"Puhehe! (Take this kick!)" It's been a month since I was transported to another world as a horse.
Bite into forest grasses, hide my body, and move around, I've completely adapted to forest life.
After checking my physical condition, I wandered around and, as expected, encountered various monsters in this other world.
From a fierce-looking long-horned rabbit that I mistook for a max-level rabbit and cowered in fear, only to be trampled to death, to a wild boar-like creature with strange horns that was impossible to identify, to the goblin-like thing whose head I just had kicked off by its hind hoof… in short, they were all ferocious and terrifying creatures.
Although I easily dealt with them.
"Puhehe... (Killed some useless things again...)" Looking at the twisted and deformed goblin corpse.
Although he knew it was just a horse's neighing, the monsters he'd encountered over the past month, let alone speak, were questionable in their ability to even utter a language; they were all just groans and screams.
Keep running into these kinds of creatures; it was mentally unbearable if he didn't say something.
At least he'd held out some hope for goblins, observing whether they might make any language-like sounds, but there was absolutely no sign of that.
And he hadn't seen a single human in a while.
At this point, he even began to wonder if humans even existed in this world.
This thought, combined with the frustration of his homeless status, surged into his mind.
Damn it, if you're going to trigger an event, at least give me a chance!
A whole month without a single ghost in sight.
Could encountering a monster be the trigger?
Am I supposed to keep killing these trash monsters forever?
As he thought this, the goblin's corpse turned into black mist and vanished.
It seems that in this world, monster corpses automatically disappear.
The only saving grace was that the horse's physique was indeed as robust as expected, befitting its exaggerated muscles. At least the animal-like monsters encountered in this forest were no match for it.
After taking down about five, I wanted to test its defenses, so I charged at an oncoming mad boar. The boar, however, was knocked to the ground by the impact.
Despite its enormous head, the boar was completely unharmed. I couldn't help but admire the horse's body once again.
'But that crazy woman-like plant with flowers on its head is a bit…' The most annoying was that mad plant that looked like the twisted flowers I'd seen in places like Australia, but with two small flowers on either side of its head.
It was as big as me (the horse), and it charged at me with its root-like parts while making strange noises—its appearance alone was terrifying enough, and surprisingly, its stem-like body was incredibly resilient, making it difficult to catch with a horse's body.
'Finally, I had to pin it down on a rock and stomp on it repeatedly with my hooves to get rid of it…it was like a crazy plant!' *Pfft! (Status bar!)* As I shouted this in a horse's neigh, the standard status bar that anyone would immediately think of appeared before my eyes.
That's right!
The status bar was there!
After getting lost in the forest for a long time, I accidentally stepped on the first rabbit I encountered. The sight of the splattering blood horrified me, and I felt nauseous before the corpse disappeared.
Just then, in that dizzy moment, the status bar suddenly appeared before my eyes.
It probably appeared when I gained experience and leveled up?
The joy at that moment was indescribable; I felt myself jumping up and down like that crazy plant I had just imagined.
...
Name: Shimo
Race: Horse
Level: 12 (8320/38000)
Title: —
Age: 29
... I stared at the status bar to confirm my experience points.
This is a rudimentary status bar that doesn't even display skill or ability stats.
I was initially a little disappointed, but quickly cheered myself up—rudimentary as it is, at least it shows experience and level!
Some other worlds don't even display anything except names!
I'm also curious why my age hasn't changed after turning into a horse. Perhaps I wasn't actually a horse from another world, but rather a human body transported here after being transformed into a horse?
Although I've never been this muscular before, I can't be sure.
Actually, it doesn't matter.
Displaying attribute values is more useful than age.
'It's probably trying to warn me not to try to use cheat abilities right away, but to level up my skills first. Hmm.' After confirming the increased experience points, I immediately closed the status bar.
You can't open the status bar with your mind; you have to shout "status bar" with a horse's neigh to make it appear, but closing it only requires a thought.
It felt very strange at first, but now I'm quite proficient.
Aside from that, if there's anything special about it… it's that the monsters I've seen in this forest all look rather disgusting?
Judging by appearances alone, even with their well-developed muscles, it's hard to understand why I could so easily defeat them as low-level monsters.
Aren't low-level monsters usually quite docile?
These guys' appearances make me suspect they're actually high-level monsters, and that I was only able to defeat them because of some kind of attribute bonus.
"Pu-ee-ee... (If this attribute is a bonus, that's a bit of a shame...)" If that attribute bonus is a bonus, then it's a truly regrettable bonus.
If it's a bonus, it should be something like spatial magic or humanization skills.
Attributes can be fixed by leveling up, right?
Thinking, "Please don't let it be like this," I started walking.
"Pu-ru-ru-ee... Pu-ee-ee... (Ugh, this damned forest... I really want to get out of here...)" I've been wandering in the forest for a month.
The forest in my field of vision, with its varying numbers of trees, always seems to be the same place.
The sky peeking through the trees was always a gloomy, dark gray, and the dim forest made it impossible to feel good.
Unable to run at full speed due to the trees, I could only walk while observing my surroundings, but I never expected to wander like this for almost a month.
Would I really be lost in this forest for this long?
I gradually wanted to leave this gloomy forest and meet people.
Of course, in my current state where I couldn't even express myself verbally, meeting anyone would be awkward, but it was better than not seeing anyone at all.
If all else failed, I'd just draw on the ground with my feet.
I couldn't possibly kill even the animals that didn't attack me, could I?
'Damn it…please, someone just show up…' I prayed to the god of wanderers, starting to look around and begin to walk.
... I walked for a month and three days. Finally, the scenery changed. The trees disappeared, and a path that seemed to lead out of the forest appeared, so I quickened my pace.
Then, a clear sky and a field-like area came into view.
Upon closer inspection, though overgrown with weeds, traces of a path were visible.
The trees were sparsely distributed, and instead of the damp forest air, a refreshing breeze blew through the trees.
Seeing this, an irrepressible excitement made my legs twitch and I started running.
"Puff puff! Puff puff! Puff puff puff! (It's a path! We're outside! Eeya aaaaaah!!!)" After running excitedly for a while without finding anything special, I stopped.
Now I realized again that what they said was indeed true.
Judging from the way the surrounding scenery rushed by, my speed should be faster than expected if I sprinted at full speed.
Although it's a subjective feeling, my running speed just now seemed to have reached 80 kilometers per hour. If I exerted my full strength, perhaps I could break 100 kilometers per hour?
As I pondered this, I looked back—'...? Holy crap?' Looking back, I could see a huge mountain in the distance.
No, it should even be called a mountain range.
What I thought was a forest was actually a mountain range, enormous in scale, stretching as far as the eye could see on either side.
Thinking back carefully to the path I'd taken, it seemed I'd circled around the back of the mountain range, not crossing it but meandering from below to the other side.
'Damn it, if I'd just taken the uphill path, I could have crossed it much faster!' I'd thought that following the stream downhill would lead to a way out, but now it seemed I'd misjudged.
I'd wasted over a month trying to bypass this endless mountain range—what an idiot!
The forest was dark, the mountains were enormous, and the uphill path was gentle, which prevented me from properly assessing the terrain.
If I'd just stubbornly stuck to one direction, I would have figured out what lay beyond the mountains by now.
'Ha, damn it, what an idiot I am…' I cursed my poor judgment as I dragged myself along listlessly.
Damn it… this stupid bastard… his future is truly bleak.