[KEUUUK—!]
"This… huff… is so… huff… stupid…"
Soren drove his heel down again, not even aiming properly anymore, just stomping where the goblin's ribs ought to be until the thrashing stopped being a threat and became an ugly twitch, his boot slipping on wet grass and something darker.
Only then did he bend, fingers shaking as they fumbled for the rusted dagger lodged in the creature's stomach, the metal sticking like it wanted to stay inside it, like it had a will of its own.
He planted his boot harder to brace the corpse, jaw clenched, and yanked.
The blade came free with a sound that made his stomach turn.
Soren stayed crouched for a second, panting so hard his throat burned, chest heaving with each uneven breath, sweat dripping off his chin and onto the goblin's green skin.
"Huff… huff…"
He felt like absolute shit.
His shirt was plastered to his back, damp and cold in places, hot in others, his sleeves smeared with dirt where he had caught himself from falling, and there were specks of dried blood on his knuckles that definitely weren't all from the goblin.
[Kekeke!]
[Kerueurrk–!]
[Kieeeek!]
The noises echoed through the dim clearing, not close enough to be a problem yet, but close enough to make his skin crawl, and when Soren lifted his head and listened properly, the direction wasn't just one way, it was everywhere.
'There's at least ten left… and that bastard too.'
"This sucks…" he muttered, and it came out thin, like even his voice was exhausted.
He gritted his teeth until his jaw ached.
'How did things turn out like this?'
[Kekekeke.]
A snicker, sharper than the rest, threaded through the trees ahead, confident, amused, like it was enjoying the show.
Soren's crimson eyes narrowed as he stared into the shadowed undergrowth..
"I will… huff… kill you," he promised, and even he heard how much of it was desperation.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Turning back the clock to earlier that day…
"Thank god they gave me permission."
When Soren first learned that entering Rena Forest required a permit, his first reaction had been a flash of cold panic.
As a first-year, he had assumed the answer would be no by default, some polite refusal, some "for your safety" excuse that really meant "Class F students are not worth the paperwork."
Instead, the restriction had been mostly for show.
The guard at the gate hadn't even looked at him properly, just glanced at the permit, stamped it, and muttered like Soren was an inconvenience rather than a risk.
Still, Soren knew better than to let his guard down, so he checked his bag again.
He rummaged through it until his fingers found what he needed, counting under his breath like a ritual.
"Magic map, check. Canteen, check. Bread…" he patted the wrapped loaf, "check."
He hesitated, then reached deeper, making sure the small spare cloth was there, the cheap threadbare thing that was meant to wipe sweat but would probably end up stopping blood.
He swallowed, told himself not to be dramatic, and slung the bag over his shoulder.
The guard took his permit and gave him a lazy wave, already looking past him.
"Make sure you're back before the sun starts setting."
"Yeah, thanks."
And just like that, Soren stepped into the tree line, the academy behind him, the forest swallowing sound almost immediately, damp air replacing the clean stone-smell of Stellaris, the ground softer, uneven, alive.
He tightened his grip on the strap across his chest, and started walking toward the first hidden piece.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
Two hours later, Soren's optimism was dead.
"FUCK THIS—!"
His shout was bounced between trunks and branches, swallowed, then thrown back at him in pieces, like even the forest couldn't be bothered to listen properly.
Soren lay sprawled across a boulder, back pressed to cold stone, gasping for air until each inhale felt like it scraped his ribs raw.
Every muscle screamed.
His legs were trembling from constant micro-adjustments over roots and rocks, his ankles aching from the way the ground refused to be flat for more than two steps, and his shoulders felt bruised from the bag strap rubbing the same spot over and over.
He had expected it to be difficult.
This wasn't a game anymore, after all, and he had known that.
He had even thought he had already come to terms with it, but knowing something and actually living it were different, and this was too much.
'Two hours of walking and I'm not even halfway there…'
He dragged his map out with hands that didn't want to cooperate, squinting at the markings, praying he had misread it earlier, praying that he had gotten turned around, praying the cave was actually just over the next ridge.
Nope.
