Chapter 138: Chapter 138:A Loop [4]
Every detail of this gigantic forest had been captured on a single map that was less than a thousandth the size of the forest.
Of course, the map was only usable to me or others with comparable eyesight to mine, as its scale was around one to a thousand.
The trees of the forest were barely visible to most awakened, and to mundane humans, the map would just look like a huge blur.
Since I had memorized the directions on creating the map while making it for the first time, I could de-manifest and create it at any moment I wanted to.
Lying down on the floor, I peered through the dense branches above me and saw the half-crescent moon shining right down on me.
I had done it.
Even though I had spent over half the day simply looking at the sky with my eyes closed to prevent myself from losing information, the sky was more beautiful than ever right now.
Freedom.
I had the freedom to actually open my eyes and look at the world around me.
"...I'm getting out of this damn loop no matter what."
If I went through all that pain and suffering just to be stuck in this loop forever, I would jump off that cliff myself.
De-manifesting the map, I basked in the breeze of the night sky before feeling my cat jump off my shoulder and onto my head.
Standing on my face and blocking my mouth, my cat threw its paw at my hair, seemingly patting me on the head.
"y-yeah, yeah, I know I'm the greatest to ever do it."
Closing my eyes, I felt my consciousness slowly drift further and further away until I finally fell asleep.
Waking up the next day to the sun's rays shining down on my body, I couldn't even get up as the toll of yesterday's work was finally catching up to me.
Dragging my body over to the shade of a nearby tree, I simply leaned against a log and surveyed my surroundings.
The hard part was done.
Everything that happened now was out of my hands.
I had done everything I could to give myself the greatest chance of identifying the end conditions of this loop.
Now, all that was left... was getting lucky.
And I had been pretty unlucky recently, especially with this sudden transfer to this loop.
Resting in the shade of the tree for a couple more minutes, I finally gathered the energy to get up and eat breakfast.
As the calories and nutrients from the egg slowly replenished my body, I manifested the map and started to plan what areas I would go through the day.
Feeding a bit of the egg yolk to the cat, who trying to go back to sleep already, I slowly walked towards my first area of exploration.
Stopping at the border of the entrance for the first area, I combined my corruption with the blood-red substance to create a black and red wing.
Making a small bag perfectly fitted for my cat, I put it around my shoulder and placed my now-sleeping cat inside.
Levitating above the forest, I stood for a moment, appreciating how I could actually see, before sighing.
It was up to luck now...
Was that a good or bad thing?
Only time will tell...
Next, I manifested the map of the forest and made it float right below my legs, using it as some type of hoverboard.
Activating the usage period of the dash, I flapped my wings before dashing, looking down at the forest and my map the entire time.
Limiting myself to the first area, I scanned the entire perimeter by flying by, slowly encircling the area until I reached the middle.
First Area.
Nothing.
"...not a good sign."
My stats say that my luck is either G- or S+, so I don't find it immediately; my luck likely isn't S+.
Then, that leaves one option left for my luck stat.
G-.
But who knows?
Luck works in mysterious ways!
At least, that was why I was trying to tell myself not to lose motivation.
Letting out a sigh, which was at least my hundredth in this loop alone, I moved on to the next area, using the same exact method.
Starting from the edges and working my way through the area of the forest until I reach the exact center.
Finishing the second area without any sign of abnormalities, I decided to take a short break by checking up on the main cast.
If my luck was G-, then my best chance at finding the abnormality was with the main cast, who had higher-than-average luck stats.
Marking the two areas off my map, I de-manifested my wings, descended to the ground, and moved toward the area where the carriage was located.
Walking past the waterfall area on my way there, I peered downwards and saw the same children gathering the same water at the same exact location.
All of a sudden, all my complaints disappeared.
At least I didn't have it as bad as them.
Over ten years of just... gathering water non-stop.
And the worst part?
They didn't even know... they wholeheartedly believed they were living a normal life.
What were the challenges I had to go through compared to that?
Nothing.
Manifesting a black hat, I tipped it downwards to cover my face... as I didn't know what expression I was wearing.
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And I certainly didn't want other people to see whatever expression was currently on my face.
Reeling in my emotions, I arrived at the carriage area and saw both Kevin and Liam scanning the area around the carriage.
Slipping into the shadows and using my stealth skill, I watched as they carefully touched every tree, branch, and even bush in the forest.
Lily must have come up with the same strategy as me.
Manifesting a crow, I sent the raven to spy on the two in case they discovered something abnormal.
It was very possible that they could discover something but not know it.