Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: It's the Law of Nature for Females to Follow Superior Males...!
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Day 5 of the uninhabited island survival.
I'd been leisurely playing around, eating my fill, fixing things up, and crafting whatever I needed.
First off, the house.
My shabby little hut had turned into something pretty sturdy and cozy.
To brace for the typhoon that'll hit later on, it'd need more work, but right now? Totally satisfied!
I even whipped up some workout gear.
A pull-up bar made from wood and some rusty iron pipes.
A wooden bench, carved and sanded smooth from timber.
I also subbed a log in for a barbell.
Couldn't get much real load out of it, but since I couldn't tap into any hero powers anyway, the burn felt just right.
While exploring the woods, I scored some handy tools from the crates too.
Hand axe for chopping, gloves, binoculars, cookwares, and such...
Made keeping my cozy island villa a breeze.
This morning.
While checking the fish trap, I damn near jumped out of my skin.
"Lobster?! Hey!!! What kinda seafood joint is this?!!!!"
Caught plenty of fish before, but a lobster? No way...
Grinning like an idiot, I got my breakfast going.
Kicking off the day hearty with steamed lobster!
"This yield's real?! Packed solid, no empty spots!!!
I begin dipping that pale, firm claw meat into the creamy guts for a bite.
"H-Hey...!"
A flavor that defies words...!
Yeah! This is the romance I dreamed of!!
Whilst feasting like that.
Grumble rumble grrr- rumble! Rumble-!!
Rena's gut fired up like a backhoe on cue.
She'd just woken up, staring at me with bleary eyes.
Rena still hadn't declared herself a sow.
Her rations? Tree fruits and sweet potatoes from the crates. That's it.
She couldn't even start a fire solo, so she's stuck gnawing raw sweet potatoes.
A few days back, she started mimicking my house-building, but hers came out all crooked and sad.
Well, duh.
I'd studied pro vids; she just winged it.
Her whole setup was bleak as hell.
Me? Living like a king in a five-star resort.
The bigger issue was Hecate.
"Seed of darkness.... My ink fades.... Fetch the jewel of moon and shadow..."
Her vitality was dipping.
"Got it. I'll snag something today for sure..."
She grabbed her junky stone knife after wolfing a raw sweet potato breakfast.
Stone knife my ass – that's a chipped flint tool.
Doubt it could hack a proper branch.
Rena looked set to bolt for the woods, but she dicked around instead.
I Figured out why once I finished eating.
Rena shuffled up to me.
"Ki-Kim Taeyang..."
"Hah? What? Beef at breakfast?"
"Not that... that thing. You tossing it?"
Rena pointed at the picked-over lobster shells.
No shot – she's gonna lick my scraps?
Didn't peg her for crashing this hard, and this fast even...
She should've just gone sow and I'd my split meals!
"Hey. Scavenging trash? No human dignity left?"
"...Whiskers and spindly legs got meat. You're dumping it anyway – how about I take?"
Hunting scraps, huh?
I skipped 'em cause picking's a chore...
"Sneaking scraps again, you freeloading pussy?! Pay up proper and buy them!!!
"Then... one sweet potato."
"Are you joking? Conscienceless bitch strikes – and only one tuber?!"
"Two...?"
"Your whole stash!"
"That's robbery!"
Hmm. Even I knew that was steep.
Settled on three spuds. Then our deal's done.
Swapping garbage for taters? Pretty sweet gig.
Steamed sweet potatoes! Fuck yeah, delicious!!
Rena's too shy to chow in front of me, ducked into her dump of a hut for the lobster.
Heard a "Whoa...!" or some such – probably blown away by the taste.
Then, moments later.
Whoosh!
A gust outta nowhere,
Crash-!
Rena's hut became pancakes.
"Hey! Bandit sow! You good...?"
Her arm pops from the rubble! Her shaking hand was clutching a lobster whisker.
"Wind... cursed..."
