Re:Monster Day 1-10 (1/2)

Forest of the Birth, Black Beast Saga

It seems that I was killed after being stabbed by the stalker whom I had considered to be like a younger sister, and somehow I got reincarnated.

Wow that was a mouthful, and no, I’m not joking when I say that I’ve been reincarnated. You could say that my current state of mind hasn’t settled down from all of the confusion, so I’d appreciate it if you would save the comments until after I finish my story, since it might sound a bit wild if you interrupt me. Ahem, so let me explain everything from the beginning…

Well, first let’s start with my name, I used to be called Tomokui Kanata. However since I was reincarnated, let’s leave it as “Nameless” for now.

I have a bit of a lapse in memory here, but I remember that after a hard day of work, I was invited by some colleagues for a drink. I accepted their offer, and we went tavern hopping.

Since the following day was a holiday, even those with a low alcohol tolerance ended up drinking throughout the night. I even had to end up carrying a colleague home home, since she was too drunk to make it by herself.

She had fallen asleep, and I didn’t want to wake her so I left her on the bed. My constitution and love of alcohol was much greater than hers, and at that time, I had an urge to drink while watching the full moon, or so I thought as I opened the fridge.

I realized that the bottom shelf that should’ve been stuffed with beer and chuhai and all sorts of drinks was empty.

Yesterday I had finished all of my drinks and had planned to go restock it today—were it not for my colleague’s invitation earlier.

I had completely forgotten about it.

That’s right,–It was the biggest failure in my life to have finished drinking the stocks yesterday.

If only I had saved at least one.

I–no, no… first let’s hasten the conversation a bit.

I, who had wanted to drink sake by all means, went to a nearby convenience store which was open twenty-four hours a day, bought five beers, and headed home.

Summer was approaching yet the night was still chilly. The full moon that was suspended in the clear night sky was very beautiful.

The clouds, which were slightly concealing the moon, were also pleasant. Indeed, drinking sake with the silver moon shining overhead would make it an even more delicious experience than usual.

While thinking about the alcohol, I noticed that under a street-light was a pretty girl.

It was a face that I had recognized. She’s what the general public would have referred to as a ‘Stalker’.

My stalker was Kirimine Aoi, an active female college student in the local area. She’s 20 years old; 5 years younger than I was.

Our relationship isn’t exactly what you would call ‘normal’. You see, in my third year of high school, I saw a couple of delinquents harassing a girl—the person whom I would soon know as Aoi. She was 12-13 years old at the time. I found her, saved her, and that was how our destinies had become entwined.

Well, while it wasn’t wrong to say that I helped, I’m not sure if that’s the correct thing to say.

Compared to how I am now, I used to be a cowardly chicken. At the time, you could clearly see that there was a girl being harassed by a pair of delinquents. Though it was deplorable, the surrounding people turned a blind eye to it.

As a person for whom ESP capability hadn’t yet awoken, I could either have chosen to help her or quickly run away.

However, either by fortune or bad luck, I had received a military stun nightstick as a birthday present from my uncle, a weapon’s enthusiast. He worked for small to medium sized corporations that had military relations, so it was easy for him to get it for me. Those companies were under the influence of one major company, Avalon.

Avalon, the company that had made my nightstick, had spread its name throughout the universe as a famous weapon corporation.

At that time, I didn’t have the courage to be in possession of such a dangerous object. It was worrisome to have such an unsafe weapon, so it was still adorned in my room without being used. (Check previous sentence)

However, an ‘Ota’ friend of my uncle said he wanted to look at the nightstick. Soon after, an email had been sent telling me he that was on his way to see it.

The message included a location where we could meet, so I decided to walk to it. I brought the nightstick with me so he could see it from the moment he arrived.

Which brought me to my current situation.

Although I was a coward, I used the military nightstick on the delinquents that were harassing the young lady. I can still remember feeling a kind of ‘lightness’ from defending a pretty girl from harm.

