《Monkeys are Amazing Creatures , Aren't They?》 Prologue Prologue It was a beautiful night outside tonight. The moon was out, the temperature was pleasant, and the streets were quiet. A beautiful night, yet it didn¡¯t really seem all that unusual when you live in the countryside. Speaking of the moon, it was one of those rare occasions that come only about once a month- a full moon. Tonight, the circular mass of space rock gleamed in the night, its transient light passing through the window and illuminating my surroundings. In contrast to the beautiful night with its moderate temperature, quiet atmosphere and magnificent moon, the familiar room I was currently in could be described as its opposite. A room of embittered emotions and depressing surroundings. A place that could be best described as ugly. Droplets of red splattered haphazardly across the room. The crimson red- the blood that once flowed through my veins, painted the classroom, giving it a somewhat foreign look. A scenery so alien in fact that it made me question whether or not this was reality. Of course, the throbbing pain in the pit of my stomach quickly blew away any hopes of this being a dream. ¡°Ah...w-why?¡± Those sparse words escaped my horse throat. Much like how breathing had become a desperate effort, I forcibly moved my rather heavy eyes and glanced solemnly at the sole figure in front of me. ¡°Why you ask?¡± He replied back with a casual wave of his arm. The stained knife in his hand splattering a streak of blood onto my face in the process. I reflexively winced, but just as quickly, I turned back around to glare at the guy some more. A beaming smile greeted me. I recognized that smile, in fact, I often see that smile on a daily basis. It was just unthinkable to see that smile on this particular person during such a particular situation. ¡°It¡¯s because I was bored y¡¯know.¡± He finally responded with a high pitched giggle. ¡°Aren¡¯t you tired too? I mean, of all this,¡± He thrusted his arms out into the room, splattering the surrounding desks with red droplets. The knife in his hand gleamed faintly in the dim moon light. ¡°Studying all the time, flashing fake expressions, greeting the same irritating, stupid, idiotic people day in and day out. The repetitive, monotonous, all so annoying process that I have to go through everyday. Having to put up this damn facade---!¡± His voice noticeably grew louder as he continued,seemingly getting more and more emotional with each word that escaped from his cracked lips. Just as his voice reached a new octave, he finally noticed his gushing emotions and quickly restrained himself. He took a long and deep breath, forcibly calming himself down as he shot a glance towards my direction.. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s all just so tiring¡­ but most importantly, it¡¯s all just so boring.¡± Hearing those words brought an ugly grimace to my face. ¡°You¡­ you¡­.!¡± ¡®You¡¯re just a fucking psycho! Why the hell did you stab me!¡¯ I wanted to scream those words out, but already, just keeping myself from toppling into my own pool of blood took up the majority of my energy. ¡°Well¡­ truth be told, I didn¡¯t really want to kill you.¡± He continued, ignoring the mental anguish I was going through. ¡°I mean, we¡¯re friends after all, aren¡¯t we ------ ? Best friends infact...¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. That¡¯s right. This piece of shit guy who wore a deranged smile on his blood stained face was my best friend. A guy I¡¯ve been stuck with for the majority of my life, something close to a childhood friend. The guy who I went to school with, did homework with, complained with, oogled at girls with- the type of happy go lucky guy you¡¯d least expect to suddenly stab you in the stomach. ¡°Really, honest, I never meant for you to be my first victim. I mean, I¡¯ve been planning this for a long time now, y¡¯know- what was it called, a school massacre. I had it all meticulously planned out, I¡¯d wait here, in the classroom, until mornin¡¯ and just as everybody rolls in like cattle to a butcher¡¯s market- well, y¡¯know the rest. It¡¯s just that, it was a serious miscalculation. Why¡¯d ya have ta come here now of all times? Seriously man, your timing¡¯s the worst!¡± He spoke in an irritatingly casual tone, as if the act of murder was something completely normal. It pissed me off, it pissed me off but there was nothing I could do. I didn¡¯t know since when, but I was now on the floor. I could barely maintain a sidelong glance while my chest violently heaved up and down. I could feel my face paling while my eyes began to glaze over. I knew that with certainty, I was dying. Of course, being a guy in the prime of his youth, I had many regrets, but strangely enough, in the heat of the moment, I couldn¡¯t recall any of them. The only thing going through my mind right now was¡­ it was a shame. That¡¯s right, it was indeed a shame. It¡¯s a shame that the last thing I would see in this life is this shameless bastard¡¯s face. As if in response, the man in question once again turned towards me. ¡°Ara? -----, you don¡¯t look so good man, I wonder what could be happening... ah! Don¡¯t tell me, you¡¯re dying? You¡¯re dying aren¡¯t you? Man, pfft- You¡¯re seriously dying! Hahaha, how hilarious is that!¡± ¡®Shut up, damn it.