Chapter 17 - Life in the Wilderness
Crouched patiently in a brush, a hunter awaited his prey.
[Hey, kid...]
“......”
Having submerged himself in absolute silence, he envisioned himself as nothing more than the passing breeze.
His soundless breaths were proper, yet light.
His muscles, though tensed, were now trained not to creak unnecessarily.
[...Hey.]
Maintaining a persistent, watchful gaze on the frankly crude trap in front of him that couldn't even be called amateurish as he observed from what was seemingly nothingness, the full extent of his attention and focus remained unwavering.
He would become a professional huntsman; a feared predator of the jungle...
[Oiii...! What, you shove mud in your ears or something, brat?! Huh!?]
Peace.
Serenity.
Tranquillity.
In this quiet passing of the forest, a place of pure Mother Nature, with zero distractions and absolutely no external interference.
Suddenly―
Crunch-!
A twig snapped.
[Ah...! It’s right there! Brat, look!]
Jae did not panic. With utmost composure, his gaze flicked towards the source of the noise.
“Gehhh...”
Filthy drool dangling from those swarthy, cracked lips; grimy, coarse skin like tanned leather smeared with all kinds of mud and gunk, and a single scrap of soiled cloth tied around its groin.
Soul State - Goblin
Soul Level : 5 / 20
Age : 2 Years
Health : 13
Magic Energy : 30
Of course, what could it be but a goblin?
Level 5...
Perfect to make an easy target.
[Quick! Go, fight until the last blood has been shed...!! Prove thyself to me, cowardly human boy!]
"Fucking hell, when are you gonna shut up?"
Hissing under his breath, Jae’s grip tightened, feeling the rusty dagger’s handle digging into the palms of his hands. Wielding the weapon he looted from one of his previous victories, the boy’s confidence became apparent when he noticed the bare hands of his to-be next meal.
"Aha."
This punk, it thinks it can wander around with no protection...?
[That’s right! Kill it! One swift strike!]
Lightly wetting his lips, Jae waited for the perfect moment. And then.
"Gii...?"
Now-!
As soon as the goblin bent over to pick up the eerily iridescent fruit lying on the floor by its feet, Jae pounced.
There was no nonsense like yelling "Here I come!" at his enemy.
Nothing to alert them in advance.
Just a simple, straightforward surprise attack.
Shik-- Shik-- Shik--!
Repeatedly stabbing the blade of the dagger into the goblin’s liver, or at least where he thought the liver was located, Jae’s hands and clothes were quickly doused by the jet of blood spurting from the monster's wound.
“Gi--thump...!!?”
Quickly grabbing a rock on the ground and shoving it into the monster’s mouth to prevent it from calling reinforcements, Jae echoed the motion of pulling and pushing the weapon countless times, forcing the opponent to the ground and restraining its arms.
For what he was about to do, there should be no possibility of resistance.
Jae gritted his teeth and uttered an incantation.
"Wrath."
Fwoosh~!
All of a sudden, flames erupted from his left palm that gripped the goblin's arms, searing them down to the bone.
Only when he felt like he had done enough had he stopped thrusting the dagger, but he didn’t end it there. Flipping the dagger into a reverse grip, he started hacking away at the blindspots of his bloodied prey, all the while decorating its skin with countless burns and blisters.
"Gegeghhh...!!!"
Having grown a whopping 6 levels in the past days, Jae knew better than to think a mere few stabs would be sufficient.
In this short time, he had gained enough experience to learn that even the weakest of monsters were far tougher and more resilient than he could ever imagine.
When it came to life or death, no creature would be willing to go down easily, after all.
Just like how a cornered rat could assault the enemy cat if it let down its guard, caution was key.
Perhaps things would be different if the quality of his weapon were higher, but something like that was a faraway dream right now.
"G-gii......"
Eventually, his ruthlessness proved too much for the puny goblin to handle; it perished without being able to shoot back an ounce of retaliation.
How did he know it was dead for sure?
You have levelled up
Skill 「Sneak」 has levelled up [Lv.2]→[Lv.3]
You have acquired the Title: 「Ambusher」
A series of notifications appeared.
“Puuuh, finally...”
