TLBP 15

CHAPTER 15………………………………………

—Buuung, buuuung.

A raucous noise echoed from the trees.

A beehive larger than a human head clung to a branch, endlessly spilling out bees. Each one was about the size of my finger—terrifying and disgusting in its own way.

Bees—back then, they were creatures I absolutely loathed.

I used to scream the moment one came near, terrified of being stung. But now that I had become a magical beast, I was surprisingly able to stay calm even when bees clung to my body.

That was because I’d realized something: no matter how much they jabbed me with their stingers, I couldn’t feel a thing.

It seemed the name ratel, the honey badger, wasn’t just for show. Strong resistance to poison and thick skin rendered their stings completely useless.

—Hey now, hold still.

Still, their sheer numbers were a bit of a hassle. When I brought the blue crystal lying on the ground closer, the bees panicked and retreated.

Those that didn’t flee from the crystal’s glow, I smacked away with my palm. Then, calmly, I aimed the egg in my hand.

A sturdy egg that wouldn’t crack easily. And of course, I was throwing it at the beehive hanging from the branch.

I’d already failed several times, but if I kept throwing, it was bound to hit eventually.

The sweet scent wafting from inside that hive made me determined to taste honey no matter what. Honey was high in sugar, which meant high in calories—a great energy source.

‘Come on, hit it this time. The left hand is just for support.’

With the feel of throwing a basketball, I hurled the egg. It traced a parabola through the air toward the hive—

Thud.

The hive fell to the ground.

—Buuuuung!

In that instant, a terrifying number of bees poured out of the shattered hive. Even knowing their stingers couldn’t hurt me, their sheer volume was enough to make me flinch.

But instead of swarming me, they gathered together and disappeared somewhere far away. Maybe they were escorting their queen to build a new home.

‘Sorry for wrecking your house.’

As someone who’d once had his own home destroyed, I felt an odd pang of guilt.

‘But hey, it’s survival. What can you do?’

I picked up the fallen hive. When I cracked it open with my claw, a golden, viscous liquid spilled out freely.

Having skipped both breakfast and lunch, I instinctively stuck out my tongue and licked up the honey.

Already worn down by fatigue and stress, this sweetness was an irresistible temptation. Occasionally, larvae from inside the hive caught on my tongue.

‘Wasn’t this supposed to be super high-protein?’

Eating insects still made me hesitate a bit. But if I wanted to grow stronger, I couldn’t afford to be picky.

This forest was home to monstrous creatures—giant wolves, dinosaur-like beasts.

To survive, I had no choice but to eat well and become stronger than them.

【You have gained experience points.】

Once I’d cleaned out the hive completely, welcome text appeared. It seemed experience could increase even without killing large creatures.

‘So what level am I now?’

At my thought, text displaying my information flooded my vision.

Race: Magical Beast lv. 7
Strength: 25
Agility: 19
Endurance: 26
Skills: 《Omnivore》《Sturdy Claws》《Stealth Movement》《Infrasound》

Because I’d been eating whatever I could all day, my level had climbed to 7 before I knew it.

My strength, agility, and endurance were all far higher than when I’d first been born.

But I wasn’t satisfied.

Those wolves and dinosaurs were at least several times stronger than me.

I didn’t know for sure, but if I had to guess their levels, maybe somewhere between 20 and 30. That was just speculation—they could be even higher.

‘Eat a lot, sleep well, get stronger.’

It sounded like a children’s slogan from a newly founded country, but there didn’t seem to be a more effective way to level up.

‘And I want to get more of these skills.’

To raise my level, I needed to hunt and eat. That was how I’d steadily grow stronger.

As for gaining skills, it seemed I had to accomplish something called an “achievement.”

My sharp claws that had even wounded the wolf Kubilai—those were probably thanks to the Sturdy Claws skill.

‘Skills can be a huge variable. Let’s unlock as many achievements as possible and get more.’

But there was no guidebook or internet to look things up, so I had no idea what the achievements actually were.

So I started wildly shaking my body, dancing, whistling—expanding my range of actions.

Since I didn’t know which actions might be tied to achievements, I tried everything that came to mind.

If someone had seen me, they probably would’ve thought a crazed beast was roaming the forest. Even I felt secondhand embarrassment about it.

Maybe my pitiful efforts paid off, because text appeared before my eyes.

【Achievement ‘Flashy Movements’ has been completed.】
【As a reward, you have obtained the skill 《Courtship Dance》.】

‘Hmm.’

Courtship Dance… That was a pretty ambiguous skill.

Did it activate by dancing?

It wasn’t what I’d expected, but getting a skill was still something to be happy about.

I kept up my bizarre movements in case other actions triggered achievements, but even after half a day, nothing else appeared.

Finding another stream was nothing short of luck.

Since the attacks by the wolf and the dinosaur had happened farther south, I headed north to avoid them.

After walking for some time, I heard the sound of rushing water.

Thirsty, I followed the sound and found a stream—or maybe a small river—flowing before me.

‘Is it safe to drink?’

Unlike the clear stream from before, this water was murky, tinged with pale brown sediment.

As I hesitated, a horned rabbit appeared in the distance, plunged its face into the stream, and drank.

