Hey Guys, thanks for reading my second project. I love food, so I have high hopes for this series.
A quick briefing of the prologue, the main character Kazusa Yuu was looking forward to his camping trip, but got run over, and woke up in the middle of the forest with everything that he had on him. Looking around there were vegetation and wild animals never to be seen on earth! Now what will he do!?
Chapter 1
“Fuu, I was lucky to find a stream this quickly” Kazusa Yuu (TN: I will go with Yuu)
After venturing for around ten minutes, Yuu proceeded to wipe off some sweat. No matter what you bring, one cannot survive without water. Be it stranding on a deserted island or stuck in a desert, prioritizing a water source is without question.
Yuu was considerably lucky to find a stream first. Without minding the fact he had just experienced being run over, he proceeded to offer his gratitude to the very luck that had gotten him into that situation in the first place.
Either way, everything evened out… Plus minus zero. But ‘dying in an accident and suddenly stranded in another world’ would be a huge negative in terms of luck. Regardless, Yuu disregarded that fact and continued on cloud nine whilst moving on to his next course of action.
While holding down the excitement within him, Yuu silently brought his face up to the water surface. Just what is this water. More specifically, to confirm if the water safe to drink or continue searching.
“As expected, the water found in the wilderness sure is beautiful.” Yuu
As Yuu described, the water was nothing but beautiful as if an illusion. Yes, an illusion. Currently reflected by the transparency of the water, morphing into a phenomenon known as another world.
But more importantly, if the water was drinkable.
The water was without a speck of dirt, passing the preliminary inspection. Just looking at the clearness was enough to come to that conclusion, but what Yuu was looking for was something else.
“….! Found it!” Yuu
What Yuu was looking for was a certain living creature. To try and find a native species known to earth in another world was a foolish act, but the main objective was to find something similar.
“It’s cylindrical shape is quite unique… A shrimp? No, it’s not a crayfish either… What is this thing… that aside, this should be good!” Yuu
Yuu’s true objective was to find an aquatic creature that carries similar physique that of a shrimp or crayfish. Fundamentally speaking, checking the living creatures around a water source will tell you if it’s drinkable. For example, sightings of slugs or snails, dragonfly larvae, mosquito larvae and the alike indicates that the water must be treated before for usage.
On the other hand, spotting insect larvae is generally luckier as boiling and filtering water requires less effort.
Finally, shellfishes such as shrimps or crayfishes means that the water is most likely safe to drink as is.
“For the time being, this gives me some relief. I’ll deal with it later if it’s no good, I mean this body as already experience death once” Yuu
Without saying, this was knowledge from earth. The rules of this world might no apply. Regardless, this would become useful information. If Yuu’s knowledge proved him wrong here, everything he knew would be meaningless. In a sense, this was a gamble. But if the water was drinkable, his prior knowledge would be the base foundation for surviving in this world.
Slightly feeling at ease, Yuu took out an empty plastic bottle from his backpack. He scrubbed the opening a couple times then filled it with water. After lifting up the bottle to the sky, the sunlight passed through the transparent plastic without reflecting on any impurities or particles.
Yuu braced himself and brought the bottle to his mouth.
……Naturally, Yuu feared that his knowledge held no real value. A famous person once said: ‘Be it alcohol or poison, drink till the last drop once you started’. Yuu mustered his courage and went all in.
It was then Yuu’s expressioned changed drastically. A resounding rhythm hit the walls of his throat as the water made its way down.
(De….licious!) Yuu
The water was crisp and contained a fragrance that could only be described as the mountain. Yuu had never tasted anything like this. Though the surrounding wasn’t particular hot, walking in the wilderness with no trails had worked up his body temperature. On top of that, this was an unknown place and not a soul to seek for help. His exhaustion and nervousness slowly built up. Under such dire situations, the first thing Yuu ingested was the water that he drew from this pure unpolluted environment. It was as if the taste of the water was a flavour that washed away unease and cleansed the body and soul.
“Pu-Wah! How can water be so….!” Yuu
Without realizing, Yuu had continued drinking to the point of forgetting to breathe. It was so astounding to a level that one would have to pay a premium to obtain if it were earth. Yuu shook his head to snap out of his entranced state and stared at the stream.
“For the water to be so different to this degree… Or is it because it’s another world?” Yuu
For Yuu, his hobbies were the outdoors. Camping, hiking and the alike, it was not unusual for him to purposely climb mountains just to drink spring water from its natural habitat. Compared to his past experiences up till now, there was nothing that could compare to the feeling he felt just now. All of them in one way or another tasted muddy.
“…tto, Now is not the time for this” Yuu
Washing the plastic bottle once more, Yuu exchanged it with the other items in his backpack, pulling out yet another plastic bottle and a pencil case — in which held a cutter. Sitting on a nearby rock, Yuu cut into the second plastic bottle. First cutting of the head of the bottle, then the top part of the middle section. Finally, cutting a small hole a little above the base.
…Surprisingly, many people know of this trick. Yes, it was a simple trap used in streams to catch small critters like crayfishes or small fishes. All there was left to do was to leave some bait and it will be complete. (TN: look up plastic bottle fish traps if you’re interested in how it looks.)
“It would be great if it works… They’re not used to humans so it should work” Yuu
Yuu lowered the trap into the stream along with some weights. He could also directly collect them with his hands but this was another world, anything could happen. Wishing for a big haul, Yuu left the stream making sure to remember its location.
—
And thus, Yuu’s current position was a bit distant from the stream.
“Fuu, This should do.” Yuu
Yuu who was now covered in dirt dusted his hands. Before him was a shoddy looking structure made of sticks and various plants. At first glance, it would require some expertise to identify exactly what it was.
“Shelter complete. Next is–no doubt going to be food.” Yuu
What Yuu had prioritize over food was a base of operations, including a spot to sleep. The weather in the mountains are harsh and hard to predict. To protect his body was without saying more important.
With little material at hand, Yuu had created a simple small shelter known as a ‘Lean-to’, which has a thick branch as its foundation while covering it with sticks and leaves. Normally it would be made with a more sturdy material like a sheet of some sort, but relatively speaking it’s not something one would carry on a daily basis.
The amount of effort that went into this shelter was well spent. It should protect Yuu from the rain as the shelter was nicely covered with branches that had an abundant amount of leaves. Though there was still the issue with bugs and what not, but with the time restraint and the amount of things that need to be done this was more than satisfactory.
“Well then… Let’s head back to the trap. It would be nice if something was caught” Yuu
After securing the minimal requirement for a sleeping location, food was next on the list. Upgrading can come later, since it’s not a necessity. What took over his train of thought was the unknown. The endless possibilities of flavours that humans of his world has yet to experience.
Perhaps it would nice to locate his base near the stream, but that means risking flash floods or rise in water levels leading to danger. Approaching the stream, Yuu retrieved the trap and there–
“Nice, got some! …Looks like catching critters in another world isn’t that much different” Yuu
Inside the trap were the small shell creatures from earlier wriggling around. Though it was nothing Yuu has seen before, the colouring of their shells were not much different than the ones on earth. Judging by looks only, this would be edible.
“Yoshi, let’s head back to base and deal with these while they’re still fresh” Yuu
And thus, Yuu had obtained his first otherworldly meal and hurriedly returned to base.
Nyuimo Translations 