Cherreads

Chapter 19 - 18, are those... monkeys? (II)

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Reminder: You chose this. ────────────────────────

Si Hon approach the little girl.

"You. Made a mistake." He whispered softly.

But the girl smiled.

"Then command me again, Summoner."

Si Hon stared at her and smirked.

"I command you too..."

"Hehe." He smirked, sighs and scoffed.

"Aigo… nevermind."

"I feel bad… You know— nothing nvm."

"I guess I'll Just." Use you or command you if needed.

The words left Si Hon's mouth like a quiet promise to himself more than to the thing or girl, we don't know. in front of him.

The snow resumed falling.

sound returned.

The frozen wind began to move again, slicing across the mountainside and rustling the canvas of his tent. The world snapped back into motion, as if reality remembered it had a job to do.

"Oh look everything's normal again." he muttered.

Well the little girl simply stood there, hands still folded behind her back, white dress fluttering thinly against the cold. Not shivering. Not even reacting. Just watching him with a mirror like eyes that reflected the red safe-zone circle, the forest, and Si Hon himself like a painting.

Si Hon then looked down at his clothing, he exhaled sharply, rubbing at his face with a tired groan.

And only now, he noticed how ruined, disgusting, gross, dirty, beggar lookalike. He actually was.

His shirt was torn open across the ribs, the fabric shredded where the dragon/wolf whatever that thing was. Had slapped him yesterday. Half the cloth was stiff with dried blood. The cold bit directly at his skin each time the wind slipped under the ripped fabric.

"…Great," he muttered, voice flat. "I feel sexy. And foe sure this beat winter fashion. I love this."

He glanced around the safe zone and then spotted them.

A neatly folded pile of clothes beside the tent.

Clothes that were definitely NOT from his original world,

AND Clothes that were definitely NOT part of yesterday's single reward, but it was there, lying there.

Si Hon's eyes twitched.

"…Systemmy"

The window popped up immediately, smug as hell.

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It is one of your other rewards.

I simply waited for you to stop dying long enough to notice.

And I would like for you to not call me that Nickname, I already told you.

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"Sure."

Si Hon stared at the neatly folded clothes.

Then back at the system.

"…Are you a tsundere?"

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No.

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"I si… so you're a tsundere."

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No.

Stop.

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Si Hon snorted, grabbing the bundle.

Warm fabric. Dry. Surprisingly well-made like some kind of fur lined shirt, thick woven pants, and a scarf that looked like it came from a hunter tribe.

He took a look at the girl while stepping into the tent.

"Stay there," he muttered.

The girl nodded once, as if she'd been told to stand in a waiting room.

Inside the tent, Si Hon changed quickly, breathing a soft sigh at the warmth crawling over his bruised ribs. The clothes actually FIT. And they didn't itch. Whoever or whatever crafted them knew what was needed to survive this floor's environment.

He stepped back outside, pulling the scarf up around his neck.

"Okay," he said, slightly pulling his sleeves. "That's better."

He turned toward the little girl.

She was standing exactly where he left her, same posture, same blank expression. Her thin white dress fluttered in the wind, but she didn't flinch, didn't hug herself, didn't react at all.

"…You cold?" Si Hon asked.

A small pause.

She shook her head once.

"I don't feel cold," she said simply.

"…Do you feel anything?" he asked carefully.

She blinked slowly.

"…Not in the way you mean."

Si Hon exhaled through his nose.

"Right. Emotionless ice fairy. Got it."

He tugged his scarf tighter. "Anyway. Do you want clothes? Something warmer?"

Her head tilted.

"I do not require clothing."

"…Cool, that's— Great… Amazing yep… Totally normal."

The girl smiled politely.

"May we proceed, Summoner?"

Si Hon rubbed his temples.

"Yeah, yeah okay. Since you're… uh… here now… we should… yk. Try not to starve."

He pointed toward the forest.

The enormous snowy trees loomed like pillars, their branches heavy with snow and frost. Beyond them lay twists of mountain paths, hidden predator dens, frozen rivers buried beneath layers of snow like an entire ecosystem built to kill anything that wasn't born here.

The wind hissed faintly through the branches, bringing with it the distant echo of something massive moving… something that didn't care it was morning.

Si Hon swallowed hard.

"…We need food," he said quietly.

"And water. And firewood."

The girl stepped up beside him, snow parting for her bare feet.

"I will follow," she said.

"Right," Si Hon replied.

"I'm your summoner, aren't I?"

She nodded once.

"Then follow me," Si Hon said, voice steadying.

"And don't… randomly evaporate stuff unless I ask. Okay?"

Her eyes brightened faintly— not with emotion.

But with a mechanical acknowledgment.

"Understood."

Si Hon stared out at the forest.

The trees shifted. Something howled in the far distance.

The wind carried the smell of ice and something faintly metallic— blood, maybe. Old or fresh, he couldn't tell.

Si Hon inhaled deeply.

"…Okay. Let's go."

