Escape from the Forest!

I was a middle-aged guy who had somehow slipped into what seemed to be another world.

Since this was apparently another world, I could even open my status screen and shop online. What kind of ability was this, anyway? I hadn't the foggiest.

For now, I calmed down after eating cup noodles and bread. That's just how people are—their outlook gets more optimistic once their stomachs are full.

But if I stayed like this, I'd slowly run out of options. I had to somehow reach a settlement and make money through business or bartering.

If I used the money I earned to shop online and then sold the goods at an even higher price... maybe I could make it work? Spices were the obvious classic choice for this sort of thing.

A 100-yen refill pouch of pepper could be sold for a high price, right? This would be a piece of cake!

Well, before I could do that, I had to escape this forest.

"Now, what should I do...?"

I bought a compass from Shangri-La for 1,500 yen. This should tell me which way was which. Since the compass needle pointed in a fixed direction, it seemed this world had a magnetic field, too.

Then, although it was a bit pricey, I bought a mountain bike for 20,000 yen. I checked the product reviews first and went with one that had a high rating.

Apparently, some shoddy models were so poorly made that their frames broke under heavy impact, but I couldn't afford to waste money here, so I decided to compromise.

Well, I'm sure it'll work out somehow.

Even so, the Item Box was seriously convenient. I'd bought all sorts of things, yet my hands were empty.

Maybe I could use the Item Box to work as a courier or something. I was probably the only one who could access it, after all.

"All right, let's go!"

I straddled the mountain bike and set off! Checking the compass as I went, I pedaled slowly through the forest toward civilization.

There was no need to hurry. At least I had food. That was the luxury of having a full stomach.

------◇◇◇------

――The second day of riding the mountain bike.

Even though I was moving slowly, I should have already covered several dozen kilometers, but I still couldn't see any sign of the forest ending.

Just how huge was this forest? Giant conifers stretched on and on, but I didn't think it would look like this unless someone had planted them all...

A primeval forest would normally have conifers and broadleaf trees all mixed together.

I took a break and drank some water. Then I took insect repellent out of the Item Box and sprayed it all over myself.

As you'd expect in a forest, there seemed to be a fair number of bugs around.

Along the way, I ate food I'd bought from Shangri-La and tested the Item Box and Trash Can's abilities.

For example, living insects couldn't be put in the Item Box, but dead ones were sucked inside and displayed as 【Insect (Beetle)】×1.

What about plants, then? When I put a seedling I'd dug up with the shovel inside, it displayed as 【Seedling】×1.

Depending on the plant, some displayed a specific name, so I supposed some of them had names.

The interesting thing was that even a cup filled with boiling water stayed just as it was when I put it inside. Even after some time passed, it didn't cool down; it stayed warm indefinitely.

That alone might make for some interesting business. Even if I got meat or vegetables, they wouldn't spoil as long as I put them in the Item Box.

And the Trash Can was a black box that swallowed anything. Snack bags, leftover cup-noodle broth—no matter what I shoved in, pressing the spiral button made it disappear.

I didn't know where it went, but like the Item Box, it seemed living things couldn't be put inside.

Maybe some kind of safety device was active to keep humans and other living things from being sucked in.

The second day since arriving in another world was drawing to a close.

I got off the mountain bike while it was still early and leaned it against a large tree. To prepare for camping, I put up a one-person tent. I'd bought this from Shangri-La, too—for 2,000 yen.

The weather was mild during the day, almost a little hot, but it got somewhat chilly toward morning, so I bought a sleeping bag as well—also 2,000 yen.

I bought fire starters for lighting the campfire, along with a gas burner that attached to a cassette canister—2,500 yen.

A fire would provide warmth and keep animals away.

Maybe I'd splurge and have barbecue tonight. Shangri-La sold 1.5 kilograms of thinly sliced pork for 2,000 yen, so I bought some. If there was any left over, I could put it in the Item Box.

The barbecue sauce was the jingisukan sauce I always used. Jingisukan was lamb, but the sauce tasted good on ordinary barbecue, too. A one-liter bottle of jingisukan sauce cost 1,000 yen.

