Five Days on the Deserted Island
A secret research facility on some distant planet.
"Gyaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaah!!"
"Stop! Stop it! Sto—!"
Splat!
An alien man screamed as his body began to swell and bloat in places. A man who looked like a researcher barked the abort order in a panic, but the subject's body was already bursting faster than any command could save him.
From the inside out, driven by some tremendous force, flesh mixed with blood and bone exploded in every direction. In an instant, a living person was gone.
"Test subject fifty-nine, deceased."
"Kgh! Why? Why the hell can't we use it!?"
Scientists in matching lab coats clutched their heads, unable to figure out what was going wrong.
"Haa. Still haven't given up, I see."
A man stepped into the room where the scientists were working.
It was Belion Kunlo—Jincheon's first disciple, and the first bond Jincheon had formed upon arriving in this world.
"I've told you before. This power cannot be transferred to others, nor can it be learned."
"If our Holy Kingdom could make use of that power of yours, how many—!"
One of the scientists bristled at Kunlo's words, but Kunlo cut him off mid-sentence.
"I would like to teach it as well. If my brothers grew stronger, that would be good for me—and good for our Holy Kingdom. But there is only one person in this entire universe who can teach it completely: Master Jincheon."
"The meridians! If we could just learn the secret formula for those meridians! Can't you remember a little more?"
"Master never told me. What meridians truly are, or what standard they are measured by."
Even Kunlo, who possessed only the incomplete knowledge Jincheon had given him, could not fully grasp what meridians meant.
"We can manage to create an artificial dantian, but the moment anyone tries to use the power, their limbs are ruined at best—and at worst, their body bursts apart just like that."
"Of course. Master said that to use Inner Qi, one must first circulate energy through the meridians."
"Then what in the world are meridians!?"
The scientists here belonged to the Bocondri Holy Kingdom.
They had grown curious about why Kunlo possessed abilities so far beyond the other executioners, and through that curiosity they had discovered the existence of martial arts and Inner Qi.
Amazingly, the scientists had succeeded in creating refined energy, artificial Inner Qi, and even an artificial dantian to contain it.
If they could only make it usable, every soldier of the Holy Kingdom could become a superhuman warrior without expensive bio-augmentation.
But scientists with no knowledge of martial arts soon hit a wall.
The problem lay in the flow of energy—the circulation and pathways required to actually use martial arts.
It was only natural.
In the first place, the reason Murim sects were so conservative was not only pride in their own martial arts. A single tiny flaw introduced while modifying a technique could turn a healthy man into a cripple in an instant.
Having watched countless promising talents—the future of their sects—become cripples or die while attempting to "improve" martial arts, the people of Murim had no choice but to take a conservative stance.
But these scientists knew only Kunlo's martial arts. When they tried to force the same energy flow Kunlo used onto others, every test subject either died or was left permanently maimed.
And the meridians, in particular, were driving them to despair.
It was knowledge used only on Earth—and even there it was a completely obsolete term from traditional medicine. There was nothing left to research.
"Stop wasting good talent. Finding Master would be several times faster."
With that, Kunlo crushed the scientists' morale and walked out.
Master taught me martial arts in a crash course. If I'd known I'd regret it this much, I should have begged him to teach me properly.
But there was no need to dwell on regret.
As he had thought before, the more time passed, the farther Master's name would resound.
Still… considering Master's abilities, isn't this a little late?
Once he truly stepped out into the cosmos, his name should have spread across dozens of star systems in no time. The fact that he was still unknown was strange.
Kunlo tilted his head, then decided there must be circumstances he simply didn't know about. He believed without a shred of doubt that the day would come when that name was known everywhere.
It was only a question of sooner or later. The outcome itself was inevitable.
Splash!
"Pwah! Got one~~!!"
Beatrix dove into the sea, thrusting a wooden spear, then lifted it high and cheered at the fish she had caught.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm~"
Humming to herself, she climbed back onto the shore and dropped the fish into a net bag woven from tough grass.
"Finally caught one, huh? Of all the bio-augmentations you've gotten, looks like the reflex ones got left out."
"This is plenty fast, thank you!"
Beatrix brushed off Jincheon's jab without missing a beat, smiling with newfound confidence.
"Weird-looking fish."
Jincheon, who only knew Earth's fish, examined the catch with open curiosity—blues, greens, and reds swirling together, a snout jutting sharply forward.
"Hold on a second. Eating nothing but fish gets boring."
