Monolith World 24 Mob Loo

Just as I expected, on the steps lay two more crystals of similar contour and size to the first; they had jagged edges and were about the length of my thumbnail, although they were even thinner than that. Since I deemed these crystals non-lethal, I didn't hesitate to pick both of them up.

*Or rather, if they're lethal, it's already too late for me.*

This time, I studied them both a little more intensely, but I couldn't form any other conclusion about the crystals aside from what I already knew. They were brittle and clear, and would disintegrate when near the house. They were also impossibly light. Part of me thought they would float away as a helium balloon would, but they seemingly were able to cut through the air as if it didn't exist. It was as if I were dropping a feather on the moon.

*Strange. I never thought that I'd be able to recreate the famous astronaut's experiment personally...*

It was something I had dreamed about doing when I saw the videos of him on the moon. Just for fun, I took off one of my shoes and picked up a crystal. I held them both at shoulder height at an equal distance away from myself.

*3, 2, 1...*

And I dropped both objects simultaneously. As expected from my previous observations, both of them hit the ground at the same time.

*Although it really feels like they shouldn't... They really do, huh?*

But this fact brought up another question. Why did the crystal cut through the air? Did it even "cut through"? Maybe it was just able to "ignore" it? But if these things were true, the question still remained. Why?

*The mysteries just keep piling up. Should I just make a note of everything that's unusual about this world?*

I immediately declined that notion. It would simply require too much effort. However...

*It's only been like six hours, yet I'm bored out of my mind.*

Maybe I really did have ADHD. Even paying attention in cla.s.s was a ch.o.r.e.

*Back when cla.s.s still existed, anyway...*

Even though roughly six hours had pa.s.sed, it felt like way longer. I couldn't imagine how I would spend the rest of my life here.

*Which is why I'll prioritize finding other people once I leave my own d.a.m.n neighborhood!*

Even though I had to admit I was fairly anti-social, I wasn't a robot. Even the most antisocial people would need some form of human contact if they didn't want to go insane.

*Wait. Six hours? That reminds me of something else.*

Roughly another half-hour had pa.s.sed, and I still hadn't checked the position of the sun in the sky. I checked the time on my phone once again. It read 13:41. I checked the position of the sun in the sky. It was roughly three-quarters of the way through the sky.

*It's probably safe to say that a day and night cycle is two hours. What a mess.*

I was beginning to wonder how anyone would even be able to live in this world. My circadian rhythm would be thrown out of whack after mere moments. Of course, it would be normal for people living here, since they'd been experiencing it their whole lives. I wonder what survival strategies I could learn from them.

But before I met anyone, I would have to be alone for at least a little while. At least, there were no visible settlements as far as my eyes could see. If I was going to learn how to explore this world, I would have to prepare for the worst.

*A super-rapid day-and-night cycle, overly strong monster-like creatures, and rapidly changing weather. It can't possibly get worse than this.*

My life would be on the line at all times, and I wouldn't even be able to get a proper night's rest. Ever. Unless I came up with a valid strategy for sleep...

These jumbled thoughts eventually brought me to the conclusion that I had too much to worry about at the moment, so I would not be making a "list of mysteries", no matter how cool it sounded. With that in mind, I put my shoe back on and retrieved the crystal from the ground. But as I reached down to pick it up, I felt something before I even touched it.

Although the feeling was faint, I was sure I could feel *something* a few millimeters away from the crystal. It was a strange feeling to describe. It felt as if I were still touching it, but not quite. It was as if I were moving my hands through a solid with no resistance.

*Weird. How far out can I "feel" the crystal?*

I picked it up with my left hand and started experimenting with my right. The result was that I could sense it about a centimeter away if I wasn't too focused on it, but that distance increased by nearly three times if I concentrated with all my brain would allow. This discovery led to an interesting thought experiment.

*If I a.s.sume that my level corresponds to my ability to sense these crystals, how much can I improve this ability?*

In other words, how far could I level up? Or rather, how far could I level up my "Sense" skill?

*Looks like even though this world is quite different from the former, it seems I'm not too unfamiliar with these various new things thrown my way.*

Or rather, since I had discovered the sacred (or cursed) "Status Window", I knew the purpose of my existence in this world. Of course, my initial goals of finding Jeanna and confronting An remained the same. It just meant I now had one more I would strive for. My third goal - level up.

*Despite saying "statistics are useless" earlier, achieving higher levels can't be all bad...*

I remembered the note An had left me.

"Survive, and win. Or something like that."

Everything came together at this point. Jeanna asking me whether I would be okay on my own, training and/or testing my mental abilities once in a while, and even caring so much for me... only for me to be dumped here.

*She definitely knew something was going on.*

What An and Jeanna said were actually pretty similar, now that I thought about it. They both wanted me to "survive". They both wanted me to "win".

*Something seems suspicious here... I'll remain impartial on this issue until I can truly meet up with both of them to talk everything out. As for what reason I'm here, I still don't know...*

Once again, the more answers I came up with, the more questions popped up in the midst. It was a positive feedback loop of mysteries.

I sighed and tried to focus once again on what was directly in front of me. The good news was that I most likely knew what to do with this crystal. I had played enough games and read enough light novels to know what to do with mob loot.

*The question is how? Do I just eat them?*

They didn't feel like anything, so they probably wouldn't taste like anything. But I was still hesitant to shove a foreign object into my stomach.

*For good reason, too. I'm not going to eat random s.h.i.+t I find. Whether this can be considered random is the question, though.*

I had a pretty good guess that I was going to find these things pretty often. Of course, I had yet to see any other monster besides these rabbits, so it was still questionable whether or not I'd find them inside any given creature. And yes, I decided to change the moniker to "monster" consistently rather than switching between various different names. I was going to refer to these vile things properly.

*That way, I'll also have an easier time killing them...*

Dehumanizing the enemy is a disgusting tactic, but I needed to do whatever worked for me at this point.

*They're not even humans. Plus, they're a source of food. What am I thinking?*

A source of food was definitely something I needed to keep an eye on in the near future, or even starting now. I had a long way to go before I could prepare a satisfactory meal for myself, even with the food that was already available in my house.

*Oh. That's actually another problem, isn't it?*

I couldn't bring the rabbits inside the house for easy preparation. They would just disappear. I would just have to hunt and dismantle them the old-fas.h.i.+oned way. The thing was, I'd actually learned a little bit about wilderness survival a long time ago thanks to a certain organization, but I quit pretty fast due to my lack of interest. I found it boring, as we were learning how to whittle...

*Maybe I should have stuck around there for a bit longer. That knowledge would definitely be a big help now...*

There was no use in lamenting the past. I had to learn what I could around here as soon as possible so I could venture outside safely, and because I had a limited food supply in my house.

*What a pain. And I still haven't figured out what to do with this crystal. I should honestly just eat it.*

I had to power level myself somehow, and I concluded that these crystals were the essence of some physics-defying power. In other words, if not for these crystals, they wouldn't be going berserk. On the other hand, I would probably need to be careful with how I consumed them, because if I did it incorrectly, I could end up like them. That was just a guess, anyway.

*Maybe I'm just getting too hungry to think straight.*

This was most likely the case. It was slightly past lunch time, and I'd been running around on full alert. It wasn't surprising that my stomach was about to complain.

*Maybe I should just mix this crystal with the instant noodles.*

With some strange thoughts, I left the crystals in the gra.s.s outside so they wouldn't disappear, and ventured indoors to prepare myself a midday meal.