Three more days have passed, and I’ve finally managed to fully absorb the magic of the shrimp stone. It took longer than expected, but the result was better than I’d hoped.
— Open panel.
═══════════════════════════════════
| [Name]: Rafael | | [Race]: Human |
| [Level]: 01 | | [Magic Power]: 01 |
───────────────────────────────────
[Skills]
| [Armorer]: 03 | | [Weaponsmith]: 03 |
| [Hunter]: 07 | | [Gatherer]: 10 |
| [Builder]: 05 | | [Cook]: 05 |
| [Determination]: 08 | | [Stabber]: 11 |
| [Scythesman]: 07 | | [Toolmaker]: 03 |
| [Immunity]: 01 | | [Spearman]: 07 |
| [Survivor]: 07 | | [Tolerance]: 12 |
───────────────────────────────────
[Magics]
| [Protective Membrane]: 01 |
═══════════════════════════════════
— I finally have magic! — I celebrate, lying in my bed.
Looking at my magic power and my new magic, I realize that my gamble paid off and that I’m finally starting to feel hopeful about surviving in this world.
— Not only did I gain magic power, but I also gained an interesting magic… [Protective Membrane]
I look at my finger and a thin membrane appears on it, but it doesn’t last even a second before disappearing. On top of that, a headache hits me, making me close my eyes and take a deep breath.
— Haa… The level of this magic and my magic power are still very low… And seeing how it works, letting the shrimp die of dehydration was the best option.
After recovering for a while, I open my eyes and look at two magic stones in my hands. One came from the ant, and the other I recently obtained from the parrot.
— Should I keep trying? I need more magic power to use magics...
After succeeding once, my hesitation lessened, and I soon chose the one from the parrot. I’m still a little afraid of what might happen if I try the one from the ant.
— What kind of magic could that creature have?
As I’m thinking, I look at my panel again and notice there’s one more new thing.
— Immunity? Is that like my immune system? If so, then did I have some kind of bacteria or virus in me?
Considering how I haven’t been feeling well for a while now, this might mean I really did end up with something infecting me.
— …Maybe that plant? No, I’d have been dead a long time ago if that were the case.
The only answer I can think of is that the meat or the water is contaminated, but now that I have [Immunity], I should start feeling better as it increases.
— Time to get some water… I don’t want to move.
After lying down for a while longer, I force my body to get up. I’m not sure if I’m already feeling the effects of [Determination] or if it’s just my survival instinct pushing me to keep going, but even though I’m completely exhausted, I go out every morning to collect water.
As I step onto the ground, I feel a stabbing pain in my wrapped ankle. Since I was using my shirt to hold the scythe, I decided to tear off a piece to tie around my ankle, like a bandage.
I don’t know if it worked, since the pain is still the same, but the [Tolerance] skill is rising so much that it has already surpassed all the others.
— Man, at least it’s just a sprain…
I also feel pain in my knees and hands, but those are milder than the ankle.
I slip my foot into the flip-flop I patched up after what happened before. It was hard not having something like a nail to attach it with, but I managed to tie it down with a piece of the shrimp’s antennae.
— Alright… Let’s go.
I grab my gear and head to the spring, just like every morning. The trail to the spring is practically marked by my footsteps, looking like a path that’s been there for quite some time.
The bucket sways slightly in my hand as I walk carefully. I use my scythe as a cane to help me walk.
As I walk, I start thinking about some questions that have been on my mind since I arrived on this island.
— Why an island?
Honestly, if they were going to send me to another world, just sending me to some more isolated village or something like that would have been enough.
But instead, I was sent to an unknown island, with giant insects, and having to survive for a month before being rescued.
— …Am I being tested?
I’m afraid I might be wrong, so I won’t test it, but maybe this is just a simulation to see if I could handle moving on to the novel’s world.
— So, if I die, I’ll probably return to my world, but if my hypothesis is wrong…
I avoid thinking about it and dismiss that option. Even if it’s true, the risk is too high to try.
— If this really is a test, are there others going through the same thing as me?
That’s certainly a viable possibility, since I wasn’t the only reader of the novel, but then I remember a phrase that’s been bothering me.
“This world is real, and the story was created based on calculations and probabilities.”
— If that’s true, then my theory is completely wrong and I've become a pawn on someone's chessboard… But why me?
That’s my biggest question, since if that’s true, then I must be on this island to give me a sense of survival.
The reason for this isn’t clear, and I probably won’t find out anytime soon.
— I just hope that this being who foresees the future is a good person.
As these thoughts cross my mind, I arrive at the usual spring.
— Putting the future aside, I must take care of the present.
I fill my bucket with water after washing myself and my gear. This has practically become a routine for me.
After feeling more refreshed, I begin to slowly make my way back to the cabin.
— I’m so tired of all this…
I feel like I’ve been living here for years, but when I count the days that have passed, I realize that not even half of them have gone by yet.
And that just makes me more discouraged, wanting all of this to be over soon.
— When I get out of here, I just want to rest and live quietly in some corner… I won’t even dare to get close to the main characters of this novel.
Even though I say that, I still have a bad feeling, especially since I’ve read novels where the character says they’re going to distance themselves, but ends up getting closer.
— … Please, let me stay away from it all and return to my world.
I don’t know who I just prayed to, but getting involved in the madness that was this novel’s story is basically asking me to die.
The only reason the main character survived and solved everything is clearly because he’s the main character and came in as a cheat from outside the dungeon.
If I end up joining in, not even the protagonist can save me from the worst.
— Only he has the cliché of being on the brink of death and getting stronger… I’d just die for real.
Because I was thinking so deeply, I almost fell after failing to notice that the scythe had gotten tangled in some roots. I manage to stay on my feet by leaning against the tree, but I end up cutting my hand.
— What on earth is happening to me? Why have I been having such bad luck lately?
Despite the rare moments of luck, I’ve had so much bad luck since I arrived on this island that I almost think I’m cursed.
— Would there be any reason to curse me like this? I haven’t even been discovered yet…
As I think about this, I arrive at the cabin and simply throw myself into the hammock.
— So many questions and no answers… Not even the system to answer them.
Thinking this, I open the panel and remember the magic I’ve acquired.
— Okay… Let’s see if another magic comes up.
I get up and go inside, looking for the magic stones I still have. After weighing the pros and cons of each one, I decide to try the parrot’s.
— Honestly, the ant one seemed more useful, since they say ants can carry twice their weight… But who’s to say that would be its magic?
I’m not sure if I’ll get another magic or if the shrimp one was a one-off, so it’s better to bet on the parrot one first, which, despite being similar, seems to have a slightly stronger glow.
Besides, there’s that whole story behind the ant stone, and throwing up can’t be good for my health, especially if I’m doing it all the time.
— Time to become a relentless wizard!
[To be continued…]
[???]:
— …I wonder if he’ll get angry when he finds out he was chosen by winning a lottery… Or rather, losing?