[Author’s Note] The votes and recommendations are about to surpass a thousand! I’m overcome with emotion. Tears… 44th comment
15. Stalker043 – Stalker #1
My proud white fur got soaked and stuck to my skin. Ugh, it felt like I was wearing an old, smelly raincoat!
If someone spotted me from afar, I would look like a pitiful, drenched dog.
But the Western Forest was eerily silent, devoid of any signs of life.
Only the sound of rain and an occasional whisper of wind making the branches dance broke the stillness.
Every time I heard a rustle, I’d whip my head around, expecting a presence, only to be greeted by nothing but the waiting bushes.
After several trial-and-error attempts, I’d become so desensitized to tension and fear that even the slightest sound didn’t faze me anymore.
“The wild on a rainy day, huh? I’ve really lost my fear—wandering around in such a gloomy place.”
I didn’t count the days, so I couldn’t remember exactly, but it had been about two weeks since I became an animal in this world.
Compared to that first day when I’d trembled in fear and fled up a tree from nameless beasts, I was practically a valiant warrior now.
At first, the thought of killing and eating animals was tough, but with repeated experience, I found myself getting more numb and even confident.
“Humans really do adapt to their circumstances, don’t they?”
I was somewhat surprised by my own soft, flexible mindset.
Who would’ve thought I had such a nuanced and productive mentality?
If I could go back to my human days with this brain of mine, I honestly feel like there’d be nothing I couldn’t do.
Compared to the struggles I faced growling and baring my fangs at beasts, everything else seemed like child’s play.
“Of course, that’s all hypothetical, if I could actually go back.”
Grouuuu, my stomach growled again.
Afraid I’d get even hungrier, I decided to shove those complex thoughts aside.
First things first, I needed to find some food!
“Wasn’t it called Wu Jung-hwa? Is that a Chinese character? Sounds oddly tough and complicated.”
Suddenly, I was curious about whether there were any naming rules or languages in this world.
“Language…”
I couldn’t figure out why I was able to have conversations with animals, like Leaf and Eve.
Were they speaking Korean, or was there some kind of magical language at play here?
“I’d been chatting away without giving it much thought until now.”
As I recalled my conversations with Leaf, it seemed most animals didn’t understand human speech.
But I was just absorbing their talks as if it was the most normal thing ever.
Of course, it felt like my language wasn’t registering on their end.
“Looks like we’re not all speaking the same language. What on earth is going on?”
Every time I thought I was getting a grip on things, this world would tease me, slipping further away and seeming to stick out its tongue at me.
“Well, whatever. The language or whatever doesn’t matter much right now.”
I needed to prioritize some stuff.
When it comes to surviving on a deserted island, the most important thing is objectively identifying and dealing with what needs to be done first.
Wandering around would just burn unnecessary calories.
I envisioned a chalkboard in my head and prominently wrote the word “SURVIVAL” on it.
Since it was my life, ensuring my survival was obviously the top priority.
“Then the second item has to be the Fruit of the World Tree, right?”
An ultimate fruit that grants overflowing power to whoever possesses it—sounds like something out of a story or myth!
Of course, I had no idea what it looked like, how it tasted, or what exactly its effects were. Not a clue!
But ever since I heard about the fruit from Eve, something heavy had settled in my heart.
It felt like some essence within me, like DNA or cells, was urging me to grab that fruit.
I could call it an instinctual pull or the fever of first love.
“Okay, so the second goal is the World Tree fruit, and what about the third?”
I sank into deep thought.
After that, the only things that popped into my head were metaphysical concepts like self-actualization or happiness, which you’d typically hear in an ethics class.
“Let’s just stick with these two for now.”
I had no clue how long I’d be living like this, but I’d probably have plenty of time to think and imagine.
Believing I had extinguished the most pressing fire, I blanked my mind like draining a bathtub.
Water droplets dripped from my drenched fur.
“More importantly, which way to a lake or stream? Did I rush out without a plan? No other animals in sight either.”
While the dark clouds made everything gloomy, it was still bright enough to see things.
That probably meant the sun was lurking behind those thick black clouds.
“This is daytime, so at least a Wildling or, at the very least, a horned rabbit should be visible.”
But with not a single living creature in sight, the forest felt like it was frozen apart from the falling rain.
I felt more like I had rented the vast space all to myself.
“Where did everyone go?”
I looked around, but with water pooling up to my ankles, the ground was mushy, and my feet were sinking in.
If the water kept rising, it’d probably turn into a mangrove swamp!
“They said there wouldn’t be floods, but given this situation, I’m not sure I can trust that anymore.”
Just then, I felt a sharp sting as something pierced my ankle.
Thinking it might be a thorn I hadn’t seen, I lifted my foot, only to find something wriggling on my back leg’s ankle.
“Ouch! What the heck are you?”
I instinctively asked for its identity.
But this time, there was no reply.
It turned out that what bit my ankle was a colorful scaled fish.
About the size of my palm, it had a flamboyant appearance that looked like a cross between a piranha and a tropical fish.
“What kind of forest has fish on the ground? Did the rain cause rivers or streams to overflow?”
I grabbed it and yanked it off me.
