“Aghhh,” Daisuke groaned, his eyes flickering open as awareness dawned within him. He hesitantly touched the spot where his head met the rock, frowning at the tender bump that dwelled there.

As the fog in his mind cleared, like the morning mist exposed to the light of the rising sun, a flurry of memories came crashing forth, particularly the one where the chimera’s fangs narrowly missed his face.

Jarred awake by the harrowing visual, he attempted to push to his feet, but a throbbing pain echoed through him. He noted that his ankle was sprained, rendering him a wounded animal for opportunistic predators.

Crawling on his stomach, he made his way to the sheltering arms of a nearby tree. With his back pressed against its solid trunk, he sat upright, gazing out into the unforgiving forest.

Daisuke tousled his hair, careful to avoid the bump. Damn. Was I really lying unconscious here until morning? And I didn’t get gobbled up by a monster? What about the chimera? Did it die from its wounds?

He took a moment to look around.

The croon of birds and other wildlife could be heard all around. The landscapes were tinted with a saffron glow from the recently risen sun. From where he sat, Daisuke could see where the dense forest gradually transitioned into an open plain. And the humid air hinted at a nearby water source.

Did April and the others get away safely? he thought with a tinge of worry. I think I distracted the chimera long enough for that to be the case, and Feng should be capable of handling the low-level mobs in this region. But for a noob like me, it’s a completely different playing field.

Daisuke looked down at his incapacitated leg and felt like he had stepped in a towering pile of dog poop. If a monster turned up right there and then, he would definitely be easy prey.

GRUMBLE~

The best-case scenario seemed to be starving to death rather than enduring the gruesome fate of being eaten alive, an experience he shuddered to contemplate. However, the reality was far harsher than mere resolve.

Minutes stretched into hours, days, and then two excruciating days, each passing moment worsening his hunger. He wasn’t sure about the game’s mechanics, but in the real world, a human could survive at least two weeks without food, but only three days without water.

He contemplated crawling around in search of the nearby water source he sensed, but abandoning what he now perceived as a safe refuge to do so was basically looking for trouble.

Withered and on the brink of dehydration, Daisuke’s thoughts turned bleak. What did I do to deserve this? Did I truly enslave and slaughter an entire race of people in my past life? I’ve sacrificed so much, only to be abandoned and left for dead in the end. How is any of this fair to me?

His eyes grew dark, the once empathetic gleam slowly replaced by anger and resentment. Just as his heart threatened to freeze over entirely, a tiny canine cautiously approached. It was injured and limping, its matted coat as tattered as the rags that clung to Daisuke’s own body.

“Get lost,” Daisuke muttered coldly as the small pup, no larger than a baby Shih Tzu, gazed up at him with hopeful eyes. “I said scram! I can hardly manage myself, let alone take on another mouth to feed.”

When the animal… monster—whatever, stubbornly refused to leave, Daisuke reluctantly hurled a rock in its direction, an act he instantly regretted as it drained the last of his energy reserves.

The pup whimpered softly before turning tail and darting away into the shadows. With the creature finally gone, Daisuke was left with the bleak choice of either resigning himself to wither away in peace or summoning the strength to seek out water and likely get eaten alive in the process.

The sun was directly overhead now.

Daisuke looked up through the tree branches, shielding his eyes from the sunbeams. He tried moistening his parched lips, but even the saliva on his tongue had almost dried out.

Barely an hour later, the pup reappeared. Despite its evident fatigue and injury, it had the hind leg of a Horned Rabbit in its small jaws, strenuously dragging the motionless game toward the stranger who had been less than hospitable.

Daisuke’s eyes quivered. “You… and even though I… Argh!” he tousled his hair aggressively, utterly ashamed. “Goddammit. I really don’t like being indebted to anyone. I guess you can stick around until I pay you back.”

The tiny canine barked once, as if in glee, and then it collapsed with a whine.

“Hey!” Daisuke threw himself forward. “Are you all right?”

It whimpered.

“Jeez, you sure know how to guilt trip a poor guy.”

The tiny tyke weakly licked the hand that tenderly patted its head.

“I have to say though, it’s pretty impressive that you were able to bag this thing in your current state.”

“Rawrwu.”

“Are you lost? Do you have an owner?”

The canine lowered its head, round, oceanic eyes peeking up from beneath its lashes.

“Mmm. I guess not.”

The pup closed its eyes and exhaled.

“We’re both in pretty bad shape,” Daisuke said over the sound of his grumbling stomach. Then, he glanced at the bloodied pooch. “You brought the ingredients, so I’ll go round us up some grub.”

Inspecting his ankle, he gave it a cautious tap on the ground before testing it with a bit of pressure. It doesn’t seem like it was a very bad sprain.

During the two and a half days of his stranded ordeal, it seemed his injury had considerably healed. After nourishing his body with food and hydration, he felt optimistic that the surge of energy would accelerate the healing process.

While the pup rested, Daisuke hopped around, searching until he found a quartzite stone that fitted perfectly in his hand. Satisfied, he squirreled it away in his pocket before setting about collecting larger rocks and arranging them in a circle.

