Chapter 2

Kurahito noticed that he was standing somewhere, as a gentle breeze caressed his cheek.

He immediately realized he was in a cave when he opened his eyes, due to the light.

Looking in the direction of the light, he could see a world of white and blue, even from a distance.

Drawn by the scene, Kurahito stumbled over to the cave entrance.

The cold air that pricked his skin and the sharp, cold pain in his nose didn't bother him.

Endless skies and white mountains stretched before him.

Looking up, he saw something large flying across the sun, which didn't seem to be a bird.

On the opposite mountain, a feline-like creature with an unusually long tail was strutting along the ridge.

It felt as if he had been freed from all his ties.

He could imagine the inconvenience and hardships, but the feeling of having shed everything—his position, reputation, salary, prejudices, and even his self-esteem—was overwhelming.

How long had he been standing there?

Kurahito felt a chill and shivered. He was still wearing the same gray work uniform, black V-neck long shirt, white towel around his neck, cheap analog watch, and sturdy navy boots he had on when he was working as a janitor. This was not the attire for a snowy mountain.

Despite the reluctance to leave, Kurahito returned to the depths of the cave.

When he came back, he found a large moss-green backpack sitting in the passage.

Kurahito immediately realized that it had been prepared by the voice.

Recalling the white space with only the voice, the outside scenery, and the cave, he finally felt convinced that he had truly come to another world.

Kurahito sat down on the spot.

He reached into the backpack casually, but found nothing.

He rummaged through it, thinking there should be a year's supply of water and food, a knife, and a magic textbook, but there was nothing.

While thinking about what the food might be—rice, hardtack, or perhaps bread—his hand touched something long.

Pulling it out, he found something that looked like a baguette. Upon closer inspection, it was a baguette-shaped item made from something baked and hardened like a cookie. It seemed to be a type of portable food.

"Eat this," Kurahito's slightly dejected voice echoed in the cave.

After that, the portable food appeared in unlimited quantities, and water came in barrels. A large knife and what appeared to be a magic textbook also appeared.

It seemed that the backpack, despite its appearance, could hold a large amount of items.

Kurahito put everything except the knife back into the backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and stood up.

The sun was starting to set.

He needed to secure a place to sleep before it got completely dark.

The current passage was still too windy to sleep in.

Holding the knife in his right hand, he continued deeper into the cave.

The dimly lit cave was about two people wide and had about thirty centimeters of clearance above Kurahito's head, who was about 170 centimeters tall. The cave walls were smooth and bare, with no moss and only the smell of earth.

Kurahito didn't sense any presence of other beings.

Still, he proceeded as cautiously as possible.

Fortunately, there were no inhabitants, and he reached the deepest part of the cave.

It was a small, empty space, about the size of a six-mat room.

That night, he fell asleep when the light from the entrance disappeared.

It might have been too defenseless, but since there was nothing he could do, Kurahito resigned himself to sleep.

In the dim light, Kurahito woke up to a rumbling sound.

Although it wasn't extremely cold last night and he had slept fairly well, it felt a bit chilly now.

Still half-asleep, he stumbled to his feet and, drawn by the faint light, made his way to the passage.

From a distance, he saw a fierce blizzard.

Despite the storm, the light of the rising sun was also shining through.

As he moved deeper into the passage, the temperature dropped, and Kurahito's consciousness gradually became more alert.

Just a few more steps from the outside, Kurahito, feeling the cold, turned around.

He hurried back to the room, thinking.

He needed to urgently find a way to heat the place, secure the entrance, and, if possible, get some light.

This wasn't like being in Japan, where the lack of something might mean death.

Here, the lack of something meant certain death.

Kurahito knew this firsthand.

Survival meant that death was just a stone's throw away.

If he didn't find a way to avoid it, he would die easily.

Kurahito hurried back to the small cave room, pulled out the thick, encyclopedia-like magic textbook from the backpack, and flipped through the pages intently.

Fortunately, the paper was thick, and there weren't as many pages as an encyclopedia.

The text was readable.

Kurahito began his studies, focused solely on survival.