The excruciating sensation faded, and Yuuto slowly opened his eyes, allowing his gaze to traverse the area.

As if on cue, the pet menu suddenly flickered into existence in the corner of his vision, revealing its secrets in vivid detail.

His eyes stared transfixed at the information that greeted him.

"That thing," He gasped, remembering the pain and agony he had just felt.

"So it was a parasite, it's asleep... what should I do now?" He muttered audibly, sweat pouring down his face.

"How do I remove it from my body?"

"No, there are benefits to keeping it," he thought to himself, weighing the risks and rewards.

"But, there's no guarantee that it would obey me. With its access to my nervous system, I would be no different from a computer with remote access malware in its system. It would control me against my will!"

"It's too risky. I have to remove it before it wakes up."

'All-Seeing Eye!'

With that thought, Yuuto activated his ability and scanned his body. To his surprise, he couldn't find it anywhere. It's as if the slime had disappeared without a trace.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Did it anticipate that I would attempt to extract it? Damn it," he muttered under his breath, his heart racing with fear and uncertainty.

"F*ck!" Frustrated, he punched a nearby tree, creating a medium-sized dent in its trunk.

Yuuto took a deep breath and tried to think of another way. He could try to bargain with it. If it seemed sentient enough to understand language, he could offer something in exchange for its cooperation. But what could he possibly offer?

'There's no other choice. I'll have to wait for it to wake up and attempt bargaining with it.'

---

Several days had passed since he started walking back towards the exit of the forest. He suppressed the concern in his mind, but now he was sure he was lost.

The slime was still unresponsive as before.

Still, he continued walking in the same direction, hoping to find another exit or a person who was familiar with the area, when he heard a woman's cry that slowly escalated into an ear-piercing screech.

He followed the direction of the voice, threading carefully to not startle whatever the source was. He was aware that it could be a wild animal like a fox, a mountain lion, or worse, a monster that mimics the voices of its victims.

He arrived at an opening in a cliff.

What he saw was the furthest thing from his imagination.

Two men and a girl who was thrashing and screaming for help. Her clothes were torn, and bruises covered her arms and legs. The two men humped her together. One holding her head, the other thrusting his hips with his pants down.

>Should I help her?

'The answer is no. The most optimal method is to wait for the two to be exhausted before attempting a knockout.'

'Besides, I'm no longer the same person from before...'

He crouched low, hidden among the thick green branches of an overgrown bush. His eyes darted around, waiting for the opportune time.

The two men were in a constant rhythm. The sound of rough pounding echoed in his ears.

The girl's face was covered with tear streaks, and her voice was hoarse from screaming.

The two were moving together and enjoying themselves.

'How long will it take before these bastards are exhausted?'

The man in the back, who was holding her hair, grunted - he was the first to reach the limit, and he ejaculated on her face.

He returned to the side of the cave entrance, guarding it against possible intruders.

The other man's thrusts became messy as well, and he stopped moving.

"Huff... Huff... That was good."

The man in front pulled up his pants and zipped up his zipper.

The girl rolled to the side and lay there just as she was while the other man walked towards the bushes.

'Perfect. Come closer so that I can kill you-'

Yuuto held his breath and waited for the right moment.

The other man stood at the base of a tall tree, unzipping his fly and unleashing a stream of urine.

Unnoticed, Yuuto silently crept up behind him and struck with an elbow strike to the side of his neck.

The man crumpled to the ground in shock, and Yuuto surveyed his surroundings for any signs of detection.

'One down.'

Yuuto cautiously glanced around, but it seemed no one had noticed the incident in the dark forest.

He crouched low and sprinted forward towards the other man guarding the cave entrance.

As Yuuto approached the man, he noticed his eyes widen, and his hand slowly drifted to his sword hilt. But before he could yank it from its scabbard, Yuuto had closed the gap between them with long strides and struck the man's head with an arcing knee strike.

'I should tie them up just in case they wake up-'

He opened the item shop and selected the miscellaneous items menu.

Yuuto's hands moved towards the Yes button, and a rope appeared on his inventory. He grabbed the body towards the bushes and took out the rope, and began tying their arms and legs. His hands moved with purpose as he pulled out a coil of rope from his inventory and carefully bound their wrists and ankles together.

He walked slowly and steadily towards the woman, his expression stoic. He knelt beside her, taking in her face and inspecting her closely as he surveyed her injuries.

His gaze was intense but methodical, betraying neither compassion nor judgment.

'No external wounds-'

His fingers deftly moved towards her wrists and sensed a pulse before he closed his eyes and sighed with relief.

'She's just unconscious. Great. I can extract intel from her-'

He shifted her breasts and slid his hands underneath, trying to feel for her sternum. He began rubbing it in with his knuckles and sighed in frustration when she didn't respond immediately.

'No response. Dammit.'

He pinched the area five times until the girl finally opened her eyes and looked at him, confused.

"You're finally awake."