Don't bully Paramecium

The woman glanced sideways and met those clear, ruby-red eyes. Li Xiang raised an eyebrow. What's wrong, little Senku?

Senku shook his head. They sat there without either saying a word. The end of the month was drawing near. Finally, Li Xiang pressed her lips together and spoke. "Senku... do you want to go home?"

Senku froze for a moment, then gave a helpless twitch of his lips. "Of course I do. That's why I want to establish the Science Kingdom."

To save the world.

Li Xiang buried her head between her knees, leaning against the window. The moonlight obligingly spilled over her neck. She said nothing.

"I really want to go home, too..."

No one saw her emotions. The scene dimmed.

Li Xiang lay on her side with her forearm tucked beneath her neck, her breathing slow and shallow. Something crossed her mind, and she bent her legs, curling into a ball like a little deer unable to find warmth in the world around her.

Only two episodes of the anime had aired, and few characters had appeared so far. Honestly, was this what it meant to be a Jump protagonist? Just two episodes in, and his popularity had already reached unprecedented heights.

What about her? Li Xiang had her own plans. She didn't want to learn the game's ending right at the start. Wouldn't exploring it little by little be more exciting?

Then let's take a gamble. I'll watch again after five episodes!

She opened the forum, where discussions kept pouring in.

As for Senku being carried off by a girl during his very first appearance because he lacked the stamina to escape... wasn't that seriously embarrassing?

Though the situation had been urgent, plenty of people still poked fun at Senku's stamina.

Thread: Why is Senku's stamina so bad?

OP: I'm sure everyone saw it. Senku's stamina really is awful...

L1: OP? Are you seriously putting pressure on a paramecium?

L2: I'm dying. A freaking paramecium.

L3: This Single-Celled Organism is too much. I thought he'd be simple-minded, not physically underdeveloped (bitter smile.jpg).

L4: What can you do? Everyone knows Senku has no stamina. But researchers don't need to fight, right?

L5: What if something happens later?

L6: Deal with it, I guess. What else can we do?

L7: +1

L8: +1

L10086: +1

Li Xiang was speechless. Why put pressure on a paramecium? All Senku needs is his brain. We just have to carry out his plans, right... Wait, why am I thinking like that? Have I spent so long in this primitive society without using my brain...

That even my thinking has gotten lazy?

The screen went dark. A minute before she drifted off, Li Xiang was still happily daydreaming. If she really cleared this world game, what wish would she make?

Hehehe...

"Aaaah! Senku, Senku, wake up!"

Li Xiang and Senku were jolted awake by Taiju's shouting. Li Xiang was grumpy when she woke up and hated having her sleep disturbed. Even with her own internal clock, she still wanted to wake up on her own.

She barely managed to rein in her temper.

"You're so loud, Taiju. It's not time to get up yet, is it?" Senku rubbed his aching head. The corners of his eyes were flushed red, and he still looked half asleep. Yawning repeatedly, he stretched his body out.

Looking utterly dead inside, Li Xiang sat up as stiffly as a robot.

"Taiju... what's wrong? If something happened, you can tell your big sister." Surely Li Xiang was an understanding older sister!

Provided one ignored the murderous intent she couldn't hide in her eyes.

"I-I, I... there's a snake!" Taiju huddled in a corner, pointing shakily toward another corner. The two followed his finger and saw a dark, greenish snake wriggling there, its body raised as it flicked its tongue with a hiss.

"It's okay, Taiju. This snake isn't venomous." After reassuring him, Li Xiang grabbed a sturdy hardwood stick from beside the wall and stepped forward.

Sensing movement, the snake arched its body and lifted its head slightly, taking a defensive posture as it tried to flee.

Li Xiang's wrist was steady. The stick shot out precisely, pinning the middle of the snake's body and holding it firmly in place so it couldn't dart away or slip into a gap.

The snake writhed desperately, struggling from side to side with considerable force. Its slippery body was extremely difficult to control.

But Li Xiang remained steady. After a few rounds of tugging and maneuvering, she seized an opening, flicked her arm upward, and sent the entire snake flying out of the hut.

Thud.

The snake landed hard in the grass outside. Still refusing to give up, it twisted its body, trying to slither into the undergrowth and escape.

The danger was completely over.

Li Xiang stood in the doorway holding the stick. After a couple of seconds of thought, she turned toward the two inside.

"Senku, find me a bigger jar."

Senku raised an eyebrow, puzzled. "What are you going to do?"

"Snake meat is edible," Li Xiang said matter-of-factly. "This one's nonvenomous. A nonvenomous snake, an all-natural ingredient straight from the wilderness. Why let it go to waste?"

Inside the hut, Taiju's scalp prickled at those words. He hurriedly waved his hands, his face full of resistance.

"Li Xiang! Let's not eat it... It's too scary. Just looking at it is terrifying."

To him, snakes were things that made his skin crawl just by looking at them. He couldn't even imagine cooking one and eating it.

Li Xiang looked back at him with a soft laugh, her tone light and casual.

"It only looks scary."

"Basically, it's high-quality protein delivered right to our doorstep for free. Food is hard enough to come by out here in the wilderness. There's no reason to waste it."

She looked at Taiju, who was still shaken, and deliberately teased him.

"Besides, that snake just scared our mighty Taiju. Your big sister will avenge you. We'll take care of it at lunchtime and add another dish to our meal."

Taiju looked hesitant, standing there at a loss. He wanted to talk her out of it but didn't know how to begin, his face full of conflict.

As soon as Senku heard that it was nonvenomous and edible, he understood her intention. He turned and found a large earthenware jar.

Li Xiang carried the stick outside and, with brisk, efficient movements, firmly restrained the long snake still writhing and slithering through the grass.

In moments, the two worked together seamlessly to catch the snake and shut it securely inside the large jar.

They weighed down the opening to keep it from escaping.

Once everything was done, Li Xiang bent over to look at the snake twisting and struggling inside the jar. Her eyes curved with a faint smile.

"It's pretty long. A good size, too."

"You two are in for a treat at lunch."

Only Taiju stood off to the side with a conflicted expression. Watching the shape writhing inside the jar still made him uncomfortable all over.

"Are we really eating a snake? I..." Taiju was quite afraid of these long, legless creatures.

"What if, and I'm just saying what if, this snake has some kind of toxin inside it that can cause a virus or something? Wouldn't we be done for?"

Li Xiang glanced back, caught his expression, and couldn't help laughing.

Senku looked at the prey in the jar. "Just clean it properly and cook it thoroughly. Sterile cooking. Ten billion percent safe."

"The odds of that are very low. Snakes are edible, but some things shouldn't be eaten, like bats and pangolins. Those animals carry a lot more pathogens."

"Don't worry, Taiju. I'll do my best to prepare it so it doesn't look like it originally did."

Taiju was still silently psyching himself up, trying hard to convince himself to overcome his fear.

[Everyone, please don't eat random things, especially strange animals like these. Only eat legally permitted, farm-raised animals intended for consumption. Viruses are everywhere. Cherishing your life comes first.]