Third Outer World Story Series: Pumpkin Sorcerer - Chapter 2
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- Third Outer World Story Series: Pumpkin Sorcerer
- Chapter 2 - Pumpkin in The Forest (1)
Translator: MadHatter Editor: MadHatter
“W-Why the hell is this happening to me…?”
With a face like The Scream’s[i] cry, he examined his own body.
The first thing he did was inspect his head. His head was the edible part of a pumpkin, though there were three black holes in it that were barely distinguishable from the rest of the body. Despite the solid outer skin of the pumpkin, the holes can move in response to his emotions and words.
By covering these holes with his hands, he could tell that the top two holes were made for eyes, while the bottom hole was designed to be a mouth. The mouth component, on the other hand, did not appear to breathe but vibrated the air around it.
“Ngh!”
Moving on to the body part, this one appeared to be a pumpkin with its vine, leaves, and roots all intact… well, the exact definition of a pumpkin.
The only difference was that all the leaves and root hairs seemed to be able to be controlled by his will if he was conscious of them, and if he exerted himself, he could make the vines slightly firmer.
“Hmm…”
But in the end, the conclusion was:
I still have no understanding of how this happened!!
Well, I didn’t reckon that a cursory examination of the body would reveal the reason as to how things came to be!
But still! Even so! At least leave me a few hints!
I mean, even a boring game or quiz questions where no clues are given would be preferable, wouldn’t it!
“Sigh…”
Having inwardly relieved himself of all exasperation, he mused about the future as he sucked up a moderate amount of water from the stream and photosynthesized in the sunlight.
For starters, there was absolutely no way he could go to the village where he awakened.
After all, he has been branded a monster, and if he returned to the village where he had awoken as a crop, he would be served as a pumpkin stew at best or incinerated at worst if he returned.
Then what about reaching a major city or something like that….
“I guess… that’s impossible huh.”
He looked at the vines he recognized as his own hands.
Since those old men regarded him as a monster, the majority of humans would likewise recognize him as a monster, and the reaction of the people in the major cities might be harsher on account of their lack of tolerance.
“Where am I in the first place?”
Looking around, he recalled the scene when he was flying over the forest.
He wasn’t an expert on plants and couldn’t identify them all, but he did not have any recollection of a place where the entire field of view was a carpet of green. Furthermore, he didn’t recall any place where the vegetation would be like a Japanese undeveloped woodland near a populated area, let alone a tropical rainforest like the Amazon.
“Yeah. It couldn’t be that I am being possessed by a pumpkin in another world, right?”
That was how he reached that conclusion based on the current situation.
“Impossible, definitely impossible. That kind of thing is… huh?”
Then just as he was about to burst out laughing at his own thoughts, a sound like a branch snapping caused him to turn his head in the other direction.
“…”
“Hushruuuu…”
There it was, a huge boar-like creature.
“Hahaha…”
“Bumo.”
The boar’s fangs were crimson phosphorescent, its eyes were abnormally bloodshot, and the saliva that leaked from its mouth emitted a faint smoke along with a sound as if it was burning something as it struck the ground, therefore he characterized it as boar-like.
Even if he was mistaken in calling it a boar, there was no such creature on Earth. Even if there were, it would certainly be classified as a UMA[ii], thus it would be more logical to dismiss it as a non-existent creature.
Therefore, he was certain about this.
“Bumooooo!!”
He had arrived in another world.
“As if this is the time to get sentimental!”
“Bumooooo!!”
The boar-like creature charged at him with ferocious force.
Its eyes were bloodshot, and to tell the truth, he was incredibly frightened by it.
“At any rate, I shall flee into the sky!”
“Bumo!?”
With the same sensation that he experienced when he escaped from the village, he quickly gathered up his vines and flew through the air to evade the boar’s charge.
As a result, the boar plunged into the stream with a loud splash, perhaps not anticipating his evasive maneuver.
“Hmm…”
He observed the boar from the air, which was watching him while moving in a circular motion under him.
If it was as he expected, fleeing would be fine as long as the boar can’t fly, but his instincts whispered to him that he should learn at an early stage how far he can go with this body, which led him to consider how to deal with the boar.
To start with, the threatening part of the boar’s body would be its tusks, which could easily pierce through his head. It will undoubtedly kill him once its fangs penetrate his skull.
The second problem was its acidic drool as well as its massive physique. Although a little bit of drool making contact with him might be okay, considering the fact that it can dissolve even tree roots and stones, it would be better not to be exposed to it as much as possible. As for the huge body… an explanation would be practically unnecessary. Being crushed by it would normally result in fatality, and the force of the thrust would also be dangerous. Since kinetic energy corresponds to mass and velocity, this should come as no surprise.
“Therefore, my means of attack is…”
He instilled something like a fighting spirit into the vines and harden them.
Judging from the feeling he had when he punched out the old farmer, it would be safe to assume that the vines possessed a certain degree of strength.
So, as for his current means of attack, there were two options: either to strike the boar with this hardened vine or tighten it around its neck. No, assuming all went well, he might be able to puncture the boar with the vine.
In that case, the only thing left to do would be to determine whether or not he could break through that boar’s apparently solid skin protection… The only way to know for sure was to give it a go.
“Okay, let’s go.”
He stiffened the vines by focusing all of his energy into them.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Bumon!”
“Whoa!?”
He struck at the boar’s head as if to whip it, but it repelled his attack and sought to sever the vines with its fangs in retaliation, prompting him to pull back his vines and retreat.
“Muu. As I expected, it wouldn’t be effective…”
With this outcome, he decided that he had no choice except to tighten his grasp on the boar and seek an opening.
However, as typical of a wild beast, the boar did not leave any openings and was wary of him.
“Then…”
At a short distance from the boar, after gathering the vines for smooth mobility, he lowered his altitude and provoked the boar with his hand.
“Bumoooooooo!!”
Whether the boar responded to this provocation or viewed it as an opportunity escaped his knowledge, but it surged towards him with great vigor.
“This is it!”
“Bu…!?”
And when the boar was right in front of him, he leaped on top of the boar and restrained it by twisting vines around its neck, mouth, and limbs, followed by a gradual tightening of the vines.
“Bumo…”
“Nugugu…”
Although the boar struggled to free itself from the restraints, he was determined to remain victorious, so he tightened the restraints and locked in on the boar.
This, nevertheless, will not suffice. The boar was after all mightier than him, and despite the increased strength of the bound vines, the restraints were on the verge of being snapped.
If this were the case, the aim would be a one-hit kill.
“Arghhhhhhh!!”
“!?”
With a vine that has been hardened at the tip, he thrust it into the eyes, the part of the boar’s body that was not covered by the firm skin.
The boar went berserk even more aggressively compared to earlier, but following his instinct, he began to set up roots in the boar’s eyes, absorbing the boar’s fluids and blood at once in a manner akin to sucking up water.
“Bumoo…”
“Hah hah… I did it!”
The boar eventually ceased thrashing and collapsed to the ground, its whole bodily fluid having been drained out of it, leaving it to dry out like a mummy slowly but surely.
“I’ve sucked it all uppppp!!”
And then a squeal of delight rose up from his strangely glistening body.
—————
T/N:
[i] A piece of art by Edvard Munch, the expression of it
[ii] Unidentified Mysterious Animal, a term used in Japan for cryptids
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