Isekai Lizardman Survival Log

I climbed an endless staircase in an equally endless darkness.

Despite the stark contrast, I looked around, taking in the warm light in my eyes.

The stairs, wide enough for even a giant to climb without issue, occasionally had side paths branching off, each leading to new staircases at their ends.

‘It’s been a while.’

Some call it the sanctuary of origin, others the hall of blessings, but many refer to it as the staircase of evolution.

This is my third time entering the [Sacred Realm], a place considered fortunate to reach even once in a lifetime.

Considering that my previous two experiences were when I faced life-threatening situations, was this recent injury more dangerous than I thought?

I stopped my busily moving legs and looked around.

The first time I came here, the stairs weren’t even half as wide as they are now, but now they’re broad enough to lie down on.

Of course, back then I was crawling on all fours like a lizard and was barely palm-sized, so they were wide even by those standards.

At that time, I was on the verge of freezing to death, so I was shocked thinking I had died, and desperately crawled up the stairs just in case.

It would have been easier if I had climbed on two feet back then, but because I thought I had been reincarnated as a lizard, I stupidly walked on all fours, making it difficult.

As I moved my legs to climb the stairs, I took in the side paths with my eyes.

The first time, I ignored them due to lack of leisure, and the second time, I didn’t step on them out of fear.

And now, on my third visit, I finally had the composure to look around.

I noticed the side paths scattered all around, each with its own color. Some were already disconnected, while others were precariously connected.

The stairs are the direction I’ll be heading, a kind of evolution route, you could say.

If I were to cross that reddish side path, I might be able to breathe fire like the old man, and if I took that bluish path, I might develop gills.

And this staircase I’m walking on now… well, honestly, I’m not sure.

I think it might be related to physical abilities, but I’m not certain because my current physical abilities are more like byproducts, if anything.

It would be more accurate to say that my body ended up this way as a result of my desperate struggle to survive.

I lowered my gaze and closely examined the plain white stairs.

While I could roughly guess the direction of the other stairs just by looking at them, I couldn’t tell with the one I was climbing, which was frustrating.

Of course, I wouldn’t choose a different path now, but aren’t you curious?

What lies at the end of these stairs?

Having already climbed them twice, I was even more curious since I couldn’t choose a different path.

Being a jack of all trades is just a nice way of saying master of none, so I was destined to climb these stairs to the end.

As I moved forward, the side paths connected to the surroundings began to crumble one by one.

I turned my gaze away from the collapsing side paths and abandoned temptation. I climbed the stairs with conviction about the direction I needed to go.

Trudge―

How long had I climbed? Due to my distorted sense of time, I wasn’t sure how long I had been moving.

Only when the glowing stairs around me had disappeared one by one did I see a brightly shining door at the end of the staircase.

The light, bright enough to envelop the surroundings, was not painful to the eyes but rather felt comforting.

Amidst the gradually returning sensations, I lifted my now heavier legs and stepped into the doorway.

Rustle rustle―

My ears felt muffled. I faintly heard a rustling sound, as if something was being cut.

I tried to open my eyes to assess the situation, but my eyelids wouldn’t budge, as if taped shut. When I tried to open my mouth, it remained tightly closed as if bandaged, and my body wouldn’t move, as if bound by spider webs.

Judging by the sensation of something covering my skin, I wasn’t paralyzed. As I tried to muster strength to tear whatever was binding my body―

“…Boss! Stay still!”

Reflexively, I relaxed my body upon hearing Chik-chik’s voice through my muffled ears.

Rustle― Rip―

With the sound of peeling off a shell, my eyelids opened. After blinking my stuffy eyes a few times, Chik-chik’s head came into clear view.

“Boss! We were so worried!”

I wanted to joke that there was no need to worry, but my lower jaw seemed stuck and wouldn’t move.

“Ah! Wait a moment!”

As if understanding my intentions, Chik-chik started peeling off the shell―molted skin―stuck to my lower jaw.

Rip―

It carefully removed the molted skin with its tiny hands and then climbed back up to my head.

“…Ah, ah.”

As I moved my jaw, freed from its constraint, an awkward voice escaped my mouth.

‘How much time has passed?’

My voice sounded hoarse and muffled. Only after loosening my completely stiff and awkward neck did my voice return to normal.

“Thanks, Chik-chik. Now I’ll handle the rest…”
“Stay still! Uncle Donovan told me to cut it off cleanly!”

What, is my molted skin more important than me?

Regardless of my bewildered look, Chik-chik started cutting the tough molted skin with a dagger in its hand.

It carefully cut the molted skin, seemingly trying to distinguish between the scale-covered back and the leather-covered front. After moving for a while, it struggled with the finger and toe parts, put down the dagger, and started biting and pulling with its front teeth.

Rip

As the molted skin covering my fingers and toes came off, I flexed my fingers to check the sensation. Meanwhile, Chik-chik pulled the molted skin off like taking off clothes.

Riiip

I suppressed a laugh as I watched Chik-chik proudly wave the cleanly removed molted skin, as if being rewarded for its hard work.

