Chapter 0

Kiyotaka: "What's wrong with my luck, seriously."

Lone in the forest, I pondered of what I ought to do now.

I'd escaped the White Room again because that place was beyond help. Although I didn't know the details, I knew that the 'things' they called Infected had somehow gotten inside the White Room and one by one turned everyone there into their kinds.

The Infected they were talking about sounded absurd to my ears, but I knew even better that it was foolish to underestimate things. Technically, I still hadn't faced them head-on. So I took a cautious approach rather than regret it later on.

The facility had many sharp weapons and even firearms. The situation forced me to get a mere dagger in hand, however.

Kiyotaka: "Useless."

I at least knew the White Room was located in the mountains of Saitama, but I had no idea what mountains exactly the facility stood on.

Looking up into the trees, I could see where the morning sun was. From there, I decided to wander north.

Kiyotaka: I should look for settlement.

I don't care if it's inhabited or not, what I need right now is a place to stay to protect myself from the outside world and as a place to rest when night came.

Just as I was about to do that, I stopped. Then looked around.

Kiyotaka: There's many things I should took, as well.

From herbs, fruits, and mushrooms, I could see all of them despite not seeing much of these around. But even if I wanted to take some, I didn't have a bag or even a pocket to spare. I'm just wearing a mere white gown, with a dagger in hand.

I can make a bag from the fabric of my gown by tearing off the knees down or the sleeves. While its quality makes you frown, I can still store some herbs and fruits with it. But for that, I should at least have a needle and thread.

"Needles I can still handle, but if it's thread... Oh."

Kiyotaka: Speak of the devil.

I see a plant that grows up to almost 1 meter. The stems are reddish, the leaves were simple broad lanceolate, 13 cm long and 4 cm broad, entire, and dried on top with white hairs on the underside.

Kiyotaka: "Dogbane."

I knew the native was in foreign countries, but seemed like Lady of Luck was beside me this time. Though it was the dry one, I could still use it.

I went closer to where the plant was and plucked it straight out of the ground. The texture of the stems allowed me to use them as threads, and the sharp-tipped leaves could be used as needles. It's perfect.

With the plant in my left hand and the dagger in my right, I wandered around looking for a suitable location to temporarily occupy. Soon, I found a quite wide place with a big stone in the rear. I cautiously made my way over to it, passing through the tree branches and small rocks lying around.

Since the surface of the stone was quite smooth, I sat on it and immediately tried to make a pouch with makeshift materials.

First, I tore the fabric of my gown from slightly above the knees of my legs horizontally. I cut it as neatly as possible using the dagger in my hand. I put it aside when I was done.

Then, I took one of the dogbane stems to pinch it lightly between my fingers until separated several small stems. I took the small stems again, and scraped a thin section off the side. I twisted it a few turns before I tried pulling it with both hands by exerting a certain amount of force, and as expected, it did not snap off. Suitable for making into thread.

After that, I placed a number of sharp-tipped leaves on the stone. You can see a slight opening beside the leaves. I cut the leaves to within a few centimeters of their sharp edges. There's whitish things inside, like a feather. I took another leave and pushed them out of the little space between the leaves.

Last but not least, I inserted the thread into the back hole of the now empty leave. Then began sewing the fabric of my gown from the bottom of the leg that was larger in diameter than my knee. I just needed the bottom part covered.

Without taking long, I finished my work. The bottom was sealed tightly so it wouldn't drop anything in case I kept something inside. For the closure, I used the other stems as rope, which I doubt can be called one. Whatever it is, I won't complain as long as it's usable.

I took a few edible mushroom such as agaricus bisporus (white mushroom), shiitake, and enoki. I also took a bunch of berries just for a snack. I take everything that could hold in the bag.

The fabric of my gown isn't thin, but I wouldn't say it's thick either. So I carefully picked out something to store inside.

While gathering things, I walked north. I met a few animals on the way, but they all ran away as soon as they saw me. Since I had no intention of hunting them either, I ignored them.

In less than an hour, I arrived at a river, or the downstream of a river to be precise. From the looks of it, it's just the end of one of the branches of a river.

I just intended to rest there for a while before freezing to a halt.

Kiyotaka: There's someone.

I reflexively hid behind a bush, not far from the river.

From the looks of it, he wasn't young. Maybe 40s or 50s and up. He was wearing a knee-length brown leather jacket, shaggy dark pants, and black boots. There were also gloves with the fingertips cut off and a crumpled scarf around his neck. From where I was, I could see his bearded face and unkempt ear-length hair.

He was turning away from me at the moment, so I couldn't clearly see his full face and all. But at least I know there's something off with him, and I can't just approach him either. That is, because he looks like he's in a lot of pain right now, gripping the body tightly between his left wrist and elbow as if trying to keep it together. A red liquid was flowing from it. In other words, blood. I also couldn't approach him recklessly thanks to the long range rifle plastered on his back.

Kiyotaka: Infected?

I know those of who became Infected were those who are bitten by the Infected itself. These far, the Infected known for was humans, but animals have also been shown to be able to turn into Infected.

The middle-aged man's hand wound was so severe that I wondered why it still connected to his body. Perhaps he faced a large animal in the forest and was severely injured by it. The question of whether the animal was Infected or not remained a mystery.

I was wary of him, considering what I should do. At that moment I thought...

Kiyotaka: Maybe I should kill him.