After bashing the delinquents from behind, they got extremely mad at me. However, regardless of their anger, they couldn’t stand up against such a weapon as the nightstick. After a few more hits they were sprawling on the floor–foaming and twitching violently. I quickly took the hand of the girl that was panicking, and escaped with her to someplace safe.

I was really young in those days.

Because of my curiosity and a whim, I had done a horrible experiment on those delinquents while managing to help Aoi at the same time.

After that incident, her affection towards me slowly grew, it was only a matter of time, but Aoi had eventually become my stalker.

It wasn’t very severe stalking, however, until I had found a job at my current place of work, where she continued chasing me. She even followed me to other planets, where I would occasionally be sent on business trips.

When dealing with stalkers, one should speak as naturally with them as one can, no matter how much they infringe upon one’s private life.

What I’ve told you so far may not be understandable yet, but after I explain how I died, everything will become clear.

Anyway, After buying the alcohol I met Aoi on my way home. It would’ve been nice to say that it was a coincidence. Yet while looking down, under the light of the street-lamp, Aoi was emanating a black aura unlike her usual puppy-like self; so I could only respond by tilting my neck in confusion.

Aoi, even as a stalker, was an existence akin to a younger sister for me; because of that I was able to notice the weird atmosphere at that time, so I called out to her.

There was no reply. Aoi’s face remained downcast.

In that moment I felt a great uneasiness that couldn’t be expressed. Yet even so, I still approached her so that I could learn of its cause. Before I knew it, I was being pierced in the abdomen by a sheath knife.

Even though I had a strong body, and the degree of injury was curable with regenerative medical treatment, I could still feel the severe pain that came from the blade that was being rotated which aimed at gouging out my internal organs.

It was within expectations that I would not die if the sheath knife used was made from a lump of ordinary metal, but what Aoi used, was the [Nenekaruri]; a B-rank ceremonial knife with an additional thunder property created by SAKUMA Heavy Industries, Ltd. Ironically, it was one of the goods sold by the company my uncle worked at. Simply put, it’s a single molecular cutter with the abilities of a high voltage taser and other weapons. It’s a kind of proximity equipment that increases in sharpness when the thousand tiny blades installed on its side start to spin like a chainsaw moving at very high speeds. Once activated, a high-voltage current pours through the victim who is stabbed. The victim’s movement is then temporarily paralyzed. It’s also equipment used by the military.

I didn’t even have time to think about why Aoi had such a thing. Nevertheless, I was pushed down, restrained, and was stabbed by the sheath knife repeatedly. The amount of blood my mouth vomited was unusual as my body was being pierced relentlessly. Every time the knife penetrated my skin, I could feel the meat and bones getting torn up while my blood splattered everywhere.

Before I knew it, the slender frame of Aoi riding on my body, had been dyed red in blood.

Although I had become a strengthened human after undergoing a reinforcement operation, and exceeded ordinary humans because of my occupation–I was disappointingly killed by Aoi who was a mere civilian. What does this mean? I know the performance of the sheath knife may be amazing, but was it strong enough to destroy the body of a strengthened human? Was she really capable of breaking down my stance with a surprise attack? Even if movement was impossible due to the high voltage current, was that really so?

Why– Well, this situation is regrettable.

At that time, Aoi’s figure, that was stained red with my blood, was too impressive to remember in detail.

Oh, well…

Anyway, I was killed. I was killed by Aoi.

A mortal wound can’t be cured even after receiving regenerative medical treatment. The last thing I saw was the knife’s point approaching my eyeball, which would mean it was approaching my brain; a uniquely unreproducible organ, was going to be completely destroyed. After my head was completely lacerated, my consciousness eventually melted into the darkness.

However, the story doesn’t just end there. The reincarnation hadn’t started yet. My consciousness remained steadfast and didn’t change in any way, until I finally noticed it. I memorized that last scene right before losing consciousness, but didn’t I die? Was it just a dream or am I drunk? I rejected the idea momentarily. ?The answer was reflexive and indifferent.

