Chapter 2

Yuyeona

Strength: 7

Agility: 5

Stamina: 5

Magic Power: 2

“Magic Power really doesn’t go up, huh.”

She skillfully adjusted her wooden spear and smeared mud all over her face and body.

She wasn’t sure, but it seemed to help mask her scent.

It had already been a week since she was dropped into this world.

During that time, her body had gone through multiple growth spurts, and now she felt confident she could put up a good fight against the raptors she first encountered.

Though she doubted they’d fight fair.

Close combat had become a kind of trauma for her.

The first time she caught and killed prey with her bare hands was a huge mistake.

The difference in strength was clear.

She could have choked it or twisted its neck to kill it.

But in the heat of the moment, the tension and excitement of killing something for the first time made her punch harder than necessary…

She almost died.

For real.

Like all carnivores, the predators around here were designed to detect blood scent keenly.

If she hadn’t found the swamp in time, hesitated to jump in, or if the creature chasing her wasn’t too bulky to follow her into the swamp…

Hmm…

She probably would’ve died.

100%.

Since then, she changed her hunting style, opting to throw stones or spears from a distance.

The success rate wasn’t high, but safety comes first.

Safety first. Safety first.

At that moment, Belva looked at her with interest and said:

[I’ve been noticing this for a while now, but your body is quite unique.]

“Unique?”

[Even if you absorb creatures with specific strengths, your growth is evenly distributed. For example, if you kill a creature with strong leg muscles, your overall strength increases evenly. But beyond that, abilities developed to a certain level aren’t diluted and are absorbed as they are…]

Her words were fast, but her pronunciation was incredibly clear.

If she were on Earth, she’d probably be into hip-hop.

“So what? Say it in a way I can understand.”

[Your efficiency is amazing. Totally broken.]

Should’ve said that earlier.

She already knew her body wasn’t normal.

Whether it was due to the aftermath of dimensional travel or something else, growing this much in just a week wasn’t ordinary.

Holding her breath, she activated the strange ability she recently acquired from a quadrupedal dinosaur.

A skill that made her presence fade and her breathing shallow.

“Ah, later on, can you categorize these kinds of abilities separately for me?”

After asking Belva, she slowly climbed up a tree.

With her current grip strength, she could easily climb a tree dozens of meters tall without using her feet.

She had worried that increased strength would also increase her weight, but thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

Wouldn’t it be convenient if she could control her weight freely?

Hooah.

Looking down from above was refreshing.

Especially in this jungle, feeling the cool breeze while gazing at the lush forest made her chest feel light.

But lately, the scent of blood was becoming more appealing.

The more she killed, the stronger and safer she became, which was a dangerous way to condition a human.

But it’s also why she’s still alive.

“That one. Isn’t that in my encyclopedia?”

[Correct. You’ve recorded it before.]

At that moment, she spotted a small creature rustling below.

She remembered it.

It looked like a mix between a dinosaur and a squirrel.

Agile movements.

And it could use electricity.

It was a Raptor-Thunder.

Luckily, it didn’t have long-range abilities and couldn’t climb trees, so she could safely hunt it by throwing something from a distance.

It wasn’t an easy target, but what could she do?

Clink.

She reached into her pocket and picked up a stone of suitable size.

Perhaps to preserve human dignity, she was transported wearing simple clothes, which became a precious storage space for her since she didn’t have an inventory.

Ah, thinking about it, it’s a shame.

If only she had an inventory… her quality of life would’ve been so different.

[Sorry about that.]

Listening to the pseudo-status window’s apology, she lightly dropped the stone below.

It missed by a long shot.

No big deal.

The first throw almost never hits anyway.

What’s important is the next one.

As expected, the creature quickly surrounded itself with electricity, bared its teeth, and looked in her direction.

It’s a fascinating creature in many ways.

Surviving in this world with that size couldn’t have been easy, but most electric squirrels had that aggressive temperament.

[Should I interpret this time too?]

“Nah. No need. It’s probably just a bunch of curses like last time.”

