Chapter 3

After defeating the wolf, I hurriedly began to search the surrounding area.

First, I found two corpses that had likely been torn apart by the wolf.

I scavenged the bodies, collecting food and tools.

I felt no guilt. Partly because it was a necessity, but more than that, my senses had gone numb. With my body trembling, I did everything I could to survive without overthinking it.

I took everything I could scavenge.

I judged that whatever these corpses possessed would be essential here.

I pulled on a pair of looted gloves, threw a cloak over my clothes, and hung a leather pouch from my waist.

I tucked as many odd-shaped knives (likely for throwing) as I could into my jeans’ belt and took a one-handed sword in my grip.

However, there was only one of me for two corpses.

There were many items I simply couldn’t carry.

Finally, I pressed my hands together in a brief prayer toward the bodies.

As I began to walk away from the area where the flames had been, my eyes caught the spot where the wolf had vanished.

The greatsword lay discarded on the ground.

While I wanted to use it, carrying something twice as heavy as a one-handed sword wasn’t realistic. Just as I decided to give up on the greatsword, something glittering caught the corner of my eye.

It was a glowing green stone.

There were many gem-like items similar to this among the belongings of the corpses.

Under my current circumstances, they were nothing but heavy dead weight. I had judged that carrying useless items would only jeopardize my life, so I hadn’t included them in my pack.

However, the color of this stone resembled the wolf’s fur.

To be honest, it was mere sentimentality.

Perhaps a sense of kinship had sprouted from both of us being attacked by those humans.

In the end, I picked up the stone and stuffed it into my pocket.

“Now then, what should I do…?”

I had done everything I could.

Even if some other hostile creature appeared, I had the means to fight back.

The choice was whether to “Wait” or “Move.”

The gash on my thigh was shallower than I had expected (I had probably pulled back reflexively).

Still, while the pressure bandage had helped somewhat, even walking was a chore.

If I chose to “Move,” the bleeding would surely increase and I would lose stamina.

Yet, “Waiting” was undeniably terrifying.

The experience I’d just had was far too horrific to sit and “Wait” for someone to help me.

The wolf was one thing, but above all—being cut down by the very human I had pleaded for help was rooted deep in my mind.

Therefore, I decided to “Move.”

“…I guess I’ll use this sword as a cane.”

I leaned on the one-handed sword to test the feel.

It wasn’t particularly well-suited for a cane.

“Something better… Isn’t there some kind of good ‘tool’ I can use…?”

As I muttered that, I looked around again—

I saw a “display” floating in mid-air.

“Eh…? What is… this…?”

The sense of unreality accelerated.

A dry laugh escaped my lips.

It was displayed as clearly as a speck of dust stuck to my retina. Even when I moved my gaze, the “display” remained in my field of vision.

“Ha, haha… It’s just like—”

Just like a “game.”

It was a word I’d been sensing at the back of my mind.

Illusions. Labyrinths. Monsters. Giant insects. Giant wolves. Adventurers. Swordsmen. A mage’s flames. Light after death. Jewels—all of them were things from fairy tales, staples of classic games.

An illusion like colors inverting and a dizziness like the ground dropping away assaulted me.

That was why I accepted it immediately.

Accepting it made things easier.

I felt my perspective grow distant, as if in a dream, but if that softened the fear, I didn’t mind.

“In that case… first, show me. ‘Display’ my info.”

For now, I tried vocalizing my wish.

“Th-this is hard to read… I wonder if I can make it easier to look at…”

“Ah, it changed to Japanese.”

The “display” had responded to my casual complaint.

Compared to the English text, the characters looked a bit clunky, but clarity was more important. Keeping the Japanese display active, I continued to read through the information.

The thing that bothered me most of all was that “Item Empty” message from earlier.

If I took the words at face value, it meant the system recognized me as having nothing in my possession.

“I’ve got dried meat and water hanging from my waist, though…”

Despite that, the display remained the same.

I checked again, but apparently, I still didn’t own a single thing.

“Well, I can guess the general logic behind this… I do like games, after all…”

The bottom line was likely whether or not I met certain conditions.

There were crude, game-like—and incredibly inflexible—conditions at play here, and I simply hadn’t satisfied them yet.

“The ‘Equipment’ slots are probably directly linked to things that affect combat… Things that influence my parameters, so to speak…”

I got the feeling that unless something actually shifted my parameters, it shouldn’t be “Equipped.” In other words, I shouldn’t just be wearing or holding it—

“I wonder if there’s one of those infinite bags you see so often…?”

I double-checked the items I was wearing once more.

I tried putting things in and taking them out of various pouches and empty pockets.

Nothing happened.

“In that case…”

Get in there…

Praying under my breath, I held a piece of dried meat out toward the empty air as an experiment.

Suddenly, the space warped and twisted, and the dried meat was swallowed up.

“—!? Th-that’s creepy…!”

I reflexively pulled my hand back.

It was a viscerally unsettling sight, but this was likely the correct answer.

“Alright. Now, check ‘Inventory’ again—”

“Haha. Yeah, that’s very game-like.”

My reaction was half-laughter and half-terror.

Still, I had managed to grasp one of the rules for the “Inventory.”

By holding an object out in the air with the intent to store it, I could put it “somewhere.”

Right.

Somewhere…

“…This makes things a lot easier.”

It looked like I could go back and scavenge the food and tools from the corpses I had given up on earlier.

Through a process of trial and error, I began placing items into that “somewhere” in the air one after another.

As a side note, neither the adventurers’ corpses nor the small insects would go in.

Perhaps they were too large—or perhaps it was because they were living organisms. Some kind of condition had caused them to be rejected.

And so, my “Inventory” became—

For the record, since the lighter and smartphone were in the jeans I had been wearing, I placed them in the “Inventory” after confirming it was safe to move them.

I tried to use the smartphone to communicate, but as expected, there was no signal. The time displayed was off by several years compared to the last time I had checked it, so there was a chance the phone had been damaged by the initial impact. Still, I was grateful that the flashlight and clock functions were still working.

“It holds quite a lot… More than anything, it helps that I can see the names of things I don’t recognize. This probably lowers the difficulty of the ‘game’ quite a bit. Not that I’m complaining…”

My face naturally relaxed when a substance that looked like mere powder was displayed as “Antidote.”

“I can still test out a few more thin—”

“!!!!!!”

Just as I was thinking about doing some serious testing, a beast’s roar echoed through the corridor.

“L-let’s save the testing for later…”

Things had been going so conveniently that I’d momentarily forgotten: I was still very much in danger.

I used the high-priority “Hemostatic Medicine” (I didn’t know how to use it, so I just smeared it over the wound after washing it with water), and using the sword as a cane, I began to walk away from the roar.

Don’t rush. Don’t strain the body…

I proceeded down the path, keeping a cautious eye on my surroundings.

Checking my status on the “display,” I saw that the bleeding had subsided and my HP was naturally regenerating.

Feeling the immediate threat to my life recede just a little, I continued my walk through the labyrinth.