The expanse of the night sky stretched over the forest like a plastic wrapper around a toffee. It expressed its authority over the place with an ethereal glow which seem to drain all the lights and live out of the evergreen forest. Cold air spiralled around the tall trees causing their branches to falter slightly.
Nesta stood naked amidst the forest in an open field where all the grass surrounding the area had been burnt as a result of the destruction caused by the inevitable lightning bolts. He gripped his heart tightly as images of what had transpired filled up his mind. Tears rolled down his cheeks as the thought of having to live another day got the better of him. All of his sufferings and sorrows were all gone with just the twinkle of an eye.
"Where is that screen?"he wondered—haphazardly throwing his hands around to see if the magical screen will indeed appear out of nowhere. To his dismay though, it seems the screen had completed its use and was no longer available. Nesta became heartbroken since he had an idea that this was going to be like one of the many system stories he had been reading since infancy. With something like the screen appearing out of nowhere, he was of the intuition that having a system wasn't a fantasy anymore.
"Let's take into consideration the good side of everything. At least I'm alive and that means alot to me"an honest grin was what his face transfigured into when these words had left his tightly sealed lips.
You lot must be wondering what happened when he was knocking on death's door.
...….
[Several moments before the inevitable occurred.]
Nesta gasped for air using his mouth which was moving up and down—trying to push in any amount of oxygen it could obtain from the surrounding ambience. His eyes slowly but surely rolled to the back of his head.
The monster retracted its hand after realizing the kind of damage its fist had done to the human. Bashed skull, broken nose and a fractured jaw which was bend awkwardly at an odd angle, mangled flesh soaked in blood or mixed with it was a popular sight within the infirmary but the kind of state in which Nesta's body was in at the moment disobeyed every humanitarian law there was at that time.
"Fuck you, mother luck and you too the first time you see me after here will be the last time you spend on this planet. He continued to curse in his head. Even though the monster could hear the curses he was hurling at it, he was glad that he had done something which could help fuel his anger once again.
Just before death's Icy hands could grab and hold on to Nesta though, a rectangular screen appeared in front of his face.
[You have been selected by the unknown
You are welcome Challenger 017]
He starred at the screen which was the last thing he could make out before drifting into an eternal slumber. Without hesitation though, the monster opened up its jaw and took a big bite out of his body. The bite took a chunk of the flesh and bones around his torso and neck. It severed his head from the rest of his lifeless body, leaving behind torrents of blood which stained the bed and soiled the floor.
...…
Nesta shuddered frantically when images of the life he had some moments ago flashed in front of his eyes.
"That abomination what did it do to my body?"
He wondered at the same time having a grim expression on his face which spoke volumes of the hatred he had developed for the monstrosity.
Where did that monster come from? What generated this event and who is responsible for it?
The questions flood his mind.Thinking back about what could have happened to those in the infirmary, bile filled up his throat and soon he was vomiting on the ground. He was disgusted by the images that his mind's eye was displaying in front of him.
How the hell is that single thing capable of destroying those many lives? How many people faced the brutality of that monstrosity? Where were the police when we needed them?Why I'm I even the one asking all these questions? To those who died by the hands of that thing from the depths of hell, don't worry I will use thing opportunity to avenge you all!
Thoughts, each more worse than the latter came rushing into his pressurized mind. Nesta was someone who had given up on moral values and its standards a long time ago but witnessing the mutilated bodies of innocent people who were at the wrong place at the wrong time had stirred up a deep feeling within his gut. The feeling of grief and resentment—resentment towards the thing which had caused all of this and the one who had given it the power to do such a thing.
He dug his fingers into the ground, pulled a couple of fresh soil and dumped it on his head. This was his final tribute to those who had died in the infirmary. What he didn't know was the fact that all around the world , people were going through a similar experience.
Nesta closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled the cool air which encircled the tall trees while it's remnants glided through the scorched up grassland he was kneeling in. The fire outbreak caused by the lightning was still doing its worst with each passing second. The tongues of fire moved from one place to the other seamlessly as of it had been programmed to do so at an alarming rate.
Nesta stood up from the ground just in time for a projectile to whistle past him—narrowly missing his neck by an inch. He looked back at where the projectile had landed and could make out a huge crater in the ground. The crater had a golden arrow stuck firmly in its center.
Panic set in as he bolted out of the place not giving a thought to the excuse that he was naked at the moment. His privilege of choosing what his first impression was supposed to be like was snatched away and crumpled upon when the arrow had been released.
Why I'm I the one to be always targeted?
He screamed while running haphazardly around the place. Several arrows came towards him but he did his best to narrowly avoid them all. One flew pass his nape, the other his torso and the last one which came close to him flew right in between his legs—almost gracing the tip of his genital which was freely dangling about.
Nesta quickly grabbed it and wrapped his hands around it—covering it and celebrating how sparsely the arrow had missed it.
"Fuck you all! I want to become a father okay!"he shouted while turning his back towards the direction the arrow had flew from with his middle finger pointing in that direction.
A small cut appeared around his finger as a golden arrow whistled past it—gracing it with its sharp tip.
"Are you people missing me on purpose? Try and kill me already!"he shouted to the hearing of who ever or whatever was shooting the arrows at him. He hurried off away from where he assumed his hunter's field of view was centered. Without caring for the flames which were extending across the forest, he bolted through them. To his surprise though, the flames did zero to nothing to his body.
Swooosh
The silent sound of a speeding arrow reached his ear after he had crossed the harrowing flames. He lifted his foot off the ground when the latter had stomped on to it.
Boom
The sound echoed as the golden arrow entered his body through his Achilles' tendon causing him to crush into the solid woods ahead of him. He tried to stand up to his feet and run but his right leg was in no condition to obey him at the moment. Slumping down back into the grass surrounding the tree he had clashed with, he held his foot in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Footsteps echoed around the tree he was sitting under. Nesta ignored the approaching footsteps as he focused mainly on what was happening to his feet. The golden arrow which was firmly stuck in his foot was slowly drinking up blood from his body.
Read and support.