¡¯ I wanted to say it, but I couldn¡¯t. My eyes, which were growing dimmer and dimmer by the second, unconsciously moved over towards a sole desk near the center of the room, as if maneuvering on the primal instinct that I seriously didn¡¯t want to see this guy¡¯s face anymore. On the desk, barely visible in the dim moon lit light, was a certain textbook that was haphazardly opened. It was a bit of shame that a fair bit of blood got onto its pages. Locking my eyes on that collection of paper, I inwardly groaned. ¡®Why couldn¡¯t I wait until tomorrow¡­¡¯ With these receding thoughts, I stopped breathing. My vision was wholly black at this point, but the still dimming noise was still distinctly audible. I could hear the sound of a regretful sigh accompanied by the clopping of approaching footsteps. In the gates of death, my best friend¡¯s voice once again resounded close to my ear, giving me no comfort whatsoever. ¡°Ah, well, g¡¯night -----. Although I was the one who killed you, at the very least, I hope you reincarnate into something interesting in your next life.¡± Chapter 1 Chapter 1 ¡­. This might be a bit awkward to say, but I died. Can you believe that? Murdered by your best friend in the dead of night. If that type of traumatic event doesn¡¯t give you trust issues, then I don¡¯t know what will. I mean, that crazy psycho! I knew there was always something wrong with his head, but being a friend, I never outright pointed it out. That would be rude after all. But to think that he¡¯d just stab me like that¡­ you can¡¯t think about it at all! It¡¯s unthinkable! Truly unthinkable! After all the time and effort it took me to consolidate our friendship¡­ for him to just end it all at knife point¡­ what a selfish bastard. ¡­. Well, now that it actually happened, I don¡¯t really feel all that mad. I guess just a little bit tired, maybe. And just because of this, it''s not like I¡¯ll suddenly have an incurable distrust or phobia towards friendships. After all, not everyone¡¯s the same. Some of the friends you make are good. The type that will share their snacks with you and give you answers to your homework. While others are bastard friends. The type that¡¯ll give away your contact information for a loaf of bread, or stab you in the stomach because they have underlying mental problems¡­ In the end, I died because I was careless. Next time I¡¯ll choose better friends¡­ maybe more mentally stable friends¡­ I mean, if I¡¯m going to get along with a crazy person, then let that crazy person be me. It¡¯s easier to handle that way. As I thought such useless things, I waited. Waited for what you might ask? Well, I don¡¯t know either. I mean, it is the first time I died, at least, the first time I remember dying. Whether I end up going to a place like heaven, or end up turning into nothingness, then, that¡¯s for me to find out. I can¡¯t really do anything at the current state I¡¯m in. To begin with, I don¡¯t even think I have a body. Rather, how am I even thinking right now? Am I still alive? Looking at the pitch black nothingness that makes up my surroundings, I doubt I¡¯m still alive, unless this is what a comma feels like. If it is a comma, then when I wake up, I¡¯ll be sure to knock a couple of that idiot¡¯s teeth loose. ¡­. Well, for some reason I¡¯m certain I¡¯m not in a comma. After all, I feel¡­. dead. I don¡¯t know how to describe it. It''s sort of an instinctual thing, really. You can just tell that you¡¯re not alive anymore. There¡¯s no feeling of despair or hopelessness, just¡­ nothing. No, that wouldn¡¯t really be an accurate word to describe this current feeling. More of a tranquil sort of feeling. Like I¡¯m at peace. Calm? Harmony? Serene? Relaxed? Well, something along those lines. Since I¡¯ve got nothing to do but wait, that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do. I¡¯ll wait for whatever happens next in life (or after life), be it heaven, nothing, or something else. Although if I were to give a suggestion, then something along the lines of reincarnation would be nice. I mean, doesn¡¯t heaven sound a bit too boring? You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Sure chilling on a cloud, and having dance parties with angels sounds cool and all, but such a lathargic lifestyle¡­ won¡¯t you grow bored of it? If I do get reincarnated, then I hope I can be a Hero. Or maybe a Prince to a powerful and noble kingdom. That would work too. I think I¡¯ve been a fairly good person before I died, so I probably acquired a few karma points. If they base reincarnation off of the good deeds you did in your previous life, then I think I¡¯m ahead. Hopefully, they¡¯re enough to give me a good head start in my next life. If not anything grandiose like Hero or Prince, then at the very least, I hope to still be human. It¡¯d be awkward to end up as a fish, or worse, a plant. Will I even be able to think as a plant? Rather than thinking, if someone were to step on me as a plant, won¡¯t I die? I don¡¯t want to die again¡­ Scary. That type of life is definetely scary. I sincerely hope that I don¡¯t end up being a plant. For now, let¡¯s pray that I end up being a hero. If not, then a prince. If I can¡¯t be a prince, then a human. If I can¡¯t even be that, then at least something that can move. Anything but plant. Say no to plant life. While holding in such thoughts deep in my heart (although in retrospect, I currently don¡¯t have a heart), I waited. ¡­¡­. I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ve waited. Probably about 5 minutes. Or was it 1000 years? I don¡¯t know. In here, where the only companion is the darkness and my derailing thoughts, keeping track of time is hard. At the very least, I feel like I¡¯ve waited for too long. Fortunately, that wait comes to an end right now. Since, after a long time of waiting, there¡¯s finally a change to my surroundings. A light, an impossibly bright light. It''s getting larger and larger. Getting warmer and warmer, as if it wants to envelope me in a soft embrace. I want to reciprocate that embrace. I tried to extend my arms towards the light, but unfortunately, I don¡¯t have arms. For now, let¡¯s extend some imaginary arms and give the light a big imaginary hug. [Ding!] [New Skill Acquired, Telekinesis Lv 1] Oh? Something interesting happened, but now¡¯s not the time for that. My time¡¯s finally come. What happens next will surely be a fun experience. Let¡¯s go! My second life experience! Reincarnate as a noble Hero! I can already see my destiny, Fuhahaha! Watch me! I¡¯ll go save the world and get a Princess Wife! Here I come! I¡¯m ready! Take me now!!!!!!!!! ¡­.. ¡­.. ¡­¡­ Wait. Something¡¯s not right. Wait, wait, wait. Can I restart? This doesn¡¯t seem correct. The face I¡¯m currently looking up at¡­. That¡­ although it looks like it, it¡¯s definitely not human. There¡¯s too much hair. Something¡¯s not right. Oi, what the hell. No matter how I look at it¡­ I¡¯ve definitely been reincarnated as a monkey. