The night wind whipped against his face, and the dense forest branches and leaves scraped against his cheeks and arms. The resultant stinging sensation was simulated with startling accuracy.
'The simulation level of this game is truly high. '
Although the year 2065 marked the era of holographic gaming, most titles remained limited to basic visual rendering. Pale Dawn was the first game to incorporate additional sensory simulations, including pain, alongside its visuals.
The human brain processes pain in a graded manner, and exceeding a certain threshold can cause severe neurological damage. Therefore, pain simulation in holographic games must also be graded: for minor injuries, such as Caleb being scraped by leaves now, the simulation level could reach 80%. However, for more intense trauma—such as limb severance, impalement, or gunshots—the simulation was greatly weakened, typically hovering around 5%-10%. For lethal damage, which entails the highest level of pain, the simulation was mercifully set to 0%.
Caleb had run less than a hundred meters when a frantic barking sound erupted from behind him. The House Owner had unleashed the dog, sending it in pursuit.
There is nothing more tense and exhilarating than having a ferocious pursuer at your heels.
Coupled with the effect of running at full speed, Caleb's heart rate was surging, rapidly approaching the dynamic heart rate of a normally active person.
The surge of adrenaline caused his pupils to dilate, his muscles to tremble slightly, and blood to rush to his head, all of which greatly enhanced his senses.
--Ding! Unknown factor importing... Data error...
In his line of sight, the rapidly receding scenery blurred into a cinematic slow motion. His enhanced dynamic vision allowed him to see the distinct textures on the leaves flying past.
--Ding! Unknown factor importing... Data error...
Simultaneously, an infusion of strength powered his legs, instantly boosting his running speed. He moved with a swift agility through the rugged, mountainous terrain, reminiscent of an ancient martial artist mastering acrobatic feats.
The roaring sound behind him gradually diminished, and the relentlessly pursuing vicious dog was instantly left far behind.
However, the burst of speed lasted less than two minutes. As the loud, rushing sound of a waterfall reached his ears, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
The forest path terminated abruptly at a cliff. Opposite the drop was a wide, white waterfall, and directly below lay a pool formed by the cascading water.
'There is no way forward, the vicious dog will soon catch up; I'm trapped here, caught between a rock and a hard place.'
The green arrow reappeared, curving to point down toward the pool, signaling Caleb to jump.
While jumping off a cliff is a difficult and genuinely thrilling prospect in reality, and attempting to escape a dog by such a drastic measure seemed unreasonable, this was a holographic game. Experiences like freefall were already a worn-out trope in crude VR games decades ago and posed no major challenge in modern holographic simulations.
Except for players with acrophobia, most should have minimal resistance.
'I wonder if I can kill that dog here? '
This crazy idea was not born of fear, but of profound confidence. In his adrenaline-fueled state, Caleb was extremely certain of his enhanced skills, believing he could achieve feats ordinary people could not.
Under the normal tutorial path, a player would not have the chance to fight the dog. The vicious dog was programmed to be faster. Even if the player gained a brief lead, they would have no time to think, let alone stop, upon reaching the cliff. They would likely just see the arrow, close their eyes, and jump.
But Caleb was different. Being faster than the dog, he arrived at the cliff with more than a minute to spare. Before the vicious dog caught up, he had ample time to catch his breath, formulate a defense, and consider alternatives to escape.
'I'm quite a bit faster than it.'
Caleb looked back and saw no sign of the dog, though its barking was rapidly drawing closer.
'I can still capture all of its movements...'
He glanced down at the kitchen knife he had taken from the house. After a quick calculation, he decided it was necessary to attempt killing the vicious dog. Even if the dog was designed to be unbeatable, his superior speed meant he would still have enough time to leap off the cliff if the fight failed.
With this decision made, Caleb turned, knife in hand, standing alone at the cliff's edge, embodying the spirit of 'one man guarding the pass, ten thousand cannot open it.'
Before long, as the barking intensified, the black-furred dog, standing roughly as tall as an adult's waist, sprang nimbly out of the shadowy thicket. Its head twisted, instantly spotting its target on the cliff, and it immediately bared its fangs, emitting a low growl.
Lowering its body to gather power, the vicious dog launched itself toward Caleb.
'Here it comes! '
His heart hammered like a drum, blood circulation intensified, and raw strength surged through his body. His keen, adrenaline-fueled senses granted Caleb superhuman dynamic vision, processing the pouncing dog in slow motion.
'Too slow!'
A flicker of disdain crossed his mouth. Caleb's figure flashed past the vicious dog like a phantom, his silver-white hair streaking like a flowing light. As he crossed paths with his opponent, he plunged the knife fiercely into the dog's soft underbelly. Leveraging his forward momentum and the dog's own pounce, he sharply slashed forward.
An arm-length wound instantly opened on the dog's abdomen. Blood sprayed into the air, splashing across Caleb's head and face. The black-furred dog, struck in a vital spot, lost control mid-air and fell heavily, rolling several times in a chaotic tumble as its internal organs spilled out from the gruesome injury.
With that single strike, the large vicious dog was critically wounded.
Its limbs trembled, and it struggled desperately to rise from the ground but failed, letting out whimpering cries of agony before collapsing again, barely alive.
--You attacked the hound 'Bob', target health -90% (vital attack).
--The hound 'Bob' is in a dying state.
--Your actions increased Active Stance proficiency by 100 points.
--Your Active Stance proficiency level has increased, current level is 1!
[Active Stance LV1: Basic Damage 10%-15% (Vital Damage 60-90%) Max Health/per, Full Speed Run +15%, Strength +15%, Resistance to 'Real Fear' +10%. While in this stance, you cannot discover any clues or item props.]
--Your unusual behavior triggered the hidden side quest [House Owner's Pursuit], forced acceptance!
His guess was correct: the black-furred dog could indeed be killed, and doing so triggered a hidden side quest.
'The game system must have calculated the possibility of players taking down the dog.'
Killing the dog was a far more difficult hurdle than simply jumping off the cliff; only players who overcame this challenge could access subsequent content. To complete a hidden side quest during the beginner tutorial stage signaled that he was already a significant step ahead of players who followed the default path or skipped the tutorial entirely.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Caleb leaned on his knees, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath. While the adrenaline surge had vastly enhanced his abilities, the cost was a massive spike in physical exhaustion. After the run and the fight, his white stamina bar now rested at a perilous 20%.
At this precise moment, a torchlight flickered in the distant woods. The House Owner was tracking his footprints and rapidly closing the distance.
'I can't continue fighting like this.'
Caleb straightened up and scanned his surroundings. The cliff area offered only loose stones; there was no place to hide and slowly recover his stamina.
'No choice.'
He turned his head; the green arrow in his vision still guided him to jump.
He walked slowly to the very edge of the cliff, turned back one last time, and watched the torchlight burst out of the dark woods. Amidst the angry roar of the tall, dark figure holding the torch, Caleb spread his arms, leaned back, and fell.