Chapter 4.

 The Weasel and the Teddy Bear (2)

Patter— thud…

Small fragments of stone continued to rain down onto my hand. The rough sensation spread across my skin. It felt as though I were standing in a shower of sand.

But… nothing unusual happened.

I dug away some of the soil beneath the wall to make more room, then pushed my entire hand through the hole. Then my arm. Then all the way up to my shoulder.

Nothing.

I immediately lay down and shoved my head and upper body through.

Still fine.

‘Just as I thought…!’

A thrilling sense of relief surged all the way to the top of my head.

I recalled both the scene I had encountered when I first poked my head into the cathedral grounds a few days ago and the one from when I had played the game.

A grand yet ominous place beneath an enormous ceiling, watched over by twisted holy statues.

Back then, I had only wanted to see if there were any items nearby to loot. The moment I stepped into the entrance, my body had been pushed backward and a message had appeared.

Remembering that, I immediately reached my hand over the top of the wall.

Then—

map #???. ??? ??

It might be better to explore elsewhere first.

A message appeared.

I understood why.

‘The game wants me to tour the village first and then enter according to the original story.’

It was the kind of message commonly seen in games like this.

After failing to enter the first time, I had spent days trying all sorts of things—climbing the wall, sneaking in through the back, and so on.

The more I tested the boundaries, the worse it got. Instead of the message disappearing or fading, strange mechanical noises would ring out and the scenery before my eyes would distort into something horrifying.

Terrified, I had backed off and stopped trying.

Not because I had given up.

Because I was afraid that if I pushed too far, a monster might suddenly appear.

‘But entering through here…’

No message appeared!

That meant there was something I could do.

‘I can circle the edges of the cathedral and stockpile more items. I can come and go without triggering the story!’

Naturally, there were items scattered around Lētum Village as well.

The problem was that obtaining them was extremely difficult.

Originally, Mirabilis began when the player met one of the NPCs categorized as “villagers.”

A place that looked peaceful but somehow felt unsettling.

David’s hometown. A place he, as a holy knight, was meant to save.

Upon arriving, David would investigate the area, speak to one of the villagers, learn about the situation, and then officially enter the cathedral.

In other words, if I—currently inhabiting David’s body—spoke to an NPC, the game’s story might begin.

And the vast majority of that story took place inside the cathedral.

‘Once the story starts, there’s a chance I’ll get dragged right into the center of that horror-filled place.’

Of course, someone might ask what difference it made. Whether I entered through the front or the back, monsters would still be inside.

But that line of thinking was wrong.

‘The bosses only appear if you follow the story.’

Did they have any idea how difficult it was to survive against things like a grotesque reptile the size of ten men combined, a sixty-six-legged arthropod, or a demon wearing human skin?

Preparation was essential.

…Granted, the fact that I was essentially playing survival horror inside the cathedral in order to survive the bosses later was somewhat ironic, but still!

That was why I had spent the last ten days avoiding the village NPCs.

During the day, I wandered through deserted forest paths.

At night, I explored while avoiding the monsters’ eyes.

As for how I obtained food and supplies?

‘I stole them, obviously.’

Even the apples I had been eating recently had been picked from somebody else’s yard.

At night.

Sneakily.

My conscience as an ordinary citizen fought back, and my fear of encountering the monsters patrolling the village made me hesitate, so it often took ages.

…Anyway, the point was simple.

The village came with the restriction that I had to avoid people.

Items inside the cathedral were incredibly important.

Therefore, today I would enter through this hole, conduct an initial exploration, and gather supplies.

Most importantly, I needed life-recovery items other than dried meat.

Those could only be found inside the cathedral.

And if that was the case…

“…That weasel really did help me.”

Obviously not on purpose.

It was just an accident.

But regardless, I was grateful.

If everything went well, I’d let go of the remaining grudge I held toward the little rascal.

Pulling myself backward, I grabbed the shield-table I had leaned against a nearby tree and measured the height of the wall.

Fortunately, it was only slightly taller than David himself.

I nodded.

Then raised the shield over my head.

It was enormous—slightly larger than an office desk.

Yet David’s body, once that of a holy knight, handled the burden with ease.

‘This body really is incredible.’

Even if it couldn’t catch one tiny four-legged animal.

The complaint drifted through my mind, but I shook my head.

‘Enough complaining.’

It was still far superior to my own frail body, weakened by endless overtime.

And honestly… the failure to catch the weasel was probably because my modern brain couldn’t fully utilize David’s athletic abilities.

After pushing away the grumbling thoughts, I tightened my grip.

Then—

Scrrrrk—

THUD!

I effortlessly hurled the table over the wall.

Clack—

Crash!

After tossing the knife I’d brought as well, I immediately started digging.

By the time the excavated dirt had formed a small mound, I dropped to the ground and crawled through the hole.

Past rough stone.