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 So, in the end, I became a monkey. I couldn¡¯t believe it at first, but I¡¯m definitely a monkey. Not some type of human variant with long hair and fur, nor one of those legendary beast men with characteristics of an animal. I¡¯m a full fledged monkey. After all, I have a tail, my mother doesn¡¯t wear any clothes, and we live in a jungle. Yep, no matter how I look at it, I¡¯m a monkey. It took me 2 weeks after birth to come to terms with this fact. My breaking point was when my Mother tried feeding me bugs. Damn it Mother. At least feed me some bananas. Do monkeys even eat bugs? Maybe my mother¡¯s not a normal monkey either¡­ Currently, I¡¯m riding on that cursed mother¡¯s back. It¡¯s comfortable, especially since her back fur is soft and slightly warm. But you know, the downside to this is that you have to constantly keep a grip on her back, unless you want to fall off and die. I¡¯ve been on Mother¡¯s back ever since I was born, so if I can brag, then I¡¯d like to say that I¡¯m pretty experienced when it comes to piggybacking. Although at first it was a bit difficult. Even the other baby monkeys who relied on their natural instincts also had trouble. The ones that fell off naturally died. That¡¯s why grip strength is key. Luckily I have 4 ¡°hands¡±, so it all works out. But still, grip strength is key! Grip strength is strength! This especially holds true when Mother is climbing trees, which she often does. We usually travel around the jungle through the trees. The underbrush is dangerous after all, especially for monkeys. Things like giant cats appear, or the occasional gorrilla. It¡¯s scary in the underbrush so that¡¯s why we stick to the trees. That¡¯s how we¡¯ve traveled up until now. At this point, I¡¯m just waiting for Mother to start swinging from the vines. After that, it¡¯ll feel more like tarzan rather than monkey. Oh! Wait, what if I¡¯m actually not a monkey, but actually just a human baby who was abandoned in the jungle and ended up being picked up by monkeys?! I touch my face, only to destroy my new found hope. The thin, and mega soft hair on my cheeks confirms I¡¯m not a human baby. In the first place, I have a tail. I¡¯ve already mentioned I had tail. Sorry. Truth be told, I¡¯m still running away from reality. Mother follows the other mother monkeys. I don¡¯t know where we''re going, but I think Mother knows. If not, then surely the other mother monkeys know. It¡¯ll be bad otherwise. Speaking of the other mother monkeys, they also have a baby monkey like me on their backs. One of them even has two. You know, it¡¯s that. Twins. Anyways, apparently, Mother gave birth to me around the same time the other Mother monkeys gave birth to their baby monkeys. I don¡¯t know how they got the timing so right though. Was it a race specific trait or can all females do that? I¡¯ve heard about something called syncing menstrual cycles in my past life, but I think that might be different Either way, I think in total, there are about 30 mother monkeys and 27 baby monkeys. Naturally, the 3 baby monkeys that were missing were the ones that fell off and died. I haven¡¯t seen any adult male monkeys so far, so I¡¯m kind of curious about that. Don¡¯t monkeys usually live in groups? If so, where are the adult males? While I was thinking that, it seems like we¡¯ve finally arrived. After 2 weeks of traveling, we¡¯ve finally arrived. The reason why I know this is because the mother monkeys, including Mother, started howling. Looking around, I realized that we were still on top of the trees. Honestly though, the space before us pretty much looked identical to the rest of the jungle. If it weren¡¯t for the hundred or so monkeys that came to greet us, then I¡¯d still have my doubts. Well, regardless, we¡¯ve finally arrived. Phew. Now that we¡¯ve arrived, I feel tired. Although I haven¡¯t done anything except train my grip strength, I still feel as if I just ran a marathon. Is it because I¡¯m a baby? Well, whatever. Since I¡¯m a monkey, I won¡¯t push myself. I¡¯ll take things easy from now on. I¡¯ll live this monkey life without any trouble! Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Yeah, that sounds like a good goal. So, for now, let¡¯s take a nap. ¡­¡­ When I woke up, Mother fed me fruit. Of course, I gladly ate the fruit. After having bugs and leaves nonstop for 2 weeks, fruit was a welcomed meal. Mother also didn¡¯t do anything like breast feeding in those 2 weeks. Don¡¯t monkeys breast feed? Isn¡¯t it the same for all mammals? Well, I also noticed that the other mother monkeys never breast fed their kids, so it might be normal not to. Either way, fruit is delicious. I don¡¯t care about bugs, leaves, or milk, but this fruit tastes like heaven to me. The piece of fruit that I was currently nibbling on looked like a red mango with green spots. It looked kind of poisonous, but since Mother recommended it to me, it''s probably safe. When I ate it, I discovered that the skin of the fruit was unusually soft, and that it tasted kind of sour. Well, either way, compared to my previous meals, this fruit was heaven. I