Aiming for a Cozy Life in a Dangerous Forest in Another World! - Chapter 1
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- Aiming for a Cozy Life in a Dangerous Forest in Another World!
- Chapter 1 - Grasping the Situation 1
Chapter 1: Grasping the Situation 1
Sold off by my boyfriend and almost assaulted, I tried to escape but couldn’t, leading me to jump off an observation deck. Now, here I am, in another world.
After being awestruck by the vast natural landscape in front of me and surprised by the strange animals, I finally regained my composure.
There were many things I wanted to confirm.
Where exactly was I? How did I end up in this other world? What would happen to me back on Earth…?
However, there was a more pressing issue at hand.
In the scenery before me, the sun was setting in one direction, to the left if I faced away from the cave.
Based on my Earthly common sense, that would be west. Of course, there was no guarantee that Earthly common sense applied in another world, and even if I knew which way was west, it wouldn’t help much in my current situation.
However, one thing was certain: as the sun sets, night falls. And regardless of what time it was, I might get sleepy. If that happened, I needed to prepare a place to sleep.
Furthermore, it had been several hours since I woke up, and I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink. It seemed I was alive, and if I was alive, I would naturally get thirsty and hungry. I needed to do something about it.
I saw a forest spread out before me, and I thought that I might be able to secure food and water if I entered. However, I quickly abandoned that idea.
Night was approaching. An otherworldly night forest. I had just seen huge animals and strange birds. It was too dangerous to enter the forest.
I could survive a night without food or water. Sleeping on the ground wouldn’t be ideal, but I understood that this wasn’t the time to be picky. First things first, I decided to go back to the cave behind me.
♢ ♢ ♢
The cave continued straight from the entrance to the back, about 30 meters deep.
There seemed to be no other living creatures besides me, and I couldn’t find any plants either.
If this were the dwelling of a wild beast, my life in this other world would be cut short when it returned at nightfall. However, there were no signs of anything living in the cave.
I went back to the depths of the cave and thought about what to do next. From what I knew, this was definitely another world.
That left me with two choices: somehow find a way to return to Earth, or do my best to survive here.
That being said, until I found a way to return, I had no choice but to survive here.
… Besides, to be honest, I had no lingering attachment to Earth, or rather, my previous life.
My father was a typical good-for-nothing man, interested only in alcohol, gambling, and cigarettes. He was the kind of person who would resort to violence against me and my mother if he didn’t like something. He left two years ago and never returned, nor did we hear from him.
I didn’t know if he was dead somewhere or had found another woman, but I honestly didn’t care.
My mother was a wonderful person. She was very beautiful, kind, and intelligent.
However, she died in an accident six months ago. It seems she saved an elementary schooler from a car that ran a red light.
My only other relative was my mother’s cousin, who helped with my mother’s funeral and paperwork, but they lived far away, and we barely knew each other.
For these reasons, I had been living alone for about six months, managing my living expenses with my mother’s insurance money and my part-time job.
I didn’t have any close friends from my previous schools, nor at my current high school.
Especially recently, I had been devoting all my free time to that good-for-nothing boyfriend, so I hadn’t been socializing with friends at all.
And in the end, that boyfriend betrayed me.
Therefore, I had absolutely no desire to return to my previous life.
That might have been why I was able to jump off the observation deck without hesitation.
After my mother died, I had thought about dying many times. I had lost my mother and couldn’t find any meaning or hope in living. Until I started dating that guy, I had tried to die countless times.
The thought of him deceiving me in that state made me hate him even more, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I had to accept that, like my mother, I was terrible at judging men.
Therefore, I had no lingering attachment to my previous life, and since it was unclear whether I could even return, it seemed more beneficial to explore ways to live happily in this world rather than searching for a way back.
As I thought about such things, I looked down at the ground. It was slightly firm soil.
Thinking that my shoulders and hips would definitely hurt if I slept here, I suddenly muttered,
“If only the ground were softer…”
imagining the flower bed at my school.
Then, the ground in front of me seemed to ripple and undulate.
Surprised, I stepped on it and found that it was,
“Soft. This part is incredibly soft…”
While other areas remained unaffected by my footsteps, this particular spot yielded to my weight, leaving an imprint.
I touched it and scooped up some soil with my hand. To my astonishment, the earth had softened to a depth of about 10 centimeters, encompassing an area of one square meter, as if it had been tilled.
“…What’s going on? I was sitting here just a moment ago, and it was as hard as the rest of the ground…”
As I retraced my actions, the answer dawned on me.
That’s right, I muttered something earlier. “I wish the ground were softer.”
Could it be that the ground suddenly softened because of what I said?
It was like magic…
“…Magic! Of course, this is another world, so it’s not strange for magic to exist, right?”
I couldn’t help but shout out loud in excitement.
I used to enjoy light novels about other worlds and had even wished I could use magic.
The fact that I might have unintentionally used the magic I yearned for filled me with excitement.
I needed to verify if it was truly magic. First, I decided to try the same thing I did earlier.
With that in mind, I said,
“Soften!”
…But nothing happened.
I clearly remembered the ground rippling immediately before. What was different this time?
After thinking for a bit, I remembered that earlier, I had envisioned the flower bed at my school, the flower bed before the flowers were planted.
Unsure if it would work, I imagined the school flower bed and shouted again.
♢ ♢ ♢
The ground in front of me softened with a rustling sound. I had been softening the soil on the ground for quite some time now, probably dozens of times. I was so happy that I could use magic that I got a little carried away.
The ground all around me was soft, as if it had been turned into a field.
I decided to try if I could do anything else.
Imagining a lighter, I shouted,
“Fire!”
A ball of fire appeared before my eyes.
Imagining water flowing from a faucet, I shouted,
“Water!”
Water shot out from my outstretched hand like a water gun.
Imagining a flashlight, I shouted,
“Light!”
A ball of light appeared.
And when I imagined them disappearing, they all vanished immediately.
Though this might be a trivial matter, I wondered if there were any other words I could use to activate magic.
As I thought about this, I pictured the fireball from earlier, and another one appeared.
…That startled me.