Chapter 2
by lionHow long had it been since he had thrown himself wholeheartedly into something like this? It felt ridiculous to even talk about a sense of accomplishment in this situation, but despite everything, the man still looked at the dark sky and felt a pleasure he had never experienced before.
Perhaps that was why.
As the tension eased, the urge to urinate, which he had suppressed until now, surged uncontrollably.
“Ugh…”
The man got to his feet.
And only then did he look around.
“Huh?”
The man was momentarily flustered.
And for good reason…
What met his eyes was the entrance to a vast jungle, something he had never seen before. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but it was the same.
What on earth was going on?
The man’s mind became complicated again, but he decided to take care of his urgent need to urinate first.
“Phew…”
After relieving himself, he began to feel hungry. Just in case, he checked his phone’s GPS, but as expected, it was dead. Should he turn it off for now? He vaguely remembered hearing that keeping a phone on in an area with weak reception drains the battery much faster than usual. Since there was no way a phone would work in a jungle like this anyway… the man thought it might be better to keep the phone off for later, in case he really needed it.
But just then.
A small notification sound, along with an icon indicating a message arrival, appeared on his phone.
“Oh!”
The man quickly opened the message.
Tutorial Start
- Let’s practice the basics of combat.
- Collect five pieces of rat meat (0/5)
“…”
The man was momentarily bewildered by the cryptic message. But the arrival of a message meant that there was a signal. He quickly moved his phone around, trying to find where the signal was coming in, but unfortunately, the signal indicator on the screen didn’t show even a single bar.
“What is this…”
As he jumped around, trying to find a place with reception…
He suddenly noticed a reddish light flashing in the direction of the jungle. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had seen wrong, but as he did, the red light slowly emerged from the jungle and revealed its true form before him.
“…”
The man was speechless for a moment. He was overwhelmed by the glistening red eyes of a giant rat, almost the size of a dog, that had appeared before him. It was only after he unconsciously swallowed dryly that he remembered the content of the message that had just arrived.
“Rat meat… five pieces?”
Surely, it didn’t mean he had to defeat that monster rat? But how? The only tool he had was a toy-like multi-tool. In a rush, the man fumbled in his pocket to pull out the multi-tool, but… the monster rat lunged its large body before his hand could even find the keychain in his pocket.
“Gah!”
The man was thrown to the ground, tangled with the monster rat, unable to even think of dodging. And the next moment, the monster rat’s sharp teeth dug into his forearm.
“Aargh!”
With a burning, sharp pain, the man desperately swung his arm, but the monster rat clung to his arm like a leech, its teeth embedded, showing no sign of letting go. Even amidst the pain, the man thought. What if he hadn’t reflexively swung his arm to block? Those sharp teeth would probably have bitten his neck… and if that had happened, he would have become this monster rat’s meal without even a chance to resist.
“Aaaaaah!”
The man reached out and flailed, and when he grabbed a large stone, he swung it directly at the monster rat’s head.
Thwack!
Perhaps the method wasn’t good enough. The stone bounced off the monster rat’s head the moment it hit, flying out of the man’s hand.
–Chirrup! Chirp! Chiiirrup!
A sound, whether a scream or a mocking laugh, emanated from the monster rat. The man forced himself to endure the pain in his arm, which felt like it would tear off, and swung his arm again, searching for something that could be a weapon. This time, a tree branch caught his hand.
As soon as he grabbed the branch, which looked like it had been broken off something and was about as thick as two fingers together, he reversed his grip and aimed it at the monster rat’s eye, as if stabbing downwards with an awl.
And…
The moment an unpleasant tearing sound traveled up from his palm, the monster rat finally let go of his arm with its characteristic loud cry. The rat, with the branch stuck in its eye, thrashed and rolled wildly on the ground.
“Ugh…”
The man covered the spot where the monster rat had bitten him with his other hand and got up. He looked around and found a head-sized rock, which he lifted with both hands, then approached the monster rat, which was writhing in pain.
“You damned rat bastard…”
The man stepped on the struggling monster rat with one foot, then brought the rock in his hands down with all his might onto the monster rat’s head.
Thwack!
–Chiiirrup!
A dull thud echoed, but the monster rat screamed even louder, struggling to escape from under his foot. At that sight, the man was seized by an unknown madness.
“Die! Die! Diiiiiie!”
Twice, three times… the man maniacally brought the rock down. How many times did he strike it? It was only after he saw the completely mangled, unrecognizable corpse crushed beneath his foot that the man threw away the rock he had been wielding. Through the metallic scent of blood that wafted into his nostrils, the man realized what he had done.
“Ugh…”
Nausea rose, but since he hadn’t eaten anything all day, only sour stomach acid came up from his stomach.
“Ugh…”
As a burning pain from the stomach acid traveled up his throat, the man grimaced and turned his head. But only for a moment… soon, the man recalled the message he had just received on his phone.
“Rat meat… five pieces…”
Considering it said “rat meat” and not just “rat,” it meant he had to cut out what was called “rat meat” from the gruesome remains of the rat. But the man soon shook his head and shouted loudly into the air.
