Chapter 1: Life in the Mountains is Tough

Having miraculously survived the attack from the two monsters, I tried to leave the forest immediately. However, those two monsters were still prowling around the woods, clearly searching for me.

—So persistent. Give it up already.

It seems they have completely targeted me. I didn’t even do anything to them, so why chase me this far? Are they tracking my scent to cut me off? They are always ahead of me.

It seems they have no intention of letting me out of the forest. If that’s the case, my options are limited. Since they are faster, even if I try to force my way out, they will catch up to me. And this forest is basically their backyard. Hiding in this forest indefinitely is close to impossible.

Then, there’s only one place left for me to aim for. —I have no choice but to go to the “Mountain.”

It seems the monsters in the forest absolutely avoid going near the mountain. They probably stay away on pure instinct. They know that going to the mountain leads directly to death. But right now, that’s the only choice I can make.

Besides, perhaps the S-rank monsters, just like that Black Dragon from earlier, won’t be interested in someone like me and might let me pass right by. Relying on such a hope feels like a checkmate in itself, but staying in the forest will result in the exact same outcome…

In that case, I’ll take the path that holds even a tiny bit of hope. The problem is the abnormal weather I heard about in the stories… but I guess I won’t know until I go…

…It was impossible.

No, no, no, what is up with that parade of abnormal weather…? Just as I thought the scorching sun was drying up the earth, next comes a sudden hailstorm, and then a thick fog that completely obscures my vision… which then turns into a massive storm strong enough to blow it all away. It doesn’t settle down at all!

The weather shifts dizzyingly one after another… it’s just impossible. Crossing the mountain in that is out of the question. My little bit of training? Completely meaningless.

So, where I am right now is holed up in a cave I found that looked perfect for hiding, located somewhere between the forest at the foot and the mountain. There’s a river flowing nearby, so I won’t want for water, making it an ideal hiding spot.

Because it’s scary outside. If I go to the forest, there are monsters targeting me. If I go to the mountain, the abnormal weather prevents me from advancing.

What am I supposed to do? There’s nothing I can do. It’s not a place where people pass through either, so am I just going to rot away here…?

Grumble~…

My stomach growled. As long as I’m alive, I’ll get hungry.

I realized such an obvious thing all over again. I popped some nuts and berries I had gathered while in the forest into my mouth to stave off the hunger a little. What I thought as I ate them was that, indeed, I really don’t want to die.

When things get to this point, you achieve a sort of enlightenment. A feeling sprouted within me that I would survive no matter what it took.

There was no lie in my feeling that I would survive no matter what. It’s not a lie, but… realistically, it’s going to be extremely difficult. It’s true that I can find light food like nuts and herbs in the forest, but they simply don’t fill me up.

I was never satisfied and constantly felt hungry. So what should I do?

After several days had already passed, the answer was provided right in front of me. I had no choice but to eat the leftovers left by the monsters in the forest.

At first, I thought about trying to make weapons by sharpening stones or wood, but there are no monsters in this forest or mountain that can be dealt with using such crude weapons. Besides, even if I tried to hunt the beasts in the forest with crafted weapons, if I struggled even a little, I would immediately become the next target. Especially since that fish monster and cat monster are relentlessly aiming for me…

So the only method available to me is to scavenge the prey left behind by the monsters. Scavenging carrion honestly didn’t feel good, but this wasn’t the time to hesitate. No matter how pungent the smell or how awful it tasted, I forced it into my mouth.

—Disgusting.

But, I eat it. Bones are tasty, aren’t they? It feels like I can just keep them in my mouth forever…

Feeling a little full and getting a bit carried away, I tried chewing on a nearby weed to cleanse my palate. It wasn’t because I was worried about bad breath, okay?

—Spit. Disgusting.

My tongue feels somewhat tingly. “Whash dish shupposed to be?”

My tongue was numb, and I couldn’t speak properly. This is one of those… what you’d commonly call a big mistake.

While I was thinking that, the numbness in my tongue spread, and my fingertips began to tingle too. I hurriedly returned to the cave, but by the time I arrived, the numbness had spread throughout my entire body. I could no longer stand and collapsed right there. Thanks to the numbness, I didn’t feel any pain, but I slammed my face pretty hard.

I somehow managed to roll onto my back and look up at the sky. Perhaps because I was right at the entrance of the cave, I was able to see the sky.

I could see the evening sky, the sun just about to set. As I blankly stared at the sky, a glowing orb was flying around. I vaguely followed the orb with my eyes. Since I couldn’t move due to the paralysis, it was all I could do.

The orb seemed to be flying in circles in the sky, but suddenly it stopped and, of all things, flew right towards me. Unable to move, I tightly shut my eyes, thinking, Ah, so this is how it ends…

…I shut my eyes, but nothing in particular happened. I slowly opened them and checked my surroundings using only my eyes, but the glowing orb was nowhere to be seen.

What on earth was that…? I pondered this unanswerable question, but since there was no way to find the answer and my body still couldn’t move from the numbness, I eventually just fell asleep…

That day, I had a dream where I relived my entire life from birth up to now.