The brown, hill-sized bear crashes through the trees, ignoring them as if the thick oaks were mere upright matchsticks, shattering them with its massive body.
RRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAARRR!!
Pat!
「…Yet another reason not to fuck with time-tested designs!」
Straf exclaims as he grabs Stripe's hand and starts running sideways. The bear closes in. With a tight-lipped grimace, she looks at her curving dagger with a wide-eyed gaze. Stripe pours mana into it, barely keeping up with Straf. When she stops the flow, an unstoppable force seems to push another dagger out of its side. She quickly lowers it into her other hand before it detaches fully, and it drops into her grasp. The copy is ideal, and if not for the fact she has a tight hold onto the original, it would be impossible to tell which one it is. She takes another look at the bear.
Thud-thud. Thud-thud! Thud-thud! THUD-THUD!!
The megagrizzly towers over them, quickly catching up. It raises its massive paw with claws to match.
With her eyes widening further, Stripe quickly pours mana into the copy dagger, rips her hand out of Straf's grasp, and throws the dagger aside.
FWOOP!
Just as Straf hears a thunderous noise off to the side, he feels [Contextual Time Perception] activate. His legs fight a vague resistance as if he was running underwater.
《Great, did it already eat her?-》
He looks over his shoulder, and double-takes when he sees Stripe standing far behind him and the bear, while the beast is viciously swinging its claws down at Straf.
《Eh?》
He looks up at the paw speeding for him, and at his empty hand that was grasping Stripe.
《Huh!? I just gave you that thing, and you already used it just to abandon me!? And you claim not to be a cat!?-》
While she's staring at him frozen and wide-eyed, Straf looks at the curving dagger in her hand. His eyes return to the claws drawing near.
《…Alright, fuck it!》
He leaps into the air, still clutching the lever-action magic device in his hand. The moment his legs clear the paw's path, the flow of time returns to normal.
CRACK-SLAM!
While in the middle of a front flip, Straf can see the bear's massive paw uproot and snap the thick oak he was running past with ease. The claws gouge the forest floor rip through the dirt, sending the orange and gold mix of leaves flying into the air. Catching his cowboy hat in mid air, Straf lands and continues running while the beast recovers from its swing.
「…Stay on the sidelines and watch then, you shitty cat!」
He shouts at Stripe as he sets the hat back on his head, then gives the lever a few more tugs.
Krrrk-krrrrrk! Krrrk-krrrrrk! Krrrrrrk-krrrrk!
A few shattered shards of magic gems crumble out of the loading port.
「Tsk… My own fault for thinking it'll work like caseless rounds!」
Shaking his head, he clicks his tongue and throws the magic device into [Portable Storage] while sprinting away from the bear. It resumes its chase.
ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!
The bear bellows out a ferocious roar as it stomps after Straf, uprooting and shattering trees in its most direct path to him.
「Can't you do the thing where you disappear and reappear elsewhere again!?」
Stripe shouts while hesitating between running, helping, and staying where she is.
「Yeah, I can!… I can also kill this fucking thing with ease!」
Straf replies while the bear raises its paw again.
Slammm!
The ground rumbles as it pounds its claws onto the spot Straf occupied just a split second ago. He manages to slip away unharmed, though Stripe can't exactly tell how.
「…It doesn't look like it!」
Stripe furrows her brows and hides behind one of the oaks as she shouts.
「'Cause I experienced an unexpected setback and I'm going easy on this fucking thing!」
Straf looks over his shoulder and sees the bear's form towering over him again. He clicks his tongue, and with [Contextual Time Perception] active due to the imminent danger, he slips underneath the bear, running the opposite direction. The massive beast slams its paws down again and claws at the dirt. It gives the ground a few sniffs in confusion, then starts looking around. With a tight-lipped grimace on her face, Stripe ducks into cover behind her oak.
「…It was good enough for a prototype, but it's time for an old and tested design! Craft!」
Straf adds, bringing the bear's attention to himself again.
「FAL!… Ah! Buying random shit off the market finally pays off!…」
He grins as he sees the [Craft] button active, and the substitute requirements all green.
「…I'll just have to suck it up and take creative liberties with the materials used!」
His grin sours a little. He presses the button, and the glowing shape of a rifle appears above his head as he runs past it.
