*Frantic Gasps*
"Why?" "Why?" "Why?" I thought in panic.
That question was the only thing racing through my mind as I fled, hearing the heavy footsteps of whatever was chasing me. I had a vague idea of what it could be: a massive, humanoid monster, a vivid green like the leaves of a tree in spring, with colossal fangs jutting from its mouth, a huge belly that spoke to its ravenous appetite, wielding a wooden club at least a meter and a half long in its left arm, clad only in what looked like a steel chainmail skirt.
It was obvious to anyone who'd played a video game or watched a fantasy anime, but my frantic mind wasn't exactly focused on that right now.
"Damn it! ¡It won't stop chasing me!"
I thought fiercely. In this situation, wasting breath could mean the difference between escaping or not, so speaking had become a luxury. I still couldn't wrap my head around the situation I was in. Just minutes ago, I was at the supermarket where I worked, and now here I was, running for my life through an unfamiliar forest with an almost forgotten, primal look, as if I'd been transported to some ancient past untouched by humans.
I glanced at my left arm, where "he" had left a translucent blue screen displaying numbers I'd worry about later, once I was safe. After all, a distraction could cost me my life.
<999,999,464 vs 2,000,000,000>
I ran with indescribable panic, dodging branches and tree roots as best I could, until I heard voices and screams not far from where I was.
-Aaahhhhh!
-Get away! Get away!
Maybe it was the fear of being chased or the joy of hearing human voices, but I decided to run toward them without thinking about the words or screams, much less what was causing them. As I got closer, the light grew brighter. The forest wasn't dark, but the dense canopy barely let sunlight through—a sign that the place ahead was clear of the trees that covered even the sky.
As I approached, a tense smile formed on my face, born of desperate joy at the thought of seeing another person, a feeling more intense than anything I'd ever experienced.
-Help! I need—
"What the hell?"
I stopped short, swallowing my words in shock as a jet of thick, reddish liquid sprayed forcefully in front of me.
"What is that? B… blo… blood?" I thought, terrified.
Before me was a scene I never expected to witness in my life. Yes, there were the people I'd been so eager to find, but not in the situation I'd hoped for.
"Wait, what situation was I even expecting?"
Regardless of what I'd expected, it didn't change the fact that what I was seeing was a massacre. A one-sided slaughter.
In front of me was a sea of blood, made up of what seemed like no fewer than fifty corpses in a horrific state. About twenty people were running in all directions, pursued and hunted by what I could only describe as monsters and beasts that, though they shouldn't exist, were eerily familiar.
"Goblins? Giant wolves? Gar—"
"Aaahhhhh! Help!" Sobs
"Agggh!" Sobs
The screams I'd ignored earlier now made sense. I was witnessing fantasy creatures brutally and savagely killing people like me, yet it felt like the natural order. Among the monsters I saw were the typical goblins—swamp-green, small creatures no taller than a meter, with sharp, pupil-less red eyes, wielding daggers and attacking people.
As I took in the tragic scene, a girl who didn't look older than twenty ran toward me, her face a mix of horror and relief, as if being near another person might give her the safety she was clearly seeking. In this situation, that was impossible.
Before she could reach me, she froze, the relief on her face turning to pale desperation as she pointed behind me. That's when I remembered something the scene in front of me had made me forget for a moment: I was also being chased.
"Damn it, I'm an idiot," I thought.
With that quick realization, I turned my head to look behind me and saw the beast that had been chasing me was just a few steps away. The green beast raised its club and swung it down with force. I barely dodged it by jumping to the side, stumbling clumsily. The blow landed with a thunderous crash, like a tree being felled, shattering the ground beneath us and kicking up a small cloud of dust that engulfed the three of us.
"How did it get so close without me noticing?" I thought, stunned, before shouting, "Quick, come here!"
Those words were meant for the girl I'd just seen, hoping we could escape together. But that thought was quickly erased. As the dust cloud began to clear, I saw that the girl, whose name I never learned, lay lifeless, her body crushed by the blow from moments ago.
"Instant death… that could've been me."
Taking advantage of the lingering dust cloud, I started running again, realizing I hadn't actually left the forest. The people whose screams I could still hear around me and I were in a flat, circular clearing free of trees but still surrounded by the dense forest.
I glanced at my left arm again, at that stupid screen, and saw the situation wasn't looking good. Clearly, "he" had expected this.
