Surviving a Cruel Fairy Tale

4 – Act 1. Little Red Riding Hood’s Forest – Prelude (1)

The first thing I saw after entering the forest was a dense forest.

Densely grown trees covered the sky with their branches, and they obscured the view to the point of stuffiness, giving off a musty smell unique to old trees, creating an atmosphere of a dark and damp forest.

If the sky is covered, there is no way even the light will come in properly.

Because of that, the floor was full of moss, making it difficult to even walk on it, and there was no wind blowing around, so no sound could be heard.

Even the chirping of insects that would have been heard in an ordinary forest.

In this situation, the only milestone was the small amount of sunlight that barely penetrated the roof of the trees.

“…… It is a forest.”

Speaking of fairy tales related to the forest, their existence is surprisingly limited.

Of course, I know that the frame of fairy tale itself is a world that has almost collapsed, but even so, the foundation and background itself would not have changed.

The first thing that comes to mind is a famous fairy tale like Sleeping Beauty, but I couldn’t find the distinctive thorny bush to say that.

Every famous fairy tale has its own characteristics.

I don’t know much about minor fairy tales that are not well known, but considering the characteristics of this world, the types of fairy tales can be summarized as famous in their own right.

Then it’s important to gather information first.

No matter what, it didn’t seem like a very wise choice to stay in this forest where not even a trace of people could be found.

No, rather than that, is it right that I don’t want to stay in a place like this for a long time?

A forest unsuitable for human habitation.

There’s no way humans would fit in a dark and humid environment, but the musty smell pierced the nose along with the cool temperature, giving off a dreary aura.

In the first place, there was no scent of life.

Even the vegetation is gloomy, so the color is faded.

At first, I moved as far as I could to find traces of other people or creatures.

How long have you been walking like that?

At the time the sense of time was fading because it was a place where the light itself was low.

I heard rustling in front of me.

You might think it’s just the sound of the wind, but the first change I noticed in the forest, which was close to silence as not a single ray of wind came in.

At this, he slightly raised his head in joy.

“…… Come to think of it, did you say there were wolves?”

Audible breathing.

A rough, low-pitched bass that reverberates through the throat.

It would be unreasonable to regard the gurgling sound as a human sound.

Wolves in the deep forest.

What fairy tales dealt with such a stage?

When it comes to forests and wolves, the first thing that comes to mind is Little Red Riding Hood, but in fact, most of the major fairy tales are all set in medieval Europe, so it is quite natural for wolves to roam in such a forest.

No, isn’t now the time to think about that?

I came to my senses and looked ahead first.

It was a single gray wolf that appeared with a rustling sound, but it is correct to assume that wolves do not act alone in hunting.

First, check the torch in your hand.

How far will the flames work against the wolves?

Common sense knows that wild beasts avoid fire, but this is a fairy tale world. I had to assume in advance that common sense I knew would not work.

Then what about mystery?

The power that dwells in this body.

It is said to be the foundation of the world of fairy tales, but since I came to this world, my body has exhibited a high level of performance that is embarrassing to compare to that of today.

For that experiment, it might not be a bad opponent.

I organized my thoughts and adjusted my posture.

There was only one wolf approaching with a low stride, but judging from the brushing sound coming from nearby, there were at least three.

I was surprisingly calm even thinking to myself.

How likely are you to encounter a wolf in modern times? What are the odds of fighting it naked?

It was such an absurd situation, but I didn’t feel the emotion of fear, perhaps because I had encountered a worse situation in advance.

“Whoa… ….”

Thanks to that, I have a serenity without delusion and raise my nerves.

A power called mystery that remained in the body.

I heard from Rumpelstiltschen that this is the power that makes this body constitute and build, but there was no way to explain it clearly in theory.

It’s just a feeling.

Feeling the existence of this power, and moving.

Feel a burning sensation from the inside of your body, and through long exhalations, divert the power called Shinbi to all parts of your body.

The time for searching for a moment passes.

The pack of wolves had time to roam around me and look for prey, and the moment I finished all my preparations to test my strength.

Aooooo!!

Starting with howl of a wolf, one of them rushes forward first.

“Suck!!”

Strengthen the hand that holds the torch.

Move your right foot back and twist your upper body to the right.

My shoulders are light and my fists are heavy. Raising the hand holding the torch as if pulling an arrow taut, I stared at the wolf charging at me.

Aiming at the right moment, he let go of the string and swung his hand holding the torch like an arrow.

“Kaeaeaeeng!!”

First of all, one animal.

I scanned the round gray wolf with the edge of my field of vision, then straightened my posture and kicked the wolf as it burrowed to the left.

Two. And three.

I can definitely feel the improvement in my physical abilities.

It made possible movements that would have been impossible for me living in modern times, and above all, the reaction of the body moving as I imagined was close to that of a superman.

I’m at this level right now, but how would it feel if I reached a higher level by accumulating mysteries here?

“…… Whoa.”

A light sigh.

