Luckily, Yike had been dropped near a cliff, giving him the perfect opportunity to get a bird's-eye view of his surroundings.
It only took him a few seconds to spot a small village to the east of his position.
From his estimates, there should be at most three kilometers separating him from it.
That might not seem like a lot, but inside a SSS-Rank Danger Zone, it was a massive distance to cover, especially with his current strength. If a single monster were to spot him, unless that mysterious being were to save his life again, he would die.
Without any other option, Yike began his walk toward the small village.
Being careful and walking at a moderate pace, Yike estimated it would take around 45 minutes to one hour.
A few minutes passed in silence; there hadn't been any problems as of yet. Yike was walking, making sure to make as little noise as possible.
Getting the attention of nearby monsters was the last thing he wanted.
However, just as he was about to reach the 10-minute mark, he began hearing strange noises around him.
Branches breaking, leaves being stepped on, random gusts of wind.
He was no longer alone, and whatever had spotted him was observing him, taking its sweet time.
'I sure hope that whoever helped me back then will do the same thing once again...' Yike thought in the back of his mind as he knew he had no chance.
-Slash!
"Argh!"
Suddenly, without even being able to react, Yike was attacked from behind.
Claws—very sharp ones—had struck him, causing him to bleed from his back.
'Goddammit. You really made me awaken only for me to die a few minutes later?!' Yike screamed inwardly. 'Save me, you have to!'
Yike didn't know if anyone was hearing his thoughts, but he decided to give it a try, knowing that even if he were to use Berserk in this scenario, he would never be able to defeat that monster.
His base stats were far too low.
But then, just as the sound of rustling leaves reached his ears, he saw the monster pounce on him.
It was a giant cat with razor-sharp claws.
It was, at the very least, five times as big as Yike, who was frozen in fear, unable to move a single muscle under the gaze of the giant cat.
"Help me... Please. Mysterious man, help me!" Yike cried as he began losing all hope of being saved.
The giant cat was dangerously close to him.
But, strangely, it wasn't attacking him—just yet.
"What are you doing in here, human?"
Yike looked around himself with a frown.
"W-Who was that?!"
The cat visibly rolled its eyes.
"It was me. I'm the one talking."
Yike's eyes widened as the giant cat was actually the one talking to him.
"M-Monsters can talk!?"
The cat rolled its eyes again.
"Not just any monsters, only the most powerful ones like me. Anyway, why would someone as weak as you wander into such a dangerous region? Do you have a death wish or something?"
"Sorry about hurting you; I hadn't realized that you were this weak. Hell, even if I killed you, you wouldn't even be tasty."
Yike frowned slightly, unsure of what was happening right now.
"W-Why are you talking to me?"
"I've decided to help you," it suddenly declared. "Though, for a small price."
"What is it?"
"Simple. I want you to bring me some food every month." It started licking its lips. "Any monster that might look tasty, just bring it to me and I'll help you."
"How can I even know if a monster is tasty?"
The cat smirked. "The stronger the monster, the tastier. That's why you would taste like complete garbage."
"But why can't you hunt them yourself?"
The cat burst out laughing. "Because I don't want to die, and even if I wanted to hunt down weaker beings, I wouldn't be able to."
"Why?"
"Because I'm bound to this danger zone. I can't escape no matter how hard I try. The only way for me to leave would be to be tamed by one of you weaklings."
Yike didn't need to think much about this offer. It was the best one he would get here. After all, in exchange for surviving, he would only have to bring corpses of monsters to the cat.
It really wasn't that bad now that he thought about it.
"Fine. I'll take it."
The cat smirked.
"Perfect, jump on."
The cat lay down at just the right height for Yike to jump onto its back.
"Hang on tightly."
Yike's eyes widened as he tightly grabbed the cat's fur because if he didn't, he would fly off its back.
Within a single minute, the giant cat stopped at the entrance of the SSS-Rank Danger Zone as an invisible barrier prevented him from going further.
"That's as far as I can go," the cat said. "Remember what I said. Bring me tasty food every week. Otherwise, one way or another, I will get my revenge on you."
Yike gulped as he got off its back.
He wasn't sure why, but even if the cat was stuck inside the SSS-Rank Danger Zone, if he didn't do as it said, he would be in very grave danger.
"D-Don't worry, I'll make sure to deliver your food every week."
"You can call me Meow, weakling."
"Meow?"
He frowned. "What? Don't like it?"
"No, no. It's perfect! Alright, Meow, see you next week!" Yike said right away as he immediately went to the other side of the invisible barrier.
He turned around, and one hundred meters away was the small village he had spotted earlier.
'Whoever lives here has to be crazy. Living right beside a SSS-Rank Danger Zone. That's as dangerous as it gets,' Yike thought in the back of his mind.
However, it wasn't like he had any other choices, so he began heading in its direction.