[Correct!]

Why are you saying that so cheerfully?

She frowned and threw another stone.

Of course, the creature easily dodged it.

…It’s still way faster than me.

Lately, seeing things like that made her feel more impatient than afraid.

Even after killing so many, she was still too weak.

Catching small fry like this wasn’t enough to achieve the strength she desired.

Can I achieve my goals?

As time passes,

As survival becomes more certain,

The desire to fight stronger opponents grows.

It’s a dangerous thought, but it’s an impulse that’s too attractive to resist.

[You need to judge carefully.]

Careful judgment is good.

But sometimes, I think like this.

What’s the point of living like this?

Day by day, avoiding predators, living a life of hunting down monsters that have no ability to resist or intelligence.

It’s dreadfully boring.

I needed a goal.

Just now, the monster died after being hit by the stone I threw, having exhausted its stamina.

But for me, only a small change occurred.

After a moment of thought, I came down from the tree.

Ignoring Belva’s request to think again about the danger, I slowly gripped the wooden spear.

*

<Yuyeona>

Strength: 8

Agility: 8

Stamina: 7

Magic Power: 5

Traits: In progress

“Ugh…”

[What did I tell you? You could have fought after growing more and being more careful.]

Sorry, but I don’t have the energy to respond.

It hurts.

The Raptor’s blade-like claw that cleanly pierced my abdomen gave me a sense of urgency along with extreme pain.

If I keep fighting like this, I could really get killed in one hit.

If the pierced area was my neck, head, or chest, would I still be alive?

I made a big mistake.

Fortunately, I killed the Raptor and achieved rapid growth, and my wounds have healed quite a bit.

But it’s still hard to move my body.

To be precise, I can’t put any strength into my stomach.

It was really fortunate that I managed to find a hiding place, crawling like this.

Then, Belva chimed in and spoke to me.

[I’ve discovered a new trait this time.]

What trait?

[It’s that once you achieve a certain level of growth, your body undergoes a complete reorganization.]

That’s totally… a level up.

I actually had a vague expectation of it.

The gap between strength, agility, and stamina, which was quite large, has significantly narrowed.

And importantly, magic power has also jumped up.

Is the dream of an aura blade coming true?

[What’s that?]

Imagine a glowing sword wrapped in magic power in your head, and after asking for understanding, Belva laughed after reading it.

[You have big dreams. Even creatures with magic power in the hundreds would find that difficult.]

“You bastard…”

Lately, something’s been annoying?

Is your personality coming out as we get closer?

Well, I knew it was unreasonable.

In a state where I can’t even grasp what magic power is, hoping for such a technique is shameless.

But someday, I’ll be able to do it.

Let’s give it a try while I’m at it.

I closed my eyes and tried to sense the magic power sleeping within me, lying down as I was.

Due to the rapid growth, I felt something slightly alien residing in my body.

To put it metaphorically, it feels like phlegm stuck in the throat.

…Is that a bit gross?

Anyway, I kept sensing it for a long time, but it didn’t move at all.

It just gave me a headache.

But instead of thinking of moving it, when I thought of tapping it, the magic power showed a slight reaction.

[Oh…]

Imagining an invisible hand,

I pressed hard on the gathered magic power, like performing CPR.

Then, the magic power surged and began to flow through a certain path inside my body.

It was as complexly twisted as the roots of a baobab tree, similar to the body’s blood vessels but distinctly different.

So this is the magic circuit.

The one often mentioned in novels or comics.

Something fictional, originating from someone’s creation, actually exists.

But unfortunately, the pain they described also exists.

Very vividly.

“Ugh, gah…”

The moment I made a sound, I bit my arm in fear that I might die.

Blood seeped through the tightly pressed teeth.

Every time the magic power pierced a point, my whole body shook, and cold sweat poured down like rain.

This pain was the first since I was born.

But perhaps because of the magic power’s effect, the sensations became clearer.

The magic power, already circulating, had long been out of my control.