「…Are you fucking serious!?」
Straf shouts over his shoulder, sliding to a stop. He watches the glowing object hang in the air behind him while the hill-sized bear is charging in the distance.
「Of all the fucking things that float and follow me around, crafted stuff just has to suspensefully fucking hang there!?… Fucking piece of shit of a power!」
He runs back up to the glowing shape and holds his arms out for it, impatiently wiggling his fingers while waiting for it to drop down. He glances at the bear closing in.
「What is that?…」
Stripe mutters out as she peeks out from beyond the tree. The black object drops into Straf's hand at the last second just before a vicious paw swipe carves the air. Like a replay, he runs out from beneath its furry belly unscathed, hugging the item close while looking over his shoulder at the confused bear.
「No mag, huh?… Figures. Craft. 7.62…」
Straf scrolls through the list of items related to the numbers 7.62. Most are old weapons and ammunition, but he eventually finds magazines. He taps one of them with his finger.
「…Okay, good! I'd be fucking pissed off if I had to breechload this fucking thing!」
He remarks, and picks up the pace of his sprint. He gains considerable distance from the bear before it finds him again, and taps the button to increase the item count to 3.
「Come on, come on… Hurry the fuck up!…」
He then taps the [Craft multiple] button, wriggling his fingers while his eyes dart between the glowing rifle magazines hanging in the air, and the oncoming megagrizzly.
Cla-cla-clank!
After an uncomfortably long moment of waiting, the magazines drop into his hand. He blinks at them with his mouth ajar, then throws his arms up.
「Of course they're fucking empty!… Craft!… 7.62!…」
He shouts, then lowers his arms. Frustrated, he clenches his teeth and begins running from the bear again. Clutching onto the magazines with one hand and onto the rifle's grip with the other, he browses through the long list of items related to the numbers once again. This time, he taps the item stating 7.62x51 rifle cartridge. He increases the count to 61, then taps [Craft multiple]. He slides to a stop when a formation of upright bullets appears above him. He turns around and sees the brown beast charge at him, eyes bloodshot and mouth slavering. Straf looks at the bullets and the bear with an extremely frustrated tight-lipped grimace on his face.
As soon as the glow subsides and gravity begins to pull on the bullets, Straf activates [Contextual Time Perception]. The bear, the bullets, and the faint rustling of trees all come to a halt.
《Cheating? Yeah, maybe. I don't fucking care at this point…》
Straf lets go of the rifle. It hangs in the air, nearly completely still. He sets out the magazines in the space before him in a similar manner, then grabs a handful of bullets.
《…What kind of a fucking cheat power would have the guy say「I want to have a gun!」and then force him to actually load it up bullet by fucking bullet!?》
Deeply annoyed, he loads the magazines both with the bullets, and his frustration at the state of the matters, glaring at the bear.
《She's no better than a cat on two legs either! Distract the bear? Nope! Help me hunt it? Nope!…》
With his lip raised in an expression of great displeasure, Straf looks at Stripe. She's cautiously peeking out from beyond a tree, frozen, staring at him with her golden eyes wide open.
《…Arrrrghhh! This shit is pissing me off so much! I'd punch this fucking thing, but then it'd ruin the hunting experience!…》
He grabs another handful of bullets, loading them up into the magazine faster than the last one.
《…Then again, that one guy strangled a bear to death. Is punching one into the orbit really that weird?》
He abruptly slows down with a gentle furrowing of his brows. With the magazine full, Straf grabs one more bullet, then takes hold of the rifle hanging in the air again.
He locks the bolt back, inserts the singular bullet in, then releases it. The bolt refuses to move. After rolling his eyes, Straf gently nudges it forward with his finger, pushing it shut.
Straf then inserts the full magazine in, and sets the rifle aside as he grabs another handful of bullets and resumes loading the empty magazines.
《It better not explode… Or slamfire when I'm done.》
He thinks, side-glancing at the rifle with his mouth scrunched. A few moments later, the remaining magazines are loaded up with no loose bullets remaining.
