Tải xuống ứng dụng
55.55% I, Human! / Chapter 10: CHAPTER 1 – PART III

Chương 10: CHAPTER 1 – PART III

Before I realise it, the sun has dipped overhead, more than beginning its decent into the afternoon.

However, I couldn't just let her hospitality, the first bit of comfort and compassion I've had in this world, be left on such a bittersweet note.

Although we can't understand each other, I rambled away for a good few hours about my predicament to the spideress. She laughed, smiled, and seemed less lonely. She wouldn't have gotten a word of what I was saying, obviously, but having someone willing to spend time with her, gesticulating wildly, acting out as much as possible, I'm sure the effort was appreciated. It only dawned on me how long had passed when I went to refill my glass for the umpteenth time and nothing even sloshed in the jug. My host made a move to refill the vessel, unfurling her great spindly limbs like a crinoline from beneath her, but I waved her back to down. I stood, stretched, pointed to the sun to emphasis the time, and bowed profusely.

The spideress reluctantly allowed me to leave, pouting through my barrage of gratitude and promises to return once I'd sorted out all my starter stuff. There was no web to entrap me, save her charm, and were I to ever succumb to misery, unable to find a way home, I would gladly be ensnared by such a sublime cellar-spideress.

As she sends me off, playfully peeking over the top of her fence, the epitome of an ethereal enchantress, I feel lighter. If not a little weighed down from most of a litre of gradually warmer water. Better to have my stomach full of liquid than nothing at all. Even though thinking about it has only made me acutely aware of how hungry I am, and worse, how much I need the bathroom. I could have asked before leaving, but that would have been so embarrassing to do charades for, not to mention impolite to impose on a new acquaintance, however accommodating they might be.

I decide to hold it until I get to the Adventurers' Guild. They'll have facilities there, even for newbies.

Reorientating myself, I set off in the rough direction of the last building that looked promising earlier. If it's on this side of town, what with it being a bit rougher round here, maybe Adventurers aren't well thought of? Bit odd for a starter town though. Well, even if the idea of becoming one is cool to me, doesn't mean people in this world think of them as anything more than brutish mercenaries, scrounging vagabonds, or borderline criminals.

I am almost skipping as I bound along the lanes, floating past empty entrance-ways and the odd soul that either ignores or glares and grumbles in perplexity at my passing. It's in part the exponential need to pee, but also the lingering levity from being social for the first time in days, that adds such swiftness to my steps. The last building I'm heading towards is on the descending edge of town, sloping off the side of the small plateau, and I am there before I know it.

It's a bust.

The place is a hay shed.

That makes this a total wash.

Everywhere I thought might be the classic starting place to pick up quests or register as a player character is just a big house or a barn or or or...

The impulse to pee on the bails bounces to the forefront of my mind, I do really need to go, but I dejectedly climb my way back up to the centre of town instead. Can't take out my frustrations on the poor defenceless hay. I need to find somewhere soon though.

It hits me when I come in sight of the old lizardmen on the highstreet again, their drinking and smoking and, I assume, kvetching, sparking a memory. A last glimmer of hope. FIND AN INN!!!

I decide not to bother trying to interact with them, having not had particularly good luck so far, but I still have a nose from across the road, and it appears they're sat in front of a hardware store. No use to me.

One seems to be the owner, the other a friend, the place sparsely filled with hoes and rakes and what not. A young lizardboy can dimly be made out in the shadows within, beetling about, occasionally sticking his head out the open store-front to receive orders, remove empties, bring out the next round... It fills me with pity for the life of an apprentice, being treated like a dogsbody, and you don't even inherit the business either. You get some skills, sure, but then when you're good enough, or start demanding a wage, you're kicked out to go fend for yourself, right?!.

Honestly, I don't know...

The thought passing along with my gaze onto the neighbouring buildings, examining them intensely, trying to discern their contents. It's only mid-afternoon, so cafes should still be open, and restaurants will either still be closed after lunch to prepare for dinner, or in the process of opening for evening service. An inn is more like a bar that does food, and beds, so it should sort of always be open?

I take to sniffing out the scent of cooking, as well as listening for the clatter of waiting tables, what with most of the buildings being indistinct from the outside, and my not being able to read any of the infrequent signage anyway.

