-= Day Six =-
"Achoo!"
Wiping my nose, I huddled beneath a tree that blocked most of the rain. I stared out at the churning, rocky ocean waves.
'Stupid System. Stupid sand. Stupid monkeys.'
To say I'd been having a splendid time alone on a jungle island would be like saying I didn't like boobs—an absolute fucking lie.
"Fuck. Fu— Achoo!"
I was cold, hungry and thirsty. I knew nothing about survival and the one time I'd actually managed to make a fire, a fucking storm hit the island and destroyed both the flame and all the food I'd gathered.
'And some would say this is just a small storm.'
What pissed me off even more was that the System wasn't helping me. Sure, I was grateful for the Heavenly Restriction—pretty sure it's the only reason I hadn't dropped dead from starvation or dehydration—but at this point, it felt pointless.
"System?"
No response.
"System, help?"
Still nothing.
I knew I wouldn't get an answer, but I had nothing better to do than sit under a tree and wait for the storm to pass.
Rustle
I froze, not daring to turn toward the sound coming from my left.
Rustle
"OoAh?"
I jolted and instinctively turned. 'An injured monkey?'
There, in front of me, was a monkey—missing its left arm and right eye.
"Ooah!" it shrieked before freezing as the storm intensified. Then it ran to the tree… and huddled right next to me.
'S-so much blood!'
Whatever was left in my stomach started rising up as I took in the sight—and the smell.
I was scared shitless. I didn't know if it would snap and kill me once it got over the storm.
"...Ooah."
It leaned against me. I turned slowly and felt a spark of hope. Maybe it would be friendly until the storm passed.
'At least I have company…'
*Ding!*
I froze. The injured monkey made a curious noise at the action, but I didn't pay attention. Fear and distraction gripped me.
————
#Trial Quest#
A man must break through their fears!
Kill 1 Animal! — 0/1
Reward: Survival Kit
————
My stomach twisted at the thought. Already surrounded by blood—and now I was expected to kill?
'It's injured!'
Still, my eyes drifted toward one of the coconuts I'd never been able to break before.
'B-but…'
The storm roared louder, making both of us flinch and huddle closer. My hand crept toward the coconut on the ground. I felt disgust scratching at the back of my throat—but I waited.
'I… I need to do it.'
I waited for the storm to roar again. And it did—louder than before. Waves crashed violently, the ground seemed to tremble.
This time, only the monkey flinched.
With determination, I gripped the coconut tight and twisted toward it.
I struck.
Right into the monkey's remaining eye.
"OAAH!"
Its scream burned into my soul, but I ignored it and slammed the coconut down again. And again. Blood slowly coated it, dripping down my hands, soaking the sand. I didn't stop.
*Ding!*
[Quest: A man must break through their fears! — Completed. Reward Granted!]
Party poppers echoed behind me, but I couldn't hear them over the thumping of my heart and the rain.
I stared at my hands, soaked in blood, the sand below dyed red.
The monkey's blood still poured out. My stomach twisted—not in guilt, but hunger.
"Am… Am I a murderer?"
I knew how ridiculous that sounded. It wasn't a human.
But it had still been alive. And I had killed it.
My eyes drifted to the glistening, bloodied flesh. Drool slipped from my mouth.
'I… I should eat it. To honor it…'
I knew I should cook it. But without fire and with hunger gnawing at my insides, I leaned down.
Its side was torn open. Flesh shimmered with blood.
I opened my mouth and bit in.
Metallic blood coated my tongue. I swallowed, bit deeper, tore off a chunk of flesh and chewed. It was tough. Chewy.
'So good.'
I was sure that if I'd eaten anything else today—meat, especially—I would've puked.
But I'd gone too long. Spent too many days eating bitter berries and nothing else.
I was craving meat. Even if it was this.
•—•—•
An hour passed and I was back to sitting, waiting for the storm to pass. Now, however, I read the blue panel that had appeared sometime after I killed the monkey.
