041-060 · 044-ch38

Chapter 38: Laws and Discovery

The day after I witnessed the giant creature dwelling in the desert from afar, my journey took me into the mountains.

While I had seen them from a distance, understanding the terrain was far more difficult than it had been on flat ground.

Unfortunately, I'm not so familiar with mountains that I could grasp their structure just by looking at them from afar.

"Would someone who likes mountain climbing be able to tell?"

>>I like climbing, but I don't have that superpower

>>But I probably understand more than the average person

>>I wouldn't know exactly, but I could tell that the back slope looks steep

>>Mountain formation is a natural phenomenon, so if you know that, you'd understand—that's the theory anyway

"So even mountain experts can't tell that easily."

I'm currently getting lost because I've entered the mountains.

Moreover, unlike the artificial forests found in Japan on Earth, this is a natural forest where various types of trees grow wildly, making it difficult to walk with giant tree roots spreading across the ground.

Still, I'm forcing my way through, and my physical ability lets me overcome moderate slopes, so I can keep moving forward—but would an ordinary person be devoured by these mountains the moment they stepped inside?

This is the real deal, a genuine mountain forest completely different from the half-hearted woods you see during normal walks.

Since stepping into it, I've been continuously feeling the grandeur and terror of nature.

"Mountains are amazing. No wonder people get lost in them."

>>Even experienced hikers get lost

>>Everything starts looking the same

>>Honestly, walking through that looks scary

>>There's this terrifying feeling like you'll be sucked in

>>I used to play in the mountain behind my house, but this is completely different...

>>Is John lost by any chance?

"No need to guess—I'm definitely lost. Well, more like I can't grasp the direction to move, so I'm aiming for the summit for now. Also, the artificial forests in Japan on Earth and the primeval forests here are completely different things, so even if you came here, don't enter casually. You'll really get lost."

>>We can't go there in the first place though

>>True, from the summit it would be easier to decide which direction to go

>>What's the difference between artificial and primeval forests?

>>But any explorer who could reach that point would be as strong as John, so wouldn't they be fine?

>>Artificial forests are woods created by humans cutting down mountain trees and replanting them. Primeval forests are forests that formed naturally before that, with trees growing wherever they want. These two have completely different properties. By the way, Japan barely has any primeval forests left. Probably only places like Yakushima.

>>Thanks, Knowledgeable Bro

I'm grateful that when these terms come up, there are people in the comments who explain them without me having to answer.

Apparently this can be disliked in other streams, but it makes streaming easier for me, so I don't particularly scold them and just let them do it.

"Hup, haah, there."

『Bawooooorrrr...』

"Sorry, Robo. This is a bit hard for you to climb."

『Awoo』

As the summit approaches, the slope gradually gets steeper.

Normally when climbing mountains like this, people probably zigzag their way up, but unfortunately, there's no such fancy path in this wild mountain.

So, I have no choice but to climb by grabbing onto cliff-like spots and pulling on ropes I've thrown around trees.

"Hah, there. Is this the summit...? Probably looks like the summit."

>>Can't see anything but trees, lol

>>Is there no tree line? Or is the elevation not that high?

>>You're gonna fail at finding the path from the summit

>>What are you gonna do?

In response to the questions in the comments, I answer by materializing a one-handed sword from the bracelet on my wrist.

"I'll do this."

I wrap my sword in a blade of magic power and spin around once with a whoosh.

I mow down the trees growing around me.

It's the summit, so I'm sorry, but please forgive me for the sake of opening up the view.

>>Isn't that too much brute force!?

>>What happened to the precious primeval forest

>>As expected, humanity is selfish, must destroy (with a sense of mission)

>>You should just use magic to fly

>>You cut the surrounding trees, but there are still ones growing from below so you can't see much

"Humanity conquers nature, after all... Seriously though, I don't like solving everything with magic. Yesterday I could have chased those monsters with magic, but that would lack atmosphere, right? I want to base things on my own feet. So here too, instead of flying with magic, I'm going with clearing the summit to secure visibility."

While going down and up a bit, I cut down the surrounding trees to clear the summit and secure the view from the top.

After a while, the view of the surroundings from the summit improved.

"Finally, I can see properly."

>>When I watch climbing videos, there are no trees on the summit, so why are there trees there?

>>The mountains just keep going on forever

>>So you'll keep walking through mountains this time?

>>Just the same scenery again...