Next came the task of gathering firewood and tinder, a relatively simple feat at the forest’s edge. Once he had a sufficient pile, Daisuke carefully arranged the wood within the rock circle. Finally, he sharpened his quartzite stone into a blade using a large slab of granite, and then took a length of wood and fashioned a spindle.

Applying what he learned as a scout, Daisuke expertly generated coal with the spindle and hearth board. Then he carefully transferring it to the tinder nestled within the house of wood. With a spark and a hiss, the flames ignited, casting a warm glow on his face.

While the flames matured, Daisuke set to work on the Horned Rabbit. He flayed and cleaned the creature, dividing it neatly into two halves before skewering them onto a sturdy tree branch. Finally, he placed it over the fire.

Daisuke chuckled wryly, the crackling flames raging hotter as he added more wood. “Man, it’s moments like these that I’m grateful for my time as a boy scout. But starting a fire like a caveman in a fantasy world? Never saw that coming. I’d kill to have some fire magic right about now.”

“Rawrwu.”

The scent of cooking meat wafted through the air, stirring the pup from its slumber. With a sudden burst of energy, it sprang awake, its nose twitching and eyes sparkling with anticipation. Daisuke couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

“It’s probably going to be gamey and bland,” he warned. “But it definitely beats starving to death.”

With not much meat on the Horned Rabbit except for the leg quarter, it didn’t take long for it to cook thoroughly. As soon as it was placed on a bed of leaves, the pup attacked its half like a crazed beast.

Daisuke was quick to pull his fingers away, realizing he would have lost them if he had hesitated even for one-tenth of a second longer.

“That bad, huh?” he murmured as he pulled his half from the fire. Separating the leg from the thigh, he took a bite, tears welling up in his eyes as he savored the flavor. “Delicious! They weren’t kidding when they said food tastes better when you’re starving!”

Mirroring the canine’s ravenous frenzy, Daisuke wolfed down his share of the food, relishing every morsel until not a crumb remained.

With a discontented sigh, he sucked on the leg bone that was completely stripped bare. He still had room for two more servings, but at least he no longer felt that painful emptiness at the pit of his stomach.

Abruptly, the pup ceased gnawing on the leg bone it had saved for last, its ears perking up with evident alarm. Daisuke didn’t need words to understand the urgency of the situation.

RAWRRR!

A lone ogre barreled from the edge of the forest, wielding a massive club with a grip that could have wrapped around a tree trunk. Its thick, sinewy arm swung the weapon in a menacing arc, the sheer force of its movements stirring the air around it.

The creature’s hulking green form was barely contained by a crude loin cloth that struggled to conceal its massive bulk, leaving little to the imagination.

Without a moment’s pause, the pup dashed off, its urgent bark a clear call to action. Despite the lingering ache in every step, Daisuke followed without hesitation.

Dammit, it must have been the smell of the food that drew it here. I should have been more cautious, he cursed inwardly, regret gnawing at him as he hurried after the fleeing canine.

Under ordinary circumstances, the pup would have headed to a secluded spot by the lake for a drink, but this time it didn’t. The lake served as a popular watering hole for monsters, meaning open areas would be under constant surveillance by predators.

“!?”

“Kiieek?”

“Kheke?”

A group of goblins stood at the water’s edge. They raised their weapons in defense, but Daisuke and the pup darted past them, plunging into the lake.

The goblins looked on, befuddled, but their beady eyes bulged when they spotted the ogre hurtling at them like a bowling ball aimed at a pin rack.

POOWW!

“Kiiiieeehhhk!”

Ignoring their desperate cries, Daisuke and the pup crossed the lake to the other shore and sprawled out on the grass, desperately gasping for breath.

“Well,” he panted, his chest heaving. “At least I’m not thirsty anymore.”

“Whine.”

“I see how you were able to nab that rabbit now; you’re pretty light on your feet there, boy. Oh, I know. I’ll call you Zephyr. What do you think?”

“Kyuu,” the pup stood and wagged its tail.

“It’s decided, then. Huh?”

In the distance, Daisuke spied light reflecting off a blue object. Cautiously closing the distance to investigate, he discovered a limestone outcrop. But what truly caught his attention were the clumps of blue rocks that were hidden amongst the brush.

“Are these… crystals?”

The pup went in for a sniff while Daisuke ran his hand along the rough-hewn surfaces that protruded like miniature spires.

“…I have a feeling our luck is about to turn, boy,” he said with sparkling eyes, his heart racing in excitement. “We just may be able to sell these, but the question is where? I haven’t the foggiest idea where we are.”

“Rawrwu,” Zephyr chimed in, zipping around in a circle before scurrying farther away from the lake.

Daisuke followed, the trees and tangled undergrowth gradually giving way to a panoramic view ahead. As the natural curtain parted, the expanse revealed a sizable town nestled in the distance.

Cradled within the embrace of a valley, the town sprawled against the backdrop of towering mountains that stood as ancient guards to its peaceful existence.