Countermeasures (2): Notice Board Installed
YasaengGrill (notice board photo)
Planning to install this notice board where it can be seen from across the river. Originally had no plans to put it right by the river, but today I spotted someone across it;; It was way too quick to snap a photo, but it looked like someone sent from the Saint Country. Yeah.
└Cheonma Did you really see a person?
└YasaengGrill Yeah. Riding a giraffe, fighting off lions?
└SwordTasteStar That giraffe is the long-necked animal you mentioned earlier, right?
└YasaengGrill Yep.
└SwordTasteStar With a neck that long, it'd be hard to see ahead though;;
└YasaengGrill No clue, didn't ask it directly lol.
└Won't that giraffe cross over too when they do?
└Fr lol, that'd mean one more mouth to feed ㅋㅋㅋ
└With a neck that long, nowhere to rest either, right?
└Yeah, but it might have a nasty temper too;;
└Don'tAbandonHero Great idea! Then other survivors can see it too!
└You sure you didn't imagine it? It's the Four Seasons Forest, so probably just a hallucination.
└Too detailed for a hallucination. Gotta keep watch lol.
└What if that guy kills Grills?
└Don'tAbandonHero No way that'll happen! Mr. Ludwig is a good man!
└Even good people turn bad when survival's on the line, head mod;;
└Yeah, that's what worries me too. Fine, say Ludwig's okay, but what if some other survivor shows up and wrecks everything?
At first, the reactions were straight-up Gallery style. But soon the worries piled up.
Okay, let's say there really is a survivor in the Four Seasons Forest. They see the notice and cross the river. But then what? If they're malicious and come after me?
'Not impossible.'
In the name of survival, every animal's a competitor. Even if it's the same species. And I can't even speak the language here, so convincing them won't be easy.
'Gotta make maximum use of the Gallery.'
Even a insanely strong sloth beast struggles to find food in the Four Seasons Forest. Without the Gallery, I'd have starved too. In this backwater, just using the Gallery is a huge merit.
Show them the Gallery first, use it for translation too.
'Anyway, recruitment's priority one. Manpower's what matters in the end.'
Some things people can do, some the Gallery can. Right on cue, similar comments flooded in. Some had curses mixed in, but I ignored 'em.
'Time to plant the notice board.'
It was big, but no issue. I had the subspace backpack.
I positioned it carefully so it'd be visible from across the river. Check it while collecting the fish traps.
'Crossing the river's the real problem.'
It's wide, and the current's brutal. No boat, swimming across bare-handed seems impossible. Maybe they could leap it, but assuming someone at that level survived unscathed is too optimistic. More survivors mean higher chance someone's got leg issues. Heck, without elixirs, I'd be disabled myself.
'Gotta build a bridge.'
You might say the space across changes in real-time, so what bridge? But the changes are across the river—the river itself stays constant. Meaning similar conditions on the other side always.
'Measure the width first.'
I pulled rope from the subspace bag. Always carried basic tools.
Tied a dagger to the end and tossed it to the opposite bank—not into the space, right to the edge.
'Damn, it's wide.'
Marked the rope and reeled it back. Was gonna head back, but paused to stare across.
The Four Seasons Forest unfolding in all its varied glory. Right now, a fog-shrouded zone.
What's in that fog? Could there really be survivors in a place like that?
'No matter how I slice it, I'm lucky.'
Forget the Gallery—even surviving here is a miracle. If it'd been fog, volcano, desert, or snowy peaks... Horrifying just to think.
'Where was that guy? Giraffes live in grasslands, right?'
Plus those encircling lions. Grassland beasts. But can't be sure. Kangaroos live nearby too. Like humans, animals adapt—where they adapt is home.
'Bridge slow, sword first.'
Bridge takes time even temporary; sword doesn't. Plus, need to test Appa Raccoon's skills. Grinding's dwarf territory anyway—ask PassingDwarf.
Every time I see PassingDwarf, I think—you're too optimistic about the world.
What're you on about?
PassingDwarf I get you're hyped seeing a survivor, but don't make decisions when you're that pumped. Think it over two, three times at least.
Solid, bone-deep advice. At first, I was confused. The dwarf who usually bantered and laughed with me saying this?
Means I'm being reckless. Tough love.
'Ugh...'
I clamped my mouth and recalled what worried the dwarf. The plan: toss supplies—weapons—to survivors across the river. Weapons over food, since mithril and Oriharukon were everywhere.
