Syrus backed away several steps before suddenly turning and running toward the house.
Not long after they left, the owners of those glowing green eyes in the forest rushed toward the pile of waste.
The creatures resembled wolves, but they were noticeably larger than the ones that once lived on Earth. Their teeth were longer and sharper, and their claws looked powerful enough to tear through flesh with ease. They were among the most dangerous wild animals humans could encounter.
Fortunately, Syrus Vale had killed a few of these beasts before. Because of that, the pack had learned to keep their distance whenever they sensed his presence.
After escorting Sophie back to the abandoned house, Syrus opened the hatch.
Once he saw her climb down safely, he closed it behind her.
Standing on the iron ladder below, Sophie looked up through the watch opening, her eyes fixed on Syrus until his figure slowly disappeared from view.
Only then did she snap back to her senses.
"He… feels different somehow…"
The Syrus Vale she saw today was strangely polite, even escorting her back and forth.
"It must be an act… He's definitely pretending."
Sophie quickly forced herself to calm down. In her mind, Syrus was surely planning something again.
After all, they had lived together for a year. She knew exactly what kind of man he was.
Meanwhile, outside the house, Syrus put away his pistol and pulled out a dagger instead. Quietly, he moved toward the forest.
As he approached, dozens of glowing eyes suddenly appeared again near the pile of waste.
Syrus met their gaze for a moment before calmly shifting his direction and heading deeper into the forest.
His target wasn't the pack of wolves.
Instead, he was searching for another animal that lived in the woods....something similar to a wild boar.
For more than ten minutes, Syrus advanced deeper into the forest. Occasionally he stopped to examine animal tracks before continuing forward.
The previous owner of this body had known how to hunt, but he feared getting injured and rarely went after large prey.
The only exception had been several months ago, when he used a gun to kill a few wolves.
The result had been disastrous.
The gunshots attracted mutated beasts. Not only did he fail to bring back any meat, but he barely escaped with his life and had to lie in bed for an entire week before recovering.
Since then, he had only hunted smaller animals.
Aside from hunting, the only other way to obtain food was to search the city ruins for supplies and trade them for food in human settlements.
Unfortunately, the nearest town to this village had already been occupied by several mutated beasts.
Trading there was impossible.
Another settlement existed farther away—more than fifty kilometers from here.
But in this era, that distance was almost unreachable.
Even if abandoned cars still sat on the roads, no one dared to drive them. The noise alone could attract countless monsters.
Traveling could only be done on foot.
Walking fifty kilometers would take nearly a week, and that was assuming one could survive the dangers of the night.
Back when settlements still had some stability, only large factions had the strength to travel between towns like that.
In this post-apocalyptic world, most survivors lived in very small groups.
Some communities had around fifty people, while larger ones might have several hundred.
But the original Syrus Vale had never considered joining any group.
After all, he already had three beautiful women with him—and a relatively safe underground shelter.
Continuing deeper into the forest, Syrus suddenly noticed a footprint on the ground shaped like a flower petal.
He immediately stopped.
Choosing a sturdy tree nearby, he quickly climbed up using both hands and feet.
Once seated on a thick branch, Syrus rolled up his sleeve and carefully made a small cut on his arm with the dagger.
"Drip…"
Three or four drops of blood fell onto the ground below.
After that, he took out a bandage from the small first-aid kit attached to his waist and wrapped the wound.
A few minutes later, faint noises began stirring in the forest.
Soon, a massive wild boar appeared.
It stood nearly one and a half meters tall, slowly moving toward the spot where the blood had fallen while sniffing the ground.
Syrus tightened his grip on the dagger and slowly rose to his feet.
When the boar walked directly beneath the tree—
He jumped.
"Thud!"
The dagger plunged straight into the vital point of the boar's head.
"GRUNT—!"
The boar shrieked in pain and immediately went berserk, charging wildly in every direction.
Syrus quickly clung to its back, gripping tightly to avoid being thrown off.
"Crash!"
"Bang!"
"Thump!"
Completely out of control, the enraged beast smashed through several small trees as thick as bowls.
The forest shook with the sound of breaking wood.
After several chaotic minutes, the boar's strength gradually faded.
Its movements slowed… until it finally collapsed onto the ground, motionless.
Syrus pulled out the dagger and stood up.
Looking at himself, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
His body was covered in bruises and scratches. Blood stained his clothes, making him look barely any better than the dead boar beside him.
"I was careless…"
This was his first time hunting such a large beast.
With his strong physique, he had assumed it would be easy.
But the boar's strength had clearly exceeded his expectations.
At the very least, he knew one thing now—
His punches definitely couldn't kill a boar.
"ROAR—!"
A distant beastly roar suddenly echoed through the forest.
Syrus's expression changed immediately.
He quickly bent down and tried to drag the boar.
"Up you go…!"
His face turned red with effort as the heavy carcass barely moved.
"I didn't think this through…"
Now that he had killed the boar, he couldn't leave it behind.
Otherwise, all the injuries he suffered tonight would have been for nothing.
Of course, another reason was simple—
He really wanted to eat proper meat tonight instead of canned food.
After testing his strength briefly, Syrus concluded that dragging the boar back to the shelter was possible.
It would just take some effort.