There were already fish he had caught earlier in the bag. He took the one she had brought, laid it on a flat stone, and set to work.
Scrape— scrape—
With a sharpened stone axe he carved out portions of the flesh, cut them into chunks, and skewered them on prepared wooden sticks. He fixed the bait under a large rock and came back.
"What are you doing?"
"Things'll come for the fish meat. Mostly crayfish-type stuff."
"Crayfish?"
"What, you don't know crayfish?"
"Never heard of them."
"Huh. Maybe they call them something else in the Giranlek Empire."
Figuring it would be easier to just show her, Jincheon set the net bag into a shallow pool of water. Freshness dropped the moment you pulled something out of the water—he wanted to keep the catch as fresh as possible until the crayfish showed up.
The two of them rested somewhere out of the sun.
Everything I've ever eaten until now… someone else had to work this hard for it.
Fish, meat—whatever she asked for had simply appeared at mealtime. Catching fish with her own hands made her realize just how enormous the privileges she had taken for granted truly were.
For the record, the standard survival approach when stranded was not to keep moving nonstop. You moved only when you needed food, and conserved stamina the rest of the time.
But Jincheon needed a lot of calories to maintain his muscle, so he had to build net bags large enough to hold plenty of fish.
Of course he could go months without eating if he had to—but with food this abundant, there was no reason to starve.
"Heh."
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing. Just comparing day one on this island to now. Completely different character. Back then you were stomping your feet because we didn't have an emergency kit."
"Don't remember that!"
"Heh heh heh."
Day five of being stranded.
The two of them had grown close enough to trade jokes. Close enough that walking around in their underwear no longer made either of them flinch.
They killed time with idle chatter, and after a while their rest was over.
"Let's see how many we've got. Probably one ridiculously tough bastard hogging the whole thing."
Jincheon headed for the rock. Sure enough, a lobster-like crayfish was latched onto the fish meat.
Are all the crustaceans on this planet like this?
A luminous blue shell that looked as if it had been carved from gemstone. Jincheon approached quietly, then lunged and seized the creature by the body.
"Hell yeah—look at the size of this thing!"
"Jincheon? You're not seriously going to eat that, are you?"
"Obviously. Roast these and they're delicious."
"Ugh… no matter how you look at it, it looks like a bug…"
"You people don't eat these?"
"We do not!"
"For real?"
"For real!"
A fact he would learn much later: crayfish and crab dishes from Terra ranked in the galactic top ten most repulsive foods. The bug-like appearance alone triggered massive revulsion.
"Maybe they just don't taste good on this planet?"
Jincheon tilted his head and dropped the massive crayfish into a separate net bag from the fish. After catching a few more, he carried the now-heavy bags back to their shelter.
Beatrix, thoroughly schooled by Jincheon in all sorts of things by now, set to work skewering fish with practiced hands.
Jincheon snapped off the crayfish's oversized front claws, wrapped them in several layers of large leaves, then pulled heated stones from the big fire he had built and nestled the leaf-wrapped claws between them.
Meanwhile Beatrix arranged the skewered fish where the heat would cook the flesh properly. Next she poured a little water into a length of bamboo cut lengthwise, dropped in some shellfish, covered it with the other half of the bamboo, and set them to steam.
In five days her entire capacity for survival had transformed. In the spare moments she went back to finishing the bamboo plates she had started earlier.
Five days had been more than enough to map the island's ecosystem. Their castaway diary had, in the blink of an eye, changed genres into a free vacation.
"Jincheon, they're done."
"Looks like mine are ready too."
Once the meat was cooked through, Beatrix casually handed him a skewer.
"You eat first. I'll deal with these guys."
"Okay."
Beatrix set the grilled fish on a plate she had unfolded from bamboo and began pulling the flesh free with her fingers.
At first she had been shocked at the idea of eating with her hands. Jincheon had simply told her that if she didn't want to eat, she didn't have to—and made her nothing. After one day of starvation she had tasted the hollow, strength-draining emptiness of real hunger.
Her adaptability's something else.
Bio-augmentation had given her a strong body, but her mental resilience was just as impressive. Only two days ago she had been complaining that she couldn't eat without a knife and fork, that the fish was too bland—and now on day five she was casually tearing fish flesh with her fingers.
Honestly, Jincheon had expected it would take her far longer to adjust to island life. She herself had probably never imagined she could adapt this well.
Done.
Jincheon pulled the leaf-wrapped crayfish from between the hot stones. The blue shells had turned a deep red—the same heat reaction as on Terra. That sameness was a relief. If the reaction was the same, the taste might be close as well.
