Chapter 100: Trees

"Let’s get the fuck out of here!"

Kyle made the decision almost immediately after confirming that his body was functioning normally.

Although the forest looked relatively peaceful, he had absolutely no intention of lingering in an unfamiliar environment without knowing what dangers it might conceal. The enormous trees were impressive, the thick grass looked comfortable enough to sleep on, and the sunlight filtering through the canopy gave the place an almost picturesque appearance.

But appearances could be deceiving.

For all he knew, something capable of tearing him apart might be lurking behind one of those colossal trees.

And considering that the System had explicitly warned him that it wouldn’t protect him against hostile creatures, Kyle wasn’t particularly interested in testing his luck.

"This place is awfully quiet, too..."

He glanced around and as he paid closer attention, the silence was almost disturbing.

For a forest this enormous, with vegetation this dense, he should have been able to hear something. Birds chirping, insects buzzing, leaves rustling as small animals moved through the undergrowth anything would have been reassuring.

Yet there was nothing not even a single sound of a insect.

Five minutes had passed since his arrival, and he hadn’t spotted a single living creature besides himself.

That was strange.

Even an ordinary park on Earth had birds hopping between branches, squirrels searching for food, and insects crawling through the grass. A forest of this size should have been teeming with wildlife.

Instead, it felt as though every living thing had abandoned the place.

Kyle slowly turned his head, inspecting the surroundings with growing unease.

"I can never be too careful."

He remembered the warning included in the System’s description of his travel ticket. It had granted him basic environmental adaptability, but that was all. If he encountered a monster, suffered a serious injury, or contracted some unfamiliar illness, he would have to deal with the consequences himself.

And if he died? That would be the end.

*Death in the destination world is permanent.*

The words had seemed rather straightforward when he read them back in his room on Earth.

Standing alone in this strange forest, however, they carried an entirely different weight.

"Yeah, I’m definitely not sleeping here."

Kyle took another look at the thick grass beneath his feet.

It would have made a surprisingly comfortable bed. The ground was soft, and the surrounding trees offered plenty of shade. Under different circumstances, he might even have considered spending a night here.

But he wasn’t going to risk it.

Not when he had no idea what came out after dark.

"Beware the woods that make no sound."

The saying suddenly resurfaced in his mind.

He couldn’t remember precisely where he had heard it, perhaps in some television show he had watched back on Earth, but its meaning was clear enough.

The quietest forests were often the most dangerous. When the birds stopped singing and smaller animals disappeared into their hiding places, it could mean that a predator far more dangerous than themselves had entered the area.

And nature had a rather effective way of communicating such dangers.

Silence.

On Earth, an unnaturally quiet forest could indicate that something had disturbed its ecosystem. Smaller animals might retreat, birds might stop calling, and even predators could become cautious when faced with a greater threat.

Of course, there could be other explanations for the silence. But Kyle wasn’t particularly interested in investigating them.

He wasn’t a wildlife expert, a seasoned adventurer, or some protagonist who could casually punch a dragon to death after receiving a few convenient power-ups.

He was an ordinary man who had recently acquired a supernatural System.

That distinction mattered.

"System, give me a way out."

He wasn’t going to wander aimlessly through the forest, hoping to stumble across civilization by accident.

From what he could see, the trees stretched for kilometers in every direction. With their enormous trunks and nearly identical surroundings, it would be ridiculously easy for an inexperienced person to lose his sense of direction.

And Kyle had no intention of becoming that person.

[Initiating Basic Knowledge Transfer!]

"Huh?"

Before he could ask what that meant, a flood of information suddenly poured into his mind.

It wasn’t painful, but the sensation was undeniably strange. It felt as though someone had opened a book inside his head and rapidly flipped through its pages, transferring fragments of useful knowledge directly into his consciousness.

He learned a handful of basic survival principles, including which commonly encountered plants were safe to consume, which ones should be avoided, and how to recognize a few obvious environmental hazards.

He also gained a general understanding of how to navigate out of his current location and reach the nearest known settlement and that was essentially it.

There was no detailed map, no comprehensive encyclopedia of the world, and certainly no explanation of its history, political structure, or inhabitants.

The System had given him just enough information to keep himself alive and point him toward civilization.

Then it stopped.

Kyle blinked several times as he processed the newly acquired knowledge.

"...That’s it?"

He waited for another notification.

Nothing happened.

"Cheap-ass System! Why do I have to ask for everything? Couldn’t you have told me this beforehand, for fuck’s sake?"

He threw his hands up in frustration.

Wasn’t this the kind of information he should have received immediately after arriving?

He had spent the first few minutes wandering around, struggling to breathe, and wondering whether something was about to eat him. Meanwhile, the System apparently possessed a perfectly serviceable method of giving him survival knowledge.

And it had waited until he specifically requested assistance to use it.

What was the point of having an intelligent supernatural assistant if Kyle had to interrogate it for every useful detail?

[The Host did not request this information earlier.]

Kyle stared at the notification.

"You’ve got to be kidding me."

[The System provides assistance according to the Host’s requirements.]

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Stop speaking like that now."

He rubbed his forehead.

[Alright.]

Arguing with the System was unlikely to accomplish anything. Besides, he couldn’t deny that the information transfer had been useful.

At least it hadn’t left him completely helpless.

"Well, at least you’re telling me something. That’s better than keeping everything hidden."

With a resigned sigh, Kyle turned toward the direction indicated by the knowledge he had received.

According to the information now lodged in his mind, he needed to continue straight ahead. If he maintained a steady pace, he should eventually reach a settlement by the end of the day.

The route wasn’t particularly complicated, although the distance was another matter.

Kyle began walking.

At first, he felt reasonably optimistic. The forest floor was relatively easy to traverse, and his body had adapted well to the environment. He didn’t have to worry about his breathing, and his legs carried him forward without any difficulty.

He occasionally glanced at his surroundings, searching for anything that might indicate the presence of wildlife.

Nothing.

The silence continued to follow him.

As time passed, the scenery began to feel increasingly monotonous. Enormous trees stood on either side of him, their thick trunks disappearing into the canopy above. The ground remained covered in grass, roots, and occasional patches of exposed soil.

There were no roads, no buildings, and no signs of human activity.

Only trees.

More trees.

And, naturally, even more fucking trees.

After walking for approximately an hour, Kyle was beginning to sweat.

"Seriously, how big is this forest?"

He wiped his forehead and checked the distance he had covered using the information provided by the System.

’Roughly fifteen kilometers done.’

Fifteen kilometers, and he was still surrounded by trees.

That was when he remembered another rather important detail.

The System hadn’t estimated the journey using the average physical capabilities of an ordinary person from this world. It had calculated the distance according to his own strength and endurance.

In other words, even with his enhanced physical condition, reaching civilization would require approximately six hours of walking.

Kyle stopped.

He looked to his left.

Trees.

He looked to his right.

More trees.

He glanced behind himself.

You guessed it.

Trees.

"I’m literally still in the middle of a fucking forest..."

He stood there for several seconds, staring at the seemingly endless wilderness around him.

Then his expression twisted into disbelief.

"Did you seriously have to spawn me in the middle of this fucking forest?"