Ch.1414. Muscle Pain.

# 14. Muscle Pain

Chairs left desolate in an empty office.

Using them as a bed for the night, what greeted me when I opened my eyes was…

…legs stiff as stone and excruciating muscle pain.

“Argghhh…”

A groan escapes involuntarily from the constant pain in my legs since the moment I woke up.

I know. I get it. Even I think I’ve been moving my body too much these past few days.

Walking dozens of kilometers each day through snow-covered roads deep enough to sink into.

Climbing up and down unstable ladders to reach 10-meter shelves countless times.

And most critically, climbing buildings dozens of floors high twice. Even carrying a heavy backpack this time.

“I guess I really overdid it this time…”

I’ve become quite sturdy from wandering around various cities on my own.

My stamina, leg muscle density, and body fat percentage could rival those of decent athletes.

It’s remarkable when I think about my former self who couldn’t even run around, let alone exercise properly, due to respiratory issues.

However, due to various factors like poor food conditions and inherent limitations like my height and frame, my body has nearly reached its limit.

Even when muscle pain comes after moving around diligently all day, I no longer feel like my muscles are growing.

It’s just pure pain rushing in from overexertion, like punching a hard stone wall.

Because of that, I usually avoided moving to the point of straining my muscles unless I was desperate for food or something equally urgent…

“…I was just too excited.”

Because I made contact with a survivor for the first time. I was too excited at the thought of possibly meeting survivors soon.

So this pain must be my body rebelling against my mind that lost self-control to the point of neglecting my physical condition.

“I thought I’d be fine after a day or two, but looking at my condition, I might need more rest.”

Grimacing in pain, I touch the Controller to operate the Drone.

Messages like [Aren’t you overdoing it?] and [How much are you moving around?] greeted me.

What a coincidence, but it does make me feel a bit called out.

If I could have received these messages in real-time yesterday, I wouldn’t have moved around this much. It’s really regrettable.

“Ugh, hello everyone. I woke up safely today too… Ah. Maybe ‘safely’ isn’t quite right. It’s not life-threatening, but as I expected yesterday, muscle pain has arrived. And it’s extremely severe. To the point where I can’t move my legs at all.”

Putting aside my regrets, I wave at the Drone hovering in the air and greet it.

“Ah. If only I had wings to fly freely through the sky like that Drone. You can’t imagine how terribly my legs hurt right now.”

Hidden under thick pants and a coat, my legs were currently suffering severely for ignoring my body’s condition—muscles tensing and relaxing on their own, and occasionally even cramping.

“From now on, I’ll be humble again… and only move around to the extent that doesn’t strain my body. I didn’t realize while moving around, but I really did overdo it these past few days. You even sent worried messages to me, a stranger you just met, which says it all.”

I showed the Drone the message window that appeared on my Controller.

“Hey. If I seem to be overdoing it in the future—I’d appreciate if you sent worried messages like yesterday. Of course, I’ll be careful myself, but I get excited without realizing it when I’m with you all.”

It’s the same now. Just moments ago I was grimacing from the extreme muscle pain, but from the moment I started broadcasting, I’ve been smiling except when wincing from muscle cramps.

“Of course, there’s a one-day time barrier between us, so even if you warn me, I won’t be able to understand immediately. So—this is a bit embarrassing… but I’d like it if you sent worried messages or… asked about my well-being once or twice every day.”

It makes me happy that someone worries about my health.

And it reminds me of my parents who worried about my health until right before I fell into a long sleep.

“Knowing that you’re worried about me, I’ll smile and be careful in any situation. Yes, like the desert fox waiting for the Little Prince.”

The difference is that the desert fox is waiting for the traveling Little Prince.

While I’m the one going to find you all.

I hope we can both stay safe until I reach you.

“Hmm… but staying like this wastes both food and time. I wonder if there’s a solution.”

It was comfortable and enjoyable to chat while lying on the chair-bed.

But imagining the canned food piling up until the muscle pain disappeared felt wasteful.

And I didn’t want to suffer from the irregular pain that kept coming until it disappeared.

