Okay, Leo. Calm down.
This isn't the end of the world.
I pressed my hands against my knees, sucking in heavy breaths while my heart tried to punch its way out of my chest. Panic wouldn't help. Panic would get me killed. If this was really happening—if I really wasn't hallucinating—then losing my head was the fastest way to die.
"I can get through this," I muttered. Saying it out loud made it feel a little more real. A little more possible.
Alright. Plan.
First: higher ground. Visibility mattered. If I could see danger early, I could avoid it. Second: shelter. A natural cave, an overhang, anything that could protect me from predators and weather. Third: food and water.
…Food.
I froze mid-thought.
"How the hell am I supposed to know what's edible?" I whispered.
Everything around me looked like it could either save my life or poison me slowly. Bright berries. Thick-leafed plants. Strange fruits hanging from vines that pulsed faintly, like they were breathing.
"Yeah. Great," I said dryly. "Eat random jungle plants in dinosaur land. Brilliant idea."
My hands started shaking again.
"Fuck this," I snapped. "Calming down later. Moving now."
I turned and started forward.
The jungle didn't like that.
The sound came again—closer this time. Heavy. Rhythmic. Each impact sent vibrations through the ground, crawling up my legs and into my spine.
Boom.
Boom.
My stomach dropped.
"The sounds are getting closer," I breathed. "Fuck. Hell. This whole place is a death trap."
I broke into a run.
Branches scraped my arms raw. Thorns tore at my clothes. I slipped on wet moss, barely catching myself before tumbling down a slope that ended in jagged rocks. Something hissed from the underbrush as I passed. Something else shrieked overhead.
"I almost died like five times already!" I shouted, more at myself than anything else.
A massive shadow passed between the trees to my left.
I didn't look.
Looking was optional.
Living wasn't.
I veered downhill, then sharply uphill again, lungs burning like fire. Every breath tasted like rot and sap. My legs screamed in protest, but adrenaline drowned it out.
[Skill Progression Detected]
[Running – Ordinary Class]
[Proficiency Level: Beginner → Adept]
[Level: 2]
I didn't know how I knew—but I felt it. My steps adjusted instinctively. I wasted less movement. I learned, in real time, how not to trip over roots, how to angle my body to keep speed without blowing out my knees.
"That's new," I gasped.
I burst through a thicket and nearly slammed face-first into a stone wall.
I skidded to a stop.
It wasn't a wall.
It was a cliff face—sheer, dark, and cracked. And halfway up it, half-hidden by vines and shadow, was a narrow opening.
A cave.
"Oh thank God," I whispered.
I scrambled toward it just as another roar tore through the jungle behind me—close enough now that I felt heat wash over my back. I didn't think. I didn't hesitate. I climbed, fingers scraping raw against stone, hauling myself upward with desperate strength.
[Skill Progression Detected]
[Voice – Ordinary Class]
[Proficiency Level: Beginner → Adept]
[Level: 2]
I didn't notice when I started shouting.
Not screaming—commanding.
"Move—MOVE—NOW!"
My voice cut through the chaos, sharp and focused, forcing my body to obey even when it wanted to collapse.
I rolled into the cave just as something massive slammed into the cliff below.
The impact shook the stone.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
I crawled deeper into the darkness, curling against the cold rock, chest heaving, ears ringing.
Silence followed.
Not peaceful silence.
Hunting silence.
I covered my mouth, barely daring to breathe.
"…Shelter," I whispered, voice trembling. "Step one complete."
Outside, something sniffed the air.
Inside the cave, for the first time since arriving in this nightmare world, I was still alive.
Barely.
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