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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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My daily routine started with climbing the watchtower and peeping at the snakes with half-open eyes.
Normally, I would have a simple breakfast and start with a walk on the beach that doubled as a patrol, but as someone who would soon have to engage in a decisive battle with the snakes, I had no choice but to move up my schedule. Once we wiped out all the snake bastards, the only thing left was the dungeon.
If we broke through the dungeon…
Would we be able to escape?
The dungeon was the only place on this island that I hadn’t been able to explore yet, so it was certain that it was the only place where I could find a clue to get off this island. The problem was that I had no idea what might be lurking inside that dungeon.
Bluntly put, another final boss from Survival Academy could be waiting inside.
Of course, there’s no way that guy would be sleeping on an island like this… but one of his followers might pop out. In the first place, this island itself didn’t appear in Survival Academy. It could even be an island they were planning to release as DLC. Those guys were so notorious for DLC sales that it made you want to puke.
In the sense of adding a new map! New quests! New companions! New monsters! Find the secrets of the deserted island with your companions! That kind of feeling. Sometimes I wondered if the company even had a PR team, considering how sickening their advertisements were. Phew, even that felt nostalgic now.
Back when I could sit comfortably in a chair with my hands on the keyboard and mouse and play games without a care in the world.
Back when I could curse the DLC to my heart’s content while my body was honest enough to enter the card number in the payment window like a black sheep.
Speaking of games, I hadn’t opened the status window in months. It’s not like it had any use. There was no level-up system where I could allocate stats, and in the first place, I couldn’t even read it properly, so the status window was made with the purpose of humiliating me, for all I knew. I’d rather be able to use the status window as a weapon by tearing it out.
Anyway, it might not be a bad idea to open the status window after a long time.
Even if it had been a brick for 10 years of my stranded life, something might have changed since a heroine from Survival Academy had appeared.
For the first time in a while, I uttered a word I didn’t miss at all.
“Status window!”
[Johann Quartz]
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“…Fuck, I was an idiot for expecting anything from the status window.”
It was the same as 10 years ago. Why did they even give me a status window that couldn’t fulfill its role?
With all the stats and skills appearing in an alien language, I couldn’t gain any benefits from the status window. Phew. If you’re going to possess me, at least sprinkle some cheat keys! I also want to become a badass who can knock down bears and snakes with my fists after receiving an EX-grade growth attribute! Don’t make me go around laying traps and using poison!
“Ah, forget it. I’ll just ignore the status window and everything else.”
It wasn’t that important right now anyway. It would be more beneficial to observe the snakes’ movements even a little bit during that time. I waved my hand and dismissed the status window from my sight. As the status window was swept away by my gesture, it scattered and disappeared like smoke.
Yawn.
I took out a tough piece of jerky I had brought from home and put it in my mouth. The salty taste tickled my tongue. As expected, there was nothing better than salty jerky to wake you up. Come to think of it, I didn’t have much jerky left. Once this matter was over, I should catch a lot of rabbits and make enough jerky to fill a whole chest.
Let’s make enough to wipe out all the rabbits living on this island.
If, just if, the vortex disappeared, then I would have to start a long voyage.
It was a story that only had meaning if there was really a clue to escape inside the dungeon.
Ah, I was thirsty. Chewing on something salty made my tongue tingle. I took out the leather pouch I had made recently and gulped down the water inside. As expected, well water tasted good. The water made by distilling seawater somehow lacked flavor. It was also the epitome of inefficiency, boiling a whole pot to barely extract a cup of water. When it was difficult to supply drinking water, even that would be appreciated, but… now that the well had been purified, it wasn’t the case anymore.
Gulp. It was refreshing. I wiped the cool water running down the corner of my mouth. Drinking water while surveying the island’s scenery from a high place was truly fantastic. Today was quiet though. It seemed the snakes had succeeded in blocking the zombie rush. As proof, the hydra bastard’s movements were nowhere to be seen. I wondered if it was exhausted and passed out by now.
“Is it about time?”
If the hydra was exhausted, there was nothing better. An exhausted enemy meant they were vulnerable to surprise attacks. But looking at the state of the place where the snakes lived, it didn’t seem to be entirely the case.
“It has become a complete poison swamp.”
The scenery created by the mixture of poison, acid, blood, and corpses was quite a gruesome sight, even for me who had seen all sorts of unsightly things. Where had the lush forest from just a few days ago gone? Rotten trees stained purple, hills revealing their bare innards as the trees melted away, and purple swamps that had formed in the exposed territory.
A space that could literally be called a land of death had been created.
“…Did I go too far?”
I hoped those things wouldn’t evolve in a strange direction. Like crazy snakes wrapping their entire bodies in poison, not just their fangs. Or spitting poison like a water gun. Or even anaconda-sized snakes harboring poison…
I shuddered involuntarily at the terrible imagination. It was a pointless thought. The snakes were already annoying enough with their sinister behavior, but if they evolved like Pokemon, they would become several times more troublesome. I had already been experiencing a hellish difficulty level of survival, so there was no way the difficulty would increase further. In the first place, evolution wasn’t something that happened so easily… but then again, there were mutant monsters that evolved rapidly in Survival Academy too.
