Another World Reincarnation Chronicle

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It was a bit sudden, but I set off to explore with everyone. Most of the team members were with me except for Celyon, and since we had to traverse the trees in this forest, Nightmare couldn’t come along.

“Was it Seris you said?”

“Ah, yes…”

The one who approached was a tall male member. Occasionally, he would unfurl a map and guide the team, seeming like the vice-captain filling in for Celyon.

Since I couldn’t remember his name, I stuttered at the end of my words until I finally remembered it upon seeing the large scar marking his face.

“That’s right, Dorvan.”

“How on earth did you end up here? At your age, getting knighted by the nobles would have been better if you reached Silver Grade.”

With Dorvan’s question, the eyes of the other team members turned toward me. When asked how I ended up here, the answer was obvious.

“I wanted to see all the places in this world. And being tied down somewhere isn’t my nature.”

“Then do you plan to visit Blue Veil or Grimshade Kingdom?”

“If possible. Why did you come here, Dorvan?”

“Of course, for the money.”

“Can you earn a lot of money here?”

“Absolutely. The monster materials from Monster Island are incredibly expensive.”

At Dorvan’s words, some team members nodded. It seemed many of them had visited Monster Island for the money, just like him.

Thus, my team and I strolled through the forest, exchanging random stories. We jumped between trees, grabbing sturdy vines to swing ourselves across longer distances.

Occasionally, monsters would appear but did not charge at us. I watched a monster disappearing among the tree vines and said, “The monsters are quite tame, aren’t they? Are all the monsters here like this?”

“No, not at all. They know we’ve been living here for a while.”

“What do they know?”

“That messing with humans would bring greater harm. Of course, not all monsters are like that, so we must be cautious.”

Dorvan warned me while stroking the scar on his face. His fingers slowly traced the long gash.

Perhaps the scar on his face was from a wound incurred in this place? I nodded as I looked at Dorvan’s scar.

Exploring the forest was a continuous stream of novelty. I got to encounter many monsters I had never seen before, and I learned about the unique herbs that only grow here.

Contrary to my expectations, we hardly had direct encounters with monsters.

“Was it around here…”

Dorvan, who had been leading us well, suddenly stopped and held up the map. As he stared at the map for a while, nodding, he spoke to the team members.

Since his gaze was fixed on me, it seemed like he was emphasizing to me to pay attention.

“From here on, this is the monsters’ territory, so everyone be careful. Get your weapons ready for an immediate response to any monster ambush.”

Following Dorvan’s words, I drew my sword and looked around. I suppose everyone is quite skilled adventurers? No one had a simple iron sword. Everyone had swords made from special minerals or monster materials.

Currently, what I was carrying was a sword made from Krodeium. I would have liked to bring Stormbringer, but I couldn’t bring it since I couldn’t move with Nightmare.

As we began to move forward, weapons drawn, a peculiar tension pressed down upon us. The gazes of the monsters observing us sharpened, and they displayed threatening postures as if they might pounce at any moment.

From the monsters’ perspective, it was a natural response.

To them, we humans appeared as intruders disturbing their homes.

On the winding forest paths, there were small markings only humans could recognize. They were things like artificially engraved arrow shapes or skull drawings. Of course, they seemed to be old markings since there were knife scratches over them.

As I walked for a while, I suddenly noticed that the surroundings had become quite dark. Looking up, I saw thick vines and trees intertwining, blocking the sky.

But that wasn’t the only change. The air in the forest felt much heavier than before, and the mana flowing with the wind was moving downward.

At that moment, Dorvan, who had been leading us, stopped and said, “We’ve entered the center, so it’s best to rest for today.”

At Dorvan’s command, the team members began to unpack their things. I tilted my head at them. Although it had become a bit dark, it wasn’t night yet, so I found it hard to understand why we would rest now.

I approached Noel, who was unpacking, and spoke.

“Um, Noel?”

“Ah, yeah?”

“Why are we resting already when it’s not night yet? We can still go further.”

“Sure, it’s not night, but it’s dark like night, isn’t it? Now that we’re in the center of the forest, our time to move is limited.”

“Dark like night…? Ah…”

Only after listening to Noel’s explanation did I realize how much I had deviated from ordinary human vision.

Of course, the additional changes due to the special mana of Monster Island had stopped, but my body had already transformed.

I had become so accustomed to my altered vision that I hadn’t considered how this forest would appear to others.

I awkwardly smiled and nodded. “I see.”

Night fell quickly in the forest. As time passed, the surroundings grew darker, and the movements of the monsters became more rapid.

Occasionally, the sight of monsters peeking at our campsite and then disappearing only heightened the tension.

Since it was quite early to sleep, most team members passed the time checking their weapons or reading books.

The camp fell into a heavy and gloomy silence, devoid of conversation.

Among them, a few team members wandered around with small lamps, jotting down something in their notebooks, but they moved in a way that stayed as far from the campsite as possible.

“Hmm…”

I sighed as I looked around at the team members. Since everyone kept their mouths shut, it seemed difficult to approach them and initiate a conversation.

However, even while doing their individual tasks, they reacted to little sounds, indicating that they had heightened all senses in preparation for the approach of monsters.

At that moment, a gigantic roar from a monster erupted from the other side of the forest.

[Kiieeek!!!]

The piercing sound and the unique resonance of the shriek seemed to tear through my ears with pain.

I let out a weak groan and covered my ears.

“Guh….”

“I-can’t take it…”

It wasn’t just me suffering from the monster’s roar. Most team members rolled on the ground, letting out small groans. However, they seemed familiar with this kind of wailing.

