As they stepped through the portal, everything changed.
Zylus looked upwards, and a blank wooden roof was all there was to cover him.
[First Objective Has Been Activated]
[Get ready]
"Bring it on."
Getting up from the wooden floor, he prepared himself for combat. The entire place he was in smelled and looked like fresh wood, and it was tiny. Almost as if he were within a cabin. But for some reason, Medrus wasn't with him.
"So just take me to somewhere without me knowing where I am and expect me to do everything. Yeah, I love it." Zylus angrily said, taking a deep breath.
"Well-"
Before Zylus could finish what he was about to say, his vision glitched. Black text bled across the air in front of him like ink spilled on glass.
"Ahh, my system, what do you have for me-"
[Daily Task: Survive against 1 Lesser Wolf]
As he faced his shift upwards to clearly read the text, something left him in utter shock.
[Penalty for failure: -50 HP permanently.]
[Time remaining: 5:00]
[Good Luck!]
Then, the same black katana began forming inside his palm as he gripped it tightly from the handle by instinct.
[Weapon linked.]
"I guess this will do, hopefully." He had hoped to the Gods themselves inside the realm of the demons.
Then the cabin creaked. Like something huge had placed its claws on the roof. Something terrible was going on outside the cramped place.
"Come... now." Zylus declared.
SCRAAAAATCH.
Zylus's blood ran cold.
"What is that…?"
Another scratch.
Then a low, gurgling hiss on the other side of the door. He instinctively started backing up.
The System flickered:
[HP: 100/100]
[Time Remaining: 4:97]
[Host in proximity of target.]
[Combat imminent]
The floorboards rattled as the entire cabin trembled.
"No. No no no-"
CRACK
The wall split open, and everything collapsed. The roof snapped in half. Zylus was thrown backwards as the entire cabin crashed around him. Dust, wood, darkness. By pure instinct, he rolled aside and narrowly avoided a wooden tile that would've crushed his skull.
Coughing, he pushed himself forward.
"Ah, that was close-"
As Zylus was just about to finish, he saw it. Standing on the ruins. A huge, hunched, grey fur matted with ash, muscled, coiled like steel cables, and a lupine muzzle dripping with saliva and blood. Its eyes glowed white.
A Lesser Werewolf.
An endless forest surrounded them. Grass below, and maybe some lakes. But no houses, people or villages.
Zylus looked up, smiling in surrender. "Nothing 'lesser' about this, guess the system made a mistake." He had hoped.
The lesser creature's claws dug trenches in the broken floorboards.
Zylus whispered, "You've gotta be kidding me…"
[4:27 Minutes Remain]
"Shit-!"
Zylus sprinted. The werewolf leapt. It landed behind him with a quake, claws tearing through the ground, shredding dirt and wood. Zylus felt the impact in his bones as he stumbled forward.
"JUST FIVE MINUTES—THAT'S ALL—!"
The werewolf chased him on all fours, snapping its jaws inches from Zylus's back.
[4:20]
[4:19]
[4:18]
Zylus darted between trees, sliding under branches, leaping over roots. The beast barreled through them, trees exploding under its weight. He ducked behind a fallen log.
CRUNCH.
The log vaporised as the werewolf's claws obliterated it. Zylus yelped, breaking into another desperate sprint.
[HP: 92/100 (adrenaline shock)]
His lungs burned, legs numb, but he couldn't stop, not for a second. Not while that monster was behind him.
[3:30]
[3:29]
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE SHITTING ME!" He yelled, but no point really.
He vaulted over a ravine. The werewolf landed behind him, its claws scraping the edge, pulling itself up with such a menacing aura. Zylus ran deeper into the forest. Thicker trees. Less room for a giant predator-
BAD IDEA. The werewolf shot through the narrow trees like a bullet, knocking everything aside.
[2:33]
[2:32]
Zylus tripped, fell, rolled. The werewolf pounced-
"NONONO-"
Zylus slashed wildly with the katana, not to fight, but to keep distance. The blade sliced across its muzzle, spraying blood. The werewolf recoiled for half a second. He scrambled up and ran once more. Watching him is truly so pitiful.
[2:02]
[2:01]
But the beast was faster. It leapt over him, landing ahead, blocking his escape.
"No-NO-MOVE!"
He dodged left; the werewolf slammed its claws into the ground where his head had been, uprooting dirt like a plow. He sprinted in the opposite direction.
[1:77]
[1:76]
His legs were giving out. Breathing ragged, and vision became blurry.
I'm not gonna make it…
Then-
A cliff. Zylus skidded to a stop right at the edge. A massive drop into misty darkness below. But behind him, the werewolf rose onto its hind legs, towering, drooling, shadowing him with its immense silhouette.
[Warning: Host Cornered]
"NO FUCKING SHIT!" Zylus backed away. "That's it then…?!"
The werewolf lunged as Zylus jumped backwards.
Off the cliff.
The werewolf's claws missed him by inches. Missed him, but the beast took Zylus's beautiful, layered white coat with it. Wind roared past him as the world spun. Zylus screamed as he plummeted downward into the fog.
[0:03]
[0:02]
[0:01]
[0:00]
"No fucking way."
The system punged:
[Objective complete.]
[Timer: 0:00]
[+100 EXP]
[Level Up!]
[Unlocked Rage Enhancements!]
Zylus now lay in the same cabin he was once in before finding the lesser werewolf. But it was weird, as how was the cabin still here? He didn't care, as he laughed breathlessly, on the verge of a sob.
"I… did it…?" He paused, "I FUCKING DID IT! TAKE THAT SYSTEM!"
Knocks came from outside the cabin.
"No way, it can't be. I just completed the mission-"
As he was about to finish, the door outside creaked open. Zylus, now readied without his katana, as it disappeared from his hand as soon as he completed the objective a second ago. So all he did was place himself in an unorthodox stance, prepared to fight.
"Chillax, it's just me." Medrus entered, "You survived the first trial. Good job." He smiled, grimacingly.
Zylus grew slightly angry, "You can't just throw me in here without telling me anything!" He yelled towards Medrus.
"How am I supposed to know when your system task begins?" He asked without expecting a reply, "However, you can do them in advance. But I told you that…" He paused, "Didn't I?"
Zylus walked towards him, with the utmost rage seeping through his body as Medrus surrendingly smiled.
"No…" Zylus stopped as he looked upwards towards Medrus's face, "No, you didn't!"
"Now, Zylus, as soon as you step out of this cabin." Medrus's attempt to switch the subject, as he continued. "Your life will never be the same, you've been warned."
Zylus began walking up towards the doorknob, "Well…" He paused, smiling slightly but with revenge on his mind still. "My life has always been a letdown. One more would never affect the million others."
Twist.
Creak.
As Zylus opened the door, something strangely changed.
It was different, the environment. It wasn't the same one with an empty environment, as he was running around from the lesser werewolf.
It was changed. And it was time for him to change as well.