ate it with as much excess vigor as I could muster. [Ding!] [You¡¯ve been afflicted with status effect, Poison] Ugh- as I was eating, my stomach suddenly started hurting. Uwaa, it¡¯s painful. Very painful. My baby monkey stomach can¡¯t handle the pain. I think I¡¯m crying. Did Mother poison me? Why? E tu, Mother? Before I could continue complaining, Mother, who was looking at me intently with a passive expression, suddenly took away the red mango. I didn¡¯t want it anymore after discovering it was poisonous, so I didn¡¯t put up much resistance. From behind her, Mother then plucked another fruit from a nearby branch, this time it was a peach like object that was yellow with blue spots. Without pause, she immediately gave it to me. My first reaction was to turn her down. No. I do not want more poison. I¡¯m quite content with the first poison, and I¡¯d like my condition to not get worse. If possible, please overlook me, Mother, I don¡¯t want to feel pain anymore. Oi. I said I don¡¯t want it! St-stop! Mother! Keep that away from- bleh, it tastes so bitter¡­. My fierce resistance was pointless in the face of Mother¡¯s merciless feeding. She stuffed the fruit into my mouth with that same pensive stare of hers. I couldn¡¯t do anything but accept my fate. After, swallowing the last piece of fruit, I noticed that I wasn¡¯t in pain anymore. When I went to check, the aching in my stomach had disappeared. I¡¯m positive I wasn¡¯t poisoned anymore. It was probably thanks to that bitter fruit Mother fed me. It tasted bad, but it was probably something like an antidote or something. Something that counteracted the poison from the red fruit. Maybe Mother just made a mistake when she fed me the red fruit, so she tried her hardest in order to save her beloved son. Aww¡­. Mother, I can feel your love. As I was celebrating, Mother did something evil again. She fed me the red fruit. Of course, I resisted, but Mother is too strong. I could do nothing but resentfully eat it. [Ding!] [You have been afflicted with the status effect, Poison] Uuuu¡­ I want to cry. I¡¯m already crying. Mother, really? Again!? While I was complaining, Mother skillfully fed me the yellow fruit. This time, I complacently accepted. In no time, the poison and the pain once again vanished, but I didn¡¯t have time to celebrate. After two times, I kind of have a feeling as to what was currently happening. Like I expected, Mother once again fed me the red fruit. And again, after that, she fed me the yellow fruit. This cruel torture continued indefinitely. Always red, yellow, red, yellow, red, yellow. If this were a stop sign, I¡¯d be complaining about the lack of green. So, that was how my day passed. Tortured by my own mother. I¡¯m thankful enough that I wasn¡¯t the only one suffering. From around me, I could hear the other baby monkeys crying. I could feel for them, since I¡¯m going through the same thing. [Ding!] [New Skill acquired, Poison Resistance Lv 1] In the end, this was also how I gained poison resistance. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 After being force fed poisonous fruits, I was currently lying down, next to my mother. The sky had fallen, and night had finally come. To a frail and fragile baby monkey such as myself, the night was a dangerous existence. It was when all the nocturnal predators and hungry animals started coming out of the woodworks. And in this jungle, there were a lot of those lurking around. In fact, while we were traveling, we faced no shortage of such predators. Truth be told, during our journey here, the original group consisted of about 70 mother monkeys and 70 baby monkeys. When we finally met up with the adult males, that number had dwindled down to 30 or so. More than half of us had died, and the majority of those deaths can be accredited to the predators. And those predators, most of them preferred hunting with the night sky as their backdrop Definitely, the night is scary. But even so, even the fear that I instinctively felt, right now, I couldn¡¯t feel it. I was calm, serene, at peace. It was a similar feeling to the time when I was dead. A feeling as if nothing else really mattered. My bloated belly, covered in thin black fur shivered slightly due to the surprisingly chilly night air. Currently, Mother and I were at the top of a canopy of trees. We were using dense foliage and a collection of gathered twigs as our make shift bed. In this type of fashion, Mother was sleeping peacefully, her back facing towards me. If I concentrated hard enough, I could make out her faint breathing, which sounded in tune with the rising and falling of her chest. In contrast to Mother who was in deep sleep, I was currently wide awake. My eyes gazed dazedly on the night sky above me. Like that time before, the moon was full. It stood out among the myriad of glittering white specs in the sky, and shined down its luminescent light onto the sea of trees around us. Gazing past those trees, I could see an even larger sea of¡­ well, sea. Water, blue and reflective, an ever expanding ocean surrounded the sea of trees. From what I could make out, it seems like I was on an island. The slight salty taste in the air only served to further ascertain that conclusion. As I gazed out into the ocean, my mind wandered. I thought about the times back when I was a human. I thought about the times when I was a monkey. To me, a person with memories from my past life, definitely the times when I was human held the most importance, yet, the memories of my monkey past¡­ they weren¡¯t all that bad. I mean, sure, eating bugs was gross, being force fed poisonous fruits wasn¡¯t an enjoyable process either, and clinging onto dear life while mother constantly moved around and dodged predators was also quite traumatizing¡­ actually, I take that back, being