A Troubled First Night

After a few hours of travel, the sun began to set.

The light illuminating the yellowed fields gave way to near-total darkness, if not for the presence of the moon.

Unlike my original world, where city lights made it hard to see the sky, here the stars were completely visible, giving a sense of peace even in a world as decayed as this one.

I spent a long while staring at the sky—so long that even Liz grew a little worried.

“Something wrong?” she asked, tilting her head.

“No, it’s nothing,” I replied. “It’s just that the sky is more beautiful here than in my world.”

“Isn’t it the same one? At least, that’s what I saw in the photos from your… cell phone? Yes, that.” Liz questioned awkwardly.

“It is, but there are so many lights in my world that it’s dimmed and harder to see.” I kept my gaze upward. This was a sight I absolutely didn’t want to miss.

Liz seemed to understand after that and didn’t ask any more questions. She even stayed with me for a while to keep me company.

Once I finished gazing at the sky, we got to work.

We had parked the cart on the outskirts of a small forest along the way to camp. The place was already set up, but we still needed some firewood.

Faced with that problem, Liz looked at me with excitement.

“Don’t worry! You’re new to this, right?” she said with a somewhat arrogant expression. “Just follow me and I’ll show you how it’s done!”

“…”

For now, I could only go along with her.

***

“You already gathered this much!?” Liz shouted, startling some birds hidden in the nearby trees.

It hadn’t even been an hour since we entered the forest, and I had already gathered more than enough firewood for the campfire.

From Liz’s perspective—thinking I had no experience in things like this—her surprise was understandable. Unfortunately for her, I did have experience.

I’d gone camping once or twice with my family when I was younger. Sure, it had been years ago, but the process was still the same.

Seeing my skill, Liz fell to her knees in defeat.

“I wanted to show off… just a little…” she said, her voice on the verge of breaking.

Maybe I went a little overboard… I should fix this somehow.

Got it!

“… Oh no! I don’t remember the way back!” I said, in a terribly unconvincing act. Acting isn’t really my strong point.

“What do we do? How will we get back to camp?” I added.

My performance was pretty bad, but it seemed to work. Liz looked up at me with a bright smile.

“I see! It’s normal, you’re still a rookie! I’ll take you back—just follow me!”

Following her lead, I kept pace… until something caught my attention.

Rustle

Rustle

The bushes moved.

It could’ve been just the wind, but I hadn’t felt a breeze at that moment.

Maybe I was imagining things, but I started to feel watched from the surroundings.

“Don’t fall behind, let’s go!” Liz called out.

She was right. Staying alone in a forest at night wasn’t a good idea.

I quickened my steps to follow her, and before long, we were back at camp.

***

With the fire ready, the campsite was complete.

We had no trouble with food—Liz had brought some provisions, which she shared with me and even the driver, though he declined, saying he had his own.

The night was going well… until it was time to sleep.

“You’re going to sleep!” Liz shouted.

“No, no! You’re the one who should sleep!” I shouted back.

We started arguing over who would take the first watch.

It was something pretty common in fantasy series or novels—rotating shifts to make sure nothing happened during the night.

I was already mentally prepared to take the first watch because of that; I knew what to expect. But Liz didn’t seem to see it the same way.

“I’m already used to it, but you’re not!” Liz replied. “Besides, you couldn’t sleep well on the way here!”

“Uh…”

Right on target.

My attempt to get some sleep during the trip didn’t go very well—I kept waking up every time the wheels hit a rock.

I miss the paved roads of my world…

Sigh

I guess I’ll have to give in this time.

“Fine, you take the first watch,” I said, resigned.

“Good! Sleep in my sleeping bag, I’ll wake you if anything happens.” She went back to taking out her notebook and pencil. Just as she’d said, she was probably very used to this by now.

Taking her at her word, I lay down.

The atmosphere was perfect for sleep. The night breeze, the sound and warmth of the fire—it all blended together into the ideal setting to drift off.

I didn’t take long to fall asleep, happy not to be jolted awake by the rocks on the road.

***

“…”

How long has it been?

I raised myself slightly and opened my eyes. The scenery hadn’t changed much. The fire was still burning, and the breeze was still gentle. Everything was the same.

