Chapter 5
Arin and Yellow had settled in a cave halfway up the rocky mountain and were taking a break. Arin spent three whole days without moving a step, focusing solely on healing her body. Perhaps due to their differing stamina stats, Yellow had recovered in just two days, but Arin hadn’t been able to bounce back so easily.
「System: Survival Backpack」
Fresh Skin Ointment: Immediately regenerates skin when applied to wounds less than 1cm deep.
The more severe the wound, the slower the regeneration. The healing process causes extreme itchiness. Do not scratch, or it will scar.
Cooldown: 30 hours
Afraid of infection, Arin had applied the ointment to Yellow’s minor wounds. Watching the wounds heal before her eyes was both marvelous and mysterious.
She slathered herself in the ointment too. The new skin growing made her unbearably itchy, but she twisted her body in discomfort and endured it—she didn’t want to be left with scars.
“Ow, I’m dying here…”
Yellow glanced at Arin, who was groaning while sprawled on a sleeping bag, and sighed.
After eating daily nuts, Yellow had gradually developed intelligence and was now acting no different from a person. After grooming his fur evenly, he stood up and headed outside the cave.
“Grrr. (I’ll be back.)”
Arin, now used to being alone in the cave, lazily waved a hand with dull eyes. Lately, Yellow had been going in and out of the cave frequently, so this wasn’t anything unusual.
After repeating a couple cycles of eating heated food and applying ointment, Yellow suddenly barged in with a flower in his mouth.
A leopard… with a flower?
The surreal image made Arin clutch her stomach in laughter.
“Pfft! What kind of leopard brings a flower like that?”
At her reaction, Yellow made a sullen face like a sulky frog. Internally, he clicked his tongue.
‘She doesn’t even realize how good this flower is… She’s ugly and stupid. How’s she going to survive? Tsk.’
To Yellow, Arin looked hopelessly dumb. But what could he do? They were already in the same group.
Giving her a look that said “hurry up and eat,” he brought the flower to Arin’s mouth.
“Are you telling me to eat it?”
“Grrr. (Just eat it already.)”
Arin stared silently at the flower, now soaked in Yellow’s drool.
“Even if we did survive death together, isn’t this a bit much?”
“Growl! (EAT IT!)”
Up close, the red petals were covered in disturbing purple blotches. It looked poisonous no matter how she tried to see it.
Yellow’s flower-bearing face was getting uncomfortably close to hers. Arin winced.
“Okay, okay. I’ll eat it. Just stop shoving your face in mine.”
With no other choice, Arin took the flower and looked at it with a conflicted expression.
She knew she had to eat it, but wasn’t it wise to find out what it would do first? Since the flower was a living thing, it might show stats. Arin decided to use the system.
「System: Survival Backpack」
To view the stats of lifeforms or objects other than yourself, 30 mana points are required. Use now?
(Yes) / (No)
Mentally selecting “Yes,” a flurry of information popped up midair.
「System: Survival Backpack」
Mana Flower: A rare flower brimming with pure mana.
An herb with the effect of stabilizing internal mana. The only known cure when a mana circle is broken.
When consumed by a regular human, increases mana by 500 points.
“Oh, you’re really giving this to me?”
Yellow gave her a look that said, Now you get it? Idiot.
With a grin, Arin popped the Mana Flower into her mouth and chewed. It tasted sweet and refreshing. Like magic, the flower dissolved and vanished down her throat.
Ding!
「System: Survival Backpack」
Mana Flower absorbed.
Massive mana increase allows upgrade options.
-
Bind system features to the body. (Requires 1000 mana points.)
-
Upgrade buffs of some items. (Requires 500 mana points.)
-
Add 3 new random items. (Requires 300 mana points.)
It was incredible.
Before, she had to physically reach into her backpack to take items out. But if she chose option 1, that inconvenience would vanish. Plus, if the system was tied to her body, she wouldn’t lose access even if the backpack was lost. She desperately wanted to choose it—but she didn’t have enough mana yet.
“Yellow, where did you find this flower?”
Meanwhile…
At the eastern end of the island, the deafening roar of a troll echoed.
“So noisy.”
Despite the irritated warning, the troll kept screaming.
“Graaah! Graaah!”
Frowning at the beast’s lack of comprehension, the Overlord twitched his index finger. The moment he did, the troll’s floating head dropped cleanly to the ground.
“Finally, some peace.”