'...What if gorillas get 'em?'
Gorillas—primitive humans in fur. Some used crude weapons; leader even wielded mana. Hand 'em Mithoricon swords? Ecosystem explodes.
'Monsters too, right?'
Standard fantasy: goblins, orcs, trolls, ogres. They use tools, even more dangerous. Primates use mana here—why not them? I'd be creating the ultimate threat myself.
'Tch...'
Bitter taste. Like the dwarf said, spotting a survivor got me excited. Scrapped the sword-toss idea. Too risky. Make Ludwig's separately—as backup.
'Bridge first.'
Asked the dwarf too. Temporary build—got ideas? Factor in floods from rain, want arch-style. If he doesn't know, lay basic and repair step-by-step.
PassingDwarf Got one method, but not sure you can solo it.
What is it?
PassingDwarf Da Vinci bridge. Old-school architecture trick. Simple, used in wars a ton.
Da Vinci? That Da Vinci I know?
Too familiar—shocked me. Cement was one thing, but Da Vinci's a famous name.
Da Vinci? A person's name?
PassingDwarf Lol? Only know it's ancient. Ask Olfather probably.
Yeah, origin later—method now.
Can ya tell me?
PassingDwarf Easy to explain, hell to build. Your funeral. But why not just have 'em jump?
Cross a river like that? Plus possible leg injury.
PassingDwarf ㅋㅋ Then mass-produce elixirs and scatter 'em. Better idea.
Yeah, thought of it. But...
Elixirs need more than adult mandrakes. StarlightPrincess would make 'em, but begging nonstop's embarrassing. Numbers are visibly dropping anyway.
'Picking nits, and I'm in danger too?'
Think twice/thrice—dwarf's right. No time to slack. Survivor joy dumbed my brain.
'Don't decide when happy—spot on.'
Just 22 days in, and I miss humans like crazy. Spotting one short-circuited my head.
'Can't be too optimistic.'
Soon got Da Vinci bridge method from dwarf. Gallery post, naturally. Structure simple. Even uploaded stick-figure build video. Easy to grasp.
Grasp ≠ easy with wood. Already daunting.
└PassingDwarf Fuck it, want me to make it?
└YasaengGrill Nah, gotta account for across-river space changes—doing it myself.
└PassingDwarf Fine, here's a drawknife. Use it.
└YasaengGrill Thx thx
└PassingDwarf Btw, what if beasts cross instead? Thought about that?
└YasaengGrill Bridge essential for golden frogs—they're the gatekeepers.
└PassingDwarf Ah, true.
Got the drawknife too—full bridge build mode. First: logging. Not firewood—bridge materials. No mana; cold could ruin it.
Crack!
Huge tree topples. Process bit by bit. Branches for firewood/charcoal, trunk to size.
'Solo's tough.'
When's across turn grassland? Sooner better.
'Da Vinci bridge? Really my Da Vinci?'
Cement too—weird overlaps. My world's or coincidence? Ponder later.
'Who cares.'
Survival's key.
*****
While Grills logged hard for the temp bridge, the holy knight Ludwig on his giraffe faced trouble.
Not betrayal—giraffe helped win the lion pack fight. Height advantage like siege warfare.
Reach no issue; Grills' Mithoricon sword shone. Reacts big to tiny mana.
Four Seasons Forest mana density crushes use. Hard, not impossible. Focus squeezes some out—like elephant thru needle eye, barely 5% power.
Still, Mithoricon's superiority aided Ludwig hugely.
"Groan..."
But limits clear. Post-battle rest under big tree. Checks lion bite—arms fine, right foot mangled.
Saint Country lions infamous jaws; these Four Seasons ones chewed steel boots literal. Major injury.
'Trouble. No decent herbs.'
Potions all to Asella. Minus sword, entered naked. Luck carried early; run out now.
'Infection? Amputate...'
Surveys: vast plain. No cover. Caves? Only three-headed lions or worse.
'That sighting—a hallucination?'
Recalls: person across river, Zhongyuan-like. Dazed, got injured. Foot lucky; no giraffe, dead.
'If real...'
Looks to river. Landscape shifted. Forest before; now desert. Water joy brief—river changed too.
'Necrosis? Cut it.'
Monitor progress. Grimaces, looks up. Tree as temp base. Can't move safely now.
'Hold till forest-across-river reappears.'
Resolves, turns. Giraffe curled sleeping.
'Take that guy too.'
Ludwig growing fond of the giraffe.