Aiming for a Cozy Life in a Dangerous Forest in Another World! - Chapter 0
Aiming for a Cozy Life in a Dangerous Forest in Another World!
Chapter 0: Prologue
・・・・・・Dark.
Where… am I?
When I came to, it was pitch black. Or rather, am I lying down?
I sat up and looked around, but it was too dark, I could barely see anything.
The only light was coming from my right, illuminating just that area.
Where on earth could this be?
I…
“Sousuke!!!!!”
I called out his name and looked around, but Sousuke was nowhere to be found.
That’s right, I’m Mizuhara Kotoha, a third-year high school student. Today’s my 18th birthday, and I was supposed to be on a date with my boyfriend, Sousuke, whom I’ve been dating for a month…
He said he wanted to show me a nice view, and we were heading to a slightly remote observation deck.
That’s where…
“That’s right, I was sold.”
I remembered. The place Sousuke took me to wasn’t the observation deck, but a parking lot a little ways off from it.
There were three shady-looking guys there, and the big guy in the middle was talking to Sousuke. “Well done,” he said.
Then the man handed Sousuke some money.
…And then what about me?
Sousuke said to the man, “This is her. Do whatever you want with her,” and shoved me towards him.
The man grabbed my arm and started saying all sorts of disgusting things. I got scared and cried out to Sousuke, “Help me!”
And then…
♢ ♢ ♢
“Huh? Help you? I only got close to you because Shimada-san saw you and said, ‘She’s my type, bring her to me. I’ll give you money.’ You weren’t my type or anything. I already have a girlfriend, you know? I thought it would be fun to play around with you for a bit, but you wouldn’t put out, and it was seriously painful. And on top of that, you kept texting and calling me every single day. You should be grateful I actually replied to those! I had to think really hard about what to write so my girlfriend wouldn’t find out.”
♢ ♢ ♢
That’s right. That’s right.
That bastard, he got close to me just so he could sell me to this man!
And then, I didn’t know what would happen to me, so I ran. I thought maybe there would be someone at the observation deck, someone who could help me. I ran with all my might.
I was so excited about our birthday date that I wore heels even though I usually don’t. I kicked them off and ran barefoot.
But there was no one at the observation deck.
There were four men, all bigger than me.
They were closing in on me, and I knew if they caught me, they would do terrible things to me.
So, I jumped.
“Haah… Sold by my boyfriend on my birthday, couldn’t escape, and committed suicide. Definitely the worst birthday ever.”
Huh?
That’s right, I jumped off the observation deck, right?! I looked down for a bit, and it was super high! Why am I alive?
I touched my body all over, stood up, and stretched, but I didn’t feel any pain and there was no sign of bleeding.
Could it be… that it was all a dream? No, these clothes are definitely what I carefully chose last night, and I even worked up the courage to wear my cutest underwear for today, and I’m not wearing any shoes because I threw them off…
Where on earth am I? Why am I alive?
♢ ♢ ♢
There’s no point in pondering this here, so I decided to check my surroundings.
From the feel of it, I’m sitting on… dirt?
After a while, my eyes got used to the darkness, but I still couldn’t see anything in particular.
The only thing I could see was the light coming from one direction. I wonder if that’s the way out.
I had no other choice but to walk towards the light.
It was dark and I couldn’t see my feet well, so I walked carefully, taking one step at a time and checking my footing.
After about five minutes of walking, I reached the source of the light – the exit.
Slowly, I poked my head out and saw a semicircular expanse of ground.
Stepping out a bit further, a magnificent natural landscape unfolded before me.
Below the ground I was standing on was a vast forest.
It seemed I was on a cliff. Looking up, I saw a beautiful blue sky.
I couldn’t help but gasp at the beauty and grandeur of nature.
Looking up, down, left and right, it seems like the cave I just came out of was on the side of a small mountain in the forest. It didn’t feel like I was going up or down when I was walking, so I guess the cave went straight through from the hole in the cliff.
For a moment, I thought it might be the foot of the mountain with the observation deck, but the mountain with the cave had its peak just a little way from the cave’s opening, so it couldn’t possibly be the same mountain.
So, where is this place? I don’t know the answer to that.
…But one thing is for sure. This is not Japan. In fact, it’s not even Earth.
I can see a large animal walking through the forest below, a short distance from the cliff where the cave is located.
But I’ve never seen an animal like that before. The trees in the forest look to be over ten meters tall.
And the large animal walking through the forest is even bigger than those trees.
It walks on all fours, slowly, “lumbering” through the forest.
Something like a long, sharp horn sticks out from around its nose, and countless spiky thorns protrude from its body.
…There’s no way that’s a creature from Earth.
Then, I look up at the sky and see large birds flying.
However, these birds… they have two heads. I thought I was mistaken, but all four birds within my field of vision had two heads.
…Yeah. There’s no point in panicking.
Judging from the reality before my eyes and the fact that I’m perfectly fine despite jumping off a cliff, this is it. It’s that thing you often see in light novels and manga. It’s another world.
…It seems that I was sold by my boyfriend, ran away, jumped off an observation deck, and ended up in another world.