“Who are you! Come out, you damn bastard!”
The fact that a message was sent and then a monster rat appeared meant that someone was watching him. He didn’t know what was going on, but he couldn’t just blindly follow whatever that someone ordered.
Then…
As if in answer to his shout, red lights began to appear in a line from the jungle.
“Damn, damn it…”
He had caused such a ruckus with just one… but this time, four of them appeared at once. At this point, even someone with a calm personality couldn’t help but swear.
–Chirrup, chiiirrup…
The monster rats approached the man, making cries that were almost inaudible. Only then did the man frantically pick up the rock he had used to kill the first monster rat, but… for these swift, giant rodents, a heavy, large rock was not a good choice.
The monster rats circled the man like skilled hunters, looking for an opening. The man was also looking for an opportunity. He had planned to step on their necks and crush their heads with the rock, just like before, but these rats were too lively, unlike the previous one whose eye had been poked and couldn’t move properly.
The moment the man aimed at one of the rats and raised his foot, a monster rat, which had been waiting for an opportunity from behind, leaped up, aiming for the man’s nape! The man instinctively ducked his head, feeling that something was wrong, but the monster rat, flying from behind, undeniably sank its sharp teeth into the man’s shoulder.
“Gah!”
Unlike before, the position was too bad this time. It was in a spot he couldn’t properly see and couldn’t reach with his hand. The man screamed and dropped the rock he was holding. Then, as if they had been waiting, other monster rats leaped up, aiming for the man’s neck. He managed to avoid one by luck… but the other two successfully sank their teeth into each of his forearms.
“Aaaaargh!”
The man thrashed, trying to shake off the monster rats that had embedded their teeth in his body, but they clung on stubbornly, waiting for him to tire. The man thought. At this rate… he might really die. The moment that thought crossed his mind, one of the rats he had avoided earlier bit into his thigh.
With the situation like this…
The man, without another moment to think, used the only weapon he had left. He bit the nape of the monster rat that was biting his forearm.
–Crunch!
The man’s teeth easily crushed the monster rat’s spinal cord. As its spinal cord was crushed, the monster rat’s glowing red eyes dimmed, and it fell off limply. They say the first time is the hardest, but after that, it gets easier. The man’s teeth once again accurately dug into the nape of the monster rat that was clinging to his other arm. Again, with an unpleasant crushing sound, the monster rat’s life ended.
The monster rat biting his thigh was even easier. He could easily deal with it by jamming the broken tree branch into its head. The problem was the monster rat clinging to his shoulder from behind. But the man reached his hand behind his back and succeeded in tearing off this troublesome creature by gouging out its eyeball. Then, with his foot on the nape of the monster rat that was writhing in pain, he brought the rock down again, as before, crushing its head.
“Gasp… gasp… huff…”
He had won, albeit with difficulty… but the man’s body was a mess. Hadn’t he gone a whole day without a single drop of water? The man, with trembling hands, pulled out his phone again. But even though he had dealt with five monster rats, there were no messages on his phone. The man looked at the sky, which was starting to darken again, and screamed.
“Is this fun?! You son of a bitch!”
But again, the only sounds around him were the eerie wind and echoes.
“Phew… phew…”
He was furious to the point of going crazy, but he hadn’t lost his reason completely.
“Five pieces of rat meat…”
The man muttered that as he pulled out his multi-tool from his pocket. And he unfolded a knife that was barely a joint of his finger long, almost too embarrassing to call a knife.
An unknown space. Mysterious text messages… Even without considering these, he needed water and food to survive. Looking at the gruesome corpses of the monster rats… the thought suddenly crossed his mind, what if he caught something like rat fleas? But the man chuckled to himself. He felt somewhat ridiculous worrying about such things when it was a matter of life or death. Besides… if they had fleas, he would have caught them already during their struggle.
“Heh…”
But that was only for a moment; the man couldn’t help but grimace at the sharp pain from his shoulder.
“Damn it…”
The man endured the pain and used the small, dull knife to cut meat from the monster rat’s corpse. Nausea rose several times from the metallic scent of blood, but perhaps because he had been hungry for an entire day, all that came up was sour stomach acid. Finally, after much effort, he finished dismembering the monster rats… and only then did the damned text message arrive.
Tutorial Start
- Let’s practice the basics of combat.
- Collect five pieces of rat meat (5/5) -> Complete! Reward: A small amount of experience -> Would you like to claim your reward now? (Y/n) _(Note) Unclaimed rewards will be automatically deleted after 7 days.
“Playing games…”
The man grumbled, yet he was already reaching out and entering ‘Y’.
Then…
Suddenly, a swirling blue light enveloped his entire body and disappeared, and the excruciating pain that had been tormenting him until just a moment ago vanished completely.
“Huh?”
The bewildered man examined the wounds where the monster rats had bitten him, but they were already cleanly healed, leaving only faint scars.
“This is…”
As he was perplexed by the changes in his body… another message arrived on his phone.