Chapter 47

Lakeside (2)

I didn’t run into any dangerous animals while following the river downstream.

Normally, all kinds of animals would come to a river, but whether it was because the current was too strong or because of the Golden Poison Frogs, I didn’t see any.

That didn’t mean I encountered no animals at all, though.

Every now and then, I came across smaller creatures.

Title: This Is a Lizard, Right?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a fucking huge lizard)

What species even is this? The size is ridiculous.

Of course, it only counted as a small animal by Forest of Four Seasons standards.

The lizard bolted the moment it saw me.

I was glad it avoided a fight, but I was still curious, so I asked the gallery.

↳ Heavenly Demon: What an enormous lizard. Why not catch it and eat it?

↳ Wild Grylls: Not a bad idea, but it ran away.

↳ Heavenly Demon: Hmm. It must have instinctively sensed your strength and fled.

↳ Wild Grylls: I don’t think that’s it lol ;;

↳ Allfather: Judging by its appearance, it is an iguana. It seems to have grown much larger because it lives in the Forest of Four Seasons.

↳ Wild Grylls: Is it a herbivore?

↳ Allfather: Yes. It is herbivorous, so you do not need to be wary of it. Still, given its size, you should remain careful.

↳ Wild Grylls: What does it taste like?

↳ Allfather: Probably like ordinary meat.

Damn.

I should’ve caught it instead of taking a picture.

But no matter how quickly you regret something, regret always comes too late.

I put my disappointment behind me and continued walking.

Trickle, trickle—

As I followed the river downstream, the current gradually slowed.

The river also grew considerably wider, so this was probably somewhere near the lower reaches.

There were no sudden distortions in space or drastic changes in the surrounding environment along the way.

Bzzzzzzzz—

The real problem was the gigantic mosquitoes flying around.

At first, I wondered if my sense of perspective was off.

But when one threatened me with its sharp proboscis, I finally realized it was a monster.

Clang!

I barely managed to block it with my shield in my panic.

The Golden Shield had been dented by the Muscle Mushroom, but it was still plenty useful.

The instant I blocked the attack, I drew the sword hanging from the left side of my waist.

Slash!

Then I swung it at the mosquito, which was about the size of my head.

Given how huge it was, the mosquito was cleanly sliced in two.

Watching its severed body twitch on the ground left me dumbfounded.

‘Did I fall into some dark fantasy world?’

I shook my head.

It was probably better for my sanity to believe that this forest itself was just abnormal.

But there was one thing that worried me.

If mosquitoes were this huge...

What about bees?

How large would bees be when they formed enormous colonies?

Just imagining a swarm of bees the size of my head attacking me was horrifying.

‘Thank god there isn’t a beehive near the cave.’

Thinking that, I walked past the mosquito corpse.

A few steps later, I suddenly heard a rustling sound from behind me.

Rustle! Rustle!

Since I had no choice but to react sensitively even to the smallest noise, I spun around in alarm.

I didn’t forget to raise my shield as I turned.

Scurry!

The iguana I had seen earlier was running away with the mosquito corpse in its mouth.

I stared blankly at the creature disappearing at high speed.

This place was impossible to get used to.

‘There are probably things even weirder than that.’

Just how many more bizarre creatures would I end up seeing?

I could hardly wait.

I continued silently downstream.

This time, I kept my sword drawn so I could counterattack immediately.

I had no idea how long I continued following the river.

It felt like I had been walking for around an hour, but nothing particularly noteworthy appeared.

Splash!

The only thing that stood out was the fish.

Every now and then, an enormous fish would leap out of the water.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but they looked much bigger than the ones I had caught before.

Since this was downstream rather than the fast-flowing upper reaches, there were probably far more fish living here.

‘It wouldn’t be bad to install the fish trap here—’

SPLASH!

I had just started thinking that when something burst out of the lower reaches of the river.

It was a little too small to call a whale, but far too large to call an ordinary fish.

Its entire body was pitch black, and just looking at it gave off an intimidating pressure.

SPLASH!

Its enormous body plunged back into the river, sending a column of water spraying into the air.

I could only stare at the scene in a daze.

‘Do whales even live in rivers?’

The urge to turn around and go straight back to the cave rapidly grew.

