Human bones were fairly easy to distinguish from those of other animals. Even from those of apes, which resembled humans. They were just easy to recognize.

A rounded back of the head and a square jaw. This was definitely a human bone. I was certain.

Found human bones

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a human skull)

Found a skull in what I think used to be the owlbear's cave. This is human, right?

└Heavenly Demon It does appear to be a human head. Are there no other bones?

└Wild Grylls There are so many bones around here that it's hard to find them.

└Sword Masta Looks human to me?

└Yep, definitely.

└What else would it be if not a human skull?

└Must've been a long time, judging by how it's nothing but bare bones.

└There were people in the Forest of Four Seasons??

└Sure there were. They just all fucking died, like whoever those bones belonged to.

└Is that Grylls's future?

└The odds are pretty fucking hiiiiigh lol.

└That's your esteemed predecessor. What are you waiting for? Pay your respects.

└Are you out of your fucking mind lmaoooo.

└Fuck. How can you say that to him? Lmao.

└Way to completely kill his motivation lmao.

└Lmaoooo.

└Lmaooo.

└Starlight Lady You're all truly awful. How can you call yourselves people and say such things?

└Be honest. You snickered too, didn't you?

└Starlight Lady My emotions have withered away, so I didn't even smile.

└Come on. It was a joke. No need to get serious.

└For real. You must lead such a boring life.

I'd asked the forum just in case, and they confirmed it was human. An old bone, at that. The fact that nothing but bare bone remained made that clear.

'No head injury, at least.'

The skull was quite clean, intact without a single broken spot.

I began searching for any other bones, but soon had to give up. I wasn't an archaeologist. How was I supposed to pick them out from the countless bones piled around here? Simply confirming that someone had been here was enough.

'Did the owlbear drag this person here?'

I needed to explore further. Setting the skull down, I wandered around the cave. It was enormous, with plenty of places to look.

"What's this..."

Then I found a place I couldn't simply walk past, right beside the nest. Beyond a gap between two towering walls lay a fairly spacious area. I poked my head through for a look.

"..."

Bones. A human skeleton lay quietly against the wall. Unlike the bones of the owlbear's meals, it was still intact.

I slipped through the gap and examined every inch of the interior.

"Oh..."

The space beyond the walls was larger than I'd expected. Cozy, too. Cobwebs and dust had accumulated, perhaps over many years, but even allowing for that, it felt snug.

What caught my eye most were the furnishings and equipment scattered about. Most had been made of wood and had largely rotted away, but some were barely holding their shape.

'Is this a stone axe?'

It was a tool made by lashing a stone to a piece of wood now on the verge of crumbling. The front of the stone seemed to have been ground as sharp as possible. Judging by the binding securing it to the wooden shaft, the fibers had been woven by hand, too.

Everywhere I looked were signs of someone who, unlike me with my forum access, had started with nothing.

'But these marks...'

I ran my fingers over the marks carved into the ground. They were very familiar. They were just like the ones I carved into my wall each day—a record of days survived.

But people usually made such marks on walls, not floors. Puzzled, I looked around.

'That one's full. That one, too...'

Walls enclosed the space on all sides, and every one was covered in marks. It looked as though this person had run out of wall and moved on to the floor. That told me just how long they'd survived.

"..."

An indistinct emotion washed over me like a tidal wave. Even after surviving for so long, this person had ended up as bare bones. I had the forum, sure... but could I last as long as they had?

They'd survived far longer than I had, which meant they must have been far stronger, too. Yet they'd died. Alone, with no one to acknowledge them, leaving behind only countless marks recording their days of survival. It occurred to me that this person might be my future.

"Hah..."

I couldn't put the feeling into words. Was it despair, or resignation? Had I known nothing, I might have clung to hope to the bitter end... but seeing this left me at a loss. Could I really make it out? No, before that, could I even survive?

'... I've got to try.'

Survival tallies covered not only the walls, but the floor as well. They seemed to add up to well over two or three years at the very least. I didn't know why this person had died. I searched for something that might reveal the cause.

The Forest of Four Seasons had made even a clueless guy like me stronger. Someone who'd survived for two or three years couldn't have died for no reason.

"Hm?"

While searching every corner, I happened upon something: a box sitting off to one side. It had held its shape despite the passage of time. Judging by the thick layer of dust, there weren't even signs of bugs like spiders getting inside.

'Still, you never know...'

I prodded it gently with the tip of my sword in case something leaped out. Fortunately, my worries seemed unfounded. It merely rattled a few times, with no sign of anything inside.

'What's in here? Did they keep bottles in it like I do?'

With a faint sense of anticipation, I slowly opened the box. The dust billowing up made me cough, but I soon got a look at the contents.

"... Books?"

There wasn't much inside. Just a few books. They must have been surprisingly well preserved, because they were in fairly good condition. I picked one up carefully, afraid the cover might fall off. Something was written on its worn-out cover.

'Nope. Can't read it.'

I didn't know a single language from this world. The lettering looked vaguely European. This was exactly where the forum came in handy. I took detailed pictures of the interior.

Found a survivor's home

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a space between walls)

(Photo of a skeleton leaning against a wall)

(Photo of survival tallies carved all over)

(Stones and pieces of wood presumed to be survivors' belongings)

(Photo of a book with writing on it)

(Photo of the box the books were stored in)

Found a secluded spot beside the owlbear's nest, so I went in.

