episode_0008

Misty Forest, Day 4.

Twist~

The fruits ripening into a deep red hue.

The Shaela fruit demanded nourishment once again.

An independent entity, it constantly begged me for food whenever it had the chance.

Though not in reality, it feels that way.

It needs more nourishment.

An absurdly vast amount of it.

An unfathomable quantity with no end in sight.

Even pouring all my nourishment into it is not enough.

“How much more are you going to eat?”

No point in asking that question.

The Shaela fruit silently waited for its food.

I have already given it a substantial amount of nourishment. Giving more here would be excessive.

However…

“Can I really give up at this point…?”

I stood up while gazing at the fruit.

It’s time to hunt.

To satisfy Shaela’s appetite, more nourishment and mana are needed.

Swish~

I moved my body and opened the door to the house, sending Alberto’s physical form into the misty forest.

*

Misty Forest.

There was no immediate danger.

Monsters, unable to match my strength, often fled upon encountering me.

However, a problem arose.

The monsters began avoiding me.

The ecosystem of the Misty Forest is survival of the fittest.

Is it recognizing strength?

How do they know to avoid me?

Do they sense energy like I do?

If so, it makes sense. I have become several times stronger since the first day.

Or maybe they just caught a whiff of poison.

Either way, it’s been a while.

A different approach is needed.

And conveniently, I have a good plan.

Whoosh~

I ignited a small strand on my body and buried it in the ground. The separated strands will feed on the nutrients of the soil where numerous corpses are buried, and by harvesting them, I can easily gain strength.

By spreading these separated strands throughout the entire Misty Forest, there will be no need to hunt.

A self-destructing ecosystem.

Feeding on that fertilizer will be sufficient.

The goal is set.

I will root myself throughout the entire Misty Forest.

Although it’s vast, after a long time, this forest will become my domain.

Let’s venture a bit further.

Thud.

Thump.

How long did I wander like that?

“Aaahhh!!!”

The scream of a person echoed.

The first human voice I’ve heard since coming here. Without hesitation, I ran towards the source.

Thud!!

I was curious.

This place was said to be a dumping ground.

Who could have been driven out from here?

That’s what I need to find out now.

*

“Screams!!!”

“Allen!”

One man fell.

Five comrades attacked a giant wolf the size of an elephant in anger.

“How dare you!!!”

“Die, you monster spawn!!!”

Two men rushed with swords drawn.

A woman shot arrows.

Someone wielded a mana-infused spear.

Another woman conjured fireballs with her hands.

Swoosh!

Thud!

Kwaaang!

They fought against the monster to protect their fallen comrade.

However…

“Kwaaa!!!”

The monster’s hide showed no marks. Instead, it charged forward in rage.

Not only that…

Fwoosh!

“Ugh!!… Aaahhh!!!”

Like a mole, a monster with long claws pierced one man and dragged him underground.

“What’s happening!?”

“Oh god! Due to the mist, we can’t see where the monsters are coming from!!”

“Kwaaaa!!!”

Thunk!

“Huh!?….”

This time, a fur-covered ogre swiped at a woman’s head with a single blow, and as chaos ensued, more monsters emerged from the mist.

Fear and despair were etched in everyone’s eyes.

It was undeniable.

They were about to die.

“Dammit!!! This is why I didn’t want to travel with you guys! If only we hadn’t taken the quest!!…”

“Shut up, Sheria!! You brought this upon yourself!!!”

Even division arose. Of course, the monsters did not wait for verbal sparring.

“Quiet!!! What have you done right to-”

“Kyaaa!!!”

Whoosh!

I thought it was just an ordinary tree, but it aimed at a woman screaming as its branches extended.

“Kyaaa!!!-”

She screamed in terror.

About to die-

Crack!!

“Kyaek!?”

Suddenly, the branch stopped.

More accurately, a long, extended plant stem somewhere had grabbed the branch.

Chiiing!!