‘Guess it’s fine.’

I drank the slightly unpleasant water, wishing I had a glass or plastic bottle.

Even my limited knowledge told me I’d need some kind of cylinder to make a simple filter.

‘No point whining about what I don’t have.’

That was when the water suddenly churned violently. At the same time, a huge splash erupted—

—Kiiieeek!

‘What now?’

A monstrous shape burst from the water, snatched the drinking horned rabbit in its jaws, and leisurely vanished back beneath the surface.

It was a sudden ambush. I sighed in relief that it hadn’t been me.

‘Can’t even drink water in peace.’

I’d had my fill for now, so I moved away from the riverbank before I could be attacked too.

‘Crocodiles in streams, giant wolves, dinosaurs… what kind of forest is this place?’

【Demonic Realm: Primordial Nest】

Text appeared—nothing surprising anymore. I waved my hand to dismiss it, then looked up at the tallest tree nearby.

A pillar as thick as a giant sequoia soared skyward, its height impossible to gauge.

I buried the egg and blue crystal carefully at the base of the tree so no one could steal them.

Then I shook my whole body, stretched thoroughly, even checked the sharpness of my claws—before slowly starting to climb.

Rather than guessing from ominous words like Demonic Realm or Primordial Nest, I felt it’d be better to see this world with my own eyes.

Crunch. Scrape.

I dug my claws into the bark and kept climbing.

Perhaps because I’d gone quite high, the ground already felt distant.

A gust of wind whooshed past, chilling my cheeks.

I hadn’t noticed from below, but up here, even a small breeze made the tree sway dangerously, as if it might snap at any moment.

‘Still… a tree this thick won’t break, right?’

Suppressing my fear, I kept climbing.

Finally, near the top, I turned my head and looked out upon the world I’d been reborn into.

—My god.

No other words came to mind. An endless sea of green stretched beyond sight, enough to make my eyes ache.

Only faraway pale mountain ridges shimmered faintly white.

‘What kind of forest is this big?’

A green horizon—a sea of trees. There was no better description. I turned to look the other way.

And nearly lost my grip and fell.

I gaped, sucking in a sharp breath.

When humans witness overwhelming natural scenery—cosmic, awe-inspiring—they’re forced to realize just how small and fragile they are.

It seemed that even being born as a magical beast didn’t change that.

What captured my gaze was a colossal tree towering at the center of the forest.

The giant sequoia I was climbing easily reached dozens of meters—but compared to that tree, it looked like an ant, or a straw.

Its size and thickness openly defied perspective. The sheer, majestic enormity sent chills racing down my spine.

Everything I knew about physics and natural law shattered. Once again, I felt deep in my bones that this was a world completely separate from Earth.

‘The World Tree…?’

I thought of the mythical tree said to support the world and the cosmos. With my limited imagination, nothing else fit.

‘This world is far stranger than I imagined. Dinosaurs were nothing.’

I shook my head hard, as if resetting the brain hardened by twenty years of life. From now on, I’d need to think more flexibly.

Judging by that tree’s presence, even winged dragons or Godzilla wouldn’t feel out of place here.

My legs trembling, I climbed back down the way I’d come.

Climbing up was easy. Going down was actually harder—a trivial detail, but true.

Rustle, rustle.

As I descended, I noticed a strange beast at the base of the tree.

Like me earlier, it was digging frantically with its front paws. And that spot was exactly where I’d buried the egg and blue crystal.

—Hey! Stop stealing other people’s stuff!

I shouted loudly, trying to scare it off. Only then did it lift its head and look up the tree.

Black eyes, dark fur forming bruise-like patches around them, with a mostly brown body. Roughly my size—a small to medium beast.

—Grrr?

It perked up its ears and tilted its head. That oddly cute gesture gave me a sense of déjà vu. It felt familiar.

I instinctively realized what it was.

‘This thing is a Demigrass Raccoon.’

I didn’t have much information on the beasts of this world, and something raccoon-like really only pointed to one option.

It studied me briefly, then resumed digging.

Soon, the soft glow of the blue crystal shone through the dirt pile.

—Grrr. Grrr.

Holding up the blue crystal with both arms, the creature grinned broadly.

I scowled deeply and shouted.

—Hey! That’s mine!

I jumped down from the tree. I’d leapt from a bit too high in my haste, so my legs tingled painfully, but it was bearable.

I bared my fangs and puffed up my fur at it.

—Even if you can’t talk, you shouldn’t steal other people’s stuff!

—What are you saying? Once something’s buried in the ground, there’s no yours or mine. Whoever picks it up first owns it.

—…Huh?

The unexpected voice hit me like a blow to the back of the head. I’d never imagined a raccoon talking.

Then again, the wolf and dinosaur had talked too—so why not a raccoon?

But those two had felt like transcendent divine or demonic beasts, so I’d unconsciously accepted it.

If I had to compare them to Pokémon or Digimon, they’d be Mega or Ultimate evolutions.

This raccoon, though—no matter how I looked at it, it reeked of the same low-tier mob energy as me. That was why it shocked me so much.

The raccoon picked up the egg on the ground as well and said confidently,

—It’s in my hands now. That means it’s mine.