How much time had passed? As the wailing that had filled the forest began to fade, the team members let out sighs of relief and sat up.

I looked at them and asked, “W-what was that just now?”

“That was the King’s roar.”

Dorvan answered my question.

I rubbed my ear, which still felt painful, and asked him back, “King? Is that the name of a monster?”

“Yeah, he’s the ruler of this forest.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? With the roar coming from so close…”

“It’s fine. He doesn’t leave his designated spot. As long as we don’t poke our noses where we shouldn’t.”

“How does that King look like?”

“The King is…”

Before Dorvan could finish his words, a massive thumping sound echoed from deep in the woods.

It felt as if something enormous was rapidly approaching us from that direction. The expression on Dorvan’s face contorted as he looked toward the forest’s edge. A white shadow appeared from a very distant place.

The white shadow moved incredibly quickly. It leaped between the trees, heading straight toward us.

“Everyone! Get ready! A monster is approaching!”

As soon as Dorvan’s scream-like command ended, the white shadow swiftly closed the distance. At an unexpected moment, the white shadow disappeared from view.

The team members, on guard against the approach of the white shadow, known as the King monster, scattered their gazes in all directions. The sword tips that had been gathered in one place shook left and right as if they had lost direction, and only the heavy breathing of the anxious team members filled the area.

With the heavy tension, the fear among the team members began to creep in. How powerful could that thing, the King, be to make at least ten Silver Grade swordsmen shake in fear?

As I swallowed hard in natural tension, lost in thoughts.

Boom—!

It came suddenly. The gigantic white creature fell from the sky and trampled the lamp in the center of our campsite, snuffing out the surrounding light.

The campsite that had relied on the faint light was instantly engulfed in darkness.

“Ki-King…!”

Puff—!

The first one to voice out, one of the team members, disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A sharp sound of impact and a long-reaching white arm.

The fading silhouette of the team member was burned into my mind.

Only then did I finally recognize the overall shape of the monster. It was a gigantic monkey covered in white fur. If it could still be called a monkey, as it appeared to be at least ten meters tall.

“Everyone run! It’s the King!”

Dorvan’s scream-like command erupted. He swung his sword towards the gigantic creature without hesitation, but his white strike merely grazed the King’s fur.

Immediately after, the King retaliated. The gargantuan fist that had been pulled back shot forward towards Dorvan. However, Dorvan did not get easily taken down. With a face drained of color, he barely dodged the punch and hurriedly spun away to start running.

Seeing the gigantic form of the King, I realized something. That creature was beyond my capability to handle alone.

At that instant, I turned and began to run. If we all attacked together, if Celyon were here, if I had at least brought Stormbringer…

Numerous scenarios filled my mind in chaotic disarray. While I ran, I was engulfed in the screams of my teammates, the King’s wail, and the heavy sounds of footsteps behind me.

Using mana to strengthen my body and activating the martial arts seal, I was running at maximum speed.

Suddenly, a white shadow fell from the sky with a thud! Something massive flew toward me.

There was no pain. I was just left dazed, and my body’s sensations dulled. Then, almost immediately, my body lifted off the ground and began to plummet downwards.

As I descended rapidly, my body jerked to a halt as if caught on something.

“Ugh…”

Pain finally struck. I blinked rapidly to confirm my surroundings. Apparently, after being struck by the King’s fist and plummeting down, I had gotten caught in some vines below.

“Cough…”

I felt lucky, but the state of my body was dire. My right eye couldn’t see properly, drenched in blood, and my entire body felt numb as if every bone was broken.

“Guh…”

It seemed impossible for me to move in this condition. This had to be the worst situation I had faced since I started my adventure. How could I resolve this situation? My heart burned with frustration.

After struggling alone for a while, I let out a deep sigh and began to move my mana. I didn’t know if it would work. However, it was definitely better than giving up without even trying.

Though I couldn’t move my body, the mana that resided in my heart was still capable of moving. As I attempted to mobilize my mana, a large orb of starlight began to spin rapidly, forming a long mana circle around it.

Normally, healing magic was something for priestesses. Most of the worlds I had read and seen followed that setting.

But there were also places where mages could use healing magic.

I didn’t know about the mages in this world, but I used magic that didn’t exist in this world. I built my inner world and summoned the mystery I desired into this world.

That was the magic I used.

This time wasn’t much different. I wanted to recover my body, and the mana imbued with my wish would move to achieve that.

What was needed was a strong image of healing.

A fantastical imaginary magic mixed with green and golden hues began to slowly emerge from within me.

The mana I held began to merge into my body and started healing my wounded form. Broken bones began to find their way back to their original places, and torn muscles and skin began to stitch themselves together.

However, the mana being consumed was beyond imagination.

“Ugh…”

As the sensations returned to my body and the pain intensified, the mana I held ran out entirely.

I had drawn my mana to the limit, but I wasn’t at a level where I could move my body right now.

“Haah…”

I let out a long sigh. Replenishing the mana needed for healing was easy. I just had to absorb the overflowing mana around me to form a mana circle.

But…

I felt the sharp fangs that had grown as I rolled my tongue around in my mouth.

The contemplation didn’t last long. What if I changed my appearance a bit?

First and foremost, saving my life was priority.

Taking a thin breath, I began absorbing the mana around me.

The mana absorbed in this manner swiftly formed a circle around my heart, and the mana created began to rotate rapidly, spreading throughout my body.

Unrefined mana from Monster Island began to merge into my flesh.