My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness - Chapter 5

First contact

: An attack by a wild beast that falls without a sound.

Because I noticed it right before, I was able to react just in the nick of time.

Cards!

“Ugh…. What is this all of a sudden?!”

He threw the metal bar he was holding for self-defense into the mouth of an attacking beast and rolled around on the floor.

Even with his strengthened body, he could not shake off the beast that was pressing down on him.

“Krrrrrrr….”

Saliva dripped from the mouth that was crunching on the metal rod.

I guess they think of me as nothing more than a meal.

‘Ah… you must be dirty.’

The bulletproof vest and arm guards on my upper body were already tattered by the wild beast’s claws and I had wounds all over my body, but I calmly tried to find a way to respond.

Although I was surprised by the sudden outburst, it was like a realistic game to me after filtering out the fear and pain.

Therefore, I was able to respond immediately without making mistakes due to tension.

He twisted the two hands that were supporting the metal bar to the side, creating a momentary gap, and quickly grabbed the handle of his waist belt with one hand.

Puuuk—

“Khuuuu—”

Without hesitation, he plunged the knife into the nape of the beast’s neck.

Perhaps because I used “Magic Affinity” and poured all of my weak magical energy into the knife, the blade pierced its thick hide and became deeply embedded.

With one hand, he pushed against the metal bar to block his mouth, and with the other hand he continued to stab the back of his neck with a knife.

Fortunately, the guy who stabbed me in the vital spot lost strength, so I was able to hold on.

How long has it been since you struggled like that?

I could feel the strength slowly fading from the beast’s body.

“Huh… wow… it’s finally over.”

Finally, after confirming that he was dead, he stood up.

The wild beast was a black leopard.

Looking at it on a dark night, I could see that it was Cheonun that had noticed and responded to something that was not easily visible.

He took his gaze away from the leopard and examined his condition.

Blood stains were visible from wounds all over the tattered clothes and equipment.

There was no one left in ruins.

Fortunately, the wound was healing in real time.

Although my protective gear was damaged, I didn’t suffer any major injuries thanks to that.

‘It’s probably not a good choice to continue staying here.’

Not only did I cause a commotion by fighting the leopard, but the smell of blood would spread, so it was best to get away quickly.

He poured water to wash away the blood stains on his body and hurried away.

It may not be completely washed away, but it is better than leaving it unattended and doing nothing.

The moment when I started walking like that.

Was the luck still going on?

A light could be seen beyond the trees.

When I approached and looked carefully, it looked like a small slash-and-burn village.

‘I thought it was night because I was in the forest, but I guess it’s not time to sleep yet. ‘I see people walking around.’

It was my first encounter with people from another world.

Although my clothes were a mess, I made sure to look as neat as possible and headed towards the entrance of the wooden fence surrounding the village.

Because it was late, the wooden fence door was closed and there was no one guarding it.

As I was thinking about what to do, the man’s head popped up on top of the wooden fence.

“Who are you?”

Fortunately, I was relieved that there was someone there, so I calmed my voice and answered.

“hello. During my trip, I got lost on a forest path and ended up here. “Could you please let me stay in the village for just one night?”

“…You mean you came through the forest path alone this late at night? A forest infested with those demonic beasts?”

Uh… the only thing I encountered was a black leopard, but was it really that dangerous of a forest?

I sighed in relief, thinking that I was really lucky.

“Ah… Yes, we had a hard time, but fortunately we were able to get out safely. Thanks to you, I was completely devastated. Ahaha.”

As I smiled awkwardly and hurriedly answered, the middle-aged man looked at my messed up body, told me to wait a moment, and disappeared behind the wooden fence.

‘There is a lot of vigilance. Well, it can’t be helped in a slash-and-burn village in the forest like this.’

I thought it was natural that I looked suspicious.

Even though it was in a tattered state, didn’t his clothes feel foreign to him?

After waiting for a while, the man who had disappeared reappeared with an old man who appeared to be the village chief.

“Yes… I heard the story, young man. “You got lost while traveling and ended up here?”

“Yes that’s right. “Elderly.”

As I answered politely and looked as harmless as possible, the old man who was looking at me smiled kindly and opened his mouth.

“People in need like us should help each other in difficult times. “Please rest in peace.”

The middle-aged man

who came with the old man immediately opened the door of the wooden fence.

I thanked him and went in and greeted him again politely.

“Thank you again for your kindness.”

“Well, it’s late today, so hurry up and get some rest. “We have a few empty rooms in our house, so you can stay there.”

The old man smiled kindly and accepted the greeting, but the middle-aged man showed no reaction.

‘What a rough guy.’

We followed the old man around and talked about various things.

As I thought, the old man was the chief of this village.

And I could see that the forest I had passed through was more dangerous than I thought.

I was lucky that I only encountered one black leopard in the forest, and that the village was not far away, so I could easily find it.

“My name is Malcolm. So, what is your name?”

“ah! “My name is Hans.”

As we continued talking, we arrived at the village chief’s house.

Since the village is small, it didn’t take long.

“You can rest in this room. “You must have been through a lot. Rest in peace.”

“thank you. “I don’t know how to repay this favor…”

“Well, if you’re grateful, it would be nice to at least chop up some firewood tomorrow.”

“yes! I am really confident in my physical strength. “Just leave it to me!”

Eventually, the village chief left and I was left alone in the room.

It was a bit dusty because it was an empty room, but compared to sleeping in the woods, it was like heaven.

“Phew…”

Finally, I completely relaxed my mind and put down the bag on my back and took off my messed up clothes.