In this world, troll blood—known for its high regenerative properties—was used to make healing potions. Normally, it would be mixed with refined herbs, but there was no such facility on this island.
The Overlord filled a wooden bowl with troll blood and drank. The stench should’ve made him gag, but he’d been doing this for two years—it was routine by now.
As always, he closed his eyes and focused on stabilizing the raging mana within his body.
His mana circle was cracked and punctured. If one could see it with the naked eye, it would resemble a shattered jar barely patched together.
“Damn it. Hurts like hell.”
Blue veins bulged across his limbs due to the unstable mana. Only once the swelling eased did he walk into the shadowed forest.
Sharp stones and rough soil cut into his bare feet, but he didn’t flinch. Compared to the suffering of surviving on this island, this was nothing.
Arin, with Yellow’s help, had reached the mountain’s peak.
She’d expected to see countless Mana Flowers blooming, but disappointingly, there was only one—and it wasn’t even fully matured. Since it only gave her 300 points, she felt let down. She’d considered waiting for it to ripen, but who knew how long that would take? Someone else might take it.
She gulped it down and, feeling like a well-fed lion, checked her stats.
「System: Survival Backpack」
Yang Arin (Human)
Health: 89
Intelligence: 46
Mana: 820
Ability: System
The balance looked totally messed up, but hey—better to have one high stat than none. Thinking optimistically, Arin chatted with Yellow. Her wounds were nearly healed, and the sky was clearer than ever.
Coming down the mountain, Arin and Yellow faced off with unwavering stares. Arin wanted to go forward, but Yellow blocked her path.
“Come on, we worked so hard to get here—why won’t you let me pass?”
“Grrr. (Beyond here is the Overlord’s territory.)”
Yellow’s firm stance made Arin reluctantly back down. She pouted in frustration but ultimately trusted him. If he said it was dangerous, it must be crawling with creatures worse than before.
“Fine, I give up.”
She raised both hands above her head in surrender. Yellow looked pleased. Arin gave a small laugh and began preparing a meal.
She’d grown sick of survival rations after eating them for days on end. With the chicken Yellow had caught and some nearby herbs, she planned to make clay-baked chicken.
“Keep watch, Yellow. I’ll make something delicious!”
She said it confidently—but staring at the dead chicken with bulging eyes freaked her out. Her stamina seemed to drain just by looking at it.
Still, she’d heard somewhere that boiling water was needed to pluck feathers, so she pulled bottled water, an aluminum pot, and a lighter from her backpack. Not wanting to keep making eye contact with the dead chicken, she covered its face with a big leaf.
“Perfect.”
After a struggle, she lit the fire and placed the water-filled pot over it. As steam began to rise, Arin cautiously lifted the leaf covering the chicken’s head—and quickly put it back down.
“Let’s just eat ramen.”
Arin was a coward.
Meanwhile, the Overlord groaned in pain as he approached the troll habitat for more blood.
“Ugh…”
Sensing weakness, a troll warrior launched an attack, but it was blocked easily by an invisible force.
The Overlord’s golden eyes darkened. A sharp wind swept through the area. Trolls that were touched by the wind were left with deep, gaping wounds.
“Graaaah!”
Several fled in fear, but he didn’t bother chasing them. While troll blood couldn’t completely heal his poisoned mana circle, it helped maintain his condition—and he needed a lot of it. There was no telling when he could escape this island.
His expression, normally heavy and grim, shifted when a scent on the wind caught his attention.
“Spices…?”
No monster on this island used spices. A single hypothesis flashed through his mind, and his eyes lit up.
With lightning speed, the Overlord dashed westward.
He spotted smoke rising in the distance. Boosting his speed with mana, the blurry clearing came into sharp view.
Bursting through the forest, he snatched a pale, soft wrist in the clearing. The force of it made Arin’s brown hair flutter.
A sweet shampoo scent tickled his nose. The pulse he felt in the wrist he held…
Thump. Thump. His heart beat irregularly.
Arin was the first living human he’d seen in two years. The Overlord stared at her frozen face like he was about to devour her.
Meanwhile, Arin stared blankly at the beast of a man before her—muscles showing through tattered clothes, faded golden irises, piercing black pupils with a will of their own. His eyes didn’t quite seem… human.
“A-are you… a person?”
At her question, joy bloomed on the Overlord’s face—one that had long been etched with loneliness.
