CH 3

[Author]

I recently found time to spare and started watching anime, and i am immediately influenced by it.

I think I’ll add goblins to this series someday, just so that I don’t get scolded by the management.

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It’s the first time I’ve been on the ground after 200 years.. I’m exaggerating, It’s only been maybe 2 days.

Judging from the position of the sun, it’s probably just noon.

The weather is clear and perfect for departure, but I’m still not sure that I will go on the trip.

I’d like to bathe in the sun, but unfortunately my vicinity or as far as i can see, is filled with shade.

Why?

I’d like to answer that question and say a few word as well.

[Where the hell am I?] I thought.

I stepped outside of the facility to see green, green and greens all around me, but it’s not a forest… it’s an untouched nature.

Is it because of the 200 years that had passed?

Is it possible that the Empire acquired new territory?

Shaking my head, I took a look closer towards my surroundings.

I don’t think so.

As of now, all the plants i saw is familiar to me… So I guess I’m still inside of what used to be an Imperial territory.

In the first place, I was transported when I was unconscious.

Whether my body is already in this state or not, I don’t think They can prepare a large scale device such as the cryo-sleep device.

Therefore, it is almost certain that this is still the former Imperial territory.

I don’t see the point of setting a large scale surprise so I guess the “sleeping for 200 year in a cryo-sleeper” theory is already confirmed.

(That means that there’s some reason for this verdant situation… I wonder, how the war ended. I don’t think it’s possible to leave this land is much as state, even more so if its a national territory. If it’s the West it could be.. No. There’s too little to go on. Should I investigate the vicinity of the facility?)

I stood there lamenting and groaning, but there’s no idea coming to me.

That said if I’m going to to move, we must have information first.

Especially in our situation. No matter what I do I need to know where am I in order to understand the terrain and to make decision on what to do.

We also need to get water and food. Currently, I’m not feeling hungry or thirsty, but it might be hard to feel because of my physical enhancement, and fall in a predicament.

After all, I had been asleep for 200 years, albeit frozen.

Aside from that. I haven’t have food or drink yet, so I need to get some as soon as possible.

With so much nature around me, I should be able to find something to eat, even though I’m huge.

I’m not even sure if berries will be enough to fill me or if there’s anything that is edible. So it might be better to hunt some wild animal.

If we go hunting, the next question would be, “Would I eat it raw?” and leads to question of “How to start a fire?”

(Okay, Let’s go back to the facility and find something we can use.)

And so, I went back to the facility…

In front of me was the gate filled with sand and soil. Even though the gate is fine the surrounding area deteriorated to serious level, and the fact that i dug a hole at the side of the gate, pushed it over the edge. After that. the 60 meter fall might have been the final blow.

the gate that i had struggled so hard to get trough is now buried in sands, leaving only a trace, and the research facility that it was once is now completely gone.

No matter how i look at it I wouldn’t be able to go back there.

If i tried to forcibly dig, I would end up being buried too. So I shrugged my shoulder and gave up

[Gohaaa…]

I sighed heavily and looked around if i could find anything of use. After an hour of searching, I came up with this array of items.

A backpack: I can’t wear it but i can fit small stuff in it. It’ was in a sealed locker so it’s still fine to use. The color is green.

Empty bottles of alcohol. I can use it to hold water or other things. the lid is still intact and there are 3 relatively clean ones.

Matches: None of the lighters around are usable but there were 3 boxes of new matches in their original packaging. I want to believe that this are still usable.

Well, that’s all I got after an hour of searching.

Please don’t think that I’m incompetent, it’s just that most of the item around are rusty or badly damaged and is not durable enough to be of use.

(After all, it had been 200 years, very few things could be usable)

I can say that I did well in finding this many items.

Honestly, I wanted to have a usable blade, but I’m not in a position to be picky.

I slipped the backpack through my hand… I wanted to, but I grabbed it instead, then I looked around as I leave the hole. It’s useless to look at the ruins that is beautifully eroded by vegetation-unlike the underground. But even so, there might be some clue to the situation I’m in. and my intuition tells me that I shouldn’t ignore it.

The area above the facility is too small for my large body, and to be honest, it’s not worth exploring, but my gamer brain can’t help but feel bad when I miss something.

The first thing I did was to go around and outer edges of the facility and check if I could find something.

If there are any sign of damage to the exterior like bullet holes or explosive, this might help me speculate a little further. However I could not find any traces of any damage and only confirmed that the facility naturally rotted.

(I guess I’ll just have to find some documents or something inside…)

Though I don’t think that There would be anything in paper form that would be conveniently be lying around that is readable and in a good state of preservation.

It would be miracle if there’s any paper intact in this state verdant erosion…

I moved away a bit so that I can see the entire facility. Then found something after I climbed a crumbling concrete walls and looked around.

At the entrance- a broken gateway covered in greenery – there’s something stuck to it.

A sort of metal plate, and I knew that there is something written into it.

Soon as I approached it, I tore the ivies and leaves around as if I’m picking it off, and look at the remains of what should have been once a sign.

