I Became the Land
I Became the Land
Warm sunlight.
Rustling leaves.
My consciousness was simply sleeping peacefully in the cool breeze that blew in.
From time to time, I thought I might wake up, but then I'd fall asleep again, repeating the cycle.
'....Hmm.'
This time too, I thought it was going to be 'yet again', but before I knew it, I was looking at this land.
Startled by the sudden stimulation, I was briefly unsettled, but then, as if someone were comforting me, the agitation gradually eased and I began to calm down bit by bit.
Once I had calmed down like that, I looked around.
'It really feels like playing a simulation game.'
A forest with trees growing lushly. Wild animals running and playing here and there in unmanaged grass thickets. And insects crawling on the ground searching for food.
While looking at them, I noticed my point of view felt strange. Should I say it feels like viewing the world from a third-person's eyes?
Once I thought that, a curiosity suddenly arose.
'I wonder if I can control it.'
For instance, seeing that ant hiding among the grass thickets crawling on the ground.
Then, my point of view rapidly zoomed in, and the head of the ant marching in line grew so large I could see each and every tiny hair.
'Oh, ants have hair too.'
I realized a new fact once again.
Still, both the ant and I would find it burdensome to keep looking, so I returned the point of view to its original state.
'Hmm, so...'
Where is this place?
The surroundings were completely filled with trees and grass. I couldn't see anything that would specifically indicate my location. That means I must be in the middle of a forest.
And one more thing.
'Where am I?'
My current self was viewing the world from a third-person point of view.
Even looking around, I couldn't see any life form that I could call 'me'.
'Am I buried underground?'
As soon as I thought that, I could vividly feel every single underground life form in the area.
The tunnels the ants were diligently cultivating, the sound of earthworms burrowing through and eating the soil, even the sight of a rabbit stoutly eating a wild raspberry it found on its path.
'Wow.'
I watched those scenes dazedly for a while. That continued until the bright, glaring sunlight waned and darkness arrived.
'Oh my.'
When did so much time pass?
The life forms I had been watching so dazedly also began to fall asleep. For some reason, a feeling of contentment welled up, making somewhere in my heart feel warm, but I soon regained my senses and thought again.
'Even underground...'
I couldn't sense any life form underground that I could call 'me'.
By now, I was slowly starting to feel a sense of incongruity.
Who am 'I'?
Chirp chirp-
'Wow, a white-headed titmouse.'
A truly adorable bird perched on the back of my hand and tilted its head.
'So cute.'
Carefully moving my other hand so it wouldn't break, I gently stroked the white-headed titmouse.
Perhaps my touch felt good, as the white-headed titmouse closed its eyes and enjoyed the sensation.
'It's a tree branch, but I'm glad it seems to be enjoying it.'
A week had passed since I first opened my eyes.
During that time, while observing this land, I confirmed several facts.
First of all, 'me', meaning my physical body, did not exist. To be precise, all of this land was 'me'. As my senses gradually returned after opening my eyes, I recognized that my main body was the land.
The fact that my point of view was third-person, and that I could peer into the underground, were only possible because I myself was the land.
'But can land do things like think?'
I'm not sure. Perhaps I just didn't know, maybe it originally had reason? It's just that humans didn't perceive it.
'Gasp, then how much horrible stuff have humans done to the land?'
Anyway, I don't know how far this land extends.
I tried going far out once, but it felt like I was walking in place, so I gave up. I didn't particularly feel like going anyway.
And it seems there's something wrong with my memories. No, there is.
I've been tracing my memories for a week, and it's not just riddled with holes. The expression 'sinkhole' would be appropriate.
I can't remember why I am this land, or since when I've existed. There are even memories that don't seem to be mine, so my identity is quite confused.
Among them, the last thing I remember is when a huge truck was about to hit me.
'When I think of trucks, the isekai truck comes to mind.'
What was the isekai truck? A truck from another world? Or a truck that sends you to another world?
My memories aren't intact, so it's confusing. I think it was probably the truck that sends you to another world.
Judging by memory, I must have been hit by that truck and died. And then I was reborn.
Turns out, I was reborn as land. But if it was the isekai truck, then maybe this place is another world?
