Chapter 9 – Katō Megumi's Skills
"Wulalala..."
I heard a wild animal outside the fence. It was shouting loudly and repeatedly, saying "Ula."
The people inside the bamboo cages were very scared and covered their eyes.
Is it time for another massacre?
They went from crying and screaming at the beginning to now trembling in silence. Those locked in the bamboo cages by the savages had gone through a lot.
As the number of bamboo cages inside the fence decreased, some people inside started going mad.
Many more chose to go on a hunger strike, hoping to starve to death before being eaten by the savages.
This way, they wouldn't have to live through the terrible suffering of that place.
But today, the savage guarding the "food" outside the fence seemed unusually excited.
Instead of attacking anyone, the savage creature was happy and threw several green vines and dark tubers into the bamboo cages.
"So it's feeding time... thank goodness..."
Kasumigaoka Utaha reached out of the cage and picked up one of the black tubers.
It felt like a yam or a potato.
Before, they were only thrown unpleasant-tasting vines, but today, there was something different?
Utaha didn't care about the pitch-black outer skin. She bit into it gently with her teeth.
"So sweet!"
It was like a sweet potato—only even sweeter!
Sora Ginko and Kasumigaoka Utaha were among the few people inside the fence who were still trying to survive.
Every day, they had to live with the strong, unpleasant taste of unknown vines thrown by the savages to stay alive.
Many people refused to accept their status as "livestock" and chose to starve to death.
This way, they could die before being eaten.
"Kasumigaoka-senpai..."
Ginko felt like giving up. Even though it had only been five days, they felt like it had been longer.
"Eat up. It seems like the savages are in a good mood today—they even gave us extra food."
Utaha gave the food to Ginko.
"Thank you..."
Seeing her senior still had hope, Ginko stopped herself from saying the things she wanted to say.
"Senpai, if only you knew how to play shogi... you'd definitely be better than me..."
Ginko bit into the black object in her hand.
So sweet…
It was much more delicious than the tree vines.
"Really? Then, once we leave here, you can teach me to play shogi!"
Utaha picked up another "sweet potato" from the ground.
To her current self, being able to eat something sweet like this every day would be the best.
"Mm..."
Ginko nodded and smiled wryly.
"But when it comes to teaching others, my brother is still a bit better..."
"Kato Jun, right? I've heard you talk about him a lot. By the way, since you like him, why didn't you confess a long time ago?"
"L-l-like? I don't—!"
Ginko would get red in the face whenever this topic came up.
It was the sight Utaha most wanted to see.
"Not until I can confidently surpass his little sister..."
Ginko knew that she could never be as important to her brother as Megumi was.
"Oh no... Kasumigaoka-senpai is teasing me again..."
When Ginko saw Utaha's playful smile, she quickly looked away, acting cold.
She wasn't the chatty type, but around Kasumigaoka-senpai, she always ended up saying more than she meant to.
"Sorry, it's just because Ginko-chan is way too cute when you're like this..."
Utaha thought that if she wrote Ginko's personality into a novel, it would definitely be a bestseller.
"Then what about you, Kasumigaoka-senpai?"
"Me?"
"If you met that online friend of yours, would you tell them how you feel?"
Ginko changed the subject to Utaha.
"Maybe... maybe I would..."
But only if he looked the way I wanted him to.
Utaha thought to herself.
Kasumigaoka Utaha was in a one-sided online romance.
The reason is that the person she liked was also a light novel author, just like her.
She didn't like his writing at first, which was all about pleasing otaku readers. But she couldn't stop reading his work.
She even made her face look thicker to ask her editor for his social media information and approached him as a junior writer.
This eventually led to their planned offline meeting, but unfortunately, their plane crashed.
There was a good chance that they would never meet again.
If only she hadn't chosen such a far-off location for their meeting...
Utaha kicked the ground because he was frustrated.
The black stockings on her thighs were now full of holes and scratches from tree branches.
She hadn't bathed in five days, and she could smell the bad smell from her body.
Seriously, why hasn't the rescue team arrived after all this time?
The only way they could clean themselves now was by using those bright green vines, squeezing out the liquid, and wiping themselves down.
It got rid of the smell, but it made their bodies sticky.
After finishing the rare "sweet potato," Utaha and Ginko squatted in the bamboo cage again.
They didn't know when the next meal would arrive, so they had to save their energy.
Utaha was right. Last night, the savages hunted a large wild boar.
The group of dozens of savages were now celebrating their big catch.
Compared to the sour taste of outsider flesh, wild boar meat was clearly more delicious.
_ _ _
"Megumi-chan, look!" There are lots of mushrooms here!"
Yuigahama Yui and Kato Megumi, who had just finished eating some coconut, were now looking for dry grass in the forest to use as fire fuel.
"Wait! Don't touch that!"
Seeing the mushrooms growing on the ground, Megumi immediately stopped Yui from reaching out to touch them.
"That's a toxic mushroom called 'mouse-ear-leaf.' It's a highly poisonous species. If you eat it, even a strong adult man would only survive for 24 hours without treatment..."
Megumi took hold of Yui's restless hand in a serious voice.
"So dangerous..."
Yui hid behind Megumi, scared.
"But it looks just like... a sesame cake..."
"Let's go. Most of the mushrooms here are not edible. We should look elsewhere for usable dry grass."
"Wow, Megumi-chan, you're so smart! You even know about poisonous mushrooms..."
Yui admired Kato Megumi.
"I'm not sure either way, but when I saw those mushrooms, I just remembered what I needed to know..."
Megumi also thought it was weird that she knew this kind of information.
Because she couldn't see her own status panel, she hadn't realized it yet. It was a skill that had awakened after she arrived on the island.
[Name: Kato Megumi
Hunger: 110/120 (Full)
Health: 140/140
Stamina: 120/120
Sanity: 160/160
Skill: Botanist (Passive Skill)]
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