"That's true… Hayoon, why didn't you make pants first from the beginning?"
Hayoon: "..."
Because in her previous world, she was used to wearing clothes whenever she went out and never went around half-dressed.
But obviously, she could not say that.
"Haha," she said awkwardly, "I was planning to make both clothes and pants together."
Fortunately, everyone did not dwell on that topic.
Instead, they became excited and started planning enthusiastically.
"The cloth at my house is all used up. When I get back, I need to hurry up and spin thread and weave cloth!"
"Right, Hayoon, can we take a look at your pants later? I'm afraid I won't be able to make them properly."
Hayoon turned to look and saw that the speaker was a beautiful sub-beastman named Yeonhwa.
She was wearing a short-sleeved, mid-length robe with a front-opening design.
Cloth ties were sewn on both sides of the front to fasten it.
But Hayoon was certain she had never taught this style before.
"Yeonhwa, did you make this outfit yourself?" she asked a bit awkwardly.
Yeonhwa nodded. "Yes. Is there a problem?"
Hayoon said, "No, it looks very good. Pants are not difficult to make. With your skill, you will definitely be able to make them. If you are not confident, you can come to Minho's cave later and I can explain it again."
Yeonhwa lit up at the praise and said seriously, "Alright, I will definitely come."
The others quickly followed suit.
"Hayoon, I want to come too!"
"Me too, me too!"
The noise grew a bit loud, and the beastmen in the distance kept glancing over.
Someone was speaking to Minho, and he responded with a faint smile.
"Alright." Immo clapped her hands, and the noisy sub-beastmen quieted down.
"Sulyeon, help me count the number of people."
"Okay."
Immo said to everyone, "As you all know, it rained for quite a while before. Now that the rain has stopped, mushrooms have started growing in the mountains. So today's plan is to gather mushrooms."
So it was mushroom gathering.
The moment Hayoon heard that, images of various delicious mushroom dishes flashed through her mind. Her eyes lit up instantly, and she even felt her mouth water slightly.
Immo continued, "Later, we will leave the tribe and head southeast all the way to the foot of Gale Mountain. We will gather mushrooms from the bottom up, then meet at the mountain peak, cross Gale Mountain, and return from the other side."
Everyone nodded to show they understood.
Sulyeon said, "Mom, the count is done."
"Alright, let's go."
The sub-beastmen cheered and headed out of the tribe together.
The beastmen's hunting route today was not in the same direction as theirs, so they could not hitch a ride on them."
The sub-beastmen did not mind at all.
They moved quickly, chatting and laughing as they walked.
Some sub-beastmen who were good at singing even started improvising a few songs.
The melodies were beautiful, and the lyrics reflected everyday life.
Hayoon did not know beast world songs, but she still enjoyed listening.
She clapped along with everyone else for the singing sub-beastman until her palms turned red.
With company, even the dull mountain road felt easy to travel.
Before they knew it, they had arrived.
Gale Mountain was not as long as their tribe's Mt. Tensei, but it was still quite large.
The forest was dense and the mountain was tall.
Looking up from the foot of the mountain, they could even see faint white mist swirling around the peak, like a dream.
Immo then said, "Remember not to go too far. Keep climbing upward, and if you run into any wild beasts you cannot handle, blow the whistle to call for help."
The sub-beastmen answered in unison, "We know."
Hayoon recalled that sub-beastmen really did have several different whistle signals used to convey simple messages.
They could blow directly with their mouths, place fingers between their lips, or even use leaves to make whistle sounds.
As for the beastmen, they could transform into beast forms.
If they needed to send a message, a roar was enough.
The sound alone was powerful enough to shake the forest.
As everyone spread out, Hayoon was still thinking about how clever the sub-beastmen were.
She awkwardly tried to whistle softly herself, but nothing came out.
So that was it.
Whistling also required talent.
Afraid of running into danger and being unable to call for help in time, she did not dare go too far and moved carefully through the forest up the mountain.
Soon, she saw several clusters of mushrooms, and immediately ran into a problem.
Which of these could actually be eaten?
Hayoon had never seen these mushrooms in modern times.
She did have some memories from the original owner of this body, but the original owner was only eighteen this year.
In the early years after officially joining the tribe's gathering activities, she had mostly been learning.
Later, she became somewhat independent, but the entire Ur-Shet Tribe was large, and she had never even explored all of it.
There were too many kinds of mushrooms.
Red, white, yellow, tall, short, flat.
Aside from a few types the original owner had eaten many times, she really could not tell which were poisonous and which were not.
Even in Hayoon's past world, when she was a child visiting her grandfather's village, she had seen adults who could not confidently identify wild mushrooms and would still need to ask older, more experienced people.
The mountain trees were tall and dense.
When the wind blew, the leaves rustled softly.
Hayoon carried her basket and carefully examined everything.
Mushrooms that looked too brightly colored, as if loudly announcing "I am beautiful, come eat me," were ignored immediately.
The remaining ones were two dull gray types.
One looked somewhat like the stone mushrooms from the original owner's memory.
Hayoon picked one and checked the underside.
There were signs of insect bites under the cap, so it was likely not poisonous.
She decided to collect them all.
The other type was slightly whiter.