Chapter 8 Darkness and then Light (1/2)

Light

Dark

After 1 hour, I finally managed to regain my calm.

That violent figure of the monkey was still burned into my mind.

But I can’t get stuck on one thing the whole time. I have no choice but to think about what to do from here on.

The only way to give up here in this world is dying.

“…Is there something I can do with 19 points?” (Hikaru)

19 points is by no means a low number, but this is after seeing that monkey, so it strengthens the feeling of this being lacking. I will most likely need to manage this quite a lot in order to get out from this forest. One wrong move and there’s no doubt it will be instant game over.

I definitely don’t want my arms and legs to be torn off and be devoured while alive.

“Is that giant monkey…going to come back? If this place is that guy’s territory, it must be looking for me…” (Hikaru)

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When this barrier runs out, I have to walk again.

When that happens, there’s a high chance I will encounter that monkey again.

Do I have to fight? Or is there a different method I can take?

Killing that giant monkey would be impossible. I can say that for sure.

If I pour all my 19 points into stuff like scrolls or attack magic items, there might be a chance; that’s as far as it would go.

My sole objective here is to get out of this forest.

I must not lose sight of that.

The remaining time of the barrier shows in the board and it tells me there’s 9 hours remaining.

It is currently noon, so it would run out at night. I should think about how to pass the night too.

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“…At any rate, the viewers increased drastically there. There really are people watching this?” (Hikaru)

My eyes stop at the real time viewer count.

The viewer count is changing by the second, but the current viewer count is 116,320,000 people.

Thinking about how it was 2 million not that long ago, this is one abnormal explosive growth.

If we consider the fact that there are a lot of Chosen who have gotten attention from way before, this must be the effect of Random Transfer. Meaning that being the early laugh target at the beginning isn’t just for show – as ironic as that may sound.

People on Earth must be watching me surviving here from their TVs, smartphones, or computers all leisurely while eating snacks.

But if I hadn’t come here, I would be doing the same.

The one at fault here is the God that trapped us.

There’s a lot of logs in the Status Board, but in the viewer count log it shows as [X amount of viewers reached].

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I get rewarded with Crystals from that.

I say that, but they are not physical, they are more like points.

I can exchange 30 Crystals for 1 Point, so you could even call them fragment points.

Anyways, right now I have 2 Crystals.

[Daily Viewer Count 100,000,000 reached] and [First Encounter with a Monstrosity].

The first milestone to get 1 Crystal being 100,000,000 viewers feels like a really harsh setting, but I will take anything I can get.

There’s a lot of ways to use Crystals.

First, you can exchange them for many diverse items.

For example; you can exchange 1 Crystal for a beginner potion. Also small things like pocket tissues, toilet papers, sandwiches, water, wooden swords, cotton wrapping cloths, memo papers, pencils, and so… You can exchange for quite small things.

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Right now I am not hungry because of the intense mental strain I am currently in, but I will most likely be on the care of the sandwich and water eventually. In that sense, you could say Crystals are important.

If you use 3 Crystals, you can exchange them for physical strength, stamina, and spirit energy recovery potions.

A flip chart set can be exchanged too. Maybe for the times when the Chosen wants to tell the viewers something with writing?

If you use 5 Crystals, you can get intermediate potions, tools, equipment, and quite a lot of different things.

All of those will be necessary one day, so I really can’t waste them.

“Got no choice but to use it now.” (Hikaru)

Crystals can be exchanged for other things that are not physical too.

You can get information about monsters that you have encountered, [Monster Appraisal].

You can get information of what you are holding, [Item Appraisal].

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And, you can get information to survive, [Survival Hint].

Of course, the one I should take here is the last one. I do have an interest in the Monster Appraisal, but let’s save that for when I can survive.

I may have 2, but even 1 Crystal is invaluable.

30 Crystals being 1 Point, if you turn it around, it would mean you won’t be able to increase your points unless you save the Crystals.

But right now I want a hint to survive.

I push the [Hint] button.

<<Will you use 1 Crystal to get a [Survival Hint]? YES・NO>>

When I pressed Yes, a hint showed up soon after.

<<Blend into the darkness>>

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“Eh… O-Only this?” (Hikaru)

It is way too vague. Truly a hint.

It might even be telling me random stuff because I am beyond saving already.

But it is also true that I have nothing else to rely on.

“By darkness, is it talking about moving at night?” (Hikaru)

One would normally think that it is more dangerous at night, but I have taken Night Vision.

I won’t be able to tell just how well I will be able to see until night actually comes, but it most likely should be good enough for me to walk in.

If I can walk safely at night, I will shut myself in at daytime with the barrier for as much as my points allow, and cover the distance at night…

“Maybe the monsters in this forest aren’t active at night…?” (Hikaru)

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I know close to nothing about this world. There might not be that many nocturnal creatures.

Or more like, how much blending in the darkness does that hint require me to do? At the very least, it would be more natural to consider this as telling me that night is safer.

“…But if that were the case, I feel like it would be better to phrase it as ‘act at night’.” (Hikaru)

It didn’t say night but darkness.

Now that I think about it, this reminds me of something.

I open the tab of Spirit Abilities from the Status Board.

Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Light, Darkness.

All Spirit Abilities have a cost of 10 Points.