Short, Light, Free

Chapter 164: The Book of Revelation

 

I started approaching the monkeys, but when I was about 15 meters away, three of them climbed down the tree and started running over, intimidating me with shrieks.

They reminded me of that particular monkey that trampled on my foot.

Just thinking about it made me ache so I retreated.

Upon seeing me withdraw, the monkeys opened up their arms and started to move toward me more slowly.

Their shrieks got louder and I was effectively frightened.

There really was no way for us to communicate and it was not like I was able to bite back.

What would I do if they attacked?

I could only retreat further as they inched closer.

I understood that I had already revealed my limitations at the start.

If I hadn’t allowed that monkey to step on me, I might’ve still been able to intimidate them.

I moved about 30 meters back and the three monkeys swayed crazily back to their tree.

They behaved as if they had just won a war.

I stood rooted on the ground, frightened out of my wits.

What was I going to write on the booklet with to get rid of all these stupid monkeys?

Blood?

I looked at my fingers, not knowing which one to bite.

What if it doesn’t work?

Aliens? Game? Few hundred test subjects?

How was I supposed to solve this problem?

Was I to tame these monkeys?

If I did manage to do that, were they going to turn into bears or even lions the next day?

Were these aliens aiming to test our abilities?

You’ve sought out the wrong person, I’m sorry.

I can’t even solve this monkey business.

I looked on as the monkeys crowded merrily around the tree while I had nothing.

How are we different? I have brains.

Isn’t it? More than them at least?

I’ll do it in the night if I can’t do it in the day.

I eyed the tree. There were two apples and an orange hanging off a particularly droopy branch.

I decided to wait for them to fall asleep before making a move.

The sky gradually darkened and I realized how wrong my belief was.

The monkey trio was taking turns guarding me.

When one got tired, the other would take over.

They never let their guard down so how was I supposed to go against them?

Run faster? Pluck and run?

I have two legs, they have four.

Can I be faster than them?

This place is small so they’re going to be able to surround me in no time.

Will I need a vaccine if bitten or clawed by them?

There’s no way. I’m going to sleep.

I yawned and passed out soon enough.

When I woke up, I noticed something covering my head.

I got up and took a look.

That bunch of monkey had actually plucked a section of branches for me…

I looked at the tree and made contact with them.

They were shrieking as usual.

There were a few apples on the branches so I started eating.

I should be smarter than them, yet I had no idea when they came over to my side.

The tree inevitably provided limited supply. I plucked off excess branches to form a stick.

I started digging a hole in the ground and planted the apple that I had just finished.

This way, I would have something to eat when their tree was cleaned up.

Monkeys were curious creatures. The moment I planted the seed, they came running over.

They upturned the soil, fulfilled their curiosity, and stuffed them back.

I could only look on helplessly.

I had planned to tame them, but it seemed like I was the one getting tamed, instead.

Days passed and these monkeys gave me a section of branches once in two days.

There were all kinds of fruits, and I planted all of them after eating.

I also started recording the weather upon discovering that it varied over time.

There would be an hour of rain after three sunny days.

The rain was automated; it drifted from the extreme left to right each time.

The piece of cloud responsible for the rain would move from side to side once in three days.

Plants grew extremely quickly. They also replenish once in three days.

The 30 monkeys would never run out of food, and the apples that I had planted started to sprout.

I counted the days and realized that almost a month had passed.

A day felt like a year.

The monkeys had a big tree and I had a small one of my own.

The monkeys and I co-existed in peace; they saw me as an outsider but not a bad person.

One day, when it was about time to rain, I was awakened by a clap of thunder.

The monkeys were howling madly.

I got up and saw that the cloud had passed the big tree and the tree was on fire.

One monkey on the ground was set ablaze, half its body burned black.

I ran over at top speed to examine the injured monkey.

I could see the lightning trace on its body.

The other monkeys started shrieking but I did not care.

I learned about heart and lung recovery in university.

Despite my attempt to resuscitate the monkey, it did not react.

The onlooking monkeys tugged at my shirt as if realizing that I was of no use.

“Do you want him to get better!” I roared.

“To get better!”

“Better!”

…

They seemed to have been sedated by my voice.

A burning section of branches fell and flashed across my eyes.

It was coal black.

I rushed over and opened my booklet.

The branch was scalding hot but I bore with it.

“Return the monkey back to normal.”

The moment I finished writing, the words rose into the sky and vanished.

A green light appeared on the book and shot toward the monkey.

The monkey’s wounds started to heal.

After a few coughs, he was magically revived.

My jaw dropped in disbelief as the monkeys stared at me, mirroring my expression.

The page that I had used turned black.

I wrote on the next page, “Extinguish the fire.”

Neither the words nor the fire disappeared.

I inspected the book closely and noticed that the golden LV1 at the side had turned black.

Was there a cooling period?

I recalled the instruction previously written in the booklet.

The level of completeness depends on my level?

I could only use it once over a period of time because of my level.

The flame was still burning the tree at this point.

I pointed at the tree and yelled at the monkeys, “Why are you looking at me? Extinguish the fire!”

“Extinguish the fire!”

“Fire!”

…

The monkeys continued looking at me. The one that I had just revived simply held onto my thigh tightly.

My status had been upgraded significantly.

An hour and a half later, the tree was completely burned.

The monkeys crowded around and looked at me obediently.

The tree was gone but I had the monkeys and over 10 fruit trees.