Behemoth Just Lives an Ordinary Life

I am hungry.
If this were South Korea, I would have gone to a restaurant to order food or ordered delivery food, but where I was walking was pure nature without a single concrete building in sight.
In the first place, even if a beast as big as an elephant headed to a restaurant, the restaurant auntie would scream and sprinkle salt rather than cook something.
Or she might report it to the police or military.
To begin with, there was no sight of any village where humans might gather.
Only lush grass and trees welcomed me.
I tore off leaves hanging from a tree and put them in my mouth.
Hmm, bitter as expected.
It seemed I wasn’t a herbivore.
Coming out of the cave and looking around, I thought.
If I had known this would happen, I should have watched one more survival documentary.
Was this how a civilized person living in a city would feel if suddenly dropped on a deserted island?
I really don’t know what to do first.
Should I hunt for beasts now?
Or should I take a look at the tree fruits around?
As I was constantly thinking and moving forward with thuds—
“A river!”
I shouted joyfully.
At my roaring, loud voice, birds sitting on trees were startled and flew into the sky.
I just laughed.
Passing the last tree that was blocking my view, I discovered a river flowing in a straight line down a gentle slope.
Water is the source of life.
All living creatures that breathe need water.
Numerous creatures gather around rivers, and unless polluted, fish swimming vigorously inhabit them.
There was water in the cave too, but I didn’t drink it.
It had been stagnant for a long time, which made me uncomfortable.
I went down the hill with thuds and dipped my head into the river.
Slurp—
Water as cool as ice water went down my throat.
After relieving the ticklish thirst, a sound naturally came out—”Ah, this is so damn refreshing.”
I wiped my mouth and thought.
Fish lived in the river surrounded by willows and rape flowers in full bloom.
If I caught and ate these fish, couldn’t I somewhat satisfy my hungry stomach?
When I was young, I had caught fish with bare hands in the countryside.
Although I had transformed into an elephant-sized mysterious monster (larger than an apartment building on nights with a full moon), both my hands were intact, and shouldn’t it be possible with this body?
I walked into the river.
The water was thigh-deep, deep enough for a person to drown, but for me, it was like a stream.
Fish were swimming under the clear water.
I put my hands together like a net into the water.
And lightly scooped up some fish.
About 6 fish were caught at once.
I looked at the fish flapping on my palm.
“These guys sure have energy.”
I threw the caught fish onto the ground and repeated the process.
After spending about an hour doing this and catching about 50 fish, I came out of the river.
It was my first time catching so many fish.
And in a river, not the sea at that.
It wasn’t my skill that was good. It was because this river was abundant.
Just by briefly dipping my hands in the water and pulling them out, to catch so many fish.
I carefully picked up three limp fish and washed off the dirt.
Just as I was about to put them in my mouth.
‘Freshwater fish have a higher risk of parasite infection compared to saltwater fish, so cooking methods such as steaming, grilling, soup, or frying are recommended.’
“……”
I put them back down.
Beasts like bears, tigers, or wolves might just bite into them and get cancer, but I was a monster with awareness of being a modern person.
Would a giant monster get infected with parasites too?
If I got sick, should I go to a hospital? Or a veterinary hospital?
Wait, does this world even have something like hospitals?
Suddenly, the appetizing fish seemed to look like rotten food with worms crawling all over.
“Let’s at least grill them before eating……”
I clenched my fist.
And looked at the huge rock standing desolately by the riverside.
A human would need to bring a power shovel to lift it, but.
Kugung—!!
I lifted the rock and rolled it to the riverside to wash it cleanly.
After placing the smooth rock, free of dirt and stone dust, back on the ground, I put the fish on top of it.
The temporary table was complete.
Now I need to get firewood to make a fire and skewers to pierce the fish.
I headed back into the forest.

“This is just……”
“Lieutenant, I’ve never seen footprints this big in my life.”
“There shouldn’t be any monster bigger than a dragon in the first place……”
“How should we report this to the Neck Magic Tower?”
Soldiers guarding the front lines of the Empire.
Rangers are elite forces that search the Osiria Mountains and around the Tower of the Sky.
They were investigating the cause of the mana explosion that had caused anomalies in the Great Gehenna Forest due to this mana explosion, substituting for the wizards who were currently restoring the barrier and surveillance system.
The Rangers alternated between looking at their watches and the giant footprints.
The reason they kept timing was because they had approached the central area of the Great Forest, where high-concentration mana was collected.
Unlike the Ain people who were familiar with mana, they couldn’t withstand being in areas with dense mana for long periods.
Even Rangers who had undergone the most rigorous adaptation training, unless they were a Chosen One who could handle miracles, had a limit of about 5 hours.
Currently, the exploration had been going on for about 3 hours and 30 minutes. Considering the time needed to return, they didn’t have much time left.
“We will follow the footprints of the unidentified monster for the next 5 minutes. That is all.”
Lieutenant Isabella, the commander of the Rangers dispatched to the Great Gehenna Forest, took the lead.
The brave Rangers nodded and followed their commander.
She was a talented person who had been active as a Ranger since childhood, an elite soldier.
From her excellent search and exploration abilities to shooting and even close combat skills that were not inferior to knights.
Isabella was the only one in the Empire who had risen to the rank of lieutenant at the age of 19.
Despite her young age, her charisma was also outstanding, and no squad member would easily raise objections to her.
A promising talent and outstanding soldier, that was generally how people around her evaluated her.
The Rangers led by Isabella followed the deeply dug footprints, like craters, in the ground.
‘Terrifying size. Judging by how deep they are, it must be quite heavy. Even the Red Dragon, the largest among dragons, wouldn’t be this huge.’
Isabella had considerable knowledge about monsters.
The areas where Rangers operated were places where they encountered monsters more often than people.
Knowing your enemy and yourself ensures victory in every battle.
To hunt monsters, knowing about them was basic.
“Stop for a moment.”
Isabella signaled her squad members.
The squad members stopped walking.
And they swallowed hard.
“The footprints have stopped.”
“Did the huge monster suddenly evaporate like water?”
The giant footprints were cut off at some point.
Beyond that, numerous footprints of monsters and beasts were chaotically mixed.
Isabella thought about this deeply and came up with one possibility.
“It’s probably magic.”
“Magic, you say?”
“Yes. Whether it’s magic used by the unidentified monster or magic used on the unidentified monster by someone else, the only means that can establish this is magic.”
The only means by which an unchosen human could create a miracle.
That was only through magic.
“If one has the skill to erase such traces, they must be easily above the 5th tier.”
Aka, a Ranger knowledgeable about magic, responded.
“Then why did the unidentified monster or alpha being use magic?”
“To shake off the Empire’s pursuit. I don’t think anyone else was involved in this.”
Rather, if someone else used magic to hide the monster, it would be the monster’s intention.
As the Neck Tower Master said, there had been no being capable of artificially causing a mana explosion, at least not until now.
“It’s not just a simple monster. It’s different from other monsters. It’s a creature with intelligence and intuition.”
Isabella checked her timer.
It was time to head back.
She felt a chill down her spine.
A being that was both massive and powerful, with intelligence as well, was nothing short of a disaster.
Although the monster hasn’t yet bared its teeth in earnest to this world.
‘This monster is a potential disaster.’
She thought of the monster as a massive volcano that could erupt at any time.
If the monster were hostile to humanity, the Empire would be on the brink of destruction.
“Let’s head back for now. Tracking by footprints is impossible. It would be better to continue searching for its traces after the surveillance system of the Great Forest is restored.”
“Understood.”
Praying earnestly that they wouldn’t have to directly fight this monster, the Rangers moved on.