Chapter 1

What is this? What happened?

On a certain day, just before the camping trip he had been looking forward to, Shouzo Yuu was perplexed by the inexplicable vision before him. Shouzo Yuu was, in general, an ordinary high school student. He had no special circumstances, nor any special abilities.

Nevertheless, his eyes reflected a scene that almost no one – living, that is – had ever seen. Red. A sea of red. The red that covered his entire field of vision, like staring at a velvet curtain that had just been lowered in a theater, was gradually fading to black. His eyes were not closed, yet the world was growing dark.

Yuu felt as if he were in a theater that was being enveloped in darkness after the curtain had fallen.

However, the feeling that Yuu had – or rather, the sensation he sensed – was accurate. An overwhelming sense that something was ending. The true nature of this feeling was the sensation of losing consciousness along with the blood from his body. When he realized it, the surroundings were noisy. Despite being in the midst of the commotion, Yuu could not focus on the voices. He could not understand what the people around him were saying – or even that he was at the center of it all. But he knew that the voices were getting closer. The next moment, the red darkness turned blue. The realization that he was being carried was almost a miracle.

The darkness had returned to the curtain for only a short while, but the scene was rapidly darkening again.

It was then that Yuu finally realized that he was in the process of dying. When he realized that the scenes he had seen until just a moment ago were all within himself, his consciousness rapidly sank into the darkness. No longer could he hear any voices. His eyes would forever reflect black, and his ears would hear only silence. Finally, Yuu stopped thinking. Something definitive had left his body – and here, the story of the slightly different-tempered boy came to an end.

◆

"…Hmm."

The soft, tickling sensation on his cheek made the boy lying on his back groan. At the same time, the wind caressed his skin. The boy, realizing that something was touching his cheek, noticed a light behind his eyelids. …Rustling, something was making a sound. But it was a gentle sound, different from the noise of the city, though expressed with the same onomatopoeia. Yes, a gentle breeze, carrying a scent, tickled his nose. It was a scent he had smelled before, yet not. But it was a calming scent.

He realized it was the scent of trees because he often preferred environments with a plant-like aroma.

"…?"

This was completely different from the environment the boy had been in just moments ago. The smell of blood, the unpleasant noise, the feeling of falling into darkness with death – now, what he felt was almost the opposite. The scent of grass and trees, the gentle whispers they seemed to be making, and the increasing clarity of these sensations. When he cautiously opened his eyes, he found himself in the center of dappled sunlight surrounded by trees, the exact opposite of the red he had seen just moments ago.

The blue scent and light – the essence of "life" – were flowing into his body, which had been heading towards death just moments ago. The boy, Shouzo Yuu, wrapped in a hoodie, woke up with the vitality surging through him, not in a hospital, not on a road, but in a natural setting far from where he had lived.

"Wh… What? Where am I…?"

Although Yuu had a clear sense of being alive, the first thing he felt was a strong confusion rather than the joy of being alive. This was understandable. Without checking, he had undoubtedly received a fatal injury that should have led to his death, yet he was now almost unharmed. Moreover, he had woken up in a forest, not in the city or a hospital. The abnormality of the situation became apparent only because of the surging vitality.

The forest was warm, but Yuu felt a chill seeping into his bones. Alone in an unfamiliar forest, he well knew the terrifying nature of the situation due to his love for the outdoors.

However, when Yuu looked around to assess the situation, his confusion and thoughts came to a halt. This was because the place was filled with plants. However, they were mysterious plants he had never seen before. Plants he had never seen or heard of filled his field of vision.

Plants are plants. Some might say that, and it is true. But for Yuu, it was a bit different. Compared to the average person, he had extensive knowledge of plants, especially those found in the mountains and rivers of Japan.

The confusion that had filled his mind had vanished. His empty mind lowered its gaze. The leaves supporting his upper body were, indeed, something he had never seen before. His entire field of vision was formed by plants he had never seen, in a place he had never been to.

