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In an instant, I had become the forest’s top idol.
The birds kept sticking to my face nonstop, and the squirrels burrowed into my clothes.
The rabbits clung to my feet, and the deer and boars rubbed their faces against me.
“S-So this was how hard it was to be famous…!”
From within the smokescreen of the animals’ passionate affection, I crawled out by the skin of my teeth.
In a panic, I lowered my Charisma stat back down to 1.
Then the animals suddenly came to their senses.
As if they had realized I was just a look-alike of a celebrity, they went back into the forest with a bored, deflated air.
“Hoo… I never imagined that raising a stat could get me into something like this.”
This time, I carefully reassigned my points.
I drastically reduced my Charisma and distributed the points evenly.
“If it’s around a hundred points, I shouldn’t get mobbed again.”
Pulling myself together, I decided to go to the forest pond.
As usual, animals were there drinking water.
Normally, when I approached the pond, the animals would stop drinking and get wary.
But a young fawn and a rabbit by the shore came bounding over to me, like pets greeting their owner returning home.
Even when I crouched down and petted them, they didn’t seem to dislike it.
If anything, they rubbed their heads against my hand as if to say, “Pet me more.”
“So cute. I might not even need to train them…”
That was what I thought, but I steeled my heart.
I activated the Training skill toward the fawn that looked up at me with big, round eyes.
“Become mine! Taming!”
The fawn twitched as if it had heard thunder.
Heart-shaped light rose from its head.
“Looks like it worked. …Sit!”
When I gave an order with the Animal Command skill, the fawn smoothly folded its legs and sat down.
When I said, “Stand!” it sprang right back up.
“Oh, good job! Spin!”
Like a dog taught tricks, the fawn spun around and around in time with my finger.
“Hahaha, so cute! Good, good!”
When I grabbed its face and ruffled it all over, the fawn whined sweetly, “Kyuun.”
“Alright, then let’s take a walk through the forest—follow me!”
When I started walking, the fawn toddled after me like it was following a parent.
And behind it, rabbits formed a little line, hopping along, making me feel like some kind of forest pied piper.
When I skipped, the fawn and rabbits bounced along too.
They were so cute and I was so happy that I completely forgot to watch where I was going.
Before I knew it, there was a huge boulder right in front of me, and I ran into it without any chance to dodge.
…Mmph!
But the feel was far too soft to be a rock.
As I wondered what was going on, the “rock” swelled up with a woof—!
It was a bear, easily twice my height.
Its massive fur-covered body had shark-like eyes shining from within.
There was a huge wound on its chest, and I understood.
“This thing is…! The lord of this forest…!”
I tried to jump back at once, but the bear moved faster than I could imagine.
With claws like blades, it clamped down hard on my side.
“N-Not good…!”
By the time I shouted, my body had already been lifted high, higher.
As if it had already claimed victory, the bear reared back and bellowed skyward.
“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
It was a low rumble so deep it made the air around us crackle.
On reflex, I used Dexterous Job Change and tried switching to Ninja.
At the same time, I used Dexterous Body, trying to redistribute my stats and gain enough power to fight the bear…
But no matter how many times I activated the skills, nothing happened.
“W-Why!? Why can’t I use the Jack-of-All-Trades skills!?”
I didn’t know the reason, but I was in a truly hopeless pinch.
I flailed my legs and struggled.
“L-Let go! You—!”
Of course it had no intention of letting me go.
The bear lowered me to its eye level and opened its mouth wide—gwoah!
It was such a huge maw that it looked like it could swallow my whole head in one gulp.
“At this rate, I’m done for…! I-If that’s how it is…!”
Right as it tried to eat me, I’d put everything I had into a single blow straight into its throat…!
I drew back my fist, but once again it was faster.
“GRAAUGH!”
With a roar, its mouth rushed in, and before I could counterattack, I took the “attack” square in the face.
…Slurp!
A warm, soaking-wet tongue strike.
“Bwuh!? A-A tongue!?”
I thought it was going to be fangs!?
Before I could even finish thinking, my face was being licked all over.
“Gyaaah!? That tickles!”
The bear shoved its face even closer and rubbed its cheek against mine.
Each time it rubbed, it made a sound like, “Kwon… kwon.”
“Y-You… could it be…!? B-Become mine! Taming!”
Feeling the bear’s fur all over my face, I activated the Training skill.
I ordered the bear, which now had a heart mark floating above it, “P-Put me down!”
The bear looked reluctant, but it lowered me to the ground.
I immediately plopped down on my butt.
“Hoo. So even a bear can be tamed with Animal Charm… Thanks to that, I survived…”
The bear stared down at me and whined in a lonely, affectionate voice, “Kwooon.”
“O-Okay, okay, don’t look at me like that. …Sit!”
The bear copied me and plopped down too.
It was an action heavy enough to make a loud thud, but it sat quietly like a stuffed animal.
Despite its huge appearance, its behavior was adorable, and I couldn’t help laughing.
When I asked, “Want to come to my place?” the bear raised a paw and cheered, “Kwooon!”
“Alright! From today on, you’re my companion!”
“Kwooon!”
“I should give you a name… Yeah—how about ‘Mark’?”
“Kwon kwon, kwooon!”
“Hahaha, that tickles! Alright, Mark, let’s head home!”
“Kwooon!”
I rode on Mark’s shoulder and headed back.
It was the moment a new companion was added to the Special Training Class that had always been all alone.
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