At the start of the first round, the character controlled by Eriri launched a fierce assault, and the fight looked almost completely one-sided. (Continued)

As far as he knew, there were only a few villages nearby, and the forestry bureau's logging site was somewhere around here.

"It's in that direction. We should be there in a few minutes."

He glanced at a notice board beside the platform. There was a map on it showing him which way to go.

He could probably get there by following the road to his right.

The road led straight to the forestry bureau's local base. Compared to the untamed feel of the mountains, the buildings here were all modern.

Apparently, this place was only for training loggers. Once their internships were over, they would be assigned to various villages.

"Hey, where are you from? You're not a student who got lost, are you?"

The guard noticed him riding up and immediately rushed out of the booth, eyeing him warily.

"I'm here to buy some wood."

Hasegawa Izumi answered as he got off his bike.

"Is that so?"

The guard took in the young man's age and couldn't bring himself to believe him.

"Please tell Mr. Linye that Hasegawa is here to see him."

Unbothered by the guard's attitude, he continued.

"You know Mr. Linye?"

The guard looked doubtful, but the visitor seemed so serious that he turned around and exchanged a few words over the walkie-talkie.

"What? He's already here? Make sure he's treated well. Don't keep him waiting! I'll be right over."

Mr. Linye's voice came through the walkie-talkie. He sounded very concerned.

After all, Mr. Linye was the person in charge of this entire area. The way he was treating this young man made it clear that the boy had an impressive background!

"Right, I've told Mr. Linye. He'll be here shortly. Please wait in the conference room for a moment."

The guard immediately changed his attitude, bowing as he invited him in.

Hasegawa Izumi rode his bike inside and parked it, then went into the conference room to wait.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

Someone brought him afternoon tea. He had just spent a little while savoring it when a knock sounded at the door.

A man in his thirties or forties stepped inside. He had neat, short hair and wore clean, tidy clothes, clearly having changed especially to show his respect.

He wasn't surprised to receive this kind of treatment. He had made use of the Sawamura family's connections—in other words, the Spencer family's—and they had probably mistaken him for the child of some prominent family.

"Hasegawa-kun, sorry to keep you waiting."

After entering, Mr. Linye apologized first.

"Don't worry about it. I'm here to buy a piece of raw material that suits me, and I'm in a hurry."

As he spoke, he stood up.

"Well... all right. Let's go now."

Mr. Linye was a little surprised by the way he spoke, but quickly recovered.

They drove for nearly half an hour before reaching the oak grove.

"Would you like us to pick one out for you?"

Mr. Linye asked.

"No need. I can do it myself."

Hasegawa Izumi shook his head. As soon as he got out of the car, he headed straight into the forest.

His sudden move gave them all a fright.

After all, it was easy to stumble and get hurt in a place like this if you weren't careful!

"You can wait in the car. I'll come get you once I've found what I need."

His voice soon rang out, stopping them from following him.

"Are you sure he'll be all right? Mr. Linye, shouldn't we go check on him?"

"He said not to, so don't. If we upset him, we might be the ones in trouble."

"But I heard someone saw a bear around here recently. It's dangerous."

"What are the odds he'd run into a bear? Besides, when was the last time we heard of something like that happening here? They must've been mistaken."

While Mr. Linye spoke with the two loggers who had come along, Hasegawa Izumi had already ventured some distance into the dense woods.

The trees and scenery all looked much the same. An ordinary person might have had trouble avoiding getting lost, but his memory was pretty good, so he didn't need to worry about that.

"Hm?"

His eyes suddenly lit up. It wasn't because he had spotted an oak tree he liked, but because he had seen a remarkably straight branch about as thick as his thumb.

It had an inexplicable appeal.

The urge to pick up a branch like that seemed like an impulse carved into his DNA—the so-called hunting instinct.

"Whoosh."

He walked over, picked it up, and gave it a swing. It felt pretty good, so he took it with him.

Five more minutes passed.

At last, his gaze settled on the raw material he wanted.

"Rustle..."

Treading on the leaves, Hasegawa Izumi ran his hand over the oak's bark, as if trying to feel something.

All at once,

he seemed to feel someone's gaze land on him.

If he were on a street or at school, it wouldn't have made him wary.

But in these shadowy woods, he couldn't help paying attention.

