Realizing that the how and why were not important at the moment, Leo quickly withdrew one of the pistols from its holster and took up a firing stance.
Mere milliseconds after Leo managed to raise the muzzle of the gun, a coyote the size of a small horse came bounding from the bushes in which it had been hiding.
With no time to think, Leo reacted on instincts he had honed throughout his years fighting for survival in his past life.
He quickly brought the pistol and his hands closer to his body, slid his back foot in a semi circle behind his back, and used every ounce of strength in his body to lean his upper body backwards and out of the way of the airborne threat.
The coyote swiped its paws and snapped its jaws with ferocity and savagery as it flew past Leo.
Before the coyote even had a chance to land on the ground, Leo was already moving his body to face the coyote and raising the pistol up to a firing position in one fluid motion.
As the coyote hit the ground and wheeled around to prepare for another assault, Leo was ready.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
Six shots, in rapid succession, rang out.
Due to his weaker body, Leo had failed to control the shots as well as he had intended but in the end he still managed to strike the coyote with the first four shots before he lost control due to recoil and missed the final two.
Still not dead, but severely wounded, the coyote struggled to stay on its feet.
Knowing that coyotes rarely traveled by themselves, Leo quickly reclaimed his shooting stance, aimed directly at the coyotes head, and fired off a single shot.
*Bang*
Without even waiting for the body of the coyote to hit the ground, Leo wheeled around in the direction it had come and prepared for more attacks.
Notifications began appearing rapidly in the corner of his vision, but he quickly dismissed them and focused his attention on his surroundings.
A few seconds passed: nothing
Half a minute: nothing.
Two minutes: nothing.
Only after keeping his guard up for a little more than five minutes with not so much as the sound of rustling leaves coming from his surrounding, did Leo finally let the tension run from his body.
Taking a few deep breathes to recollect himself, Leo placed his pistol back into its holster and turned to face the lifeless body of the coyote.
'What the fuck is this thing doing here already?' He thought to himself. 'Although its not yet as strong as the ones I had faced off against in my previous life, its still too early for these things to appear...'
The people of Earth had yet to realize this, but having lived through it before, Leo was acutely aware of how this little 'game' was meant to be played.
The gods weren't going to modify any animals or release any monsters that were capable of wiping out humanity so early on in there little game.
Why not?
Well, for two reasons really.
First and foremost, the gods were sadistic assholes and they wanted to lure humanity into a false sense of hope.
If the threats to their lives remained relatively harmless for a time, then people would be lured into a false sense of security which would inevitably result in a vast majority falling behind due to the belief that, although things had changed, they hadn't really changed all that much.
Plus, the fact that modern weaponry worked so well against the initial threats made humans believe they would still remain superior.
And when the real monsters appeared, the struggle for survival would be that much more entertaining for the gods.
Modern weapons rapidly lost their effectiveness and humans were forced to find new ways to fight back.
Secondly, if the whole of humanity was wiped out on day one, then who would put on a show for them?
So, at least in his previous life, the gods had slowly modified the existing animals of Earth over the course of the first few weeks to be stronger, faster, smarter, and more savage than they were pre-reckoning.
When that wasn't fun for them anymore, they ultimately released new monsters into the world.
When monsters weren't fun anymore, they created intelligent races to occupy places on Earth where humanity had died off or never claimed.
In the future, it would seem to the inhabitants of Earth as if entire empires had suddenly appeared overnight.
But none of that mattered right now so Leo shook off the thoughts of his past life and focused on what was in front of him.
'If these oversized muts are already appearing now, then my plans need to change.
I don't have time to sit around and wait for them to come to me, I need to take the fight to them.
They do say that the best defense is a good offense, right?'
Without any hesitation, Leo quickly returned to his makeshift camp, threw everything into his inventory, tent included, and prepared to make his way towards the exit of the camp.
'Yeah.. this is better than sitting around doing nothing but waiting anyways. If the more dangerous animals are already making their appearance, then I have no time to waste.
It was foolish of me to thing a defensive fight was the way to go.
I've never been one for the patient waiting game anyways.
It's time to hunt!'
As Leo made his way towards the exit, he made sure to stop by the lifeless body of the coyote and threw that into his inventory as well.
He could always butcher and dismantle the corpse at a later date.
With a few moments to spare now, Leo pulled up the notifications he had received after killing the coyote.
[Congratulations! You have slain a level 3 Oversized Coyote!]
[Congratulations! You have reached level 2!]
[Congratulations! You have a gained .1 agility due to your precise movements in combat!]
[Congratulations! You are the first human on Earth to kill an enemy above your level! Current EXP bar filled to 100%]
[Congratulations! You have reached level 3!]
Although nothing in the notifications really caught Leo off guard, the fact that he had been given free experience and raised to the next level for killing the coyote was a pleasant surprise.
Since the system gave you two free stat points to assign each level, Leo wasted no time in opening his stats and quickly spending them.
[Name: Leo Fisher (Can be changed)
Race: Human
Title: Newbie
Class: Available at Level 10
Level: 3
Exp: 0%
Health: 10/10
Mana: 0/0
Strength: 1.3 (+1)
Agility: 1.2 (+1)
Stamina: 0.1 (+2)
Constitution: 1
Unassigned Status Points: 4 (-4)
Magic Core: None
Skills: None
Passives: None]
Happy with his choices, Leo closed the window and took a moment to enjoy the sensation that washed over him.
It was subtle and slight, but the feeling of getting stronger was intoxicating for Leo.
With a smile on his face and a new strategy, Leo walked with slow but deliberate steps towards the open planes stretching before him.
Leo had taken no more than a dozen steps however, when he suddenly froze.
[Little human boy. I have been observing you for quite some time now and you have entertained me ever-so-slightly.
Answer me these questions:
Why do you not cower in fear of what is to come?
Why do you fight as if you have fought these enemies before?
Your movements just now were akin to someone who has years of experience and yet your body does not reflect that of someone who has been training in such combat.
Speak!
If I find your answers to be truthful and entertaining then I shall reward you.]