And the summoner with torn ribs and borrowed clothes stepped past the edge of the safe zone into a world that hated him with a little girl who granted consequences trailing silently behind him.

The red circle flickered once.

The forest exhaled.

And The Day One truly began.

The moment Si Hon's boot crossed the invisible line, the red circle disappeared behind him.

Not faded or dissolved.

Snapped. As if the world hates him.

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Good luck don't dying.

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The air changed instantly.

Inside the safe zone it was quiet, muted, almost breathable.

Outside the forest inhaled.

A deep, groaning shift rolled through the snowy pines,

branches creaking, ice sliding off bark, something massive brushing against a trunk far, far away.

Crunch.

A rustle.

Then another crunch.

The girl beside him didn't react, but Si Hon felt it.

That prickling, crawling sensation on the back of his neck.

Something was watching him.

Not moving toward him.

Not fleeing.

Just… watching. Following his steps from somewhere beyond the white curtain of the snowfall mountain.

He tightened his scarf.

"…shiver my timbers. Not creepy at all."

The girl looked up at him blankly.

"Is something wrong, Summoner?"

"Nah," Si Hon muttered.

"Just the forest staring at me like I'm a food."

She nodded as if that was normal.

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Area: Snowfall Mountain

Currently in First Floor Ecosystem

(A quiet hell designed to starve and freeze intruders.) ────────────────────────

The forest was not just snowy trees.

It breathed.

Snowfall Mountain was alive. Built on layers of predators that hunted in rotation like a living schedule.

The morning belonged to the soundless stalkers. The Pale Fangs, wolf-like shapes camouflaged perfectly in snow, leaving no footprints. They watched more than they attacked.

Mid day belonged to the silent gliders.

Shadowy owl-like shapes that perched on trees and blinked without sound.

And then there were the things that didn't follow schedules— the watchers.

The ones Si Hon kept feeling.

They moved between the trees, too tall to be animals, too quiet to be normal. He'd seen one once when he woke up last night.

Just a shape. And two glowing eyes in the dark.

He tightened his grip on his makeshift stick-spear.

"…Focus. Food first."

***

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Hours Later

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"Shut up…"

Si Hon was on his knees, rummaging under a bush.

He looked like a homeless raccoon foraging for spare food in a trashcan.

"Berry… berry… berry… Oh thank god A BERRY!!!!"

He plucked the tiny cluster of deep blue berries, brushing snow off them. They were cold, firm, and had that little frost sheened texture the system labeled as.

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Frostbite Berries

Nutritional value: low

Potential poison: 3%

Edible: yes

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"Three percent chance of dying," Si Hon muttered.

"Those are… honestly better odds than my life so far."

The girl watched him crouch in the snow, her expression unchanged.

"You are inefficient at gathering sustenance," she observed calmly.

"Thank you," Si Hon said flatly. "I love morale boosters."

He stuffed the berries into his mouth fast.

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Next Problem. Hehe. Water

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"Yes… I KNOW!"

Si Hon froze.

"…I don't have a bottle."

He looked at the snow in his hand.

"…I don't trust that."

He turned around, scanning the area, then spotted a tree with large, broad leaves heavily frosted but intact.

He snapped one off.

It was tough, thicker than normal leaves, almost leather like and faintly waxy perfect for not tearing.

He shaped it into a crude bowl with shaking fingers.

The girl watched.

"You are… crafting a container?"

"Yes," Si Hon said.

"I call this… not dying."

He scooped snow into the leaf bowl and held it near his breath to warm it— slow, miserable, but effective.

Cold water finally formed.

His hands shook as he drank.

The girl tilted her head.

"Your survival instincts are primitive."

"Your feedback is so helpful," he wheezed.

"And yet," she added, "you have survived until now."

"…Barely," he muttered.

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Something Moves.

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A branch snapped— loud.

Too heavy for a wolf.

Too slow for a bird.

Si Hon froze.

The trees in the far distance shifted.

Snow dripped from a high branch.

The girl turned slightly, eyes narrowing not emotionally, but like a machine adjusting its sensors.

"Its watching us again," she said.

Si Hon swallowed.

"…Yeah. I noticed."

He tightened his grip on his stick.

"Let's move. Slowly."

The girl nodded.

Snow crunched under Si Hon's boots.

Snow did not crunch under hers.

The watcher followed.

Quiet. Patient. Waiting for the night.

And Si Hon weak, hungry, ribs aching, walked deeper into the white forest.

Day One had teeth.

And it wanted him.

***

They walked for another hour, the girl silently following behind him like some polite kid, while Si Hon scanned every direction like a cctv.

Then he heard it. A running water.

A faint trickle beneath the wind.

"…River?" he whispered.

He followed the sound until they reached a narrow frozen stream, its surface cracked in thin jagged lines. Beneath it clear water flowed slowly.

Si Hon exhaled in relief.

"Oh thank god… actual water."

He kneeled, hands on the ice.

