Nothing happened, and so he fell back down onto the ground. His legs were even more tired from stomping.

He was in anguish. Wasn't this unfair?

What exactly was this place? White had felt a certain amount of annoyance from the walking ever since he had arrived, but this was certainly a rude awakening.

Or maybe... the monsters known as ｢Mutated Mana Worm｣ was nothing more than fodder. Like slimes, but even weaker. Not even decent experience points could be received by killing them. Maybe, he needed to kill one of those ｢Stonelace Bull｣ that he had seen decaying all around this wasteland. But... was that possible? Was it possible for a frail human like him to fight something that big?

White's eyes had started to turn a little lifeless. He had already felt that if he did not have a goal to aim for, then he would surely die alone without accomplishing anything.

Maybe that was fine, he thought. In the first place, he had only came to this world thinking that he was only in for a fun ride. He had already probably died so maybe passing on was an event without suffering. Thinking like this, he decided to kill himself.

He stood up again, and headed towards the pool. He had not estimated its depth, but something told him that if he soaked in that very pool, he would die in an instant.

So he came closer. And closer.

Like he had recalled himself doing right before he died and came to this world.

He was suicidal. Yes, he had a hidden intention behind him trying to save the female clerk at that time.

He wanted to kill himself. He wanted to attach himself to someone before he died, so he could be labelled as something. He could etch himself somewhere in the news, and he would be remembered for a short while.

He was a selfish person. And maybe, that was why God... no, the Goddess was punishing like this.

"Ah... ah... ah..."

In the end...

...He really felt regretful about that one thing.

...

"HE...Y... D... H...EY... UCK...!!!"

"?"

Right as he was about to take a step into the pool, a man's voice entered his ears. And soon after, he could feel himself suddenly hesitating.

A person? There is someone else here?

Feeling a little conflicted as he had already steeled himself for his second death, White noticed that the voice had come from across the pool. A few hundred meters away, he could see a speck of a person, and it was getting bigger. How he had heard him, it was because the land stretched out far enough in between a few mountains to create varied volumes of echoes when shouting. Then, had he attracted the attention of other humans living around here earlier? He had screamed quite loudly after all.

"It...it's true... there really is a person... I'm not... hallucinating..."

Light returned to his eyes, as White began to try and see what the person looked like.

And then again, he received the same warning from earlier.

"FUCK!!! YOU WANT TO DIE?! DUCK!"

"H-huh?!"

A middle-aged man with a visibly haggard look was sprinting towards him. He was wearing a dark green tank-top and a baggy pair of pants, giving off a very militaristic vibe.

Something seemed to be... chasing from behind.

White did not know what it was, nor was he near enough to see it. For now, he was already clear that this place was incredibly hostile, thus he felt like someone who was here as well would empathize with such a feeling. If so, then the thing that was chasing after that man coming closer to him...

It was undoubtedly another monster.

Making up his mind, White gathered up his low reserves of energy and put them into his legs without saying anything else. He turned his back against the man and waited for him to say something else.

"RUN NORTHWEST! HIDEOUT!!!"

He managed to yell out within a very frantic pace of breathing. It seemed like that man knew his way around. Trusting in that set of information, White pushed himself forward and ran northwest. While his speed wasn't fantastic, White still had a considerable amount of distance in between the two of them. Before long, the man's figure could no longer be seen within the dust.

He ran, and ran. And ran.

There was slowly a slight change in landscape. He could see trees that were no longer withered, but their leaves were purple. While he held some interest in that, White still continued running and looking for something else.

He needed to look for that hideout.

After all, the sky had nearly darkened completely and who knew how the levels of danger would be affected in the night.

That's right, he needed to hide first.

And thinking so, he placed an excessive amount of faith in the information of the hideout that would be visible if he kept running northwest.