Chapter 3: Trapped by a Vine Monster

Sadly, the rumor that Ens was crawling with monsters turned out to be true.

Whenever I ran desperately to escape, another monster would appear from the opposite direction, forcing me to run again and again.

No monsters detected within the radius.

“Ughhhh…”

And now that I finally heard the words I had been waiting for, the sun was already high in the sky.

Grrrrrrrrr.

“Haah….”

I had definitely entered at night, so when exactly did the sun rise?

I had done nothing but run for my life without eating anything properly, and now my entire body felt drained of strength.

The drink I had gulped down in the tavern last night, without even noticing its taste, was the last thing I had consumed.

Since I barely had any money on me, that was all I could afford, which made it even more miserable.

The only reason I had even that little money was because I had stayed at the Imperial Palace for a whole month…

“If they’d just paid me the full three gold coins, I wouldn’t feel this cheated.”

The bounty on my head was one hundred gold coins.

A Hero’s monthly salary was three gold coins.

And yet I had been given ten silver coins.

Even without fully understanding the currency system of this world, anyone could tell how badly I’d been ripped off.

For reference, one gold coin equals one hundred silver coins.

‘The three gold coins will be paid once you fulfill the duties of a Hero. At the moment, even ten silver coins are wasted on you.’

That damn Emperor.

I could still vividly remember the ministers snickering before he even finished speaking.

‘Because of you, even my salary has been cut. You should take responsibility.’

Then there was Damon, the attendant who grabbed me the moment I returned, dragging my feet behind me.

He even shook me down for money.

For reference, Damon was one of the bastards most eager to bully me.

The other was Dalton Logan, the same guy now chasing after me.

Considering Damon originally belonged to the Logan household and only worked at the palace temporarily, the real mastermind was probably Dalton.

Anyway, since I couldn’t leave the palace anyway, I didn’t resist when Damon said money was useless to me.

That’s how my ten silver coins instantly became three.

I’ve been wandering the streets with those pitiful three coins for a week now.

More than enough time to become completely broke.

“I want to eat something…”

More importantly, I was really hungry.

The moment I became aware of the hunger, it quickly grew unbearable.

[Edible fruit detected within 30 meters to the right.]

The System notification that appeared at that exact moment felt like an oasis in the desert.

“Huh… System, are you an angel…?”

The kind System that now guided me with left and right directions, just for someone like me who couldn’t even tell north from south, was basically an angel.

“Alright…!”

Just hearing that there was something edible gave strength back to my legs.

Soon enough, I spotted clusters of bright red fruit hanging temptingly, so plump they made my mouth water just by looking at them.

Without hesitation, I approached to pick one.

“Ahhh!”

But before I could grab the fruit, a vine suddenly wrapped around my ankle from somewhere and hoisted me into the air.

I ended up dangling helplessly.

[Danger. A monster guarding the fruit has set a trap.]

“…You could’ve said that sooner.”

Thanks to the System I had just been praising as an angel, I had fallen right into the trap.

“Haa….”

I wasn’t really angry.

More like… I didn’t feel anything at all.

I was so hungry my brain barely worked.

The only thought in my head was, ‘If my arms were just a little longer, I could grab that fruit…’

“This is ridiculous.”

It’s just a vine trap.

If I cut it with my sword, I could escape easily.

That is, if the sword at my waist hadn’t fallen to the ground when I flipped upside down.

“Can’t I just tear it apart with strength?”

Trusting the buff, I tried using all my strength.

But the vine only tightened around me even more.

The more I struggled, the tighter it squeezed.

“…What do I do?”

This was the perfect situation to say there was no solution.

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even speak.

Was I really going to die like this, caught by some cheap vine trap and killed by a monster?

Without even seeing a single hair of this guy called Inas?

After running all night across Ens for nothing?

[A lifeform is approaching from the left.]

“Ugh…”

The System displayed another notification.

Something was coming, but instead of fear, I only felt absurdity.

What was the point of telling me something was approaching when I couldn’t even run away?

The situation felt so unreal that, for a moment, I seemed to lose my sense of fear entirely.

