The three days passed much faster than expected in the rainforest.
By the second day after her fever broke, Kasumigaoka Utaha was already able to move around on her own.
By the morning of the third day, she was crouching beside the stream, filling her thermos with the crystal-clear water.
Watching her from the side, Aoyama had to admit that her ability to learn and adapt was far beyond what he would consider average.
Without turning around, Utaha said, “The way you’re staring at me makes me think I have something on my face.”
“I’m checking whether you’ve actually recovered.”
“Completely recovered.”
She stood up, shook the water droplets from her hands, and turned to face him.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the canopy, falling across her face.
Her red eyes were clear and full of life.
The color had returned to her cheeks, and her lips had regained their healthy shade.
She looked completely different from the girl who had been curled up on the grass mat three days ago, burning with fever.
“Aoyama-kun, the water is ready.
Are we leaving now?”
Aoyama was silent for two seconds before nodding.
“Follow me.
Put on your backpack.”
Utaha’s eyes lit up slightly.
She quickly turned around and picked up the hiking backpack from beneath the stone overhang.
Aoyama had already put on his own pack.
The steel bar was secured to the side, while the long blade he had taken from the man with the knife hung from his waist.
After thinking for a moment, he took out the flare gun from the hiking backpack and handed it to her.
“Take this.”
Utaha accepted it and examined the flare gun.
The heavy metallic feel made her raise an eyebrow.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“For self-defense.”
Aoyama’s voice remained calm.
“If someone approaches you and gets within three meters, aim this at their chest and pull the trigger.”
“But there are only two signal flares.
Don’t use them unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“What about you?”
“I have this.”
Aoyama tapped the blade hanging from his waist.
“Tch.”
Utaha placed the flare gun into the side pocket of her backpack and looked at him.
“Aoyama-kun seems like the one who needs a ranged weapon more than I do.”
“Are you planning to charge at everyone you meet with your bare hands?”
“Close range is easier to deal with.”
“…Fine.
You’re in charge.”
The moment they stepped out of their shelter, the morning sunlight had already covered the forest path ahead.
Three days after the rain, the ground had mostly dried.
Fallen leaves mixed with soil softened their footsteps, releasing the scent of fresh plants and earth with every step.
Utaha took a deep breath, stretching her body as if she had been given a new life.
“Where are we going?” she asked while following behind him, her steps light.
“First, we’re heading toward the area where I found the herbs yesterday.”
“The terrain there is higher, and there are more types of vegetation.
We should be able to find more useful things.”
Walking ahead, Aoyama cleared the path with his blade, cutting through the vines blocking their way with smooth, efficient movements.
“Also…”
“Also what?”
“I want to find a kind of…
special food.”
Utaha tilted her head.
“Special?
What kind of special?
Poisonous mushrooms?”
Aoyama did not look back.
“It’s an insect.”
“…An insect?”
As he continued walking, he explained,
“An insect with extremely strong adaptability.
It can survive in most harsh environments.”
“If I can find it, it will help me replenish my nutrients more effectively.”
Utaha stared at him for two seconds but did not say anything.
Somehow, she felt that the “replenish my nutrients” Aoyama was talking about was not quite the same as what she understood.
However, she did not press further.
On this island, surviving was the most important thing.
As for what we eat…
She looked up at the dense canopy above them.
As long as it’s edible, that’s enough.
The two of them headed south for about forty minutes.
Along the way, Aoyama would occasionally stop, using the steel bar in his hand to move aside bushes or turn over rocks.
At first, Utaha thought he was searching for mushrooms or wild vegetables.
But after observing carefully, she realized he was actually looking for the tiny creatures hiding beneath the stones.
Fast-moving centipedes, pill bugs curled into balls, and various beetles she could not identify.
“Are all of these edible?” she finally asked.
“Some are.
Some aren’t.”
Aoyama flipped over a flat stone half-buried in the soil.
The damp earth beneath it immediately scattered, and three or four dark brown creatures rushed out, moving so quickly that they were almost impossible to see clearly.
“For example, this.”
His hand moved instantly.
With one downward strike, he caught them.
