There was an old woodsman’s adage in the wilderness: First the boar, second the bear, third the tiger.
Although wild boars appeared clumsy and heavy-footed, they were among the most territorial and fiercely aggressive beasts in nature.
Their sheer mass, bone-crushing strength, and pair of razor-sharp tusks made them an absolute nightmare for humans.
When threatened or provoked, a full-grown boar would charge blindly with terrifying momentum, capable of snapping saplings in half.
In Japanese, people often used the phrase chototsu moshin—reckless, headlong rush—to describe people with explosive tempers, directly inspired by the beast’s violent charges.
In an untamed jungle, underestimating a wild boar was a guaranteed death sentence.
“Wh-what should we do?”
Watching Kato Jun squatting over the tracks in deep concentration, Yukino Yukinoshita felt a rising tide of unease constricting her chest.
“It’s fine.
The trees here are quite thick and have dense branches, making them easy to climb.
Even if a wild boar comes, we just need to climb a tree in time…”
After carefully weighing the terrain, Kato Jun stood up and made a quick decision.
“However, to be safe, let’s still walk in the opposite direction of these footprints.”
He pointed toward a ridge leading away from the muddy depressions.
“Mm…”
Yukino Yukinoshita was now completely holding onto Kato Jun’s arm.
Her fingers clutched the sleeve of his jacket with white-knuckled intensity.
Although her clinging made maneuvering through the underbrush awkward and restricted his swinging arm, Kato Jun didn’t pull away.
They had already traveled far from the safety of the coast; allowing her to trek back alone through the spider-infested canopy was out of the question.
Keeping her right by his side was by far the safer choice.
With that thought in mind, Kato Jun heightened his senses, shifting his primary focus from searching for traces of his sister to actively protecting the girl at his side.
After putting considerable distance between themselves and the boar tracks, the suffocating tension finally began to lift.
The suffocating humidity gave way to a breezy clearing, and the once-silent canopy echoed with the melodic chirping of native birds.
They eventually reached a sun-dappled grassy knoll, settling down with their backs against the trunk of a broad banyan tree.
Glancing at the sky, Kato Jun realized it was already past noon.
Checking their condition, he noted that the high-stress encounters and constant state of alert had taken a heavy toll on their physical stamina and mental stability.
It was time to take a much-needed break.
“Yukinoshita-san, let’s eat something and rest for a bit.”
Kato Jun took out the fish and coconut water he had brought, spreading them on the ground.
“Okay…”
Yukino Yukinoshita’s heart rate finally calmed down, and she seemed much more at ease after sitting down.
However, compared to her usual razor-sharp banter, she was uncharacteristically subdued today.
The salted fillets, cooked that very morning, retained their savory freshness.
Kato Jun ravenously devoured his portion within minutes.
Yukino Yukinoshita, on the other hand, lacked any semblance of an appetite.
After taking only two small, delicate bites, she set her wooden skewers down.
Every time her eyes fell upon the white fish bones, vivid memories of the monstrous, arachnid-choked canopy flooded her mind.
The nightmare of those bird-sized spiders and thick cobwebs hung over her consciousness like a shroud; she was almost certain she would suffer nightmares tonight.
“Yukinoshita-san…
I think we should turn back.
Let’s call it a day, alright?”
Noticing her pale complexion and lingering tremor, Kato Jun gently suggested calling off the expedition.
“Turn back…”
Although anxiety gnawed at her, Yukinoshita was far too perceptive not to realize that he was deliberately cutting the trip short out of consideration for her well-being.
“It’s only just noon.
I can still continue…”
Her innate pride and stubbornness refused to let her be a burden.
“But you’ve barely touched your lunch…”
Kato Jun pointed to the plastic container in her lap, which was still virtually untouched.
“Ah, maybe I ate too much fish yesterday, so my appetite is just poor today.
But don’t worry, I’m not hungry at all right now…
Kato-kun, if you haven’t eaten enough, you can have my share!”
Averting her gaze to conceal her little lie, she hurriedly passed her bowl into his hands.
“Alright then.
Make sure you drink plenty of coconut water…”
Reluctantly accepting the food, Kato Jun handed his carved wooden canteen over to her.
“Ah!
Okay…”
As soon as she passed the bowl across, a jolt went through Yukinoshita’s mind.
Wait…
that’s an indirect kiss!
