Rain ran away from the unknown entity covered in leaves without looking back. "What's that?! It's shouting nonsense! It sounds cute, but it's chasing me!" he panicked.
Suddenly, he tripped because he forgot that his legs still had excess skin from when he changed them to a glider. "Oh no! I need to change them back fast!" He used a gust of wind to propel himself up and continued running.
(Rain's POV)
Unknown Leafy Entity (Elsa): "Bla! Koyrather huma, huff, eat you!" shouted the nonsense words in a cute, girly voice.
'Arghhh! It said it's gonna eat me! Run!' Rain thought while running. He knew it was dangerous to look back because, if he didn't focus on escaping, it would catch up to him.
Elsa, exhausted from searching and pushing her magic and muscles to their limit, could barely catch up to Rain, even though her stats were far higher than his.
"You leave me no choice! I wanted to leave a good first impression, but you're running away from me! Here you go!" she yelled, pulling out a bolas. She threw it at Rain, and the rope wrapped around his legs, causing him to trip.
"Ahhh!" Rain groaned as he barely managed to support his fall, avoiding hitting his face on the ground. "I didn't even last a day, and now I'm gonna die already? I'm so pathetic," he sighed. He smiled bitterly, closing his eyes as a tear slipped down his cheek. He could feel the entity approaching. "I hope they'll give me a chance to escape. I still want to live. My second life hasn't even started yet," he thought.
The entity turned him around and sat him up. 'I'm dead. Don't shake me!' he thought while pretending to be unconscious, eyes tightly shut. But then he felt a slap across his face. It felt like a hand, so he reluctantly opened his eyes.
He saw a teary-eyed elf with brown hair and yellow eyes, her expression slightly angry as she spoke nonsense again.
Elsa: "Hero-sama! Why are you running away from me?! Do you not like me?! Or do you hate me for some reason?!" (Rain only hears nonsense language). She pouted, tears in her eyes, feeling devastated that the hero ran away from her upon meeting. She wondered if she had done something wrong.
'Whoa, she's so pretty, almost like a doll. Is she the one I was running from? Is she upset because of that? She's cute, even when she's pouting like this. I should probably apologize first.' Rain thought. He took a deep breath and placed a hand on Elsa's shoulder, trying to reassure her.
"I'm sorry, I thought you were some kind of monster or something," Rain said, but Elsa only heard nonsense.
"But why are you saying random words in the first place? I thought you were a monster! Ahahaha…haha?" He suddenly realized his mistake. 'Oh f**! I almost forgot that I skipped the translation magic! I thought I didn't need it because everyone in that white void spoke English! I figured I could just ask someone to teach me the language here!'* He sighed, frustrated at his oversight.
It was a slip-up in his plan. Initially, he thought he could stay in this world after defeating the Demon Overlord, but the goddess mentioned the forced return too late, making him change his strategy to focus on cultivating Qi and getting stronger in secret so he could eventually oppose both hero and demon forces.
Unbeknownst to him, it was partly his fault that the goddess nearly forgot about the forced return. His calm demeanor and ability to edit his stats right away, including showing the unique energy called Qi, had distracted her.
Elsa stared at him, realizing that Rain was speaking a different language. 'No way. I thought Goddess Tyriel was supposed to tell them that it's super important to get translation magic?'
That translation magic was also forgotten to be mentioned to most of the group. Only four people out of one hundred had it, so the majority were likely suffering from the inability to communicate.
Elsa suddenly perked up. 'Oh yes! We have a rune mage! She's skilled in reading and speaking rune language! She might be able to talk to him! But… the rune mage always holes herself up inside her tree, doing nothing but studying runes. It's hard enough to convince her to take a bath, and now I'm supposed to ask her to help me communicate with the hero? No way! That's gonna be so annoying!'
She stared at Rain for thirty whole minutes, thinking of how to find someone to help her translate.
'No way, don't tell me she's really gonna eat me. She hasn't even bothered to untie the rope on my feet!' Rain thought nervously as he looked away. He was not only embarrassed by the pretty girl staring at him but also aware that escaping was impossible.
Elsa: "Fine! I'll bring you to her. The rune mage might help if she gets interested in you. Pardon me, Hero-sama, but I'm going to carry you back to the village, okay?" She scooped up Rain and placed him over her shoulder.
'No way! She's treating me like baggage! It would be fine if she carried me like a princess, but not like this!' Rain thought helplessly as Elsa carried him effortlessly.
Now fully rested, Elsa moved at an astonishing speed, darting through the trees at what felt like 30 km/h.
'Ahhh! So scary! This is even scarier than flying!' Rain thought, his heart racing as he felt every jump and landing, each differing in height and distance, making the ride even more terrifying.
Eventually, they arrived at a tree near the village, its surface full of rune carvings.
Rain's skill reader activated. 'It says… "Oh hail, great Elven goddess, protect us from demons and wild animals. Please create a barrier to guard us from harm."' He gulped, feeling a shiver. 'Are they going to use me as a sacrifice?!' he panicked.
"Hey, Miss Elf! Even though I'm a foreigner, isn't it a bit much to offer me as a sacrifice to your goddess?!" Rain squirmed, trying to free himself from her grip.
Elsa: "Calm down. We're here already. I'll put you down now." She gently placed him on the ground by the rune-covered tree, but Rain stumbled, the bolas still tied around his feet.
Elsa: "Oops, sorry about that." She quickly untied him and bowed in apology.
Rain looked around nervously. "Wait… You're letting me go? So… you're not offering me as a sacrifice? But… what is this place?" He observed the strange symbols, yet somehow, he could understand them.
He read one aloud. "Touch the water and rub the ball three times to open the door."
As Rain followed the instructions, a door emerged from the walls. "Wow! It opened! Hey, hey! Did I pass the test?!" he exclaimed.
Elsa was stunned. Only she and the chief knew the password. "Do you know how to read runes? That makes things so much easier! I bet the oddball inside will definitely be interested in you now!" she said excitedly.
She dragged Rain into the rune-covered tree. They descended a staircase and entered a room where a girl with brown hair and yellow eyes, much like Elsa, lay lazily on a bed reading books.
Elsa: "Mom! I found someone who can read runes!"
Elsa's Mom: "No way. Are you bothering me again? Go trick someone else. Don't disturb me. I'm studying runes to improve the barrier that wards off demons and animals near the village."
Elsa: "No, Mom! This time I'm serious! Let me show you!" She suddenly grabbed a slab from the table.
Elsa's Mom: "Hey! Be careful! I don't know what those slabs mean yet!" she panicked as Elsa waved the slab around.
Elsa thrust the slab toward Rain. "Quick! Tell Mom what this means!"
Rain, confused, said, "What? You want me to read it? Fine." He carefully took the slab and read it aloud. "Cube."
Elsa's Mom: "What? Say it again."
Rain caught on to what she wanted. "Cube!" he said more firmly.
Suddenly, Elsa's mom rearranged the runes on the wall, using magic to shift the letters. A few seconds later, all the runes in the tree lit up. "It works! It works!" she cheered.
"What's your name, young elf?" Elsa's mom asked.
After a moment of silence, Elsa explained, "Mom, he speaks a different language, but he can read runes! That's why I thought you could help us communicate."
Elsa's mom nodded and carefully inscribed runes on her arm with ink. "Ahem, young man, do you understand me now?"