I was killed for sure. I could remember the pain caused by the electric current running through my veins, and the coldness of the blade that cut through my chest. This is absolutely not an illusion. Yet I’m alive. As to why–I’d like to know myself. As I was thinking that, my heavy eyelid opened.

There I saw it, I was looking at something extremely ugly. It made me think that I’d been reincarnated. It was this conclusive evidence that made me realize… Oh… Sorry I suddenly feel sleepy, but it doesn’t end here–Tomorrow I’ll continue… It wasn’t the darkness of death but the result of being fatigued.

* * *

I woke up with a click. When I opened my eyes to gather information, I couldn’t move my head for some reason. As a result, I wasn’t able to grasp a lot of information. Still, I was able to understand one fact: Though it’s regrettable, the story about reincarnating wasn’t a dream, or a delusion which I had created while being drunk.

With a little more effort, and with my limited vision, I could determine a few more things. It appears that I was in the middle of a cave. Signs of it being handmade weren’t found so the possibility of it being natural was high. The feeling of the rags I used as a blanket were the worst. They felt stiff—and they were clearly dirty. The soil on my back was uncomfortable, and a pebble was digging into my skin, so it hurt a little, though it didn’t matter.

More importantly.

There were a lot of ugly children who had green skin and sharp ears. Although I was wearing cloth, they were asleep and stark naked. There were about 30 in visible range, with twenty of them being the size of a human baby. The others were the same size as a human child; adults I presume.

…Well, that was the conclusive evidence that I reincarnated though. Considering that if I move my hands, I can see baby skin identical to that of the surrounding Goblins, and in each finger, a sharp black nail was clearly visible. If I wasn’t reincarnated, what else could it be?

Though I wonder if this in itself is solid proof. My arms were exactly like that of the baby Goblin sleeping next to me.

Apparently, the ESP ability I gained from strengthening surgery seemed to have decreased in rank due to the new body. I cried for a moment, seriously. The body that I have doesn’t seem to move properly because I was a newborn. Today, like any other Goblin child, I spent the day sleeping.

I wasn’t escaping from reality at all.

* * *

I’m determined to survive in my second life, yet after reincarnating, I decided to give up moving since it couldn’t be helped.

Through my previous job, I had learned that living dirty and having the capability to quickly change one’s thinking, was an indispensable skill.

Apparently, the growth of a Goblin is characteristically fast. Even though its only the third day since birth, my body has been growing rapidly.

While my body used to be that of a baby before I went to sleep, its figure currently now is that of an elementary student’s. Although its still weaker than before my reincarnation, compared to yesterday, my body’s power had sky-rocketed. I was able to stand up, and even run at moderate speeds, so I felt indescribably happy. I frolicked instinctively, though it was childish, the stress of being unable to move as I liked had accumulated.

Well, this is only natural. When compared to the civilization built by humans, who grew up without worry of being attacked by a foreign enemy, Goblins, since the moment of their birth, must deal with the fierce struggle for survival. The humans grew slower than the Goblins who lived in the natural world, where the law of the jungle forced their offspring to grow faster.

Since my body could move now, I spent my time today learning this body’s limits. I did exercises with my body until I was comfortable with it, and in the end collapsed from exhaustion.

Still, this bed… don’t we have anything better?

* * *

After reincarnating into a Goblin, I went hunting for the first time. Or rather, those who do not work, do not eat. Newborn Goblins were restricted to eating chubby caterpillars for nourishment–no, I’m not saying I don’t like them, they’re unexpectedly delicious, but we didn’t have an unlimited supply of them. Hunting was unavoidable since rationing was no longer available –according to the Goblin manager.

Only after the 4th day since birth does one need to hunt. It teaches one the strict laws of nature. As expected, it would be too hard to do alone. I made a buddy/sacrificial pawn, named Gobukichi, by using some lies and flattery while we walked in the forest.

The Goblins in this world seemed to be simply idiots.

Well, at least that made it easy to trick them.

Oh, that’s right. Goblin breeding can be done between the same race, however the conception rate seems to be low. To overcome that, they kidnap women and violate them until they’re pregnant.

