"Haruno-nee, no need to worry," Natsuki explained. "Yukino is fine; she just doesn't want to walk."
It's clearly because she can't walk!
Yukino bit her silver teeth and said:
"...You can put me down now."
"There's still some distance to the bonfire," Natsuki looked down at Yukino. "Are you going to jump over?"
Yukino couldn't help but say:
"Can't I ask my sister for help?"
"..."
As they spoke, Kaguya and the others followed them out of the forest.
"Eh eh eh? What's that?"
"It looks like... a spider?"
"But it's too big!"
Juju and the others had already come to greet them. Seeing the black spiders in the girls' hands, they were all startled, and those who were more timid even turned pale.
"They're headless spiders, already dead, so everyone don't panic," Chika held up the spider in her hand, her voice clear. "These are the food we found."
"F-food?"
Juju's eyes widened, her small face turning pale with shock. Shoko trembled, and even Haruno, who had strong adaptability, couldn't help but show a subtle expression.
"The forest is very dangerous, so finding spiders is already pretty good..."
Chika put her right hand on her hip and began to explain the reason to everyone.
"I see," Haruno gently patted her chest, her gaze falling on the spider silk on Yukino's legs, and she whispered, "Since the forest is so dangerous, we really shouldn't be picky."
"..."
Everyone talked as they returned to the bonfire.
The bonfire must have been guarded by someone, as it hadn't gone out. The girls took out some half-burnt firewood and quickly cleaned off the spider silk on their bodies. Next, it was time to prepare the food.
"Um..." Tsubame hesitated, "Should we take these spiders to the sea and wash them?"
Natsuki said:
"Actually, there's no need. You can just roast them directly."
"Eat ingredients without washing them?" Chika couldn't help but complain, "That's too unhygienic."
Natsuki retorted:
"You're already eating spiders, and you're still worried about hygiene?"
Chika: "...That actually makes a lot of sense."
All in all, they weren't that hungry at the moment, so after discussing, the girls unanimously decided to take the spiders to the sea and simply wash them clean before anything else.
Spiders are indeed disgusting, but a dead, motionless spider loses ninety percent of its deterrent power, so everyone grabbed one and cleaned it.
After cleaning, everyone returned to the bonfire, Natsuki added firewood to rekindle the flames, and the girls sat in two groups, starting to roast the spiders.
"It feels so strange…" Chika said excitedly, turning the spider over, "I never roasted a spider at Forest Camp."
Juju's small face was taut: "Me neither."
Hayasaka: "If we encountered such a big spider at Forest Camp, we would have run as far away as possible."
Tsubame: "It feels like a dream… but a nightmare. Natsuki-kun, when will we finally 'wake up'?"
Natsuki was also roasting a spider; he couldn't possibly eat bread alone while everyone else roasted spiders. Hearing this, he said:
"It could be a few hours, or as long as several days. Don't worry, just consider it an experience of Island survival."
Juju retorted:
"There are no such big spiders in the real world!"
"…"
A moment later.
The spiders were finally roasted. As an excellent source of protein, after being cooked, a faint smoky aroma could be smelled, making people involuntarily twitch their noses.
Haruno said softly:
"It looks like it's ready to eat."
"So hungry, my stomach is so hungry." Chika was already impatient, "Everyone, hurry and try it."
Juju suddenly whispered:
"Um, are spiders poisonous?"
Yukino shook her head and said calmly:
"Generally speaking, the source of spider venom is actually protein. After high-temperature cooking, the protein structure will be destroyed, so even if it was poisonous before, it doesn't matter now."
"Better safe than sorry; we didn't roast them for very long either." Hayasaka said, looking towards Natsuki.
As Hayasaka looked, the other girls also followed suit.
Natsuki sighed, tore off a spider leg, put it in his mouth, and chewed.
"Natsuki-kun, how does it taste?" Chika asked expectantly.
Natsuki gave a thumbs up, eating as he spoke:
"Chicken flavor, crispy, five times the protein of beef, an excellent choice for home travel and Island survival."
The girls: "…"
With Natsuki 'testing the poison' himself, the girls finally relaxed.
Chika, having eaten insect banquets before, wasn't repulsed by spiders. She was the first to tear off a spider leg, cautiously took a bite, and then her eyes lit up as she said:
"It really smells good, but there's no salt or pepper, so the taste is very bland."
Next was Haruno. As a university student and someone who enjoys new experiences, she also had no psychological repulsion. After tearing off a spider leg, she ate it and gave her assessment:
"It's actually quite good. If you're scared, you can close your eyes and try it first. It's completely edible."
With Chika and Haruno's endorsement, the other girls cautiously tore off spider legs and began to try them. Some hesitated, some looked troubled, but in the end, they all successfully completed their first spider experience —
Many things are like this; before experiencing them, it's inevitable to be scared and fearful, but once experienced, the door to a new world will open to you.
"All eaten up." Chika clapped her hands, "Spiders look big, but there's actually not much edible part. It would be great if we could catch a wild boar."
"You're thinking too much." Natsuki looked at Chika, "Wild boars actually aren't edible."