Most of the words were faded, but there was enough bits to read and when combined with the “NO TRESPASSING” symbol. it’s easy to assume what’s written there.

In short, it reads

“Contaminated area, NO TRESPASSING”

That’s it. If i had to elaborate, It would say “Closed as this is a heavily contaminated area, No entry allowed” supplementing the missing and almost unreadable part. So, Immediately stopped my search, and left the ruins as fast as I could.

Man, it was a disaster at the laboratory.

I was surprised at how fast I could run, but I think I could run even faster after I got used to this body.

I’m normal enough to think of that.

“Pollution” It looks like there seems to have been a chemical contamination. It’s something that can only happen in the Empire.

(Oh Empire, what have you done?)

The northern kingdom of Canaan has science as well, but not to the level comparable to the Empire’s. It’s not even a good candidate to consider as a culprit.

In the east lies, magical nation Seizelia and it’s impossible for magic to cause such pollution – especially in the science-oriented Empire of Fleuretus, unless it in the scale that is enough to change terrains.

Same is true with for the west. It’s highly unlikely that the elven nation known for worshiping nature would cause such disaster.

Lastly the Fepublic of Revelen and Federation of Haile from the south. It’s doubtful that the small country of Revlen have the ability to do such thing and Haile, a country which is greedy for territory and was force to wage war against Seizelia could do such thing to the Imperial territory

{T/N So I guess Haile have their hands full against Seizelia}

This leaves us with one answer.

(It looks like the Empire self-destruct, that’s for sure)

Don’t I trust my country?

Well, when you’re at war with Canaan and you start making all those crazy weapon and having them explode all the time, it’s not hard to get such idea.

But I still can’t help but wonder where did this pollution came from?

I don’t suppose that this whole dense forest is created by the “Pollution” that made it uninhabitable?

If that’s the case, this whole forest is a no go.

In other words, if the empire which boasted the larges territory in the continent is in such a state, this would be the biggest Green Movement.

Also if the pollution still lingers, surely there is something wrong with these plants. However I have yet to see something amiss and when I look around, all I see are plants and insect I’m familiar with. there’s no deformities and there’s also a good chance that the pollution is a thing of the past.

It’s also possible, even tough it’s just a wishful thinking, that my current body is resistant to chemical pollution.

Because of this situation, it’s best to hurry up and grasp the terrain and confirm my current location just as originally planned.

Searching the facility would not be necessary since we have the general idea of the current situtation.

So, I took advantage of my physical prowess and jumped vertically, with a loud bang, crushing the branches above me and soar to the cloudless blue sky.

To my surprise, I’m already flying.

(Am i going to be fine landing from this height?)

I’m sure I’m strong enough to survive the impact, but this is still scary.

The view in front me is just a flat view of the forest stretching as far as i can see from all direction.

I was worried worried about my landing but when I hit the ground with a thud, I didn’t even fill any pain or numbness. The only thing that happened was the shock and the noise of the scampering birds.

[I’m really impress with my body] I said.

This time i turned 180 degrees and look at the opposite direction and jump again. And there it is – a small but steep cliff.

It seems high enough to at least give me a vantage view of the surrounding area.It’s not far away, so we could probably reach it in a few minute. Unfortunately, the trees are becoming too much of a hindrance thanks to my unnecessarily wide shoulder, making me crush into those trees at full speed.

The density of greens in this area is bit high, so it’s best to continue running on a moderate pace. Though, I don’t know if you can consider this “running” if I’m using four of my limbs, but you get the idea.

I took the chance to optimize my running technique as I head to the cliff.

I knew what I was doing but it just felt so strange. The center of gravity and my physical ability is so high that It was nerve wracking to control it, the I’m unable to grasp my surrounding. Resulting in me hitting my arms and legs on random small objects ending in their destruction.

I can’t help but be alarmed thinking that. “I guess I need to get used to the nature myself, rather than waiting for nature to get use to me”. I don’t plan to be defeated by wild beasts but there’s no guarantee when it comes to the monsters call “hexenbiest” or even against a group of human that might attack.

Especially if i become targeted by humanity. If you are identified as a “dangerous creature”, It’s expected that they hunt you, even if they make some sacrifices. And, I don’t want that to happen. It’s too late if something happens after all.

That’s why i came in a conclusion, while I’m traversing trough, that I should take time to get used to my new body.

While lamenting on those things, i finally see the cliff I was aiming for. Getting closer, we can appreciate the height of this cliff.

(Hmm… well this is way better than me jumping)

Honestly it’s disappointing, but if I try looking harder I might get something out of it. At any rate, I still had to climb this cliff before I cant start, so I start looking for a foothold. I took me a minute to find one, unexpectedly.

It was a huge staircase with three steps with about two or three meter high and looks like some playground athletic platform that I could easily be climb by jumping. It has also have enough space to serve as a scaffolding and with my current physical ability, I have no reason to fear it.

If you look at this spot, that looks like a cliff, you’ll notice that for some reason, only this area around the cliff seems to rose up, which was strange.

I was a little curious as to how it was formed, but now was not the time to investigate , so I climbed up a step at a time.

Now, I was hoping to find some familiar structures.