The morning came gently.
The fire had burned down to warm embers. A few wisps of smoke drifted upward, curling lazily into the air like they had no interest in moving fast.
Dew clung to the leaves above me, and shafts of sunlight pierced the canopy in golden beams that painted the moss in soft halos.
Birdsong filled the forest—not sharp, high-pitched notes like I remembered from home, but strange melodic chimes.
Like someone plucking harp strings underwater. Every once in a while, a distant animal howled—a low, echoing sound that faded too quickly, as if the forest itself had swallowed it.
And me?
I was alive.
I stretched slowly on the patch of moss I'd curled up on last night. My limbs were sore in that satisfying way, like post-training muscle burn. I rotated my arm, flexed my fingers, then sat up and looked down at the dagger resting next to me.
The Emberfang blade gleamed faintly in the sunlight, pulsing like it still remembered the dragon it came from.
My upgraded gun was holstered at my side, sleek and glowing softly from the cylinder.
And my stomach, miracle of miracles, wasn't trying to murder me anymore.
I exhaled. "Okay. That wasn't so bad."
Honestly? I'd expected worse. First night in a death-forest fantasy world? I could've been eaten by a hundred different things, or starved, or walked off a cliff in my sleep.
But here I was.
Fed. Alive. Armed.
Now came the next challenge.
I stood, brushing off my pants and taking one last look around the tiny clearing that had been my refuge. "Alright, Reaper. Let's make a plan."
Step one: Find civilization.
Step two: Assess threats.
Step three: Get more food.
Step four: Maybe a bath, if I didn't want to smell like roasted rabbit forever.
It wasn't much, but it was structure. And structure kept me sharp.
I began walking—slow and steady, scanning the landscape like I was reconning an unfamiliar map.
The terrain had started to slope downward slightly, which I took as a good sign. Villages were usually built in flatter valleys or near water.
The trees gradually spaced out, and shafts of sunlight grew stronger. In the distance, I saw a hawk-like creature spiral upward, its wings leaving glowing trails.
"C'mon," I muttered to myself. "Just give me smoke. A roof. A dirt path. Anything."
But no such luck yet.
Instead, I got company.
A rustling noise—too heavy to be wind. Then a snort. Low, gutteral. Wet.
I froze.
HUD pinged.
[Feral Briarbeast]
Level: 6
HP: 120
Aggression: High
Tendency to Charge: Constant
Weak Points: Underbelly, Eyes, Ego]
The thing barreled out of the trees like a living lawnmower.
It looked like a bear had made out with a hedgehog and got cursed halfway through. Brambles jutted out of its spine, eyes gleamed red, and its breath came in steaming puffs that reeked of rot and grass clippings.
It saw me.
I raised the pistol.
BANG.
The shot hit center mass. The beast flinched but kept charging. Snarling.
"Of course you tanked that."
I dove left as it smashed through a tree like it was paper.
Rolling, I came up behind it. It wheeled, surprisingly nimble. Claws raked the ground.
Another shot.
BANG.
Right in the eye.
It shrieked. Spun wildly. Slammed into a boulder.
I didn't hesitate.
I surged forward with the Emberfang dagger. Jumped. Landed on its back. Drove the blade down through the space behind its ear—deep, twisting once for good measure.
The beast let out a wheezing moan and collapsed.
I dropped beside it, panting.
[Monster Defeated – EXP +320]
[LEVEL UP! → Level 6]
"Oh yeah. Let's keep this going."
The next few hours turned into a strange montage of violence and breathwork.
A pack of blade-beaked vultures attacked mid-hilltop. I shot two out of the sky. Dodged the rest. One tried to dive-bomb me and got daggered in the neck.
[EXP + 290]
[Level 7]
A slime the size of a dumpster tried to eat my leg. I discovered that shooting it made it multiply. I had to burn it with one of the blue fire mushrooms I'd found near the dragon clearing.
[EXP + 190]
[Level 8]
A weird horse-goat hybrid tried to charm me with telepathic humming. I headbutted it on instinct. No regrets.
[EXP + 160]
[Level 9]
The last creature was some kind of armored lizard that spat acid.
I lured it into climbing a tree, then blew off the branch it was clinging to with a shot, sending it tumbling into a pit of its own slime.
[EXP + 400]
[Level 10 – New Passive Unlocked: "Tactical Edge" – Slightly increases perception of time during combat.]
I finally slowed my pace as I reached a plateau overlooking the forest. My breathing was even. My body felt amazing—stronger, lighter, correct. My dagger felt like an extension of my hand now, and the pistol responded like a trusted partner.
"Okay," I said aloud. "I'm not useless here. I'm actually… kind of awesome."
My stomach rumbled again. "Yeah, yeah, food soon."
Then I saw it.
Smoke.
Thin, gray, rising in a gentle plume not far off—maybe half a kilometer, on the other side of the slope.
"Yes," I breathed. "Finally."
I adjusted my gear and began moving quietly, sticking to cover and switching into scouting mode.
Closer now.
There were structures.
Wooden walls. Thatched roofs. A waterwheel by a stream. It looked like a frontier village or outpost, maybe ten to twelve buildings. I couldn't see any people from this angle.
I crouched near a rock, surveying.
Suddenly—ting.
My HUD blinked.
[WARNING: Incoming Projectile Detected]
I moved.
Instinct.
My body twisted, and I threw myself into a roll just as something whistled past my shoulder.
THUNK.
An arrow buried itself into the tree beside me.
I turned my head slowly, eyes narrowing.
Someone just tried to shoot me.
"Okay," I growled, standing up behind the rock, muscles tight.
"This just got interesting."