Chapter 87 – Other Survivors

7 survivors.
It was as expected. After all, there were other survivors outside the danger zone.

How will we do it. The distance is still quite long.

If there is someone among them whose terminal level has risen to the same level as mine, they will be caught before approaching. But if you don’t have it, you should be able to sneak up on it from afar.

My terminal level is now level 3. I think it’s pretty tight for me. Even if there were 7 opponents, there was a good chance that all of them were at a lower level than me. And even if they get caught, it will be done somehow because there is a distance.

Having judged that, I decided to approach it for now.

“… Should I buy a telescope?”

The nearby forest may have poor visibility, but it’s more helpful than not having it.

Find in the store telescope.
200 coins. If you include the night vision function, it was 300 coins.

It’s expensive, but not so much that you can’t afford it. It was a necessary investment.
So I bought it With night vision function.

Pick up the telescope that appeared in the air and check the condition.
It seems to have buttons and adjustable functions, but for now I decided to just use it. Just looking at it, it’s a basic telephoto function.

It could be held up to the eye like a normal telescope or worn on the head like a night vision goggles.
I thought it would be inconvenient to wear it on my head now, so I decided to carry it in my hand for the time being. I still have to move a bit more.

Silence your footsteps and approach slowly.

I don’t see any signs of noticing me from the other side.
Seven people gathered together and were walking in opposite directions.

The pace is slow. I’m slow too, but enough to narrow the distance little by little.
I could tell from the map that they were walking while being wary of their surroundings.

I could have had a little more room in my mind.

If there was someone on the same terminal level as me among them, it was a distance that I couldn’t help but notice. At least one or two out of seven will be looking at a map.
However, the fact that there is still no reaction means that all 7 people have a lower terminal level than me.

“There is.”

The distance narrowed and I could see them with my own eyes.
It was still quite far away, but it was noticeable because it was moving.

I hid behind a tree and checked the number of survivors.
One, two, three——seven.
As indicated on the map. And they were all men.

What about partners and what do men do with each other?

I checked the survivors’ equipment through the telescope.
There was only one man with a proper iron spear, but all the others were holding something like a shabby spear carved out of wood or stone.

… Something is wrong.
Melee weapons like spears and knives wouldn’t be that expensive. For about 10 coins each, you could buy a decent weapon at the store.
There’s no way I’d be so poor that I couldn’t even afford that… Is there any other reason why you’re doing that?

In addition, the attire was at a serious level.
Everyone is dressed in tatters, and not a single person is intact. Wouldn’t that be what happens if you throw a person into the jungle and don’t let them change their clothes for a week? Her hair was greasy and her face was dirty like a person who hadn’t washed it.

“…”

I thought about it for a while, but I don’t know why. Why are they like that

If there is a possibility, all of the female partners died, or only males fell on this island without partners from the beginning, or their partners were taken away by another group.
If it wasn’t like that, it wouldn’t make sense to be such a beggar.

“——!”
“──, ──!”
“────!”

The survivors shouted something and suddenly began to move quickly.
I think I found something.

When I checked the terminal map, there was a yellow sign in the direction they were going.
It may be a rabbit, or something similar.

“…”

A group of survivors came into contact with the yellow marker.
A person with a stone throws a stone, and a person with a spear throws a spear in the direction indicated by the yellow mark.

The look is so clumsy. It was literally like ordinary townsfolk throwing stones at wild animals.

… Is that hunting?
The result was not what I expected.

If it’s a rabbit, I’ve hunted it too. However, the rabbits on this island are not quiet domestic rabbits. It was a creature that was smart enough to survive in such a jungle and had the ability to survive.

But will I be hit by a blind stone like that?

I also thought that my hunting skills were poor, but after seeing that, I thought that my crossbow skills were enough to hit the average.

“──”
“────”
“——!”
“────!”

As expected, the hunt seems to have failed.
They were talking about something with a dejected look.

I couldn’t hear her voice properly, but I could see her expression through the telescope.
When the big young man said something, the man in his 40s shouted something at the young man with an angry expression.

Oops. I’m in a bad mood.

