James strolled along the narrow path weaving through endless stretches of melon fields, a place that seemed to stretch forever beneath the glaring midday sun. Despite his grand ambitions to one day conquer mighty foes, he found himself in a humble, frustrating position. The first step in his journey was supposed to be slaying monster rats, leveling up, and growing stronger. But so far, these rats had evaded him.
"It's been an entire day, and I haven't even seen a whisker of a rat, let alone one of those strange ones," he muttered, pressing his straw hat down against the wind. The sun hung high, baking the land beneath it. James squinted at the horizon and groaned, "Why is this melon field so enormous? I've been walking for hours and I'm still lost in the middle of it. Have I been wandering in circles?"
He continued trudging along, the soft dirt crunching beneath his worn boots. Suddenly, something caught his eye; a disturbance in the nearby field. His heart raced. Could it finally be one of those strange rats? This was his chance to prove himself, to grow, to step onto the path of power! With a burst of excitement, he dashed forward, parting the dense melon plants with eager hands.
But what he found wasn't the grotesque monster rat he had envisioned.
It was a corpse.
The body was barely recognizable, mutilated by some vicious creature. His breath caught in his throat as he stared, stunned. In the short time since his reincarnation, James had come across all manner of strange things; alien rats, bizarre flora, unknown phenomena; but this? This was human. His chest tightened. Could it be that this world, for all its oddities, wasn't so different from Earth after all?
The man's body was a bloody mess, the skin shredded, bite marks scattered across his remains. His clothes were torn, revealing a shredded bulletproof vest, and next to him lay an assault rifle, its barrel still gleaming in the sun. Fresh blood pooled beneath the body, yet to congeal, suggesting the man had died only moments before.
James felt the nausea rising. He had seen death before, but never anything this brutal. He swallowed hard, trying to push the bile back down.
"So, this world isn't as peaceful as it looks," he muttered under his breath, forcing his eyes to linger a little longer on the carnage.
Amidst the gruesome scene, something strange hovered above the corpse; a soft green glow, like a floating orb of Life force. It caught his attention immediately.
"Huh?" James blinked. "Even the dead have Life force? And I didn't even kill this one…"
Before he could ponder it any further, the familiar system voice echoed in his head:
[Host is absorbing Life force. Growth value +0.2.]
James watched as his growth bar nudged slightly forward, 4.9 out of 10. It wasn't much, but every bit counted.
Just as he absorbed the last remnants of the Life force, the sound of rustling grass reached his ears. He whipped around, staring toward the noise. The tall grass, nearly as high as him, swayed violently. Something or someone; was approaching.
The grass parted, and two figures emerged. They were young women, both wearing bulletproof vests and wielding submachine guns. The leader, a woman in her late twenties, had a fierce, determined look on her sharp features, while the girl trailing behind her was much younger, with an air of youthful innocence that contrasted with the firearm in her hands.
The older woman barely gave James a glance as she strode past him, heading straight for the corpse. Kneeling down, she examined the body, her expression grim.
For a moment, James stood frozen. They didn't even acknowledge him! Did they think he was… a scarecrow? Was he really blending into the melon field that well?
"Lucy," the older woman said, her voice cool and composed as she pulled a badge from the corpse's waist, tucking it into her pocket. "What time is it?"
The younger girl, Lucy, seemed much more lighthearted. She checked her watch, giving a cheeky grin as she answered, "Dangdang~ It's 11:00 a.m., June 17, 2091, Central time~!"
With a carefree bounce, Lucy walked over to James, mistaking him for a scarecrow just as her companion had. She tapped him on the chest twice with her leather-gloved fists, her playful smirk growing wider. "Who would put a scarecrow by the road anyway? Huh, this one's pretty solid."
James ground his teeth, feeling the indignity rise in his chest. Solid? She called him solid?! He wanted to yell, to snap back at the yellow-haired girl's casual mockery, but he kept still, fighting the urge to react.
After all, if he saw a scarecrow suddenly come to life and swing a sickle at him, he'd probably smash it with a brick. So, for now, he stayed silent; just a solid, unremarkable scarecrow lost in the melon fields.