a monkey sucks. I inwardly sighed. I once again shifted my gaze up, towards the night sky. Ignoring the cool tropical breeze that shook my mega soft fur, I stared fixedly. The sky, for all intents and purposes, was beautiful. And endless expanse of stars, which twinkled endlessly filled my vision. I tried looking for constellations, but as expected, I couldn¡¯t find any. This wasn¡¯t just due to the fact that I¡¯ve never been star gazing even once in my past life, but also because I was certain that the night sky was different from the one I was familiar with. Subsequently, that also meant that this world that I¡¯ve been reborn into was different from the world I left behind. Why was I so certain of this? Well, simple really; Earth doesn¡¯t have two moons. Aside from the full moon that blossomed in the sky, there was a smaller, less vibrant moon that gleamed a little bit to the side of the larger moon. It was a cliched sort of thing, but I couldn¡¯t help but be fascinated. After all, it wasn¡¯t every day that you get to see two moons, although, considering I live in this world now, I guess it might be everyday... While I stared, I once again went back to aimlessly thinking. My train of thought once again wandered, and before long, I finally came back to one important thing that had been bugging me ever since I reincarnated. That was¡­. [Name: n/a Pygmy Monkey - Lv 1 Strength - 3 Agility - 2 Intelligence - 50 Defense - 0 Magic Power - 1 Titles: n/a Skills: Telekinesis Lv1, Poison Resistance Lv1] ¡­. Without a doubt, this was¡­ you know, it was that. This window panel was one of the first things I saw when I first reincarnated. It was their from the moment of my birth, and it was still their two weeks later. It was something that easily appeared and disappeared with a mere thought, and it seemed as if nobody else could see it other than me. Well, in short, this was a status panel. And these were my stats. Apparently, I ended up in a world with a game like system. I don¡¯t really have the power to complain at this point, but still, it''s quite different from my previous world. And to add to that, looking at the [Magic Power] section of my stats, it seems like this world also has magic. If I just think about magic, then I can¡¯t help but get excited. Magic¡¯s a man¡¯s romance afterall. Well, back on topic. If I just accept the existence of status panels as normal, then I can manage. With that, I can move on to the next order of business. Looking over at my stats, I can¡¯t help but frown. Being a baby monkey, these stats are undoubtedly ordinary, considering how weak and frail I always felt, but still, I can¡¯t help but be unsatisfied. After all, aren¡¯t I quite weak? Aside from my intelligence, All my values are below 5. My Defense is even 0. Does that mean I¡¯ll die if someone so much as sneezes at me? Well, the intelligence stat, that I can already presume is out of the ordinary for a normal monkey. I¡¯m pretty sure its high value is due to my memories from my past life. In either case, it''s a good head start. Next is my strength and speed. If you think monkey, then without a doubt, its speed. Monkeys are agile, fast, they¡¯re cunning type of fellows. Even though, despite that, why is my strength higher than my speed? Is it because all my grip strength training? Or maybe it''s because, since I was born, I¡¯ve never really moved around much. It''s definitely odd, but if I view it as my strength being abnormally high rather than my speed being abnormally low, then I can somehow stomach it. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Next is¡­ next is definitely that. The thing I¡¯ve been anticipating, the thing that I¡¯ve been saving for last. Skills. [Telekinesis Lv1] and [Poison Resistance Lv1] Telekinesis was something I acquired before I reincarnated, and Poison resistance was something earned through Mother¡¯s torture. If I take a step back and really think this through, then the existence of skills really makes this world so much more game like. Either way, I can¡¯t help but grin. Skills are also a man¡¯s romance. First up, let¡¯s examine Poison Resistance. I¡¯ll be saving Telekinesis for last since it sounds more entertaining. Poison Resistance should be something that gives me resistance to poison. It¡¯s an easy concept to understand, and honestly there¡¯s only one way to test it out. I quickly got up, and scurried down below to the canopy of trees. Shortly after, I came back to Mother¡¯s side with a freshly plucked red fruit and a yellow fruit. This red fruit¡­ it''s something that has given me trauma, but in the end, it''s the only thing I have to test my theory. That¡¯s why, I gathered my resolve and dutifully ate it. I placed the mango like fruit in my mouth and began chewing. After a couple seconds of chewing, I swallowed the fruit with a large gulp, and burped in satisfaction. ¡­. Strangely enough, the sour taste that it originally had was somewhat diminished. I wouldn¡¯t necessarily call it sweet, but it was less sour when I first ate it. In addition, there was no pain in my stomach, although I did still get a stomach cramp from eating it. In the end, the Poison Resistance skill worked. It diminished the effects of the red fruit¡¯s poison, but considering how it was only level 1, it didn¡¯t completely alleviate the pain. If I eat more poisonous objects, will my poison resistance increase? Will I get something like Poison Immunity? ¡­ fufufufu, just thinking about it makes me laugh. What if I end up turning into an existence that can drink bleach with a straight face? How scary, how very scary... After I confirmed Poison Resistance, I ate the yellow fruit. As expected, the stomach cramps were annoying. After eating the yellow fruit, I felt much better. Now that the annoying feeling was gone, I can peacefully move onto the next order of business. Huhuhu, a skill I¡¯m particularly excited to learn about. If you¡¯re wondering what that skill is then I¡¯ll reply back with, ¡°It¡¯s that, you know, that!