17. Each Their Own Way of Survival
17. Each Their Own Way of Survival
They say life is full of ups and downs.
It had been about four weeks since I'd been possessed into NTR Academy.
Truly, every week had been filled with days where I wanted to scream "log out" and run away, but now I understood.
All the suffering until now had solely been for the sake of this reward.
For example, yes, just earlier when I was walking down the path.
"...Was this an herb? I think it might have been a detoxifying grass."
A clump of grass that suddenly caught my eye as I walked along the path.
As I stared at it, feeling oddly familiar, a window popped up before my eyes.
Name: Wild Carrot
-A carrot that grew in the wild.
-Edible.
"???"
I definitely didn't have an 'Appraisal' or 'All-Seeing Eye' or any skill like that?
First, I dug into the ground as the window instructed, and inside, a wild carrot was literally growing.
"...Well, it's a gain at least."
As I put it in my bag, my worries continued.
I could only think──that something had taken root in my eyes.
"Present Sight."
A thought that suddenly flashed through my head.
I hurriedly activated [Cronus's Eye] and looked around.
Name: Stone
-An ordinary stone.
Name: Potato
-Traces of a wild boar visiting are visible.
-Edible after removing the sprouts.
Name: Mugwort
-Used as a medicinal herb.
-Shows traces of insect damage.
-Edible.
"Fucking sex!"
Fortune was on my side.
That was the only way I could see it.
And as for yet another example...
Name: Rabbit Droppings
-A rabbit's footsteps continue from here.
"What's this now?"
A trace that caught my eye as I walked along, spamming Present Sight.
Just in case, I tried using [Past Sight].
"...This is kind of overpowered, isn't it?"
The direction the rabbit had jumped was drawn before my eyes.
I immediately followed those traces, followed Past Sight, and at the end of it, I arrived at none other than a rabbit burrow.
I immediately built a fire, made smoke, and shoved it into the burrow, at which point a rabbit came darting out.
"Ah, wait!"
Where do you think you're running off to, meat?
As I hurriedly chased after it, I went with the flow and used [Future Sight] this time.
Kkiiik! Kkik! Kkiiiiik!
"Gotcha, you little bastard!"
The direction of its path revealed through Future Sight.
When I took a step ahead and reached out my hand, the rabbit came right into it as if sucked in.
After that, I naturally butchered the rabbit and turned it into meat──
"How do I cook this?"
The third time I felt luck was with me.
Cronus's Scythe was truly a divine move.
"Hmm....."
I stared at the fully butchered meat, deep in thought.
I had packed salt and pepper, so I could grill and eat it as is, but as a civilized person, it still felt like it fell one step short.
If only I had a frying pan or something here, that would be great.
Just as I was regretting that I couldn't bring a frying pan due to the weight limit─
"....Can this thing turn into a frying pan too?"
Cronus's Scythe.
At the moment, I'd been using it as a pistol, but the features of this scythe were none other than 'Indestructibility' and 'Transformation.'
A scythe that couldn't break and could transform into anything.
If by 'a scythe that can transform into anything'─
"Well, you know. A frying pan is also a weapon from a certain point of view, right?"
Hoping for the best, I conducted another experiment.
Cronus's Scythe turned into a frying pan──according to my will!
"Kiya──ho!"
No, beyond a frying pan, it became a trowel, a barbecue grill—there was nothing it couldn't do.
It seemed there was a quantity limit, since it couldn't split into two, but honestly, even just this was the most broken of broken abilities.
I found a spot near a tree stump there and cooked the rabbit meat.
"Heuheu....heuheuheu!"
The visuals, the smell that made my mouth water just by looking at it.
As I felt my stomach getting turned on in real time, I immediately picked up and ate the rabbit meat.
Ah, for reference, I tore the chopsticks from a nearby tree branch. That's what you call eco-friendly wooden chopsticks.
"Fucking delicious. Crazy, seriously."
Greasy rabbit meat dropped into my hungry stomach and onto my tongue.
As I gobbled it down, the fatigue from all that walking melted away with the taste.
"Looks delicious...would you share some with me?"
"Munch munch....Hmmf?"
An uninvited guest had barged in.
Well, even so, it wasn't that big of a deal.
Pshht!
".....Uh, uh...?"
Not a big problem, but.
I aimed my pistol (ver. silencer attached) and slowly approached the cadet.
"Maybe if it were someone like Mars or Yuno──"
"...W-wait. I won't come back again! No, I'll give you all my points and everything!"
"──I'm not so weak that I'd be looked down on by the likes of you, okay?"
"Ah......!"
Since they had a bracelet, there was no resistance to the attack.
When I planted a bullet right between their eyebrows, the bracelet rang and a semi-transparent barrier formed.
I figured a professor would take care of the rest, so I decided to trust them and leave it...
"....Ah, fuck!"
Life's ups and downs.
If fortune is with you, it's soon an omen of misfortune.
"My meat!"
Since I'd used the scythe as a frying pan substitute,
the moment I transformed the scythe back into a pistol, all the meat on the frying pan fell to the ground.