Even the warmth of the fire still lingered… So why did I wake up with a chill?

The sleeping bag was warm too, so that couldn’t be the reason.

Maybe it was just the fact that I wasn’t used to this. I guess Liz was somewhat right about me being a rookie.

Sigh

I sighed at the thought of having to admit she was right.

I doubted I could sleep again, so I figured it was a good time to swap watch with her.

“Hey, let’s switch… huh?”

But she’d already beaten me to sleep.

She was still sitting up, but had completely dozed off. The notebook was still on her lap, and the pencil had fallen to the ground. Lucky for her, it hadn’t rolled into the fire.

This girl… I’ll scold her when she wakes up. For now, I’ll put her in the sleeping bag.

Or at least, that was the plan, but—

Plop

I felt something fall on my head.

It seemed like a drop of water, which was strange. Not only were there no clouds and the sky was completely clear, but I was also lying under a tree.

I turned with curiosity, and what I saw horrified me.

Monsters.

A whole group of them.

They looked like apes, but their build was broader in the arms and chest, leaving their legs short in comparison; they had long fangs protruding from both sides of their mouths, saliva dripping as they stared at me; from their fingers jutted nails—no, more like bones—that pierced straight through their skin, and from their elbows, even larger, sharper bones stuck out; their fur was as black as their skin, and their eyes shone crimson, standing out even in the darkness.

There were a lot of them!

“Monsters!” I shouted, waking Liz and the driver.

Liz looked disoriented at first, but when she saw where I was looking, she caught on quickly.

“Stalkey!” she shouted, grabbing her sword.

I jumped to my feet and backed away, which the monsters—the Stalkey—didn’t take well. They leapt at the exact spot I’d been sleeping in and began to roar.

Even if they looked like apes, they had nothing to do with them.

“I’ll get my weapon—it’s in the cart!” the driver called. Liz and I nodded, readying ourselves to fight.

One of the Stalkey rushed at me and leapt to attack, but I met it with a solid blow to the head, sending it flying back.

They’re tough. I could feel it when I hit—it was much harder than the monster from the ruins.

“These monsters are dangerous, Naoya, don’t hold back!” Liz urged.

I can’t hold back… I have to kill them.

It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth to kill, even if they are monsters—but this isn’t the time to hesitate.

This is the law of this world: kill or be killed. And I have to adapt to it.

“Come at me!” I roared.

The Stalkey charged and tried to surround us. A couple lunged at me from the front and the side, but I met the one in front with a strong punch that sent it flying, just like before, and slammed my elbow into the face of the one at my side.

More Stalkey kept coming, but I could handle them and keep up with their pace. The problem was Liz.

While I dodged and struck at openings, Liz struggled to defend herself with the sword.

“Hya!” she shouted as she swung.

Her swordsmanship wasn’t good enough to keep up with that many attacks. She could hold her ground, but it was costing her.

“Kya!” she cried when a Stalkey struck her, knocking her weapon away.

Damn it!

Before one of them could leap at her, I stepped in to shield her, causing the Stalkey to land on my back and sink its fangs into my shoulder.

“Ah!” I cried out.

Its long fangs sank deep into my shoulder. The pain was intense.

Barely recovering, I grabbed its head, crushed it in my grip to tear it away, and used my strength to hurl it into a group of Stalkey charging toward us.

Some dodged, but others were knocked down by the impact.

“Naoya!” Liz cried in worry.

“I’m fine…”

I could keep fighting, but the numbers were the problem. It was only a matter of time before we were overwhelmed and exhausted.

What do we do?

Then, a familiar sound rang out.

BANG!

The shot disoriented the Stalkey—but without a doubt, I was the most shocked.

The driver had returned with his weapon, and as soon as he saw us, he aimed at the monsters and fired.

“That’s a rifle!?” I shouted, stunned by what I was seeing.

The previous shot had struck one of the monsters right in the head, killing it instantly.

From that point on, the fight turned in our favor once I regained my composure.

We fought and killed as many as we could while protecting the driver so he could keep shooting.

The rifle’s reload speed was slow, but the driver’s aim more than made up for it—he was a true expert, without a doubt.

Before we knew it, the Stalkey stopped appearing.

We had won.

I had survived my first night in this world.