¡± Telekinesis! Although I¡¯m excited, I don¡¯t know where to begin. For now, let¡¯s start with something simple. I plucked a leaf from a nearby branch and placed it gently onto my open palm. The leaf which shook with the sea breeze was undeniably light. It was perfect for the preliminary testing. I stared intently at the leaf. Mumumumu¡­.! I continued to stare but nothing happened. Even after I scrunched up my face and thought hard, nothing still happened. Maybe I got the feeling wrong¡­ In the first place, what is the ¡°feeling¡± of moving objects with your mind supposed to feel like? As expected, I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m inexperienced. While messing around with it, something changed. Oh..? It was slight, so slight, but I¡¯m pretty sure that the leaf moved. Of course, the possibility that it moved due to the wind existed, but I¡¯m an optimistic person. The leaf moved because of my ability. I¡¯d like to think that. With newfound vigor, I once again scrunched up my face and thought. I directed my brain waves over towards the leaf, of course, I tried emulating a ¡°move objects with your mind¡± type feeling, but in the end it was hard. It was difficult, but I will definitely succeed. I can do it if I try hard enough. I know, that I¡¯ll- Smack! Ugyaa! Ouch! It hurts, it hurts, my face sting! D-damn it, an unexpected enemy attack from out of nowhere! How sneaky! How conniving! Villain, show yourself! Guu¡­ While I grumbled and complained, I gently stroked my reddenned face with my hands. You might be confused, but what happened was simple; I slapped myself. The hand that had the leaf on top of it suddenly rocketed forward and hit me in the face. It would have been a perfect time to say ¡°Why are you hitting yourself?¡± From what I gathered, instead of the leaf, I had been inadvertently trying to move my own hand. In the end, I was able to do it, but the pain from my own slap was painful. I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t die though. With a defense of 0, it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if I died from a slap, although that would have been embarrassing. Dying from slapping yourself, just thinking about it makes my face redder than normal. Well, a good thing about the incident though, is that I managed to grasp the ¡°feeling¡±. I could now float the leaf freely in the air, and if I thought hard enough, it was possible for me to move it around. It was a pretty surreal experience, on par with reincarnating as a monkey. Using telekinesis- moving objects with your mind was unexpectedly entertaining. It was so entertaining, in fact, that I lost myself in playing around. I moved and floated the leaf for what felt like hours. Sometimes, I¡¯d even float two leaves. I could float three if I stretched myself, but four seemed impossible for the current me. A few hours passed before a strange wave of nausea assaulted me. The nausea made me dizzy and also made me more tired than usual. I felt like throwing up, but I also felt like sleeping. It was a disgusting feeling, and I did not like it. For now I¡¯ll sleep. Pushing this baby monkey body of mine any further would be bad. If I developed any detrimental defects in the future due to ill managed care as a baby, then I¡¯d cry. I¡¯ll sleep and wake up tomorrow. Hopefully, by then, this annoying feeling will be gone. As my eyes, tiredly began to close, I caught a slight glimpse of my Status Panel once more. I didn¡¯t even have time to marvel at its changes before I drifted off into a deep and unconscious sleep. [Name: n/a Pygmy Monkey - Lv 1 Strength - 3 Agility - 2 Intelligence - 52 Defense - 0 Magic Power - 3 Titles: n/a Skills: Telekinesis Lv2, Poison Resistance Lv1] Chapter 4 Chapter 4 It was only later, after I woke up did I realize that the strange wave of nausea that assaulted me was due to mana depletion. Mana depletion was a detrimental effect caused by excess use of mana. Apparently, using telekinesis consumed a bit too much of my mana. Last night¡¯s mana depletion¡¯s effects were limited to Nausea and tiredness, but I had a feeling that if I pushed it a bit too far, things could get real dangerous, real fast. Luckily though, mana depletion would only take effect if I used too much mana, so if I do a bit of micromanaging, I should be fine. Strangely enough, the amount of mana I had wasn¡¯t displayed on my status panel. Much like how usual game mechanics like HP and Stamina weren¡¯t present either, Mana was left unstated. Since I couldn¡¯t really do anything about that though, I decided to push that worry aside and focus on the day ahead. Oh, and if you¡¯re wondering how I knew this, well, call it an instinctual thing. It was sort of like preinstalled knowledge which I acquired the moment I reincarnated. It was weird, and had several mysteries, but for the current me, there was nothing I could do about it. **** In the morning, Mother fed me some red fruit before we started walking around. Well, I say walking, but it was really just mother traveling from branch to branch while I piggybacked. As we moved through the canopy, we passed plenty of fellow monkeys. I observed the others with great detail. One thing I noticed, was that the overall color scheme for a monkey was either white or grey. Mother was like that too, even now, the back that I clung to was composed of white fur. The others as well, either white or grey. The canopy before me quickly became a sea of white and grey as the more and more monkeys began to gather. This left me feeling a bit nervous. I mean, I don¡¯t have access to a mirror, so I¡¯m not