Directly in the middle. I'm indifferent about nighttime. There's just as many things to do at night as there are in the day. However, that's only on Earth. And a very specific part of Earth at that. After all, I lived in a developed country with electricity. Without the artificial extension of sunlight, I'd probably be going to bed a lot earlier.

*But... this is no longer Earth. Who knows where I am now?*

Out here, there were simple herbivores that could snuff the life of an ordinary human instantly. Out here, there was most likely a carnivore that hunted said herbivores. Out here, even my own neighborhood, ordinarily a haven, was devoid of any safety. The only bright side of this situation was that my own house seemed safe. But out here, there were no guarantees.

The majority of common carnivores on Earth possessed the strength to totally dominate an ordinary rabbit.

*If these things out here are akin to ordinary rabbits on Earth, how strong is the creature that hunts them?*

I s.h.i.+vered involuntarily. Such a strength could possibly only be achieved by the strongest land animals on Earth.

*Giraffes and elephants would probably be an apt comparison, but any creature with a strength beyond that... is a statistic that ventures into the unknown...*

Naturally, the darkness harbors the unknown. The unknown incites fear. And knowing I could be mauled at any moment out here spiked my adrenaline to nearly max.

I now understood why some people despised the night and feared the dark.

*Haha... I haven't felt this nervous in a while...*

Needless to say, I hadn't experienced life-or-death situations on Earth. Due to where I lived, I would have to actively try to put myself in such a situation. Once again, I'm not a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t. I never have plans to put myself in danger when I don't have to. That includes now.

*However, I don't have a choice.*

I would have to venture outside at some point in the future. My food supply was running low, and I would have to face the unthinkable.

*Killing for a living, huh? Why do I have to go through this?*

I would have to hunt and kill to stay alive. Not my forte.

*Although I have heard that foods procured by your own and taste better... No. That has to be false.*

After all, I was a victim of my own cooking. I knew its taste firsthand. If it tasted better to me... there was no thinking about how it would taste to someone else.

*I hope I don't hospitalize anyone.*

That would truly be a kitchen nightmare.

*Actually, what am I going to do out here?*

I didn't really have a plan, other than acclimating myself to nighttime in this world.

*I guess I'll just... take a walk.*

Nighttime would only last an hour anyway, so there was no real need to plan much for the first night.

*There'll be many more nights to come. Why do I have to worry so much about the first one?*

I peacefully strolled down the stairs of the patio and gracefully headed for my backyard... is how it happened in my head.

*Ah... it's quite difficult to lie to yourself, isn't it?*

My heart rate was up. My senses were sharp. I was shaking in an unsightly manner. Not that I could see myself, though.

In short, I was nervous beyond belief.

*It's okay. I'm just going to take a walk. I've seen my neighborhood at night. I know how it is.*

As I mentally consoled myself, my shoes finally made contact with the gra.s.s, and I spotted what I had set aside earlier.

*There it is.*

Entangled in the lawn was a minuscule crystalline structure. I tore it from the ground along with a few blades of gra.s.s. I stared at it for a while before eventually allowing the few bits of gra.s.s and dirt to fall from my hand.

*I'm glad it's reflecting a bit of light. Wouldn't have found it out here otherwise.*

I was also blessed to experience a perfectly clear sky on my first night outside; the crystal was reflecting a bit of light from the numerous twinkling stars and l.u.s.trous full moon.

*There are way more stars out there than are normally visible on Earth. Is this the effect of light pollution?*

I had always seen pictures and heard about the detrimental effect city lights have on the visibility of stars, and I never believed the anecdotal evidence at face value.

*Those stories... I thought they were mere hyperbole. But looks like there's more to the world than I thought.*

Of course I would be surprised. The number of stars I could currently see was easily at least a hundred times the normal amount.

*The number of constellations I can count is also staggering. If I knew what they looked like.*

I could easily spot the three stars that dotted the belt of Orion, but other than that, I had no clue as to what to look for.

*Apparently one of the Dippers is connected? Although I can't really remember which one...*

Although I loved astronomy, I would always involuntarily zone out while looking at constellations. After all, I lived in a polluted area, turning the night sky into a bland smear of darkness. I couldn't fathom why these patterns of stars held so much significance.

*Looking at it now, though, I really wish I knew a few more things about them.*

Now I understood. Back then, there was no such thing as light pollution.

*The sky I see is right now is the sky everyone used to see back then.*

No wonder people had so much to say about the night sky. The clarity coupled with the lack of things to do gave birth to the names of various patterns of stars.

*Looks like it'll slowly become one of my past times as well.*

The level of technology in this world was debatably worse than the technology before the common era.

*This neighborhood is the only exception. I really hope I'm wrong, though.*

Obviously a field of gra.s.s was as technologically inept as anything could possibly be, so I had three choices.

1. Rely on the technology of the remnants of my own world.

2. Encounter a civilization with any level of technology.

3. Create my own.

*Where would I even start with that last option? ...I'll think about it later.*

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For now, it was time to start my reconnaissance mission under the light of night.

I already had a mental map of my neighborhood, so I knew which vantage points to keep an eye on.

The neighborhood was laid out in a semi-elliptical shape with a circ.u.mference of roughly one kilometer - the ellipsoid had a longer radius from east to west. Houses lined both sides of the perimeter for most of the way. The biggest exception was the neighborhood's exit on the southernmost side. That area was devoid of houses for roughly the length of one city block in each direction, since there was an entrance to a park which lay in the center of the ellipse. Each house had a driveway, and most had a fairly large backyard. The s.p.a.ces between most of the houses were a few meters wide. In other words...

*If there's a predator even these rabbits fear, depending on its size, there are way too many places for it to hide!*

If the predator was as large as a grizzly bear, then it would probably be easy to spot. If said predator was as small as a jackal, however, it could potentially hide in hundreds of spots...

I would have to remain as vigilant as possible.

Currently, I was in my backyard - the northernmost point in the neighborhood, and the complete opposite side of the exit.

Of course, this meant that I was relatively close to the exit on the other end of the neighborhood. Although an official one wasn't constructed, nothing would stop me from just walking out. But I didn't want to leave just yet. There were still a few things I wanted to check.

*I wonder if there's anything in this place that could aid my journey into the wilderness.*

In other words, it was time to rob houses!