Chapter 8: Otherworlds Aren’t Like the Novels!

Chapter 8: Otherworlds Aren't Like the Novels!

After Tohka killed the first one, he later happened to encounter several other mosquitoes of roughly the same size.

And then...

Hehehe...

Toma watched as one of those mosquitoes swooped down, grabbed a rat roughly the size of a medium-sized dog, carried it into the air, and sucked it completely dry.

After witnessing that horrifying scene, Toma immediately came to a very reasonable conclusion.

'Yeah.'

'There's absolutely no way in hell I can beat that mosquito.'

After all, when the mosquito captured that dog-sized rat, Toma hadn't even been able to follow its movements.

It was too damn fast!

Thus, Toma could only lament the absurdity of this world.

'Even the freaking mosquitoes in another world are this strong?!'

'Are you trying to kill helpless shut-ins like me?!'

Thankfully, Tohka was around to protect him.

Otherwise, Toma suspected he might have died on the very first day after transmigrating into this unknown forest.

And judging by how ridiculously dangerous this place was, it might even be some kind of forbidden region.

What?

Why assume it was a forbidden forest?

Wasn't that obvious?

Didn't novels always do this?

Whenever the protagonist transmigrated into another world, he would inevitably appear in some mysterious, rarely visited forbidden forest or something similar.

To put it simply...

'It's a freaking cliché!'

At this point, it had practically become an unspoken rule.

Toma figured there was no reason he should be exempt from it.

After all, he was now officially one of the countless transmigrators scattered throughout fiction.

And according to the usual development of these novels...

'I'm definitely the damn protagonist!'

Following that logic, discovering that this forest was some terrifying forbidden region wouldn't surprise Toma in the slightest.

Well...

There were countless things about his current situation that Toma could complain about for hours.

Unfortunately, Tohka was constantly busy fighting.

And even when she wasn't fighting, she probably wouldn't understand half the nonsense he wanted to complain about anyway.

So Toma could only keep most of his ridiculous commentary inside his own head.

Of course, that didn't mean Toma spent all his time doing absolutely nothing.

He understood one important fact very clearly.

The main theme of another world was almost always battle and war.

Either way, death and blood were practically guaranteed to follow.

So, Toma decided that for now, he would work on building up his courage.

After all, he simply didn't have enough Exchange Points to make himself stronger yet.

Since improving his physical abilities wasn't an option for the time being, Toma figured he might as well train himself mentally instead.

At the very least, he needed to reach the point where he could stare danger in the face without changing expression.

Otherwise...

'How the hell am I supposed to look cool?!'

...Okay.

In reality, he was just trying to build up his courage.

He had nothing better to do anyway.

As for that whole thing about looking cool?

Just pretend you never saw it!

Later...

Tohka encountered a gigantic monkey nearly six meters tall that could use Wind Blades.

One slash.

That was all it took for her to cut the enormous creature cleanly in half.

Unfortunately, that also meant blood, flesh, and internal organs spilled everywhere.

It was Toma's first time seeing such a gruesome scene from so close.

And he vomited his guts out.

Toma could confidently say that he had never thrown up so violently in his entire life.

Tohka, on the other hand, didn't react at all.

Apparently, this kind of gruesome sight didn't bother her in the slightest.

Not only that, but after seeing Toma crouched nearby vomiting until he barely had any strength left, Tohka kindly hurried over and began taking care of him.

That experience once again made Toma question the protagonists of all those novels he used to read.

'They can kill people without feeling anything?'

'Isn't that way too fake?!'

'I only WATCHED something get killed and I'm already puking my guts out!'

Sure, there was a difference between a human and a five-meter-tall monkey.

And those protagonists personally killed people face-to-face, while Toma had merely watched Tohka do it.

But still...

'Isn't the freaking difference between us way too huge?!'

Complaints aside, though, he still needed to continue training his courage.

At the very least, Toma wanted to reach the point where he could witness bloody scenes without immediately vomiting.

Otherwise, it would be way too embarrassing.

As for remaining completely calm in the face of mortal danger?

Toma felt that goal was still far, far beyond him.

Afterward, whenever Toma had some free time and his body had recovered a little, he would inevitably start complaining inside his head again.

It wasn't really his fault.

Before coming to this world, Toma genuinely loved reading novels, especially transmigration stories set in other worlds.

Now that he had actually become the protagonist of one himself, he couldn't help comparing his experiences to those fictional protagonists.

And once he started comparing them...

There was just way too much to complain about.

For example...

In otherworld transmigration novels, what was the first magical beast the protagonist usually encountered?

A Wind Wolf?

A Brown Bear?

Maybe even some legendary White Tiger?

Yet what had Toma encountered?

A freaking giant mosquito!

And it had nearly gotten him killed!

'Isn't the difference way too big?!'

Perhaps because there wasn't much else for Toma to do besides training his courage, his imagination had also started running wild.

For example, protagonists in otherworld transmigration novels would usually encounter some mercenary group shortly after arriving.

Maybe they would meet a group of mercenaries in danger and heroically save them.

Or perhaps they would encounter some beautiful Saintess, female mercenary, princess, or something along those lines...

Considering how common those clichés were, Toma figured he probably wouldn't escape them either.

Sure, he hadn't encountered the stereotypical Wind Wolf, Brown Bear, or White Tiger.

But afterward, he had encountered a magical beast capable of using Wind Blades.

It just happened to be a monkey...

Still!

That was close enough, right?