《Okay. Time to bring some civilization to this savage world, if only for a little over 5 seconds.》
Grabbing the rifle's grip, Straf brings its stock under his armpit and throws the remaining magazines into his [Portable Storage].
He flips the firemode to auto. Grinning, he shoulders it and takes aim. The bear's forehead is directly in the weapon's iron sights. With his finger on the trigger, Straf deactivates his ability.
「…The right arm of the free world is coming for a knockout!」
Straf shouts while Stripe watches from a distant tree. Confused, she furrows her brows while he points the black object at the charging bear.
「What is he doing!?-」
POPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOPOP!…
A loud, ear-piercing sound suddenly fills the forest. Stripe winces in pain, crouching down as she covers her fluffy ears, flattening them against her head. A flock of birds takes flight.
RRRROAAAAAARRRRRGHHHHH!
POPOPOPOPOPOPOPOP!
She opens her eyes back up and looks at Straf while the horrible noise continues. The bear is bleeding all over its head and throat, stumbling while Straf is cackling.
「…Ooowww. Hahahah!」
With a huge grin on his face, he winces slightly as well. Straf slips the empty magazine out of the rifle. He throws it into the purple vortex near him, and pulls out a full one.
Thunk! Cla-clack!
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
In a near instant, Straf slides the magazine into the magwell and gives the metal magazine a light slap on its bottom before noisily racking the bolt.
「Saved by the bell! Here comes round two!」
Straf exclaims as he re-shoulders the rifle and takes aim. With its entire face twisted into a pained scowl, the megagrizzly focuses its uninjured eye on him.
As if anticipating what's coming, Stripe presses down on her ears again. Straf pulls the trigger while the oversized bear takes a step forward.
POPOPOPOPOPOP!…
Bullets begin spewing out of the already smoking barrel like out of a hose. Aside from the initial impulse, the rifle doesn't move at all, and Straf has no difficulty controlling the immense recoil of the expelled gasses. Seemingly at random, every few bullets, a large fireball ignites just outside the barrel. The speeding rifle rounds impact the bear's forehead as if a short-lived jackhammer was applied to it, pounding at its thick skull and dense bone. Its previous step forward is immediately canceled out by the two it takes back.
POPOPOPOPOP!
The rifle continues barking, making its report known through the whole forest. One of the lead bullets pierces through the megagrizzly's already fracturing skull, and makes its way inside.
POPOPOPOP!… THUD!!
The exact moment Straf's rifle runs dry with a loud click, two rounds whiz above the bear's head and sail off high above the nearly bare canopies, as the beast suddenly collapses with a rumble of the ground. Grinning through his pained wince, Straf lets go of the handguard and raises the steaming, smoking barrel of the rifle directly upwards. Shocked, Stripe blinks her golden eyes full of disbelief at Straf, and the bear.
《Level up. Attribute points gained. Skill points gained.》
A monotone female voice announces with no excitement in her voice whatsoever.
「Ahhhh… In just two mags!? That was kind of quick!…」
He remarks while approaching the bleeding bear, grinning at its bullet-riddled corpse. Stripe runs up, staring at it with her mouth ajar.
「…Though I'm not exactly surprised! Good job!」
Thunk thunk thunk…
Straf gives the rifle's receiver a few loving pats, grinning at it. The force jiggles its carrying handle noisily.
「It's dead?…」
She asks, blinking at the corpse. Straf looks around the grass near the bear and notices Stripe standing near him.
「Ah! There you are! How'd you like that!?」
He shouts, grinning.
「What is that?」
She asks, pointing at the rifle in Straf's hand, staring at it with confused eyes under her furrowed brows.
「A gun! The right arm of the free world! It took everyone a really long time to figure out that big is good!」
Stripe winces as Straf continues shouting at her.
「Okay, you don't need to yell that at me…」
「What!? Can't hear you! My ears are still ringing!」
Stripe shrinks from his outdoor voice, but Straf only intensifies his shouting, speaking even louder.
「I said I can hear you! Stop yelling!…」
She shouts back, clenching her fists.
「…What was that other thing!? With the bit that you did that!…」
Stripe asks with her voice raised, motioning levering a rifle.