<999,985,387 vs 2,000,000,000>
"This is ridiculous. There's no way out," I thought in frustration.
I kept running, staying away from the center of the clearing where I'd be an easy target. Then I made a decision I never thought I'd make. My body was deteriorating; the fatigue from the initial chase, though it had lasted only a few minutes, was no small thing. Clouded by exhaustion, I made a choice.
I ran toward the people who seemed safer or less targeted in this chaos—not to ask for help, but to use them as a distraction, praying that the green beast, which I could maybe call an ogre, would get distracted by one of them and leave me alone to catch my breath.
It was a cruel plan born of desperation, exhaustion, and a lack of empathy in that moment. Heartless but effective. The ogre stopped chasing me, distracted by a blond man I glanced at briefly. To be honest, I didn't care much. I had only one goal now.
"I'm going to survive this."
Seeing that no monster had its eyes on me, I slipped back into the forest. It's true I was moving away from the humans I'd thought would be my salvation just moments ago—a hope that had proven false.
"Ugh… finally, a breather."
I hid behind a large tree not far from the clearing where I'd just witnessed a massacre. I wanted to get away to rest but didn't want to be completely alone, so I stayed about thirty meters from the area.
"They shouldn't find me here. Even if they have a strong sense of smell, their attention must be back there with the screams and bodies," I thought.
With tense legs, trembling hands, and my body utterly exhausted, I started breathing deeply to calm down and think clearly. Thoughts flooded my mind.
"Did I just get that blond guy killed?"
"Where should I run now?"
"I'm not ready to fight something like that."
"I'm scared. I don't want to die."
Before I could lose myself in the thoughts swirling in my head, I looked at the screen on my arm again. As expected, the number had dropped once more.
<999,980,795 vs 2,000,000,000>
-Damn it, at this rate, they'll kill us all.
It was clear the number would keep dropping. I knew what those numbers meant. The first was the number of humans "here," and the second was the number of "them" with us.
Before my mind could spiral further, the blond man from earlier came running toward me, rage on his face, followed by that damned ogre that wouldn't stop tormenting me.
-Goddamn it, leave me alone! I shouted, not caring anymore.
I started running again, and instead of continuing on his own path, the blond man began chasing me. His plan was clear—he was trying the same thing I'd done to him earlier. As if fate were punishing me for my past actions, I ended up at the top of a steep path. Going down wouldn't be impossible, but one wrong step could mean a deadly fall among the trees or whatever lay at the bottom.
With no options, I decided to descend, taking utmost care with my steps. Otherwise, my only fate was being crushed by that monster. Unexpectedly, the blond man rushed down recklessly, as if he hadn't noticed the slope, causing the ogre behind him to charge down carelessly too.
The blond man quickly lost his balance and crashed into a tree, only to be crushed by the ogre, who was also tumbling down the steep slope with no regard for caution.
-Shit! That killed him instantly!
With careful steps, I reached the bottom, terrified that the massive ogre might have crushed me on the way down. But thanks to the trees on the slope and the ogre crashing into them like a bowling ball, I thought I'd made it. The ogre reached the bottom with me, bloodied and battered from the fall.
-Yes! Take that, you filthy ogre! I win!
To my dismay, that was a mistake. The ogre began to rise again, struggling but radiating an aura of constant danger. It was clear it wasn't done yet. My victorious expression vanished instantly.
In my momentary joy, I hadn't noticed I'd ended up in a dead end. At the bottom of the hill was a small cliff overlooking what looked like a large lake. I was in the worst possible spot: to my left, an unclimbable steep hill; to my right, a fall into the unknown; a wounded ogre in front of me; and behind me, the slope blocked any retreat.
Sigh "I guess this is it."
-Alright, you damn ogre, if I'm going to die, you're coming with me!
Mustering all my remaining courage and strength, I charged at the ogre while it still struggled to stand from its injuries. Its weakened leg gave out under my feeble attempt to push it. The fragile cliff edge collapsed when its knee hit the ground after my push, sending us both tumbling toward the lake. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, we hit the cold water hard.
"I wish I could've seen Mom one last time," I thought sadly during my fall.
The impact with the water was so intense that my mind began to fade. In my final moment of consciousness, I glanced at the screen on my left arm and saw the second number change for the first time before I blacked out.
<999,974,249 vs 1,999,999,999>