It flopped wildly in my forepaw, showing off surprising strength for such a little thing.
I almost dropped it, but I held on tightly to its body.
“Fishhh!”
It gasped while opening and closing its mouth.
With its spiky teeth, it looked terrifying even to my toughened sense of feel.
“No way! Ugly fish are said to taste better, right?”
Where’d I even hear that? But comparing it to an anglerfish made it sound pretty reasonable.
And with my belly rumbling like it was glued to my spine, I couldn’t just let the fish go, so I decided to chomp down on it.
Flop! Flop! The fish thrashed harder in my grasp.
But there was no way I was letting it go.
The flesh of the one I bit into was surprisingly tasty.
“Gurrrr…!”
Was that its final gasp or a desperate breath? I couldn’t tell.
With my mouth still on it, I used my foreclaw to scrape off its scales.
“You should’ve been prepared to get bitten if you were gonna bite me first!”
I thought I had a rather solemn expression as I chewed on its body.
Sure, the long, sharp bones poked my mouth occasionally, but it wasn’t enough to bother me.
Before I knew it, I had devoured the palm-sized fish.
All that was left were its head and fins, and it no longer twitched or gasped.
“Wow, that fish was great! Is there more?”
I glanced around my feet.
“Nothing in sight.”
The muddy water mixed with rain was so murky that I could barely see my own feet.
In such conditions, spotting a fish by sight seemed impossible.
I flailed around in the water, trying to fish for another piranha-like meal.
But no matter how long I waited, there was no fish biting my body again.
That first fish must’ve been some kind of miracle from the heavens.
“I really wish I had a proper fishing rod.”
Having tasted the fish, I promised myself I’d get Leaf to make me one later.
As I splashed my way forward, the trees overhead shook violently, dropping leaves all around me.
“Are you trying to catch fish?”
“Ah! You scared me!”
I jumped at the sudden voice, nearly falling and soaking myself in mud.
Looking up, I saw a pair of blue eyes staring back at me.
It was hidden behind leaves and branches, but it was far too big to be completely concealed.
If I had to compare sizes, it was similar to the three-eyed wolves I’d encountered.
It was hunkered down, but if it stretched out, it could probably be even larger.
I couldn’t tell if it was a cat or a tiger; its appearance was indecipherable.
If I had to categorize it, I’d call it an oversized cat with the adorableness of a kitten but the eerie aspect of a tiger with its mouth oddly stretched open, revealing rows of shark-like teeth.
“Trying to catch fish?”
Its mouth stretched wide, revealing countless sharp teeth.
“W-Who are you?”
Leaf had said that mammals wandering around on rainy days were usually rare, due to the so-called “Stalker” monsters lurking about.
“Are you a Stalker?”
“Well… you could say that.”
It replied nonchalantly, its thin voice sounding like a mix between a boy and a girl.
“They say it’s better to use your tail than your paws when catching fish. Like this!”
It grinned wide and lowered its long tail from its behind until it reached the muddy ground.
That tail was several meters long—a rather impressive sight! It reminded me of a sturdy rope.
“Watch how it’s done!”
The end of its tail dipped into the muddy water.
“What’s it up to?”
I was on high alert, assuming it was a foe.
But it paid me no mind, merely waving its tail around.
Weirdly enough, I didn’t feel any malice or animosity from this suddenly appeared creature.
“Ah, here we go.”
Suddenly, it splashed vigorously, yanking its tail out of the water, revealing a thrashing piranha at the end.
“This is how you do it.”
Without a care in the world, it tossed the fish up into the air and swallowed it whole.
Crunch, crunch! The grotesque sound of bones and scales getting crushed echoed starkly.
“How did it do that? Did it have bait on its tail?”
It was an uncanny sight that could only be described as either a trick or a masterful feat.
I glanced disbelievingly at my own plump tail that resembled a rabbit’s.
“I don’t have a tail.”
“Oh, right.”
Its deep blue body blended in with the leaves and branches, almost camouflaging itself.
It looked like a chameleon using pigments to disguise itself.
I could hardly see anything but its blue eyes and wide mouth filled with teeth, yet before I knew it, it was right in front of me.
Up close, it appeared even bigger than I expected.
If we excluded its tail length, it must have been around three to four meters long!
It circled around me, sniffing curiously.
“What a curious creature! You’re a four-legged beast without a tail and have spikes growing on your back. Is that a hedgehog?”
It stuck out its tongue and licked my body, which sent chills down my spine.
“What are you doing?”
“It tastes like muddy dirt from your fur. You came from the South! What brings you to the West?”
It rubbed its back against me like a cat marking its territory.
If it were a small cat, it’d be cute, but with such a large predator, it felt more like it was marking me as its meal, which made me uneasy.
“You’re not a Stalker after all.”
In response to my question, it gradually melted into the background, disappearing seamlessly.
With the rustling noise, I looked up to see it perched back on a branch I wasn’t even aware it had climbed.
“Right, I’m not a Stalker. I’m Lao-Hoo. Who are you? Do you have a name?”
“Ah.”
The name Lao-Hoo triggered a flood of associations in my mind.
The first thing that popped up was the taste of a grilled magpie.
