Morning—.

The morning sunlight filters through the gaps between the trees’ foliage into the forest.

I woke up around sunrise and stretched out on the high branch I used as a bed last night.

“Kumyaa!”

It feels great to have a nice stretch!

Well…

Yesterday, the sun started going down right after I got the apples and it was too risky to move around after dark…so I decided to go to bed as quickly as possible.

Though, it wasn’t that easy to sleep either…

It’s too dangerous to sleep on the ground in the middle of a forest with demons roaming around. I may not have run into any, but there was also a chance that there would be wolves, bears and other dangerous animals.

When I thought about it, the place where I could sleep naturally would be a tree. At a couple of meters high, the chief would’ve been able to get to me, so I climbed to the top of the tree and slept.

I was mentally and physically exhausted, so I fell asleep easily. Since I was so scared, though, I snapped awake at every sound and presence I felt, so I didn’t get a very good night’s sleep…

I don’t feel like I’ve completely recovered from fatigue…

To be honest, if I were in my old world, I might have seriously considered sleeping in a couple of times, even if it meant being late…If I’m late, though, the rest of the day ends up being terrible, so I always end up forcing myself to get up anyway…

I jump off the branch with a flick of my paws and land on the ground.

Ah…come to think of it, I’m not afraid of jumping off of or sleeping in high places at all am I? It isn’t like I’ve always been particularly good with high places, but I guess that’s part of being a cat. Thank goodness I’m not afraid.

I take out the leftovers from the collection box, yesterday’s apple pieces, and have them for breakfast.

Hmm? The apples haven’t turned brown from oxidation…? The pieces are still clean and juicy as if they’d just been peeled.

Could it be that time is stopped inside the Collection Box? If that’s the case, I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about food or water spoiling!

I have a quick drink of water and then…Let’s eat!

Well, I’m heading out to follow the river again today.

I started walking, but there was no change to speak of…

I walk until the sun goes down.

When I get tired, I rest. After some time, I walk some more.

I do this all day long, but nothing changes at all.

I see a few shadows that look like animals, but I am too afraid to even try to identify them in case I would be putting myself in danger if I got too close.

There isn’t a human village.

There isn’t a human presence.

I can’t find any new food…but I did find these three mushrooms. I can’t tell if they are edible or not, so I’ll just put them in the Collection Box for now.

“[Mushroom Lv.2]

Category: Material

Size: Small

Rarity: F

Quantity: 3/30”

Well, it looks like this.

It would be nice to at least determine if it is poisonous or not…but it isn’t that convenient…

Even if they aren’t poisonous, I wouldn’t even like eating raw mushrooms…

…Continuing to walk without a destination is more physically and mentally draining than I expected.

How far will I have to walk? How long do I have to walk? Not knowing a definite end goal gives me a sense of anxiety and fear, as if my body is gradually being dragged into a swamp.

If I stop walking, though, that’s the end of the line.

If I don’t want to die, I have to walk.

It’s getting a bit dark, but I think I’ll walk a little more today…but when I stepped out, I felt something

“Mi?”

A strange feeling.

—A stench.

It’s a scent that I’ve never smelled in the forest before.

A rotten odor hits my nose.

I cough, then search around for the source of the stench.

It’s on the other side of the stream—I can’t see any further than the trees and grass, but maybe it isn’t that far. I don’t know how much I can trust a cat’s sense of smell though.

Why don’t I just go for it?

If I notice the smell, then other animals and that demon must have noticed it too. Luckily, animals don’t like strong scents, so there shouldn’t be any risk in approaching this one…Unless there’s something going on that my common sense isn’t picking up on.

I jump over the creek to the other side.

I am able to do it with relative ease thanks to the strength bonuses I’ve gotten, but if I’d jumped like that in the beginning, I would’ve fallen into the river like I’m in a variety show…

Tokotoko. I step closer to the source of the odor.

Wow…When I get closer, my nose starts tingling…I think I have a good sense of smell…

I can’t help but wonder, “Do I really need to get closer?” I really don’t think so…but I’m curious, aren’t I? My tendency to rubberneck has been awakened.

I never know what kind of danger may be around the corner, so I’ll keep my guard up.

Rush through the grass to get to the source of the scent.

There…

—A human corpse lies on the ground.

“Myaah!”

Ughhh!

…I was startled by the sight and screamed.

I hurriedly close my mouth and watch for anything nearby. Is it okay? I’m not sure if something is coming closer because of my scream.

…It’s okay…I’m fine.

Good.

I take a deep breath and calm myself down.

What a surprise…! I expected it to be some kind of a corpse from the stench…but I didn’t think it’d be a human corpse.

I look it over again.

It’s a man’s corpse. He was muscular, maybe six feet tall?

He is wearing leather armor and there’s a sword that has been cut in half laying beside his body…What a fantastic outfit…It really is another world.

