Somewhere in the substage 0'. In a dense forest.
Kai crouched low, his eyes fixed on the clearing ahead. The rest of his group did the same, breathing in sync, each of them gripping their weapons.
A doe-like creature stood on the other side, watching the trees with multiple eyes, all blinking in a staggered rhythm.
"Now!" Kai hissed, and they all moved.
The creature turned, leaping with impossible speed and darting past their setup and some of their traps. It was fast—faster than they'd planned.
Ellie stumbled over a root, trying to keep up, while Jade lunged forward, nearly piercing it with her sword, only for it to slip through her fingers like water. Kai dashed after it, but his feet tangled in the undergrowth, and the gap grew.
"Left, go left!" Tanyia called as she threw her short spear, only for it to miss in a very dramatic fashion.
"Go, go, go!" Kai shouted, sprinting through the forest. "We can still catch it!"
The creature zigzagged through the dense underbrush, leaving them scrambling to keep up. Their efforts turned frantic, the chase devolving into a chaotic mess. The doe finally disappeared into the thick forest, leaving them panting and empty-handed.
Kai doubled over, hands on his knees, his chest heaving. "Damn it. We almost had it."
"I'm sorry," Ellie whispered, brushing dirt off her knees. "I should've been faster."
"No, we all messed up," Tanyia said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Next time, we'll get it."
"Yeah, we will," Kai agreed, though he was less sure. They had been hunting for days and had yet to catch anything. 'Trying to catch something in this environment is too hard. All this vegetation isn't helping either.'
"Let's head back to the cave," he said, his voice low.
They walked in silence, each of them lost in their thoughts. It has been a few days since the aspect selection started, forget escaping this place, they were already struggling to survive.
After surviving the first attack wave by hiding from "ugly bunnies," as Tanyia called them, they were teleported to a random forest for this strange "aspect selection."
Walking toward their temporary home, the sun was beginning to set, casting a warm orange glow over the trees.
Jade a tall girl with curly hair, was a bit behind the group seemed to have been deep in thought and seemed always lost in her own world.
Noticing this, Tanyia lingered until she was walking beside her. "You okay?"
Jade hesitated, then shook her head. "No. I can't stop thinking about what happened... about Liam killing Mason."
Tanyia didn't reply right away, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Jade stopped walking, her voice cracking. "I loved him, Tanyia. And then... he just killed Mason like it was nothing. I don't know how to feel anymore. I hate what he did, but I can't stop worrying about him either. Since he left, I can't even sleep properly."
Tanyia scratched the back of her neck, visibly uncomfortable. Emotional conversations weren't her strength, but she tried anyway. "You're a good person, Jade. Don't let what he did change that about you."
Jade wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and let out a weak laugh. "Thanks, but... that's so cheesy."
"Yeah, well, I'm bad at this stuff," Tanyia admitted, grinning faintly.
Jade's smile grew a little stronger. "I noticed."
"But don't worry," Tanyia added. "We'll figure this out. We'll get through it together."
Jade nodded, and both of them kept walking alongside in silence.
Soon, they arrived at the cave they were using as a base.
"Finally. We are here." Kai said as he entered the cave.
The cave was small, with a low ceiling and narrow walls. The cave was barely big enough for the four of them, but it was better than sleeping outside. They even placed some grass inside the cave to be used as a bed.
"I'll take the first watch," Kai said, sitting down near the entrance.
"Okay, I'll take the second one," Tanyia replied, her voice tired. She didn't seem to mind in the least.
The others nodded and went to sleep, at least trying to, but the hunger and the cold made it difficult.
After a while, Kai was left alone with his thoughts.
He wondered how his friends were doing. Were they still alive? Had they found a way to escape? He missed them, and he worried about them. However, something else was bothering him.
"I am so hungry," Kai muttered, his stomach growling.
He took a few berries out of his pocket and stared at it.
[Name: Tutorial berry]
[Effect: Edible berry only found in the tutorial. Very sour.]
'Thankfully, this system helps us identify edible food. Without it, we would have died long ago.' he thought as he remembered the numerous poisonous berries and mushrooms in the forest.
Although the very dense vegetation prevented them from moving as they wished, they couldn't complain as the group had survived on berries and mushrooms for the past few days, but it was barely enough to keep them alive.
Kai popped the berry into his mouth and winced. As expected, it was sour.
He glanced at his remaining coins; 25 coins he received as a reward for successfully surviving the first attack wave. With a sigh, he closed the game window. He couldn't use his coin anyway, as he had to find a merchant to buy anything.
He then turned his attention toward the quest panel.
[QUEST: ESCAPE THE SUB-STAGE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!]
[REWARD: AN ASPECT.]
"This is a bit worrying. What does 'too late' mean?"
Since their arrival in Substage 0', they hadn't encountered anything particularly dangerous. No monsters, no traps—just an endless forest filled with docile deer and the occasional bird. Yet, Kai couldn't shake the unease that gripped him.
"I'm sure the others feel it too," he muttered under his breath, glancing at his sleeping companions.
Even in their sleep, their faces were tense, twisted as though fighting off nightmares. It was no surprise. Everyone had been running on fear since this all started. Kai sighed, running a hand through his messy hair.
'I wish I could go back to the time when my biggest problems were homework and exams.'
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden rustle in the trees.
Kai shot to his feet, gripping the sword he'd taken from Mason. His heart pounded as his eyes darted around the moonlit forest.
"Who's there?" he called out, his voice steady despite the fear creeping up his spine.
Silence.
He scanned the trees, the bushes, every shadow that flickered under the pale light. For a moment, he thought he'd imagined it, the stress playing tricks on him. He exhaled and started to lower the blade—
Then, a figure stepped out from behind a tree.
Kai froze.
"Who are you?" he demanded, tightening his grip on the sword. The moonlight revealed the figure as it stepped closer.
It was a woman, maybe in her early thirties, wearing a flowing white dress that looked like something out of a fantasy novel. Her black hair framed her deathly pale face, but it was her eyes that made his stomach churn. They were entirely transparent, so clear that he could see the bloodshot veins running through them. It was like staring into empty sockets filled with red threads.
The woman smiled, wide and unsettling. "Ah, you must be Kai. A pleasure to meet you!"
Kai took a step back, raising the sword higher. "Who are you?" he repeated, his voice sharper now.
"My apologies," she said with an exaggerated bow, her movements smooth and unnatural. "I am Meredith."
"What do you want?" Kai asked, speaking louder now in the hope that the noise would wake his companions.
Meredith tilted her head, her smile never faltering. "To recruit you, of course. I'm forming a party and gathering the best of the best."
"A party for what?" Kai asked, his eyes narrowing as he shifted his weight, ready to swing the sword if needed.
"For the sake of humanity, of course." She spread her arms wide, her grin stretching unnaturally. "What else?"