Ah, I felt dizzy.
Naturally, a headache came rushing in as I thought of all sorts of possibilities. It seemed my delusion disease had relapsed again from constantly making unfounded assumptions alone. After living for 10 years in a place where one misstep could cost your life, it was inevitable to become an expert in shadow boxing, but I should start fixing it gradually.
“…Forget it.”
I should go eat.
It wouldn’t change anything even if I worried about it here. It would be better to eat and discuss with Renny. In the end, Renny and I would be in charge of the actual combat.
Karina was in charge of healing, so she was scheduled to wait for us in the rear. There was no guarantee that we wouldn’t be injured while fighting the snakes, and we had no idea how the dungeon would react when we wiped out all the snakes. So we needed a reliable insurance. A saint who could use powerful healing magic would be perfect for that role.
If my memory served me correctly, Karina didn’t really know how to fight either. Even when she appeared as the final boss, she had no notable patterns other than firing magic.
Even that was weak…
“Don’t ever say it’s over if I’m breathing…”
I hummed an awkwardly unfamiliar song, the melody of which I couldn’t even remember, as I headed home.
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“Ah, you’re back? Sit here! I tried making breakfast!”
…She’s practically a local now. I thought to myself as I looked at the clams and larvae floating in the boiling pot.
“Sir Johann. Over here!”
Karina held out a bowl full of soup to me. I carefully received the bowl and sniffed it.
It exuded an indescribable aroma, a mixture of the earthy smell unique to larvae and the scent of the sea. I glanced at Renny from the corner of my eye and saw her bringing the soup to her mouth with a half-resigned expression.
Why can’t you be more like Karina?
She eats well regardless of whether it’s larvae or lugworms.
…Is Karina the strange one? Judging by her appearance, it seems like she wouldn’t even touch such things, but she ate too well.
Except for the first day, she showed almost no signs of rejection. Rather, it seemed like she even liked it.
…It must be my imagination, right?
“Is it delicious?”
“…Yeah.”
I awkwardly answered Karina. While Renny was somewhat okay, whenever I stood in front of Karina, my words would get stuck in my throat, making it hard to breathe. It was still like that even though it had been almost half a month. Was it because I was a loser, or was it because I had to tilt my head as much as possible to talk to Karina, who was like a flower on a cliff?
Whichever it was, the answer was the same, so there was no point in pondering over it. It was a conclusion I had reached countless times.
“How’s the situation with the snakes?”
“It has become hell.”
I wondered how many snakes were left. It was difficult to gauge how many snakes remained in a land that had become such a mess. That wasn’t all. The terrain had also changed dangerously, so we needed to revise the plan as a whole. We couldn’t set foot in a poisonous swamp that looked like it would turn our entire bodies purple just by touching it.
No matter how much Karina was here, she couldn’t use healing magic indefinitely. If she could, we would have formed a hydra raid party and cut off the hydra’s heads long ago.
“Hell… Is that a good thing?”
“No. The forest has collapsed, and a swamp full of poisonous fumes has formed. We need to scout.”
I could go alone, but since we had to fight together anyway, it was more efficient for Renny and I to go scouting together. Just having a decoy, no, a reliable partner in case of emergency was reassuring. Although she wasn’t emitting the terrifying aura of a near-final boss since she wasn’t fully healed yet…
Even if the creatures here were strong, we should be able to cut them sufficiently.
“We’ll set out for scouting as soon as we finish eating.”
“I’ll finally get to use my body after a long time.”
Renny seemed happy to be able to go outside. It seemed she was secretly frustrated when Karina told her to stay put because she was a patient. I cleanly emptied my bowl and placed it on the tray I had made two days ago. It was an item made to make it easier to move the dishes for washing.
“I’m still not used to it…”
As I listened to Renny’s grumbling, I put the necessary items into my favorite leather pouch. Jerky to satisfy hunger and various tools. Small bottles to hold poison. And leather to cover the body. The rest of the ingredients could be procured locally, so this much was enough to take.
“Let’s go right away.”
“Ah, wait a moment. Lady Karina. When you go outside, make sure to look around carefully and try not to leave the house if possible. We can’t guarantee your safety since we won’t be here. No, while we’re gone, you should go into the shelter…”
“Renny. It’s fine, so let’s go quickly.”
I didn’t know if Renny, who made that kind-hearted Karina look fed up, was amazing, or if Karina, who stopped at being fed up, was amazing.
Even if it were me, if I were overprotected to that extent… I might be happy.
Because having it is better than not having it.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Why are you spacing out? Are you hurting somewhere?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s depart.”
Somehow, I had a feeling it would be a noisy scouting mission.
For some reason, I got that feeling when I looked at Renny.
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