"What the fuck?" was all Jack was given the chance to say before the rat dashed right at him again. This came as no surprise, but Jack was an ordinary person. He wasn't the most athletic, but that doesn't mean his body wasn't able to react. The man tried to dodge to the side by jumping again, but the rat was no idiot either. It also jumped in the same direction and ended up headbutting Jack hard enough to send him flying backward into a tree. Despite the size of the rat, its strength was no joke. Jack felt as if multiple bones inside his body had been cracked by that single headbutt as he let out a scream loud enough to echo through the forest. It hurted.
The rat, seeing this as an opportunity to kill its prey, wasted no time. It lunged towards Jack, whose back was lumped against the tree, with a sound that sounded more like a growl. Jack tried to get up, but his legs wouldn't move. Was he scared? Right now, of all times? Well, no one could blame him. He was just having his coffee a few minutes ago during his lunch break, and now he was here fighting this creature for his life. His bones had been broken, and the pain was making the fear worse.
For a normal person, this was a hopeless situation, and Jack was losing hope. As he saw the rat in the air coming down at him, he almost felt as if time had stopped. Everything felt slower, and having no way out, the man accepted his end.
He could see his whole life flash before his eyes at that moment. 'And I thought that shit only happened in movies' but just as the rat's teeth dug into Jack's shoulder, he heard a voice. One of those so-called memories of his life.
"It's okay to feel hopeless, but don't you dare give up."
Jack, whose shoulder the rats had dug deep into, yelled and realized he was really an idiot. Against all odds, his hands moved. He wrapped both his arms around the rat's neck, using whatever strength he had to squeeze the motherfucker as he screamed with every fucking fiber of his being.
"I AM NOT FUCKING DEAD YET."
It would sound crazy for a man to be screaming at a rat who wouldn't even understand him. But in that moment, Jack was screaming at himself more than anyone else, reminding his own conscience of his grandpa's words. As long as he is alive, he will keep trying. He was greedy; he wanted to live, and a fucking rat was not going to take it away from him.
As the rat whose neck was being squeezed between Jack's arms squealed, it finally started to sound like an actual rat. It dug its teeth much deeper into Jack's shoulder because of the pain it was experiencing. In response, Jack tightened his grip on the neck as well. It was a battle of endurance, and who would give up first? And for the rat, it was an unlucky day,as the man he was facing was not going to give up anytime soon.
Before long, the rat's teeth stopped digging into Jack's shoulder as the red in its eyes faded. Ultimately, its body stopped struggling as well, leaving behind a jack who was bleeding out and hugging the dead body of a rat.
He panted, gasping for air, trying to breathe in whatever he could after that encounter. His shoulder hurt like hell, and he couldn't even feel his left arm properly anymore. As it went limp, the rat's dead body was released from his arms and fell to the ground. Its neck had been cracked, and blood was spewing out of its mouth, but there was no comparison. Jack, even if he was alive, was in greater pain, and the injury was worse as he tried to use his handkerchief that he had to tie up the wound on his shoulder.
He never realized how hard a job just breathing could be. But due to the blood loss, he felt weak. He felt like he could pass out any second from just exhaustion. But every time his eyes closed, he forced them open again. Slapping, pinching, and biting himself. Whatever he needed to do to stay awake, he did.
Finally, after exactly ten minutes from the second screen's appearance, a new screen appeared in front of Jack, soon followed by another.
[Congratulations! You have cleared the qualification game.]
[Received 1x tutorial pass]
[Tutorial pass: you would be healed back to full health and would start the tutorial. Denying the tutorial will disqualify you, and your life will be forfeited.
Start tutorial
Y/N]
"Why do you ask... as if there is an option?" he said while trying to breathe. One good thing was that his injuries would be healed, but if this was just the qualification game, one could only question how bad the tutorial was going to be. But with no real option, Jack lifted his right hand and touched the Y option on the screen.
[The tutorial will now begin for Jack Hoff.]
[Tutorial: Survival
Time: 31 days
Reward: ownership of the forest of giants and the ability to leave the forest
Objective: Survive 30 days in the forest of giants.
Note: If you leave your designated area before the 31st day, you will be considered disqualified and your life will be forfeited.]
"Give me a break."