I stick my head in through the doors of a few places that sound promising, but the noise from within is usually that of a workshop or general store. I get shooed out more than a few times. I catch the odd whiff of smoke, but that's no real help either, having smelt it on the breeze all morning around town. Most everyone seems to be heating or burning something, all of it with wood, so it's not great for distinguishing a place preparing food. I quickly exhaust my side of the highstreet, crossing before the corner that looks out over the river, and my mouth starts watering.

The first building seems a little too small to be an inn, maybe it's a tavern then? What's the difference anyway; food and drink, but no bed? Isn't that just a cafe or restaurant though? I guess it depends on what they serve. Hmm... I wonder if they'll hav-

CLAP

I slap my cheeks to stop myself from spiralling into food fantasies.

It smarts a fair bit, more so on my bruised cheek from where the beastman sucker-punched me earlier, but my head clears quick enough.

The bewitching scent of cooking wafts out from every crack in the ramshackle building. The windows overhead, gushing heat enough to contend with the summer sun, forcing me to duck under their jet streams as I slip along the front to the entrance. I compose myself, smoothing out my clothes a little to come across less shabby, and walk into the tavern.

It's slightly dimmer than I expected, or maybe the glare from outside has been burned into my vision, making it take longer to adjust to an interior again. I scrunch my eyes up tight, let the TV static cover everything, then open them again to a still somewhat dingy, cramped space.

Nonchalantly sitting at the nearest empty table, so as not to appear unfamiliar with the place and draw unwanted attention, I realise I didn't have a plan beyond finding somewhere that fit the bill. There isn't a menu or anything for me to pretend to read, just an empty table and chair opposite. I keep my head down, my gaze fixed on the patterns in the wooden surface, and I try to work out what to do next, fidgeting all the while.

Thankfully, the one beastperson waiting tables is too busy with a couple of other customers to pay me any heed. Before I succumb to low blood sugar induced panic, I wrack my brain for tropes. I got as far as find an inn earlier. I know that's where you can pick up side quests in RPGs at least. How do you get a quest in a tavern though? I can't remember...

"Think, idiot!"

I curse under my breath, trying not to look like the scruffy gibbering wastrel I probably already appear to be.

Okay, so... It's usually the owner, or whoever is working the bar. Someone that's always here, friendly with everyone, gets gossip from the locals and news from travellers or merchants passing through. There's sometimes a specific character hanging around too, like a local outcast, or a shadowy stranger, they're usually sat in a corner booth on their own looking moody. All I have to do is casually glance about and identify likely quest givers, okay... not too difficu-

"FU..."

The shout nearly escapes me, but gets caught behind gritted teeth, when I remember none of this matters...

I CAN'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE!!!

THUD

My bladder squeezes as I jolt in the seat. I might have actually dribbled a little... god I hope not!

Uncertainly, I look up into the snout of the pig faced beastperson that's working front of house. They've planted a heavy glass of water on the table next to me, grunting in a seemingly merry tone as they try to bury a leather backed menu under my own nose. I beam at them the most forced smile I have ever mustered. I take a sip from the glass to calm myself at their abrupt arrival, looking back and forth between the incomprehensible list in front of me and my snuffling server, I hope that by quickly pointing at it and giving them a thumbs up they'll leave me alone for a minute to think.

"Phew-pugh!"

I had started to sigh with relief that my pantomime had gone down well with the crowd of one, but as the pigperson turned to go tend to someone else – their belly nudging the table an inch or so left, causing a wave of water to rock out of the glass, which miraculously stayed still otherwise – they thumped me on the back with a stout meaty trotter, causing me to gasp and them to squeal in amusement as they totter away. I shake my head. A muddle of mirrored merriment and my own anger at being messed with vie for mastery of my emotions. I echo the pigperson's laughter to not seem put out, giving them a moment to get out of earshot before muttering peevishly to myself.

I hate being made the centre of attention. It makes me feel like the butt of a very public joke.

Even just reading something out or asking a question in class, feeling everyone's eyes on me, it's electric. It makes me shiver. The static prickle of pointed scrutiny is painfully real.