You see, yesterday I found a rusty sword near the back of the cave. While picking up the sword, I stumbled across a room with several women. Many of them were stripped to rags even though their levels were higher than those of the Goblins.

There was a beautiful child in an extremely cruel state. Her whole body was defiled by a cloudy liquid, and her vitality, which seemed to grow weaker with every breath, was ever more fleeting. She was surely on the verge of death–a severe incident to be aware of.

It was easy to guess where they were kidnapped from. At my current strength, I know too well the extent of what I can do, so I can only pray as I clasp my hands with a “Namu Amida Butsu”. This was only a mere consolation though.

Perhaps, someone there was my present mother, but that’s too depressing to think about, so I’ll leave it alone for now…

Indeed, It was better for two to work together than to hunt alone, but it was regrettable that Gobukichi tried to eat the prey without my consent, so I hit him with a tree stick to teach him about hierarchies. Eventually, he rolled over so I switched to dismantling the spoils.

The result of our first glorious hunt was a light, brown rabbit that had a 20 cm long horn growing out of its forehead, so I decided to call it a “Horned Rabbit”. Though the horn was sharp, it was a bit small for a human to use, but because of that, it was the perfect size for a Goblin. It didn’t cut like a blade, so piercing and thrusting it like an estoc would be a more suitable way to use it.

Goburou obtained Small Animal Horn!!

The moment I picked up the horn, an announcement resounded somewhere, but it was probably just my imagination.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, but my current name is apparently Goburou. The Goblin Elder named me that when I opened my eyes for the first time.

Even though its not exactly to my tastes, I tolerated it since I don’t want to use the name I had before.

Basically, I gave up.

Even though I acquired the rabbit’s horn as a lethal weapon, it was still troublesome to peel the skin off of its body. It was even more difficult to ignore the stares of Gobukichi while he drooled, which made his face even more ugly than usual. Wanting some peace, I decided to divide the rabbit in half, and gave one to him. I tried my best to peel the skin off of mine, but it grew too troublesome, so I ate and munched the meat together with the skin.

I was able to procure a weapon and eat fresh meat, this was indeed a significant 1st day.

The meat was delicious; while the mysterious insects weren’t bad, but they just couldn’t beat real meat.

* * *

We went hunting for food today too. Gobukichi was forced to clearly understand our hierarchy, with who’s above and below whom, after going through my ‘instructions’. The experience yesterday helped us obtain prey immediately today. Although it was just another horned rabbit, it was at least twice the size of the one before. It might’ve been even more dangerous though because Gobukichi was only using a wooden stick, while I still had the horn from yesterday. Its performance in combat was better than I expected.

While Gobukichi caught the rabbit’s attention, I smashed its spinal cord and gouged out its heart from behind.

Though a small portion of the horn was damaged due to the rough handling, the battle was still a success because of the spoils we had received.

Just like the rabbit that was killed yesterday, I broke off its horn.

I unintentionally called the weapon “The Most Legendary Horn”, but the announcement which came after corrected me.

Goburou obtained Small Animal Horn!!

I decided to ignore it since I don’t understand it very well. While I was thinking that, I found Gobukichi staring at the game with hungry eyes.

While munching the meat, crunching the bone, and slowly gulping it, I felt as though my entire body was brimming with life.

This convinced me of a matter that I had thought of yesterday.

It seems that even through reincarnation, I had retained the ESP ability [Absorption]

This means that I’m like in a New Game Plus mode since I inherited it.Though I wasn’t very happy about it in the start.

By the way, from the time mankind was able to advance into space and even several centuries before that, the probability to be born with an ESP ability was one out of a thousand. Some even say that the [Psychic] are an evolved version of the human race. Though some might say that, ESP abilities are a non-successive kind of gene.

There is no such thing as a [Psychic] with a one-hundred percent chance of passing on their ESP capability to their child. The probability of inheriting abilities isn’t absolute, so how they’re developed is a mystery.