With the appearance of the System notification, Jae let loose a brief sigh and took a moment to gather his breath. Experience points could only be gained when the target was certain to be dead, so he knew it was safe. However, although he knew it was safe, he still couldn’t fully let down his guard for one simple reason:
Beyond the canopy of leaves that loomed above, the sky was darkening.
"......"
Despite frequently hunting during the day, goblins were fundamentally nocturnal creatures, and this was a characteristic of the monsters that Jae had discovered the hard way over the past couple of nights; a time when they would routinely become far more active.
"Tsk. Every time, what a mess..."
He succeeded in preventing the target from calling reinforcements vocally, but the stench of blood was something impossible to disguise, and he doubted the possibility of other creatures missing such an obvious indication of an enemy lurking close.
Thus, after cutting off a single arm from the slain goblin and gathering it up alongside the mystical-looking fruit he had used as bait, Jae fled the scene as swiftly and silently as possible.
----------------------------------------
Dusk had fallen once more over the Plaentic Great Forest, bathing it in the sheerest natural darkness.
"......"
Crunch-!
Tear-!
...Gulp.
“Ahuh-- Ugh...”
Swallowing a chunk of the hunted’s flesh without so much as a chew, Jae shuddered. He squeezed his eyes shut and fought hard to rid his mind of what he was eating, to no avail.
"...At least I don’t get sick any more, I guess..."
After he had eaten a goblin for the first time on that horrid night, Jae felt like he was going to die the following day.
No, I almost did die. If it weren't for the System, I definitely would have...
As it turned out, goblins were not a creature meant to be eaten, and the reality was that their meat itself was poisonous when ingested.
Combining this quality with the fact that raw goblin meat was inevitably an unhygienic food, Jae quickly found himself in agony. It was an excruciating experience, but thanks to it, he had acquired the two skills known as Disease and Poison Resistance, so was it not worth all that suffering in the end?
Not if you were to ask me at the time, it wasn't. I don't know what I would've done if those skills didn't exist. I think I would've just died here without a chance to do anything about it.
Perhaps the extent of the pain could be easily understood if it was explained that Jae was only able to move his body after the two Resistance Skills were raised to Level 2.
Anyway, it was a good thing at the end of the day, and even the Exhaustion Resistance skill had been acquired because of those dearest sleepless nights.
Well.
It simply wasn’t something he could grow used to after only a few days.
Of course, it’s not like he had no choice but to eat only goblins to survive; after all, if he really wanted to, it probably wouldn’t be impossible to catch a few of those birds flying around, and he had even spotted things like rabbits and other rodents here and there; not to mention the plentiful flora that may or may not be edible.
So then, aside from raising his Disease and Poison Resistance skills, the purpose of sticking to a solitary diet of goblins could only be one thing.
"......"
Shining through the darkness of his closed eyelids, a pair of System notifications suddenly appeared.
Skill 「Gluttony」 has activated
“Oh...! Nice! Finally.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
An exceedingly low chance to acquire one of the skills possessed by the monster he ate; it wasn’t something he was able to accomplish by eating ordinary animals or plants.
[Congratulations~! I said that continuing to eat these guys would work out, riiight~?]
“Mmh. Yeah. I’m sorry for doubting y--”
You have acquired the Communication Skill: 「Goblin Language Comprehension」
“......”
Jae paused for a moment, staring at the screen in front of him.
“...What?”
It took a moment to process the name of the skill; as soon as he realised exactly what its effect would be, he gave a sarcastic laugh and covered his face with a palm.
“Ha... Haha. No way. It's fantastic. Oh, wow, how great is this...? Now, I can even talk to the little fuckers as I’m killing and eating them... What, you pig!? Did you think I’d appreciate it like that?!”
[What~? Don’t blame me, I didn’t pick the skill~! It’s okay, you were just a little unlucky~! I’m sure you’ll hit the jackpot so long as you keep eating~!]
“You say the same damn thing every time... Haaah.”
Glaring at the new skill appearing in his status and cursing in his heart with fiery resentment, Jae quickly gave up and sighed, letting out a dry laugh as he thought something self-deprecating.
...Well, at least I won’t get lonely out here, right? Haha, if I can talk to the goblins...