Above all else—half of his face is missing.

The parts of the body without armor seemed to have been eaten by a beast, exposing blackened flesh and broken bones from his head to his toes, rotten blood clumps on the ground around the wounds and insects are swarming everywhere.

…Gross…

This is a traumatic sight that would make me vomit everything in my stomach and not be able to eat food for a while if I were still human, but I don’t really feel disgusted enough to throw up right now…? Is it because I’m a cat? As a carnivorous feline, are animal carcasses not really anything to be concerned about…?

As an ex-human, I’d like to dig him a grave, but I’d be in even more danger if I took the time to do that in this body.

I don’t know who’s corpse this is, but I’ll at least say a silent prayer for his soul.

I’m reluctant to mess with a corpse…but I’m also on the edge of life and death here, so I’ll relieve him of his items…

I feel so guilty and disgusted with myself…but I will just have to live with this.

I touch the leather armor the corpse is wearing. As soon as I touch it, the armor disappears and the corpse is only covered by the inner lining.

“[Leather Armor Lv.4]

Category: Armor

Size: Large

Rarity: F

Quantity: 1/10”

“Bonus to physical abilities has been added due to the collection of new items (Effect: minor)”

I got my first item in the armor category…

Rather than being happy, I feel like crying because stealing something that belongs to someone else weighs heavily on my heart, even if they’re dead.

Huh?  The possession limit is ten? Perhaps things in the armor category have a limit that is more strict than that of materials…?

Next, the broken sword.

“[Damaged Weapon Lv.1]

Category: Material

Size: Small

Rarity: F

Quantity: 2/30”

“Bonus to physical abilities has been added due to the collection of new items (Effect: minor)”

I didn’t think it would recognize a broken item as a weapon.

It’s a good thing that the item was cut in half so there are two of them and I got that bonus.

Just as I’m about to start on the next item, I noticed there is more in the log, so I closed my eyes to read it.

“Since you’ve met the condition [Collect 10 Items], you can choose one of the following bonuses:

Ohh, some nice bonuses to choose from!!

It’s a well-timed good fortune to heal my gloom.

…Maybe this person is telling me, “live properly”? I’m sure I’m just thinking of something convenient for me.

Yeah, okay, let’s go for it!

What should I pick?

To be honest, what I want the most is physical enhancement.

It’s not the slight effect I’ve been getting so far, it’s a greater enhancement of my physical abilities. It’s probably a big increase that I can actually feel.

If my physical abilities increase, I’ll be able to move around more easily and have a better chance at escaping an enemy. My senses would be enhanced too, which can help me find more food…

But…should I only think about the immediate future?

If I think further ahead, the first option to drop would be the physical enhancement. Even if I don’t get this bonus, I’ll eventually get the same amount of power by collecting new items. On the other hand, the other two could probably be picked up later too.

The other two…the increase in the number of items I can have in my Collection Box—is frankly unnecessary. I don’t need any more items than I already have…Well, if I had to pick one, I’d say water. It’s not like I’m saying, “I definitely want that!” It’s more of an “if you can afford it, take it” kind of thing.

…Then there’s this last one.

Get a new skill…What is this? I’m not sure if it is a good idea or not since it says “random” in parenthesis…

So this is it, right? This is an ability gacha?

You can spend one bonus and draw a gacha…

…This reminds me of when I was in school. I poured all my part-time job money for an entire month into the gacha and went through hell for doing it…I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that I wasn’t the only one. I’m sure you’d agree.

…Should I try it? I’m not sure what I’ll get, but it’s worth a shot to see what I’ll get. I’m not sure if this gacha will come out as a bonus in the future, but…

“The ‘Get a New Skill’ option was selected. You will get one random derivative skill.”

Hmm? What’s a derivative skill?

“You’ve acquired the derivative skill [Shot Boost].

As condition [Acquire Derivative Skill] has been met, the following categories have been released:

Now, you will be able to collect the skills in the released categories.”

Wait? What? Not only can I collect items, but I can also collect skills!? Is it that great? Is it really that versatile!?

No, I mean…isn’t this really amazing…? I can collect anything I want…becoming a true “Collector”…

Well, let’s put aside my surprise for a moment.

What kind of ability is Shot Boost? From the name, I’m guessing it is an enhancement to the ability to shoot? Like with a gun? A bow? I don’t have anything like that. Even if I did have one of those, I wouldn’t be able to use it because I’m a cat.

…This is, yeah, well, ah…isn’t this like a loss?

Noooooooooo!!!?

“Myaaaaaaaah!!!?”

The despair that I felt when I was in school came back to me, and I slump down on the spot with my head in my paws.

I wasted my precious selectable bonus!

Is it worth it to do it once just to see what kind of things come out? No! To be honest, that’s just an excuse to play around with something like that!