"Snap... snap..."

Suddenly, in the silent woods, the hurried, forceful sound of someone—or something—stepping on branches rang out.

It was nothing like a human's footsteps.

Hasegawa Izumi turned to the left and immediately spotted a dark figure charging down a slope several hundred meters away.

"Looks like a bear?"

"No, I should get a closer look to make sure. Maybe it's someone in a costume?"

After all, there had been rumors about that online.

Before long, while he waited in place, the black bear had come within ten meters of him.

"Roar!"

The black bear suddenly stopped and let out a thunderous growl before rising onto its hind legs. Only then did its massive build become apparent. It was like an iron tower, radiating an almost immovable strength.

"Are you warning me to leave? Have you decided this is your new territory?"

Hasegawa Izumi seemed to understand what its growl meant and tried to communicate with it.

"Roar!"

This time, the bear's growl was quieter. Its dark eyes gleamed with wariness, giving it an almost intelligent look.

"So it's not a guy in a bear suit. It's real. But it seems smarter than average. Is it about to become a spirit or something?"

The black bear was at a loss. The human in front of it had the nerve to scrutinize it instead of running away in fear.

Was its reputation as the king of the forest really that worthless?

The black bear wasn't capable of much thinking. It only sensed the contempt in the other's gaze, and that was enough to stir its pride and anger.

"Roar!!"

The black bear roared, planted all four paws on the ground, and charged like a tank. Its sharp claws were like blades about to leave their sheaths, ready to strike with tremendous force.

The black bears of Tou-ei were relatively small among black bear subspecies, but this one had grown far beyond the norm. It probably weighed close to three hundred kilograms. Among land animals, few posed a threat on this level!

Unfortunately, this bear hadn't run into an ordinary person.

"Since you're still within the area protected by the authorities, I'll go easy on you."

As the black bear lunged at him, Hasegawa Izumi stood his ground, holding the branch like a club. He stood tall and straight as a pine, his expression calm and untroubled.

46. You Really Know How to Joke

Black bears fought differently from tigers. Tigers could pounce, swat, and go for the throat, while black bears mainly swiped and bit. Their attacks were simpler, and they were slower, too.

"So its stats are only a little higher than an ordinary person's. It's nothing special. Its fighting technique is so crude..."

Just as the black bear reared up, claws bared, preparing to knock him down,

he moved forward instead of backing away, seemingly vanishing from the bear's sight. A moment later, the bear felt as if a rock had tripped its right hind leg. It lost its balance and fell face-first into the dirt.

"Thud."

The bear's several hundred kilograms hit the ground with a heavy crash.

Hasegawa Izumi slowly turned around.

He had just used a sweeping kick to strike the bear's hind leg.

The bear didn't seem to understand what had happened. It shook its huge head, then quickly got back up and glared at him with the same ferocity as before.

"Don't tell me you think you just tripped, you idiot."

His voice carried a hint of mockery.

"Roar!!"

The black bear charged again.

With a thud, it fell face-first into the dirt once more.

This time, Hasegawa Izumi had kicked its other hind leg.

When the bear stood up again, it looked unsteady. A hint of wariness appeared in its eyes.

"Do you still want to keep going?"

He asked, gripping the stick in his right hand and lightly tapping it against his left.

The black bear seemed to hesitate. It didn't move.

In the natural world, survival of the fittest meant that, in the end, you had to rely on more violent methods to make your point.

Realizing this, he charged straight at it.

The black bear instinctively tried to pin him down with its paw. Its blow carried tremendous force, and even the sound of the wind grew heavy.

But the stick in Hasegawa Izumi's hand struck first, accurately hitting the back of the bear's forepaw and halting its attack.

Whack!

Before it could react, another heavy blow landed on its head.

The strike hit it right on the forehead, with tremendous force.

"Aow!"

The black bear let out a howl of pain. Its vision swam, and it clutched its head with both paws as it rolled around on the ground.

"Do you understand the difference between us now?"

Hasegawa Izumi twirled the stick with a flourish. He didn't know whether it could understand him, but he spoke with pride anyway.

"Aow..."

After catching its breath, the black bear finally realized that the creature before it was stronger than it was. It rolled over and lay prone on the ground, its growls turning into a low, pleading whine.