Reincarnated as a bamboo rat, it begins its extreme survival struggle.

"Come on, let's place a bet and see if we can discover the legendary ruins during our deep dive into the bamboo forest."

Some busybodies set up a betting pool, attracting all the adventurers in the camp.

The group chattered amongst themselves, speculating about what they might discover on this expedition.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of adventurers placed their bets on not finding the ruins.

After all, this wasn't the first or second time they'd come to this bamboo forest, and the repeated fruitless attempts were really discouraging.

"Blindfolded cloth, which side are you betting on?"

The person who opened the market shouted at Blind Cloth, who was not far away. Although Blind Cloth never participated in these kinds of activities, he still had to shout it out, which is called team spirit.

But this time was different. Blind Cloth, who never participated in such events, threw out a shiny gold coin.

This is a big bet.

"Really?! You blind fool, you actually think we can find ruins?! Have you lost your mind?!"

The usually pragmatic blind man, Bu, made a choice that no one could understand.

But to the noisy crowd, Blind Cloth pointed to the little brat who had run to the campfire and calmly replied:

"When going on a mission, the captain won't bring useless people with him."

After saying this, Blind Cloth stopped talking and began packing his equipment.

Meanwhile, the group of guys gathered around, bombarding him with questions, trying to get more information out of Blind Cloth.

Unfortunately, Blind Cloth's mouth was tight-lipped, and no matter how much they scratched their heads, he wouldn't open his mouth again.

"Alright, stop playing around and hurry up and pack up to get ready for dinner. This bamboo forest is vast, and we still have two days to travel after resting."

Seeing the noisy camp, the old man tapping his pipe called out to the people fooling around. He had already cleaned his pipe and was preparing to stuff it with a new wad of tobacco.

As the leader of this adventure group

The old man's words still carried considerable weight.

The noisy camp was quickly brought under control by his words.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Bell, who was hiding not far away, moved his short legs backward and quickly moved away from the extremely dangerous human camp.

After regaining his composure and calming his emotions, Bell kept reflecting on what had happened that day.

After awakening [Fire-Loving Wisdom], Bell's memory became extremely amazing. While dodging attacks, he activated all his senses and remembered everything around him, from the slightest sound to the slightest movement.

After confirming his safety, Bell lit a pile of dry leaves, and the entire mouse was bathed in flames to accelerate its thinking.

From the moment he was attacked, everything that had just happened became clear again in Bell's mind, allowing him to rediscover what he hadn't done in the first place.

In professional terms, this is called a post-mortem analysis.

"I was too impulsive. When I realized it was a wisp of smoke, I was so excited that I wanted to get closer to see if it was a human being."

In fact, Bell's judgment was correct; that wisp of smoke was indeed cooking smoke.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed confirmed that this was a temporary settlement for a group of humans.

But here's the problem: Bell is no longer human, and the humans in this base are incredibly powerful.

As an outcast, isn't it inevitable that I would be attacked if I were to approach human settlements at such a rapid pace?

Bell recalled the two pebbles that had been thrown at him, and a wave of fear washed over him.

He was about fifteen meters away from the human settlement. Within this distance, the bamboo forest obscured the view of the human settlement on the other side, and it was impossible for the humans to penetrate the bamboo and attack him in a straight line.

"It was a curveball; the incoming pebble bypassed the bamboo, and its flight path was quite tricky."

The more Bell recalled it, the more frightened he felt.

Even after escaping far away, the image of the pebble flying towards him kept flashing through Bell's mind. He couldn't understand how a pebble could have the effect of a pistol bullet.

Luckily, I had a compressed dirt block in my inventory, which could block attacks at crucial moments, otherwise I would have died from the first stone that flew towards me.

"Am I too weak, or are the humans in this world just terrifyingly strong?"

With a helpless sigh, Bell continued to delve deeper into his memories.

My memories of myself blurred, while the faint sounds of conversation from the human camp in the distance gradually became clearer.

"I am so far away from that group of people that I can only clearly recall six words."

The flames that had been lit naturally died out, and Bell's post-mortem analysis came to an end.

He kept recalling the six words he had heard from humans, his face full of misery.

"Meow meow, I don't understand any of these six words. Why don't they speak Chinese in this other world!"

Because of the language barrier, Bell had no idea what the humans were saying or what they wanted to do.

Similarly, as an outsider, Bear Grylls would not be able to enter human camps and communicate with humans.

"If I continue to linger around these humans, will I gain more information? Will I be able to find an opportunity to communicate with them?"

Sitting on a rock, Bell gazed in the direction of the human camp, the flame-shaped ahoge on his forehead twisting into a question mark.

