Night in the Forest (1)
Fortunately, I arrived just in time without being too late. Both Grace and Lee Yeonju were completely unharmed, without a single scratch. They had enough skill to protect themselves, but their balance wasn't great. Grace was a mage who needed distance, and Lee Yeonju was a thief weak to direct confrontations. On top of that, Lee Yeonju rarely showed her true abilities. Even when I got there, she'd been pretending to shiver.
"Ten people? You took down that whole group and came to us?"
"Yeah."
"You're even more impressive than I thought, Sivar. I heard Luna was there too."
I gave them a rough rundown of what happened, and Grace reacted with admiration. Lee Yeonju looked about the same. In truth, Luna hadn't fought at all—she'd just left behind something like a weird confession—but I didn't bother mentioning it. The professors had probably all been watching anyway, so no need for me to spell it out. I was worried some strange rumor might start circulating soon. All I could do was hope Luna handled it well.
She definitely saw the mural.
If anyone else heard it, that sounded like a straight-up date proposal. But the odds of that were slim to none. She'd never given off that vibe around me before and had even subtly shown her suspicions. It seemed like she'd pieced things together from the mural, waiting for a chance to get me alone. But with so many eyes on me, opportunities were scarce. So she used this field exercise to make her intentions clear.
What should I say in response? As the protagonist, I can trust her, but...
I pondered as we headed into the safe zone with my teammates. If I got Luna alone, questions about the mural were inevitable. If she asked if I knew the future from it, I wasn't sure whether to confirm or deny. Or I could just brazenly fire back with What future? That would definitely plant doubts about my identity.
No, she's already suspicious about that.
It wasn't the "soul from another world" kind of suspicion, but more like I'd been extraordinary from birth. Still, as fellow protagonists, we should help each other out. Hiding it would just breed more suspicion. And even if I told her the secret, Luna wasn't the type to blab. She hadn't even mentioned the mural to Lord. Demons were a real threat that required backup, but I had nothing concrete.
"Sivar."
"?"
As I mulled it over while pushing into the safe zone, Grace called out from behind. I snapped out of my thoughts and glanced back, my legs still moving steadily.
"That thing you did earlier? Throwing stones to knock them out one by one."
Grace asked with her face full of curiosity. Her sharp eyes were the same, but softened a bit. I blinked at the question, then mimed tossing something.
"This?"
"Yes. Throwing stones at people to knock them out. Where'd you learn that?"
I hadn't learned it from anyone—it was self-taught. But since I didn't know the word for self-taught, I answered in bits and pieces.
"Alone."
"Alone? You mean self-taught?"
"Yeah."
Grace looked shocked at the self-taught answer. Lee Yeonju beside her had a fascinated expression. Honestly, it wasn't that surprising. To survive in the forest, you had to maximize human strengths. Humans had the best throwing ability of any animal. Their shoulder structure was optimized for it. Even apes stronger than humans fell short in throwing. That's why throwing was the first technique I picked up.
"Th-then, what about erasing your presence...? I didn't sense you at all until you were right next to me..."
This time it was Lee Yeonju asking. She was acting, but she was originally a skilled assassin. For her to not sense me at all and be genuinely surprised made sense she'd be curious.
"Survival."
"Survival...?"
"Getting caught. Death. Survival. Essential."
Lee Yeonju blinked at my curt explanation. The beauty mark under her left eye stood out.
"Um... You lived in the forest, so there were lots of dangerous animals, and to survive them, you learned to erase your presence. Something like that?"
"Ah! That sounds right! If that's it, then it explains why you mastered ambushes."
"Ambush? Is that what you call erasing your presence? I don't really know."
"Erasing your presence and killing the target—that whole thing is an ambush."
"Ah... I see."
Lee Yeonju said it so casually, like killing was no big deal. Grace seemed to feel an odd discomfort too, giving a lukewarm reaction. She had a habit of dropping lines like that every now and then that could unsettle people. I remembered it coming up in the game sometimes too.
"Anyway, it's getting dark. There are a lot of eliminated teams, so it'll be safer, but..."
Grace quickly changed the subject amid the weird vibe. I looked up at the sky as she spoke. It was noticeably darkening, just like she said. The denser the forest, the faster night fell. I'd taken out at least five teams myself, so maybe ten people left? Probably fewer. But the forest was always dangerous. You never knew when or where a threat might pop up. In the woods, animals were more dangerous than people. Snakes were the worst annoyance.
"We should find a place to rest first. Once the sun's fully down, it'll limit our movement a lot."