"If anyone knew what I really looked like now, they'd probably hunt me down and chop me up for experiments," James thought, his heart sinking at the disturbing image.
The thought sent a chill through him, a reminder of how vulnerable he was in this strange world. It was clear to him, until he gained enough power, the best course of action was to keep his head down, stay unnoticed, and play the part of a simple scarecrow. Interacting with humans would only draw unwanted attention, something he couldn't afford yet.
"Lucy, stop fooling around," the older woman, Jessica, said sharply, her eyes narrowing in a warning. There was an unmistakable edge to her voice. "Don't be so careless. You know as well as I do that we could lose our lives at any moment out here."
Lucy, clearly not taking the warning seriously, pouted and muttered, "What's the big deal, Jessica? It's just a bunch of strange rats." She waved dismissively, though her voice softened under the older woman's stern gaze.
Jessica's patience snapped. "Put away that attitude!" She pointed at the mutilated corpse with a steely finger. "This is what happens when mercenaries like us underestimate the enemy! This is our fate if we're not careful. Do you understand?"
Lucy scowled, folding her arms, clearly irritated by the scolding. She glanced at the corpse on the ground again, and despite her outward defiance, doubt flickered in her eyes. It's just strange rats, she told herself. We have top-notch gear; how could anyone fail against a bunch of oversized rodents?
But seeing the harsh reality at her feet, even she couldn't ignore the unease gnawing at her.
Jessica, noticing Lucy's reluctance, sighed inwardly. Lucy was incredibly skilled, and her strength was unmatched in their group. But sometimes, her arrogance blinded her to the dangers of the world they lived in. It could easily lead to a fatal mistake one day.
"Listen," Jessica began, her tone softening slightly as she knelt down to study the body. "Someone reported a massive number of strange rats in this melon field. The owner hired over a dozen mercenaries to handle it, but none of them made it back alive. That's why we were brought in."
She stood up and locked eyes with Lucy, her voice taking on a grim seriousness. "And we've been walking for hours now without seeing a single rat. With movements this calculated, I'm starting to think there's something more dangerous out here. Something bigger."
Lucy frowned, her bravado faltering. "Bigger? Like… what?"
"A Rat King," Jessica said gravely, her eyes scanning the horizon. "It could be that one has formed deep within the field."
"What? Here? But we're on the outskirts of the city!" Lucy's shock was clear, her bravado now replaced with a flicker of fear. "Are you telling me our mission is to hunt down a Rat King?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Jessica snapped. "Where there's a Rat King, there are at least hundreds of strange rats. Do you really think the two of us could handle that? No. Our job is to confirm its existence: get proof, and then we're out of here. That's all."
She tapped a small, pen-sized camera attached to her belt. "We just need this."
Lucy, who had been adjusting her submachine gun nervously, now stood rigid. The mention of hundreds of rats was enough to snap her out of her earlier carelessness. She might have been overconfident, but she wasn't stupid. She wasn't about to risk her life for a moment of arrogance.
"So… where do we go from here?" Lucy asked, her voice now cautious and respectful, the weight of the situation sinking in.
Jessica turned her attention back to the corpse. "This body tells us a lot. The bite marks are definitely from a strange rat, but something's off. The rat didn't take him back to its nest. Usually, these things bring their kills to store as food. The fact that they didn't…" She trailed off, her brow furrowing in thought.
Lucy leaned in, her curiosity piqued. "So, what does that mean?"
James, still frozen in place, found himself drawn into their conversation, listening intently. He almost blurted out the same question as Lucy, but thankfully caught himself just in time.
Jessica's voice was low and tense. "It means their nest is likely already full. But that's unlikely; this field can't provide that much food. Which leaves us with only one possibility…"
Lucy leaned closer, eyes wide with anticipation. "What possibility?"
James, despite himself, found his heart racing, waiting for the answer just as eagerly.
Jessica didn't say a word. Instead, she reached for the military dagger at her waist and, with a flick of her wrist, hurled it into the dense melon field. There was a soft thud as the dagger embedded itself in something.
A strange rat, hiding beneath the vines, let out a final squeal before collapsing, the dagger buried deep in its skull.
Without looking back at Lucy, Jessica said calmly, "We're already in their territory."