I stood frozen in the middle of the forest, staring dumbly at the sky.
"…What now?"
The silence pressed in on me. The forest stretched tall and endless, trees twisting into a canopy that choked most of the late-afternoon light. The air smelled of pine and damp soil.
"Great. I'm stranded. With no food, no water, no plan…"
I kicked at a pebble. It bounced once, twice, then struck into a root and stopped there. That was about the sum of my strategy at the moment. I sighed. "What am I even supposed to eat out here? Bark? Mushrooms? Ugh—"
The ground in front of me rippled.
I stumbled back as shadows welled up like liquid. With a faint shoop, a leather satchel rose smoothly from the black swirl and settled neatly on the grass. The shadow faded away, leaving the bag as if it had always been there.
I blinked. "…Master Kael?"
Crouching, I pulled it open. On top was a folded paper and Inside: a couple folded blankets, a copper water bottle at the side, a spare change of clothes, two faintly glowing mana potions, one glowing healing potion, and a plain iron knife.
I unfolded the paper and read it.
"Almost forgot this. Wouldn't want you starving to death—that'd be my fault. But if you die to monsters? Not my problem. Hehe."
My eyebrow twitched. "You smug bastard."
I slung the bag over my shoulder, took a deep breath, and started forward.
The forest thickened quickly. Each step crunched twigs and scattered leaves under my boots. I tried to keep my senses sharp.
It didn't take long before the bushes ahead rustled.
"Another slime?" I muttered, peering through the leaves.
Sure enough, three little blue blobs bounced lazily in a clearing.
But I wasn't the only one watching.
A shadow crouched at the far edge—the horned rabbit. Its jagged antler gleamed, and its red eyes narrowed as it sprang.
SCHLK!
The horn skewered one slime clean through. The creature let out a faint blorp before bursting apart in a wet spray. A mana stone dropped near.
My eyes widened. I can't let that rabbit kill those adorable slimes!
"Hey!" I shouted, instinct kicking in. I darted forward, fire sparking to life in my palm.
New Quest Unlocked!
Objective:Defeat the Horned Rabbit [LVL 5]
Reward: EXP, possible loot drop.
The remaining two slimes panicked, bouncing wildly before bouncing away.
The rabbit's crimson gaze snapped from its kill to me.
I hurled a fireball.
FWOOOSH.
The blaze streaked straight toward its chest—only for the rabbit to twist, agile as lightning. My spell scorched the dirt.
I froze, heart hammering. Idiot! I should've waited, should've hit it while it was distracted. Stupid, stupid!
The rabbit whirled, ears twitching. Its gaze locked on me, unblinking.
It lunged.
I scrambled, arm jerking up as mana flared. Another fireball streaked toward it—missed again, as it juked sideways at the last instant.
[MP: 340 → 320]
My chest tightened. "Dammit!"
It closed the distance frighteningly fast. The blur of fur and antler bore down on me, eyes gleaming.
Think. Think!
I scraped my heel against the dirt, scooping a burst of dust into the air. The rabbit flinched, red eyes blinking against the sudden cloud. I seized the chance—yanking the knife from my belt and hurling it at the nearest tree.
Thunk!
The rabbit's ears twitched toward the sound. For a split second, its attention shifted.
"Now!"
Two fireballs erupted from my palms—one straight at its chest, the other just off to the left.
The rabbit dodged instinctively to the side—straight into the second blast.
BOOOOM.
Flames swallowed its fur. The beast shrieked, flailing wildly before collapsing to the ground, smoking and still.
I stood panting, chest heaving. Sweat stung my eyes. Slowly, a grin tugged at my lips.
"Got you."
The clearing was eerily quiet now.
Congratulations! You defeated [LVL 5] Horned Rabbit.
EXP Gained: +100
Total EXP: 120/2000 → Level 15
I blinked at the glowing message. "…Only a hundred? That's it?"
Scrolling my eyes over the bar, my stomach dropped. "Wait—two thousand just for the next level? I'm at… one-twenty."
I slapped my forehead. "At this rate, I'll have to kill like—what—twenty rabbits just to level up once?!"
A groan slipped out. "Guess I've been spoiled by those random power-ups before…. Well, whatever."
Shaking my head, I bent down and picked up the mana stone left by the poor slime. It pulsed faintly in my hand, cool and smooth.
I glanced at the rabbit's body. No mana stone lying nearby. "What, do I have to dig inside for it?" I grimaced, imagining the mess. "…Yeah, I will think about it later."
Instead, I wrapped the rabbit in some broad leaves, shoved it carefully into my satchel, and tightened the flap. "Dinner secured, I guess."
With that, I slung the bag over my shoulder and pressed deeper into the forest.
Not long after, I froze.
Up ahead, sprawled across the roots of a massive tree, was a hulking beast covered in dark brown fur. Its chest rose and fell in heavy, rumbling breaths, each exhale puffing through a jagged snout. Claws the size of daggers dug lazily into the dirt.
A bear. A monster bear. Easily three times my size.
I swallowed hard, every muscle locking up. Nope. Nope, nope, nope.
Carefully, I crouched low and crept around, each step deliberate, hardly daring to breathe. The thing snorted once, shifted, then went still again. I didn't stop sneaking until I was well out of sight.
"Yeah," I whispered, wiping sweat from my forehead, "that's way out of my league."
Further along, I stumbled onto another group of slimes. This time, I didn't hesitate. A few quick spells later, the clearing was quiet.
I dropped to the ground, chest rising and falling like I'd just run a marathon. My limbs ached, sweat plastering my hair to my forehead.
Around me lay several faintly glowing stones. I crawled around and scooped them up, holding one in my palm.
The light shimmered faintly in the fading sun. I tilted it back and forth, grinning despite myself.
"I wonder if I can exchange these for money—like those novels and anime where adventurers sell monster drops." I shoved them into the bag. "Okay, okay, I'll find out about that later."
The sun was sinking fast now, the forest shadows stretching long and dark. My body screamed with exhaustion, my mana pool low.
I exhaled slowly. "…Guess I should stop here for camping."