There was a skeleton inside, with survival tallies carved everywhere.

The most interesting thing was the books. What country's writing is this?

└Heavenly Demon It isn't from the Central Plains.

└Sword Masta It's not the Messiah Empire's script either. I've never seen it before.

└Slutty Princess Not my country's writing either~.

└All Hail the Sun Not Setan's. Or Alvenheim's.

└Looks like an ancient language?

└That's not enough to go on. Post more.

Nobody seemed to recognize it. That was odd. There weren't many countries, so there couldn't be that many languages. For now, I figured I'd follow the anonymous user's advice and turned the pages. The musty smell of old books wafted out, but I could put up with it.

'They're yellowed, but the writing's perfectly legible.'

Now I just had to post this on the forum. I really hoped someone would recognize it.

Here's more of the book

Wild Grylls

(Photo of a page densely packed with writing)

Will this do?

└Heavenly Demon Now I'm even more certain it isn't from the Central Plains.

└Sword Masta Not the Messiah Empire either. Is it the Iris Kingdom's script?

└Allfather It isn't the Iris Kingdom's script either. However, I believe I've seen it somewhere before. Please give me a moment.

└Starlight Lady Could it be the Holy Kingdom's script?

└Don't Abandon the Hero I've never learned any writing like that!

└Suspiciously It's not a language the beastfolk use either?

└If nobody knows it, isn't it from some country that fell ages ago?

└Pretty likely. Definitely a country from at least fifty years ago. None have fallen in the last fifty years.

└Grylls, you've found something seriously amazing.

└Wild Grylls So what? Nobody can translate it. This matters to me, too.

└Why does it matter?

└Because it's a survival journal?

└Wild Grylls Yeah. A survival journal could be a huge help to me. I absolutely need this.

Books could serve as a bridge connecting the past to the present. If that bridge collapsed midway, countless records and technologies could be lost. There was a reason people started by burning books when they wanted to erase history.

'Would an ancient script be even harder to identify?'

No matter the country, many things changed as time passed. Language was no exception. There were plenty of differences between the languages of the past and those of the present. That was natural, since nobody could predict what history would unfold in between.

Even in the Republic of Korea, hadn't some words been altered by the influence of Japanese colonial rule? And there were clear differences between the Hunminjeongeum created by King Sejong the Great and the language used today.

'There are quite a few of these books.'

As I flipped through the pages, I checked the other books. They were similarly well preserved and filled with writing I couldn't read. If only I could decipher it all. It would be an enormous help.

'I'll just post everything.'

The forum was the only place I could get it translated anyway. I might as well upload the whole lot. Careful not to damage the books, I returned them to the box, then put the entire box into my extradimensional bag.

I searched for anything else useful afterward, but found nothing of note.

'Is that necklace on the skeleton about it?'

A necklace hung around the skeleton's neck. A pendant, to be precise, set with a rather expensive-looking red gem.

Taking it didn't seem likely to do me any good, so I left it on the skeleton to wear forever.

'You must have missed other people, too.'

I looked at the skeleton leaning forlornly against the wall. It seemed not merely lonely, but pitiable, and my heart ached for it. This person must have wanted to leave, too, but that wish had never come true.

'They say prisoners have both eyes gouged out before they're sent here, but this person wrote books.'

They must have gotten stranded, or had some other circumstances.

After gazing silently at the skeleton, I opened the forum. I bought a suitable sack and carefully gathered the bones into it.

'Bear with me until I get you moved.'

Was it because I'd always observed the anniversaries of my parents' deaths without fail? Or was it simply my nature? Leaving the remains like this didn't feel respectful to the dead. I couldn't do anything about the scattered bones of people presumably eaten by the owlbear, but this skeleton was intact.

With the bones in the sack, I left the space. Outside, Roundfur was playing with a butterfly near the nest.

"Roundfur. Let's go."

"Kyu!"

That was enough exploring for today. I'd return to the cave and get photos of the books posted first. The sooner I learned what they said, the sooner I'd have access to all sorts of information.

'And I'll hold a memorial rite while I'm at it.'

I didn't know whether they had such a custom here, but I'd do it anyway.

This person might represent my future, but as someone had said, they were also my esteemed predecessor. The legacy they'd left behind would be an immense resource for me.

Some time later, I returned to my cave, unpacked everything, and looked around the area for a suitable burial site.

'I'll bury them over there.'

Not right away, of course. I planned to upload the books to the forum first. I took out the box of books and pushed it to one side.

'Has the forum figured anything out?'

A little time had passed since I'd posted that page. By now, perhaps they'd have some idea what the writing was. With that thought, I opened the forum.

└Allfather Could you please hurry and photograph the next page for me? This old man's nether regions won't settle down from all the excitement.

└Sir, please...

└This guy gets so crude whenever he sees anything interesting...

└What the hell is it to get him like that?

└He thinks it was written by the Undying King's sibling? Probably someone from the Vulcan Kingdom?

└Holy shit. Why is that turning up there?

└Fuck, if that's real, scholars all over the world are going to lose their minds.

└Historians celebrating, academy students crying lmao.

It seemed Allfather had managed to decipher it.