I only dwelled briefly on the realization that my writing skills hadn't improved since elementary school before browsing the forum. I wanted to look up everything I'd posted so far, having remembered that the forum had practically served as my diary. Still, it left much to be desired as a database or field guide.

'Writing down everything that happened before would be too much, so I'll just add brief descriptions of Roundfur and the speed-sloth.'

My writing might be abysmal, but everyone had at least one talent. Mine was drawing. I was decent enough that even a rough sketch was instantly recognizable as Roundfur. His round shape might make him look easy to draw, but he wasn't, so I focused on capturing his distinctive features. The speed-sloth was just a sloth, so I sketched it loosely, though I still included Speedy's unique features.

The speed-sloth retained all the traits of an ordinary sloth. Long arms compared to its short legs. A slightly hunched posture. A face that looked relaxed yet stupid. Its claws, however, were vicious. They looked even sharper thanks to my grooming.

'Then a short description underneath.'

For Roundfur, I wrote that he was a cub who'd come to live with me after I killed an owlbear. I described the speed-sloth as a little thug who stole my food. Speedy would probably smack me if it found out, but that was impossible. In this world, at least, I was the only one who knew Hangul.

'And there's no need to learn another world's writing system.'

I didn't want to go to that much trouble just to leave something behind. A simple acknowledgment that someone like me had existed was enough. It was the living who remembered the dead. That alone had value.

'That's what I think, anyway.'

Even after my parents died, my memories of them remained vivid. I missed them, so every year on the anniversary of their deaths, I held a memorial rite. Even when money was tight, I recalled their favorite foods as best I could and somehow scraped together enough to put them on the table. Otherwise, it was too hard to carry on. I'd intended to keep holding the rites until I was ready to let them go.

'I don't know if I should keep holding them even here.'

But now that survival, rather than money, was the issue, I wasn't sure. Forget remembering my parents—I might end up joining them. The anniversary was still a long way off, but who knew?

'Come to think of it, how do they count the days here?'

Another world might have a different calendar. I could simply number the days in my diary, but I was curious.

'Eh, forget it. I'll just go by a year as I know it.'

My parents' death anniversary had been a week before I landed in the Forest of Four Seasons. During that week, I'd gone drinking with friends and met up with people I knew. I remembered it being harder than usual. Meeting my friends, in particular, hadn't been easy. With everyone dealing with jobs, it was hard to see them.

'I wonder how they're doing.'

Those guys were probably having their own struggles. Meanwhile, I was struggling like crazy here. I chuckled, then began jotting down the day's events. Octopus arms bursting out of the sand and a transforming turtle. Just today, I'd had a rough time encountering all sorts of bizarre animals.

'Still, I got something for my trouble.'

With a turtle egg as big as an ostrich egg, I'd gotten my day's reward. I quietly closed the diary, now filled with assorted drawings, and stepped out of the cave. Evening was approaching, so it was time to start preparing dinner.

'Before that, I should check the fish trap.'

Roundfur had just woken up, too, so we all headed up together.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

"Kyuu! Kyuu!"

"Happy? Me too."

The trap had caught no fewer than three fish. I returned with Roundfur, who was bouncing around with joy. Having plenty of food felt wonderful. It seemed this was my reward for today's hardships.

'Now, how am I supposed to clean this thing?'

I looked at the other container, not the one holding the regular fish. Inside was an eel as big as a python. I was getting used to cleaning fish, but eels were another matter. Its body was built so differently that I had no idea where to start.

'Should I stun it like a fish?'

Its tail would probably knock me out first. It wasn't that bulky, but it was so long that I needed to be careful. After staring at it for a while with my arms folded, I opened the forum. At times like these, asking the forum was the way to go.

Any tips for cleaning an eel?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the eel in the metal container)

I'm going to eat this thing. Could you give me some tips on cleaning it?

└Eels are harder to clean than other fish, so be careful.

└Don't you need to pin its head down with a nail first?

└Wild Grylls I have to nail it down?;;

└Eels are slippery and thrash around a ton. Makes it tough.

└Wild Grylls What about just whacking it on the head to knock it out?

└You'll hit your hand doing that. Better to fix a nail in the cutting board and push it onto that.

└If all else fails, sever its spinal cord. That should help.

└Passing Dwarf Hey. Give me a bite when you're done. Wanna know what eel tastes like.

└Wild Grylls Yeah, sure.

└All Hail the Sun Any chance I could have some too?

└Wild Grylls Sure.

└Allfather Might I have a bite?

└Wild Grylls Yes, well... I don't mind.

└King Leor I know it's shameless, but me too...

└Wild Grylls Sir?

└Smart Demonic Cultist I've prepared the storage container. But might I also have a bite...

└Wild Grylls ;;;

└Sword Masta Seriously, you're not beggars. Why is everyone asking for a bite? I don't get it.

└Probably because it's eel.

└They're definitely all guys lol. Look at them grovel.

└Sword Masta What's so special about eel?

└It's good for sexual stamina.

└For real, great for men lol.

└And it was caught in the Forest of Four Seasons? No way you can pass that up lmao.

└Sword Masta ;;

Sure. As a man, I understood. But this was my dinner, people. I'd share once I'd eaten enough, but someone needed to rein them in.

└Heavenly Demon Know that I shall bring the hammer down on anyone who tries to pressure him.

└Booo. Tyrant!

└Heavenly Demon's been throwing threats around since becoming a mod lol.

└Heavenly Demon What did you say?

└I said you're the most exalted person in the world.

└Heavenly Demon A lie. Face the wall and reflect for one quarter-watch.