She got some grit on her...
Good thing there's no major damage.
Alrighty.
Time to gear up for today's event?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Kim Taeyang snagged another artifact...? Dude pulls three, four crates daily..."
Rena's scouting the woods, business as usual.
Hecate, jammed in her shirt pocket, yapping nonstop.
"His eyes tell it all. A black sun blazing, fierce dark flames roaring..."
Nonstop Kim Taeyang hype.
Its stressful enough for Rena already, but Hecate doubled down.
"My seed. Crates found so far?"
"...One."
"Tch. Prime incompetent sow."
'Openly comparing now...! Why do I get this shit......?!'
Rena seethed, but kept it locked down.
"Today, I'll bag more than him. Trust me."
"How about declaring you're just a sow already...?"
"No dice. That jerk tormented me bad! Kid days style – toy with me, then steal you too, my Constellation...!"
"Hmm... Seed of darkness vibes, sure, but he's not that scummy...?"
"You don't know the real him, Hecate-nim!"
Rena pocketed the pen.
No more constellation chatter.
.
.
.
"Found it...!"
The sunset was nearing, Rena nabbed her one crate.
"Hecate-nim! Check this! Food and mana stone!!"
A crumbly cake slice, and a pinky-nail mana stone.
Still, Hecate was meh about this.
"My seed. Snag and scram. Bad vibes since a while ago..."
"Hold on. Mana's top-up right...?"
Pang-!
An arrow slams into the crate outta nowhere.
The cake and stone became buried in mud.
'No! My cake...!'
Rena revered Hecate.
Her stigma giver – naturaly.
But her instincts won her over.
Crate tip? Her eyes were glued to the cake. The stone? Already lost.
"Seed...! Grab the stone, bolt...!"
"W-Wait! The stone where...?"
Swoosh!
An arrow nicks her arm.
Her uniform rips, and blood trickles.
'What?! This was an uninhabited island, right?!'
She dives behind tree.
Finding where the arrow source is pinned.
'12 o'clock. Fletchless primitive woodies. Goblin? Kobold?'
Wrong call.
Their Bush hunters: mystery frogman.
A mutant breed.
'Mutants of all things...!'
Unlike standard mobs, mutants are unique.
They follow no playbook – improv their fights. A big pain.
Worse: Rena is armed with only a chipped rock.
No hero skills, no stigma. Running is her best bet.
So Rena bolts.
Sadly, this is a boot-sucking swamp.
"Seed! Faster! Get to cover! Real death incoming...!!"
"Guh...! I'm putting my max effort...!!"
Rena's no frontliner.
She's a backline support type.
"Told ya – declare you're a sow, then there's no mess!!!"
"Said no!"
"With Taeyang's physique? Smashes them easy...! Work out more?!!"
"Not helping...!"
Swoosh!
The arrow barrage is nonstop.
Are they closing in? The last arrow grazed her hair.
'Grass patches...!'
A tall grass haven.
An arrow dodge zone.
The moment Rena lunges in.
The grass splits first. A new player.
'Shit...!'
Should she commit or bust?
Gripping the chipped rock, her arm arcs for the heart.
Thud!
"Uh...?!"
Her slender arm was snagged easily.
Luck: it was not a beast.
"Yo yo. you're a cannibal?"
"Ki-Kim Taeyang...?"
The muscle god, Kim Taeyang.
"Heads up! Mutant arrows...!"
Thwack!
Dull thump ears.
Rena squeezes eyes, clings.
"Quit sniveling, stone age sow. Unlike your flint bullshit, I'm geared."
'Sh-Shield...?'
A wood shield on one arm. He looks wild.
He shoves Rena aside, and stomps to the mutant.
"Yo. Frog dude. Looking pretty edible."
Ribbit-?
The frog puffs their cheeks, and notches an arrow.
Thud!
But the shield ate it.
Taeyang advances towards them.
But the frog zips back faster, loosing shots along the way.