“Kiiieeeek!!!!”

The branch began to dissolve.

Simultaneously, a voice rang out.

“Fortunately, I’m not too late.”

Alberto.

No, it was Mu Chan who arrived.

*

Kwaaang!!

“Kkugeuk!!?”

Shalak!!

Chiiieeek!!!-

“Kkwaeek!!!!

Whipping the stem like a whip.

Knocking down with physical force.

Digesting on the spot with venom.

When six monsters were killed that way, other monsters attempted to retreat.

They probably felt it.

That the predators here were different.

They didn’t bother to chase them.

Because there were more important things to do.

Swoosh-

I looked at the trembling human.

Three survivors.

One man.

Two women.

“St-strong….”

“Who are you? Strange attire….”

“Did you save us?”

They murmured among themselves, wary of me.

I was wearing a stem garment, which must have looked strange like a primitive.

Without hesitation, I approached them.

The man spoke up as their representative.

“I-I’m Theo. Thank you for saving us. If it weren’t for you, we would all have died here.”

“You’re weak.”

“Pardon?”

Armed with a sword and using mysterious magic, but the aura they exuded was very weak.

So they must have struggled against the monsters.

As I watched silently, the man awkwardly asked a question.

“Um… may I ask your name?”

My name.

I recalled the title Shaela used to address me.

“I am Mu Chan.”

“Mu Chan. A splendid name. Thank you once again. How can we repay your kindness….”

“Repay with information. Where are you from?”

“W-well… We were transferred here after failing a quest on the 12th floor of the Tower.”

“The Tower?”

Words I heard from Shaela.

The Tower that absorbs worlds.

They were discarded there.

There would be much to discuss.

“Let’s talk at home. Follow me.”

“Yes?… But what about our fallen comrades-”

“They’re already dead. If you don’t want to be eaten by monsters, you better follow me.”

With that, I turned around.

Reluctantly, the three looked at each other, then followed me at a distance.

And then.

Swoosh~

I reached out to every corpse, including the humans, with pre-planted stems.

Sorry, but even their comrades are nutrients to me.

I won’t show mercy.

I only seek information.

I led the three humans back to the hideout.

*

Tree stem house.

A table made of wood.

Chairs made of wood.

They were somewhat rough due to being shaped from stems, but better than nothing.

“What are your names?”

After sitting together, I asked the three for their names.

“I’m Theo, as I mentioned earlier.”

The man wielding the sword is Theo.

With brown hair, he has an ordinary appearance.

“I’m Sheria!”

The female archer Sheria, who cursed at her companion.

With yellow hair, she has a pretty ordinary appearance.

She seems the weakest of the three.

“I’m Floren.”

The woman Floren, who commanded from behind while casting fire magic.

She exudes the most energy among the three.

Next, I asked about the Tower. They explained the situation without much elaboration.

“-So we were kicked out to this place.”

They summarized the content easily.

Each of them climbed the Tower with their own goals.

In each area of the Tower, there is an administrator, and one of them mistakenly triggered a trap quest and failed, leading to their expulsion.

That was the sole reason for their disposal.

I roughly understand.

The Tower is an irrational place.

Assign missions arbitrarily and discard those who fail.

Are the Tower administrators all so arbitrary?

I don’t like it.

Like Alberto.

“Uh~ Mu Chan, what level are you?”

Sheria, the woman, asked me a random question.

A sudden inquiry about my level.

Questions that could come up in a game.

But it didn’t seem like a joke. Everyone paid attention to my answer.

I responded with a question.

“What’s a level?”

“Huh?… You don’t know what a level is?”

“I’m asking what a level is.”

“Well….”

A level.

A comprehensive evaluation metric for Tower climbers.

Strength, abilities, skills, experience, and so on. It quantifies everything about the subject into numbers. This information can be confirmed through a blue window-shaped system.

It was unfamiliar to me.

It just felt like a game.

Next, I asked about their levels.

