The hollow was quiet now. No beast. No growl. Just the sound of his ragged breathing. He looked around the area, trying to see if there's any danger.
Kiin sat with his back against the bark, arms hugging his knees. The adrenaline had faded, leaving behind an ache in his bones and a twitch in his eye. The glowing blue interface hovered silently in the air before him.
"Hey, system lady" he whispered, then louder, "System lady. Can you hear me?"
Nothing.
"Answer me! What the hell is this place? Why did you bring me here? What's going on?!"
Still silence. The screen didn't flicker. Didn't blink. Didn't even acknowledge his shouting.
Kiin growled under his breath. "So you talk only when it's convenient, huh? Figures. You've got some attitude for an invisible lady behind a floating screen,"
He kicked a nearby pebble. It bounced once, twice, then got swallowed whole by a patch of black grass that hissed at him like a living thing.
He froze. "Black glass is a no go zone, noted."
Suddenly, a chime rang.
"Finally" He groaned
[System Notification]
"• Warning: Nightfall approaches.
• It is highly recommended to find a secure location for rest. Nighttime presents extreme threats."
Kiin stared. "What do you mean extreme threats?! Like the bird-dino from earlier wasn't extreme enough?! Are you kidding me? What do you have against me, what did I do?!"
No reply.
His heart hammered. He looked up. The sun was already low in the green sky, casting long, strange shadows. A sickly purple hue began to stain the horizon.
"So tell me what should I do? Should I leave this place? What if that beast is still out there waiting for me?" he muttered to himself. "But if I stay here, what if something else comes sniffing around? I don't want to be dinner"
He looked at the system screen again. "Okay, okay! Suggest something. Anything. Where should I go?! Please say something"
Silence.
He sighed. "You're seriously going to ghost me now?"
He buried his head in his hands, mentally weighing all the terrible outcomes that could happen in the next few hours. Being eaten by a big fly with a monkey face, getting stomped by an elephant with dog ears, all these imaginations scared him and made him panick.
Then, as if it was listening and messing with him, the system finally responded with a soft ding.
[System Suggestion:]
• Climb a tree. Sleep on it.
• Survivability Rating: 14% higher than ground-level."
He blinked. "A tree?"
Another pause.
"Are you insane?! I'm not a monkey!"
He looked around. The trees in this area were tall, their branches knotted like claws, but some had flat enough limbs to support a human body, probably. His options were limited and the system's suggestion wasn't that bad.
He hesitated. "Well, 14% better odds are still better than 0%."
A grunt. A sigh. Then he started climbing. Complaining throughout the way
"I don't know what I have done to deserve this? That grandpa, that sly grandpa knew about this and he gave me that book on purpose. I shouldn't have touched it, that damned book. Now look where I am, climbing a weird and tall looking tree, in a weird looking world."
By the time the sky was a deep, eerie violet with a big scary red moon, Kiin was perched on a thick branch like a very unhappy sloth, arms and legs wrapped tightly around the trunk. The wind was cold and smelled like wet metal.
"I'm hungry, ah! I remember seeing a bread and water in the bag"
From his bag, he pulled out the small loaf of bread and the bottle of water he found already placed in the bag when he was looking for the beast repellent. He stared at them disappointment written all over his face.
"Just one loaf?" he muttered. "That's stingy voice lady."
He ate the whole thing in three bites and gulped the last of his water. Then he stared back into the bag.
"Maybe another one will magically appear in the morning?" He closed the bag. A second later, opened it again. Still empty.
"Tch. Worth a try."
Below him, the forest changed. Shadows moved. Low growls echoed between the trees. He heard hissing, screeching, and once a scream. A human scream. It was sharp, terrified, and cut off too quickly.
"No, no...." the scream faded
Kiin hugged the branch tighter, trembling. "Nope. Not going down there. Nope, nope, nope. I'm not going to be anyone's dinner, nope!"
He closed his eyes. Sleep hit him like a drug, fast and heavy, driven more by fear than exhaustion. Fear of being dinner, fear of dying in this wretched world, fear of not going back home.
Morning came, the big sun shone the whole world and the green sky bright. He stirred. A strange, whistling sound broke into his dreams. He blinked awake groggily and stretched, and nearly fell.
"Whoa…!"
His hands grabbed the branch just in time. He hung there for a second, panting, trying to remember where he was. Then it all came back.
"Oh. Right. Magical hell forest. Fantastic."
He carefully climbed down, landing on stiff legs. The forest was quiet. Still. The ground was damp but not hostile. He spinned his head around, looking for any source of danger.
"System? Are you awake?" he called cautiously. "Is the coast clear? Can you see if you see any beast or any danger around"
Nothing.
"Of course. Silent again. You're such a brat!"
He checked his bag. "Okay, time for breakfast."
He dug around. No bread. He checked the water bottle. Empty. He was expecting to find bread and water in the bag, this place is magical and so food should appear miraculously, why is his bag empty?.
He stared. "You've gotta be kidding me. Where's my food and water? Do you want to starve me?"
The system finally decided to chime in.
[System Notification]
"Daily supplies are not replenished.
Food and water must be acquired through effort.
• Food is available via Gold Coins.
• Gold Coins can be earned by killing beasts.
• Water can be collected from natural sources."
Kiin groaned. "So basically... kill or die. That's the idea here?"
[System Suggestion:]
"Current Tasks:
• Locate a water source.
• Engage and defeat a beast (Beginner Level).
• Rewards: Gold, XP, survival."
"Beginner level... You say that like I passed Beast Fighting 101 in school."
He stood there, clutching his empty bottle, hungry, irritated, and dangerously sarcastic.
"Well," he muttered, "guess it's murder time. If I don't die first. Where can I find the beginner level beast, how do I even kill them and through which weapon?"