Chương 4

At some point, Ethan assumed that his body must have collapsed since his vision switched to the blue sky. Although he didn't lose his consciousness as he'd expected, his mind was nowhere clear. This time, he got the sedative in a high dose and close to his brain. Hoping there wouldn't be any lasting damage, he had distributed his new stats beforehand with the help of Ani and focused on Endurance for a chance to shorten his condition. Did it work? He didn't know.

When his lucidity returned, it was still early in the morning. It took about another half an hour for him to regain his mobility. The wounds on his shoulder were still fresh but nothing troublesome. Even the sharp pain in his ribs had been replaced with a dull ache. After checking himself out and doing some light stretches, he first dealt with the rat he'd killed, skinning it and hanging it from its tail to bleed it out. While he needed its fur, he really hoped that he'd find something better to eat.

After that, he cleaned the rat's skin by scrubbing it with dirt and used it to wrap up some wooden teeth, a bunch of vine parts, and broken jars from the shop with the stickiest substances inside. Getting his knives in his other hand, he left the shop. The purple bamboo forest started behind the temple, covered about a tenth of the city, and stretched even further.

It would be a short walk if he could travel straight ahead, but that path involved the heart of two giant monsters' territories, including the menacing lizard. So, Ethan took a little detour, making sure to explore some of the houses on his way. What struck him was how much this city resembled medieval Earth in its heyday, which was frankly ridiculous. The progress of technology or the trends of a society wasn't linear.

Even on Earth, there were countless times when humanity could have gone entirely different paths with a simple nudge. Too many factors affected the civilizations, and finding a similar one in another world was just absurd, even if their time of existence was somehow close to each other. Before coming here, he had been expecting to find alien species they never even imagined and their bizarre social structures, not something like a parallel world infested with magical monsters.

Shaking his head at the anomaly, he continued his path. From time to time, he would climb the rooftops and check the safety of his route. Thankfully, he didn't encounter any surprises, but didn't find anything valuable inside the houses either. Once he reached the edge of the purple bamboo forest, he started looking for a fresh bamboo stalk on the ground, as he didn't wish to cut one of the growing ones and make too much noise. Slowly, he ventured deeper while taking in the magical sight.

Sunlight hammered down onto the culm crown, but barely reached the ground due to the tall and dense bamboo stalks. The wind carried a vibrant and leafy scent along with light woody tones. Most of the buildings here were more preserved compared to the rest of the town, but still losing their war against nature, slowly being devoured and absorbed into something grand. It didn't take him long to find a bamboo tube of desirable quality, as well as a long, straight stick and a small sharp stone.

Once he gathered them, he tied the stone on the tip of the stick with his thinned vine pieces and started smoothing the inner surface of the bamboo. He kept the tube's length around four feet and planned to shorten it more during the testing. Next, he started working on his first dart. After piercing the wooden teeth into a large leaf, he wrapped the leaf into a cone shape and cut off its excess parts with his knife.

Taking out the glass bottles with foreign substances he'd brought, he used the sticky liquid inside to glue the leaf. Finally, he trimmed some of the fur on the rat's skin and stuck those on top of the leaf as well. A few more minutes passed as he considered its weight, balance, and durability, making small adjustments here and there. This was his second time creating a blowgun. The first one was in the VR, and he had Ani with him, giving tips and guiding him at every step.

Back on Earth, while there were countless VR games, three of them were by far the most popular ones, including the one he was famous for, Cut-Throat. Other than that one, Ethan played two more games consistently. One of them was called Eternal Race, a car racing game with insane maps and locations, his guilty pleasure. He didn't bother about the scores and rankings, but kept finding himself returning and having some good ol' fun.

The other one was called Survival of the Tamer, a beast-taming game with a fantasy setting. Since his friends wouldn't stop bubbling over about the flying beasts of the game, he decided to give it a try and found out that they'd been selling it short. Flying through the clouds on top of a griffin at sunset was pure bliss, and screaming at the top of his lungs as his fluffy mythical mount made a sharp dive was the best kind of therapy.

That alone would have been enough for him to play the game to unwind once in a while, but there was another aspect of it he'd found intriguing. Every player started the game in the middle of the wilderness, alone, and without any equipment. They had to reach the settlement by themselves, which usually took days to accomplish. They did have the skill [Identify], but still, the struggle was real. Many died more than once before even seeing another person, or just gave up in frustration.