Still nowhere close.
He had packed light, just some bread, a canteen of water, and the bare essentials, because in his head this had been an afternoon errand, two, maybe three hours at most, in and out, quick, quiet, no one notices.
Reality had other ideas.
'It only took ten minutes in-game,' he thought bitterly, and the memory of that casual jog on a flat, textured path almost made him laugh, except laughing would probably make him vomit.
Soren wasn't stupid.
He had known the forest wouldn't be a flat zone like it was on a monitor.
He knew there would be hills, slopes and detours, but he hadn't expected it to be this relentless, like the terrain itself was designed to grind him down.
"「Status」."
A translucent window bloomed into view.
.
[Status Window]
Name: Soren Arden
◈ Stats
[Stamina - 0.2 (F)]
.
A Stamina stat of 0.2.
F-rank.
Practically nonexistent.
He had never realised how bad that was because day-to-day life at Stellaris didn't push his limits, not really.
Lectures ended without much effort thanks to his perfect memory, and even the occasional practical lessons ended before he truly hit the wall.
It had all been manageable, and he had mistaken that for "healthy."
Out here, it was obvious what state his body was actually in.
Roots twisted out of the ground like traps, slick with moss, and every few steps he stumbled, catching himself at the last second and jarring his wrists and shoulders in the process.
The air was damp and heavy, the smell of wet leaves and earth thick enough to taste, and every slope felt like climbing a mountain with weights tied to his ankles.
Even resting wasn't easy, because the forest didn't feel safe, not even in daylight.
During the day, Rena Forest was considered safe by academy standards, no major monsters, barely any demons, but the moment the sun dipped below the horizon, everything changed.
Night in Rena Forest belonged to predators.
It wasn't the deadliest place in the world given its proximity to the academy, but for a weak, low-ranked first-year?
It might as well be suicide.
The clear blue sky above indicated he still had time before sundown, but the anxious pit in his stomach didn't agree, and the more he looked at the light through the leaves, the more he imagined it turning orange, imagined the shadows stretching, imagined the forest waking up.
He looked at his map again.
The cave was still hours away, and then he would have to walk back.
He wanted to turn around, call it quits, crawl back through the gate and pretend this had never happened, but…
'No. I need that hidden piece.'
He might not get another chance like this.
The forest was technically open to students, but time was limited, and professors didn't exactly encourage solo exploration, and more than that, this wasn't a game anymore.
NPCs weren't stuck to scripts.
Someone else could stumble upon it first, some second-year looking for a thrill, some bored third-year out of their mind, anyone, and Soren couldn't afford that.
Not if this was his way out of being helpless.
He exhaled slowly, forced his body to sit up, forced his legs to work again.
"Sigh… guess I'd better keep moving."
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
By the time Soren started nearing his destination, his thoughts had narrowed to a miserable mantra of "left foot, right foot, don't trip, breathe," and even that sometimes slipped.
'After this, I swear I'll never set foot in Rena Forest again.'
He had said it once as a joke, but the longer he walked, the more it became a vow… even if he knew it was a vow he wouldn't be able to keep thanks to it being a location frequently used for practical lessons.
The forest was a blur of obstacles, branches and shrubbery that limited his sight to a few steps ahead, mud that sucked at his boots, slopes that forced him to grab at tree trunks like an old man.
And even that wasn't the worst of it.
The worst part was having to be on edge constantly.
Every time a twig snapped, every time a bush rustled, every time a bird startled and beat its wings too loud, Soren stopped, heart hammering, waiting for the inevitable shape to step out.
Most of the time it was nothing.
Sometimes it was something small.
Either way, the fear cost him time, and he hated himself for it while also knowing it was the only reason he wasn't dead.
'I wasted too much time. Let's just get this over with.'
He trudged forward, trying to keep his tone light, like saying it out loud would make it true.
"Still, though, it's lucky that I haven't encountered anything yet."
Rustle, rustle.
Soren stopped mid-step so hard his foot hovered above the ground, muscles locking.
"…."
'You just had to raise a flag, didn't you?'
————「❤︎」————