'But for that, the scenery looks too much like Earth.'
It's a common mountain landscape.
Above all, look at the white-headed titmouse perched on the back of my hand right now. I doubt another world would have such a cute creature like this.
'It seems the truck that hit me wasn't the isekai truck after all.'
Snap
Crunch-!
'Ack.'
The back of my hand broke.
To be precise, the tree branch that was serving as the back of my hand broke. At the same time, the white-headed titmouse also startled and flew away.
'That's a shame... I put quite a bit of effort into inserting that tree branch.'
I looked at the broken tree branch with regret.
Since the part that could be called my body was a huge chunk of land, I, who remembered my human days, had spent the past week trying to create a human body.
'Since my body is the land, I should be able to move soil at least, so I tried it, but I didn't really think it would work.'
I don't know the principle. It just worked when I tried, that kind of feeling?
Anyway, roughly gathering soil to make a small hill and sticking two fallen tree branches on either side was what I had been manipulating until just now.
'It was a person... well, a very incomplete person, yes.'
A person whose lower body was unified with the land—if someone had seen it, it would have been a sight to startle them.
'How can I move like a person?'
That is the greatest worry of my current life, no, land-life. It was good that I could move soil, but moving it precisely was harder than I thought.
'Uurgh.'
Look at this now, I thought I put quite a bit of strength into it, but a few clumps of soil floated up into the air and then fell powerlessly.
Come to think of it, something's strange. When I first did it, it wasn't to this extent?
'I feel a bit tired, too.'
Perhaps moving soil requires some kind of power? Like magical power, for example.
'Seeing that my spirit is tired, maybe it's mental power. Or, simply because my main body is land, maybe earth power? Terrestrial energy?'
Whatever it was, I couldn't tell. If there were a fellow land comrade like me, maybe I'd know, but there's no way a being like me exists on this ordinary Earth.
'In the end, it's back to the original state.'
Even though it was a tree branch I had painstakingly inserted into the soil pile over the past week, it was so weak it couldn't even bear the white-headed titmouse's weight.
However, there was a reason for this. Manipulating the tree branch was several times harder than manipulating the soil.
'For something that's supposedly land, I can't even move a single tree properly.'
It's all a bit of a mess, but that's okay. It will take a long time, but as proficiency accumulates, it should become easier to handle. My gut feeling was telling me that.
'What if it stays exactly like this later too? That would be totally lame.'
A momentarily unpleasant thought arose, but I quickly brushed it off. Negative emotions were meaningless to hold onto. Rather, it was better to think positively and spend time happily.
For example, observing this land.
That had become my hobby lately. While piling up soil to make a human body, if I lost concentration for a moment, I would find myself observing the land. Observing this land had that much charm.
So many lives were continuing their existence on this land. Insects gnawing on leaves, getting caught and eaten by other insects or animals, laying eggs, and another life being born.
A continuous cycle of death and killing. The intersection of lives and lives. Those tiny, insignificant little things whose sole goal is survival.
At a glance, it's a cruel history of survival, but that is precisely why it's nature. Just as day and night set and rise, it's something very natural.
I, who have escaped from that fierce struggle for survival, am utterly solitary, and also free.
I am an observer. An observer who watches over the birth and death of this land.
Here, no good or evil exists, only instinct remains.
Yes, this place is precisely...
'Ah.'
I regained my senses. The sky had already grown pitch dark.
'I was zoning out and just observing the land again.'
I was deep in thought, then I was going to take a break, but the moment I stopped, I realized I had just been blankly staring at the land.
It's certainly enjoyable to observe the land, but if I only observe, time just flies by, damn it.
'Is it really because I used a lot of strength that I'm tired?'
I've certainly been straining to gather soil over the past week, trying to make a human figure, so it makes sense to be tired.
Though I never felt the fatigue distinctly, if the fatigue accumulated unknowingly was being released during land observation, that would explain it.
'Isn't observing the land essentially similar to sleeping for a human?'
If that's the case, then it's fortunate. Even if my main body is land, my spirit is probably similar to a human's spirit, so if I can perform an act similar to sleep, there's no reason not to like it.
Anyway, since I've woken up, I should pile up soil again. There's nothing else to do anyway.