Chapter 4

"Then could you explain why her threat level is only B+? That's barely above Hermit."

Ellen asked in confusion. She couldn't understand why a Spirit with such powerful abilities had such a low threat level.

"Oh, that? According to the records, Element Maker has shown little desire to attack. At most, she uses her abilities to destroy her enemies' equipment in self-defense. Of the troops that have fought her, none have died, and only a handful have even been injured. That's probably why her threat level is so low."

Isaac explained with a relaxed smile.

"I see..."

"What do you think? If you ran into her, would you be confident you could defeat her?"

"Hmph, of course. I'm the Strongest Wizard! If I meet her, I'll bring you her head!"

Ellen spoke with absolute confidence. As the world's strongest Wizard, she had yet to encounter anyone who could defeat her.

"Haha. I'll look forward to it."

Seeing how confident Ellen was, Isaac smiled knowingly.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the world, Lingmeng suddenly shivered for no apparent reason.

"What the hell? Why did I just feel a burst of killing intent? I haven't pissed anyone off, have I?"

Lingmeng glanced around, speaking with a touch of paranoia.

What Lingmeng didn't know was that a certain Strongest Wizard already had her in her sights...

I Want Meat!

Lingmeng was in a tropical rainforest in Brazil. Fortunately, perhaps because the place was so remote, no AST troops had come after her when she caused a Spacequake. It gave her a moment of peace.

"I was probably imagining that killing intent, right?"

Sitting on the branch of a large tree, Lingmeng swung her long legs and looked up at the blue sky, her feelings in turmoil.

She was a Spirit now, something like a nuclear bomb in human form. Whenever a Spirit like her appeared in this world, several families were torn apart. That was never what Lingmeng wanted, but she was still the direct cause. So she often found herself pondering life—

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where should I go? Those three ultimate questions were troubling Lingmeng.

Grrr...

A sound interrupted her thoughts.

"Oh, I'm hungry?" Lingmeng looked down at her growling stomach. "So Spirits need to eat too? I haven't eaten much in two weeks, so I thought I didn't have to. But I guess that makes sense. If something can survive without taking in energy, is it even alive?"

Lingmeng chuckled, stood up, and jumped down from the tree.

"This place looks pretty rich in resources. There should be plenty of things I can eat, right?"

Sure enough, as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Lingmeng spotted a cluster of mushrooms beneath a nearby tree.

"Oho, lucky me!"

She hurried over with a delighted smile.

Their colors aren't too bright, so they probably aren't poisonous.

After a quick inspection, Lingmeng decided the mushrooms were edible.

"Time to harvest them!"

She pulled the mushrooms up by the roots, one after another, and piled them beneath the tree. Nothing green survived wherever Lingmeng went.

Once she had what looked like enough mushrooms, Lingmeng finally stopped her wholesale harvesting.

"This should be enough, right?" She dusted off her hands. "Ah, they'll fill me up, but if I had a choice, I'd still want meat! ('△｀)"

After lamenting the absence of meat, Lingmeng was about to prepare the mushrooms when a sudden snort rang out.

"Snort—snort!"

"What the hell was that?!"

Startled, Lingmeng hurriedly looked around.

Before long, a huge wild boar with black fur and two tusks emerged from the trees beside her.

"Oh, it's just you, Pigsy! I thought it was something else!"

Lingmeng wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and sighed in relief.

It probably came over because it heard me.

Lingmeng studied the boar.

"Wait. Pigsy is... edible!"

As the idea took shape, the look she gave the boar grew increasingly wicked.

Perhaps sensing that Lingmeng had designs on it, the boar went on alert and kept snorting at her.

It was almost as if it were saying, What are you planning? You're after my body, you shameless creep!

Ignoring its protests, Lingmeng walked toward it step by step, her expression growing more sinister.

"Haha. Pigsy, why don't we get to know each other a little better?"

With that, Lingmeng reached her wicked hands toward the boar...

This Doesn't Count as Wild Game, Does It?

As Lingmeng drew closer, the boar tried to avoid becoming someone else's dinner. It lowered its tusks and unleashed its ultimate move: Boar Charge!

But a little trick like that was no match for Lingmeng, a Spirit. Just as Pigsy was about to ram into her, she sprang lightly into the air. She leaped a full three meters and dodged the attack.

"You're pretty stubborn!" Lingmeng grinned down at the boar. "Goodbye, Pigsy!"

As she fell, Lingmeng raised her fist and brought it down hard on the boar.

Bam! Her punch drove the boar into the earth. Its spine snapped, killing it on the spot.

(Boar: "I'm literally in pieces.")

Pigsy—dead.

"Phew. After two weeks here, I finally get to eat meat."

Lingmeng pulled the boar's body out of the ground and rubbed her chin in thought.

"How do I butcher this thing? Well, it should be about the same as dissecting a frog in biology class! ╮(￣▽￣)╭"

With that thought, Lingmeng extracted some Metal from the soil with her ability and fashioned a simple knife. Without another word, she set to work on the boar.

