The Other Survivors
There were seven survivors. Just as I expected. So there really were other survivors outside the danger zone. What should I do about it? The distance between us was still fairly substantial. If any of them had raised their terminal level as high as mine, they’d spot me before I could get close. But if not, I’d be able to scout them quietly from afar.
My terminal was currently at Level 3. I’d pushed it pretty hard, all things considered. Even with seven of them, it was entirely possible every last one was lower level than me. And even if I was noticed, the gap would give me time to react. After weighing it, I decided to move in closer.
“...Maybe I should buy binoculars.”
The area nearby was forested, so visibility might be poor, but anything was better than nothing. I opened the shop and searched. Binoculars. Two hundred coins. Three hundred if I added night vision. Expensive, but not impossible. A necessary investment. So I bought them—with the night vision upgrade.
I grabbed the binoculars that materialized in the air and examined them. There were buttons and adjustment functions, but I decided to use them as-is for now. They still worked as basic telescopes even without fiddling. I could hold them to my eyes like ordinary binoculars or wear them on my head like night-vision goggles. Since wearing them on my head felt cumbersome at the moment, I’d carry them by hand for a while. I still had some distance to cover.
I crept forward slowly, muffling my footsteps. There was no sign they’d noticed me. The seven were clustered together, walking in the opposite direction at a sluggish pace. I was moving slowly too, but the gap was closing little by little. The map told me they were staying alert as they walked. That let me relax a little more. If any of them had the same terminal level as me, we were already close enough that they couldn’t possibly miss me—at least one or two of them would surely be watching the map. The fact that there was still no reaction meant it was safe to assume all seven were lower level than I was.
“There they are.”
The distance had shrunk enough that I could see them with the naked eye. They were still far off, but their movement made them stand out. I hid behind a tree and counted. One, two, three—seven. Exactly as the map showed. And every single one was male.
What about their partners? Why were they wandering around as an all-male group?
I checked their equipment through the binoculars. Only one man carried a proper iron spear. The rest held crude wooden spears they’d clearly carved themselves or simply clutched stones in their fists.
...Something’s off. Melee weapons like spears or knives shouldn’t be that expensive. You could buy something decent from the shop for around ten coins. There was no way they were so broke they couldn’t afford even that... so was there another reason they were going around like this?
Their clothing was in even worse shape. Every one of them wore rags. Not a single person looked presentable. If you tossed people into the jungle and didn’t let them change clothes for a week, this is probably what they’d look like. Matted hair, faces caked in dirt like they hadn’t washed in days.
“......”
I thought for a moment but couldn’t come up with an answer. Why were they in such a miserable state? The possibilities were that all their female partners had died, they’d started on the island as an all-male group with no partners to begin with, or their partners had been taken by another faction. Anything else and this level of filth made no sense.
“──!”
“──, ──!”
“────!”
The survivors suddenly shouted and began moving quickly. They must have found something. I checked the terminal map and saw a yellow marker in the direction they were heading. A rabbit, or something similar.
“......”
The group made contact with the yellow marker. The man with the stone threw it; the one with the spear hurled his weapon. The entire display was painfully clumsy—like ordinary city people throwing rocks at a wild animal.
...You call that hunting? I couldn’t expect much. I’d hunted rabbits myself. But the rabbits on this island weren’t tame little pets. They were sharp, survival-savvy creatures that could thrive in this jungle. There was no way they’d get hit by such blind, desperate throws.
I’d always thought my own hunting skills were pathetic, but after watching this, I realized my crossbow work was probably average at worst.
“──”
“────”
“──!”
“────!”
The hunt had failed, just as I expected. They stood there dejected, talking among themselves. I couldn’t hear the words clearly, but the binoculars let me read their expressions. A young, burly man said something, and a man in his forties started yelling back at him with clear rage.
Oh dear. The mood was terrible.
At a glance, their group was falling apart. A few people tried to break up the fight, but even they looked exhausted. Every face showed hunger and despair. The argument was obviously about who was to blame for yet another failed hunt.
“......”
I’d seen enough. I folded the binoculars and tucked them into my backpack. Their party’s collapse was inevitable. It was only a matter of time. Unless some miraculously wealthy and kind survivor appeared to solve all their problems, things would only get worse. In this brutal environment, such miracles were unlikely.
Me? I had no intention of helping. My coins were precious—earned by Mom. I couldn’t waste a single one on strangers. Of course, if Mom saw this she might insist we help, but since she didn’t know, it wasn’t my problem. And even if the situation arose, I would oppose it with everything I had. For our survival.
“So... what do I do with them?”
If they became a threat, I could consider eliminating them. But they were poor and weak. I didn’t see the need to go that far. In their current state they were unlikely to risk entering the dangerous inner zones, and their equipment didn’t look like it would improve anytime soon.
“......”
Killing people gave coins. Quite a lot of them. That had already been proven.
“...Tsk.”
Efficiency said I should dirty my hands. But I decided against it. For the sake of my own mental health. People died easily here. Killing wouldn’t be hard. But if pointless guilt ate away at me, I’d be the one who suffered. What if I couldn’t get hard when I looked at Mom anymore? A few hundred coins now would be an enormous long-term loss. There was no reason to waste mental energy on something so pointless.
“──”
“──, ──!”
While I was weighing their lives, it seemed their own discussion had ended. They scattered, searching the ground for something. One of them was heading in my direction.
If I stayed, I’d be spotted. I’d seen everything I needed to see, so I decided to pull back.
*
After putting distance between myself and the group of seven, I started walking toward the safe zone again. Thinking back, I probably should have learned the location of their base. If I’d waited and tailed them on their return, I could have found it easily. But if there were women and children starving there, I’d only feel uncomfortable for no reason. Since I had no plans to help or rob them, it was better not to get involved at all.
“Whew. Finally.”
The boundary zone was narrow. After a short walk, I was out. I had reached the green safe zone at last. The boundary zone and safe zone were visibly different at a glance. The boundary zone was dense forest with huge trees, while the safe zone was open grassland with fewer trees and far more grass.
If I had to classify it like a game, grasslands and plains were safe, forests were boundary, and jungle was danger.
“There are almost no animals here.”
The boundary zone had rabbits, deer, and even boar-like creatures. I’d managed to catch one deer and one boar on my way. The boar was probably the most dangerous thing in the boundary zone—relatively safe herbivores mixed with somewhat aggressive omnivores. You could hunt the plant-eaters without too much risk, but you still had to stay alert.
In contrast, the green safe zone had almost no real animals. A few birds flew overhead, and the occasional mouse or squirrel appeared, but they were all tiny creatures that didn’t make me want to bother killing them. There wouldn’t be much meat even if I did.
“...Still, it looks like a good place to live.”
The grassland was pleasant. Flat ground made walking easy, and there were no dangerous animals. A cool breeze blew across open fields. Just standing here felt refreshing. The only downside was the lack of trees—nowhere to hide. If someone sniped from the forest edge with a gun, I’d be helpless. Of course, the terminal map had already confirmed no one was nearby, but after spending so long in the woods, being this exposed felt incredibly awkward.
“Right. Now what?”
I checked the map again. Even with the expanded range, at the very edge of the safe zone, in one corner, more than ten survivor markers were clustered together.
I’d expected to find people in the safe zone, but I never thought I’d locate them this easily.
“Haah...”
Maybe it was because of the wretched group I’d just seen. Even though the whole reason I’d come here was to find other survivors, I suddenly didn’t want to see them at all.
What if this new group was just as poor...?