One-Eyed Monster

This... Kadi found Igor’s story unbelievable.

He had been on Guru Mountain for so long but had never paid close attention to what the singing Moonflow Stream was actually crooning about. Sometimes he would try to listen, but Moonflow Stream’s songs were always about the same few things: either stones discussing splashes of water or splashes of water counting stars. Anyway, Kadi listened and listened but couldn’t detect anything unusual.

Unlike Igor, who could always spot numerous oddities anywhere, anytime, and even describe them in such a mystical, exaggerated way.

In any case, Kadi’s expression clearly showed: I don’t believe a word you’re saying. Kadi simply didn’t believe the song was a trapping method; it was just an Illusion brought on by Igor’s extreme hunger. It seemed Igor was indeed starving.

At this thought, Kadi couldn’t help but put down the roasted sweet potato he had just picked up.

Kadi really couldn’t bear to snatch food from someone so hungry they were hallucinating. Igor was already starving to that extent; how could he not take care of him?

Now that I think about it, no wonder Igor didn’t move an inch when I went to find food earlier. So that was the result of hunger, not some deep concentration anticipating the singing river...

Kadi’s guess was proven by the way Igor ate. He wolfed down his food without a shred of elegance, which made Kadi quite uncomfortable. Although he had eaten with Igor before, Igor’s behavior had never been so unseemly. It seems that a person starving to the extreme can no longer care about their so-called image...

Igor’s story was unbelievable to Kadi, and Igor’s eating manners were shocking. However, Kadi didn’t know this was just the beginning; what Igor did next would truly make Kadi’s jaw drop.

The moonlight brilliantly illuminated the area in front of Igor. Kadi could clearly see Igor arrange the leftover fruit peels and bird eggshells neatly in front of himself.

Kadi, of course, couldn’t understand this behavior of Igor’s. He still thought Igor had gone mad from hunger and was doing some incomprehensible things.

After Igor had eaten his fill, he gave a satisfied belch, then, by the moonlight, began to examine the fruit peels and eggshells he had just arranged on the ground. He had arranged them very neatly, even meticulously sorted them into categories: sweet potato peels in one pile, yam peels in another...

As Igor looked, he swayed his fingers and muttered, ”One, two, three, four.”

Naturally, Kadi didn’t understand what Igor was saying. He wondered if Igor had become so hungry he was talking nonsense, that even the little Energy he had just replenished couldn’t save him...

Before Kadi could even react, Igor had stopped muttering. At that moment, he changed his posture. The hand that had been swaying was now propping up his chin, looking as if he were deep in thought.

Of course, Kadi had no idea what Igor was trying to express. He grew very worried. How could the perfectly normal Igor suddenly become so strange? Could hunger really possess such power? Or was the human constitution simply unable to withstand such a blow from starvation...?

”GASP...” Igor drew a sharp breath, as if he had discovered a very serious problem.

Kadi tilted his head, his large eyes unblinking. He really wanted to see what the human constitution was truly like, whether such hunger could make one extraordinary, and then cause a mutation.

Are you kidding me? I, Kadi, from Dawn Peak, have seen plenty of starving people. Igor doesn’t look like a fragile person at all. Fragile people recover after replenishing their Energy. So how could Igor be defeated by this bit of hunger? Even if he were defeated by this level of hunger, I, Kadi, will pull him back from it!

Kadi had already prepared himself for a struggle. The moment Igor opened his mouth, he would go all out. He focused his entire attention on Igor, just waiting for him to say, ”Kadi, save me! Hunger has stolen my mind! I’m not myself anymore...”

”Tsk, strange!” Igor, one hand propping up his chin, finally spoke. He even tilted his head to gaze at the starry sky, looking quite at ease.

Kadi was on pins and needles, ready for anything!

”Kadi!” Igor called out. Kadi leaned forward, poised for action!

”How many days has it been since we jumped down from Dawn Peak?”

”What?” Kadi, who had been all set, never expected Igor to ask *this*. He was caught off guard. His forward-leaning body was already tensed, and now, unable to check his momentum, he stumbled and fell flat on his face right in front of Igor with a THUD.

I braced myself for ages, and *this* is what you ask me?! Weren’t you supposed to be possessed by hunger? Shouldn’t you be pitifully begging me to save you? Why did you suddenly think of calculating the time?

Kadi was mortified. From Igor’s question, it was clear this fellow, having eaten his fill, had nothing better to do and had even started calculating time. He didn’t look like he’d been overcome by hunger at all. It seemed Kadi had completely overthought things. He no longer knew what Igor was up to—whether hunger had changed Igor, or if Igor had always been like this. He couldn’t tell anymore. Right now, he just wanted to be left alone. If there was a crack in the ground, he would have dived into it.

Because most of his worries had been completely unnecessary.

”We were in Ghost Wind Valley for two nights and one day. We left Ghost Wind Valley today, which makes it one more day and one more night. So, all together, that’s two days and three nights...” Igor counted meticulously on his fingers, completely ignoring Kadi, who was so embarrassed he wished the earth would swallow him up.

”That’s not right!” Igor muttered to himself, completely ignoring Kadi.

”You... what on earth are you trying to do!” Kadi asked helplessly, his face still pressed to the ground.

”I’ve discovered a serious problem, a very serious problem...”

”What are you talking about...”

”If I’m not mistaken, we’re losing time,” Igor said with a perfectly straight face.

”L-losing time?” Kadi shot up from the ground. Igor’s words were becoming increasingly bizarre; Kadi couldn’t keep up with his train of thought at all.

”That’s right. I just calculated; we’ve lost at least a day and a night.”

”What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think time is something you can hold in your hand, that you can just lose it?” Kadi fumed, his anger flaring up. Igor’s fantastic logic left him utterly speechless.

”Well, what do you think? Everything has a form, you know.”

”...”

”Look, it’s getting quite late, and we’ve lost another day and night. Our bodies definitely won’t be able to take it. So the most important thing right now is to rest!”

’What do *you* think?’ And ’rest’? This Igor must be completely mad! Kadi thought. I absolutely have to find a chance to teach this guy a lesson!

Igor finished speaking and promptly fell asleep, completely oblivious to the furious creature right in front of him.

Kadi had intended to pull Igor up and make him face reality, but for some reason, when Igor’s snores began to echo, Kadi suddenly felt all his strength leave him. His eyelids drooped, his body went limp, and he slumped to the ground, falling asleep as well.