[You brat. Loneliness is for the weak. Don’t tell me you haven’t even been here for a thousand years but you’re already crying about being alone?]
At the words of the same rough voice that was trying its very hardest to disturb him earlier, Jae felt a blood vessel burst.
“...A thousand years, huh.”
“You. How many times have I told you to shut your mouth?”
“Just ‘cause you never had any friends, you think being alone all the time is a good thing? Huh?”
“'Loneliness is for the weak'? That’s a more pitiful excuse than anything I’ve ever heard! What would you know about human solidarity!?”
Calling out Wrath, who had ticked him off a multitude of times in recent days, Jae felt his inner tension begin to cool as if being pumped through a ventilation system inside his body. This kind of relief was hard to come by in a situation like this, and it felt extremely cathartic, so he happily continued.
“Also, stop whining when I don’t answer you. Like earlier, what the hell were you doing shouting in my ears like that, huh? Asshole. There’s magic in this world, right? Fuck, if you do it again, I swear to all those garbage-munching gods up there that I’ll find a way to manifest your soul into reality and teach you some respect myself.”
[Hoh~? You what...? Your words are so laughable I can’t tell if you’ve finally gone mad. Puny brat, do you honestly think you stand even a sliver of a chance against me? Gahahaha! You couldn’t face me if given ten thousand years, you insolent rat!]
“Tsk! Wanna bet? I’d obliterate the fuck out of you in ten thousand years. Watch your tongue, old man.”
Maybe not now, maybe not any time soon, but I’ll get strong enough eventually. When I do, I’ll make sure to fuck you up, you arrogant son of a bitch. It’s not gonna take something stupid like a thousand years, either. I’ll show you. Just wait.
Of course, Jae had no idea how long it might take in reality, but he swore to make it happen.
In the first place, Wrath’s strength back when he was alive was unknown, so there was no way to even know what kind of level he was aiming for. There was no way the guy was weak, but having absolutely no clue of how powerful the voices in his head even were, how would he know if he could trust their judgement?
It wasn’t just Wrath, either; Envy and Gluttony both held the same position.
From their perspective, Jae was still just as weak as he was when he was Level 1, so how long would it take before they even recognised a change, let alone considered him strong?
In fact, they still refused to tell him their true identities even now, but to think of it as a sign that the voices were acting out of cowardice would be far too naive.
...Whatever. There’s no need to think that deeply about it. If I just keep grinding monsters and collecting skills as I have been, I’ll become strong eventually.
Although, before that, he would have to find a way out of this forest first.
“Ah... Right.”
No, that's more important anyway. Of course.
Thoughts of the future were nothing more than depressing, so he made himself stop. Instead, he took another few mouthfuls of the sinewy meat―which was only made bearable after charred to a crisp over the makeshift campfire he started with Wrath―and washed it down with goblin blood.
Was he already desensitised to that pungent and viscous liquid? Although his face crumpled slightly, the compulsion to gag wasn’t nearly as strong as he anticipated.
[Ooh, food~!]
The distorted voice was Gluttony speaking up again, just as he always does when the topic of food comes up.
“...I don’t understand how you can get just as excited every time I’m about to eat this trash. It's literal disease-ridden poison, you know?”
[? Nonsense. Food is food? Stupid human.]
“Hah. Okay. Freak.”
This crude method of making the “food” taste even just a tad more tolerable led to Jae somehow acquiring the Cooking skill, which, although ironic, genuinely did make it easier to eat, albeit by an inconsequential amount.
As for the blood... Well, Jae didn’t actually know if it was enough to sustain him properly, but it’s not like there were any other options. If the blood didn’t contain enough nutrients to stave off dehydration, then so be it.
I haven’t died yet, so it’s probably better than nothing. Even if it is toxic or whatever, it doesn’t matter since it only helps to increase the proficiency of Poison Resistance. In the end, the worse it is for me, the more it helps.
It was rather ironic, but that's how he ended up viewing things.
Could it be called the rational way of going about it? There was no way in hell Jae would do something psychotic like cut himself to raise the proficiency of Slash or Pain Resistance, but if all it took was eating some vile meat and drinking some blood to make him stronger, then he could do it all day.