He was thinking about a problem that wasn't a problem.

Bell's reason told him that it was time to set off, away from these dangerous humans, and embark on a journey to find the logs.

But after seeing signs of human presence today, Bell was unable to remain calm.

Before becoming a bamboo rat, he was a human. Back then, Bell could endure loneliness in all sorts of survival games, repeatedly doing those extremely time-consuming resource gathering tasks, and enduring the solitude of being in a boundless world without any companions.

At that time, Bell knew that as long as he stepped away from the computer, he could return to the crowd and all his loneliness would disappear.

But everything changed once they actually became bamboo rats.

Chapter 15 The Past of Blind Cloth

After becoming a bamboo rat, Bell did not feel any physical discomfort.

On the contrary, he was able to perfectly control his bamboo rat body, with his consciousness and body perfectly integrated.

This is why Bell became a lonely outcast, unlike bamboo rats and humans.

Bell's intelligence makes it impossible for him to ever truly connect with the bamboo rats' life cycle. He is worlds apart from those mindless bamboo rats, much like Steve and the villagers in Minecraft.

"But humans won't accept me either. A bamboo rat with human intelligence? What kind of blasphemous monster would that be, Frankenstein in the form of a bamboo rat?"

With a self-deprecating laugh, Bell withdrew his reluctant gaze, unwilling to look at the human camp any longer.

Having once been human, Bell knew very well that if he entered the human world in his current form, he would most likely not have a good ending.

"Humans fight each other even within their own tribe, let alone when dealing with other tribes."

He felt a pang of sadness. Had he not seen this human camp before him, he would still have been carefree, continuing to explore beyond the bamboo forest, convinced that he would eventually find his way out of this vast bamboo sea.

It's something that can be easily understood rationally: I can't beat those people, and I can't join them. Staying here is just a waste of my time.

But the emotional turmoil was something Bell found hard to accept for a while.

"This is the result of the memories of humans from back then... But in the end, it's because I was too weak."

With a wry smile, Bell picked up a bamboo shoot and gnawed on it with great force, as if venting his anger.

"If I am strong enough, I can appear in front of those people openly and honestly. Maybe if we can communicate, we won't have to fight each other anymore... Even if it makes them fear me, it's better than crushing me with a flick of their wrist."

Strength is a topic that cannot be ignored in any environment, whether as a human or as a bamboo rat.

A person needs enough strength to live with a modicum of dignity, so that he doesn't have to bow his head in front of the girl he loves and listen to her parents scold him, saying, "My daughter has suffered terribly by marrying you."

The same goes for the mouse. If Bell isn't strong enough, he can only eke out a living in the bamboo forest, where anyone can easily take advantage of him.

"Damn it, I didn't do well as a human before I was reincarnated, and I'm still not doing well as a mouse after being reincarnated. Didn't I reincarnate for nothing?!"

Muttering a curse under his breath, Bell followed his rational decision and continued his exploration. Leaving the bamboo forest was the stage goal Bell had set for himself.

He found an abandoned cave, rested for a night, and after his injuries had completely healed, he continued walking in the direction he had chosen.

Not far from Bell, the adventurers from the previous human camp, after resting for a night, packed their things and set off again to venture deeper into the bamboo forest.

"We have two objectives for this mission: first, to find as many relics as possible hidden in the bamboo forest; and second, to eliminate the monsters in the bamboo forest to prevent them from overrunning and causing a monster plague."

The adventurer leader, holding a pipe, reiterated the mission objective.

But all he got in response was the listless echoing of his teammates.

After all, their adventure team was strong.

Not bad, he spends most of his time exploring other dangerous places, and coming to the bamboo forest every year is just a routine.

Compared to searching for the legendary ruins hidden deep in the bamboo forest, hunting a large number of magical beasts in the bamboo forest is more realistic for most members.

After all, the magical beasts inside the bamboo forest are notoriously weak, while Cangxing City outside the bamboo forest is known for its abundant resources.

Every year, Cangxing City issues a mission to contain the monsters, summoning a large number of adventurers to enter the bamboo forest to hunt them.

Their adventure group would also take on missions to wander around the bamboo forest. As long as they hunted more magical beasts, they could exchange them for a considerable reward from Cangxing City.

People come out to fight and battle, risking their lives against monsters, all just to earn a living.

They couldn't understand why their leader had devoted his entire life to finding ancient ruins, wasting enormous amounts of manpower and resources in the pursuit of some vague and unattainable one.

However, they would not question what the leader said; this was the rule governing the existence of the adventure group.