A Fucking Mammoth?!

For a moment, there was an awkward silence there, with only the sound of the waterfall rushing from above, its splash kept hitting the ground below. Levin himself still had his head up, staring at the gigantic creature in front of him that seemed to be out of place and out of time. As for Mira, this was the first time she saw something so big as the mammoth in front of her, and she hid behind Levin unconsciously, being intimidated by the creature.

Funnily enough, a similar scene happened on the mammoth's side, with all the animals there from the deer, goats, bears, some various birds, and even smaller kinds of mammals like squirrels and chipmunks rushing over one of the mammoth's legs, hiding behind it while looking at them warily. It was strange and pretty intimidating to see the brown bear whose height was as tall as Levin could barely reach even half of the mammoth's leg, showing how massive the creature was.

In the end, it was Chen Ze and his lack of ability to read the atmosphere who reacted first in a hysterical manner. "Holy shit! That is a mammoth! How in the hell could he live in this place?! I mean, I get it! This is a montane forest, and the temperature is still pretty cold. But the heat during the summertime will kill it! I mean, look at how thick its fur is! The heat stress when the summer comes would be crazy for it! Also, how in the hell could he live in the era? Should it be extinct already?!"

Once again, Levin had to curse his new friend and his big mouth for saying unnecessary things like this. Now, the mammoth's attention was completely on the robot mouse that looked so ridiculously small in front of the majestic creature that was the leader of this place. "A little mouse who can speak?! What kind of a devil creature is this?!" The mammoth's voice boomed once again, making the birds that were nesting on top of its head fly away instantly.

Levin himself had a sweat drop on his face. This was indeed a problem, but definitely for him, not for the mammoth. After all, this was the first time he witnessed an animal talk in a normal human language, and it was a mammoth, a creature that should've been extinct, nonetheless. Somehow, this discovery made everything complicated.

Was their presence somehow related to this battle royale game? If so, were they going to participate in this game? What was their relationship with the crow man?

So many questions popped into his head, begging him to find the answer. However, it would be foolish for him to ask those sensitive questions straight away. No, he needed to appease the animals here and make them less wary of him.

"Greetings, oh, Great Mammoth!" He shouted, trying to make the creature listen to him. He tried his best not to show his embarrassment, knowing full well how cringe what he just said. However, that was the only thing he had in mind to attract the mammoth without bringing its ire to him too. "We come in peace!" He added that when he saw the mammoth had its eyes on him.

"That was also the last thing humans said to us in the past, and he ended up killing half of our companions just in a day! Try again, punny human!" It roared once again, and its voice started hurting Levin's eardrums. Even Mira also used her hands to cover her ears, trying to protect her hearing. "Tell me, who are you?! How could you be here?! And what do you want to do?!"

'This is it.' Levin murmured inwardly. 'This is the decisive moment. My and Mira's fate depends on my answer. If it is correct, I would be able to get a lot of information from this creature. But if not, I can say goodbye to the living plane.'

Yeah, since Levin witnessed the mammoth with his own eyes, his brain had been spinning so fast, trying to think of a way for him to survive this encounter. However, no matter how much he thought about it, the final result was always the same; death.

It wasn't exaggerated for him to say that. After all, even though the mammoth itself was too huge and probably wasn't as mobile as him, the other animals that were the same size as him like the deer, the bears, or even the goats could join forces to attack him. Moreover, in this forest, they definitely had the advantage since this was their home place.

Of course, he could just shoot his gun blindly, hoping to kill all the animals here. However, that would only attract the rage of those animals, and Levin was far from stupid to do that. Moreover, even though he somehow managed to kill all the animals here, their corpses would only attract more trouble from the other players, and that was not something he wanted to do right now. So, yeah, diplomacy was probably the only way he could get away from this place safely, and he had to be careful crafting the answer to the mammoth's question.

"We are here to find our companion, oh, Great Mammoth!" He picked his words carefully. "It is a small bird that looks like an eagle, has a bald, white head, and flies very fast!"

The mammoth frowned – hell, how in the hell could he do that?! – before asking another question. "Why did your companion try to chase our deer?!"

"It is here to help us find food!" Levin answered. "We don't have enough food necessary to live here! We need something to eat! We are the participants of the battle royale game!" Levin didn't know why he said the last part, but his instinct told him that this would help him, Mira, and Chen Ze in the future.

True enough, right after he said that, the entire forest went quiet once again. However, this time, all the animals stared at Levin solemnly, somehow giving the soldier a creep for this experience. After a moment, the mammoth itself finally asked, but this time with a soft tone. "Are you really from the game?"

"Yes." Levin nodded firmly. The mammoth's question at least confirmed his guess that those animals in front of him somehow related to the game. Now, it was time for him to find out what was their relation. "We are coming from the abandoned town in the west to search for food. Oh, Great Mammoth, can you help us search for our companion?!"

However, the next thing he saw was something that he himself couldn't believe. Just right after Levin asked the last question, the mammoth suddenly closed its eyes, and in the next moment, it suddenly shrunk smaller and smaller to the point its size was just like a normal elephant. Levin could feel his jaw drop when he saw this, yet the mammoth just ignored him and said with a solemn tone, "So, that damn game is finally here again, huh?"