Once the headache gradually subsided, the boy pushed himself up from the damp ground beside the stream. His breathing was still a little labored, but his eyes flashed with excitement. He closed them briefly to organize his thoughts before trying to understand the ability he'd just received.
“So besides magic, talents and abilities show up like this? That's convenient. People can know what they have and how skilled they are.”
He grumbled while striking a thoughtful pose. The expression looked completely out of place on the thin body of a boy no older than ten. His brows drew together slightly, as if he were analyzing some crucial data.
“My talent probably lets me learn and understand things faster, right?”
This world was far too fantastical to explain with ordinary logic, but he wasn't afraid. Only excitement surged through his chest.
“Thank you, god.”
The boy clasped his hands over his chest and looked up at the sky, his face filled with a sincere smile. In his previous life, trying to understand anything had been incredibly difficult. No matter how much he read, the knowledge seemed to slip through his fingers like water. But now, knowledge responded to him with perfect clarity.
After a while, he lowered his head and looked at the pot sitting beside the stream.
Whoosh!
Floating text instantly appeared above the shrimp's head.
He picked up the shrimp with its awkwardly long claws and examined it.
[Small river shrimp]
He set it down and picked up another.
[Small crayfish]
He immediately knew that they were edible. The ability didn't merely tell him their names—it made him understand them without any hesitation.
“Nice.”
The sun was growing stronger. He wiped the sweat from his temple.
“It's ridiculously hot. I should cool off in the water for a bit.”
He walked into the middle of the stream. Cool water flowed refreshingly over his ankles. Along the way, the corner of his eye caught sight of tiny creatures moving along the streambed.
[Tiny shrimp]
They were everywhere. He sat down in the water, scooped some up with his hands, and splashed it over his face before taking a deep breath.
“This is great.”
He muttered before leaning back and bracing himself with one hand against the sandy bottom.
“Whoa, what the heck?!”
Something hard jabbed his fingertip. He quickly grabbed it, sand and all. At first, he thought it was a rock, but after brushing away the sand, its shape became clear.
A dark yellowish-black shell, hard and roughly oval-shaped, about half the size of his palm.
“Clams!”
His eyes lit up instantly. Another food source!
He hurriedly stood up and began digging into the streambed with both hands. The soil in the middle of the stream was loose and sandy, unlike the bank, which was covered in rocks.
“So that's where they've been hiding.”
The boy bent and straightened as he walked back and forth, feeling around in the sand. Every time his fingers touched a hard shell, he broke into a wide grin. Memories from this body came rushing back.
Rock-hard bread that was nearly impossible to bite through. Scraps discarded in the city that people had to fight over. Grain porridge that was practically nothing but salted boiling water. Even plain white rice and soup from his old world had been more luxurious. He only got pottage occasionally—a thick soup with enough flavor to count. Those were good days. Which meant fresh clams like these were precious.
Before long, there were more than twenty clams in the pot. Their shells made a soft, tinkling sound as they bumped together. While gathering them, he spotted some familiar-looking plants along the bank. He thought to himself that this really was a fantasy world. Things that had no business growing together somehow did.
“I'll come back for those later.”
Suddenly, his body crumpled again.
[Ability learned: “Freshwater clam gathering”]
[Talent effect activated: “Freshwater clam gathering” developed into “Master of freshwater clam gathering”]
[Ability acquired: “Understanding the freshwater clam life cycle”]
[Developed into “Master of the freshwater clam life cycle”]
“Argh, this is the kind of knowledge that gives you a real headache.”
Information poured into him as images, logic, and understanding. He clutched his head tightly before slowly getting back to his feet and looking at the clams in the pot again.
[Large freshwater clam]
[Small freshwater giant clam]
“Different species, huh?”
But the one that caught his eye the most was—
[Small freshwater pearl mussel]
The boy's eyes widened.
“A pearl mussel.”
His heart pounded, but before long, he sighed.
“It's this small. It probably doesn't have a pearl. And even if it does, I doubt I'd be lucky enough to find it.” In the end, he released it back into the water.
Once he had gathered a decent amount of food, he walked to the other side of the stream. Continuing in that direction would lead to the path toward the edge of the forest. He could reach it by following the stream upstream too, but hardly anyone used that route. He didn't pay much attention to it, though. The vegetables in front of him were far more interesting. Water spinach grew in clumps along the bank.
“If I gather too much, will I get another headache?” he grumbled, but still picked the tender tips.
Nearby was water mimosa, its stems segmented by white bubbles.
“This should be edible too.”
He stripped away the bubbles, broke the stems at the joints, discarded the roots, and kept only the tender parts. Together with the water spinach, he had a fairly large bundle. He wasn't fond of vegetables, but he didn't hate them either. Edible was good enough. At least his body wouldn't fall apart. After washing the vegetables clean, he put them in the basket beside the pot.
The sun sank lower, and the afternoon had already grown late.
“There's probably nothing left to find in the forest.”
After grumbling, he put on his shirt and walked back toward the village, heading for the orphanage. But on the way, he suddenly stopped.
“I forgot to wash my shirt again.”
He looked at the caked-on dirt stains, then shook his head. Along the road, rice paddies and vegetable plots stretched out on either side.
“Three-field rice system, huh?” he murmured.
One plot had a little standing water, while another was almost dry. He walked closer to take a look. “Could they be different varieties of rice?”
Floating text appeared at once.
[Large river snail]
He chuckled softly.
“River snails in the medieval era, huh?”
In another corner—
[Large golden apple snail]
“This one's edible too, but whatever. If I walk into someone else's rice paddy, they'll probably beat me to death.”
That was enough for today. He tightened his grip on the pot, turned his back on the rice fields, and walked into the village. At least today, the pot in his hands was heavy and genuinely full of food.