Several dozen minutes later, Lingmeng put down the knife and wiped the sweat from her forehead. With a sigh of relief, she said,

"Not bad, me! I did a... perfect job?"

Looking at the bloody, mangled pieces of meat before her, Lingmeng broke into a guilty sweat. The corners of her mouth twitched.

After enduring dozens of minutes of Lingmeng's handiwork, poor Pigsy was unrecognizable. Uneven chunks of meat, organs scattered carelessly across the ground, and hair and blood everywhere—it was enough to make anyone sick just looking at it.

"Uh... haha. I'm an amateur. It's only normal that it turned out like this, right?"

Lingmeng laughed awkwardly, talking to herself.

Sorry, Pigsy. I really didn't mean to leave you looking like this. ?_?

After apologizing to the boar in her heart, Lingmeng picked up a piece that still looked vaguely like pork and muttered,

"That was such a big boar, and this is the only piece that looks edible after I butchered it. I'm a terrible butcher!"

Lingmeng found a fairly flat stone and built a little stove beneath it out of other stones. She put some branches inside and lit them with her ability.

Once the stone had warmed up, she laid the pork and mushrooms on top. A delicious aroma soon filled the forest.

"Haha. I might not be much of a butcher, but I'm fairly confident in my cooking."

Lingmeng smiled as she turned the meat.

In her previous life, she had been an orphan, so she had usually taken care of her own food, clothing, and other daily needs. Cooking was something she felt confident about.

"Finally done!"

Lingmeng clapped her hands and looked at the roast meat with satisfaction.

Come to think of it, wild boar doesn't count as wild game, does it?

Remembering the pandemic in her previous life, Lingmeng hesitated. After all, that pandemic had started because some idiot ate wild game. What if eating this boar gave her the same disease?

(Boar: "What the hell? You eat my meat and then complain I'm dirty? Don't eat it if you've got a problem!")

"Well, I've cooked it through now. And I'm a Spirit, so I probably won't get sick that easily, right?"

After wavering for a while, Lingmeng decided to eat. She was simply too hungry.

She made a knife and fork with her ability, then copied the way anime characters ate. Pressing her hands together, she said, "Thanks for the food!" and dug in. She was adapting to the local customs, in a way.

"Mmm! I didn't expect Pigsy to taste this good! The mushrooms are fresh and delicious too. They're a perfect match!"

Lingmeng's eyes shone as she praised the food between bites. Before long, she had finished all the meat.

"I'm full! Thanks for the meal!"

Rubbing her stomach, Lingmeng felt more satisfied than ever.

"Thanks, Pigsy! Your sacrifice filled my stomach. I guess that means your life had meaning!"

Lingmeng looked up at the sky. She could almost see the boar telling her,

"Don't thank me, you little shit. I'm the one who should be thanking you!"

"I think I saw a river from the tree earlier. Perfect. I can wash this bloody smell off."

With that, Lingmeng stood up and headed toward the river.

Spirit Power usually protected Spirits from getting dirty, but after more than twenty years as a human, Lingmeng couldn't accept leaving herself like this. Since she had a chance to wash, why wouldn't she?

Before long, Lingmeng reached the river. She dismissed her Astral Dress, leaving her body exposed to the air.

Looking at her reflection in the water, Lingmeng sighed. It still felt strange, but after two weeks, she had more or less gotten used to her body.

In a sense, it was a perk for Lingmeng, who had been single for over twenty years. As a virgin guy, how often had she gotten the chance to see a beautiful girl naked? Even if that beautiful girl was Lingmeng herself...

Better wash up and get out of here.

Lingmeng eased into the water and quickly began washing herself.

No Money? Get Lost!

"Wow, there are a lot of people here!"

Lingmeng marveled at the crowds coming and going around her.

Today marked one month since Lingmeng had arrived in this world. She had gotten lucky and manifested near a city. After dealing with the AST troops that came after her, she had entered it.

Lingmeng knew that, as a Spirit, she should avoid crowded places whenever possible. But she couldn't hold back any longer!

For the past month, she had either fought AST and returned to the Neighboring World or hidden in forests and mountains, where there was plenty of cover, until the trouble passed.

After all this time, the only humans Lingmeng had seen here were AST troops. Being cut off from everyone for so long made her feel as though she were turning into a wild woman.

Unable to bear the loneliness any longer, Lingmeng used her ability to turn her overly "unusual" Astral Dress into ordinary casual clothes, then slipped into the crowd.

As Lingmeng wandered the streets, she looked this way and that, her face bright with excitement. Like someone from the countryside visiting a city for the first time, she was curious about everything.

Lingmeng remembered that this city was called Tengu City. In her previous world, the area had apparently been southern Tokyo and part of Kanagawa, Japan.

A Spacequake had once blasted a huge crater here. People had later built Tengu City inside it.

After wandering the streets for most of the day, Lingmeng found plenty of shops that interested her. But every time she was about to go in and buy something, she remembered a serious problem—she didn't have any money!

That was the harsh truth. As a Spirit, Lingmeng was completely broke. How was she supposed to buy anything she wanted without money?