Chapter 105
Chapter 105
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Survival (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The moment I arrived on the island, I put on the magical bracelet and felt my body turn invisible.
If I had to describe the feeling, my vision brightened slightly, and when I looked down, I couldn't see my own body.
In anime and stuff, you can usually see your own body, but in reality, true invisibility should be just like this—not even being able to see yourself.
"Oh. Nice."
The power of invisibility, said to hold every man's dream.
A supernatural phenomenon that would have been impossible on Earth was made possible here just by wearing a single bracelet.
Of course, as Lucia mentioned, the magical artifact itself was cheap, so it had several problems.
The first was…
"Luke."
"Mr. Luke."
"What, I can't see you guys either?"
…that the allies you were supposed to travel with were also invisible.
Well… it would be strange if only allies were visible, but in a world where invisibility is possible, couldn't they have added a feature to let teammates see each other?
I guess this is also because it's a cheap model.
"Still, I can roughly tell where you and Luna are."
"The same goes for me."
"Is there even a point to being invisible…?"
The second problem.
Just as Lucia had warned, it couldn't erase one's presence or sound, so even without speaking, I could generally tell where Luna and Yui were.
If you can tell where someone is even when they're invisible, what's the point? It's just a trick of the eye.
By that logic, shining a flashlight in someone's eyes and calling it a Solar Flare to blind them, or stabbing them in the eyes to make them blind so they can't see me, would also count as invisibility.
In any case, despite these issues, as long as we didn't get too close to anyone, there was little risk of being discovered.
It didn't block body odor either, so someone with a keen sense of smell might be able to detect us from a medium distance.
'It's not like people are dogs, how could they detect someone by smell?'
Ah, but a beastkin like Luna or a monster could probably do it.
"Let's wander around for a bit."
"Where to?"
"Anywhere."
There was nothing to do just standing around. We came all this way to a place teeming with monsters; we might as well see what kinds there were.
Even after spending several months here, monsters were still unfamiliar creatures to me.
So, we just wandered aimlessly through the island. Going to the river would have been fine, but we entered the forest instead.
I’d hunted so much in forests that they now felt as comfortable as my own living room.
"Wonder if there's anything fun around here~"
"Isn't it wrong to look for fun in a forest…?"
"What are you talking about, Luna? This island is the perfect stage where anything can happen."
"Does that 'event' you mentioned happen on a random day?"
"No, that's on the last day of the survival exercise."
Of course, my information might be meaningless now. The schedule had been moved up so much.
Still, it wasn't completely useless information, so it was good to know.
"Even without a special event, this island is overflowing with monsters and students, you know?"
Even without the Blood Moon event, this deserted island we stood on was a place where anything could happen.
"Weren't we supposed to not interfere with the students unless necessary…?"
"It's fine as long as we don't get caught."
As we chatted and walked, we happened to spot Liche. She was displaying the fine art of burning only the goblins' heads to kill them.
"Mm. Now that's proper hunting."
"…It just looks like your personality has rubbed off on her."
"Liche wasn't like that when she first started hunting…"
She used a small flame to conserve mana and minimized her movements to conserve stamina. If that wasn't proper hunting, what was?
Frantically spamming magic and wasting mana, and needlessly running around wasting stamina?
"But it's boring."
I'd seen a lot of Liche recently, and with four days left until the event, there was no need to follow her.
"Let's go somewhere else."
I turned to leave.
"Oh! Liche!"
An unpleasant voice came from behind me.
It was a voice I'd heard so many times I was sick of it. I knew who it was without even turning to look.
"Is that Toilet?"
"Yes. He just joined up with Liche."
Toilet is here, and I happen to be invisible?
This, I couldn't resist.
"Let's follow them."
And so, we followed behind Toilet and Liche, keeping a slight distance.
Listening to Toilet's nonsense the whole way was starting to piss me off.
I was bored anyway, so I quietly tiptoed over and tripped Arthur.
He stopped mid-sentence and fell over comically.
"Geh heh heh."
"Luke…?"
"Mr. Luke…?"
"Come on, I held back for a long time, didn't I?"
I’d endured that sickeningly goofy smile of his for two hours. That was plenty of patience.
That Toilet bastard probably thought that since Liche was accompanying him, this was his chance to raise her affection for him, but from my perspective, I think Liche has other reasons.
If she were accompanying Arthur because she liked him, she wouldn't be staring at the ground the whole time, letting his words go in one ear and out the other.
Normally, getting close would get us caught, but that idiot Toilet was focusing all his attention on Liche, and Liche seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, so they didn't notice us even when we were right in front of them.
So I kept tripping him. I was curious to see when he'd notice.
But that idiot fell four times and still couldn't figure out what was happening to him.
I got bored of just tripping him, and I was sick of seeing his goofy smile every time he looked at Liche, even after falling so many times.
"Guek! D-damn it, who was that! If you hit my head, it has to be a person!"
I gave him a really solid flick on the head.