I go to sip some more water, but put the glass right back down in the same motion. I am already clenching every muscle in my lower body not to pee myself, any more water and I might just burst. I need to find a bathroom. NOW. I scan the room. The only door is the entrance. The kitchen is a long open counter against the side wall. I am not miming how to pee to that pig.

I stand up more briskly than intended, scraping the chair on the floor behind me while gripping the table edge. The pigperson trots back over instantaneously to investigate. Please don't start squealing in my face or something. Please go away. Please leave me alone. I just need to pee. My skin starts to itch in that instinctive way it does to warn you when insects are crawling across it and I know without glancing about to check that everyone in the tavern is staring at me.

I hate this.

I'm frozen.

Paralysed by their collective piercing gaze.

My bloated bladder begging for release.

The pig oinking in my ear, it's paunch pushing against my arm.

I am too distracted to discern its intent as concern or coercion.

I just need to get outside.

I need to pee.

A DISTRACTION!!!

Instead of flipping the table, what evil did it ever do to me, or knocking the glass of water on the floor, I throw my head back, hands on myhips, let out the loudest fakest laugh possible - like some mad scientist - and stride out of the tavern. As soon as I am within reach of the door I lunge through, ignoring the silent stupefaction left in my wake, and b-line into the nearest alleyway. It loops behind the building. I would prefer to get further away, but my bladder won't let me.

Dancing on the spot, looking around frantically to make sure I'm not spotted, I lean up against the wall and...

The relief is instant, if not a little painful from how much pressure is behind it. I rue not having anything to wipe with, even more so that there does actually seem to be a tiny damp patch in my shorts and no way to dry it. I shake off. Feeling alleviated and ashamed, I set to finding another inn or tavern, anywhere that might harbour a plot hook, and maybe a bite to eat. Pity I can never show my face in there again, the food smelt amazing.


next chapter

Chương 11: CHAPTER 1 – PART IV

Continuing the search for my first quest, and something to eat, I go to sneak back around the front of the tavern. The pigperson is standing out front, arms folded on top of their pot-belly. They're looking away from me, towards the bend in the middle of town, so I duck behind the building again. Don't want to get caught next to my little indiscretion if they come investigate round here, especially after my Oscar winning performance in there. I hate that I can never go back in, the food smells so good. I decide to wander up the hillside a bit to avoid being spotted, and to see if I missed any inns tucked down a side street.

Huffing the air like a bloodhound, my empty bladder grateful and my empty stomach growling, my exploration is far from exhaustive, but I am starting to get exhausted.

Wandering about all day in the blistering sun. Running, hiding, getting my ass kicked... nothing to eat for several days on top of that. Not to mention the emotional roller coaster. At least I've kept hydrated, but what good is water when you're running on empty. I might be able to point and grunt my way through ordering something, but I've got no money to pay with. I consider trying to trade my phone for food, but it won't last long after being turned back on. There's no signal anyway. Plus... I think back to why I've got it turned off to begin with.

I heave sigh upon sigh while investigating the backroads.

The scent of cooking is starting to pop up more regularly as people must be prepping for dinner.

I end up back on the street where I met the beastgirl.

My heart pangs at her remembrance.

Why do I care about someone I just met?

Why was she so scared of me, then so willing to help?

I hope she's okay...

...

THAT'S IT!!!

Maybe I was meant to help her escape?

Not just hide in a corner and get beaten up.

I kick myself for not realising sooner.

This isn't a game. There's not going to be anything convenient like an Adventurer's Guild to just sign up at and get started. No one has big glowing icons over their heads to indicate Quest Giver. What was I thinking?!.

"There's not even a HUD!"

The last thought verbalising involuntarily, but it was obvious really. This couldn't be a game world. VR isn't that good yet. There is magic though, I mean what with all the fantasy creatures, or at least there might be, so there could still be hidden game mechanics at play too. Like a stats and abilities system or something. I haven't found an interface for anything yet, but I'd still basically be in the intro sequence at this point, right? Gotta get through this first quest, rescue the beastgirl, recruit my first companion, then I'd get access to the skill tree. Then I'd probably enter the tutorial phase/training arc. Okay, we got a working hypothesis again, let's go with that.