Theo: “I am Level 19.”

Sheria: “I’m Level 14.”

Floren: “I am Level 27.”

“Is that high?”

“No. It’s low. We haven’t even escaped the lowest floor of the Tower. So when we came here, we thought we would die without a chance.”

“What level do you think that monster from earlier was?”

“We don’t know for sure, but even the weakest one probably wasn’t over Level 100.”

I roughly understood the Tower and the system.

It all seemed very much like a game.

This time, I asked where we were.

“It says Tower 0th Floor. 0th Floor… I’ve never heard of such a thing before.”

“Is that also something the system tells you?”

“Yes.”

The identity of the junkyard is the Tower’s 0th Floor.

It’s hard to understand just by words.

The concept of the Tower is still vague.

So, I asked more about the Tower.

“What is the Tower for? Since I have no knowledge at all, explain it in detail.”

“Do you really not know about the Tower? Then… The Tower is-”

The Tower is said to be a place where multiple worlds converge.

Worlds that cannot climb the Tower are absorbed.

Layers are increasing in real-time.

It was difficult to understand just from the explanation.

But one thing is clear.

Things were happening here that I never would have imagined back on Earth. It was highly irrational and unforgiving. Perhaps even Earth might have been swallowed by the Tower.

I pondered for a moment.

Alberto was an administrator.

Was he observing Earth?

Wasn’t he trying to connect Earth and the Tower?

It’s a bit confusing.

If the speculation is true, even if I return to Earth, I won’t be able to live a normal life. No, things have already gone too far since I became like this.

In other words, I need to find a new life.

It’s probably best to stay here for the time being.

“…I need a little rest.”

“Can we rest here too?”

“Just don’t cause any trouble.”

“Yes.”

I obtained all the information I needed and left them alone.

It’s time to rest.

*

Rest.

The three of them lay down on the wooden floor without hesitation, knowing they could rest.

The atmosphere wasn’t great.

Because we were dumped in a junkyard.

Because our comrades died.

A small sigh escaped.

Time was needed to suppress emotions.

During that time, I focused on the scattered stems in the forest.

The separated stems absorbed nutrients from the ground and grew in size. If I concentrate, I might be able to communicate with the separated stems not far away.

With some skill, I might even be able to see my surroundings.

This requires more practice.

I focused more on my senses.

After a while.

“……”

Kuuu…

Pew~

A steady breathing sound was heard.

I glanced at them for a moment.

Theo and Floren were deeply asleep, but for some reason, only Sheria was looking at me.

Being awake alone.

Seems like she has something on her mind.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“…Do you want to talk to me?”

I raised my index finger to my lips and made a gesture.

What’s her plan?

I indulged her for a moment.

*

In front of the stem treehouse yard.

I went outside with Sheria.

Swoosh~

She came right up to me and looked up at me.

“Um, Mr. Muchan. I have something I want to talk about…”

At that moment, I realized his intention.

He wanted to use me.

Sure enough.

Bang.

When I tried to stay still, he came closer with his arms crossed.

Sheria had issues with her comrades.

She blamed her comrades when fighting monsters, cursed at them, and even when talking to me, she kept glancing around cautiously.

His greed is evident.

Tempting me to look down on my colleague.

In a situation where my colleague has died….

Furrowing my brow,

I feel discomfort.

“If you’re alone, aren’t you lonely? If you wish, I can-”

“Shut up.”

“…What?”

“I’m not interested, so stay quiet and disappear. If you try anything again, I’ll kill you.”

…….

Sheria’s bewildered gaze.

No need to waste time.

I returned back inside the house.

“Damn bastard…..”

As we entered, Sheria muttered quietly so as not to be heard.

Unfortunately, I hear everything.

Because the house itself is my body.

His twisted expression.

The sound of him cursing at me.

Even the clenched fist.

I see it all.

Please.

Just crumble in silence.

Thus, another day passed while praying.