"Eh?" Chika looked over, puzzled, "Why?"
Natsuki retorted:
"Because it'll be so unpalatable it'll make you question life."
Wild boars, pheasants, wild rabbits, wild ducks, and so on—any wild animals that are a bit older are actually very unpalatable.
Wild boars, in the wild, are full of gamey odor. If they aren't bled promptly after being killed, and there aren't enough spices in the wild to mask the smell, even if you roast it, one bite will directly make you question life. There are many hunters abroad who legally hunt wild boars with sniper rifles, but they never eat them after the hunt because they are truly unpalatable.
Wild pheasants and wild rabbits are the same. Even free-range chickens in the countryside, once they live past four or five years, their meat becomes dry and tough, completely unchewable.
Currently, the only large, legal wild animal meat available for purchase is yak meat, made into yak jerky, which can be used as a chew toy.
Of course, yak jerky is specially made. Although it's tough to chew, the more you chew, the more flavorful it becomes. People who can't control their mouths but want to lose weight can try it; one stick can last you all day, and you don't have to worry about gaining weight, provided your teeth are good.
If you accidentally get stranded on an Island and are forced into survival, the best food is actually fish, and bird eggs. In short, choose food that you can chew.
"Hmm…" The daughter pursed her dry lips, looked at Tsubame, and whispered, "I want water."
As everyone finished eating, the issue of fresh water reappeared, and it became even more urgent. Earlier, exploring deep into the jungle, they only found food, not fresh water. Now that they had eaten, their mouths naturally felt drier and more uncomfortable. As for seawater, that stuff absolutely cannot be drunk; drinking it would only make them thirstier.
Tsubame affectionately reached out her right hand and gently stroked the daughter's small head, saying softly:
"Aoi-chan, just bear with it a little longer."
Although she had no 'mother-daughter' memories of their time together, Tsubame still instinctively wanted to take care of the daughter.
Haruno said softly:
"When surviving on an Island, there are generally two sources of fresh water. One is to find a fresh water source, which can be a stream or water vines. The second method is rainfall from the sky; all rainwater is fresh, and it doesn't need to be boiled or sterilized, so it can be drunk directly."
"The forest is so dangerous, I really don't want to go in again." Chika looked up at the sky, "If it rains now, I'll do anything."
As her voice fell, a cold drop suddenly landed on Natsuki's face.
"Huh?!"
Natsuki looked up at the sky in shock.
It was actually starting to rain. Could it be that Chika wasn't a hundred percent jinx anymore?
Cold raindrops fell one by one, and the girls all became excited.
"Eh, eh, eh, it's really raining!"
"Chika is wonderful."
"Everyone, quickly find something to catch the rainwater. The fresh water crisis is successfully solved."
"…"
At this moment, a low, strange sound suddenly entered Natsuki's ears.
"Croak~"
Natsuki turned his head and saw a super-sized frog hopping over on the nearby the shore.
"This thing… is it a bullfrog?"
Natsuki raised an eyebrow slightly.
However, when the frog hopped closer, Natsuki realized that this thing wasn't a bullfrog, because it was much larger than a bullfrog, at least the size of a watermelon. Biologically, it was indeed a frog, but many times larger than a typical frog.
Raindrops were still falling, but not heavily. What also fell were clumps of black shadows.
Plop.
Sand splattered.
Natsuki looked down and saw a small indentation on the nearby the shore, with a super-sized frog lying in the middle.
Clearly, a frog had just fallen from the sky.
The other girls also noticed the anomaly.
"Eh, eh, eh, how can frogs fall from the sky?"
"Those frogs are super big, I've never seen such big frogs."
"How strange, falling from such a high sky, how are they completely unharmed?"
"…"
Plop, plop, plop.
Frogs fell from the sky one after another, landing like cannonballs on the ground. Those that landed on the shore kicked up sand, and those that landed on branches directly broke them. But strangely, all these frogs, without exception, were hopping lively and unharmed.
"Croak."
"Croak, croak, croak."
These frogs quickly found their targets, croaking and hopping towards the group. There were dozens, even hundreds of them.
Compared to spiders, frogs were undoubtedly cuter, at least not as annoying, but dozens or hundreds of frogs hopping towards you at once still made one's scalp tingle. And frogs continued to fall from the sky, their numbers rapidly increasing.
Slap!
A frog came within a few meters of Natsuki and suddenly stuck out its tongue, striking Natsuki's calf.
"Hmm… it really is a frog."
The other girls were also attacked by the frogs.
"Ow, ow, ow, it hurts…"
"It feels so disgusting."
"Na-Natsuki-kun, what should we do?"
These frogs only had one attack method: sticking out their tongues. It wouldn't break the skin when it hit someone, but it still hurt. One frog was manageable, but if dozens or hundreds of frogs attacked at once, it would be impossible to withstand.
Natsuki looked around and found that the frog rain phenomenon only occurred over the Island, and the sea surface remained calm. He immediately decided:
"Let's go, we're going to the sea."