The jacket was unusable and the equipment was damaged by the claws of wild beasts.

Still, it’s better than not using it at all, so I won’t throw it away.

‘I’ve heard about it, but… it’s amazing to experience it myself. ‘I unconsciously understood and used their language.’

While thinking about this and that, I wet a towel and wiped my body, and before I knew it, I could see that all my wounds had healed without a trace.

“Super Recovery” was a truly helpful ability in many ways.

“Magic affinity” was also quite useful.

After cleaning up, I spread out my sleeping bag on the old bed and went in and lay down.

It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but in that short amount of time, I’ve fought wild beasts, met people from another world, and had conversations with them.

‘Yes, I’m doing well. The conversation wasn’t strange and the village chief’s reaction wasn’t bad either.’

He quietly looked at the ceiling, then raised the corners of his mouth and smiled softly.

I don’t know if “Mind Herb” helps here, but I was able to laugh quite naturally.

After smiling at the ceiling for a while, I stopped smiling and closed my eyes.

In fact, I couldn’t sleep not long after coming to this world, but now that I needed to adjust to the time difference in this world, I was planning to force myself to rest.

I slowly entered a dormant state.

***

I opened the package, took out the chicken, and took a bite.

“As expected, chicken is the truth.”

As soon as I sent the avatar to another world, I ordered chicken, but it didn’t arrive until I entered the village and went into a dormant state after all the travel.

Well, it was only about 20 minutes in Earth time, so it was something that could not be helped.

‘By the way, it’s really good. ‘I can comfortably travel to another world while taking a warm shower and eating chicken.’

Another avatar, ‘Heinz’, followed in the footsteps of ‘Hans’ who was sent to another world and went into extreme training mode.

You don’t know when it will be deployed, so you have to prepare in advance.

As I ate the chicken in an instant and was cleaning up, I could feel that morning had come in the other world that had been dormant.

“Hmm… Then I’ll try to gather information about how the world works.”

I walked over, sat down in front of the computer, and started browsing various websites.

Because I could fully enjoy traveling to another world while using the Internet.

***

Although my eyes were closed and I was in a dormant state, I was not completely blocking out all my senses.

When it got brighter outside and I felt people starting to move, I opened my eyes and woke up.

Of course, the avatar also needs to get a good night’s sleep to rest his brain, but this night was just for adjusting to the jet lag, so this was enough.

“Good night, Chief.”

“So Hans, did you rest well too?”

“Yes, thanks to you, I was able to spend the night comfortably.”

I said hello to the village chief, who was just coming out of the room, and went to the backyard to take a quick wash.

“I haven’t prepared anything for you, but please eat a lot.”

“Thank you so much for giving me something to eat.”

“Hehehehe, we all help each other. “I just need you to help me with some village work later.”

Although it was only boiled potatoes, hard bread, and soup, I was able to eat it with satisfaction, considering it to be my first meal in another world.

It didn’t seem like they were cooking at home, but when asked about this, the village chief responded.

“Because the old man lives alone, people around him take care of his every meal. “I’m grateful.”

It seemed like the villagers were closer together than I thought.

Or, because he is the village chief, he is treated differently.

As we talked, stories about myself naturally came up.

“Now that I think about it, your clothes and equipment are all things I’ve never seen before. How far away have you come from?

“Ahaha, I like unusual things. “I wandered around and collected them one by one, and that’s what happened.”

“Hoo… isn’t it difficult to travel alone?”

He roughly glossed over the preconceived notions of being a wandering adventurer and revealed that he got lost while traveling aimlessly.

Then, naturally, I asked if there were other cities nearby.

“Hmm… What does an old man who lives only in the mountains know? “I think I heard there’s a small city going east.”

Unfortunately, the answer I received wasn’t clear, but I decided to aim for the east and go there.

Isn’t it better than wandering around without any destination?

We decided to leave the village the next day, and that day we decided to follow the village chief and help with various tasks in the village.

Before making a full-fledged move, you must collect at least the minimum amount of information to be able to grow safely.

For me, who does not yet know much about this world, it was a natural opportunity to approach the natives and gain information.

He filled the water bucket in the backyard, chopped and organized firewood, and even helped repair the village’s wooden fence.

“Mr. Hans, please give me some rope there.”

“You have good physical strength. “What did you do before?”

By working with men from other villages, I was able to talk and have many conversations as naturally as possible.

“okay. So, you’re saying that hunters are in charge of interactions with the outside world? “Is there a safe way?”

Since I had a lot of stamina, it wasn’t particularly hard. Rather, I used this opportunity to train myself a little more and worked without stopping.

“You did well today. If I’m leaving early tomorrow, I’ll need to rest well. “Let’s have one last drink.”

After finishing the day’s information-gathering work, I washed up and entered the house, and the village chief brought out a bottle of alcohol along with dinner.

The alcohol content was quite strong, but not enough to threaten the liver, which is recovering in real time, and it suited my taste better than I expected.

I was enjoying the pleasure of drinking alcohol from another world, and when I came to my senses, quite a bit of time had already passed.

If I was any later, I would have trouble waking up the next day, so I tidied up, went into my room, and got into my sleeping bag.

Unlike the previous day, the time difference was adjusted, and with the right amount of work and alcohol, I was able to really sleep well this time.

***

And then I stopped the game I was playing, closed my eyes, and concentrated.

Heinz, who was strengthening his lower body while doing squats at the gym, stopped on the spot and closed his eyes.

…The connection with the avatar Hans in this world was lost.

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