Chapter 22 - 21

In the pitch-black world, I heard some unintelligible noises echoing from afar. Curious, I tried focusing on it only to find that the sound has now spread into every direction. Honestly, I had no idea how long I’ve been listening, but I could swear that the sound was slowly becoming louder and louder until it was finally directly ringing in my head. And It was then that I finally opened my eyes.

When I woke up, the scene of what had happened before I lost consciousness immediately flashed on my mind. In that instant, my instinct kicked in and I immediately stood up. But probably because of all the damage I had received in my previous battle, I instantly felt a dizzying pain in my head and I fell back down on the ground.

'Damn… it…' I cursed internally.

It was only then that I realized that the battle was already over. But the moment my head finally became clear, my confusion only increased. Well, who wouldn’t be? I mean, seriously. The last thing I remembered was fighting and losing to a monster, but this situation didn’t seem to be a work of a monster.

First, my feet were bound in pairs by some rope-like vines. Then, probably to prevent me from biting off the vines on my feet, my captors also did the same to my mouth. And finally, there were a couple of tall lumbers that was stabbed on the ground. From what I could tell, all these lumbers were supposed to function as a sort of cage. Of course, the reason why I came to that conclusion was that there were some monsters around in the same situation as me.

'What the heck…?' was all, I could think.

Clearly, this situation wasn’t normal by any means. Because if I was really defeated by a monster, then I should already be inside a monster stomach being digested by now. After all, that was how a fight between monsters always ends. Like I always said, the only rule on this place was to eat or to be eaten. But for some reason, that rule didn’t seem to be applicable in this situation. Unless…

'Don’t tell me, humans are living in this place?'

Honestly, the cage and the bounds were still quite crude. Despite that, the only being I know that had enough intelligence to bound and cage the monsters was a human. Of course, even that came with a lot of questions. For one, I was certain that the being I fought before was a monster. But if so, it wouldn’t make sense why I was now captured by a human. Well, there was the possibility that a human came in to save me before I was completely killed. Unfortunately, the problem with that was there was no reason for a human to save me. Besides, there were a lot of monsters in the area at that time and all of them were certainly no pushovers. So, unless my human captors were incredibly strong, there was no way they could have saved me in time. That was why the more I think about it, that possibility became less and less true.

'Wait, are you seriously telling me that all these things are the handiwork of a monster?!'

It was truly a scary thought. Because if all of these were really done by a monster, then that was one heck of an intelligent monster. And from what I could remember before I passed out, there were a whole bunch of them which made it much more terrifying. Of course, there was also the possibility that those monsters were simply following the order of their leader. But even so, if that leader managed to teach its underlings to make these things, then it was safe to say that the leader was approaching the intelligence of a human.

'The intelligence of a human… Hmm… Oi, oi, oi!! Is it possible that there is another reincarnation just like me?'

If we were talking about a monster with a human level of intelligence, then I only needed to look at my own reflection. Although if I was being honest, that thought didn’t cross my mind before. Looking at it now, maybe I was being too narcissistic in thinking that I was somewhat special. Well, I could also argue that I have been simply too busy ever since I regained my memories as a human. But it wouldn’t change the fact that I just irresponsibly tossed that possibility away.

'But, if that is the case, then it might just be possible to negotiate with that monster. Besides, it might be possible that it is one of them…'

'This means that the monster who made all these things may be one of them.'

For now, it was surely a shot in the dark. But the chance was 50/50 which meant that the chance wasn’t zero. It may be just simple wishful thinking on my part, but if I was reunited with those guys, we could surely accomplish a lot more things compared to when I was alone.

'Man, is this what feeling homesick felt like?' I asked myself with a sigh.

Somehow, when I thought of that possibility, my body finally relaxed. Of course, it wasn’t as if I could do something about my current situation. Because from what I could tell, I couldn’t possibly break free from these vines alone. And it was the same for the other captured monsters in this place.

'What in the world are these vines made of anyway?' I complained internally.

Looking carefully at the vines, it was clear that these things were already like this from the very beginning. Meaning, it wasn’t artificially created by those monsters and I even doubt that those monsters could create these things anyway. So, if that was the case, then those monsters must have harvested it from a plant somewhere. But…

'What kind of plant can create a vine as sturdy as this?'

While I was thinking of such useless things, I noticed that the monsters around me were starting to get agitated. But because the monsters were all bound just like me, all they could do was screech and writhe around in anger. Of course, I knew why, but I still didn’t join the bunch. I was a civilized perso— I mean, monster after all. A few moments after that, the reason for the monsters’ agitation appeared. And just like what I had deduced, our captors were also monsters just like us.

[Name: (Unnamed)]

[Status: Healthy]

That was the result of Assess. And from what I could tell, these monsters were some kind of an Ape Type monster. Though for some reason, the monsters’ limbs were strangely long and thin. Of course, it didn’t mean that their limbs looked weak because despite being thin, the limbs still looked quite muscular. Maybe, those limbs were more focused on flexibility rather than raw strength.

Upon seeing their captors casually walking past their cages, the monsters’ anger flared up and louder screech echoed all over the place. But the Banonos didn’t pay any attention to that. Instead, the Banobos started hopping over the lumber cages landing directly in front of the angrily screeching monsters one by one. Right after that, the Banobos started hauling the monsters on their shoulders and when a monster resisted, they would shut it up by hitting them with their fist.

The monsters let out a cry of pain. But despite seeing that, some monsters still tried to resist only to end up being dragged out anyway.

One by one, I watched as my fellow monster prisoners were dragged away to somewhere. Until finally, a Banobo hopped over my cage and landed in front of me. For a moment, I was conflicted about whether I should resist or not. After all, there was a chance that these monsters were treating us as stocked-up food and they only kept us alive because they wanted to eat something fresh. But ultimately, I decided against it since I didn’t stand a chance while being bound anyway. Besides, even if they were planning to eat us, I could probably still get a chance to escape once these monsters were about to eat me. I hope…

And so, I didn’t show even the slightest bit of resistance. At first, the Banobo was visibly stunned at my behavior. Surprisingly, the Banobo showed no signs of hurting me once I showed no signs of trying to resist. It looked like the Banonos were not a sadistic monster after all.

'Now, where are you taking me?' I asked internally.

Luckily, my worst guess that the Banobos was going to eat me didn’t come true. In fact, it was also the same for the other monsters. But the moment I realized what was about to happen, I became so astonished that my eyes almost popped out.