I spend some time working out an intial search area based off what happened while I was with the beastgirl. I'm sort of in the South East-East part of town now, and we wormed our way up the mountainside to the South-South West corner in our attempt to flee from the Orc. She was coming down hill when I met her here before, and I haven't found any businesses around this bit, so I assume she must live in the South-South East area. Wait, the beastman dragged her off back down the slope, so that would be North? Putting them in the South West? But, that was the only way out of our hiding spot, so he'd have taken her back across this way after, right? Why would he take her to her house? She was running from them too. She was scared of me at first, but then when she saw the Orc she was down right petrified. Does that mean show was kidnapped by them?!. SHE COULD BE ANYWHERE THEN!!!

I clutch my head, dizzy from the mental orienteering and questioning spiral into uncertainty.

Hang on, no... she recognised them. She knew them. She hugged that goblin. Is she their slave? No, she didn't look that shabby. But they treated her so violently.

Hmm... maybe she just works for them, like a maid or child minder for the grot or something? Then the beastman would be a bodyguard? No, more like a hired goon.

There's no way they're related. Ain't no way a goblin and a beastperson share parents. The goblin could be a baby orc, I guess, but the beastgirl looked nothing like the beastman. And who would treat their sister like that too?!.

I know some of my friends growing up had complex home lives. Like, ever changing step dads, reconstituted families, deadbeat parents, wannabe gangster older brothers, that sorta thing... it's not something you really talk about though, it's not your business, it'd be rude to. There's nothing you can do about it as a kid after all. Who even knows how it works in a fantasy world with multiple sentient species?!. Well, I mean, I'm sure they all get it. It's their world. Their social norms and all that. There's probably some hierarchy of creatures I've no idea about, hence the Orc and goblin seeming above the beastfolk...

ANYWAY!!!

Shouting at myself internally for going on yet another tangent, I pull my focus back on track.

Ok, so I gotta find her first.

Find the beastgirl, then what?

Let's go in with a plan this time.

Don't want to freeze up and act a fool like in the tavern, or get another beating.

Err...

My mind draws a blank.

It's so hard to focus, to stay on topic, to think any deeper than the most surface level thoughts. My blood sugar must be super low. I really haven't had energy crashes like this since I was a kid coming down after getting hopped up on suga-

"NO!"

Blurting out my frustration at going straight off course again. I clap my cheeks to try and wake myself up a bit. It stings a little less than last time, but I am instantly more alert.

I need to eat.

I wonder if I could kill two birds with one stone?

If I find where the beastgirl is, I can scout out the building, try to get her attention, and have her bring me some food. She seemed willing to help me before. Maybe I can act out how hungry I am and she'll pass something out to me. Then I'll be more focused, have an idea of the layout, and already be on site to work out her escape.

Got to avoid the others though.

I cannot afford to get attacked again.

Right, so, this is now a reconnaissance mission.

YOUR ORDERS - SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THEM - ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Make contact with the target, acquire resupply, then plan exit strategy. Do not engage hostiles. Avoid enemy contact at all costs. If extraction is possible, all effort must be made to do so covertly. Do not attract aggressor attention. If escape does not appear viable during initial inspection, rendezvous with asset at alternate location, or make arrangements for secondary attempt at a more convenient point in time when further preparations have been made.

>>> PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: FOOD <<<

>>> MISSION IS A GO <<<

God, I'm glad that's over with.

A plan is a plan.

However painful it was to put together.

If I'm not exactly sure where she is most likely to be, the best I can do is estimate. She was coming down hill towards the town centre when I met her, so let's check up this way first. Simplest answer and all that.

I meander around the area as nonchalantly as possible, trying my best to not look like a peeping tom as I slow my pace here and there to glance through a window or listen for familiar voic...growls? Can't really call them voices when they aren't speaking words or anything. Familiar tones/pitches I suppose? Anyway... My thoughts wander as much as my feet between the buildings. If I were a bit younger I could have probably gotten away with pretending to be a kid, jumping up on walls, putting my face against windows, acting like I'm playing games. Might have even been able to knock on doors while sobbing to go the pity route. Not that it'd have worked beyond getting inside, I couldn't have asked to see who's there. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'd get a look at everyone if they came to see what my crying was about, then just run out again when I've confirmed things.

Kids get it way easier...

Well... I might have died in that beating if I were too little, or just starvation at this point. I wouldn't be able to help the beastgirl either. Hell, the spideress might have thought me snack sized!

I continue, my probably quite poor attempt at subtly, scouting the houses until I'm almost at the top of the hill. Although this side of town is less dilapidated than the lower end, the last few buildings are a bit dingy in comparison to the rest. Thankfully, my worries earlier about having to potentially comb through every point of a compass to find the beastgirl were just me overthinking. I hear the bellowing of the Orc before I even reach the end of the street. The snarling of the beastman and chittering of the goblin reach me as I approach the largest, and really quite a size at that, of the disrepaired dwellings.

I check around me, and slip down the side of the house, unnoticed. It's a wider gap than the one the we tried to escape down earlier, but it's still a bit of a squeeze between the two buildings. I don't dare go past the front in case there's an open window or something, but the sound of the other monsters berating the beastgirl, and her occasional muted sniffling, do seem to be coming from the side farthest away from me. Shimmying as slowly and silently as possible, I make it to the other end without being ambushed. There's nothing but some scrubland and a bit of a craggy rock-face behind the property, so I shouldn't be spotted by a neighbour, but the back of the house opens onto a small yard, with only a rickety fence around it. I duck down and start commando crawling through the undergrowth around the perimeter.

>>> ALPHA DARK ONE – RUNNING SILENT <<<

I shudder at my own cringey thoughts...

No more of that.

This is serious.

I take a long breath to steady myself and continue to creep along the side fence.

I make it to the first corner, obscured by a rather unkempt bush of some kind, and the back door of the house snaps open.

Instinctively I tense up.

The shouting from within growing ever closer.

Closer.

C L O S E R . . .

My lung begin to burn from the need to exhale, aching at their partial capacity.

I can't chance it.

Not yet.

...

A sharp bark cuts off the roaring of the orc, the gibbering of the goblin recedes, and all that remains is the beastgirl softly whimpering. The disgruntled grumbling of the other creatures gradually diminishes into the depths of the house. It doesn't seem like she fought back, so I assume the beastman called a stop to herharassment with that yap before, at least for now.

I take a few short, shallow, silent breaths to sooth my screaming lungs.

They've been browbeating her this entire time?!.

I think of how long I spent chatting with the cellar-spideress, searching the town for a Guild Hall or tavern, and she's been scolded non-stop to trying to save me... I owe her.

I have to help her.

I have to...

G u U r R r G g G g L l L l L e E e E e E ~

...get some food.

I'll owe her again before I even do anything in return.

SHIVER

God, the shade from this bush is kinda chilly.

Wait, why's it so quiet?

Panicked, I squint through the shrubbery again, but my view of the garden is blocked.

I look up.

The beastgirl is...

...is she smiling?!.


Load failed, please RETRY

Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần

Đặt mua hàng loạt

Mục lục

Cài đặt hiển thị

Nền

Phông

Kích thước

Việc quản lý bình luận chương

Viết đánh giá Trạng thái đọc: C10
Không đăng được. Vui lòng thử lại
  • Chất lượng bài viết
  • Tính ổn định của các bản cập nhật
  • Phát triển câu chuyện
  • Thiết kế nhân vật
  • Bối cảnh thế giới

Tổng điểm 0.0

Đánh giá được đăng thành công! Đọc thêm đánh giá
Bình chọn với Đá sức mạnh
Rank 200+ Bảng xếp hạng PS
Stone 0 Power Stone
Báo cáo nội dung không phù hợp
lỗi Mẹo

Báo cáo hành động bất lương

Chú thích đoạn văn

Đăng nhập

tip bình luận đoạn văn

Tính năng bình luận đoạn văn hiện đã có trên Web! Di chuyển chuột qua bất kỳ đoạn nào và nhấp vào biểu tượng để thêm nhận xét của bạn.

Ngoài ra, bạn luôn có thể tắt / bật nó trong Cài đặt.

ĐÃ NHẬN ĐƯỢC