"...Wake up..."
"Wake... Star..."
"...Wake up... Sapphire Star..."
Intermittent shouts and a shoving sensation from an unknown source gradually pulled Sherwin's consciousness back from the depths of sleep. Still groggy, he instinctively tried to sit up...
Hmm?
Why can't I move?
Although his mind was clear, Sherwin found he couldn't even open his eyelids.
Damn it! Sleep paralysis!
It wasn't the first time he had experienced this, so Sherwin wasn't particularly panicked. What made him curious, however, was the voice. He lived alone—who could possibly be waking him up?
At that moment, the voice rang out again—
"Wake up, meow! Sapphire Star!"
"!!!"
With that shout, the invisible force restricting Sherwin's movement vanished. He bolted upright from the soft sand, turning to look at the peculiar creature that had been shoving him and trying to wake him up.
It was a cat standing on two legs, wearing a white coat and a chef's hat. It had pale yellow fur.
Well, calling it a "small cat" felt a bit inaccurate. From Sherwin's current perspective, the creature was actually taller than him when he was sitting up...
Holy crp! I stood up too fast! I'm actually hallucinating a Palico waking me up!*
As a veteran Monster Hunter player, there was no way Sherwin wouldn't recognize the "Furry" in front of him. The problem was...
That was a video game character!
Convincing himself that he was either sleep-addled or still dreaming, Sherwin decisively lay back down on the damp sand, intending to catch a "return sleep" to reset his brain.
"Why are you going back to sleep, meow?!"
The Palico in the chef's outfit roared. He raised a fuzzy little paw and unleashed a flurry of Meow-Meow Punches right into Sherwin's face.
"Holy sh*t! This isn't a dream?!"
The kitten's paw pads didn't hurt much, but the tactile sensation of the hits, combined with the cold, wet feeling of the sand against his back, served as a constant reminder: this was no dream.
"Did the seawater soak your brain, meow? Of course this isn't a dream!"
The Palico crossed his arms and looked askance at Sherwin, who had sat up once more. The furry little face vividly displayed a complex expression: three parts disgust, three parts resignation, and three parts worry.
Did I...
Did I transmigrate?
As an old otaku with a functioning brain who had consumed countless isekai novels and anime, it was the most logical guess Sherwin could make. After all, anyone who wakes up on a beach with a talking Palico next to them would likely come to the same conclusion.
Sherwin, who had always been adaptable, stood up. He dusted the sand off his body and looked around.
He was standing on a beach. Aside from the dense jungle behind him, he was surrounded by an endless ocean.
So, I'm on an island?
Sherwin scratched his head. Did I end up in the world of Monster Hunter 3?
In his memory, only the third generation (including 3 Ultimate) had the ocean as a primary setting.
Wait, no...
Sherwin quickly overturned his own theory. If he remembered correctly, the companions in the third generation weren't Palicoes, but strange creatures called Shakalakas—creatures that had appeared as small monsters in previous titles.
Furthermore, he remembered how this Palico addressed him: Sapphire Star. That was the title of the protagonist in Monster Hunter: World.
Is this a compilation version?
Sherwin didn't find that too strange. If he hadn't transmigrated into a pure game world, but rather a "real" world based on the game's lore, it would be perfectly normal for elements from different titles to coexist.
The priority now was to figure out exactly where they were.
"Do you know where we are? How do we get to the nearest village?" Sherwin asked the Palico, having organized his thoughts.
"I don't know, meow." The kitten shook his head. "When I regained consciousness, I just saw you, Sapphire Star, lying here with me... Meow? That's strange..."
The Palico twitched his ears and tilted his head, muttering, "Why do I think you're the Sapphire Star, meow? It's our first time meeting, and you don't look like the Sapphire Star at all, meow."
"Uh..." Sherwin's expression stiffened. He laughed awkwardly and explained, "Probably because I actually earned the title of Sapphire Star?"
Even if it was just in a game.
The Palico looked him up and down with a face full of suspicion. "You? Just how old are you, meow?"
Hearing this, Sherwin realized something. He was standing up, yet his line of sight wasn't much higher than the Palico's.
Sherwin hurriedly looked down at his body, running his hands over his face and limbs. His chin, which used to have stubble, was smooth. His arms and legs were much thinner and smaller. And his height—he was barely a head taller than the Palico. Given that the average Palico was about one meter tall, Sherwin estimated he was currently around 130cm.
"Holy sh*t! Why have I turned into a kid?!!"
