I sensed the presence of a beast chasing me. Somehow, I felt a piercing pressure. A sensation like a tingling throb ran deep in the nape of my neck.

Stopping and focusing my attention in the direction the pressure was coming from, I couldn’t see them, but I could faintly hear the sound of grass parting. It seemed to be a pack, not a single animal.

Since I didn’t know what they were yet, I ran to gain distance. When I started running, the beasts started running too. They seemed to be four-legged animals, and they were faster than me; the distance was closing.

Finding a particularly thick tree, I jumped up, traversing branches, aiming for a branch about 10 meters high. Holding a spear weighing about 10kg, I grabbed a branch with one hand, but my body lifted easily in a one-armed pull-up.

I took position on a branch extending almost horizontally. The branch was over 50cm thick; it didn’t budge even with me standing on it. Perhaps because the thick tree absorbed the surrounding nutrients, the density of trees dropped in that spot, creating a clearing around it. They wouldn’t be able to attack me by traversing from neighboring trees here.

The beasts caught up and took positions surrounding the tree. There were five of them. The beasts somewhat resembled African wild dogs, or Lycaons. At first, I thought they were foxes, but their mottled fur and large round ears were distinctive; I remembered seeing them on TV or something.

I vaguely recalled they lived in the African savanna, were skilled hunters, and had an extremely high success rate. I thought they were around a meter long, but these guys were nearly 2 meters, with two vicious fangs growing from both their upper and lower jaws. Just because they look similar doesn’t mean they aren’t a different creature entirely. The Lycaon-pseudos growled, intimidating me.

One jumped and closed in. I was over 10 meters above the ground, yet it reached right up to my feet, swinging its front paw to claw at me.

What incredible jumping power! I can’t jump that high. It clearly possesses physical abilities superior to mine. However, speed reaches zero at the apex of a jump, making it a perfect target.

I thrust the spear I was holding into the Lycaon-pseudo. The spear pierced its mouth, penetrated its throat, and buried itself halfway into its body. It probably punctured the stomach and shredded the internal organs.

The Lycaon-pseudo, eyes wide open and staring at me, vomited blood from the mouth where the spear was stuck and fell. It hit the ground and didn’t move again. I was relieved the spearhead hadn’t come off.

The other four looked at their dead comrade, then turned eyes filled with hatred toward me and barked with all their might. An immense pressure weighed down on me. The four jumped simultaneously, kicking off branches and attacking from different routes. I thrust the spear down at the one approaching from almost directly below, just like before, but its eyes glowed, and it Air Walked to dodge.

“Tch!”

I instinctively swept the spear sideways toward where it had Air Walked, knocking its body away. Taking my eyes off the one I knocked away, I took a golf-ball-sized stone from my pochette and hurled it at the next one closing in.

I threw it with arm strength alone, but the stone hit its forehead with a resounding thwack. Its eyes started to glow, but the distance was too close to evade.

The power of the throw wasn’t enough to deal major damage, but it lost its balance and fell headfirst to the ground. A crack echoed alongside the squelching sound of impact. It seemed to have broken its neck.

The remaining two seemed bad at tree climbing; they approached me after a slight pause. I jumped and moved to a higher branch. The two tried to follow, but one couldn’t grip the branch well, slipped, and fell. But it seemed to land successfully.

The remaining one kicked off a branch and lunged at me, but I dodged at the last second. Its claws and fangs cut through the air, and its body sailed through empty space. However, it Air Walked and scratched my right arm with its hind leg. The skin on my arm split, blood spurted, and I nearly dropped the spear.

Enduring the pain, I swung the spear down with all my might, slamming it into its body. Crack!

“Gyan!”

With the sound of a breaking spine, it was slammed forcefully into the ground. With a squelch, its body convulsed once violently, then stopped moving.

Remaining were the one I knocked away and the one that slipped. They were still lively, but their fighting spirit seemed somewhat dampened. Still, they didn’t try to flee, glaring at me while growling.

Since the spear was slipping due to the bleeding from my arm, I stabbed the spear into the tree branch to fix it in place, then held stones in my freed hands. In my dominant right hand, two golf-ball-sized stones; in my left, about six pebble-sized stones.

Aiming at the Lycaon-pseudos, I fired a continuous stream of “finger flicks” with my left hand. Sending the will Hit!, three pebbles hit the Lycaon-pseudos’ bodies one after another.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Because of the minimal finger movement with no preliminary action, the Lycaon-pseudos couldn’t predict it and took the hits directly. Though, since the power was low, there was almost no damage.

Still, it was enough to anger them. Forgetting themselves in rage, they jumped straight at me. However, they couldn’t reach me as I was even higher than before. Just as planned.

I threw the stones held in my right hand with all my might at the two Lycaon-pseudos in succession. One had its brow crushed and brain destroyed, and the other had the stone pierce through its open mouth, throat, and into its guts. By the time their eyes glowed, it was already too late. The two fell and slammed into the ground, dead.

I watched from the tree for a while, but none of the five showed any sign of moving, so I relaxed my tension and exhaled lightly. Good grief, what a nightmare.

If I didn’t have weapons, I couldn’t have taken on five of those things. I truly think it was good that I prepared weapons. Better safe than sorry. Although, right now, no matter how prepared I am, I’m nothing but sorry.

But it’s strange how well I can fight. I’ve lived in a world almost entirely unrelated to fighting, and I’ve never even been in a proper fistfight. At most, I learned karate for about a year as a kid, admiring B–ce L– who was popular back then. Again, I feel like this body remembers fighting, or knows how to fight.

I descended to the ground and gathered vines to bind my arm and stop the bleeding. I recovered as many stones as possible, and once done, reinforced the spear. As expected, it had loosened a bit, and the spearhead was wobbling. The shoes were the same. I reinforced them as much as I could.

While I was at it, thinking they might be useful, I broke off the Lycaon-pseudos’ fangs to keep. Naturally, I couldn’t break them by hand, so I found a large stone and bashed them out. The fangs were about 10cm long and 2cm thick at the base. For now, I put four of them in my pochette.

However, my grass pochette was falling apart from the recent battle. I did some first aid on it, but if possible, I wanted to make a durable one out of fur. I decided to skin the Lycaon-pseudos. I need clothes to protect myself, after all. If I finish them, my defense against insect and beast attacks, not to mention scratches from branches and leaves, will go up significantly.

The primeval forest is just troublesome and dangerous. I haven’t even gone that far into the forest yet, and I’m anxious about whether I can really survive. I encouraged my disheartened spirit: Hang in there, hang in there. During my salaryman days, I experienced mistakes and incidents that made me want to die many times. Each time, I encouraged myself not to be weak but to face it, and I got through it.

Surely, I’ll manage this time too.