Hito quickly ran to get as far away as he could. Unfortunately, he had already received the detection effect, all the spiders were able to see him. In addition, every 10 seconds his life dropped 3 life points.
When the spider that had previously applied the effect to him finally reached him, Hito quickly turned and hit it with a powerful kick.
He then smashed the other spiders approaching him with his fists.
« +2 XP»
« - 3 HP »
« - 2 HP »
« +2 XP»
« +2 XP»
He continued to run with all his might, but the poison was still slowly killing him. Suddenly, the system displayed another alert.
« - 2 HP »
« - 3 HP »
« +2 XP»
«Alert: HP dropped too low in the last few minutes»
Hito quickly selected «Statistics».
< Level 1 >
< Hp 28/100 >
< Mana 20/20 >
< Exp 100/100 >
«Next level»
Hito realized that his life was really in danger, although he tried frantically to escape from the spiders, it was useless, one in three always managed to hurt him without fail. So he was forced to fight them.
« - 3 HP »
« +2 XP»
"Move away!" exclaimed Hito as he realized that they kept coming.
« +2 XP»
« - 3 HP »
« - 3 HP »
« - 3 HP »
Suddenly, the system displayed another alert.
«Slowing effect terminated»
Immediately after reading the alert, Hito took a big leap to get away from the spiders, trying to avoid another one of them causing the same effect on him. However, despite his quick reaction, one spider managed to hit him.
«HP is less than 10, user receives blurred vision effect.»
Hito ran without looking back, straining to get out of the forest. However, the dense vegetation made it difficult to distinguish the exit.
Even though, he was uncertain of his direction, Hito kept running, knowing that stopping would be the equivalent of death.
Suddenly, Hito managed to make out a light through the trees. He hurried towards it and as he came out, he saw the silhouette of a person.
At that moment, Hito's main concern was to escape from the spiders, without paying too much attention to the nature of the person he saw. He ran towards the figure at full speed, but his blurred vision made it difficult to determine the exact distance.
Only a meter away from the person, Hito barely managed to make out how the figure turned around, hearing a scream before receiving a direct hit in the face.
« - 5 HP »
«HP is less than 5, the user receives the disorientation effect.»
Hito's body slumped to the ground, his vision and orientation weakened. From the ground, he was distortedly perceiving the sky, with the person's head blocking part of his vision.
In that instant, Hito's eyes slowly closed as a final system alert appeared.
«User recovery activated»
-
-
When Hito recovered consciousness, he felt his body tense. When he opened his eyes, he found five people sitting around a campfire.
Night had come, Hito regained consciousness to find himself tied to a log stuck vertically into the ground. Although he knew he could easily free himself, a sense of calm came over him as he observed five people sharing the warmth of a nearby campfire. It was comforting to feel the presence of other survivors, which gave him a sense of security in the midst of the dangerous situation he found himself in.
Feeling comfortable with the atmosphere, Hito decided not to interrupt them and listen to what they were discussing.
"Hellooo" said Hito after hearing them tell jokes about how they found him. The five people turned to him and comments of all kinds were heard.
"He recovered quickly..."
"Isn't he dangerous?"
"What if we leave him in stiff mode?"
Most of them sounded with an ironic tone. However, among so many voices. There was one of them that stood out, "All right, let me do it."
A woman approached him and in a calm voice, asked, "Who are you?"
Hito knew he had to be cautious about what he said, especially if it was a connection to the creatures that had been attacking them for a decade.
After thinking his words through, Hito replied, "The place where I was taking shelter with my sister was attacked."
Curious, the woman asked, "Where did you guys take shelter?"
After Hito replied that they were sheltering in the ancient dreny forest, another man joined the conversation, "I told you, he's a damn looter."
The woman continued speaking, "Why are you lying? We all know that going deep into a forest means certain death, even more so in a forest as vast as the Dreny Forest."
Hito quickly restated what he had said, adding that they had stayed there for several years. Although the woman didn't quite believe him, she looked him in the eye and decided to keep up with him, "What happened to your sister?"
At that moment, Hito's eyes flicked to the ground and a gesture of regret flashed across his face. Then, he replied, "I'm looking for her."
The man standing near her spoke again, "I don't like to say this, but I must.
Don't let feelings cloud your vision."
"I know," the mysterious woman replied. Then, she began to pull out a necklace she had tucked away. After looking at it closely, Hito realized that it was the same necklace he had found earlier.
Hito calmly replied that he had found it among the trees that seemed to be infested with spiders. After a brief pause, he also mentioned that he had kept it because it might belong to someone who tried to escape from a nearby village ten years ago.
At that instant, the woman's eyes widened slightly, as if she had understood something significant.
Without saying anything, she began to untie Hito.
The woman's companions approached and tried to stop her, "Stop, can't you see she might be lying?"
The woman looked at them seriously and replied, "Do you think a looter would be foolish enough to say he was hiding in a forest?" After another brief pause, a sad look appeared on her face as she continued, "Besides, he knows the exact year that incident occurred..."
-
-
After the group decided to release him, they all sat around the campfire. Although they had opted to release him, a strange tension was in the air.
One of them stared at Hito and suddenly said, "You may have convinced the others, but I still don't trust you."
Then the woman interjected, "Don't worry, he's just trying to protect us."