Swoosh!
We were traversing the dense jungle, cutting away the vines and vegetation. The atmosphere was tense, as we were all somewhat worried.
"Ah! This vegetation is just too much! I can't wait to learn magic and burn this island".
Well, there was someone who seemed not to be worried at all.
"Don't say that Seyeon! We would be caught up in the fire".
"Aw, guess I will only burn this jungle".
The short-haired girl who led the group was Kim Seyeon. She was charismatic and easily made the group ease up. I looked at her as she joked around.
"Hm, Cassian, aren't you worried?". She seemed to sense my gaze and looked at me.
"How could I be worried, you'll just carry us through the tutorial".
Some laughed as she smiled. She then patted my head.
"Yeah, that's right! I'll make sure all of us clear the tutorial, so worry about your own safety first".
Her patting my head annoyed me a bit, but I was the youngest of the group and quite short.
"Don't worry Cassian, your hyungs here will make sure you are safe!".
Park Jiwon swore to protect me. He had an athletic build and was tall, so he was quite trusted among the group. Having Seyeon and Jiwon, I gripped my spear a little less tightly.
***
As we traveled, Lee Hana sketched a map of the island. She was right behind me and around the muddle of the group.
The more we traveled, the more sounds we heard. Then, in the distance, we saw a pack of 4 black-furred wolves resting.
Right after Seyeon commanded us to turn to another direction, as the wolves hadn't noticed us yet. We walked for a bit before running into boars. There were around ten of them and 150 cm each. It seemed they were more dangerous than regular boars, as their fur seemed thicker.
Seyeon consulted Lee Hana about the map and whether she could still easily find a way back. She nodded, and Seyeon instructed the group to continue.
We ran into more wild animals as we traveled, over-sized sneaks, packs of panthers and even giant spiders. It seemed no matter where we went, there was bound to be something in our way. Was it just bad luck?
"Wait". Hana, looking straight at the map she had made.
"What's wrong?". Seyeon tilted her head.
"We are surrounded". With a grim look on her face, she showed the map to us.
She then marked with an x our location and showed us everything around. The wolves, boars, and spiders surrounded us.
"No way!". Jiwon had a bewildered look as everyone started worrying.
"W-what do we do now?". A bulky boy asked Seyeon, All of these animals looked threatening, and there was no way out.
Everyone waited for her answer as she looked at her bow, her eyes gleaming golden for a second.
"Hana, guide us to that group of panthers. We'll surprise attack them and return to the beach with everyone".
Saying that, she pulled out an arrow and strode towards Hana.
"Guys, it's time to get some XP".
***
The panthers rested at a distance from us. They were 4 and didn't seem to be overly strong.
Seyeon recalled the plan. She would fire enough arrows to kill the strongest-looking one, and Jiwon and others would rush at the rest and engage with them. The rest, which consisted of me and others who weren't physically strong, would stay back and help if needed.
With that, the plan unfolded. Seyeon's eyes glowed brightly as she tensed her bow. Then a rapid succession of arrows hit a panther as it growled in pain.
The others jolted up as they ran towards the group. Jiwon, leading the others, clashed with a panther. The panthers had sharpened teeth strong enough to resist our weapons.
Seyeon, after killing the first one, changed targets and assisted with arrows.
Jiwon swung his spear around and dealt shallow cuts to the panther. But because he was inexperienced, he over-swung, and the panther jumped towards him.
Before its claws could reach Jiwon's chest, an arrow pierced its right eye. Being handed a golden opportunity, Jiwon finished the job, stabbing right through the panther's head, a mouthful of blood and gory insides were left in his spear as he rapidly helped fight off the remaining ones.
The fight was about to end as the last panther was surrounded by Jiwon and the others. Making my group start cheering on them.
I heard slithering and an arrow fired behind me.
"Snakes are coming! Grab your weapons!".
As Seyeon shouted, a group of snakes presented itself, sliding through the scenery. As one rushed at us, I swung my spear and hit it before it could bite Hana.
Hisss!
The snake recoiled from my attack relatively unharmed. I prepared for another attack when, the instant it opened its mouth, it was pierced by an arrow.
Twhip!
Twhip!
Twhip!
Seyeon steadily shot arrows towards the giant snakes as Jiwon and the others sprinted towards us. One of the snakes spat out a liquid substance towards one of the group members. Before it touched him, I body slammed him and both of us fell.
I looked at the place the liquid landed and saw it rapidly corroding the vegetation. When I turned around, the snake had already closed the distance.
"Fuck!".
I cursed as its fangs were about to pierce my shoulder. I turned left, evading the attack, and stabbed the snake's tail with the tip of my spear.
Thud!
The spear pinned the snake in place as it continued to try to bite me. I kept evading it until the man I helped cut it down wildly swinging his sword. I grabbed my spear back and prepared to fight another snake.
Jiwon and the others were already on the scene, and we gained ground against the snakes as we outnumbered them.
The injured ones were held and dragged outside the fight while our group pushed back the snakes.
I caught my breath as the fight was already over, and with a moment of peace, I looked at my status window.
Identity
[User: Cassian Ardani
Age: 17
Race: Human
Titles: Student]
Progression
[Lvl: 2
Existe?ce rank: f-[ERROR]
Floor: 0]
St?ts
[ERROR]
[STATUS WINDOW CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE]
> Reloading (0%~~~0.0%) <
It showed the same error as before, and the loading bar was still stuck at 0%, but something changed, my level increased.
After all of that, Kim Seyeon gathered us and rapidly counted heads. No one was missing. She sighed and then asked Hana about the way back.
Soon, the 12 of us started our journey towards the beach. 6 of us were injured, and half of them were unable to walk.