He hadn't acquired a skill like Dehydration Resistance, so either the blood was simply sufficient by itself, or a skill like that didn't exist... Or, well, both.
Slurrp~
Drinking the blood was, perhaps understandably, rather awkward.
"Bleghh..."
He had to either pool up the blood with his bare hands from the body and manually bring it to his mouth, or pour it directly from the body down his gullet. He considered looking around for a leaf to cup it up, but there weren’t any that were big enough around the area, so there was nothing else he could think of.
It might work if he used the cloth from his school uniform, but he needed all the protection from the night-time cold that he could get. Thankfully, the nights had not been nearly as harsh as Jae was initially expecting, but one could never know how the mood of the weather could flip in an instant.
The sticky sensation of viscid liquid coating his teeth and tongue was the first thing to hit him as he sipped the blood in his hands, followed by the powerful metallic stench that trickled slowly down his throat and lingered inside his mouth.
Every time he inhaled a fresh breath of air, the residual taste and sensations would all relapse and cause him to gag.
“Euaah... Seriously, it never gets any better, huh...”
It wasn’t refreshing in the slightest, and could without a doubt be considered the worst “drink” he had ever had the displeasure of experiencing, but he endured it nonetheless.
After all, there really were no other options.
It hadn't rained once ever since he arrived in this god-awful world, and the only thing even somewhat close to resembling a potential source of water was a seemingly artificial waterway leading down from somewhere within the cliffside beneath the palace.
It was a “river”, sure, but whether it consisted of toxic waste or liquid death, Jae most certainly had no plans to touch it with even a ten-foot pole.
Dark yellow-brown, not wholly liquid that had numerous dark lumps within it, and that unmistakable foul odour to complete the package; in the eyes of anyone with a semblance of sanity, it was definitely not fit for drinking purposes.
Jae’s immediate thought upon seeing this pool of excrement was exactly that―a place where all the sewage and waste from the royal palace inevitably ended up.
It also appeared to be where the goblins got a portion of their sustenance from, or at least those in the local area; because they are creatures with a natural resistance to disease and poison, they must not have cared for anything else so long as it was plentiful, easy to procure and got the job done.
He didn’t quite understand how something like that could quench thirst, but it might be possible for something like goblins.
But then, if the goblins drinking from that waste were the same goblins he was eating the flesh and drinking the blood of, then wouldn’t that mean...?
Please, shut the hell up, brain...
Resenting his own mind for even daring to go down such a tragic route, Jae forced himself to think about anything else; distracting himself by any means as he licked his teeth and inner mouth vigorously to remove the persisting blood with his tongue.
"This is why having no distractions from reality sucks..."
Jae looked down at himself.
Rugged appearance, stains of sweat, dirt and blood, and tattered uniform; needless to say, he hadn’t been able to wash or take care of himself in days.
My god... If she saw me now, what would Amelia think...?
Crackle~
Reminiscing about his girlfriend as he often did these days and poking the satisfactorily crackling campfire in front of him with a stick, Jae imagined what her reaction would be, seeing him in such a state.
『Let alone a hug, you want a kiss...? Darling. You smell like death. Go jump in a lake or something and wash yourself off, then we’ll see.』
Yeah... Wouldn’t she say something like that? Waving her hand to shoo me away while pinching her nose, haha...
“......”
But, there’s no lake around here, you know? Have you had a look around? So, what am I supposed to do? I’ve done a good job surviving so far, right? I deserve it, no? Just give me a hug, at least.
『You cheeky... Oh, fine. Yes, you've done great. Haa, here. Chu. Still, Jae, find a place to clean yourself quickly. Now that I’ve got blood on me, we’ll have to go wash together.』
What? I told you already, there’s nothing like that here. Unless, what? You want to take a bath in that...? I’d rather not... But... Well, if you were to jump in first, I might consider it...
“Aha... hahaha...”
In this endless, forsaken forest, the boy let loose a hollow laugh.
The final part of the imaginary conversation was definitely made up, and he knew he would never actually do such a thing as take a swim in that. Yes, of course, but where else was his brain supposed to take him when what was just on his mind was something so horrific?
“......”
The overbearing smell of iron permeated his entire respiratory system.
The lingering texture of charred flesh rolled around his tongue and lodged frustratingly between his teeth.