I could probably deal with most beasts at this point, but there was absolutely no way I could take that thing down.

Still, I wanted to at least see where the river ended.

I couldn’t give up yet.

So I continued downstream in tense silence.

And when I finally reached the end—

“Ah, fuck.”

The words came from the very bottom of my heart.

It was less a curse and more an exhausted sigh caused by sheer disbelief.

“Is this the ocean or a lake?”

A vast lake stretched out at the end of the river.

Though calling it a lake felt a little strange.

Despite its incredible size, the water was extremely shallow.

The water was so clear that I could see the bottom perfectly.

‘It’s practically stamping “You’re not getting out” right on my forehead.’

I could feel my spirit slowly breaking.

I sighed and made a post on the gallery.

I was feeling gloomy, so I wanted to post something and see how people reacted.

Title: Found a Pretty Lake

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a vast lake)

I followed the river downstream and found a lake.

Pretty, right?

How the hell am I supposed to escape now? Hahahaha.

↳ Heavenly Demon: What beautiful scenery. It makes this lady wish to take out a small boat and recite a poem.

↳ Wild Grylls: Teacher?

↳ Heavenly Demon: Is there some problem?

↳ SwordMaster: Read the room. Do you think Grylls has the luxury of taking a boat out there?

↳ Heavenly Demon: Hmm. That is true. This lady apologizes. I must have been momentarily captivated by the beautiful scenery.

↳ Wild Grylls: No, it’s fine. I guess that can happen...

↳ It really is pretty though lol.

↳ I’m gonna paint this.

↳ There are a lot of rocks in the lake.

↳ Looks really shallow too.

↳ Hey, what’s that faint thing way over there? Looks fucking huge.

↳ Isn’t it just a rock?

↳ Grylls, it’s hot out. Take a refreshing dive lol.

↳ Wild Grylls: It’s too shallow. If I dive in, I’ll crack my head open ;;

↳ It’s a lake but it’s shallow? Is it even a lake?

↳ Wild Grylls: I don’t know either. It’s way too wide to call a pond, but too shallow to feel like a proper lake.

↳ Normally something like that would be a wetland.

↳ Wild Grylls: There are too many pebbles for it to be a swamp.

↳ Passing Dwarf: Are your shoes any good? If you’re going to cross that place, you’ll definitely need boots.

↳ Wild Grylls: That’s what I’m worried about. I’d ask you, but I feel like I’ve already asked you for too much, so I’m thinking of asking someone else.

↳ Passing Dwarf: Yeah. I’m not that confident when it comes to shoes either. I don’t know about my own kind, but there are plenty of humans better at making them than me.

↳ Wild Grylls: Guess I’ll need to get myself a pair of proper shoes later.

Come to think of it, while I’d been focused on getting clothes, I had completely neglected getting proper shoes.

For someone like me who had to walk long distances, footwear was extremely important.

I wanted to ask the dwarf, but like I’d said myself, I felt like I was relying on him too much, so I decided against it.

The dwarf had also advised me that when it came to shoes, I was better off asking someone else.

‘I thought I’d never wear combat boots again unless I was called up for reserve training.’

And now here I was, looking for combat boots.

Life really was unpredictable.

Still, more important than combat boots themselves right now was waterproofing.

If I wore soaked shoes for too long, I could get sick, and my feet would swell up from being waterlogged.

‘There’s no rubber in the auction house... Should I just put up with it for today?’

I debated whether to endure it for just one day or turn back right now.

Going back would have been perfectly reasonable, but something about it felt unsatisfying.

I hadn’t even reached a true dead end yet.

I couldn’t give up that quickly.

‘Yeah. If necessary, I can always build a boat. Let’s investigate a little more.’

If the water got even slightly deeper, I planned to turn back immediately.

I nodded to myself and moved around only where the water was as shallow as possible.

It felt like I was circling around the edge of the lake, but even this was yielding results.

‘If I keep going like this, I might actually get around the lake.’

It seemed possible to reach the opposite side without needing a boat at all.

Of course, there were puddles here and there, so there was no avoiding getting my shoes wet.

I continued forward while carefully watching my surroundings.

“Gururuk.”

“Guruk. Guruk.”