>>Mountains without trees on the summit have their peaks above the tree line, where trees can't grow. Conversely, mountains with low peaks often have trees growing on the summit too

"Thanks, Knowledgeable Bro. Anyway, I'm going to move from here, but there's a presence I'm kind of curious about. So I'll head in that direction."

>>Knowledgeable Bro got acknowledged

>>Waaah, ah...

>>I'm crying

>>Why so pure???

>>What do you mean by presence you're curious about?

"Hmm... It's like a vague presence, or rather. It's like there's one strange out-of-place feeling in the middle of where mountains should continue. This is the only thing that's hard to explain because it's based on intuition."

It's not something that can be clearly verbalized.

Just that there seems to be something.

Or rather, because something seems to be absent, that unnaturalness makes it seem like something is there.

It's hard to explain, but that's the feeling.

For now, I'll walk toward that direction.

From what I can see, it seems to be the direction where somewhat steep mountains continue.

"Well then, I'm starting to move again."

With those parting words, I walk back into the primeval forest.

Sometimes jumping over tree roots, sometimes leaping from rock to rock.

The sight of giant boulders supported by tree roots—I really love how it makes me feel the power of nature.

As I repeat this movement, I gradually start feeling a chill.

"It's gotten kind of cold. Robo, how about you?"

『Bawoo, wurrrrr...』

While taking out a coat from my luggage and putting it on, I ask Robo, and he gives an ambiguous response—he's on guard but doesn't know what it is.

By the way, I'm not wearing a cloak like when I went to the World Tree before because I thought it would be a bit obstructive for walking through primeval forests.

Instead, the coat I'm wearing now allows for somewhat easier movement.

>>John can feel cold?

>>Doesn't that change even when explorers level up?

>>Is the natural environment tougher than monsters?

>>Rather, be careful not to freeze to death. Mountain nights are cold

"Thanks for worrying about me. Let me say this—when your level goes up, your cold resistance does increase to some extent. But the sensation doesn't change. While the temperature tolerance where your fingers get numb or you get frostbite changes, the sensation of feeling cold doesn't change. So right now, I'm cold as a sensation, but physically there's no problem at all."

In this area, I basically follow my sensations when layering or removing clothes because it would be problematic if my senses bugged out.

After all, it's not that my metabolism increased and I became resistant to cold but weak to heat due to improved physical abilities, but rather that my durability increased normally, making me able to handle both heat and cold.

So to put it extremely, I could wear short sleeves and shorts year-round in Japan, but if I did that, I might fail to perceive the temperature at which my body actually suffers harm due to the gap between sensation and actual temperature.

Therefore, when it's cold, I wear thick clothes like an ordinary person, and if I'm still cold, I recognize it as "ah, this is cold enough to affect even my body."

After continuing to walk for a while.

The cold I feel keeps intensifying, and I keep putting on more mantles and thick explorer jackets to match.

"This is strange. There's definitely something here."

『Bawoo』

Robo agrees with me.

>>What do you mean by something?

>>How can you tell that?

>>What's strange about it?

>>Robo's cute as always

Yes, Robo is cool yet cute.

I agree with that.

That aside.

"The world beyond the dungeon seems to function quite properly according to the laws of physics, but it's also a world where different laws work alongside physical laws—like magic and magic power. So if something physically strange happens in such a world, you can tell it's due to something other than the laws of physics."

For example, on Earth, could the temperature in the middle of a Tokyo intersection in midsummer suddenly drop below freezing?

Normally, you'd think not.

Because that's physically impossible.

For the thermal energy that definitely exists there to disappear is impossible according to the laws of physics.

Of course, it might not be impossible with machines, but setting that aside.

However, in this dungeon world, such things can happen.

Because apart from the laws of physics, there exists magic that utilizes a special energy called magic power.

Using magic, you could skew the distribution of molecules that are currently in vigorous motion, or replace them with air whose energy is extremely low from a distant place.

Furthermore, at the point where there's an energy called magic power whose compliance with the first law of thermodynamics is unclear, you could even say that the laws of physics aren't fully established.

Just the existence of that magic power could create distortions in physical phenomena.

Or rather, I actually know that this happens.

And if it's not the laws of physics, that means you can speculate that something related to magic power is at work.

"In this case, no matter how mountainous the area is, it's strange for it to get this cold so rapidly. The elevation hasn't changed much either. Which means, something. For example, cold air might be blowing out from somewhere, or snow might be falling locally, or perhaps—"

Right at that moment, as I climb onto a rock, my view opens up.

"—perhaps, there's something covered in ice."

There, surrounded by steep mountains, a single city existed—covered in giant ice.