Out at Last! "Puhihhing! (Soccer Kick!)"

Somehow, about a month after crossing over into this other world and gaining the ability to speak as a horse.

I'd gotten completely used to life in the forest—grazing on grass, hiding my body here and there, and walking around cautiously. As I checked my body's condition and wandered about, sure enough, just like in an isekai, I encountered all sorts of monsters.

Tiny ones that looked like max-level rabbits at first glance, making me flinch before I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stomped them flat—like that fierce-looking horned rabbit. Weird-horned pig-like things whose faces made me wonder what animal they even were. And just now, something goblin-ish that I'd kicked in the head with my hind legs, sending it flying. All of them had these vicious, terrifying looks.

I killed them easily, though.

"Puhihhing! Puhhing... (Damn, killed another useless thing...)"

I stared at the goblin's sprawled corpse and spouted some chuunibyou line. I knew it just sounded like horse whinnies, but the monsters I'd met over the past month didn't even attempt conversation—they just screeched like they couldn't speak anything resembling language. Meeting only those kinds of things made it mentally painful if I didn't at least pretend to talk to myself.

I'd even watched a goblin once, hoping it might say something language-like, but nope, nothing.

And in all that time, I hadn't seen a single human. At this point, I was starting to think maybe this really was a world without humans—and resentment toward that Homeless God started bubbling up. Damn it, if you're gonna do something, at least trigger an event or whatever! Not seeing even a hint of a person for a whole month? Was meeting mobs the event? How long am I supposed to grind these trash mobs?

As I thought that, the goblin's corpse turned to black dust and vanished. Looked like this was one of those worlds where monster bodies auto-despawned.

At least something fortunate: As expected, this horse body was ridiculously strong, befitting its massive muscles. None of the animal-like monsters I'd met in this forest were even a match for me.

When I'd taken down about five, I got curious about my defense and let a charging mad boar slam into me. Instead, the boar collapsed from the impact. It was pretty big, too, but I didn't feel a thing. That's when I was genuinely impressed by this horse body's toughness.

That plant thing with flowers on its head like some crazy Australian flora, though...

The most annoying one was this twisted flower-looking abomination from some Australia-like place, with tiny flowers at both ends of its head. It was horse-sized like me, screeched some weird roar, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and charged with what looked like roots. I freaked out at the sight, and surprisingly, its stem-like body was tough—hard to grab with my hooves.

I had to climb on a rock and stomp it to death... Crazy Australian plant bastard.

"Puhihhing! (Status Window!)"

I whinnied, and a status window popped up—the classic game-like kind everyone imagines.

That's right. There was a status window!

While wandering the forest, I accidentally stepped on and killed my first rabbit. I jumped when its blood splattered, felt grossed out by the corpse before it vanished, and then got dizzy. That's when the status window appeared in front of me. Probably from gaining EXP and leveling up.

The joy I felt then was indescribable—I probably galloped around like that crazy Australian plant.

I stared at the status window and checked my EXP. It was a sparse one—no skills or stats listed. I was a bit disappointed at first, but I quickly pulled myself together.

A sparse status window, sure, but it shows EXP and levels! That's something! Some isekais only show your name!

I'd wondered why my age stayed the same even as a horse. Maybe I hadn't turned into an isekai horse—instead, my human body had transformed into a horse and come here. I was never this muscular as a human, so who knows.

Honestly, age didn't matter much either way. Would've been nicer if it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠showed stats or something.

Guess it's telling me not to rely on cheats from the start—level up skills the hard way. Fine, whatever.

I checked the gained EXP, then closed the window. You had to think or whinny "Status Window" to open it, but closing was just a thought. Awkward at first, but I was used to it now.

Besides that, the weird thing was... the monsters in this forest looked seriously creepy. Even with my buff muscles, it didn't make sense that a lowbie like me could one-shot them based on looks alone. Weren't starter mobs supposed to look cute and harmless?

They looked high-level enough that maybe I had some stat bonus as a perk allowing me to kill them.

"Puhihhing! Puhhing... (If stats are my perk, that's kinda lame...)"

If that was my special perk, what a letdown. A real perk would be space magic or a humanization skill. Stats? You get those from leveling anyway.

Please don't let that be it, I thought as I started walking again.

"Purruk! Puhhing... Puhihiing... (Haa, damn forest... I wanna get out already...)"

A month of wandering this forest. The scenery barely changed—just varying tree density, but it all looked the same. The sky peeking through was always that gloomy, heavy gray, and the dimness put me in a bad mood.

No open spaces for a full sprint because of the trees, so I walked carefully, but I never imagined it'd take a whole month. Who knew I'd be lost this long.

I was itching to escape this depressing forest and meet some people. Sure, I couldn't speak in this state, so it'd be awkward, but better than nothing. Worst case, I could draw pictures in the dirt with my hoof. No way they'd kill a non-aggressive horse, right?

Damn... Please, someone show up already...

I prayed to the Homeless God while scanning around and walking.

A month and three days later. Finally, the scenery changed. Trees thinned out, a path-like thing appeared—like I was exiting the forest—so I hurried my steps.

And soon, a bright sky and open fields appeared. Weeds were thick, but there were traces of a road. Scattered trees, fresh wind instead of the damp forest air.

Seeing it, uncontrollable excitement surged, and my legs broke into a run on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their own.

"Purruk! Puhhing! Puhihhing! (A road! Outside! Kyaaahoh!!!!!!!)"

I galloped excitedly for a while before stopping since nothing big stood out. It hit me again: I really was a horse. The passing scenery flew by so fast that if I went all-out, my speed was beyond expectations. Felt like 50 mph just now; full sprint might hit 60 or more?

I turned back to look.

......? What the hell?

Far in the distance loomed a massive mountain. No, a whole mountain range. What I'd thought was a forest was actually the range—sprawling so wide I couldn't see the ends. Looking closely at my path, it seemed I'd gone around the bottom without climbing, ending up on the other side.

Wait, damn it—if I'd just gone up, I could've crossed the mountain quick?

Thinking "what's down by the water" had been a mistake. To escape this huge range, I'd circled for over a month. What an idiot.

The dim forest, huge scale, gentle slopes—I hadn't grasped it right. If I'd picked a direction and pushed straight, I'd have figured out the outside sooner.

Haa, damn, what a moron I am...

Cursing my own poor judgment, I trudged onward listlessly.

Damn... this stupid horse-headed bastard... My future was looking bleak.