Perhaps due to some "world lag," Sherwin felt his reactions were half a beat slow... no, maybe more than half a beat. Such an obvious physical change should have been noticed immediately, no matter how thick his nerves were.
Not to mention his clothes. His SpongeBob pajamas were gone, replaced by a very Monster Hunter-style linen outfit—likely the default gear from the character creation screen.
Under different circumstances, Sherwin would have been happy to be younger; getting to live a few extra years was a win no matter how you looked at it. But right now, he was likely in the world of Monster Hunter. Nearby lay a jungle inhabited by who-knows-what kind of monsters, and there were no signs of human civilization. With this child's body, never mind a Rathalos or Rathian—a single Velociprey would be enough to end him.
Though, to be fair, even as an adult, I probably wouldn't fare much better...
Sherwin had plenty of self-awareness regarding his terrible physical fitness.
He turned his gaze back to the Palico. "So... you can fight, right?"
In the early Monster Hunter games, Felyne Chefs and Companions could switch jobs.
"Didn't you say you were the Sapphire Star, meow?!" The pale yellow Palico roared at Sherwin with a fierce-yet-cute expression. However, he nodded and added, "If it's just gathering ingredients, I'm fine. But if we run into large monsters or Wyverns, don't count on me, meow."
"Phew..." Sherwin let out a sigh of relief. "That's enough. With these tiny arms and legs, I wasn't planning on looking for trouble with monsters anyway."
"So how exactly are you the Sapphire Star, meow?" The Palico cast a look of disdain at Sherwin.
"I shrunk, okay? And I don't even have a weapon..." Sherwin retorted defensively under the cat's scornful gaze, though internally, he was crying.
In his current state, if they didn't find a "Novice Village" soon, he'd probably end up as a snack for some passing monster within days.
Just then, a flood of memories related to hunting surged into his mind. Aside from wilderness survival knowledge, there were techniques for using various weapons and items against monsters, as well as basic "common sense" for a Hunter.
It felt like a long time, yet also like the blink of an eye. Sherwin snapped out of his trance and instinctively looked down at his waist. There hung a quaint, pouch-like object. It looked just like the belt pouches characters had during game creation.
According to his newfound "common sense," this hunter's pouch on his waist could, just like in the game, hold an impossible amount of items. The only difference was the interface; he couldn't see a grid panel. Instead, it was like the spatial storage equipment in xianxia novels—he perceived the contents through his consciousness.
So, did I transmigrate into the game, did I get a game character template, or is this just how the Hunter World works?
Regardless, starting with spatial storage and a cat made Sherwin luckier than most transmigrators. It was just...
Since I got a cat, where is my Palamute?! You know, the dog that can fight, tank, and let me ride up walls?!
Suppressing his indignation, Sherwin refocused and reached into his interdimensional hunter pouch to take inventory...
Just like the knowledge he had received, the moment his hand went in, he instinctively knew what was stored inside.
First, 2 Potions. Definitely life-saving items. He needed to use them sparingly until they found a village.
Next, 3 Rations (Portable Roasted Meat). Since he had a Felyne Chef with him, Sherwin felt these weren't critically important, but better than nothing.
Sherwin then sensed a Hunter Manual. It might record useful information, but he didn't have time to read it right now.
Aside from that, Sherwin discovered a fishing rod, a portable BBQ spit, a carving knife for materials, a Whetstone with infinite uses, a Shock Trap, 5 Paintballs, a Sonic Bomb, 2 pieces of Raw Meat, a Flame Sac, and a Great Gendrome Hide...
Why does the stuff in this bag feel so random?
Sherwin scratched his head in confusion. The contents didn't look like a "new character" starter pack, nor did they look like a "Sapphire Star" endgame inventory stuffed with high-level items. It looked more like the inventory of a character that had been played for just a little while.
Also, this really is a compilation version, isn't it! The newest Monster Hunter games didn't need Paintballs, and Whetstones in early versions were consumables, not infinite.
These items weren't useless, but given Sherwin's current predicament, apart from the Potions, they wouldn't help much.
So, where are my all-powerful Wirebugs?! You gave me a BBQ spit! And the combat techniques I just learned included Silkbind Attacks!
Even if there are no Wirebugs, a Slinger would be nice!!!
With a depressed mood, he scanned through the miscellaneous items until he finally found the weapon he needed most in the inventory.
Except...
"Why is it the Fresh Knife 'Shiranagi'?!"
.....
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