all too certain, but I¡¯ve seen the fur on my arms and tail, and they look more black than white. I was probably a black furred monkey. ¡­. This, I hope this isn¡¯t any sort of flag. I¡¯d dislike it if I were to be ostracized or picked on by the other monkeys due to a difference in hair color. Suppressing this growing worry deep within me, I dutifully kept my head down while mother continued to move through the canopy. My mother in question though, was quite sociable. As she moved, she did something akin to greeting the other adult monkeys. Although, despite Mother¡¯s enthusiasm, the others weren¡¯t as reciprocating. She would call out towards each passing monkey, but strangely enough, none of them replied back. At first, I thought this was a normal thing, but when I looked over and saw a few of the other mother monkeys who we traveled with greet the others in a similar fashion, my original idea was quickly refuted. In the face of their greetings, the other monkeys howled back, rather enthusiastically if I may add. Is mother hated? Maybe she¡¯s just not popular? As I wondered this, mother quickly reached a new spot within the canopy that rested on the edges of where the red fruit trees grew. This area was a place where most of the leaves had been plucked, allowing the overhanging sun to rain down vicious rays of light. From below, the jungle underbrush was illuminated with out-of-place sunlight, which greatly contrasted the more shaded surroundings. In the middle of this ¡°clearing¡±, stood a lone monkey. Although I said monkey, this thing looked big and scary enough that it wouldn¡¯t be strange if someone were to mistake it for an ape. The monkey had a pelt of dirty white hair, and a tail that was almost twice its body height. Its face was morphed into an eternal scowl, while it held one eye closed, almost as if it were winking. Ah, no, that was wrong. There was a massive scar over its right eye, giving the illusion that it constantly kept one eye closed. Without a doubt, this monkey was the leader. An Alpha in the truest sense. Upon reaching the ¡°Alpha¡±, mother made a dipping motion that closely resembled a bow. With a low grunt from the Alpha, mother looked back up, only to start making varying noises which I couldn¡¯t understand. The Alpha returned these noises, which consisted of grunts, screeches, and guttural throat noises, with a collection of his own. I¡¯m not too positive, but I think they were having a conversation. As they conversed, from on top of Mother¡¯s back, I began to wonder. Do monkeys have their own language? Will I be able to eventually understand them if I keep hanging around with other monkeys? While I felt a bit weird about learning the monkey language, I had to admit, not being able to communicate with anyone sounded a bit too painful for me. My thoughts eventually wandered over to idle things, and I quickly grew bored, so I decided to pay attention to Mother¡¯s conversation. Mother made varying gestures, each exaggerated and seemingly random, but to the Alpha, he seemed to wholly understand. He reciprocated with a few of his own gestures while every now and then he¡¯d grunt or interject with a howl. On a few occasions, Mother would point towards her back, which I saw as a signal that she was talking about me. Oooh, Mother, for you to talk about your son like that, even I¡¯d get embarrassed, you know. I stomached the rising nervousness from being the center of the conversation, and idly payed attention to mother¡¯s conversation. After a while had passed, their conversation ended. Seeing this, I immediately perked up. I had grown bored a long time ago, so a change in scenery was well appreciated. I watched the Alpha eagerly with widened eyes. He grunted lowly, before making a move towards Mother and I. At first I was on guard, but seeing as how Mother did not react, I quickly relaxed. When the Alpha reached us, his hand immediately moved over to grasp the back of my collar. His grip was a bit too strong, inadvertently causing me to let out a pain filled yip, but I doubt he did it on purpose. For a mighty Alpha Pygmy (?) monkey such as himself, controlling his strength might be unexpectedly hard. He gripped onto me as he removed me from Mother¡¯s comfortable back. I instinctively felt saddened from leaving my familiar spot, but I quickly regained my wit, as I shot the Alpha with a curious stare. He lifted me closer to himself, until I was at eye to eye level with him, a mere inches away from each other. With my own bright eyes, I curiously stared back into his. A pair of aged and hardened eyes bore into my own. The Alpha¡¯s eyes were milky white, similar to that of a blind person, but I could see a clear hint of comprehension beneath them. Those same eyes were drooped and gave of a tired look, but nonetheless, they continued to stare at me. Some time passed like this. Neither one of us talked or made any sort of noise, which clearly contrasted the varying chirps and growls generated by the jungle. Eventually, I heard a worried howl from behind me. It was mother. I wanted to say, ¡°Don¡¯t worry Mother, I¡¯m fine,¡± but as expected I don¡¯t know how to communicate with monkeys. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Mother¡¯s howl, which caused me to inadvertently look towards mother, was what caused me to break my staring contest with the Alpha. Seeing this, the Alpha finally let out a noise that vaguely resembled a sigh. He lightly tapped my forehead with the wrinkled palm of his free hand while he made a low grunting noise. The unexpected tap caused my eyes to squint slightly, but otherwise I was unharmed. In the face of the Alpha¡¯s grunt, I could only tilt my head slightly, indicating that I did not understand. Seeing this, the Alpha once again let out a tired sigh, before he started moving. Seeing the Alpha move, Mother let out an excited sigh as she began clambering away. What was strange was that Mother was moving away from us, her every step bringing her closer and closer towards the other monkeys. Mother¡¯s actions greatly confused me. Wasn¡¯t a mother monkey supposed to stick 24/7 to their babies? What type of Mother would leave her son just like that? ¡­ Well, there was also the possibility that Mother simply trusted the Alpha. After all, he¡¯s the Alpha. If that¡¯s the case, then I can accept it. With me in tow, the Alpha began moving through the trees. His aged appearance betrayed the skillful movements he showcased as he traveled from one branch to another. The Alpha was moving away from the other monkeys, with no apparent direction in mind. Since the Alpha had a constant grip on me, I could not do anything but quietly wait for what was to happen next. After a while, the Alpha finally stopped moving. He tiredly sat down on a tree branch as he once again brought me to eye level. He grunted once, but upon my lack of response, he once again sighed. I didn¡¯t quite get what was happening, so I like any other baby, began swiveling my head around, curious as to where I was. Ignoring my movement, the Alpha did something I completely did not expect. In one quick motion, he casually threw me. ¡­. The bastard threw me! The bastard threw towards the underbrush below! Why?! What was happening?! As I quickly fell downwards, I saw the figure of the Alpha letting out another sigh before he swiftly departed. His speed was much faster than when he moved before, and soon, I quickly lost track of him. Of course, I didn¡¯t really have the time to pay attention to all this, currently, I was falling. For a fragile, baby monkey such as myself, falling from such a height would, without question, kill me. After all, my defense is 0. Frantic, and with my mind racing, I desperately thought of what to do. I just reincarnated a few weeks ago, so I¡¯d like it if I didn¡¯t die so early in my new life. Without much option, I began moving my body in mid air. My goal was to slow my falling speed down using the branches below me. The tactic worked somewhat, my body would bounce off and hit the twigs and leaves that rushed past me, but the only downfall was, it was extremely painful. At this rate, the intersecting branches will kill me even before I make it all the way down. From the aftermath of the branches, my body was now riddled in gouges and scratches and it hurt to move. I didn¡¯t know what to do. Looking down, I could see the ground rushing past me. In such a desperate situation, my mind ached and my heart palpitated before a flash of inspiration took hold. I finally remembered something crucial that I had completely forgotten about. Telekinesis. Although I knew that with my current ability, completely halting my descent was out of the question, but at the very least, it didn¡¯t hurt to try. With newfound vigor, I scrunched up my face as I concentrated. I could feel the cold sweat and sultry tropical air rushing past me as I devotedly confirmed that ¡°feeling¡± once again. With effort, I managed to lessen the oncoming impact, but as expected, I could not completely stop it. Upon landing, I felt my body bounce off from the floor as if it were a trampoline before I once again hit the floor again. The second impact noticeably had less force in it, but as expected, it was still a painful experience. I let out a pain filled groan as I tried my hardest to observe my current situation. The first thing I examined was my body. Doing a self evaluation check, I noticed that it was extremely painful to move. I¡¯m pretty certain that I broke my tail as well as a couple of my limbs. My spine seemed to be in tact at least though, so I didn¡¯t have any concerns regarding permanent paralysis. Although, unfortunately, as if to rain down on my parade, I felt a wave of familiar nausea hit me. Without a doubt, this disgusting feeling was Mana depletion. Stomaching the ensuing pain, I forced myself to look around my surroundings. From a fair distance away, I could see the spot where I had initially landed. On it was a red blood stain, that vibrantly stuck out from the mud colored dirt that made up the ground. Looking over at it, I instinctively grimaced. Re-imagining the scene from a few seconds prior, I could do nothing but shiver in phantom pain. Fortunately, I was finally able to calm down after a few seconds of cringing. This time, without moving, I felt the ground beneath me. The ground consisted of dirt and mud, covered by a layer of dead leaves and decaying twigs. Unexpectedly, the ground was pretty soft. Its softness is probably the main reason why I didn¡¯t die, but still, that doesn¡¯t change the situation. This was bad. Really bad. Leaving the unexpected betrayal aside, being in the undergrowth was bad. Especially for a baby monkey such as myself. The undergrowth was wear many of the vicious predators lurked. Things like a giant black panther, or a pack of boars¡­ heck, I even saw a giant preying mantis skulking about before, all sort of ¡°monsters¡± prowled the jungle floor. The underbrush was definitely dangerous, and being out in the open like this was more so. With great effort I moved my limp body over into a crook at the base of a nearby tree. Fighting through the nausea, I then used telekinesis once more to gather the dried leaves scattered across the ground in order to camouflage my hiding spot. This setup wasn¡¯t anything concrete, but for now, it would work. Like this, I first decided to rest. My body was aching, my mind was buzzing, and most importantly, I was tired. For a baby monkey such as myself, over work is a no-no, so for now I¡¯ll sleep. Yes, I¡¯ll take a nap and then hopefully, things will get better.