└F*cking bitch.

└Heavenly Demon Half a double-hour.

└LMAOOOOO

└LMAO

└What's a quarter-watch, and what's half a double-hour?

└Central Plains time units. A quarter-watch is 15 minutes, half a double-hour is one hour.

└Aren't those falling out of use these days?

└Older people still use them a lot.

Thankfully, Heavenly Demon stepped in right away. Still, I intended to share what I could with the people who'd asked politely. It was so big that I doubted I could finish it by myself anyway.

'Let's get set up.'

Given the eel's length, I bought an extra-long cutting board. Following the forum's advice, I secured a nail near its edge. Naturally, I drove it in from the underside so the point stuck up.

'Nails are kind of expensive.'

All that remained was taking the eel out. Wearing my World Tree gloves, I pulled it from the metal container. The gloves must have had some sort of nonslip effect, because it didn't feel slippery at all.

SMACK!

"Urgh!"

Instead, it slapped me with its tail. It was far stronger than the other fish, so even getting it onto the cutting board was a struggle. But faced with a knife, every fish was just sashimi waiting to happen. I cut into the spinal cord behind its head with my dagger. It was as thick as my forearm, so even slicing into it took effort.

It twitched and jerked. Once I'd cut almost halfway through its head, its thrashing subsided considerably. Without delay, I pinned its head onto the nail. That should stop it from flailing around. God, this was exhausting.

'I wonder if this one has an inner core, too.'

Judging by its size, the odds were good. Every fish I'd eaten so far had contained one. I slowly began cleaning the nearly motionless eel, splitting its body neatly in half and removing the bones. My dagger was sharp, but I used aura as well to make the work easier.

'Done. Now I'll rinse it and cut it up.'

With the basic cleaning done, I washed the eel thoroughly with water. It wriggled.

"Eek."

Every so often, it twitched as though it were alive, scaring the hell out of me, but only occasionally.

Finally, I drizzled a little vegetable oil into a large pan, cut the eel into suitably sized pieces, and laid them in. Oh, and for the record, there hadn't been an inner core. Apparently, not every fish had one.

SIZZZLE!

As the eel cooked to a golden brown, I swallowed. This was a delicacy I'd never tried even back on Earth. Even the friend who'd treated me to beef had balked at the price of eel.

'They say this is really good for men, right?'

Too bad I had no use for that. Suddenly, I felt depressed. The forum was a place where people let all kinds of desires loose, so there were plenty of pleasing pictures posted. When they featured distinctive races like elves or demons, I'd hit save before I knew it. Of course, the admin ruthlessly deleted anything too explicit. Still, they were like rain in a drought to me, and I made good use of them.

'Even if I do get hit with shock images sometimes.'

I still remembered getting blasted with one the moment I entered the forum. The admin and mods had to look at those things themselves to hand out bans.

'They weren't kidding about developing an inner demon.'

While my thoughts wandered, the eel had cooked to a beautiful golden brown. So much fat was running off it that I needn't have added any oil.

'Must be high in calories.'

The flowing grease made that obvious. Of all the many pieces, I picked up the tail. I'd heard that was the best part of an eel. Time to taste it.

"Nom."

CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

Crisp outside, moist inside. It was astonishingly well cooked. The fat from the flesh was so rich and savory it almost tasted sweet. As for any fishiness, there wasn't a trace, even though I'd only sprinkled it with a little salt.

'Even the little bones are all soft.'

I'd heard that an eel's fine bones were a nuisance, but that wasn't an issue here. Smiling happily, I began working my way through the pieces. There was so much that I occasionally gave some to Roundfur and the speed-sloth. It was fatty enough that they both ate it eagerly. Roundfur especially loved it.

Passing Dwarf

Damn. This is fucking delicious lmao.

If it's that good, give me a barricade lol.

Passing Dwarf

Okay, I'll make one when I get up tomorrow morning. Hang tight.

There was so much that I could share with the others, too. Overeating something this greasy could give me indigestion. Once I'd finished feasting on that delicacy among delicacies, I immediately began practicing my internal energy cultivation method.

'Is it the eel, or do I feel like I have more energy?'

It might just have been a placebo effect, but that was genuinely how it felt. Something good for sexual stamina was ultimately good for general vitality. It could only help, not hurt.

'Where did that eel come from, anyway?'

After finishing my cultivation, I began cleaning up. By the time I was done, darkness had fallen. I wrote a diary entry to wrap up the day, then made a forum post.

Bye, everyone!

Wild Grylls

(Video of the blazing campfire)

See you tomorrow!

To the person who offered to trade earlier, let's do it tomorrow!

After I posted, a few registered users chimed in, along with anonymous users cracking all sorts of jokes. I chuckled at the forum, as unchanged as ever.

'Don't rush.'

Starting today, I'd decided to take the long view. It was time to put the saying "More haste, less speed" into practice. Well, the Forest of Four Seasons had forced me to take the long way around, but that didn't matter. As long as even a thread of hope and possibility remained, nothing in the world was impossible. Slowly putting together tomorrow's plans, I quietly closed my eyes.

'I'm going to survive to the very end.'

The very end.

Time passed, and the next morning arrived.

"Oh, come on. Are you kidding me?"

I couldn't help getting annoyed at the situation that greeted me as soon as I opened my eyes.

I was staring at a tent—a tent pitched so high it seemed determined to challenge the heavens. It was proof of excellent male health, but the problem was that it had been going on far too long.

'Seriously, nothing here ever does anything in moderation.'

The eel I'd eaten yesterday was definitely to blame.