“Sif, wake up.”
“Meow, embezzlement… I-I don’t know anything about that, meow…”
Is she dreaming about money even while sleeping? Waking someone up who is sleeping well feels a bit wrong, but duty calls. I gently pinched Sif’s soft cheek.
“Wake up.”
“Meow?!”
Nothing wakes one up quite like the right amount of pain. I shifted my gaze from the tearful Sif to the direction the trap was triggered.
I wonder what got caught.
A beast?
It’s too quiet for a beast; I hadn’t seen any beasts while setting up camp and making traps and drainage systems.
A person?
If it were a person, shouldn’t there have been a scream by now? At the very least, I should have heard a human voice. But whatever got caught in the trap seemed to make no sound, only producing meat-slicing noises.
…In the end, it must be a monster.
Considering the slicing sounds, I guess we can say it’s a living creature. Or maybe…
“…Huh. I think the genre is wrong here.”
Why is that thing here?
I never expected to see the tentacle monster I encountered in the deserted island dungeon again.
It’s a bit different, but the presence of a giant eye with numerous tentacles reminds me of the tentacle creature from the deserted island dungeon. No, no matter how I look at it, it seems like a relative of that thing.
“Johann, what caught that? Why do you look like that?”
“That thing is freely roaming an island.”
The creature that’s speared by a bed of closely packed sharp spikes is thrashing. What on earth is that? Just looking at it gives me a headache. I want to sleep.
So sleepy. So sleepy. So sleepy.
“…Johann?”
“…I feel dizzy.”
A creature that can’t be described in words struggles to escape from the pit, flailing its limbs.
Not just its limbs; its head too.
“…What the hell have I created?”
“W-What is that…?”
It’s human-like. But where its head should be, there’s a bizarre creature attached. Before I possessed this body, it looked just like the creatures often seen in horror games on internet broadcasts. I can confidently say I’ve never seen such a creature in the Survival Academy.
I hear a gasp beside me. I quickly covered Sif’s mouth before her swallowed breath could turn into a scream. Why on earth did such a monster get caught in a trap? It’s probably because it lacks intelligence, but still, it’s wise not to make noise, as there might not just be one.
“Sif, have you ever seen a monster like that?”
“No… I haven’t.”
A monster with a strange tentacled creature where its head should be. Naturally, my mind jumps to the worst-case scenarios: monsters that abandon their hosts and rush toward new ones. A sight often seen in games or movies.
The terrifying scenes that filled my head made me feel awful.
This isn’t the right genre. This isn’t the right genre.
I poured the water from the water bottle strapped to my waist over my head as my spinning mind tried to clear itself. Pouring water might be a waste, but I had to cool my head for now. Cold water trickling down my hair felt like it cleared my mind a little.
“The smoke you saw in the north might be caused by those things.”
“…I don’t think we can set a fire with them around…”
“I can’t be sure they’re the only ones here.”
There might be evolutionary or mutated forms of these creatures. We can’t just assume their intelligence is low either, so the information we gather from the next scouting mission will be crucial in our plan against this breach.
“Sif, don’t get too close to that thing.”
“Even if you didn’t say it, I won’t get close!”
Ignoring Sif’s response, I quickly grabbed the shovel and backpack. Though our departure is in the morning, we need to take additional measures to ensure safety from those monsters’ assaults.
“Sif, can you see in the dark?”
“Of course! There aren’t any tribes with better night vision than us!”
“I’ll leave the watch to you. If you see any of those monsters approaching, let me know immediately.”
“Got it.”
Looking at her serious face, I saw Sif nodding with an unusually serious expression. It seems she took it to heart and would devote herself to the lookout task. Meanwhile, I planned to strengthen our camp.
Walking to the center of the camp, I stuck the shovel into the ground and activated a skill.
“Crafting.”
Walls, walls, walls, walls! Curved walls began to rise around the camp’s perimeter one by one. There’s no way out as of now, but I can make that later. I continuously used my skill to create an impregnable fortress that even average monsters couldn’t breach.