“I wonder if there’s a solution. I do have painkillers saved up… but I don’t want to waste precious medicine on something so trivial.”

The gun, painkillers, and some medical tools I packed in my bag were for worst-case scenarios.

Just for muscle pain—well, it’s not really “just” muscle pain—but anyway, it feels wasteful to take them for this.

“Come to think of it… I think I remember that in the distant past, people would do light exercise or massage with something like a ball when they had severe muscle pain.”

While rummaging through my bag for something helpful, I found the fluorescent ball I discovered at the superstore yesterday.

The ball, which emits a soft glow even in darkness, was something I packed in case my flashlight ran out of power or I needed a marker…

But it seemed firm yet durable enough to serve as a massage tool.

“This will probably… hurt, right?”

It hurt even when I gently rubbed with my hands, so pressing hard with this ball would definitely be painful.

Knowing this, I slowly brought the ball to my thigh.

Even just lightly rolling it over my pants without stimulating the muscles, the surprised muscles contracted on their own, causing pain.

What would happen if I pressed hard and gave a strong stimulus in this state?

“Ugh… ugh…”

My eyes shook violently at the thought that the pain I’m feeling now could be multiplied several times, and my hand holding the ball lost strength.

“B-but! If it helps me walk even a little faster!”

I don’t have a sexual preference for pain, nor am I an ascetic trying to find enlightenment through self-flagellation.

So the act of inflicting pain on myself is scary and repulsive.

But with the single thought that enduring a moment of pain could save me a lot, I gripped the ball tightly and pressed down firmly on my tightly knotted thigh.

Then, the muscle that was so stiff it could be described as “lumpy” moved significantly due to the external stimulus.

“~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!”

I let out a silent scream at the immense pain that came instantly—pain that went beyond simple pain to burn my nerves and scramble my brain.

Did I press too hard, or was the position wrong?

Was the problem that I tried to carelessly use knowledge I’d only read about—”using tools like balls to loosen tight muscles”?

There was no time to think about such things as my mind went blank with pain, and I shook my body frantically left and right.

Thud——!

I ended up falling off the chair.

“Mmm, mng, hmmmm…”

Damn, goddamn, hell—tears streamed down my face from pain so severe that such harsh curses came out naturally.

What I just did was like violently poking an awake dog with a stick in a house with a “Beware of Dog” sign—the violent pain made a mess of my mind.

But, but.

If this action, this pain could speed up my recovery even a tiny bit.

“—I can, I can endure it. I can do it. I can do this…!”

Just bringing the ball in my hand close to my thigh made my body flinch and tears well up.

But I could endure it. I had to endure it.

I bit my lip hard and pressed the ball against my thigh again, pushing it along the muscle.

“Ugh, huu. It’s too much, too much. Now my head, my head hurts too…”

And how much time passed?

After screaming many times, rolling around on the floor.

Rubbing my thighs and upper calves with the hard ball. And placing the ball under my legs to use my weight to stimulate the back muscles.

After repeating actions so terrible they could be called self-harm judging by the intensity of pain, I could move my legs quite freely compared to when I first woke up.

The wisdom of the ancestors was not wrong.

…Setting aside the fact that the process was so horrific I never want to experience it again.

“…My thighs and calves are still really tight though.”

It was only to loosen tight muscles, not a panacea that eliminates all pain, so there was still pain from the tight muscles.

But it’s better than being unable to move from the chair due to stiffness.

“Going down stairs would still be difficult. Without pushing myself, I should just look around for anything useful in here and take a rest today…?”

While standing on both feet and moving my body around to loosen up.

When I tilted my back to look at the ceiling for a waist stretch, my eyes met directly with the Drone filming me from above.

…How long has it been filming me from there?

Could it have been there the whole time?

Then did everyone see a grown adult holding a fist-sized ball, massaging their thighs and calves while crying?

Screaming and rolling around, bumping my forehead on chair wheels or desk corners and then flailing about?

“Good grief.”

I seriously considered not checking the chat tomorrow morning.