Chapter 17
5. Relationships Are Bound to Change
When I came to my senses, I was still lying where I had fallen.
My whole body screamed in pain, as if I had been beaten. Still, I gritted my teeth and got up.
Contrary to my fears, my ribs didn't seem to be broken. Even more fortunately, Kaiden didn't seem to have found me unconscious.
Then I realized I was holding something tightly in my hand. When I opened my fingers, Kaiden's pendant sparkled into view.
'Could this be why he chased me?'
Just then, a tingling pain spread from the soles and heels of my feet.
I put the pendant in my dress pocket and took off my flats slightly. There was blood on them. It seemed another blister had burst.
I clenched my hand and tore off a piece of the dress. I threw away the bloody cloth and wrapped the new cloth around my feet. I couldn't disinfect the wound, so I had to protect it like this.
After finishing the treatment, I put my flats back on. And I looked up at the sky to gauge the time. The sky was a pale purple.
"I was being chased by Kaiden around noon... Is it evening now?"
I had no idea how long I had been unconscious.
If it was turning to night instead of morning, it was dangerous to move right away. It was close to the time when Monsters became active.
"Enoch will be alone in the cave with his injuries..."
I shook my head at the thought. I had to worry about myself first, not Enoch. I calmly looked around and searched for a place to hide.
I seemed to have been lying here for a while, but I was in good condition, so luckily there were no Monsters nearby.
Still, feeling uneasy, I minimized my movements and looked for a place to hide under a large rock.
As I squeezed myself under the rock, I tripped over a hard object under my feet.
"...What is it?"
I crawled out from under the rock, lowered my head, and looked inside. There was a white box-like thing.
I reached out and struggled to pull the object out and examined it. The rectangular box had a red cross logo on the lid.
It was a strange object that didn't fit in this jungle. I just stared at the box with a dazed look for a moment.
"Wait a minute. Red Cross logo? Could this be...?"
Because I was synchronized with Margaret's memories, I was so full of memories of the Langrid Empire that I didn't quickly recognize the first aid kit.
When I opened the box and found it full of medicine, I shouted eureka.
"I'm saved."
It seemed to be the same first aid kit that Yuanna had found in the novel.
I calmly scanned the medicines. As expected, they were all written in Korean. That's why the characters who didn't know Korean couldn't use even half of the medicines in the kit.
Awoo-ooo!
My joy was short-lived. The sound of a wolf howling in the distance made me quickly grab the first aid kit and go under the rock. I had a cramp in my leg, but I couldn't go outside.
I covered my mouth and hid under the rock for a long time, holding my breath.
Tens of thousands of thoughts flashed through my mind. The fear I felt was incomparable to when I was with Enoch.
Rustle.
And then, I heard the sound of stepping on grass somewhere.
I froze as if I had been doused with cold water. I was so worried that my heart would stop beating. I couldn't move and held my breath.
Thump. Thump.
The sound of footsteps nearby moved leisurely over the soft dirt.
Then suddenly, it stopped.
And then thump-thump,
Again, it stopped.
It was like it was looking for something.
Could it be Kaiden?
The closer the sound got, the more violently my heart pounded, and it was painful. I couldn't control my fear.
I was afraid I would scream, so I covered my mouth with both hands.
Thump.
A pair of legs stopped in my sight.
The legs visible through the crack in the rock were covered in black fur.
The legs, presumably belonging to a beast, were so thick that one leg was twice the size of an adult man's leg.
Swish.
The foot that had been standing sideways swept the dirt and slowly turned. The foot, which had moved counterclockwise, suddenly stopped at some point. The toes were pointing at me.
I thought my heart would stop. I held my breath without realizing it.
The unidentified beast knelt down slowly.
Then, a furry finger came into the crack in the rock. The body was also slowly coming down.
'Oh, no.'
I couldn't close my eyes and trembled with my eyes wide open. What if I die like this? That's what I was thinking when,
Boom!
Suddenly, a huge roar echoed throughout the forest.
The beast's movement of lowering its body stopped. The creature's upper body turned.
The beast stared at something for a long time and then suddenly moved its body. The hand that had come into the crack in the rock moved away, and the beast stood up.
And then,
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
It ran off somewhere, making loud footsteps.
I remained frozen and trembling until the beast had completely disappeared and I couldn't hear any sound.
Fortunately, it seemed that the time I had fainted and woken up was morning, not evening. The surroundings were gradually brightening.
It was only after the sun had fully risen that I was able to crawl out from under the rock.
"...What the hell was that?"
It didn't seem to be a normal wild animal. Then it must be a Monster. It was a type of Monster I had never seen in the novel. However, I had never seen a Monster of that form in the novel.
The Monsters that appear in the novel <What's More Important Than Survival> are basically based on creatures that exist on Earth, so there were no Monsters that looked so alien.
I vaguely remembered seeing a description that they were constantly changing and evolving their bodies, but I wasn't sure.
"Come to think of it, the Wolf-type Monsters I encountered last were definitely changing their bodies little by little."
Now, the contents of the novel I read were becoming hazy. My head throbbed.
The shock from earlier didn't subside easily.
Will I really be able to survive on this island until the end?
I held the first aid kit, squatted in front of the rock, and looked around. The morning sun was shining down, but I hesitated, wondering if there were any Monsters left.
It was only when it was broad daylight that I cautiously started to move.
I don't even know where I am, so will I be able to find the cave where Enoch is waiting?
For the first time, I desperately wanted to see Enoch. I felt like I would feel at peace if I saw him.
