Chapter 3
It was as if this animal had never seen a human in its life. Eyes filled with curiosity were fixated on Arin’s face. Caught off guard by yet another crisis after yesterday’s ordeal, Arin moved stiffly like a robot. The leopard had taken up her escape route, making her think she had no chance of running away. She never imagined that a threat to her life would appear from behind.
She reached into the pocket where she had stored the jerky. But before she could do anything more, the leopard reacted.
“Grrrr.”
If yesterday’s goblin was small enough to fight off, this leopard stood 1.5 meters tall and was not something she could easily confront. But now, on her second day of living on a deserted island, Arin had learned that quick thinking and action during a crisis could save her life.
It was a gamble. With precise movements, she quickly tore off a piece of jerky and threw it. The jerky arced beautifully through the air and landed on the ground—but she had miscalculated one thing…
“Aagh! I threw it too close!”
That one thing was her arm strength.
How far could an average college student from Korea throw a piece of jerky anyway? The jerky landed only 1.5 meters away, and the leopard snatched it up immediately.
As a result, the distance between them had grown even shorter.
System: Survival Backpack
The carnivorous animal (Giant Black Leopard) has consumed jerky and will remain immobile for 10 minutes.
“What’s the point of being immobile if it’s blocking the way?”
The leopard had completely blocked the gap between a boulder and an old tree. No matter how much she looked around, there wasn’t enough space to squeeze past.
“I’m doomed.”
The jerky’s effect only kept the leopard from moving from its spot—it didn’t paralyze its limbs, meaning it could still move its body freely. No matter how she thought about it, there was only one solution: throw the jerky far enough to lure the leopard away.
With a cooldown of 30 minutes, she could get three more pieces of jerky, so if she timed things right, she could try multiple times. Thankfully, she had two extra pieces already prepared in her pocket.
She threw about a dozen pieces of jerky like a shot-putter, but the result was disappointing. The leopard had only stepped back two paces.
“Right… It’d be weirder if I suddenly had an Olympic-level throw.”
System: Survival Backpack
It has been 9 minutes since the carnivorous animal (Giant Black Leopard) consumed jerky.
Taking a deep breath, she unwrapped another piece and threw it with force. The half-torn wrapper fluttered lamely and hit the leopard’s cheek. The jerky bounced off and rolled to her feet. The leopard frowned.
“Ah…”
That animal just swore with its face.
As the last minute passed and the jerky’s effect wore off, the sluggishly approaching leopard grabbed the jerky by her feet and gobbled it up.
System: Survival Backpack
The carnivorous animal (Giant Black Leopard) has consumed jerky and will remain immobile for 10 minutes.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
‘This is real-time ASMR.’
Up close, despite its huge size, the way its mouth moved was cute and precise. Once it finished, it licked its lips clean with a pink tongue. As a feline, its soft paw pads looked incredibly inviting. She felt like it’d be so satisfying to touch.
“Grr.”
The leopard’s breath tickled Arin’s pale face.
“Huh?”
It reached her face?
She’d let her guard down after sitting across from it for over an hour. Now the leopard was close enough to bite her neck.
The leopard yawned, flashing its teeth as it stared at the wide-eyed, frozen Arin. She interpreted it as, “I could crunch you in one bite.”
Then the leopard swatted at her with a paw. The soft pad struck her arm with a thump.
It then looked at her with mild irritation and lightly smacked the nearby backpack. It looked like a schoolyard thug demanding, “Hand over everything you got.”
Arin thought, Are animals really this smart? and quietly peeled some jerky and held it out. Up close, the leopard chewed with a blissful expression, as if it owned the world.
About an hour earlier.
The leopard had noticed a strange creature lingering in its territory for the first time. It had planned to kill it with its sharp teeth—but then the thing kept offering tasty treats.
The chewy, salty jerky was delicious. It was nothing like goblins or wild boars it had eaten before. Slurp.
At first, it had been too busy gobbling down jerky to notice anything strange, but once it got used to the taste, it realized something.
Its nose told it the weird creature didn’t actually have much jerky. The scent got weaker with each offering. But despite that, jerky kept appearing.
‘Oh-ho, it’s pulling jerky out of that weird bundle.’
The leopard had once seen a troll chieftain from the other side of the island conjure fire from thin air. So it didn’t find the magical jerky bundle all that strange—just another kind of sorcery.
It decided not to kill the scrawny, patchy-furred creature. It looked sick anyway, with brown fur only on its head. Not appetizing.
