While searching for water, I found signs of human activity.

So, after having eaten my fill, next up was securing water. It wasn't extremely hot, so the amount of water consumed was minimal, but just relying on the 500ml of barley tea in my water bottle didn't give me much reassurance.

"Since it's a vast flat area with no hills in sight, I'll head upstream for now."

If there's no spring water, as a last resort, I could filter river water to drink, but without the proper equipment, making a filtration device would be difficult.

"If only there were some bamboo around, that might help..."

After walking for about four hours, the vegetation didn't change much, and the width of the river remained consistent.

"Considering my speed is just over 5 km/h, I should have walked nearly 20 km by now, but the scenery hasn't changed at all."

Just as I was starting to feel a bit discouraged, I came across a dense concentration of animal tracks.

"A watering hole for herbivores, perhaps?"

Most of the tracks were hoof prints, so it seemed likely. I decided to head in that direction. The forest wasn't overly thick, allowing sunlight to filter through, and the ground was easy to walk on.

After walking for about 30 minutes, I discovered a pool with abundant spring water. Water was gushing out of the rocky area, and the water from the pond was forming a tributary leading to the river upstream.

"Just as I thought. At least securing drinking water is done."

From here, my objective shifted to gathering food.

"Birds are the target — hopefully something like quail or similar."

Honestly, if large animals like deer or wild boar got caught in the trap, I wouldn't know how to finish them off. I remember seeing a wild boar caught in a snare with an old man once; it was terrifying. The tree had been carved halfway through, and the ground was dug up more than 50 cm deep in a donut shape. Its legs were exposed bone. I couldn't imagine hunting that kind of animal without proper tools.

"Unless the prey is something that can be caught with just the recoil of a tree, a knife won't do much."

I set up small snares in several places near some chestnut trees and an unknown small fruit tree, slightly away from the watering area. While searching for vines, I found yamaimo (mountain yam) and happily started digging it up. But it was nearly 2 meters long, which was exhausting. Without a shovel, using just sticks and flat pieces of wood to dig 2 meters was like torture.

"Hmm? Could this be..."

While setting up the snares, I found something that was clearly alive in one of them.

"I activate 'Recognition.'"

There were several makeshift snares made from coiled metal wire set up in various places.

"Without using a spring, it tightens when stepped on due to the tree's recoil. Well-made."

So, this means there are humans here who set traps. Plus, they were set just yesterday.

"Encountering an unknown intelligent lifeform—friendly or not? Better hide and observe for now."

While setting up the traps, I found a nice rocky area that would make a good place to sleep for the night.

After that, I'll check the traps before sunset. If nothing's caught, it'll be yamaimo feast time. Oh well, the yamaimo was non-toxic and just regular yamaimo after all.