And barbecue called for rice, too. Packs of precooked rice were sold in sets of twenty-four for around 3,000 yen, so I bought some.

While I boiled water on the stove to heat the rice, I bought another cassette-gas stove and prepared to cook the meat.

I bought a wire grill to put on the stove for 1,000 yen. Once I lit the burner and heated it, I could grill the meat. Billowing white smoke rose, filling the air with the savory aroma of sizzling fat.

Since I was outdoors, I could let the smoke billow as much as I wanted. I grilled two or three slices and tried them.

"Delicious! It's unbelievably delicious!"

With my unsophisticated palate, cheap meat was good enough, but Shangri-La sold quite a lot of premium meat, too. Maybe I could try buying some once I made money.

But if this really was another world, there might be delicious meat unique to another world.

Looking for such delicacies would be one of the real pleasures of adventuring in another world.

Once the rice was hot, I put it on a paper plate. Since paper plates didn't need washing, I could put them in the Trash Can after eating.

I still had to wash the stove and barbecue grill, though. For grease, I could buy alcohol and wipe it off.

"Barbecue and rice are the ultimate combination! And for some reason, food tastes better when you eat it outdoors."

But I got carried away by the barbecue and let my guard down. I failed to notice that the smell of the cooking meat was luring something dangerous over.

After finishing my meal, I stretched, and something black appeared in my field of vision... I looked around again.

About ten huge, black, monstrous shadows—creatures like wolves—had surrounded me. Apparently, the smell of the barbecue had lured them over.

I should have realized that making a smell like that in the mountains would be more than enough to attract animals.

I regretted my foolishness. It was a textbook case of regret coming too late—and it was already beginning to get dark.

"Aaaah! A weapon! I need some kind of weapon!"

I pulled a burning log from the campfire and threw it at the black creatures, while simultaneously bringing up the Shangri-La screen to search for a weapon.

"A weapon! Let's see... How about a bow?"

No, I'd never used a bow. No matter how powerful it was, I had no confidence I could suddenly use one and hit anything.

There were also crossbows that looked like guns, but I had absolutely no idea how to handle one.

But on the same search page as the bows, there was a slingshot that fired projectiles with rubber bands.

"This is it! Even I understand how to use this."

I'd once bought a slingshot from Shangri-La to drive away crows that came to my vegetable garden. I bought exactly the same model as the one I'd bought before.

Along with it, I bought 9 mm bearing balls as ammunition. I also bought a set of fountain fireworks.

The idea for the fireworks struck me because the dog my parents kept had been terrified of fireworks, so maybe they'd work on these black creatures, too.

The slingshot cost 6,000 yen, the fireworks set 3,000 yen, and eighty bearing balls 2,000 yen.

The things I bought came tumbling out in a heap, so I used a burning branch from the campfire right in front of me to light the fountain fireworks' fuses. I threw about three of them at the creatures.

White sparks shot up like fountains, spewing clouds of smoke and illuminating the area in white. Apparently intimidated by the brightness, the black creatures began backing away, milling around uncertainly.

"All right!"

To press the attack, I took bearing balls out of the bag, shoved them straight into my pocket, and began firing the slingshot repeatedly.

One shot, two, three—I gradually adjusted my aim, and the fourth shot hit one of them.

"Yelp!"

The black beast backed away, yelping like a dog.

Without a moment's hesitation, I tossed fountain fireworks one after another and kept firing the slingshot.

"Yipe!"

One of them leaped into the air and fled. The slingshot ball must have hit a vital spot somewhere. Its eye, or maybe its nose...

This slingshot was powerful enough to punch through thin plywood.

The more shots I fired, the more my accuracy improved. One hit after another began to land.

"Yelp!" "Yip!"

One by one, they dropped out, and when the one that looked like the boss—somewhat larger than the others—fled, the rest all began running away at once. They probably had no idea what was attacking them.

"Whooo-hoo!"

With a huge sigh, my legs gave out and I landed on my backside. It had been a close call, but it seemed I'd successfully driven them off.

