“Whew, another tough day.”

As the girl wandered through the forest, gathering firewood for her stove, she wiped the sweat off from her forehead and murmured, “Come to think of it, it has been about two years since I woke up here.”

In this place devoid of  calendars and any way to gauge the passage of time, the girl kept track of the days diligently, and today marked exactly two years since she first opened her eyes here.

“At that time, I was worried about whether I could survive here safely.”

However, two years proved to be enough time for the girl to adapt to this unfamiliar place.

She suddenly remembered the day she first opened her eyes here.

With her shining silver hair and clear blue eyes, the girl possessed a remarkably striking appearance. Her name was Leciel, and she turned 10 this year.

But originally, she was just an ordinary twenty-something civilian living in South Korea.

She just woke up one day, and here she was.

Whether Leciel was reincarnated here or transmigrated, she didn’t know.

She had no memories whatsoever.

All that remained in her mind was the fact that her name was Leciel and that this place was a monster forest.

However, with only that amount of information, it was woefully insufficient for surviving in this unfamiliar world.

But Leciel, being resilient like a true Korean, managed to survive here unscathed for a whole two years.

Her knowledge gained from studying architecture and what she had accumulated for over 24 years played a significant role.

“At that time, it was just a simple curiosity.”

She had always enjoyed trying new things and gaining experience, but what she had learned in Korea seemed useless until she arrived here, where they proved to be extremely helpful.

If not for those skills, she might have perished long ago.

Fortunately, in this forest full of monsters, there were scattered treasures resembling items necessary for human survival. She didn’t know why those things were there.

But regardless of the reason, even though she managed to live self-sufficiently, there were things she couldn’t obtain, and she was worried about how to get them. In a moment of concern, the discovery of those items was truly a miraculous event, akin to Columbus discovering the New World.

“Well, shall we head back now?”

Even though there was a mountain of things to do, she couldn’t wander around collecting firewood forever.

The sun was already setting, and it would soon be night if more time passed.

As Leciel hurriedly walked home, carrying the firewood she had gathered from the forest, she heard a rustling sound.

Since she was the only human here, the owner of the sound she heard must be a monster.

Leciel’s body tensed up.

Moments later, a monster appeared through the trees.

Despite its massive size, it had adorable rabbit ears and a fluffy tail.

Leciel breathed a sigh of relief upon confirming the identity of the monster.

“Hello, Mimi.”

Leciel greeted the monster, whom she had given a name to as friendly as she would to an old friend.

In response to her greeting, Mimi perked up her ears as if in reply.

Leciel chuckled at her adorable appearance.

“How nice would it be if only cute monsters like Mimi lived in this forest.”

During her two years living in the forest, Leciel encountered numerous monsters. Among them were cute creatures resembling animals like Mimi, but there were also monsters that looked terrifying like those in fantasy novels.

For Leciel, who disliked gruesome things and couldn’t even watch horror movies, it was a terrible ordeal.

Nevertheless, the fortunate thing was that they didn’t attack her.

Initially, when she first encountered monsters, she trembled in fear, thinking she might be killed.

There was no one to help her here, and despite having plenty of general knowledge, she didn’t know how to fight monsters.

However, for some reason, the monsters Leciel encountered didn’t attack her.

They displayed friendliness akin to petting instead of attacking her.

Moreover, the monsters who were friendly to Leciel would step forward to help her if she needed assistance.

At first, due to the lack of smooth  communication with the monsters, she didn’t realize they were trying to help her, and in reality, their help wasn’t significant.

“What could I possibly expect from monsters.”

The greatest help monsters could offer her was not killing her.

That alone was enough.

“Are you doing well?”

With a guarded expression, Leciel asked Mimi for news as if asking about an old boyfriend.

As there had been no response for a while, Leciel diligently tried to  communicate with Mimi.

Otherwise, she had no one else to talk to.

Although there was no response coming back, it was still better to have someone to talk to than talking to herself.

Of course, sometimes she worried that she had come to the point of having conversations with monsters, but what could she do?

If she didn’t do that, she might forget how to speak or go insane.

Still, she didn’t speak to inanimate objects out of a sense of dignity.

“Okay, okay. Nothing happened.”

Interpreting Mimi’s lack of response, Leciel nodded her head.

“By the way, would you mind carrying this firewood?”

As the weather had become noticeably colder recently, Leciel had gathered more firewood than usual, and they had become too heavy for her to carry.

However, Mimi didn’t understand Leciel’s words and simply circled around her.

Leciel decided to resort to body language, the universal language. She tapped the firewood she was holding and then pointed to Mimi, indicating that she should carry it, then gestured towards her home.

Thankfully, Mimi seemed to understand Leciel’s words.

Extending her large but short front legs, Mimi took all the firewood Leciel was holding.

Then, as if to say, “Get on,” Mimi lowered her body slightly in front of Leciel.

Her wagging tail seemed to urge Leciel to get on quickly.

“Is it … okay?”

Despite their familiarity, Mimi was a monster after all. So, Leciel hesitated for a moment.

If by any chance this was a trick to lull her into complacency or if Mimi intended to kidnap her … well, it didn’t matter. After all, it was the monster forest.

And if Mimi really wanted to do that, Leciel had no ability to defend herself.

So Leciel climbed onto Mimi’s back obediently.

After that, Leciel experienced hell.

“I must be crazy!”

She had forgotten that Mimi could jump like a rabbit!

Thanks to Mimi’s fast movement, Leciel’s expression turned from excitement to terror in an instant.

Moreover, Mimi was incredibly fast.

It felt like jumping on a fast-moving train.

Still, Leciel managed to arrive home safely, albeit feeling like she had just been on an amusement park ride.

After arriving at her home, Leciel didn’t forget to thank Mimi.

Whether Mimi understood her thanks or not, Mimi blushed shyly and bowed her head in response.

“In this world, I might be the only human who receives a 90-degree bow from a monster. Probably.”

The sun rose again.

Awakening from her slumber with the warm sunlight, Leciel momentarily wore an expression of an elderly sage who had seen everything.

But soon, the thought that she needed to move to survive shook off her laziness, and she reluctantly got up.

Then, she recalled the dream she had had last night.

Although she couldn’t remember the details, she felt uneasy as if she had seen something ominous.

Despite the mysterious memory lingering in her mind, Leciel ignored it and focused on the day ahead.

“Today, I’ll have to pick some herbs. There aren’t many left.”

In the past two years, Leciel managed to find and gather the herbs necessary for her to survive.

However, because she didn’t have any prior knowledge about herbs, her collection was limited to only a few types.

That’s why she couldn’t afford to miss even one day of collecting them.

“Also, I need to make sure I have enough food for winter.”

Winter was approaching fast.

Unlike her homeland South Korea, the winter here was much harsher, with snow piling up like a mountain.

“Should I build a new house?”

As Leciel thought about her life here, she realized how much she had changed.

In the past two years, she learned how to build a house, gather herbs, hunt, and survive in this monster forest.

Moreover, she realized she had come to accept this life.

“At first, I thought this was a dream, but now it feels like reality.”

When she woke up here two years ago, she was disoriented and terrified, thinking this was just a dream.

However, as time passed, she came to accept this reality.

She thought to herself, “If this is a dream, then it’s a very long dream.”

It was a strange thought, but she couldn’t help thinking that way.

However, regardless of whether this was a dream or reality, one thing was certain.

“I have to survive.”

For herself, for her family who were probably worried about her, and for the sake of all the experiences she had in this world.

With a determined expression, Leciel grabbed her bag and headed out to gather herbs.

Unbeknownst to her, today would be a day she would never forget.