Past damp soil.

Brushing away the earthy smell tickling my nose, I slowly moved forward.

Before long—

‘Made it.’

Pat, pat.

I stood up and dusted myself off, straightening my clothes.

Perhaps because David had been a knight, his clothes were made from cheap, well-worn fabric. A quick adjustment was enough.

After brushing the remaining dirt from my pants, I straightened up.

A glance around revealed fallen leaves scattered beneath a magnificent building, creating a bleak atmosphere.

‘It’s still daytime, so no ghosts or monsters wandering outside. No tutorial-entry message either… good.’

No problems.

Which meant there was somewhere I needed to go.

‘The main chapel, the monastery building, the warehouse, and the prayer room. Those are the places visible from here.’

That made things easy.

After determining my direction, I immediately started walking.

And then—

“…!”

“Kiu.”

My eyes met those of a weasel sitting atop a crude stone statue beside the enormous building.

It was holding something that looked vaguely like a chestnut.

The brown, colored-pencil-shaped face.

The tiny body.

The agile-looking tail.

The black bean-like eyes.

It looked exactly like the little thief who had stolen one of my extra lives recently.

“Y-you! You… you!”

My voice rose involuntarily as I pointed at it.

The sense of loss and emptiness I’d felt when my extra life disappeared.

The inexplicable emotions that had filled my mind back then.

All of it rushed through my head in an instant.

My thoughts short-circuited.

The unresolved frustration painted my face red and blue by turns.

For quite a while, I stood there trembling, pointing at the adorable yet infuriating creature.

Eventually—

“Haaaaah…”

I let out a deep sigh.

‘I still have some resentment…’

But it had helped me too.

That much was true.

The unpleasant emotions kept trying to resurface, but in the end I accepted it.

I raked my fingers through my hair and rummaged through my bag.

The weasel watched me warily, but I wasn’t pulling out a trap or a knife.

After searching for a moment, I produced a white egg about the size of my fist.

‘…I was planning to eat this tomorrow.’

Suppressing the regret, I—

Whoosh—

Threw the egg.

The weasel’s round eyes locked onto it.

Then it leapt gracefully and caught the egg in its mouth.

The shell was thin. I was impressed it hadn’t broken.

Tap.

Landing on the ground, it sniffed the egg.

Then it began feeling it with its tiny front paws.

Tilting its head this way and that.

A carnivore shouldn’t be unfamiliar with eggs, so perhaps it was wondering why I had given it one.

‘For a weasel, it sure thinks on a surprisingly high level.’

Normally animals only decided whether to eat something or not, right?

It was strange, but I shrugged.

‘Guess it’s just a smart weasel.’

This was a world filled with occult and fantasy elements.

Every night brought hallucinations and ghosts.

Monstrosities crawled from graves.

Creatures from another realm pretended to be humans and lived ordinary lives.

Headless demons prayed.

In a world like that…

A genius MENSA weasel with an IQ of 180 wasn’t impossible.

“Ki-yu? Kyu…”

“Next time, don’t eat my meat. Ask for something else. Let’s get along peacefully. I’m seriously having a hard time here…”

“Nng.”

“That’s right. Let’s be good neighbors.”

Of course, I knew it couldn’t understand me.

It had ignored me yesterday too.

But talking didn’t cost anything.

Chuckling softly, I gathered the equipment I’d thrown over the wall.

Then I turned away from the weasel and headed toward my destination.

This place would become far more dangerous after nightfall.

If I wanted even a quick look around beforehand, I needed to hurry.

What I didn’t know was that—

“…”

A certain weasel stared at my back for quite a long time.

I wouldn’t realize that until much later.

A little while later, while exploring and searching for ways to survive…

TRASH!

The sudden shout made me flinch.

Unease washed over me.

Gripping the kitchen knife in my hand, I darted my eyes around.

A pot sitting on a table, giving off a savory aroma.

And standing before it—

TRAAASH!

A creature twisting and writhing like a rag being wrung dry, screaming in agony.

I awkwardly gauged its mood and sent it a pleading look.

I was getting tired.

And hungry.

I hadn’t eaten anything since entering the cathedral.

But this creature was not kind enough to sympathize with my situation.

Its black eyes fixed on me.

Then, in a firm voice, it declared:

TRASH!

AGAIN!

‘How cruel…’

Even the manager at the store where I worked during my senior-year winter break hadn’t been this strict.

…Though, to be fair, I mostly washed dishes and worked the register.

Dissatisfaction welled up inside me, but the creature scared me enough that I silently moved the pot.

The delicious smell invaded my nose, making my stomach churn.

I was hungry.

Hungry and miserable.

Exhausted.

I briefly considered sneaking a bite from the pot.

But the creature’s unwavering stare stopped me.

Splash—

As I dumped the precious food onto the floor, I thought:

‘How in the world did things end up like this…?’