When he lifted his palm again, two struggling insects were already trapped in his hand.
Utaha leaned closer and saw that they were beetles about two centimeters long.
Their smooth shells were dark brown, their antennae moved constantly, and their six legs kicked with surprising strength.
“What are these?” she asked with a frown.
“Darkling beetles.”
“They have extremely strong adaptability.
They can survive in deserts, rainforests, and even cold regions.
Their vitality is very high.”
Aoyama held the two insects in his palm, his eyes brightening.
“This is exactly what I need.”
“You wouldn’t…”
“Yes.”
Right in front of her, Aoyama tossed the two beetles into his mouth.
Utaha froze.
Her pupils shrank, her lips parted slightly, and a small sound escaped her throat as if she had been caught off guard.
She watched as Aoyama calmly chewed twice, his throat moving as he swallowed them.
“Aoyama-kun…”
Her finger trembled slightly as she pointed at him.
“You actually ate them?!”
“Yeah.”
Without changing expression, Aoyama evaluated the taste.
“They taste a little like roasted nuts.
The shell is a bit hard, but once you crush it, it’s fine.”
“…”
Utaha took half a step back and stared at him as if she were looking at something beyond human understanding.
After several seconds, she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
“When did you start wanting to eat insects?”
“I’ve wanted to for the past few days.”
“The past few days?”
“Yeah.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the right species before.”
As he spoke, Aoyama crouched down and flipped over another stone.
This time, four or five similar beetles were hiding underneath.
He caught them efficiently, pinching them one by one between his fingers and dropping them into his mouth.
“…”
Utaha covered her mouth, desperately suppressing her discomfort.
She did not understand why Aoyama was eating these insects, but her instincts as a novelist told her that this was not something as simple as “getting protein.”
“Aoyama-kun.”
“Are you hiding something from me?”
Aoyama had just placed the fifth beetle into his mouth when he paused.
He turned his head toward her, his lips moving slightly as if considering how to answer.
“Something like that.”
“I’m strengthening myself.”
Utaha tilted her head slightly.
“Strengthening?”
Aoyama did not answer immediately.
He crouched down again and pulled out several more beetles from beneath the stone.
This time, he did not eat them right away.
Instead, he counted them first.
There were about five or six in his hand.
He looked toward a larger rock nearby.
There should be even more underneath it.
“Do you remember the crocodile from a few days ago?” he asked while pushing away the grass beside the rock.
“The one you killed by stabbing it with a steel bar?”
Aoyama glanced at her.
“Before that happened, I had eaten some things that strengthened my muscles.”
“The force behind the steel bar I threw was much greater than what I could normally produce.”
Utaha remained silent for two seconds.
Then her eyes narrowed slightly as she processed the amount of information hidden in his words.
“So…
the things you eat have special effects?”
Aoyama did not deny it.
There was no point hiding this secret.
As long as they stayed together, Utaha would eventually discover his inhuman abilities.
“Yeah.
We both crossed into this unknown world.
It sounds ridiculous, but somehow this explanation actually makes sense.”
Utaha stared at him for a long time, her expression complicated.
She slowly exhaled and leaned against a tree trunk, crossing her arms.
“Aoyama-kun, you…”
“You’re becoming less and less like a normal high school student.”
“Maybe.”
Aoyama continued flipping over the large rock.
Underneath it was a sizable colony of darkling beetles, with more than a dozen packed together.
He quickly grabbed them one by one and ate them.
The fifth.
The tenth.
The fifteenth.
When he swallowed the eighteenth beetle, the familiar virtual panel appeared before his eyes once again.
A pale blue screen floated in the air, its edges flickering slightly.
Only he could see it.
[Feeding Record: Darkling Beetle (Adult) ×20]
[Current Progress: 20/20 (Complete)]
[Ability Unlocked: Environmental Adaptation]
[Effect: The immune system receives significant enhancement.
Temperature regulation ability is improved, greatly increasing resistance to extreme climates such as high heat, low temperatures, humidity, and dryness.
(Basal metabolic efficiency optimized, allowing energy to be extracted from food more effectively.)]
Aoyama stared at the panel, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from rising.
“Success!”