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Matsurize no longer dwelled on where this new body of his had come from. Right now, he had one urgent problem—he needed to fill his stomach.
He was starving. So hungry that he could barely stand.
The beach where he stood stretched endlessly behind him, with a dense forest rising not far away.
Just when Matsurize was wondering where he could find food, he noticed thin wisps of smoke rising from beyond the forest.
He grew excited. If his guess was right, that was cooking smoke—someone must be making food.
That realization filled him with joy. It meant this place wasn't completely deserted. After all, humans were social creatures, and he had been alone here for half a day already.
Matsurize was beginning to feel lonely. If he didn't see another human soon, he wasn't sure he'd stay sane.
Carefully, he made his way toward the direction of the smoke.
Before entering the thick forest, Matsurize memorized the direction the smoke was coming from—just in case he lost sight of it once inside and got lost. Becoming the first transmigrator to starve to death would be a pitiful record.
He wasn't very confident he could make it through the dense forest and reach the source of the smoke, but he was far too hungry to stay on the beach any longer. He had to take action.
At first, he even thought about diving into the sea to catch some fish to eat. But he had clearly overestimated himself. The moment he saw that bull-headed sea beast near the shore, he immediately abandoned the idea.
In a way, that sea beast had saved his life.
If he had gone into the ocean to look for food—someone who had never even experienced real seawater before—he might not have found anything to eat and might have died there instead.
Back in his previous life, Matsurize only knew a bit of breaststroke from swimming in an indoor pool. Trying to fish in the open sea with that skill was pure fantasy.
So in a sense, the bull-headed sea beast had saved his life—by scaring him away from that foolish plan.
Heart pounding with unease, Matsurize pressed onward through the dense forest.
Hunger gnawed at him with every step. Along the way, he spotted wild fruits hanging from some trees.
Drawing from experience, he knew that brightly colored fruits were most likely poisonous, so he only picked the duller, plainer-looking ones to stave off his hunger.
Fortunately, luck was on his side. None of the fruits were poisonous, and his hunger eased slightly.
He wandered through the forest for quite some time before realizing something: the very thing he'd feared before entering the forest had happened.
He was lost.
It wasn't surprising—he had never had any experience surviving in the wild. In a forest this vast, getting lost was inevitable.
Now, all he could do was hope for the best. He prayed he could make it out before nightfall and find the source of that smoke.
At least he knew one thing: once darkness fell, all sorts of wild creatures might come out to hunt.
After seeing the bull-headed sea beast earlier, Matsurize didn't want to find out what kind of strange monsters lurked in this forest. He wouldn't stand a chance against any of them.
He even tested his strength, hoping he might have some special power or unnatural ability in this new body.
Unfortunately, there was none. Compared to his former body, this one was only a bit thinner—no special traits at all.
That realization hit him hard. In such a strange environment, with no power to rely on, he wasn't sure he could even make it out alive.
He couldn't help but think bitterly, Am I really going to die here, just when I've barely begun living as Matsurize?
He was simply too impatient. Had he thought more carefully, he might've realized that wherever people lived, there were always rivers.
And rivers, as long as they kept flowing, always led to the sea.
If he had searched slowly and followed a river inland, it would've been a much safer and easier way to find civilization.
But if Matsurize had the sort of patience and reasoning for that, he wouldn't have been just another nine-to-five office worker in his previous life.
Now, he could only quicken his pace. Thankfully, he hadn't seen any large predators yet—not even small animals so far.
He hadn't even stepped on anything resembling a dirt path.
That meant this area was sparsely populated—or maybe completely deserted. Still, the smoke he'd seen earlier couldn't have been an illusion.
So Matsurize guessed this forest hadn't been entered by humans in a long time. The people living where the smoke came from were probably few—maybe just a small village.
He still didn't know if this was an island or a continent. But for now, all that mattered was finding food and shelter.
He had only one thought left: keep moving forward.
The sky was dimming, the afternoon fading fast. Time was running short.
Wild fruits alone wouldn't keep him alive for long.
Each step he took crunched against fallen branches and rotting leaves, sinking into the muddy ground. He looked absolutely miserable.
Then, just as hunger was about to overwhelm him, he spotted something that made his eyes light up—a rabbit lying under a large tree ahead, resting in the shade.
Matsurize blinked. He wasn't sure if it was real or just a hallucination, but he didn't care anymore.
He crept forward, step by step, until he was close enough. The rabbit hadn't moved at all since he first saw it. Strange—but hunger overruled caution.
When the distance was right, Matsurize lunged forward, pinning the poor creature under him.
Covered in mud, he hurriedly lifted the rabbit, afraid it might slip away.
But his worry was unnecessary—it was already dead.
A rabbit that had run headfirst into a tree and died.
At that moment, Matsurize finally understood what it truly meant to "wait by a tree for a rabbit."
Except he hadn't even been waiting.