Reincarnated as a Land Shark???

Chapter 32: Sharkbait

Poof another chapter

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Instead of the long relaxing exploration I had planned yesterday evening, I spent the vast majority of it in troubled thought and my dreams that night were of a similar tone. When it comes down to it, even though I've lived in this world for what feels like so long now, I know next to nothing about it. Even tiny gelatinous creatures like slimes have such a complex society and culture while the bigger, more powerful creatures live like animals, myself included. While this is the case in my original world as well, considering how ill-adapted to the wild humans are in comparison to the animals that live there, it's easy to see where humans evolved from and how we got to the level of advancement we did. While I can somehow construct a theoretical image in my mind of how slimes might exist in complex societies, it's still mind-boggling to think about and even more surprising to find them here when even the humans have long since fled.

As for why they're leaving offerings... well, I already know the possibilities, and I don't particularly like them. The fact that I'm a reincarnated person indicates that there is some form of afterlife, and if there is an afterlife then it's not that far of a stretch to think that a god really does preside over it. I don't know anything about that god. I don't know if there are one or many, if they are kind or fickle and cruel. I don't know how they handle worship and blasphemy, or their ways in this world. Even if the slimes are making offerings to me in that manner instead of to get me to lower my guard with them, I don't know whether or not a god will take offense to me accepting these offerings and what kind of actions they might take against me if so. I don't really feel like getting smited after surviving for so long over something like this.

No matter the context behind the offerings, I feel like I should think about moving on soon. There must be other places for me to stay while levelling up, and it'll probably be good for me to get on the road in any case.

Working my jaw in the motion of a yawn, I swim my way out of my house and into the light of day.

It's still before noon, but I stayed underwater for far longer than I usually would instead of hunting first thing in the morning due to a cross between laziness and unease.

Where should I go to hunt today?

I'm probably more likely to find strong prey in areas that I haven't explored yet unless I'm willing to target that spider, which seems unwise at the moment. Its presence is likely keeping other monsters out of the area. I could go and explore that game trail, or I could go towards that rocky area, but for now the rocky area seems to be the home of the goats and too close to where the slimes live. One more day of heading to the darker area of the forest can't hurt, and if I venture around the spider's area of activity I might find something else to fight.

Not to mention I'm more likely to run into Ladra if I go that way. I need to learn more about what those slimes want with me, and Ladra and his ever-changing retinue are probably going to be my best bet at learning about them.

Suddenly, something catches my eye. There's a large chunk of something floating around beneath the surface of the water, surrounded by a tinge of red.

What in the...

I swim up closer to it and notice a white line holding it up, a massive stone hook-like thing punched through the object. Now that I get a closer look at it... isn't this a fishing line, hook, and bait?

I swim around it in a circle curiously, sizing it up. Man, what a chunk of meat! I didn't think fish ate red meat; especially the tiny freshwater kind. And this hook and line, while not well made are certainly durable. The hook in particular looks really nasty. I wouldn't want to get skewered on that if I were a fish.