And even reaching the beginner's village only offered a short break. No matter the quest you took or the place you chose to explore next, wilderness survival was always the biggest challenge. You simply had to endure and learn a few things if you wanted to be a beast tamer. Despite the setbacks in the beginning, Ethan actually came to love the setting. There was a meditative quality to it that was effortlessly achievable after some practice.

He often played the game in single-player mode with Ani teaching him whatever he'd wished to learn. After quitting Cut-Throat for good, in an attempt to take some time to reflect, he even did a few wilderness expeditions to challenge himself in real life. That was how he knew the ropes. He wouldn't call himself a survival expert, but he was at least somewhat experienced.

On his fourth try, the dart left the blowgun with a sudden burst, sliced through the air, and embedded itself in the nearby tree with a solid thump. Ethan grinned. Yeah, that'll do. After crafting a few more darts, he decided to look out for a living testing subject. He had high hopes but didn't know how effective his new toy would be. Sticking close to the bamboo forest's fringe, he scouted the outskirts of the town and found a rather well-off suburban area, or at least a shadow of one.

Wide streets separated large homes with spacious backyards, but thankfully, the forest became even denser than before with various species of trees, offering him many choices for concealment. Almost an hour had passed. There was no sight of the rats, or any other game for that matter. Eventually, he saw a green rabbit-like creature, but quickly lost track of it. Just when he was thinking about giving up and trying to hunt the birds on the tree branches, he heard a faint sound of a snapping twig.

Behind the bushes far away, a horned boar made an appearance. Ethan perked up, holding his breath. He dismissed the countless recipes rushing to his mind or the fact that he could finally have some leatherwork, including sheaths for his knives. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The boar meandered toward the cobblestone walkway that led to a sophisticated house.

Without delay, Ethan also made his way to the building with light steps, but instead of the front yard, he chose to slip inside through a window that was ajar. The square-shaped house had a courtyard in the middle and large rooms connected to each other. Making sure there wasn't any danger, he cautiously proceeded to a room near the entrance and spotted the boar outside. His vantage point wasn't ideal, but the unglazed window offered a chance for a quick and silent assault.

Since the boar was still on the move, he didn't want to lose the opportunity where his target was so close while he was safe and sound inside the building. From the bundle of items wrapped up in his rat skin, he took his darts, placed them on the windowsill, and left the rest on the floor. Loading one of them in the blowgun, he took position and blasted it. The dart whisked away and found its way to the boar's neck promptly, piercing its skin by an inch. A startled, high-pitched squeal rang through the air.

The boar snapped its head toward him and charged. The second dart hit its chest as it got close. Pacing left and right furiously, the boar couldn't find a way to reach him. So it turned around and ran away. Surprised by the sudden decision, Ethan quickly placed his third dart and fired away, planning to follow the beast after that while keeping his distance. The dart missed the target because the boar came to an abrupt stop and turned around before making a mad dash. Ethan's eyes grew wide.

He tossed the blowgun away hastily and grabbed his knives, bolting away as he cursed the ancestors of jumping horned boars. Soon enough, the window frame shattered with a bang, followed by the grunting of an angry beast. Ethan resumed his escape after a quick glance. The clock was ticking. Before, it took him about 15 seconds to feel the effects of the sedative, but he didn't know if that would be the case for the boar.

More importantly, he had no idea whether the wooden teeth would lose some of their potency without being attached to the plant itself or not. The boar locked onto him right away and gave chase. Tables, chairs, flowerpots, whatever he threw to slow the beast down, were destroyed as it bulldozed its way. Halfway through the house, it finally caught up. Ethan lurched to the side but couldn't avoid the long, twisting horns.

A sharp pain flared in his waist before he found himself in the air, being slung toward the wall. His vision swayed upon the impact and became worse as he dropped to the ground awkwardly. With a groan, he opened his eyes and found the boar upon him, ready to stomp its hoof on his face. Just then, its front leg twitched as the beast lost some of its balance, giving him the precious time to roll over. The hoof landed next to him and cracked the stones on the floor.

It was a good time for a counterattack, but he chose to run without looking back. It's working! Just a little more and it will lose its mobility. The beast quickly turned around and lunged after him.'' Fuck!'' he yelled as he jumped to the side, getting caught in the damned horns once again. This time, it hooked him by the foot and threw him to the other side of the room. He crashed into the back of an old couch unceremoniously. The landing wasn't too bad, but he got a deep cut on his ankle.

As the beast attacked again, he jumped over the couch and hurried toward the stone fireplace with a limp. It was a good place for a fake-out before he rushed to the next room. However, before the boar made it to the couch, its front legs gave out as it stumbled and rolled over, crashing in the same place as him.'' Ouch.'' A sly smile formed on his face.

''You okay there, buddy?'' Whining frantically, the boar thrashed on the ground as he approached slowly, trying to get up but failing. Its movements slackened bit by bit, until it resigned itself to its fate. Dropping his cleaver on the ground, Ethan grabbed his kitchen knife with his right hand and used his other hand to hold the beast by the horns as he plunged his knife into its neck. The moment the boar's eyes lost their luster, the mysterious energy rushed into him as usual.

The Exp was about the same as what he'd gotten from the murder weed, but it wasn't enough for a level up this time. Still, it brought him to the peak of level 3; just another rat would do the job.'' 30 seconds, then. Or was it 40?'' he murmured with narrowed eyes and checked his injuries. The wound on his waist was shallow, and the bruises on his body were annoying at most, but it would take some time for his ankle to heal. Thankfully, the sharp horns had missed his tendons.

Without wasting any time, he got to work and started harvesting. He had a few ideas about its skin. One of them was a long and narrow sling leather backpack. Other than storing his items, it would also allow him to carry his blowgun and reach it easily. Then, he would make a pouch for his darts and tie it to his jeans' belt loop on the right side. Lastly, he would craft sheaths for his knives and attach them to his belt.

The one for his cleaver would be placed on his back horizontally, while the one for the kitchen knife would go to his left side vertically. The sewing part could be done with the help of his knives, darts, and vine parts. It would be clumsy but sturdy. As for tanning the leather, since he didn't have any water, he would use the boar's brain instead. Softening the hide would be a hassle, and the process would take a few days, but it would be worth it in the end.

Before starting these projects, he decided to handle the food first. Once he was done dressing the carcass, he went outside, brought a bunch of long sticks, and tied them with vines, quickly assembling the drying rack for his would-be jerky strips. He cut himself a big chunk of lean meat without fat and started slicing it thinly with his knife, kind of like butterflying but multiple times. After placing them on the rack, he carried them to the courtyard and left them under the sun. That was it.

Since it wasn't even noon yet, the jerky would be ready before sunset. Due to the hot and dry weather, there was no need to smoke them, which was a relief since smoke and smell could attract other beasts. Ethan spent the next two hours disposing of what was left of the boar in the woods and working on the leather, making another wooden frame, brain tanning, and so on. When that was done, he walked to the couch and slumped on it, throwing his head back. His tired eyes blinked. There was a small door in the ceiling.

Now that I'm thinking, all the other rooms have high ceilings, but not this one. Hmm, an attic perhaps? Curiosity got the better of him. Jumping to his feet, he started gathering all the furniture nearby and arranged them on top of the couch. Climbing onto them easily, he grabbed the handle and found out the door was stuck. He used all his weight to pull again and again. Finally, the door flung open, and a wooden staircase folded downward.

Fetching his knives, he climbed the stairs in full alert and entered the attic. What welcomed him was a cozy reading nook surrounded by shelves full of books. Ethan's heart leaped. A guffaw burst from him.

''Jackpot!'' One by one, he grabbed the books and flipped their pages rapidly. Surprisingly, they were almost in pristine condition. He wasn't even done with half of them when Ani alerted him that its language proficiency had reached over 70%. Still, he didn't want to rush it and finished looking over all the books. Only then did he sit in the oversized lounge chair and give the command,'Okay, start the memory transfer, but do it gradually. Don't fry my brain, please.'

'Understood.' Information poured into his mind, and with it came pure agony. Comprehending hundreds of books in such a short time wasn't something the human brain was built for. It was only possible due to Ani's help, and even then, he was already forgetting the details rapidly. Only the parts he gave his focus and mentally repeated more than once stayed with him, basically the general lines. Thankfully, he could always ask Ani about what he'd failed to remember.

Minutes passed as Ethan held his head, clenched his teeth, and did his best not to scream. The pain subsided bit by bit, leaving him with a stiff body, bulging eyes, and a weird look. Well, the last one was mostly because of the content he'd learned. Subsequently, a groan broke from him.'' What the hell, man!?'' he bellowed, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead.

''It's a cultivation world!''