บท 6: Chapter 2: Part 1
"…Good morning."
I had no idea what time it was, I couldn't see any sunlight as it was blocked by the dense trees, and the ambient light was so dim. I must have fainted after the death match with the monster, so it's probably evening now.
Apparently, I'm still alive, but my whole body is screaming at me with pain. It's clear that if I don't do something to recover, I won't live much longer. What should I do first?
I looked at my surroundings with just my eyes. All around me were assorted furs, meat, bones, internal organs, and other body parts from dismantling the monster. Even if I do cook as a hobby, it was a grotesque and nauseating spectacle.
Next… Ah, right, let's check my status.
Name : Tsukuru Sumeragi
Job : Chef, Level 123
Skill : [Cooking] [Ignition] [Dismantling] [Detailed Appraisal] [Material Storage] [Spring Water] [Recovery Meal] [Tool Maintenance] [Ingredient Detection]
Attributes : HP [D] | MP [D] | STR [D] | INT [B] | AGI [D] | DEX [EX] | LUK [EX]
My level is already in the three digits. That monster's level must have been ridiculously high. Next time, let's check its level with [Detailed Appraisal].
I'm kidding, I never want to see one of those again!
My attributes have also risen, except for DEX [EX] and LUK [EX].
However, even though my level has gone up beyond a hundred, my STR is still [D]… Hmm, probably because [Chef] is not an occupation suitable for battle.
Next I took a look at my skills. I had four extras compared to last time. I did my best to use [Detailed Appraisal] on these four: [Spring Water] [Recovery Meal] [Tool Maintenance] [Ingredient Detection].
Spring Water ⇒ You can produce and drink as much water as you want!
Recovery Meal ⇒ You can make a meal that recovers injuries and illnesses?
Tool Maintenance ⇒ You can fix any tool, even if it has a chipped edge!
Ingredient Detection ⇒ You can find anything that can be used as an ingredient!
If I had another status plate, I would have thrown this one. Unfortunately, I can't afford to do that now. Moreover, the condition of my body makes moving so painful I could shed tears.
None of that matters now. This is it.
"[Spring Water]"
I imagined slowly pouring water into my mouth, and after so long… I finally had something to gulp down. Delicious. Water is so delicious! I shed tears of joy over this taste.
"Ahh~"
I'd quenched my thirst. Next, the only way to get out of this near-death situation was probably to try [Recovery Meal]. However, what's that question mark at the end of its description supposed to mean? It's making me nervous.
I forced my sore body to move. When the monster got dismantled, several chunks of meat fell to the ground, so I moved to the closest one desperately.
I crawled towards it at the blistering speed of one meter per minute. There were various other things scattered on the ground, but I ignored them in favor of the meat. Since it had fallen on the ground, I tried to use [Detailed Appraisal] on one of them.
Rib roast meat of large civet cat ⇒ This cut contains a lot of fat, and is overall quite fine and tender.
Regardless of my own opinions, based on the explanation, I can eat this meat. My body still aches, but now it's time to activate [Recovery Meal].
The meat was well roasted, is it part of the effect of [Recovery Meal]? It's also been cut into bite-sized pieces for some reason. I appraised it again:
Recovery rib roasted meat of large civet cat ⇒ It's delicious and has an effect to cure injuries (?)
So why is there a question mark (?) in the explanation!? Why are the explanations always so limited!? I think my patience is amazing to be able to suppress this frustration. Anyway, now I have to eat this recovery roasted meat in front of me, I can think about other things later. I wanted to eat it with my hands, but that was basically impossible, so I ate the meat directly off the ground with my mouth.
It was humiliating, but I told myself that I needed to endure it this time. I sank my teeth into it, and because my mouth was injured, the bite sent pain shooting through my jaw. I tasted my own blood as well. It's kind of a waste; this would be so delicious if I could eat it normally. Dirt and detritus stuck to the meat, so that added some grittiness and an occasional crunch.
It was kind of gross… but if I didn't swallow it, I was pretty sure it wouldn't work, so I did my best to swallow it without gagging. In a moment, all of my pain, throughout my whole body, eased up a little. I hadn't fully recovered, but my condition improved just because I ate a small piece of it.
I ate another piece. It too was crunchy from the soil that stuck to it. However, the effect was immediately apparent. My right arm, which had been bent in a strange direction until now, straightened out on its own, and I could actually move it again.
With the third piece, my torso was healed. With the fourth, my legs were healed. I think I've recovered to almost perfect condition now, but I'll eat the rest of the meat just in case. Because I was so hungry, I ended up putting about 500 grams of meat in my stomach [ED: just over a pound].
Moreover, my body felt lighter than ever before. I seemed to be in better condition than before I even met that monster. That was probably because my [HP] and [STR] had increased as well.
I put the remaining scattered monster parts in [Material Storage]. I'm not going to leave it forever, though ― I have to figure out the maximum capacity of this skill. Before that… I need to do something about my tattered clothes, but what can I do about it in the middle of a forest?
I sighed when I noticed shreds of my uniform all over the place, torn to pieces by that terrifying cat.
I had to eat directly from the ground without using my hands, and now wear tattered clothes that would be unsuitable for any civilized person, have I deviated this far from humanity already? Even if it has, for the sake of increasing my chance to survive, I will do anything.
"Now, I have to secure a place where I can rest before I leave this forest."
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