Of course it was a person, what did he think it was, a ghost?
"So satisfying!"
I don't know why a person would make a sound like a stuck pig, but it had been a while since I'd heard it.
He used to make that sound every time I hit him.
It’s just as satisfying as I remember.
After getting hit once, Arthur clutched the spot and started swinging his sword around wildly.
As I continued to torment only Arthur…
At some point, Liche seemed to have noticed us, as she was staring directly in our direction.
But the fact that she was just watching from behind as I kept hitting Arthur meant she had no intention of helping him.
And so.
"Falcon Punch!"
"Gueeeeeek!!!!"
***
It was the third day of the survival exercise.
On the second day, Toilet and Liche met up with Tia and Stella, forming a party of four.
They had made a cave near the river their hideout, setting up a simple trap of strings and bells in front of it. It was so they could react immediately if an intruder tried to enter while they were sleeping.
Not only that, but they also pitched a tent inside and took turns standing guard.
So what were we doing?
Sleeping, of course.
The professors were also provided with tents, but…
"Mr. Luke… I don't think I can use a tent anymore…"
"That's why I came prepared! Come forth, bed!"
"Wow!"
I took a bed out of my King-ventory.
I had packed it before leaving my dorm on the day of the survival event.
Honestly, survival exercises always meant camping, and just like Yui, I couldn't bring myself to use a tent anymore.
Anyway, after getting the best sleep even outdoors, we followed Tia and Liche as they went to secure food in the morning.
Arthur and Stella had gone to the river to get water.
Liche and Tia seemed to be planning on picking nearby berries or hunting some wild animals.
Unfortunately for them, there was nothing.
Why? Because the monsters ate everything. Monsters have to eat to live, too.
In that case, there was only one way for the students to get food during the survival exercise.
Hunting.
They were meant to hunt and eat monsters.
And just in time, a delicious-looking monster appeared before Liche and Tia.
"Kieeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
At a glance, it looked like a chicken, but its size was reminiscent of a small building. The monster's name was…
"A Cockatrice. It's a monster that shoots a petrification beam from its eyes, but because the method to counter it is so easy and common, it didn't make it to A-rank."
"So is that a B-rank monster?"
"That's what's written on the monster list we received. Luke, I think we should take care of that monster. What will you do?"
"If I don't get some chicken soon, I'm gonna die!!!"
"L-Luke?!"
I rushed past Liche and Tia, who were preparing their magic, and headed straight for the Cockatrice.
Ch-chicken, right in front of my eyes!
There is hope and dreams in this world after all!!
A person needs to eat chicken at least once a month.
Otherwise, you get withdrawal symptoms.
It's been so long since I've had chicken after coming here that now, anything that even remotely resembles a chicken just makes me think of fried chicken.
The first to react to my charge wasn't Liche or Tia, but the Cockatrice.
Even though I was invisible, I guess they can still detect you if you run at them this blatantly.
"Luke! You can reflect the petrification beam with a mirror!"
"What kind of bullshit is that! It'll turn to stone!"
It was obvious what would happen if I reflected the petrification beam.
How am I supposed to eat it if it's petrified! I want to eat a soft chicken leg, not a rock!!
The Cockatrice fired its petrification beam at me as I charged.
Normally, the standard strategy would be to reflect the beam with a mirror, but I didn't need one.
A petrification beam is usually a curse.
Even if it's not, it falls under status effects.
But as it happens, status effects don't work on me.
I felt my body stiffen a little, but I just pushed through with sheer force.
Seeing me run straight through its petrification beam, the Cockatrice seemed flustered and took a step back.
I latched onto the Cockatrice's leg and took a bite.
"I got a bite!"
It wasn't dead, and having its flesh torn out while still alive, the Cockatrice thrashed about, trying to shake me off.
But from my perspective, having just taken a bite…
"If I don't eat that, I'll die!"
That thing's leg was incredibly tender.
It wasn't fried or grilled, yet it was so soft and didn't have any gamey smell. It seemed like it would become a delicious chicken if cooked.
If I let this get away or let Toilet have it, I think I might turn into a chicken myself.
"Luna! Does this thing lay eggs?!"
"If it did, we would have seen them already, wouldn't we?!"
Tch. It doesn't lay eggs? I was going to turn it into an egg factory.
"Blame your own pathetic body for not laying eggs."
*Slice.*
Leaping high into the air, I took a sword out of my inventory and separated the Cockatrice's head from its body.
I'd have to cut it up to fry it anyway.
*Thud.* After confirming that its massive body had collapsed, I put the sword back in my inventory.
When I turned around, my invisibility seemed to have worn off, as Liche and Tia were staring at me with dazed expressions.
"What are you looking at."
I hurriedly stuffed the Cockatrice's corpse into my inventory, put the bracelet back on, and fled.
"Yui! Tonight, we feast!"
"Really?!"
"Yeah! I'll make you a dish you've never tasted before!"
Food so delicious it'll make your clothes explode and send you into a state of bliss.