Limitless Evolution Through Conquering Primal Beauties-Chapter 14 - Just Sleep

In the end, Leonard kept walking aimlessly.

His feet carried him along the faint trail, past trees swaying gently in the night breeze, past a small river whose waters shimmered under the moonlight. He didn’t think about where he should go. He just walked.

Leonard didn’t know how long he walked. Ten minutes? Half an hour? He had no idea. Time felt blurred amid the cold, the hunger, and the despair.

But somehow, his feet stopped on their own.

Leonard looked up.

In front of him stood a small hut. Its walls were woven from twigs and dried leaves, its roof tightly layered with tall grass. Beside it was a small pen of some sort and a stack of firewood he had seen before.

Borami’s house.

Leonard stared at it for a long time. His eyes traced every detail—the tightly closed woven bamboo door, the small hole in the wall that likely served as a window, the thin trail of smoke still rising from the gap in the roof, a sign that a fire was still burning inside.

"How did I end up here?"

He asked himself. But he knew the answer.

Out of all the beastkin he had met today—Alice, Emma, Beatrice, the ape-men, and the mockers—only two had treated him kindly.

Lily, the rabbit girl who had kicked him unconscious. And Borami, the cow woman who had treated his wounds and slapped him when he behaved indecently.

Leonard took a step forward.

Then stopped. Hesitation crept in.

"Can I really ask for help again?"

The question hung in the cold air. Leonard bit his lip.

"After what happened... after what I tried to do..."

His face grew hot at the memory.

"Shameless idiot."

He deserved that slap. More than once.

But he also remembered the system screen. Affection had gone up. Lust had increased. Status changed to Interested.

"What does that even mean? Does she... like me?"

Leonard shook his head. He didn’t know. He was too tired to analyze it any further.

What he did know: he was hungry. His stomach had growled so many times it had eventually fallen silent—perhaps too empty to make noise anymore. His body was trembling violently. His fingers were numb from the cold.

"If I don’t do something, I could die here."

He looked at Borami’s house. The door was closed. Maybe inside there was warm firelight. Maybe leftover food. Maybe a bed of animal hide, soft enough to sleep on.

But how was he supposed to ask?

"What would I even say? Excuse me, Rami. I know I acted like a shameless pervert earlier. But could I stay the night? And maybe have a little food? I’m starving and freezing."

It sounded pathetic. It sounded like begging.

"And what if she has a husband? Or a family?"

Leonard swallowed. He hadn’t thought about that. Borami was an adult woman, beautiful, with a body that—well, impressive. She probably had a partner. Maybe her husband was sleeping inside right now. Or her children.

If that were the case, Leonard might be thrown out. Or worse, beaten for daring to disturb someone’s wife in the middle of the night.

But... 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

’According to her status, she’s interested in me.’

Leonard recalled his analysis from the past few hours. He had plenty of time to think while wandering aimlessly.

’The reason her Affection is high might just be because she’s the type who cares about her patients,’ Leonard thought. ’She’s a healer. Maybe she’s used to tending to people, so she naturally has compassion for the weak and wounded.’

The last time he checked, Borami’s Trust was at 14%, normal for a stranger. From Leonard’s observations, most beastkin who didn’t see him as a threat had trust levels around 5–15%. Alice and Emma, after believing he wasn’t an intruder, were at 6% and 9%, and Beatrice was 11%. So 14% was fairly good for a stranger.

Borami’s Affection, however, was unusual. From the very beginning, it had been quite high. Most unfamiliar beastkin had Affection around 2–6%, which seemed to indicate basic concern for a fellow beastkin.

If Affection reached zero, it meant complete dislike—just as Emma and Alice had shown. But Borami had been at 11% upon first meeting him, which suggested extraordinary kindness toward a stranger.

"She really is the kind type," Leonard concluded.

He wasn’t certain. But clearly, out of everyone in this village, Borami was the most likely to help him.

Leonard took a long breath.

He suppressed his shame, stepped forward, and knocked on the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The knock was soft, barely audible in the stillness of the night. Leonard waited.

No answer.

He knocked again, a little louder. "Borami? Is anyone home?"

Silence.

Leonard waited a few seconds. Then he called her name more clearly. "Rami?"

No sound came from inside. No footsteps. No reply.

Leonard pressed his ear to the door. Faintly, he could hear the crackling of fire, but nothing else.

"Is she asleep?" he wondered. "Or not home?"

He called once more, louder. "Rami! It’s Leo! Sorry to disturb you this late, but..."

His words trailed off. It seemed pointless.

The house was dark and quiet. Maybe Borami had gone out—perhaps to a neighbor’s house, perhaps somewhere else. Or maybe she was asleep and hadn’t heard his soft knocking.

Leonard stepped back, staring at the house. From outside, he could see that Borami’s home was somewhat isolated from the others. Perhaps intentionally, due to her profession as a healer needing quiet. Or for some other reason.

"Does she live alone?" Leonard sighed. There was no point speculating. What was clear was that he couldn’t go inside now.

He looked around. Beside the house, near one of the support posts, was a shaded area—perhaps once used to store firewood, now empty. The ground there was dry, sheltered from the direct wind.

Leonard walked over, sat down, and leaned his back against the wall. He pulled his knees to his chest, hugging himself in a fetal position. He tried to make his body as small as possible, hoping to preserve what little warmth remained.

The night wind blew again, stronger. Leonard shivered violently. His teeth chattered.

So this is what it feels like to be homeless?

He remembered the homeless people in his city. Sleeping under bridges, in storefront alcoves, at bus stops where no bus ever came. The ones he used to avoid on his way to the convenience store.

Back then, he thought his life was hard. Two years unemployed, bills piling up, an uncertain future.

Now he was sitting against a stranger’s hut, in a primitive world he didn’t understand, in bone-piercing cold, with an empty stomach and no one.

And he remembered his old fantasy. Living in the Stone Age. Hunting and gathering. Living in caves. Clean air. No global warming. Dense forests. Animals roaming free.

Leonard chuckled.

The sound was quiet, bitter, almost like a sob.

"Is this your way of mocking me?" he whispered to the sky. "Do you think this is funny?"

The sky gave no answer. The moon continued shining coldly.

Leonard let out another bitter laugh.

Is this world mocking me?

Now he was here. In the Stone Age he once dreamed of. And it felt... like hell.

If God existed, He was probably laughing at him right now.

"You want to live in the Stone Age? Here you go. Enjoy."

Leonard stared at the moon glowing above.

If asked whether he wanted to return to his old world...

Yes. Very much. Right now.

He missed his modest home. Missed his computer and his games. Missed instant noodles. Missed his bed—not very soft, but warm.

He missed Lulu.

His dog. His best friend. The only family he had left.

Where are you now, Lu? Are you safe? Did those homeless people eat you? Or did you run away?

Leonard didn’t know. And perhaps he never would.

"Just sleep," he told himself. "If you sleep, you won’t feel hungry or cold anymore."

He squeezed his eyes shut. Took a deep breath. Endured the cold.

And slowly, his consciousness began to slip away.

He had once heard that many homeless people died in their sleep from hunger and cold. Their bodies gave up while they were unconscious.

"Dying like that... wouldn’t be so bad."

The thought hovered at the edge of his fading awareness.

Leonard didn’t resist. He let himself sink.

His breathing slowed. His heartbeat weakened. The cold sensation began to fade, replaced by a strange warmth creeping from within.

He didn’t know if he would wake up again.

And he didn’t care.