After knocking the three wolves to the ground in the blink of an eye, I looked at the pack of wolves coming here one after another.

The number is large, but not difficult.

Of course, it might be a bit difficult if the number exceeds ten, twenty, or more, but at least it’s not difficult to deal with at this level.

Around the time when I was trying to observe the trend of the wolf pack after a while.

Taaang!!

A single gunshot rang through the forest, where the tension was rising.

“Are you okay?”

The first human voice you hear after entering this forest.

A middle-aged man with gray hair appeared with a deafening gunshot.

“I never thought the wolves would come all the way here. Jump this way cover.”

Smoke rising from the tip of a shotgun.

As I turned my gaze along the end, I saw a wolf that was approaching from a distance and collapsed on the ground with a moan.

From leather clothes to shotguns.

Looking at his appearance, he seemed to be a hunter, but suddenly he was a hunter in a forest where he couldn’t even feel a trace of humans?

It’s been awhile since I’ve questioned that kind of thing.

First of all, since he was the first human I met in this forest, I gathered my thoughts in consideration of information and ran towards him.

“How, it seems all right.”

The distance to the hunter wasn’t too far, so it wasn’t difficult to run to his location as long as you were careful not to fall.

“First step back.”

“The number of wolves is rather high.”

At my words, the man nodded his head with a subtle smile on his lips.

“Nothing to worry about.”

At first glance, it seems familiar with wolves.

If you are a hunter, in fairy tales, you always appear in the role of a solver or helper.

As expected of his reputation, he smiled confidently.

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“A hunter in the forest is invincible.”

Then the gun he held spews fire.

A bullet fired every time the trigger is pulled without even loading.

It would be an impossible situation in reality, but considering that this is a fairy tale world, wouldn’t it be impossible considering the influence of mystery?

One wolf after another rushed towards us.

The gun held by the hunter fired about eight times, knocking down the wolf each time, and then all the wolves gathered around them scattered and disappeared.

After all the problems were solved like that.

He slung his shotgun over his shoulder and looked me up and down before opening his mouth.

“You’ve never seen a face in the area.”

“Because he is a traveler wandering from place to place.”

“Travel? A forest like this? I heard that there are people who often wander to various places, but I’m unlucky to have chosen a place like this.”

A place like this.

Obviously I knew it wasn’t a safe place because I saw wolves roaming around, but isn’t that the case with most forests?

“Meeting wolves is definitely unlucky.”

“Can you do this with only wolves? Yes, the experience of being chased naked is not something you can easily do anywhere, but there is a threat in this forest that cannot be compared to that beast.”

“How about a threat?”

“It’s a witch.”

…… Hearing something really unexpected, I was speechless for a moment.

Well, considering that this is a fairy tale world, it wouldn’t be strange for witches to exist…….

“When you say a witch, what kind of witch are you exactly?”

“Are you interested in witches? Give up They say curiosity kills the cat.”

“If you know the danger, you can avoid it.”

To be precise, you need to know the identity of the witch to figure out the main fairy tales of this place.

The way to cope with knowing and not knowing the fairy tale that becomes the subject is also different.

With that said, the hunter drooled for a moment, then nodded that he had a point and opened his mouth slowly.

“A witch who serves wolves. The Little Red Riding Hood witch who gives up being human and hunts people like her.”

After hearing that explanation, I could understand the first distortion of this world.

* * *

The center of the dense forest.

Sitting in the center of a small hut with hundreds of wolves, the woman stroked the head of one that approached and nodded her head.

“…… Yes, that’s right.”

The red hood on her head swayed whenever she moved.

A being called a witch by hunters.

And she, who was also the main character of a fairy tale called Little Red Riding Hood, gazed intently in the direction where the human village would be in the distance, her golden eyes shining.

“You’re finally here.”

An observer of this world.

A reader and listener who makes a fairy tale a fairy tale.

Little Red Riding Hood laughed at the fact that he had finally found this place, but frowned as he recalled the information that he had headed to a human village with a hunter.

That man is annoying.

In the forest, an existence that receives corrections such as being almost invincible.

Hunters in stories have always appeared as solvers of cases, and especially since the hunters here have the legend of wolf hunters, they were even more difficult to deal with.

You can’t defeat a wolf head-on.

Until now, the balance was maintained in a form of not interfering with each other’s territory, but if the observer of this world fell into his grasp, he could not remain silent.

As she unleashed her fury, the wolf that was touched let out a low howl.

“…… Yes, then.”

At this, Little Red Riding Hood also nodded and stood up.

The long silence in the forest is over.

Uncomfortable coexistence between humans and animals ends here.

On a precarious balance, the peace of the forest, barely maintained for reasons of necessity, comes to an end here.

From now on, what will come is a race for survival between species.

“I should have killed them all in the first place.”

Hundreds of wolves move at Little Red Riding Hood’s horse.

She is the owner of wolves.

The coexistence of a girl and a wolf, which was not possible in a nuclear power plant, has begun to thrust its fangs toward mankind in the forest.