...No wonder my luck was too good.
...
..
.
To a person, the most important things.
Clothing, what you wear.
Food, what you eat.
Shelter, where you sleep.
As for clothing, I already had the cadet uniform, so that was fine.
As for food, I could obtain it through my 'Eyes'.
So, what remained was only 'where to sleep'.
"Kya...! Perfect, for real."
Even this, I handled too perfectly.
Don't think I made some shoddy shelter like in other survival stories or academy stories.
"With just this one-touch setup, eui? Nothing's impossible!"
Human wisdom isn't just for boiling soup, you know.
One-touch mosquito net tent. It was meant for indoor use, so the durability itself wasn't great, but since I wasn't planning on using it for long, it was enough.
It served as a tent, and also blocked any unexpected bugs.
It couldn't handle bugs coming up from the ground...
"That's why I made a platform out of branches beforehand!"
If I built a table raised about shin-height and laid down the cushion I use for sitting on the ground when hiking as a substitute for a mat?
Bugs from below, blocked. Mosquitoes from above, blocked.
Now, the remaining challenge was warmth, a hurdle that could never be ignored, but─
"Here's a sleeping bag?"
I had prepared even this perfectly.
The one who is prepared can handle any situation.
Since my whole body was overflowing with ease, no problems remained for me.
"I should read some novels and sleep!"
Although I couldn't watch web novels or Neotube since there was no signal, I could read the novels I'd pre-downloaded onto my phone.
What? You're asking if they were illegal downloads?
As if I would do something like that.
These were all novels I obtained through legal routes, by throwing money around and scraping them together directly.
'Thanks to that, a lot of time and money got shattered...'
Along the way, I did end up sympathizing with people who pirate things.
How convenient would it be to just scroll with a mouse and read?
...No, I know I shouldn't sympathize with that, but anyway, that's what I'm saying.
"Kkeuuuuung....Ahh."
Time flew by as I casually read novels.
As I giggled while reading, suddenly it was time to sleep, so I turned off my phone, lay down, and looked up at the sky.
"Whoaaa....."
A sky clear and clean without a speck of pollution.
Without a single cloud, the twinkling stars were so brilliant I felt like I understood why they call the night sky a pearl.
"....What are the others doing?"
A question suddenly popped into my head.
Were the others surviving, adapting to this environment?
I pondered for a moment, but quickly tossed that worry aside.
"Anyway, they're heroines and a Protagonist."
Even if you threw them into a shithole, they'd probably live better than me.
****************
Minerva's Case
"Captain! Can you eat this?"
"If you remove the sprouts and roast the roots, you can eat it."
"Captain, what about this?"
"That's poison. Throw it away."
"Captain! I picked up something amazing!"
"That's not amazing, it's dangerous."
She simply unleashed her possessed wisdom and widely saved people,
and before she knew it, she had become the captain leading many cadets.
...
..
.
Ter and Yuno's Case
"We'll eat our fill today. Right?"
"Whoaaa...!"
A modest dinner table laid with small fish and fruit, though not extravagant.
Ter first offered Yuno a bite, then started eating after her.
"Ter. When did you learn all this?"
What could be eaten in the mountains,
how to obtain it,
even the makeshift shelter built right there—it was all Ter's handiwork.
Yuno was amazed by her childhood friend's unexpected side, and Ter simply handed Yuno a well-cooked fish as if it were nothing, saying.
"It's no big deal."
A humble night, but one rich in heart, continued on.
...
..
.
Mars's Case
"I'm hungry......"
Growl....
"Fucking hungry....."
Grrrowl...growl....
"...Fuck."
Growl.
Mars, communicating with her own belly hide in real time.
She had boldly disembarked from the ship and wandered around to find Chrono and Yuno, but all she met was a bunch of other cadets.
She knocked them down out of sheer annoyance, which accumulated points, so she figured she might as well share them with Chrono...
...You know, that thing.
Since points could be exchanged between people, right?
She gathered points hoping she could live a bit more comfortably by trading points with someone who had packed plenty of supplies—absolutely not with any other intention──anyway.
"....Ah."
Suddenly, a small plant beside her caught her eye.
It was green and lush, with a glossy sheen, and looked like something herbivores would really love.
"───Nom."
Before she knew it, Mars had put it in her mouth and was chewing it.
".....Fuck."
Ptoo, she spat it right out.
"There's...no water...fuck...!"
She scrubbed her mouth with her hand and dry-heaved repeatedly.
"Fucking bitter...and my tongue keeps stinging. Is it numb, no way?"
Etooeh ptooeh ptooeh, ptoo ptoo.
Mars shook her tongue and exhaled.
"Haaaaaah....."
So fucking hungry.
Completely drained of strength, Mars blankly began moving her feet.
Hoping that somewhere, there was something to eat.
"...Right now, I feel like I could even commit robbery."
A single word unconsciously escaped her lips.
That growl mixing pure hunger and irritation was exactly why carnivores became the fiercest when hungry.