She instinctively reached out to snatch it back, but Kato Jun had already taken a large bite without a second thought.
The mouthful he chewed was the very piece she had previously nibbled on.
Yukino Yukinoshita called his name, her face flushed.
“What’s wrong?”
Kato Jun asked somewhat obtusely, looking at Yukinoshita, who had suddenly blushed.
“N-Nothing…”
Forget it, he’s already swallowed it anyway…
And in a desperate survival situation like this, making a fuss over an indirect kiss makes me look utterly ridiculous…
Giving in to a wave of self-conscious defeat, Yukinoshita uncapped his canteen and took a thirsty sip of the sweet coconut water inside.
Yet the realization that her lips were now touching the exact rim his mouth had just left behind only sent another wave of heat racing up her neck.
“…”
Belatedly, Kato Jun’s brain pieced together the source of her sudden embarrassment.
No wonder that bite tasted unusually sweet…
An indirect kiss…
Kato Jun couldn’t resist sneaking a glance at her radiant, rose-tinted cheeks.
His eyes wandered toward her delicate, petal-like lips—slightly parted and glistening with moisture from the coconut water.
The breathtaking curve of her mouth tempted him with an overwhelming urge to lean in and taste them for real.
“Alright, Kato-kun, we…
we should get moving!”
Feeling the intense, scorching heat of his gaze, Yukinoshita hastily capped the container, scrambling to break the agonizingly intimate atmosphere between them.
“Wait, don’t move!”
Kato Jun shouted loudly, stopping Yukino Yukinoshita who was about to stand up from the ground.
“What…
what are you…”
Suddenly being ordered to freeze in place, Yukinoshita’s heart leaped into her throat.
Kato-kun wouldn’t…
try to take advantage of me out here in the woods, would he…?
The very next second, however, the real reason for his command chilled her blood to ice.
A cold, heavy, muscular pressure coiled against her ankle.
It slithered methodically up her bare shin, brushed past her knee, and wound its way across her trembling thigh toward her waist.
A snake.
From the periphery of her vision, Yukinoshita caught sight of a thick, banded serpent leisurely draping itself over her lap.
Wh-what should I do…?
Her wide, terror-stricken eyes locked onto Kato Jun, silently pleading for salvation.
“Stay calm, don’t move a single muscle…
I’m going to get you out of this…”
Recognizing that panic would trigger an immediate, lethal strike, Yukinoshita steeled her nerves.
Drawing strength from the unwavering determination in Kato Jun’s eyes, she forcibly suppressed the violent trembling in her limbs.
She wanted to live.
Across from her, Kato Jun stood frozen like a man confronting an executioner.
The serpent resting across her lap was easily two meters long, adorned in vibrant, alternating rings of crimson, pitch-black, and bright yellow.
Red and black, friend of Jack…
Red and yellow, kill a fellow!
Damn it all, it’s a coral snake!
His pupils contracted sharply.
The neurotoxin of a coral snake was violently potent, causing respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest within hours.
It had likely been sunning itself in the lower canopy of the banyan tree and slithered down, lured by the body heat of their resting spot and the smell of fresh fish.
I should have swept the canopy above before setting down our gear!
Kato Jun dug his fingernails into his palms, forcing his adrenaline-fueled tremor into submission.
If I lose my head, she’s dead.
I have to stay calm.
“Yukinoshita, I’m going to use a forked stick.
Hold as still as you can!
I’ll save you!”
His strategy was simple: the classic forked-stick pin.
The moment the serpent’s head moved away from her vital areas, he would drive the wooden fork directly behind the snake’s neck, pinning its head to the turf and rendering its fangs useless.
It was the most reliable, foolproof method known to wilderness hunters.
Scanning the ground, his eyes caught the walking staff Yukinoshita had dropped—its tip featured a natural, sturdy V-shaped fork.
Moving with agonizing slowness, Kato Jun eased the stick into his grasp, holding his breath as he waited for the serpent to shift.
Hiss…
hiss…
The serpent flicked its dark, forked tongue, tasting the air as it surveyed the boy in front of it.
Deciding he was neither food nor an immediate threat, it redirected its attention toward the plastic bowl sitting on the grass, where several scraps of warm, aromatic fish remained.
Sliding its smooth, banded body down from Yukinoshita’s lap, the snake glided toward the bowl. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
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With explosive speed, Kato Jun drove the forked stick downward like a lightning bolt, pinning the serpent’s neck firmly into the soft earth.