As we walked, Seyeon stood in front, the glow of her eyes reflecting her wariness. Unlike before, we didn't encounter any dangerous animals, letting ourselves relax a bit after that tense fight.
We were silent for a few minutes before Seyeon opened her mouth.
"I'm now level 7, what about you losers?".
After saying that, everyone laughed a bit. After fighting for our lives, this was needed.
"I reached level 6, but only because you stole my kills!".
"Excuses, excuses!".
Jiwon and Seyeon bantered like they were competing, and soon the others joined as well. Some were happy and satisfied, while others swore to surpass Jiwon and Seyeon.
Was running into all those animals just bad luck? I thought to myself. Whether that was the case, I relaxed a bit as our misfortune seemed to end. Or was it?
Clang!
An arrow flew towards us as Seyeon parried it with the handle of her bow.
***
Shockingly, the perpetrators were two humans, but unlike us, they wore tribal robes and had rough-looking weapons.
The one who shot the arrow towards us had a tall and lean build, and the bow he was holding was more rudimentary than the one Seyeon had. The other one was taller and more muscular. Apart from tribal clothing, he wore a leather cloak on his shoulders and had a long spear in his right hand.
Silence, as each group stared at the other. Soon, they started talking among themselves.
"Are they from our tribe?".
"I can't recognize them".
As I paid close attention to the movement of their mouths, I realized they didn't match the words I heard them say. Did the system automatically translate their words?
Seyeon looked at us and whispered to us to be ready as she took a step forward.
"Hello! Can you understand us?".
The tribesmen looked surprised as they seemed to understand Seyeon's words.
"Who are you bunch?".
The taller one spoke as the grip of his spear tightened.
"We just got into a fight with some wild animals, so we are quite tired. Could you please guide us to a safe place?".
Seyeon gave a pleading look at them, and the one who shot the arrow shyly looked away.
"We could guide you to our village. Sorry for attacking you earl-".
"Stop".
The muscular tribesman ordered his companion.
Where do you come from? I haven't seen folk like you around the island".
Seyeon was silent for a bit before responding.
"We came from outside the island, but now we are a little lost. I promise we pose no threat".
"Liar".
A heavy silence echoed through, and now the lean tribesman held his bow close to his chest. Then the muscular one chuckled a bit.
"What? Nothing to say?".
I bit my lip. What Seyeon said was vague but true, as she probably had in mind the possibility of them having truth detection skills.
The air became a lot staler as Jiwon and I tightly grabbed our spears.
"I reiterate, we hold no hostility, and my words are completely true". Seyeon insisted as she tried to de-escalate the situation.
From the clothes they wear, we could infer that they were tribal people, and they wouldn't know much about the world. Maybe the problem was that they believed their island was the only thing that existed.
When they said island it's more likely they meant 'world', but the system translator interpreted it in a way we would understand better.
From their perspective, Seyeon claimed to come from outside the world.
"If you're so honest, tell your men to drop all their weapons and come with us". Smiling, the tribesmen took a step forward.
"What do you say?".
Seyeon was silent, but she never dropped her bow. Her eyes reflected a golden color as her trait manifested.
"Stand back". Her voice was cold and threatening, but the tribesman was unaffected by it.
"Finally, a little fun".
The tribesmen smiled wildly and jumped towards Seyeon. Before he could reach her, Jiwon clashed with him, their spears colliding.
"You're holding it incorrectly".
As the tribesman said that Seyeon fired an arrow towards him, but he just dodged to the side. Then, kicking Jiwon in the face, he stared down at all of us.
"Dagan! We came here to hunt".
The lean tribesmen called his companion, as he didn't seem to want to fight.
"Don't worry, they are weak, after killing a couple we'll head back". Then he stared at Seyeon and Jiwon.
"I'm just going to play with them for a bit".
Seyeon wore an angsty expression as Jiwon still recovered from the kick. She seemed to realize how strong Dagan was.
As he approached step by step, Seyeon screamed at us.
"Run away!".
At her command, almost everyone began to flee, some carrying the injured ones. Everyone but Seyeon and Jiwon. It seemed they were going to buy us time.
I hesitated. Just leaving them to die wasn't right. But right after I cleared my mind, I wanted to survive.
Swallowing my pride I ran and ran as far as I could, deeper into the jungle as Seyeon and Jiwon faced death.
***
I was alone and injured.
After running away, I found animals and more animals, all of them attempting to kill me. My breath was heavy as a boar stood in front of me.
I couldn't believe my luck. Was I cursed or something? Cutting those useless thoughts, I just stood on guard, waiting for it to attack. I would survive.
Swing after swing, I wore down the boar until finally landing a strong attack, killing it immediately.
I continued to traverse the island as I tried my best to go unnoticed, but it was to no avail. I kept encountering more animals as I escaped or fought them, slowly leaving me exhausted. No matter where I went, I couldn't reach a safe place.
Now, a pack of three wolves bared their fangs at me. My left arm was broken as I had the spear in my right arm.
I wasn't afraid, I wasn't angry. The only thing that was on my mind was to fight.
Because I didn't want to die.
Because I couldn't die.
Because I wouldn't die.
I clashed with the three of them, but I couldn't do anything. I got pushed back by the wolves. My vision was getting blurrier by the second, but I felt something.
Just like a sixth sense, a wave flowed through my body, beating like it was my very heart. I pulled myself together and strode forward, following the wave.
I swung my spear.
Thwack!
I heard the sound of flesh, but I couldn't see the wolves anymore. I couldn't see anything anymore.
I Felt A Grip On My Neck.
And...
{You've died}
{Reloading from your last checkpoint}