"Nngh..." A groan escaped the ends of my clenched teeth.

There was a severed portion of memories. I could not remember it what had happened. Silently, I moved my body up. No, away from the wall against my back? Had I been sleeping while sitting like this?

My body felt a little sore from the rough sleeping position.

"..."

I stretched my fingers a few times and looked at the wrinkles on my hands.

I'm... still alive.

The surroundings were dark, but as if my eyes had already been accustomed to it for a very long time, they could see things around me vaguely. I got up and walked a few steps forward with an unsteady gait. It would take some time for me to adjust to my disorientation after waking up as usual. I worried about my lack of medication at the back of my mind.

A rack that seemed to be pulled off a supermarket. It held canned food, and bottled water... their expiry dates were one year from now. Ah, also... I should quickly take out the sardine cans. Those had already expired, I should eat them first. Food was scarce in this place, I had learnt the hard truth yesterday.

...Huh, why did I know most of them already?

Was I even sure that I had only been unconscious for today? ...In fact, how long had I been out for?

Why was my mind not questioning the safety of this place? It seemed as if I was accustomed to it already. The sofa which had an indistinguishable colour in the dark was in my memory too. There it is, to the further right of this cramped place.

There it is, I moved over to it and ran my fingers across its leathery surface. Why did I not sleep on the sofa? Was I too preoccupied with doing something until I fell asleep?

Many questions ran through my mind, but they weren't doubting the general safety of this place. I could tell that my mind had already registered it as the "Hunter's Hideout". I had roughly outlined the furniture and resources here as well, and the air flow was good due to a vent on top. Looks like it channeled fresh air from the outside, but it was still a little suffocating. The circulation of air around here wasn't perfect, the hunter should not have thought to stay in here for more than a day or two. No wonder it was rather warm in here. Did that mean that either he had more of these hiding spots or was he very active in the day? Looks like the vent did not work very well deep underground huh.

...Come to think of it, how did I know I was underground...?

...

A sofa for me to sleep well enough to not cause a backache. Beside the sofa was a small coffee table which had an electric kettle without a wire, and a large beaker half-filled. It could roughly hold about 5 litres of water. Beside the beaker was a stack of plates and bowls, there were no cutlery around but there was an untidy stack of disposable wooden chopsticks left in the corner of the room.

And the rack filled with enough food to last me a month. Various assortments that consists of canned fish, vegetables, beans, spices and meat. A few packets of cup noodles and also the bottom section of the rack which held biscuit packs, some chocolate bars and rock candy.

A medicine cabinet with about 60 of the mana pills that was in the fanny pack, adding to the remaining ones in it amounted to 65 of them. There were also a bottle of painkillers and antibiotics prescribed for "Age 16 to 35, take twice a day". A packet of plasters and a roll of band-aid.

A steel and slightly rusty cabinet overturned to create a makeshift desk. Of course, there was still a hollow space beneath it. Since the height was rather low for a table, I merely had to sit on the ground to use it. On top of the 'table' were a few pieces of paper written in a strange language, and a couple of pens of varying colors.

There was also a small drawer in it which stored a few stacks of gold coins. These coins had a fine engravement on it and seemed to be have signs of being touched recently. It was most likely some sort of currency in this world.

Finally, there was a closed safe box that had a dialpad and a keyhole. There wasn't any chance of me opening it any time soon.

Seems like the hunter was rather well stocked up with almost about anything here. Did he get some of these furniture from around the buildings here? And these items as well? ...Hmm. Something did not add up about the hunter's lifestyle. While he had successfully told me the whereabouts of his hideout, I still could not find it in me to 'know where he was'.

It was as if I wanted to deliberately ignore his existence for my own convenience...?

...? For now, I felt that it was slightly improper for me to intrude in his place and not find out where he was, thus I made a mental note to look out for any clues to his whereabouts.

"That's right... for someone this amazing to have collected all of this... I must give my thanks..."

For now, I decided to use the things around here frugally since they did not bdelong to me.

Feeling a little hungry already after I woke up, I grabbed a packet of instant noodles with a brand that I was unfamiliar with and a placed its contents into a bowl. When I heated some water in the electric kettle, I saw a faint blue light emitting from the bottom. Instinctively appraising the kettle, I realized that I was right about its magical nature.

Mana Kettle

There were no description boxes unlike the ｢Mana Compass｣, but it definitely made use of the ｢Blue Pill｣ as well. Holding it up for an inspection while it boiled the water, I saw a small hole at the bottom. Sure enough, there was the pill which was half-disintegrated into powder stuck in the hole. It seemed to be correct to say that mana in this world could substitute well for electrical energy on Earth. There was another object that triggered appraisal in this enclosed space, and it seemed to make sense as to how the hunter handled his dishes.

Mana Sink

Mana was rather convenient, I thought as I sat down quietly before the cabinet table. I looked at the papers with an unfamiliar set of wording and symbols, and squinted my eyes.

As expected, I still cannot understand this... Is this the language of this world? I don't recognize this kind of writing on Earth, but it is also possible that I just have not seen it before when I was alive... The hunter has these papers in his hideout, then does that mean he knows how to read these? Or did he just happen to scavenge them off these lands just like most of the things here?

I did not know a lot. But for now...

I indulged myself in a long-deserved meal. It was just a simple meal of instant noodles with a light seafood flavouring, but it was the best meal I've had ever since coming to this world.