「Ah, you mean the lever-action!? It's a magic gun!… It kind of fucking sucks compared to this thing!… But then again, that one was a prototype! I have an idea how to fix it!」
Straf replies, raising the FAL slightly to present it as a shining example of a weapon. He shrugs, lowering the rifle into his hands, before quickly reloading it.
「But what is a gun!? This one was so loud it hurt my ears! The white one was almost completely silent!」
Speaking loud enough for Straf to hear her through the ringing in his, she grabs onto her ears.
「A gun is a tool that equalizes people-!」
Straf begins to explain with a smug grin, proudly displaying his weapon to Stripe.
《What are you doooooiiiingg!?!》
Athea screams into Straf's mind, causing him to abruptly halt his explanation and look upward.
「Hunting!」
He replies with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders while looking up at the canopies. Confused, Stripe look up, only to see nothing of interest.
《With a gun!? With a gunpowder gun that you specifically said you won't make!?》
Echoing in his head, unmuffled unlike all other sounds, Athea shouts loud and clear into Straf's mind in an indignant tone full of betrayal.
「As opposed to what, bow and arrow!? I never said I wouldn't make them!… I won't be handing them out! Do you think I'm stupid or something!?-」《Yes!》
Straf asks, spreading his arms up at the faintly visible sky above. Athea quickly ripostes.
「Tsk… Well I know better than that! It's just a fun toy for me! Get off my ass! Am I not allowed to have fun!? Are you the fun police!?」
Straf clicks his tongue, staring at the sky with his mouth aslant as his rifle barrel drops to the leaf-littered floor.
「…Who are you talking to?」
Stripe asks, glancing at the sky one more time, but Straf either ignores her or can't hear her.
《A gun is not a fun toy! Your idea of fun is probably a thermonuclear exchange in a pre-industrial society!》
「…That actually sounds fun! I might try it next!」《Noo!!》
Grinning, Straf briefly rubs his chin and shrugs his hand as he replies. Athea immediately screams back.
「Come the fuck on! I'm serious, it's just a toy! I'm allowed to do cool stuff once in a blood moon!」
Straf throws his hands up with a sigh, and puts the rifle away into his [Portable Storage] with his mouth heavily aslant.
《You keep breaking all your promises! First you said no gunpowder, and now you shot a bear to death!》
Athea replies, practically audibly pointing her hands to the dead megagrizzly on the ground.
「Uh, excuse me, I can throw bolts as fast as bullet! Faster, even! Do you think I need a FAL!? Do you think I need to reload my arms!?… By the way, why don't guns come loaded, huh!?」
《It's not about you needing a gun! It's about what will happen if someone other than you gets their hands on it, and learns from it! Did you even think about that!?》
Athea and Straf shout at each other while Stripe watches his monologue with the tree canopies. Staring at him with her mouth slightly open, she turns her gaze aside.
「Ahhhhh… Great. Just my luck. An actual crazy person took me as a slave…」
She mumbles to herself with her shoulders slumped.
《Please, just!… Just don't introduce gunpowder and firearms to this world! Its history is already violent and cruel enough, it doesn't need more of that!》
No longer screaming but still speaking with her voice raised, Athea pleads. With his fists on his hips, Straf scoffs and lets out an amused huff.
「Do you think I'll willingly and unprompted give up the state monopoly on violence!? You're nuts! Go get your head checked!…」
《Look who's talking! Just stop ruining things, please!》
Straf replies, shaking his head as he paces around the grass and looks for something elusive.
「What are you looking for?」
Stripe asks with Straf's back turned towards her. There is no reaction. She clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes.
「…What are you looking for!?」
She asks again, louder. Straf's head snaps to her over his shoulder.
「Huh!? Ah!… Help me find a fucking thing on the ground! It ought to be somewhere around here!…」
「What thing!?」
「A thing! I'd tell you if I knew what it is! It's always exciting when you don't know!… And then it turns out to be a worthless piece of shit!…」
Straf replies, shrugging his shoulders and spreading his hands with a nonchalant grimace on his face, disregarding the fact that he had a monologue with the treetops. Stripe sighs.
「…It might be underneath it! Let's check around it first!… Man, I hope this ringing fucks off…」
He adds, kicking the leaves aside with his foot while Stripe crouches down and helps him search…