The girl spoke. "It may be unstable."

"It's fine," Si Hon muttered confidently,

right before the ice made a sound the window popped up.

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You idiot.

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CRRRRAAACK!!!

"Oh fu—"

The entire sheet dipped.

Si Hon's right foot shot forward. left foot backward.

Then he fell.

"SPLASH!!!"

A perfect fall straight into the shallow stream. Cold water exploding upward, soaking his pants, his shirt, everything.

The girl watched him flail like a dying fish.

He then resurfaced with a gasp.

"ahhhh!!!!! It's so cold!!!! Ahhh fuckkk what the fuck!!!!"

The girl stepped closer.

"Summoner," she said calmly, "you are… wet."

"…Thank you." Si Hon then dramatically slapped the water.

"Thats So Helpful."

She offered no assistance.

Just stared.

Si Hon dragged himself out, trembling violently, teeth chattering.

He hugged himself.

"I'm gonna die from embarrassment…"

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As if you get embarrassed.

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"Oh you got me. Lol"

Still shivering, he crouched again, broke a smaller piece of ice, and scooped actual clean water into his leaf-bowl.

He drank, muttering curses under his breath.

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HOURS LATER

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"Why the hell do you keep doing that?" Si Hon shouted.

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Cus it's funny lol. ┐⁠(⁠ ̄⁠ヘ⁠ ̄⁠)⁠┌

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Si Hon clicked his tongue.

Then he walked, ate more berries along the way.

walked the found another edible root.

And more walk.

The sun above the clouds dipped without warning.

And then. The world dimmed.

Not slowly, not softly.

Just night.

Si Hon blinked up at the sky.

"Wait— what? It was noon? HELLO???"

He looked around wildly.

"…Did the day just— skip!??"

The girl nodded.

"This floor experiences accelerated dusk."

"How'd yk? Well. Okay. That's gre—"

The a sound cut through him.

A deep, guttural hoooohhhhh.

Not a howl.

Not a growl.

A vibration. A sound the snow itself seemed scared of.

Si Hon froze.

The girl looked toward the treeline.

"They arrive."

Si Hon turned, very slowly.

The forest shifted.

Snow fell from branches in heavy sheets.

Something massive moved between the trees.

Then another.

Their silhouettes broke the tree line, towering gray furred shapes, shoulders wider than bodybuilder's. bodies hunched like a monstrous gorillas.

Their fur was matted with frost. And their arms were long enough to drag across the ground and their breath misted like a steam steam…

Some carried a crude wooden bat, huge, spiked, handmade from torn tree bark and bone.

And their eyes. Its black with a ring of faint blue light.

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The MUNCHES.

Survival rate: 0%

Run… Si Hon Run!!! They'll play with you but at least there's a chance! Now!

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"You know I can't do tha—"

Then the first one stepped forward, sniffing the air.

And then it spoke. In a voice far too human.

"HHHHhhhoooom… Little Human… We found you again…"

Si Hon's body twitch.

"haha… nah." he whispered.

Another MUNCH leaned its massive face down, grinning with teeth like cracked stone.

"You smell… tired…"

"Uh… I'm tired." Si Hon answered.

Then the third chuckled, its voice deep and rumbling like an engine failing.

"Hehehe… Run for us… We like when you run…"

Si Hon's eyes twitch. "Haha… sure? WOHO. Shiver mi timbers." he then placed a hand on his both knees and started shuffling them annoyingly.

The girl beside him didn't look scared.

Didn't even blink.

She whispered calmly "Summoner. Your heartbeat is elevated."

"what? It's not…"

All three MUNCHES exhaled.

A low, hungry chorus sound.

"Niight… Run… Time…"

Their bats hit the snow at once—

THUD. THUD. THUD.

And the forest echoed their laughter.

————

Author notes. Let's Make a Window for Munches and what they look like okay.

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NEW THREAT DETECTED

Analyzing… Processing…

Warning: Mental stability may decrease. ────────────────────────

[ M U N C H E S ]!!! Original character by OppaiGods.

Classification: Aberrant Primates

Type: Stalker-Class Predator

Disposition: Enthusiastically Hostile

Descriptions: Massive, gray furred creatures resembling gorillas twisted with unnatural proportions.

Arms: Extremely long, capable of dragging across the snow.

Strength: Excessive and unfair.

Intelligence: Questionably average like a 6-7 years old kid.

Vocal Ability: Unfortunately capable of speech.

Behavioral Notes: here!

1 Do not simply kill prey.

2 They enjoy psychological harassment.

3 will follow targets for hours or days.

4 Consider fear reactions as entertainment.

5 Frequently carry improvised bone and wood clubs.

Survival Ranking: if your here.

You : definitely 1/10

Them : 9.9/10

Me : yk I'm just him so 10/10

Additional Warning:

If they begin laughing yu shall Run. Well to bad they find that amusing too.

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End of report. By OppaiGods system.

Good luck cya next chapter.

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