Natsuki went to the lifeboat, directly pushed the stranded lifeboat into the sea, and after the girls boarded, he pushed the lifeboat into the sea.
"Phew~ We're finally safe."
The girls all breathed a sigh of relief, but then their scalps tingled again.
Turning to look at the shore, they could see more and more frogs, even covering the entire beach. As far as the eye could see, there was a vast expanse of hopping green-skinned creatures, and a fear of green skin naturally arose.
"There are too many of those frogs, aren't there?" Chika patted her chest, unable to help but complain, "How can there be so many frogs?"
"Frogs aren't strange." Hayasaka frowned, "Tornadoes can pick up creatures from the sea and suck them into the sky. Fish, shrimp, and crabs could all fall from the sky, but only frogs, and for them to fall from such a high sky without any damage, that's very strange."
"And they're very aggressive." Yukino furrowed her brows, "Generally speaking, frogs, due to their vision, don't attack creatures larger than themselves… Those frogs are clearly heading straight for us."
Tsubame said softly:
"And the size of the frogs is all too exaggerated. There definitely aren't frogs this big in reality."
Juju's small brows were tightly furrowed, and she whispered:
"It feels somewhat familiar…"
"What's familiar?" Tsubame asked curiously.
"No, nothing…" Juju quickly shook her head, returning to her indifferent expression.
This Juju was actually a bit socially anxious. Before getting comfortable, she often pretended to be indifferent, a person of few words.
At this moment, Natsuki said eerily:
"Juju is right. The current phenomenon is actually frog rain."
"Eh?" The girls were all puzzled, "Frog rain? What's that?"
Juju blurted out:
"It's Don't Starve!"
Chika looked over curiously: "Juju, what is Don't Starve?"
"It's just a game…" Juju clearly wasn't comfortable speaking in front of so many people, and she whispered, "Let Natsuki-kun explain."
Natsuki smiled and said:
"I'm sorry, I don't know either. Please, Juju-sama, enlighten us."
Juju: "…"
Damn it! This guy just said frog rain, he clearly knows!
But Natsuki was shameless and insisted he didn't know. Juju had no choice but to blush slightly and quietly explain to everyone:
"Don't Starve is a survival game, it might not be very famous, but it's a lot of fun... It's a bit tough when you first start, but it gets better if you stick with it..."
Everyone sat in the lifeboat, floating on the sea, listening to Juju explain the basic information and settings of "Don't Starve."
"So you're saying..." Tsubame softly said, "We're actually inside the game?"
"You've misunderstood, Senpai." Natsuki corrected, "We're not inside the game; it's just that this nightmare has borrowed the game's settings."
"It sounds pretty much the same." Chika rested her right hand on her cheek. "No wonder the frogs and spiders on the Island are super big; they're monsters from the game... Eh, wait a minute!"
Chika suddenly widened her eyes and looked towards Natsuki: "Doesn't that mean we'll encounter even bigger monsters later?"
"Most likely." Natsuki nodded. "In Don't Starve, spiders and frogs are just the most common small monsters."
After a pause, Natsuki continued:
"However, the danger in Don't Starve isn't just the monsters; there are also various harsh environments. In short, be mentally prepared."
"..."
At the same time.
On the shore.
These frogs couldn't go into the sea and could only keep hopping on the shore. As the frog rain continued, looking out, the entire shore was already packed with green-skinned frogs, dense and crowded, making one's scalp tingle.
It wasn't until the rain stopped that no more frogs fell from the sky, but the frogs on the shore remained crowded and hadn't left.
Tsubame whispered:
"Will they just stay on the beach forever?"
Hayasaka pondered:
"If they're game monsters, it's most likely because we drew aggro earlier. If we row a bit further away and get out of the frogs' aggro range, it should be fine."
"Here." Natsuki picked up the lifeboat's oar and handed it to Chika. "You don't have to worry about catching a cold now; try rowing with the oar."
"I'll try it."
Chika enthusiastically took the oar and began to paddle vigorously.
Then... the lifeboat started spinning in circles on the sea.
"I'm dizzy, I'm dizzy."
"Chika-chan, stop quickly."
"I can't take it anymore."
The others shouted for her to stop, not wanting to suffer any longer.
"So difficult." Chika rubbed her wrist. "I didn't realize rowing was so hard; it just doesn't listen to commands."
"That's because you haven't mastered the technique. It won't work if you just paddle on one side without balancing." Natsuki handed the oar to Kaguya and smiled, "Kaguya, would you like to try?"
Kaguya turned her pretty face away: "...No."
She had never even sat in a boat since she was little, let alone rowed. She definitely wouldn't be able to row on her first try, and she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of so many people!
"It's okay to try." Natsuki said, "We're sitting opposite each other, so we can maintain balance if we row together."
"..."
Kaguya pursed her lips, then took the oar and began to try.
With the two of them working together, the lifeboat began to sway and drift towards the middle of the sea.
After an unknown amount of time, Yukino suddenly whispered:
"That should be enough; those frogs seem to have retreated."
Natsuki turned his head to look and indeed saw the frogs starting to turn around, hopping and disappearing into the forest.