ESP capability had become a natural part of everyday life. Even if somebody developed an ability through an unnatural way, like by coming into contact with aliens, because psychic powers were recognised as part of a person’s individuality, nobody would look down on that person. The time when [Psychics] were persecuted for their abilities was over. Though if a user was still uncomfortable with their power, devices that were capable of suppressing it could be bought in the market.

My [Absorption] ability was a major power, even rarer than the likes of [Psychometry], [Telekinesis] and [Teleportation], which were of the general class. It made it so, no matter how hard or poisonous something was, I would be able to eat it. My teeth could tear through the likes of iron and gold easily. While toxins would be restructured, rendered harmless and edible in my body. The characteristics of whatever I ate, whether it be an item or another living being, would be absorbed and assimilated into me, so that I could use them as well. This was an ability that could only be obtained at a fixed probability.

I’m not quite sure how it works though… Oh well, I just wanted to inform you about what my ability was. To question the principles of supernatural powers would be nonsense.

By the way, just because I’ve eaten something that has an ability, doesn’t guarantee that I’ll absorb its powers. For example, if what I just ate was a living being, its freshness is an important factor as to whether I’ll get an ability or not. After its death, I have twelve hours to eat it before the chance to absorb its abilities are gone.

That said, there are certain parts that give abilities easier than others such as the heart and the brain, where most of the power is concentrated. Physical strengthening, and an improved recovery rate, can be obtained in addition to the ability absorbed. Furthermore, if the being that I consumed was stronger than me, there was a certainty of simultaneously acquiring multiple abilities. Moreover, its possible to strengthen an ability that’s been acquired, by consuming the original ability owner multiple times. Although [Absorption] isn’t strong on its own, the more I eat, the stronger I become. Naturally, there is a limit though.

Before I reincarnated, I strengthened myself by devouring creatures of mass destruction, and evil-doing espers.

Unfortunately, the abilities I had gotten from them seemed to have been reset. Since there were some useful powers there the reset had been regrettable, but I was fortunate enough to keep the [Absorption] ability which more than made up for it. Thus, food, like the horned rabbit and the mysterious insects, should be eaten without hesitation. It was mortifying, however, to know that it was the only ability that I retained after my reincarnation.

Since it’s necessary to eat for survival, common sense and ethics could be easily discarded. The ability I obtained this time was called [Escape]. “When fleeing or running away, the probability of escaping and adapting to the environment increases.”

I wonder why the rabbit didn’t try to escape when we confronted it today… Oh well. After that two more horned rabbits were successfully captured and eaten. Going to sleep with a full belly was a pleasant feeling. It seems that the amount that Gobukichi is relying on me is rapidly increasing. It’s probably because the law of the jungle rules this world that contributed to him recognising me as the superior being.

* * *

Apparently, newborn Goblins are weak enough to be easily defeated by horned rabbits, and because of this, nuts were the staple food which most of them ate in order to survive, or so I’m told by Gobumi-chan. You see, Gobumi-chan was another Goblin from our generation, and although she had “beauty” in her name, it’s a pity that she wasn’t that beautiful. All the Goblins (the small fries) had the same ugly face, so there wasn’t much of a difference. Me? I’m no exception. I confirmed this while washing my body in a nearby river.

Well, according to Gobumi-chan, the other Goblins couldn’t compare to my good looks. I didn’t rejoice when she told me I was handsome. To what degree what degree is a Goblin even considered handsome anyway?

I stared into the distance for a moment.

By the way, after asking Gobumi-chan for her opinion on Gobukichi, it turns out that he’s normal–that’s good.

Going back to the story, Goblins are fundamentally weak by nature. Therefore individuals with wisdom and luck seem to survive. Only a selected few with that degree of capability can be considered a true companion in order to survive. Tough indeed.

Well, I asked Gobumi-chan–precisely how many Goblins? May be non-existent—many has fallen prey from the horn of the horned rabbit.