"Yeah."
"Sure."
At Grace's direction, we searched for a spot to camp. Luckily, we soon found perfect terrain for overnighting. We could set up a simple tent there and prep dinner.
"Wouldn't these mosses make the ground nice and soft?"
"Sounds good."
While I was roughly building a tent frame with branches, Grace and Lee Yeonju nearly did something stupid. With no prior knowledge, they thought moss would make a comfy floor. I freaked out and stopped them quick. Even leaves crawled with bugs—moss was worse. Fine for patching roof gaps, but using it like a mattress would get you sick.
"No."
"Huh?"
"Bugs. Lots."
"......"
Grace backed away from the moss as I stated it firmly. She listened well in situations like this.
"Th-then what about the floor? We don't have anything to lay down..."
"Just. Sleep."
"......We have to?"
"Yeah."
"The ground's too hard to sleep on..."
Grace pouted, grumbling. True to her pampered upbringing, she couldn't sleep without something soft. I wanted a fluffy bed too. Adaptation was scary—already missing it after one day. Just grit through it with eyes closed. I ignored her complaints and focused on the tent. I'd used caves in the wild, but I knew the basics of making one.
"Wow. This should hold even if it rains."
"It's cramped, but fine for one night."
I made it spacious enough for two-plus people excluding watch duty. Roof was essential—even if it didn't block tiny bugs, it had to stop snakes. Plus, I didn't need sleep. Wild Instinct kept me aware even when dozing. So Grace and Lee Yeonju could rest fully. The hard ground wouldn't matter; fatigue would pull them under.
"Dinner will have to be the wild boar meat, right?"
"Yes. We can't always rely on you, Sivar. This is already lucky for us."
We settled dinner with smoked wild boar. Too dark to hunt. I'd prepped it for times like this. Smoking made it decently tasty. The tough texture was an issue, but it filled the belly fine.
Crackle!
Soon, with a campfire going, our makeshift camp was set. Summer was hot, but fire was survival essential. Kept animals away and could double as a weapon in a pinch. Of course, it raised detection risk by other survivors. Even a tiny cigarette glow stood out in dark woods. That's why wartime sayings banned smoking. But for survival, no choice.
Even if spotted, we'll sense them first.
I tossed more wood on the fire and glanced skyward. After tent and dinner, it was fully dark. Around 9 PM, probably. Time for bed and watches.
"Can't sleep."
"Me neither."
Grace and Lee Yeonju chatted lying in the tent. Mostly about insomnia. After today's chaos, they should be exhausted. This was tension keeping them up. Extreme stress made you forget fatigue.
I told them:
"Sleep."
"......Pardon?"
"I'll watch."
Meaning: I'll guard, so rest easy. Grace's eyes widened. We'd set watches during planning, so I'd wake her later.
"Really okay to sleep?"
"Yeah."
"......Reliable, Sivar."
Grace chuckled. Her face showed full trust. She slowly lay back on the hard ground. Too tired to care about dirty clothes. I moved to ease her tension—right in front of their tent. Soon, I heard rustling behind, then dead silence. Tension gone, drowsiness hit, and sleep followed.
"Snooore......"
"......"
They must've been beat. Grace's snore was far from elegant but quiet. I added branches to keep the fire alive.
Chirrp—chirrp—
Only crickets and crackling wood filled my ears. Reminded me of forest life. Having people was different, but not much else. Food, maybe. I'd stockpiled before, but now it was empty.
Munch—munch—
So I snacked on crawling bugs. Fire drew plenty of flying ones. All protein, so I ate what I could. Like munching chocolate.
Rustle—
Then it happened. Bushes opposite me shook. I'd sensed the presence earlier but stayed put, unsure if it'd come here. Now it was. I gripped Ragnarok on my back as the bushes moved.
Animals would've sensed us and stayed away—unless a beast. Or a survivor.
Survivor seemed likely. Presence felt too human. No hostility—they weren't looking to fight. But preparing wasn't bad.
Rustle—rustle—
The shaking increased, and soon someone emerged.
"......Sivar?"
"......"
Totally unexpected. It was Kara. I released Ragnarok right away. I'd stay wary with others, but not her. In Soul World, she'd chosen survival over fighting too. No preemptive attack, no fight.
"Hey."
Still, a greeting. I waved casually, welcoming her. Kara blinked blankly at my calm hello, then chuckled.
"Yeah. Hey."
She smiled cutely, waving back. She eyed the tent behind me, then asked:
"Mind if I sit?"
I scooted over as answer.