Even at first glance, the group was creaking. There are people who stop quarreling, but they also look tired.

Looking at their faces, I could see that they were starving and exhausted. Perhaps quarreling is also citing responsibility for the failed hunt.

“…”

I don’t think I need to see any more.
I folded the telescope and put it in my backpack.

It could be said that the collapse of their party was predestined. It was really just a matter of time.

Things might get better if a miraculously wealthy and kind-hearted survivor showed up in front of them and fixed all their problems, but such a miracle probably won’t happen in such a stark environment.

Me? Of course I don’t think so either.
My coin is a valuable coin earned by my mother. You can’t waste it for someone you don’t care about. Even just 1 coin.

Of course, if mom saw this situation, she might have offered to help, but she doesn’t care as long as mom doesn’t know. And if that happens, I will do my best to oppose it. For our survival.

“Then, what about them…”

If they pose a threat to us, we can consider dealing with them.
But they are a poor and weak group. I didn’t feel the need to do that.
There wouldn’t be a chance to risk entering the dangerous area inside the forest in that state, and it didn’t seem like their armaments would improve over time.

“…”

Killing people gives you coins. That’s quite a lot of coins.
That had already been verified.

“… Chit.”

If you think about efficiency, you might have to get your hands dirty.

But I decided to quit.
For my mental health and nothing else.

People die easily here. Killing people won’t be difficult.
However, if I became sick with a sense of guilt, I was the only one who suffered.

What if she doesn’t stop when she sees her? You may be able to earn a few hundred coins right away, but in the long run it will be a huge loss. There was no need to waste my energy on useless things.

“──”
“──, ──!”

While I was weighing their lives, it seemed that the conversation had come to an end between them as well. As if looking for something, they scattered and started searching the floor.

And among them, there were people approaching me.

I’ll let you know if it stays like this.

Now that I’ve seen everything, I decided to get away from them.

*

Away from the group of 7 survivors, I started walking towards the safety zone again.

If you think about it, you might have had to know about their group’s hideout. If I waited a little longer and followed the way back, it would have been easier to spot.

But if there are women and children starving in that hideout, I feel bad for nothing.
If you’re not going to help or plunder anyway, it’d be better not to care at all from the start.

“After. You just arrived.”

The border area is narrow.
After walking for a bit, I was able to get out quickly.

The green safe zone finally arrived.
The boundary zone and the safety zone were distinguished even at a glance. The boundary zone was a forest with many tall trees, while the safety zone was a grassy meadow with few trees.

In terms of game sense, it seems that grasslands and plains are safe, forests are vigilant, and jungles are dangerous.

“There are no animals at all.”

In the border area, there were still creatures like rabbits, deer, and wild boars.
Thanks to that, I also caught a deer and a wild boar on the way. Probably the most dangerous level in the border area is the wild boar.

The border area is a mixture of relatively aggressive omnivores with such safe herbivores. Herbivorous animals may be able to hunt safely, but it seems that the minimum risk must be taken.

The green safe zone, on the other hand, showed few animal-like animals.
Occasionally I saw something like a bird flying around, or something like a mouse or squirrel, but all of them were small animals I didn’t want to kill. If you catch something like that, the meat won’t come out properly.

“… Still, I think it would be nice to live.”

Meadow was nice.
The land is flat, so it’s easy to walk on, and there are no dangerous animals. The wind was cool and the view was open, so it felt good to stay still.

If there is a problem, is it that there are few trees, so there is no good place to hide?
If they were to snipe with a gun from the forest side, they would have no choice but to get stuck.

Of course, it was confirmed that there was no one around with the terminal map, but it felt very awkward to be defenseless like this, probably because I had been living in the forest all this time.

“Well, then what?”

Check the map again.
A corner of the safe zone, the edge of the map with an increased range.
There were more than 10 survivor signs gathered there.

I thought there would be survivors in the safe zone, but I never thought they would be so easy to find.

“Ha…”

Maybe it’s because I saw the poor survivors a while ago.
Even though the purpose of coming here in the first place was to find other survivors, I didn’t really want to see it.

What if it’s a poor group again…