Chapter 5: Fireflies
The humans were scared, but they left after a while, leaving the bodies of the dead in front of me.
What do I do? Do I stare at the body in front of me the entire time? I can close my eyes and not see things if I want to, but how long can I go without seeing things?
I would argue forever. Plants don't really need to see anything, do they? Still, I would love to look at things if I can. Otherwise… what's the meaning in having a life if I can't do anything with it?
In addition, these men who died, they were bad people. Even if they were taking revenge, they were the bad ones. So, I shouldn't feel bad about looking at the bloody scene in front of me… right?
God, how can people of this world be fine after seeing this every day? Limbs torn apart, heads crushed in, chests caved, entrails all strewn out, and blood all over the place.
Almost all of them had no faces to recognize by. Goddamn, that panda was brutal.
How the hell is he even that strong? Aren't men supposed to be stronger by comparison? Or were they just the weaker ones and the stronger ones have yet to come?
I feel tensed as all I can think about is the men and women we— the panda just saved dying elsewhere. I will pray for them, as that is all I can do.
I look in front again, and my mood immediately worsens as the thing I hate the most in the whole world arrives in front of me. Multiple ones as well.
Birds.
Argh, they're eating the dead men's corpse. Such disgusting creatures, can't even let a man die in peace.
About a meter tall, with brown feathers, a long white neck, a circular head, and a beak that was more orange than anything.
At first, I thought these were normal birds, some variety of vultures that came to feast upon dead meat. But it doesn't seem like it.
It can't be vultures. After all, since when did vultures have a snake growing out of their back instead of tailfeathers.
The birds I see have a greenish-brown snake coming out of their back that is also munching on the dead meat of the attackers.
What the hell am I looking at? That's not a bird, is it? I can't tell. Why does such a weird thing exist?
Or maybe it's not weird at all, but it's just my perception of them that is weird. I come from the earth, so anything that is not from the earth is weird to me. Hmm, maybe those are just normal birds in this world.
Well, in that case, I hate them. I hate them with all of my heart.
The birds come and go, same as the sun in the sky. Day passes one by one, and soon some time has passed once again.
How many days was it this time? 100? 200? Or maybe more. Why can I not tell? I can't even remember most of the days now.
How many days did the vultures come to eat the body? It felt like a single day, but that couldn't have been right. The bodies of the dead men have already been devoured, with not even bones remaining.
When was it all gone? I can only remember specific information. Information about things that had an impact on my day, changing it from mundaneness to adding a bit of spice to it.
Like the day I was cut down, the day I could see, the day I saw my black-haired Helper, the day the men bowed before me, the day I found the panda to be what I had wanted to be.
Besides that, I do not remember anything significant. And now, all I remember of these birds is that they ate the dead men.
I do not know when only that they did.
Now, my life has returned to being the same mundane… hm? Something is off. Something is different. Something has changed.
What's going on? I look around me, trying to find out when I suddenly realize… I'm not being eaten again.
The hell? The panda is not eating me anymore. How long has it been? When did it stop? And why the hell did I not realize it before?
I look up to see that the panda wasn't dead. It was breathing perfectly fine. Although, it did look to be in sleep. Was it hibernating? Wait, do panda bears hibernate at all?
Either way, I can finally grow. I can finally reach the heights I have never before.
My life goes on as simply as it always does. Only, the panda is no longer eating me now. I'm really happy.
As the days go by, I feel something weird happen to me. Something… is different about me.
I feel—for lack of a better word— energized. It's like everything my root is taking in is finally gathering inside me.
Even as night falls, I can see the area a bit more clearly than before. Also… hm? What's that? Are those… fireflies?
I see fireflies flying all around me. One of them decides to come close to me. They land on my skin and… huh? Where did they go? Where are the fireflies? Am I missing something?
I look around, the fireflies are still there. I tried calling them. As if they heard my inner thoughts, they slowly moved toward me.
And as I try to see them when they land on me, they disappear once again. Where the hell did they go?
Day and night, time passes again as the fireflies keep appearing around me, more and more, but I never get to really see them. Every time they get close to me, they disappear.
Still, I should be happy, right? I feel energized like I ate after a very long time. It's like… I can…
Oh no. All the good feelings that I was accumulating run out of me as I hear the munching sounds once again.
The panda woke up, and he's eating me again.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone