Dream or Illusion?
"Nn… nnh…?"
I wake up.
Looking out the window, the sky is still pitch black, indicating it's the middle of the night.
But I've suddenly woken up. And with it, an intense urge to urinate hits me.
"…Guess I'll take care of it quickly."
"…Kyu?"
As I slowly sit up, Grey, who was sleeping soundly beside my pillow, stirs awake.
"Kyu, kyu…?"
"Hm? Oh, don't worry. I'm just going to the bathroom, so you keep sleeping, Grey."
"Kyu…"
Whenever I head out, whether early morning or midnight, Grey follows. So I tell Grey I'm only going to the bathroom and gently pat its head.
Reassured, Grey settles back into sleep, snoring softly again.
Seeing this, I almost forget Grey is a spider.
It's cute, or maybe earnest—something like that.
"Fwaa~…"
I get out of bed, open the cabin door, and step outside.
Naturally, there's no bathroom in this cabin.
But I can't just go right behind it either. So I've decided to relieve myself near the dense trees in the forest.
"Ha… Waking up in the middle of the night hasn't happened in a while."
Since coming to this world, I've slept soundly from bedtime to morning, so heading to the forest at night is a first.
Normally, a forest at night is dangerous. You don't know what's lurking, and if something attacks, you might not be able to react. Generally, you should avoid forests, mountains, or seas at night.
But according to Filmera-san, no dangerous creatures come near this area, and there are no wild boars or bears, so it's probably safe despite the darkness.
—Rustle…
"…!"
Safe. This forest is supposed to be safe.
Yet just now, the bushes in front of me swayed.
It wasn't the kind of sway caused by wind—there's no wind at all. It's completely still.
I've finished my business, so I could head back to the cabin.
But strangely, my attention is drawn to the swaying bushes.
—Rustle, rustle! Rustle!
The bushes shake violently again.
And then, a black shadow leaps out from them.
"…!?"
The shadow is round, small, and completely devoid of any living presence.
…
Slowly, ever so slowly, it crawls along the ground toward me.
It's a few centimeters in size. It looks like a slime you'd see in the early stages of an RPG—a quivering, water-like blob.
But its color and form are… off.
Like a slime scribbled chaotically with a black pencil, it approaches silently, without sound.
"Ha, ha…"
My throat dries, and my breathing grows ragged.
The eerie sensation of being watched by this unsettling slime causes a strange ringing in my ears.
Danger. My instincts scream that I mustn't engage with this slime any further.
Filmera-san said the dense magical energy in this forest keeps all creatures away.
Yet this slime appeared here.
That alone makes it painfully clear that, despite its appearance, this slime is alien and abnormal.
…!
The wriggling slime leaps at blinding speed, charging toward me.
"U-Uwah!?"
I react just in time, swinging my arm to fend it off.
But the moment the slime touches my arm, it melts into my skin, seeping into my body.
"—Ugh, guh…!?"
A deafening noise blares in my mind, followed by sharp, stabbing pain in my brain and overwhelming nausea.
My vision blacks out, and all sounds vanish. The only thing I hear is my heart pounding thump, thump.
My body burns, as if scorched by fire.
Breathing becomes painful, labored. I try to inhale, but a sharp, sickening pain shoots through my chest.
"Gah…!? Cough, cough…!"
I feel the presence of death.
The sound of death's footsteps grows louder.
I even hallucinate a reaper's scythe aimed at my neck.
"Ugh…! Guh, ha, ha…!"
Stumbling, I somehow make it back to the cabin and collapse to my knees.
Dragging my body, I reach the bed.
As I fall onto it, I lose consciousness—
◆
"—Uwah!?"
I wake up.
Sunlight streams through the window, signaling a peaceful morning.
"Ha, ha, ha…!"
The headache and fever that tormented me are gone.
Instead, my body is drenched in sweat, and the bedsheets are damp.
"W-What was that…?"
My memory is hazy and uncertain, but it wasn't a dream.
Yet my body feels fine—perfectly healthy. Only a strange unease lingers in my heart.
"Kyu, kyu…?"
Grey, sleeping beside my pillow, wakes and looks up at me with concern.
Then, as if struck by a thought, Grey hops off the bed, leaps onto the table, and brings me a gopple from the table.
"Haha… You hungry?"
"Kyu. Kyu, kyu!"
Grey shakes its head, points a leg at the gopple, then at me.
"You want me to eat this…?"
"Kyu!"
Grey lifts my hand, pressing the gopple to my mouth.
How do I look to Grey right now?
Do I look terrible? Pale? Sick?
I don't know. I don't know, but…
For Grey to offer me its favorite gopple whole, I must seem pretty weak.
…
I look at my arm.
It's perfectly normal. But last night, that eerie slime definitely entered through this arm, attacking my body.
Yet there's no wound, no bruise. It doesn't hurt when I press it, and there's no blood.
Maybe it was just a nightmare. My body shows no signs of anything wrong, making me think that.
But last night's experience was too vivid, too painful, too unsettling to be a mere nightmare.
The more I think, the less sense it makes, and the fear that the slime might still lurk inside me makes my body tremble.
"Kyu…?"
Grey looks up at me, its face almost tearful.
To reassure it, I gently stroke its head and chin, forcing a smile to show I'm okay.
"Hey, Grey. Eating a whole one in the morning is a bit much, so how about you take half? That'd help me out."
"Kyu, kyu…?"
"Hm? Am I pushing myself? I'm fine. Thanks to you, I'm feeling better."
I split the gopple in half and offer one to Grey.
Grey looks back and forth between my face and the gopple several times before slowly sipping its juice.
Watching Grey, I bring my half to my mouth.
The juice spreads across my tongue—sweet but not cloying, smooth, flowing naturally down my throat.
The crisp texture is addictive, pulling me in.
Strangely, as the gopple's juice and flesh fill my stomach, my heart feels lighter, as if a weight is lifting.
And so, Grey and I finish the gopple.
To prepare for Filmera-san's visit today, I get out of bed and head outside the cabin.