Only anger bubbled up.

“Huh? A lifeform?”

Then I realized something strange.

Until now, the System had always called them monsters.

And this time it hadn’t issued a danger warning.

Which meant…

[Lifeform identified.]

A faint spark of hope rose in my chest, and I swallowed dryly.

“Wow….”

At that moment, I also heard a strangely languid sigh.

[Human confirmed.]

“Food…”

And I saw it.

A shabby-looking man with long bangs covering half his face, staring at me and drooling.

“A-a cannibal…?”

No, no. That couldn’t be right.

It had to be my mistake.

Cannibals? That was ridiculous in modern times-

Wait… this wasn’t my world.

“Haa…”

The man slowly approached me as I froze in terror.

Looking closer, something bright red was smeared around his mouth.

“B-blood…!”

There was red all over his hands too.

No matter how generously I tried to interpret it, he looked like a cannibal who had just finished hunting.

“P-please spare me!”

Shock and terror made my mouth run uncontrollably.

This was no time to talk about dying meaninglessly.

“I-I taste terrible! Really!”

The fear of being threatened while completely helpless was beyond imagination.

It was even more terrifying than the moment I had fallen into this world.

And the one threatening me was another human!

“P-please, ngh, please spare me… I-I don’t want to die…! I-I came all this way with so much trouble…!”

I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore.

I was basically begging a cannibal for sympathy.

“Please, please let me live… I-I want to go home…! I really taste awful…!”

“…”

Despite my desperate plea, it had no effect.

The man didn’t respond at all.

He simply staggered closer in a gloomy manner.

Tears dripped from my eyes.

The red blood on his lips became clearer and clearer.

“Gasp… gasp…!”

Soon the distance between us shrank to barely a handspan.

The man stretched out his hand toward me, who couldn’t even close my eyes and could only gasp for breath.

And then…

“…Ptoo.”

“…”

“Tastes bad…”

“H-huh?”

Nothing happened.

The man had simply plucked the fruit I had been aiming for, put it in his mouth, and spat it out because it tasted bad.

Which meant…

“Ah… uh… I-I’m sorry. I think I misunderstood something….”

The man had been drooling over the fruit, not me.

He approached for the fruit from the start and had zero interest in me.

In other words, I had been performing a one-man show the whole time.

“…”

Tears were still dripping down my face, but now embarrassment began to set in.

My face burned with heat, and it definitely wasn’t just because I was hanging upside down.

“Um… e-excuse me…”

The man still showed no reaction.

It was as if I didn’t exist.

“…”

I could only move my lips blankly.

I knew he had no interest in me, but it was still creepy.

I still wasn’t certain whether the red substance on his mouth and hands was blood or not.

But right now, I needed help, even if it came from someone suspicious.

“E-excuse me?”

Speaking to someone who looked so much like an undead monster that I would’ve mistaken him for one if not for the System was not easy.

“…”

But once again, I was ignored.

Was he unable to hear me?

He could clearly see though, he had reached straight for the fruit earlier.

There was no way he hadn’t noticed me hanging right in front of him.

“H-hey! Excuse me!”

While I hesitated in confusion, the man, apparently disappointed with the fruit, threw it on the ground and turned to leave.

Trapped in the vines with nowhere to go, there was only one thing I could do.

“Excuse me! Sir! Boss! Kind angel who’ll receive blessings! Please help me just this once! My foot’s stuck in these vines and I can’t move at all! If you help me just once, I’ll never forget this kindness! So please…!”

How could something this desperate not work?

It felt like the man had some kind of barrier that deflected all my words.

But if he left like this… what would happen to me?

No need to even ask.

I’d die to the monster that set this trap.

Should I wait for another human to pass by?

No, that was impossible.

This was Ens.

The only human living in Ens was a magician named Inas.

So that meant…

Something struck the back of my head like a sudden blow.

“M-Mr. Inas…?”

Only now did I realize it.

That suspicious man who looked like a cannibal, or an undead monster…

“Y-you’re Mr. Inas, right? You’re Inas!”

The magician I had been searching for!