The morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, spilling onto Otto’s face.
Otto stretched lazily, crawled out of the hay-strewn “luxury single room,” rubbed his slightly stiff neck, walked out of the cave, and glanced at the dirt mound he had piled up with his own hands yesterday.
The dirt mound remained untouched, and there were no traces of beasts scratching around it.
“It seems my body-burial skills are quite up to par; I didn’t let the other beasts in this forest take advantage of it.” Otto nodded with great satisfaction, silently sighing that not only was he capable in both civil and martial arts, but he had also unlocked a lifestyle secondary profession.
Since it was dawn, he had to continue on his journey.
Fully awake, Otto patted the dust off his purple jacket and began to walk.
As he walked, he suddenly realized a rather counterintuitive problem.
“Come to think of it…
why don’t I feel hungry?”
Ever since he time-traveled yesterday afternoon until now, he had only drunk a little water, let alone eaten anything.
According to the metabolism of a normal adult male, he should be at least a little hungry by now, but not only did he not feel hungry, he even felt quite energetic.
Otto pinched his own cheeks to confirm he didn’t have a Soul Steel body.
Although having a Soul Steel body could be considered a good thing, an ordinary body was still more comfortable.
[Divine Comment: “It’s best to test the weight.
If there is no other technology, a Soul Steel body should be heavier than a human body [Thinking]”]
Walking around randomly like this for about ten minutes, he suddenly noticed that the trees ahead were becoming sparse, and the light was getting brighter and brighter.
This scene perfectly matched the saying—walking a few dozen steps more, and suddenly opening up to a clear view!
Otto quickened his pace, shoved away the last few bushes, and the dazzling sunlight instantly flooded his entire body.
Before his eyes was no longer the dark, damp, towering trees, but an endless, vast plain where a breeze swept across the verdant green grass.
“Finally!
I’ratherve finally come out!”
“Finally!
I’ve finally come out!” Otto spread his arms, took a deep breath of fresh air, and shouted chuunibyou-style, “Otto’s Jungle Chronicle, officially wrapped!”
Although getting out of the forest would probably just seamlessly transition from “wilderness survival” to “otherworld adventure tale,” as long as he didn’t have to sleep in a cave every day, that was still a qualitative leap.
However, Otto’s joy only lasted half an hour.
When Otto walked under the sun across this open plain for a full half hour, he once again profoundly understood the deep meaning of the phrase “the road is long and far.”
Looking out, it was all grass and land.
Not to mention villages and towns, there wasn’t even a ghost of a shadow.
“No, isn’t this plot development a bit too slow-burn?” Otto muttered quietly as he walked.
“Where is the promised main plotline?
At worst, the protagonist of other time-travel web novels should be making soap, salt, or gunpowder in the city to initiate a dimensional reduction strike by now, right?
How did it become Bear Grylls in another world when it comes to me?”
Just as Otto was full of complaints and ready to find a stone to sit down and contemplate life—
“Help—!
There are bandits—!”
A faint but shrill cry drifted over with the wind.
Otto’s ears instantly perked up.
The plot was here!
He carefully discerned the direction and ran toward the source of the sound.
Running for a little over a minute, Otto climbed over a small dirt mound and saw the scene ahead clearly.
In the middle of a dirt road, a long carriage loaded with goods was parked.
Around the carriage, ten barbarians wearing ragged animal skins and holding rusted iron knives and wooden sticks were tightly surrounding the carriage.
Beside the carriage, only two guards wearing decent leather armor were holding long swords and struggling to hold on, while a fat man in plain clothes was huddling under the carriage with a few others, shivering.
Otto’s eyes narrowed.
Isn’t this kind of setup just a robbery?
Right at this moment, the system panel in his mind popped up.
[Ding!
Triggered side quest: Protect the Caravan]
[Quest Details: As a bishop full of a sense of justice, how can you sit idly by and watch someone get murdered for their money?
Go, protect the caravan, and repel the bandits!
For God!]
[Quest Reward: 320 coins.]
Looking at this chuunibyou-overflowing quest description, the corners of Otto’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.