The situation of having been on the brink of death just moments ago led Yuu to a hypothesis – no, a conclusion. It was this:

"Could this be… another world!?"

The fact that this place was not somewhere on Earth.

Yuu's eyes, which had already been filled with confusion mixed with despair, were no longer so.

Before I continue, let me introduce a little about Shouzo Yuu. His name is Shouzo Yuu, an ordinary high school student with an unusual hobby. Hobbies vary widely, and having an unusual hobby does not make one an unusual high school student. In this regard, Yuu had no special elements and was just a normal person, physically a bit stronger than average.

As a normal person, he had neither the skills nor the physical strength to fight in another world. His intelligence – while he had unusual knowledge, he lacked the advanced cultural knowledge needed to develop a society. He did not know how to make guns, and politics was a mystery to him. He would likely not be able to lead a country or govern a territory with his knowledge.

However, there was one aspect in which he was slightly different from ordinary people. One of these was –

"I've never seen leaves that are really 'blue'! I wonder if this is edible…!"

A strong interest in wild ingredients that are not commonly available.

For the average person, grass, insects, and mushrooms that they do not even know the names of, and animals like frogs and snakes that are not typically associated with food. For Yuu, if they were edible, they were all potential food. However, such ingredients often have reasons for not being widely available. These reasons could be the difficulty of procurement, the small edible portion relative to the effort required to obtain them, or toxicity. They often carry some kind of problem.

That is why he had the knowledge mentioned earlier – knowledge of wild animals and plants. This knowledge clearly told him that this place was not part of the ecosystem he knew. Therefore, what he felt was not the despair of being alone in an unfamiliar natural environment. It was a strong joy at having 'arrived' in a place filled with unknown flavors.

"Wow, wow! …But, I can't just be happy in this situation."

Moreover, his so-called otaku tendencies and his love for the outdoors had given him – knowledge that he would never have a chance to use unless he was in a survival situation. How to survive in a desert with just the clothes on your back and a parachute. How to spend time in the mountains with nothing. What to look for and what to avoid to return to a habitable area when far from civilization. Knowledge gained from survival TV shows hosted by former soldiers, which would otherwise be considered useless.

"My belongings… a towel, a stainless steel lunch box, a pen case with a cutter inside, and two plastic bottles. …I was lucky to have the plastic bottles before I threw them away."

The knowledge he thought he would never use was making him act quickly. He lightly checked his belongings and picked out the useful items. The presence of the plastic bottles made him wipe the sweat from his forehead and mutter.

"Plastic bottles mean water. I need to find a water source first, or I'm done for."

Yuu's decision-making and the start of his actions were swift. The survival knowledge that he had considered useless in Japan was indeed proving useful now. In the 17 years he had lived, Yuu had never been so excited, his heart racing. The rare monologues he usually did not speak out loud slightly calmed his jumping heart. Yuu took a deep breath and started walking.

When he carefully observed the surrounding environment, he realized that this place was indeed not on Earth.

"Whoa…! What is that…!"

Yuu was surprised and exclaimed when he saw a strange animal in the trees. The animal was skillfully moving from branch to branch using its two long tails. It was small and seemed to pose little danger, but it was not necessarily safe, so Yuu covered his mouth, scolding himself for making a loud noise.

Then, a sound like a plastic bag being shaken came from a short distance away. When he turned around, he saw a four-legged creature with very large ears fleeing. It probably fled, wary of the loud noise Yuu had made. If the plants were unfamiliar, the creatures living there would also be unfamiliar.

Still, Yuu thought this place was somewhat similar to the mountains in Japan. This was due to the height and color of the surrounding trees. Unlike Japan, there were plants with palm-like leaves, but the temperature and humidity of this "other world" seemed quite similar to Japan's.

"If that's the case, my knowledge should be somewhat useful."

He whispered, wiping the sweat from his forehead, like a devout believer. With such a strange ecosystem, there must be dangerous creatures that he might encounter. While fearing the unseen shadows, Yuu started walking to find a river to sustain his life.