{New Location Discovered}
{Evergreen Forest}
{Advanced Information locked}
Kyle received this notification the moment he stepped foot outside the cave. Assaulted by the sun's rays for the first time in a long while, he was forced to shut his eyes and shield his face with his arm.
"Is it leaking already?" he complained while wiping his teary eyes.
It took Kyle a while, but his vision finally adjusted, revealing a lush green forest rich with vegetation and teeming with life. The entrance of the cave was concealed by leaves and a natural barrier of trees surrounding the hill. Unless someone was specifically looking for this place, it should be difficult to find.
"I wonder how they found us all four times we got raided," Kyle couldn't help but reminisce.
He suspected the older kobolds back then were either followed home or had stolen something of value from a corpse, which warranted a thorough search. Regardless of the reason, it didn't matter anymore. The generation involved was long dead and gone. Back then, they had only survived due to the complexity of their tunnels, which harbored deadly traps.
With Lu'k as the last surviving adult of the past generation, Kyle knew the leadership position of this new generation would fall to him if he played his cards right. He had entertained the thought of leaving and going solo, but considering how weak he was, he dared not embark on such a suicidal plan. It was far safer to live in a group than alone.
After careful observation for an entire year, Kyle knew the fastest ways to gain leadership of this colony were food provision and religious fulfillment.
Food he could deal with now, so he decided to focus on that.
With his objective set, Kyle excitedly ventured into Evergreen Forest with high hopes. He pushed through tall grasses with his small body, passing trees that looked like towering skyscrapers. Only now did he truly realize how small he was in this massive world. As he traveled through the forest, he came across several unfamiliar flowers, berries, and fruits. The system only provided their names without any extra information. Regardless, he sniffed the flowers and admired their beauty before moving on. However, he never dared eat any fruit or berry for fear of poison, as he didn't recognize any of them.
Back on Earth, Kyle wasn't a social butterfly and had lived a heavily sheltered life. He stayed indoors most of the time, so he knew little about wildlife. The fruits and berries here also looked different from anything he had seen on Earth, so he didn't dare take the risk.
Rustle! Rustle!
Kyle froze and glanced over his shoulder, his grip tightening around the bone club as he waited. However, it was another kobold—one with red scales. He was very familiar with him. Tu'ka.
Tu'ka was the timid sibling who never fit into the group. Physically weaker than the others, he was often left out during games. During those days, Tu'ka stuck close to Kyle, probably because he was the only other one who never mingled with the rest, and Kyle never bothered chasing him away.
In a way, Tu'ka reminded him of himself on Earth—the fat kid no one wanted to pick when playing soccer. The one girls made fun of and rejected in the most disgraceful ways whenever he gathered enough courage to ask them out. Kyle knew what it felt like to belong nowhere.
"Tu'ka follow Kyle?" Tu'ka asked, standing at a distance.
Grrrrrr….
Before Kyle could respond, he heard Tu'ka's stomach growl. He probably hadn't gotten any food again, as usual.
Sigh!
Dealing with Tu'ka always felt like dealing with a little brother. Kyle found it hard to reject him.
"Sure. Sure. I guess having a hunting partner won't hurt," Kyle conceded with a sigh.
A puppy-like excitement bloomed in Tu'ka's eyes.
"KESHA!" he exclaimed happily, picking up a small stone he had to carry with both hands before running over to Kyle's side.
"Kesha! Kesha!"
Rolling his eyes at the overjoyed kobold, Kyle continued heading north, with Tu'ka following excitedly. The two walked for another twenty minutes or so before they finally encountered a creature.
{One-horned Tiger Bunny}
Level 3
Rank: Normal
HP: 20/20
Skill:
Horn Charge – Rushes forward, dealing damage and knocking back the target.
It was a spotted orange rabbit with a drill-shaped horn, currently engaged in a deadly battle of life and death with a carrot buried deep in the ground.
Hiding behind a tree, Kyle and Tu'ka watched as the Tiger Bunny bit into the carrot and pulled with all its might. Contrary to their expectations, the Tiger Bunny was their size… no, slightly bigger.
Watching the ferocity of its kicks and pulls, Kyle paled with fright. This was not the docile, cute bunny he had expected to whack to death with his bone club. He suspected this thing would beat him to death if he dared challenge it. In his past life, he had never thrown a punch from the day he was born until the day he died. How could he possibly muster the courage to fight such a ferocious beast?
At this point, all the mental preparation Kyle had made over the past year vanished as reality stared him in the face. Maybe he had been too rash. Trying to get meat on his very first outing—settling for berries and fruits was already a major upgrade from bugs.
"Kesha!"
Bam!
The world went silent as cold sweat ran down Kyle's forehead. He felt a sudden shift in force and looked up to see Tu'ka standing proudly, his small stone lying next to the Tiger Bunny's back. The creature had stopped tugging at the carrot.
"Jesus Christ, Tu'ka, why?!" Kyle felt like crying as the Tiger Bunny slowly turned its head, staring at them with its crimson, bead-like eyes.
"Kesha! Kesha!"
Tu'ka exclaimed proudly, leaving Kyle wondering how and why the timid kid had thrown the first punch.
"Nah, Tu'ka. I love you, but this is all on you!"
With that, Kyle bolted without a second thought, leaving Tu'ka behind.
"Kesha!"
Kyle heard Tu'ka shout before chasing after him. Since Kyle was carrying the bone club, it wasn't difficult for Tu'ka to catch up, and Kyle cursed inwardly. Dropping the bone club would leave him completely defenseless if the Tiger Bunny caught up. He didn't dare.
He could only regret putting both unused stat points into Strength. If only he had put at least one point into Agility, he wouldn't be watching the source of all this trouble sprint past him while screaming, "Kesha!"
Kyle was now suspicious that Tu'ka's innate speed was higher than his. Seeing how fast he ran, Kyle was certain he wouldn't be able to catch up even without the bone club weighing him down.
Bam!
The ground trembled. Kyle glanced over his shoulder and saw the Tiger Bunny airborne, rapidly closing the distance between them.
"Fuck my life!" Kyle gasped as he focused ahead, Tu'ka's figure growing more distant as his mind raced.
If he kept running in a straight line, it would eventually catch him. The best option now was to split up and hope the Tiger Bunny went after Tu'ka, since he was the one who threw the stone. Not daring to waste a moment, Kyle veered sharply left, running as fast as his tiny legs could carry him.
Bam!
He felt the ground shake as the Tiger Bunny landed, then launched itself into the air again. Kyle had hoped the next tremors would grow distant, but instead, they grew louder and closer.
The damned bunny had chosen him—the slowest of the two.
"TU'KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"