Ignorance breeds hope.
This was something I often thought about, the more I listened to the teachings of my family. They always seemed hellbent on doing things that made me feel abnormal… if that's even the right word?
Sometimes I think I'm not as ignorant as them. But is that really the case? Hah! Who knows—certainly not me, or more accurately, not the current me.
Perhaps whoever said that ignorance is bliss was right after all.
And that will be all for today... and I guess I won't be able to write for some time after the start of that.
—Excerpt from the personal diary of Lady ??
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The forest, which had been silent just moments ago, stirred from its slumber and was now wide and awake. Nolan had attracted the attention of hunters, predators that had been waiting patiently for prey like moths drawn to flame.
'No... what have I done?'
The hairs on his neck stood up, and a chill ran down his spine. There was no more time for regret or wishful thinking. It was done there was no changing it back.
Instead of just cursing himself for the idiocy, he had to think about the future.
Nolan's mind raced, and numerous ideas erupted… multiple paths appeared and at the same time disappeared.
'Should I leave the forest?'
He knew the forest was a hub of danger. Every step could be a trap, every shadow a predator. But he also knew, out in the open, he'd be completely exposed. If he encountered anything even remotely close to that thing from earlier...
There'd be no chance of escape in the open field.
"Have to think… fast."
Grrrrrrr!
Before he could make up his mind, the once-faint growls were now thunderous, like drums echoing right beside his ears. They weren't just sounds anymore—they were death, and it was almost right beside him.
There was no more time.
"Hell with it…"
Nolan gritted his teeth and ran. He has made up his mind that if things went wrong, it would be the problem of his future self. Right now, he just has to survive… this moment.
And with this thought, he sprinted toward the edge of the forest, limbs screaming and the lungs burning. The trees blurred past him as sharp, crisp branches whipped across his arms and face.
Grooooowwwlll!
Shriik!!
The sounds approached. It was closer now... much closer.
Daaamn… it!
Nolan cursed under his breath and pushed harder, tearing through the underbrush like his life depended on it—because it did.
His heartbeat beats faster and faster, slamming in his chest so loud it almost drowns out the snarls and shrieks behind him.
Nolan still didn't know what was chasing him as he hadn't looked back once. The reason was simple: the predators were just tens of meters behind him, and if he wasted any precious seconds looking back… they would make it the last thing he ever did.
Branches lashed at his face, vines strangled at his legs, but he didn't stop. The beating from these small things began to mount up, and the pain began to overwhelm Nolan by the second.
The fragility of his body, which he had considered quite above average, sounded like nothing but a joke at the moment.
He could almost feel like cursing his past self for not exercising more. Increase the strength some more. Yet he didn't do it, couldn't do it, after all, it wasn't his fault... neither was it anyone else's.
"This hurts..." A whisper escaped his lips as Nolan felt his lungs burning. Every gust of air he took felt like shards of glass, but even then, he refused to stop. His legs refused to slow down, adrenaline burned, and his speed instead went up a level.
Finally, hope began to show up. The trees start to thin out, and the sunlight—real sunlight, not the pale, filtered light through the holes in the leaves shines upon him.
Grooooowwwlll!
Growls intensified, but Nolan paid no attention to them. He burst through the last line of the trees and looked at the new worlds in front of him.
'What is this...??' A thought appeared as he couldn't help but question the authenticity of the sight he was seeing. What he was seeing was the complete opposite of what he had known the world to be.
It was unnatural… unnerving and most importantly foreign.
As soon as he jumped the invisible line, he felt it—a shift, a sudden emptiness in the air. It was like stepping from a nightmare into something just as wrong, but different.
Nolan wanted to look at the strange, unnatural things more, but he understood the time wasn't on his side. The forest had ended, but the hunters were still following behind him.
Puff! Puff!
Taking a few deep breaths, he didn't waste any moment and straightened up. The sprint this time wasn't that painful, nor was it hard comparatively. There weren't any branches blocking or slapping his face, nor was the mud making his steps heavy.
The hunters had almost reached the edge of the forest as well, and the silhouette of their bodies could be seen from outside. A thought occurred, and Nolan turned for a moment, trying to look at the being that was chasing him.
'Monkey?... Snakes?'
There he saw numerous of them... some whose features he couldn't even make up because of the limited moments, but there were some he knew. Monkey, or something resembling a monkey, was one of them.
It looks like a large monkey at first glance, with long, agile limbs and sharp, intelligent eyes. But the more one looked, the more monstrous it appeared.
One of the more obvious features, and of which Nolan had taken notice of, was its plumage—yes, a plumage on a mammal. There were sleek, iridescent feathers sprouting from its back, arms, and tail like a twisted mix of peacock and raptor.
'No… it can't be a monkey.'
Trying to confirm, Nolan turns back when he sees something even more bizarre, causing his legs to halt for a moment.
'They stopped…??'
He couldn't believe his eyes, but it was true. All of a sudden, the monsters had stopped in their tracks. They seemed unwilling to cross the border between forest and this bizarre field as if…
'Shit…' Nolan was about to heave a sigh of relief but cursed inwardly. Every other monster had stopped, but one had only slowed down.
Growll!
Growling on top of his lungs, the monkey jumped into the field and ran toward the one who had dared to disturb his sleep.