Pulling soil with my skill, processing rocks as materials for walls, and repeating designs beneficial for defense, I was able to create what could be called a fortress rather than just a camp once I finished constructing it and sat down. The sun had already dyed the island yellow.
“Here’s some water.”
“Thanks.”
I gulped down the water from the water bottle Sif handed me. Since we lacked means to supply drinking water, gulping it down like this felt wasteful, but worst-case, we could always dig for underground water. I capped the near-empty bottle and handed it back to Sif.
“I can’t believe a fortress was built in just a few hours…”
“Thanks to that, I feel like I’m gonna die.”
“What about the scouting?”
“…Let’s eat breakfast and rest a bit first. And how did the scouting go?”
“…About five similar-looking ones got caught in the trap. One kept moving even after its body was wrecked…”
Sif trembled at the thought of the horrific sight as she said that. I stared blankly at her before looking up at the sky.
The weather was so clear that it was hard to believe such a dreadful monster existed.
“…Why on earth are such things appearing?”
I want the true ending and all, but please fill it with the monsters that popped out of games. No more x-shaped abominations, please. Just what kind of hidden truth does this world hold that brings such creatures out? My mind was getting more complicated.
When I encountered those creatures on the deserted island, I thought of it as a themed dungeon, but why am I encountering it again? This is frustrating. I took out some jerky from my backpack to chew on. I had planned to have a hearty breakfast, but with all this, I just lacked appetite.
“…Johann, how are we going to scout? You look like you’re struggling, should we just—”
“I’ll take a short rest and then go.”
“…Are you okay?”
“My body isn’t tired enough to be worn out like this. Just a bit tired; I’ll be fine after a little sleep, so don’t worry.”
“Just don’t overdo it.”
“I know.”
I closed my eyes and pushed all the thoughts in my head out.
This is what I had to do. I had to…
———————–
“Ugh, feeling terrible. Why is the body human…”
“There might have been some cult rituals on this island.”
“Just thinking about it is horrific…”
As the sun gradually began to set, we were advancing, occasionally splitting the heads of approaching monstrosities in half. Having packed only the bare minimum, our pace was relatively fast.
“Sif, how much longer?”
“Not far now!”
“That’s a long way off.”
I couldn’t think positively even if I tried. I stomped down on a squirming tentacle head as I hurried along. I just wanted to get out of this revolting island as soon as possible. Thankfully, as we got closer to our destination, the number of monsters dwindled.
It was a bizarre occurrence, but I tried not to let it bother me.
My head already hurt trying to think about that.
“Is this it?”
Smoke…
“…This isn’t just a campfire.”
An unfamiliar yet familiar, dreadful sight pierced through my optic nerves into my brain.
“!()@##$(!&$(*$!!!”
A person is burning.
Tied to a tree.
It’s commonly referred to as burning at the stake.
The human, who was already half-burned and barely recognizable, screamed as if not dead yet. What on earth is this? What terrifying sight is this breach trying to show?
“Johann…”
“Don’t say anything.”
I rolled my eyes. The number of aberrant creatures surrounding the stake was in the dozens. Those monsters seemed to dance as they spread their arms, intensifying the grotesqueness. Anyone who saw this sight would faint on the spot from sheer terror.
After a long moment of choosing my words, I exhaled heavily and whispered.
“…I think we need to clear this out quickly.”
Staying here too long would drive me insane.
It was a warning from my instincts that had helped me walk a tightrope for ten years.
“Sif, let’s head back to camp for now—”
“Let go of me! Let me go!”
A scream?
I swiftly turned my head toward the source of the sound. In the direction I looked at, I caught a glimpse of someone being dragged toward the stake.
A blue light on the crimson skin.
“Johann, that’s…”
“Insane.”
Should I save them or leave them?
The choice was clear.
“Sif, while I distract them, you rescue the hostage. Can you do it?”
“Ugh, I should be getting double pay for this…”
“I’ll give you a good tip, so just move!”
“Really? You’re not lying? I’ll definitely bring them back!”
It was Lady Lepelith who was screaming.
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