But I'd been far too careless. Since I hadn't encountered any animals at all, my fear had faded.

I hurriedly folded up the tent, shoved all the barbecue equipment and everything else into the Item Box, and began preparing to leave. It was dangerous to stay here.

It was already dark, but they might come back. Wild animals could be surprisingly persistent.

I started pedaling the mountain bike into the darkness, but this Item Box really was convenient. Even at a time like this, I could keep my hands free and focus on riding.

But it was too dark. I couldn't see a thing. The mountain bike had a light, too, but it was useless.

I had no choice but to open the Shangri-La screen and buy a headlamp, the kind miners wore on their heads.

I bought a 300-lumen one for 3,000 yen. Since it used AA batteries, I bought twenty at once—600 yen.

I put the batteries in right away and strapped it to my head.

"Switch on! Whoa! This thing's bright!"

It was bright enough to use as a blinder. If I shone this light at them, everything in front of their eyes would turn white.

Desperate to get away from that terrifying place, I pedaled the mountain bike as hard as I could.

Get away!

Get away!

Unable to think of anything else, I repeated it in my head endlessly, like a spell, like a Buddhist chant.

I must have pedaled through the darkness for about two hours. Then I pitched my tent between some large trees, built a campfire, and made camp.

Since it was too dark to find firewood, I bought some from Shangri-La—2,000 yen.

I'd bought quite a lot of things by now, but the Item Box still wasn't full. There was no percentage or anything to tell me its capacity, so I had no idea how much room remained.

I needed to sleep, but the fear from earlier had left me wide awake, and I couldn't sleep at all. I couldn't stop thinking, What if they attacked me again?

I considered buying a crossbow as a weapon, but they were expensive! They cost around 40,000 to 60,000 yen.

I'd already spent quite a bit of money, so I wanted to avoid dropping a large sum here. I had no idea what else lay ahead—but still...

Hmm, what to do?

Even if an enemy appeared, I could blind it with this bright light and somehow manage with the slingshot. But that was only wishful thinking.

Unable to sleep at all, I waited for dawn in front of the campfire. I had never realized nighttime could be this frightening. I'd been far too optimistic until now.

By the time I finally began to doze, the sky was starting to lighten.

Once dawn had fully broken, I shoved all my gear into the Item Box and, without even eating breakfast, began pedaling the mountain bike again with all my might.

I wanted to escape this forest as soon as possible, no matter what.

------◇◇◇------

I took bread out of the Item Box and pedaled for about five hours while chewing on it—my backside was seriously starting to hurt.

I was sleepy. Maybe I should stop and rest soon? But a bright light had begun to appear ahead of me. The edge of the forest.

As the light grew brighter, the undergrowth grew thicker, and where the forest ended, grass as tall as a person formed a green wall blocking the way ahead.

"Whoa—so the forest ends, but now it's a field of grass...?"

For now, I wanted to know what lay beyond. I brought up the Shangri-La screen and bought a six-step aluminum stepladder—9,000 yen.

It was a somewhat expensive purchase, but I had no choice. If I opened it out flat and leaned it against a tree, it would reach about five meters high. I should be able to see quite a distance from there.

I bought a 1,000-yen monocular and climbed the stepladder. Stepladders were handy, but accidents were common. They made it easy to climb several meters, but if you fell, you'd be slammed into the ground from that height.

Still, the leaf mold beneath me was soft, so I didn't think I'd die. Even so, getting injured in a place like this could be life-threatening, so I climbed carefully.

Once I climbed high enough, I could see beyond the tall grass. And there, I saw—a city surrounded by walls.

Looking through the monocular to confirm, I could indeed see a city, with people moving around inside.

A road stretched from the city toward me, so it might run through the forest.

That meant I'd been riding through the forest all this time, traveling parallel to that road. In that case, if I continued to the right, I should be able to reach the road...

"I did it..."

When I climbed down from the stepladder, an overwhelming sleepiness hit me. Maybe I was relieved to have figured out which way to go.

I fell asleep right there at the foot of the large tree.