After hearing those words, I thought, “Eh? Seriously?” though the words flowed out of my mouth. After all, average sized horned rabbits are only a bit bigger than the Japanese rabbit. Moreover, apart from its length, the horned rabbit makes efficient use of its two legs to execute an overhead attack to kill Goblins….Oh, I agreed that it’s possible.

After all, intelligence was not found in those wooden stick wielding fellows.

To strike and kick as assault was typical.

Fighting bare-handed will certainly get you killed.

The horn of the horned rabbit is a weapon. Only idiots will fight it upfront while being unarmed. Having a small body may also be a cause. The horn will pierce from below and towards the abdomen.

However, recently Gobukichi-kun imitated me by equipping a wooden stick although I even see clever Goblin equipping it here and there.

That day I made Gobumi-chan as the third person in hunting as a reward for the information.

Horn rabbits are seriously delicious.

It was raining today, so we were relaxing and working in the cave.

Clonk-clonk sounds were reverberating while I was striking and grinding a mysterious obsidian-like rock I found yesterday by the riverside. I’m trying to turn it into something knife-like.

No, I wished to have fur clothes soon. I wanted to graduate from the worn out cloth but the horn was not suitable for cutting.

Partly because I was making a terrible noise, partly because they were interested in what I was doing, the goblins born at the same time as me drew close, however by ignoring them them while continuing to work they later scattered. Good riddance.

The older goblins for some reason were smiling while observing me. I don’t know why.

Oh well, since I was able to make three pseudo-knives until slightly past noon, I’ll consider this good. Since both my hands were starting to hurt slightly, I decided to end it at that.

But, the pseudo knife manufacturing halted since it is just something to do in my spare time. There are two persons, Gobumi-chan-chan and Gobukichi-kun-kun who were staring at my work without getting bored–no, next time I will count not by person but by goblin –I called for a strategy meeting concerning the formation of the next hunt.

Various opinions were noisily being voiced–although it is a field where I am mostly unchallenged, Gobumi-chan-chan who is smarter than Gobukichi-kun-kun did offer her opinion once in a while. Gobukichi-kun-kun was constantly nodding, since he’s an idiot. The remarkably wrinkled goblin approached us.

This goblin is Gobujii. He is[Goblin Community]’s oldest goblin, he possessed a social position close to an advisor, and above all, my name Goburou was given to me by this grandfather.

The strategy meeting was postponed to listen to the various stories Gobujii-san told us. No, Gobujii-san has a uselessly long life but, he has very extensive knowledge, so I do not want to miss this opportunity.

Well, because it would only take about 20 years and a little to be called an elderly goblin, this body will not be able to have a long life…Hahaha.

I pulled myself together.

Gobujii told us many things about this world such as, the rules for levels and Rank Up, Apparently such a thing exists, why in this cave except for us newly born goblins, there were only elderly goblins around, among other things.

Let’s leave this worlds levels, Rank Up and such for later, let’s first talk about the goblins who live in this cave.

Apparently the young goblins, maybe our goblin parents, are working away from home in the forest. Working away from home, in short pillaging right? I understand.

Eh, are goblins so weak that they easily die from horned rabbits? No no, that is a newborn goblin right? Goblins are certainly weak as a race however, isn’t this the reason for why the goblins who are born in this forest are able to move the day after, training to kill using a wooden stick and throwing stones in order to learn how to support themselves, literally learning cunning tactics and the skills needed for living by risking their lives.

The weak die, the strong live, I understand this very simple yet severe law.

Really, so merciless I’d cry.

Well, lately there are many individual who imitated us by pairing up when hunting horned rabbits. Because of that the surviving individuals numbered more than ever.

While I was nodding and saying “I see!”, I saw that somehow Gobujiis loincloth began to change shape. Apparently his long life hadn’t dulled his desire to spawn progeny, or perhaps he sensed that his death was close.

Ugh, after almost puking, I wanted to stop our talk as soon as possible and averted my gaze.

As if I can gaze long at that thing.

Since our talk had ended, his face showing how pleased he was with himself, Gobujii got a look of lust and went to the inner parts of the cave.