————
#Rewards#
+10 XP (Trial Quest)
+5 XP (Monkey)
x1 Survival Kit
Includes:
x1 Firestarter (Magnesium Rod)
x1 Crude Hunting Knife
x1 Waterskin (Holds 1 Liter)
Rope (33 Feet)
Tip: Make Fire with Firestarter and Knife!
————
I could cry— actually, I was crying. This was huge. While it wouldn't fix all my problems, it meant I had a better chance of not completely dying.
"N-now to wait for the storm…" I shivered as the wind grew stronger, but despite that, I couldn't help but smile at the prospect of survival.
"Achoo!"
-=Day 9=-
I had done it for the fourth time now.
Standing over a wounded monkey tied up with rope, I clutched my knife tightly before plunging it into its skull, piercing the brain. Ignoring the small whine it let out, I exhaled deeply and then inhaled.
"System, stats."
————
#Stats#
Name: Masaru Fukuda
Age: 8 (19)
Tier: 1
Level: 0
XP: 65/100 -> 70/100
STR: 0.8 (+8)
DEX: 1 (+8)
CON: 1.1 (+8)
————
To the untrained eye, they wouldn't realize how glorious my stats were.
"At least this officially confirms my theory." My stats were able to grow without me needing to train though I wouldn't stop, since training helped with more than just survival. I wasn't sure what the average stats were for a adult in One Piece or for kids, but I assumed it was higher than one.
"If only the damn thing would answer my questions." The System still hadn't responded to any of my inquiries — even the ones I'd asked before.
"Though it's not all bad." I grumbled as I began dragging the corpse to my new setup by a tree overlooking the beach.
I was close to leveling up. I wasn't sure what that meant, but hopefully, it would give me more than just a higher number.
'I swear to God, if it's just a number increase, I'm letting myself get eaten by a shark.'
Sighing, I saw my camp ahead and slowed my pace to save energy. As I approached, I let go of the body and started preparing a fire to cook the meat once I skinned it.
While doing so, I thought about my water situation. I was doing okay. The storm had lasted two whole days and after I fully recovered mentally, I grabbed the waterskin and used leaves to fill it with rainwater. Since then, I'd rationed it carefully and only drunk half of it.
But I knew I needed to find a water source soon.
One idea beyond just looking for a stream was to search for turtles and take their shells to use as rain catchers and maybe even as pots to boil seawater. It wouldn't be perfect, but I believed I'd be fine since I hadn't gotten sick from random berries or from eating raw meat.
"Though I'd prefer to find some clean water…" Sighing, I started the slow, careful process of skinning the fur and hide from the meat. I knew I was probably doing it wrong, but I didn't know any other way—and it was better than the first time I tried.
-=Day 11=-
"And done!" I stepped back, wiping the sweat from my brow as I admired my handiwork, a wooden frame tied with rope, that allowed monkey pelt to stretch. From everything I knew, the pelt needed to be stretched. I wasn't exactly sure why, but I just knew it was necessary.
"Now to do my daily training, then onto finding water." Dropping down, I started doing push-ups.
"One… two…"
Though two more days had passed, I still hadn't leveled up. That was partly because I hadn't killed any more monkeys, relying instead on the XP from Survive the Nights Quest while focusing on training to boost my stats and of course, finding water. Something I still hadn't managed to locate.
"Thirty-three… thirty-four…"
My first plan for finding water was to walk along the beach in one direction for an hour, then return to camp and head the opposite way for another hour—hoping to spot an opening to the jungle that might reveal a river or some other water source. But luck had evaded me, I'd found nothing.
So today, my plan was to go deeper into the jungle. I'd walk from camp, counting my steps. If I didn't find any water by the hundredth or the three hundredth step, I'd turn back.
"Ninety-nine… one hundred!" I stood up, lowered into a squat, and began counting again.