“Hm?”

I heard a strange sound.

It came from directly ahead.

When I looked, I saw several large rocks clustered together.

It didn’t take me long to realize they weren’t rocks at all.

‘Crabs? Why are there crabs here?’

They were crabs.

Crabs walking sideways.

And they were far bigger than lobsters.

Each one was roughly the size of my upper body.

The crabs twitched their stalk-like eyes and moved their claws around.

I cautiously approached.

Even when I got closer, they showed no sign of wariness and remained busy working their claws.

‘Fish?’

It was fish.

The crabs were eating fish carcasses.

I vaguely remembered hearing that crabs sometimes acted as scavengers.

But that still didn’t explain why there were fish corpses here in the first place.

‘The water’s so shallow that swimming should be difficult. Were they just unlucky?’

First, I should take a picture and figure out what species they were.

I photographed the crabs enjoying their meal and uploaded it to the gallery.

Title: Anyone Know What Species This Is?

(Photo of crabs happily eating)

I was walking around the lakeside and found these crabs eating.

They’re about the size of my torso.

Anyone know what species they are?

↳ Do crabs even live in lakes?

↳ Yeah. Those things are adaptation experts. As long as there’s water, they’ll live anywhere.

↳ I heard crab tastes amazing.

↳ They look ordinary enough. You could probably roast them and eat them.

↳ Allfather: They are edible Gophers Crabs. Normally, they are only about the size of a fist.

↳ Wild Grylls: No parasites or anything inside them?

↳ Allfather: There is nothing that cannot be killed by fire.

So as long as I didn’t eat them raw, I’d be fine.

Excellent.

I could take one of these things back with me on the way home.

‘Their shells shouldn’t be too hard, right?’

Just in case, I stabbed one with the Heavenly Demon’s sword.

Crunch!

With a satisfying sound, the blade pierced straight through its shell.

The crab, now skewered through the back, flailed its claws and legs.

The other crabs didn’t care whether one of their own was dying.

They remained completely focused on eating the fish.

‘As expected of the Heavenly Demon’s sword. I should never doubt it.’

I flicked the sword and shook the crab off.

The crab landed upside down and trembled for a while.

I felt a little sorry for it.

For about a moment.

“Gururuk.”

“Guruk. Guruk.”

More crabs slowly started approaching from elsewhere.

They were heading toward the crab whose shell I had pierced.

Curious about what they were doing, I stood still and watched.

Soon, the crabs surrounded their wounded companion and raised their enormous claws.

Crunch! Crunch!

They slammed their claws down onto the overturned crab.

Its shell shattered further with every strike.

Eventually, the crab even stopped trembling.

It was dead.

And the dead crab became a meal for its own kind.

“...”

Nature really was brutal.

I shook my head and kept moving.

Countless crabs inhabited the lakeside.

Almost all of them looked exactly the same.

Normally, a lake would support all sorts of life, so I couldn’t help finding this a little strange.

‘How did these crabs take over the entire lakeside?’

Their claws were powerful, sure, but ultimately, these things were weak creatures.

While pondering that question, I suddenly came face-to-face with a large boulder.

It was much bigger than I was.

A random boulder jutting up here felt a little strange, but I could simply go around it.

“Guruk.”

“Hm?”

Except the boulder made a strange noise.

The exact same sound the crabs had been making earlier.

Confused, I stared at the boulder.

Rumble—

With a faint vibration, several legs suddenly protruded from underneath it.

Then two gigantic claws emerged from either side.

The boulder had already been huge.

Now it looked even bigger than before.

So large that I had to tilt my head all the way back just to look at it.

“Guruk. Gururuk.”

Its stalk-like eyes stared directly at me.

I couldn’t help slowly backing away.

The boulder—

No.

The gigantic crab stared at me for a while before rapidly scuttling its legs.

Thankfully, it wasn’t coming toward me.

Instead, it turned its whole body around.

It seemed to have lost interest.

‘...Wait a second.’

Don’t crabs move sideways?

The moment that thought crossed my mind—

Whoosh!

A gigantic claw came crashing down toward my head.

As I said before, crabs were creatures that acted as scavengers.

BOOM!

“Ugh!”

In other words—

They were omnivores.