The moment its head was pinned, the coral snake went berserk.
Its thick, muscular tail whipped violently through the air, thrashing against the grass as it coiled desperately around the shaft.
Kato Jun leaned all of his body weight onto the stick, maintaining brutal, unwavering pressure until the creature’s frenzied struggles gradually subsided into weak spasms.
“Yukinoshita, quickly get behind me!”
Kato Jun commanded without taking his eyes off the pinned reptile.
“Mm!”
Yukinoshita scrambled to her feet, but her paralyzed legs gave out beneath her, sending her tumbling forward.
“Ahhh!”
Seeing the thrashing tail flail mere inches from her nose, she let out a muffled shriek of pure terror, crawling desperately on hands and knees until she was huddled safely behind Kato Jun’s back.
“It’s alright, it’s over now…”
Kato Jun used his free hand to reach behind and gently stroke her trembling shoulder.
Tears were streaming down her face, her breath coming in ragged, terrified gasps.
She had been an inch away from a horrific death.
He saved me…
Kato-kun actually saved my life…
Overwhelmed with relief, Yukinoshita buried her face against his back, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist as she muffled her sobs.
“Yukinoshita-san, if you can still move your arms, please hand me the plastic cup from my pack…”
Knowing the snake was completely immobilized, Kato Jun had no intention of letting such a rare resource go to waste.
“Okay…
But Kato-kun, what are you going to do with that?”
Sniffling, Yukinoshita wiped her tears on her sleeve and retrieved the plastic cup, gazing at him with unreserved dependence and trust.
“I need to extract the snake’s venom.”
Kato Jun smiled faintly as he accepted the container.
“Snake venom?”
“That’s right, snake venom is an incredible asset…
If we coat our arrowheads with it, we’ll stand a real fighting chance even if we run into a wild boar next time…”
“I see…”
Yukinoshita nodded, slowly understanding his reasoning.
Securing a potent biological toxin would turn their fragile wooden arrows into lethal hunting weapons.
If they could take down a wild boar, the rewards—fat, pork, hides, and bone tools—would elevate their survival quality drastically.
Steeling his grip, Kato Jun firmly pinched the base of the snake’s skull between his thumb and forefinger, lifting its head and pressing the exposed fangs against the inner rim of the plastic cup.
The hollow fangs functioned like miniature hypodermic needles.
Under pressure, thick, amber-colored drops of concentrated neurotoxin trickled down the plastic wall.
Ding!
Acquired Coral Snake Venom.
Neurotoxin Charges: 5 / 5 (Durability).
Effect: Direct coating application to weapon blades and projectile tips.
No refinement required.
A five-charge lethal coating…
convenient as always.
Kato Jun carefully sealed the cup with a strip of plastic wrap and stored it securely in his pack.
Drawing his sharpened iron blade, he cleanly severed the snake’s head with a single downward stroke.
Ding!
Completed survival milestone: Slew a Deadly Venomous Serpent.
Reward: Maximum Stamina, Health, Hunger, and Sanity caps increased by +10.
Kato Jun: Hunger: 170 / 180 (Satiated) Health: 190 / 190 Stamina: 150 / 190 Sanity: 160 / 180 Skill: Absolute Stat Lock (3 Hours)
With these added milestone bonuses, his average stats were hovering right on the verge of the 200-point threshold.
It wouldn’t be long before his second system skill unlocked.
“Yukinoshita-san, let’s end our expedition here for today.”
Using his blade, Kato Jun quickly dug a deep hole in the soil and buried the serpent’s severed head and body, masking the metallic scent of reptile blood from prowling scavengers.
Although the two-meter body contained a sizable amount of meat, carrying a bleeding carcass through an uncharted jungle was asking for trouble.
More importantly, Yukinoshita’s sanity values had plummeted from sheer terror; pushing her any further today would lead to a mental collapse.
Retreating to camp to consolidate their gains was the wisest move.
“Mm…”
Yukinoshita whispered meekly, offering no resistance.
A profound sense of guilt mingled with her gratitude; she felt she had done nothing but hold him back and drag him into life-threatening danger.
Looking at the broad, dependable back of the boy walking ahead of her, the lingering walls around her heart crumbled away.
Yukino Yukinoshita’s Affinity: 79 (Continuously Rising).