'Nope! His mobility's crushed!'
Rena chews her lip.
Melee vs range.
and the swamp kills movement.
It would be a Taeyang pinata city.
It's her cue to draw aggro.
"Kim Taeyang! I'll distract-"
"Yame ro───────────────────!!!!!!!"
But Taeyang noped.
"Wh-Why?"
"Don't meddle and bleed. Just park it, useless sow."
"Ugh..."
Thud! Thwack...!
Taeyang tanks the arrows.
His shield became a pincushion city.
Suddenly he drops the shield.
"Yo. Outta juice?"
"?"
Rena clocks it.
The frog quiver is now empty.
'He counted the shots...?'
The key to fighting mutants: read their traits.
Such a tough gig.
Rena fled in a panic – so she didn't count.
She was blinded by the fear of death.
'This mental gap...'
This just proves Taeyang is nuts.
He always glows up in times of crises.
Swish-
The real brawl starts now.
The frog unsheathes a back spear.
Stone tipped.
Long as hell.
The range surpasses Taeyang.
His play?
Drop.
Shield, and knife ditched.
"Kim Taeyang? WTF? Grab your gear! Don't be a hero!"
"Yo! Zip it!!"
"Tank with your shield, scout their patterns! Gap = closed!"
Rena was experienced.
Her strat was good, but not tops.
So Taeyang ghosted her advice.
Warning for round two?
"Seed. Hush."
"Hecate-nim...?"
"See dark wanderer's gaze? Black sun inferno.... Plan locked..."
Rena soon brainstorms his plan.
Bareknuckle? Nada.
'Then what's his play?!'
She could only watch and pray.
"Come...!"
Ribbit-!
The frog's hindleg launches.
Taeyang crouches, arms wide.
The stone spear guts him.
Crunch...!
'Was he gored...?'
It didn't pierce him, but got smacked instead.
His hands snagged the shaft, block it half-assed.
Then the tide turns.
"This your pathetic pussy power? My abs laugh!!!!"
Ribbit?
Taeyang yanks.
His beast strength drags the frog helplessly.
"Gimme!!! This spear's mine now!!!!"
Ribbit! Ribbit!
"Hey hey!!!! Your wimp grip's no match for this spear!!!!!"
Taeyang snatches the spear.
Pierced the belly until it leak, nonfatal.
"Hrng! Choke on death!! Your fave weapon guts ya!!!!"
The disarmed frog? Now just fodder.
The tongue lash? Pretty meh.
Screeeee-!
It keels with a freak yell.
Rena was awestruck.
'He tanked a spear to the gut.... Nah, maybe it had a dull tip? Still, by a monster's crushing power...?'
If it was Rena? That spear grab would fail.
Grabbing it? Her strength is low, she'd be frog chow.
Soon the dawn breaks.
'Men are different species from women...'
Male muscles.
Untouchable.
'Male frames can crush females.'
Taeyang wins in unthinkable ways.
It was not her weakness.
IIt was not her slacking.
'He's just a prime male. I'm a dud female.'
Their genes, govern their birth roles.
Females can't top alpha males.
'Fate set at when we spawn...'
An enlightenment beam hits Rena.
Females following superior males is the law of nature...!
After the battle is done, Taeyang grabs the spear, and eyes the frog corpse.
"Tch. Slimy trash – not good to eat."
He became bored, and so he dips.
How's Rena? She's now swooning over his pumped gains.
"Hey! Caveman sow!"
"Y-Yes!"
"Move! The sun's down!"
"Roger...!"
"Hah? No thanks? Bandit sow scum!!"
"Th-Thanks! For real! You'd saved me big time...!"
Her speech softens on instinct.
Power rules in nature.
She trails his broad back.
A trek back to camp.
Rena selfies herself nonstop on her dead phone screen.
This was just a beauty check.
'Female survival? Just stay cute.'
Her new duty has dawned. To become a true female.