Crack!
He smashed the giant claw with a stone, peeled back the shell, and took a big bite of the meat inside.
"Mm. Mmm-mm."
Mild, clean, with a pleasant natural saltiness. For something simply roasted with no seasoning at all, it was more than decent.
"One bite?"
"I'm fine. Not eating that."
"It's surprisingly good, you know. Try it, try it."
"Hic…!"
Jincheon held the crayfish out to her, but the idea of eating the flesh of something that looked so thoroughly like a bug was hard to stomach.
"Just one…"
Still, betting that her adaptability would handle at least a single bite, she accepted the claw. Near the white meat, something yellow with a brownish tint clung in sticky patches.
Beatrix carefully took a bite and started chewing with both eyes squeezed shut.
"Huh? Hmm?"
It wasn't as bad as she expected. No—it was a completely different flavor from fish.
This is the taste of that bug-looking thing?
A woman who had enjoyed countless fine meals could sense the boundless potential in that mild, slightly salty flesh. Depending on the seasoning, it could be a beggar's meal—or an emperor's banquet.
"Well? Not bad, right?"
"Mm-hmm!"
Beatrix answered while wolfing down the crayfish.
Jincheon, already starting to tire of the crayfish flavor, opened the bamboo steamer. The shellfish were bubbling and cooked through.
Slurp— suck—
He grabbed an open shell and sucked it down in one go, then settled in to enjoy the shellfish, crayfish, and fish together—a lavish feast for a deserted island.
"Haa~ I'm stuffed~"
Beatrix, full to the brim, ate fruit for dessert while rubbing her rounded belly. She was in her underwear, her stomach protruding without any filter—and she felt not the slightest embarrassment.
By the time they finished eating, the day was fading. With no clouds overhead, they could see the glittering flashes of what looked like combat out in space.
"Still fighting. Enemy resistance that stubborn?"
"Taking this long is not good news."
Jincheon would have liked nothing better than to launch straight into space that instant—but there was nothing urgent enough to rush for. He decided to enjoy this vacation at a leisurely pace.
"Once we've digested a bit, we go back to training. Get ready."
"Got it."
He set up a formation at the spot where she would sit cross-legged, and the basic practice of sensing Inner Qi began.
It went without saying that even with Jincheon's help, a complete beginner sensing Inner Qi was no easy task. He kept her focused on feeling the energy until late into the night, but once again she failed to sense it, and it was time to sleep.
"Haa… I couldn't feel it again today…"
"Like I told you before, this isn't something that happens just because you rush it. The time it takes is set by your own talent."
They killed time with small talk and odd jobs until their meal had settled, then went into the hut to sleep.
"Good night."
"Yeah. Good night."
Jincheon sprawled in the corner. Before long his breathing evened out. Beatrix watched him quietly.
The days were muggy, but once night fell it got a little cold. Looking at Jincheon, she found herself wanting to sleep feeling that hot male body heat she had experienced before.
Of course, no matter how close they had become, she told herself they couldn't just hold each other—and shook her head.
This scent… it makes me feel safe…
As Jincheon's body odor slowly filled the hut, Beatrix felt a sense of relief wash over her and began to grow drowsy.
I should take care of business before I sleep.
At the same time, she needed to use the toilet. She stepped out of the hut, lit a branch in place of a torch, and headed deeper inland.
Honestly, the thought of someone else smelling her urine was embarrassing, so she went quite far—but she had always come out this far, so she wasn't particularly worried.
Ssssshhh—
Beatrix found a suitable spot and began to relieve herself. When she finished and started to head back, she noticed something glittering in the darkness.
"…I thought I just saw something…"
Rustle!
"!!"
Then came the sound of something massive moving through the undergrowth.
Rustle! Rustle-rustle!
And it wasn't just one.
Danger!
Instead of screaming or running for Jincheon, Beatrix slowly backed away, trying to put even a little more distance between herself and whatever it was—trying to get back to the hut.
Rustle-rustle-rustle!
The sounds came from left and right.
They're surrounding me!
As the unknown things in the dark tried to cut off her retreat, Beatrix clenched her teeth, spun around, and sprinted toward the light.
"Jincheon! Jinch—aaah!"
She ran, calling his name with everything she had—and from behind, a black shape lunged.
Dark hide. Long, razor-sharp front fangs like a saber-tooth tiger. A beast that looked like a leopard and a lion fused into one.