“You, a gacha system, what are you shouting ‘For God’ for?
Did you cross over into the Crusades?” Otto muttered as he reached into his jacket pocket, “Even if you didn’t issue a quest, I’m taking this hero-saves-the-beauty—oh wait, hero-saves-the-fat-guy scenario anyway.”
Facing ten fierce barbarians, Otto knew very well how much he weighed; going up to engage in close combat with the dull blade?
That was courting death.
Otto decisively pulled out the golden Void Archives cube.
“Mimicry!”
With a flash of light, a modern pistol appeared in Otto’s hand.
Although Otto, combined past and present life, had only fired a gun once yesterday, the distance between both sides was only twenty to thirty meters now, and these ten barbarians were even clustered together.
[If I can still miss at this distance, Bole would probably have to wake up from his coffin with a carp flip and shout ‘Fine horse!’ at me.]
Otto held the gun with both hands, aimed at the densest part of the crowd, and decisively pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The deafening gunshot exploded across the plain.
In this medieval era where even guns didn’t exist, this sound was no different from thunder.
Several bullets roared out.
The three barbarians rushing at the very front didn’t even react to what happened before blood burst from their bodies, falling dead on the spot without even a scream.
As for the other two barbarians, although Otto didn’t hit their vital spots, the bullets directly pierced through their shoulders and thighs.
In an era where medical standards were zero, getting shot basically meant waiting to die, and the two immediately fell to the ground, wailing in agony.
This sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.
The remaining five barbarians were so frightened that they dropped their weapons to the ground, staring blankly at their companions lying in a pool of blood.
“What is this?!” a barbarian cried out in panic.
The opportunity had come!
The two guards had professional integrity after all.
Seeing the enemy dazed, they immediately seized the opportunity, wielding their long swords and teaming up to chop down the closest barbarian.
Seeing that the effect was achieved, Otto immediately deactivated the mimicry of the pistol, turning it back into a golden cube and putting it back into his pocket.
[Divine Comment: “I remember Void Archives can parasitize human bodies [Thinking] Otto as a child [Thinking]”]
After all, if he fired a few more shots with this thing, explaining it to these natives afterward would be too troublesome; he couldn’t possibly give them a lecture on the principles of modern thermal weapons.
Then he backhanded and drew the dull blade from his waist, charging straight ahead.
The remaining four barbarians had long lost their will to fight and turned to run.
Cooperating with the two guards who had caught their breath, Otto finished off the remaining bandits cleanly in a flash.
[Ding!
Side quest completed.]
[Reward: 320 coins issued.]
The system prompt sounded at the right time, putting Otto in a great mood.
This meant two more pulls; it seemed getting rich still depended on robbery…
oh wait, on upholding justice.
The battle ended, and a faint smell of blood lingered in the air.
The two guards with minor injuries hurriedly put away their long swords and bowed respectfully to Otto with a hand-on-chest salute.
The plump, blue-eyed merchant in plain clothes with a beard also crawled out from under the carriage, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as he walked quickly up to Otto.
The merchant looked at Otto’s impossibly handsome face, then at his attire which was definitely top-tier even among nobles, and his tone instantly turned incomparably humble and respectful.
[Divine Comment: “With a modern person’s nutritional level and temperament, as long as they can hold their ground in ancient times, they are definitely a noble.
Of course, I’m talking about normal people.
[Eating melon]”]
“Oh!
Praise the merciful Lord!
Praise you!
This brave and noble righteous man, if it weren’t for your righteous action, my caravan and I would probably have perished in the wilderness today.” The fat merchant bowed repeatedly, then cautiously raised his head and asked, “May I ask, Sir, how should we address you?”
The two guards and the NPCs who had just gotten up also pricked up their ears.
Otto put away the dull blade and straightened up.
Facing the breeze across the plain, he let his golden long hair flutter slightly, then hooked the corner of his mouth into a mysterious yet slightly compassionate, perfect smile.
To increase his aura of superiority, Otto slowed down his speech and answered in a calm tone:
“Otto.”
“Otto Apocalypse.”