“Boss! How is it! Clean, right?”
“Yes, you did well.”

Thwack―

I gave a light tap on the tiny creature’s head and then rotated my shoulders to check my body’s condition.

The bones that had been cracked and broken in various places had healed cleanly, and the scales and skin that had been rotted and corroded were now smooth.

“Chik-chik. How long was I unconscious?”
“It’s only been a day…”

Chik-chik answered while rubbing its head, which had swollen as if a bump had formed.

‘A day…’

It’s much shorter than I thought.

I thought I had been lying down for at least a week since my voice was hoarse, but just a day?

While a day might be enough for scales and skin to shed, it seemed too short for bones to heal.

If that’s the case, the newly acquired ability must have had an effect.

‘This time it’s bones, huh.’

Whether the bones became stronger and healed, or if some other effect was applied and they healed, I’ll have to check later.

Hoping that this time too would be intuitive, I stood up. Chik-chik neatly folded the molted skin and climbed onto my shoulder.

“What about the old man?”
“The village chief went to check on the lake.”

The lake… I guess since there’s no one else but me and the old man who can check on the lake, he must have gone to do the hard work.

‘The fish-heads must be thrilled.’

Since they learn too, they must remember the old man’s face.

The corners of my mouth turned up as I imagined the fish-men going berserk.

“But, Boss. How did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Well, you know… that weird creature, whether it was an alligator or a turtle. Honestly, I thought we’d be lucky if you were just alive.”
“I got lucky.”

Yes, I was lucky. For whatever reason, it didn’t move from its spot, so I had a fighting chance.

If it had moved, I would have been forced into a fight several times harder. I might have been crushed before reinforcements even arrived.

“Really, when you were covered in blood, I was so shocked! But when I saw the monster, it was even worse than you!”

Chik-chik ranted while waving its tiny arms, but when the molted skin it was holding almost fell, it hurriedly hugged it preciously.

“Anyway! You’re really amazing! I would have been crushed in 1 second! And…”

-If it were Derek, wouldn’t the creature have let him go, thinking he wasn’t worth fighting?

I smiled bitterly at the unfiltered comment that would have made Derek wail and beat the ground if he had heard it.

It seems Chik-chik is still holding a grudge against Derek for recklessly challenging it despite being so small, and is particularly harsh on him.

“By the way, why did you save my molted skin?”

Actually, my molted skin isn’t anything special. Reptiles shed their skin many times, not just once or twice, but throughout their lives. What’s so special about the discarded shell in this process?

“Oh, this?”

Nevertheless, Chik-chik was hugging it preciously as if it were a treasure.

“Uncle Donovan said he’d make something if I brought it!”
“Did you ask him to make something?”
“No? He just told me to bring it.”
“…? He’s making you run errands without even telling you why? I didn’t think the uncle was like that.”

Chik-chik momentarily wore a stupid expression. Then, it glared at me with force in its eyes, as if saying, “You’re one to talk.”

Ignoring Chik-chik’s reaction, I patted its head with my tiny fist.

Feeling the slight impact of Chik-chik tapping my crown, I crossed the village.

Heading towards the still sparsely populated south, I saw Jamel sitting at his usual stall where only flies were buzzing.

When I casually waved at him as he looked this way, he threw an apple at me as if bothered.

I caught the baby apple he threw as a bonus and handed it to Chik-chik, who grabbed it with both hands and started munching.

Crunch―

I took a bite of the apple that still tasted like pineapple as I exited the south gate.

-I heard you were injured―! I’m glad you look healthy―!

“Ugh… My head feels like it’s ringing.”

I stroked Chik-chik, who was holding its head after being directly hit by Kart’s still booming voice, as I stepped towards the lake.

Tossing the remaining apple core into my mouth, I walked on the damp ground.

“I wonder where our old man is…”

As I arrived at the lakeside and looked around for a moment, a pillar of fire suddenly erupted from the middle of the lake.

The pillar of fire, which burst out as if a volcano had erupted, spewed out charred fish-men instead of rock fragments.

Tsk―

Our old man is too excited. He knows his body hasn’t fundamentally recovered and is just propped up by medicine, yet he’s overexerting himself like this.

“…The village chief still seems vigorous?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”

I grabbed a fish pushed by the aftershock and bit its head.

As I chewed the well-cooked flesh, bones and all, which was steamed through to the core like braised fish, I looked at the lake.

Like a fountain show, fish-men, charred black, flew up over the lake surface, seemingly excited by the pillars of fire rising from the lake.

Chik-chik, who had come down to my shoulder at some point, was also eating fish flesh while watching the fire pillar show on the lake.

“When do you think this will end?”
“Who knows…”

Probably not until the old man’s lung capacity is exhausted?

As I chewed on the tail with only bones left, I picked up another fish that had been pushed to shore.

The lakeside was now full of cooked fish. Most of the fish in the area must have died.

I absentmindedly stared at the pillar of fire and took a big bite, the well-cooked flesh rolling around in my mouth.

‘This year’s fishing industry is ruined.’