‘Ugly thing’s got some tricks.’
Most of all, it figured if it killed her, there would be no more jerky. That thought played a huge role in its decision.
The leopard named the pitiful creature “Ugly” and decided to take care of her. Of course, it secretly planned to extort more jerky in return.
After eating until full, the leopard yawned and decided to nap. It pushed Arin’s body toward the edge of the nest as if to say, “Sit here and rest.” But the sudden shove left Arin flustered and crumpled at its feet.
When she confirmed the leopard had laid down with its eyes shut, Arin decided to make a run for it. Thirty minutes passed, and as she slowly got up, a warning growl came her way.
“Grrrrrr. (Ugly, I’m not asleep.)”
Seeing the girl still asleep at its feet, the leopard clicked its tongue and headed out to hunt. Not long after, it returned triumphantly with a stag in its mouth.
When it dropped the deer in front of Arin, she gasped in awe. Seeing her pale in delight filled the leopard with pride.
“Roar. (Eat up, Ugly.)”
Moved by the gesture, Arin fed it jerky again. Seeing her happy (or terrified?) cries every time it brought her food, the leopard was pleased. Their misunderstanding only grew deeper.
When Arin suddenly bolted into the forest, the leopard thought, “Ugly’s exercising for the first time in three days!” Her flimsy legs pumping through the trees looked so pitiful, it decided to join her.
Arin gave up fleeing after the leopard easily overtook her. The leopard grinned at her waddling run.
Feeling hungry from the workout, the leopard punched her backpack with a meow-punch. It was so strong that it actually damaged the bag. Arin, now used to it, simply looked up at the three moons in the sky with a blank expression.
Ding.
System: Survival Backpack
The carnivorous animal (Giant Black Leopard) has damaged the backpack.
Restoration Cooldown: 1 minute
Thud!
Restoration Cooldown: 2 minutes
Wham!
Restoration Cooldown: 3 minutes
“Aaagh! You’re gonna break it… I’ll give you jerky in a bit, just stop!”
Ten days had passed since Arin began living with the leopard. She gave it the name “Yellow,” simply because its eyes were bright yellow. Had she known it called her “Ugly,” she would’ve picked a much meaner name.
System: Survival Backpack
The carnivorous animal (Giant Black Leopard) has damaged the backpack.
Restoration Cooldown: 1 minute
“Yellow, I told you to stop hitting the bag.”
“Grr.”
“Every time you do that, it takes longer for the jerky to come out.”
“Humph!”
True to its “giant” title, Yellow was much larger than a regular leopard. But mentally, it was like a naughty seven-year-old.
Once the cooldown ended, Arin pulled out three jerky sticks. She gave one to Yellow and put one in her own mouth. Thanks to the buff, the jerky tasted way better than anything from a store.
When both of them finished eating, a new system notification chimed.
System: Survival Backpack
Carnivorous animal Yellow has consumed jerky.
Due to its relationship with the backpack owner, the usual effect is replaced with permanent physical enhancement.
Enhancements: Muscle fiber material, skin, reflexes, etc., improved and transformed.
This was a new effect she discovered while living with Yellow. And yes, Arin received the same buff.
“Yellow, I need to shower today. Let’s find a stream.”
Yellow snorted as Arin kept talking. He was a leopard; she was a human. There was no way they could understand each other. To him, all her words just sounded like baby babble.
Left with no choice, Arin took out Yellow’s current favorite treat: a shiny, transparent package labeled “Daily Nuts.”
At the sight of it, Yellow perked up his ears and sparkled his eyes. For those crunchy, oily, savory nuts, he’d follow her to the ends of the earth.
“There it is! Haha!”
Arin considered meeting Yellow a stroke of luck. Born and raised on the island, he knew not only the terrain but also monster territories.
Was it two days ago? She’d followed Yellow on a hunt and found a small lake. She dove in to wash up—but before long, Yellow yanked her out by her hair, not her neck.
She would never forget what she saw after that, teary-eyed and clutching her scalp. A massive crocodile had snapped its jaws exactly where she’d been swimming. A few seconds later and she’d have been dinner.
Trying to shake off that memory, Arin dipped her toes into the stream that Yellow had led her to. He was busy crunching on nuts, so it seemed safe.
“Brr, the water’s cold, but I’ve got no choice.”
As she scrubbed herself, something brown bumped into her backside. She quickly grabbed it.
“Isn’t this… a bowl?”
It looked like a bowl carved out of wood. Incredibly, it had signs of human use.
“There was… someone else here?”