Even the despair derived from a harrowing realisation that the chances of escaping this hellish environment were slim.
As if it simply slipped his mind.
Just like that.
"......"
Before he knew it, he forgot it all, and his eyes were closed.
[...Lover, hm?]
Then, Envy’s voice like shattered glass reverberated through his nigh-empty mind.
[The contrast between our little chaperone here and that so-called “Hero” must be far greater than I had imagined... No, I don’t think that’s quite it. Whatever the case, perhaps my being the first to awaken was quite understandable, considering the circumstances...]
His monologic mutters went unheard, spoken into the empty void that was the rapidly depleting consciousness of Jae.
[This boy... Ahh, well, perhaps I’ve been a bit unnecessarily hard on him...]
Feeling his world grow heavy, Jae’s body swayed.
[After all, he’s not like us.]
Pshh-!
Thud-!!
He succumbed to the urge to let himself go and fell on his back; making sure to first kick a clump of dirt and bark over the pitiful construction that couldn’t even be called a real campfire, putting it out in an instant.
...I’m...
Losing what little sense of vision he had without realising it, his breathing slowed, and he lost all awareness of what was going on around him.
...Tired...
Within this silent forest, for yet another unchanging night, he welcomed all the rest he could get.
“......”
Embracing the natural, irresistible slumber of the unconscious mind, his chest rhythmically rose and sank as gently as a falling leaf.
[Sleep well, our warrior.]
At this moment, someone, somewhere in the world...
[For a long, arduous journey lies ahead of you.]
They were crying for help.
----------------------------------------
Jae had not died ever since his first encounter with goblinkind.
In fact, not once had he been so much as scratched by the opponents he faced. That’s why, after successfully reaching Level 9 yesterday, he felt heaps more confident and decided to venture a little farther into the forest.
He had yet to face a goblin above Level 10, and in fact, the average level of those he had found was only about 6 ~ 7, so being some levels above that should mean there isn’t much to worry about, or well, that was the idea.
In any case, thanks to the first experience, he estimated that he’d most likely be able to take on goblins up to around ten levels higher than him, but it would be an unnecessarily difficult fight. If there was no need to take such a risk-laden path, then he would like to avoid it.
Or maybe, because I’ve got myself some skills now, it’d be easier...
Either way, he wasn’t required to take foolish risks, so he wouldn’t dare to try.
Even if the individual experience from a kill was low, he nonetheless felt like his levelling speed had been abnormally fast; albeit, he wasn’t sure if that was due to him being low-level still, or because he had some other kind of advantage.
“Hm...”
There was no way to figure out what the Cursed by a God, Sinful God’s Affliction, and World Traveller titles did exactly, and there was nothing else on his status he knew nothing about yet that indicated something special, so the likelihood was high that one of these was the culprit.
If he assumed the cause to be the same as in other fantasy media, then the chances are that it was World Traveller.
[Are you gonna go yet? It’s so boring watching you sit there and think to yourself all the time. I can’t even watch you get ambushed or something.]
“......”
Wrath’s sudden complaint caused Jae’s face to twitch out of irritation; that brash nuisance rearing its ugly head once more, he acquiesced with a deep nasal sigh.
“Fine, fine... I’ll get going, so just give me a minute.”
He picked up a magically glimmering flower that resembled a bluebell by its stem from the ground beside him and stared at it for a moment.
I plucked it thinking I'd try eating it if my Poison Resistance levelled up to 3 last night, but it didn't end up happening. It shouldn't take long though, so I'll take it with me. It's the only one I've found so far, so it could be quite rare.
Placing the flower into one of the pockets of his school uniform, he did the same with a few other bizarre-looking fantasy plants he had stumbled across over the previous few days that weren't quite as noteworthy.
Soon, Jae was all set with the rusty dagger in his right hand and a collection of small rocks he had gradually collected to use as ammunition for his recently acquired Throwing skill.
"Hoo. Alright."
The time was dawn.
He munched down the last of his remaining goblin meat rations and gulped the last of the blood, suppressing the desire to retch.
Once he confirmed he was ready, he briefly stretched his muscles and took a step forward.
"Let's go."
Further into the depths of the Plaentic Great Forest.