Awakening to the pleasant sounds of birds chirping, I stirred and opened my eyes.
"Ah...", a slight groan escaped my lips as sunlight penetrated the narrow gap of my iris and struck my retina. Instinctively, I raised a hand to shield my eyes before slowing rising up.
Chirping birds?
I turned around and saw a blue and yellow colored bird nesting on the hilt of the silver katana. It tilted its head sharply as it stared at me, then it chirped once more and flew away once I rose.
Come to think of it...this is the first animal I've seen in this forest...
I stared in the direction it flew before immediately being struck by a stark realization.
"The katana!"
Instantly, my head snapped to the direction of the skeleton corpse and I bolted towards it and immediately I regretted my actions.
"Argh!"
A sharp pain emanated from the gash on my back causing me to stumble before crashing to the ground, groaning in pain.
I stayed on the ground for a few moments, letting the pain subside before sighing.
"Tch...this is why nothing good comes out of not being calm."
I said before slowly rising up and then crawling towards the corpse of the skeleton. Once I reached it, I plopped down into a kneeling position and stared at it.
The corpse seemed to belong to a hunter who had been supposedly killed by a stab to the head. The fact that it was now a skeleton is proof that they'd been dead for ages but...
The clothes are still too clean...
Indeed, although the nature of the corpse suggests that the victim had been killed a long time ago, the victim's clothes and items on them state otherwise.
"Were they really killed by just the sword?", I asked myself as I stared at the morbid scene.
After a few moments pondering, I shook my head.
Thinking with a dry throat and on an empty stomach won't do me good...
I turned my attention to the hunter's provisions.
"Let's see...a backpack...what's inside?"
I quickly unloaded the pack and found out what was inside.
Water!
I instantly felt elated and hurriedly took out the glass bottle stashed in the hunter's pack. Popping the wooden cork sealing the water inside, I brought it to my lips and greedily gulped it in.
Suddenly, I felt like I had just tasted the best beverage in the world.
Ha...water is life....
I thought as I continued to drink before reluctantly pulling it away.
"Tsk...I can't afford to finish it now...", I said to myself as I stared at the water with remorse before capping it back.
Hmm...can I...?
"Store."
Instantly, an outline of the glass bottles silhouette formed around it and soon after, the bottle itself scattered into several sparks.
"Haha!", I laughed joyfully, as I heard the system speak.
[You have gained a Common item: Glass Bottle.]
In the end, I had found two glass bottles of water, eight wrappings of cooked meat, a pack of seasoning, a hunting knife, a book with a quill pen and a map made of brown leather.
After some thought, I decided to stash them all in my inventory.
Currently, I was examining the map while munching on a strip of meat.
I see...
My expression was poised and calm as I took another bite of the meat and then sighed, closing my eyes in the process.
"So, we are atop a mountain..."
I nodded satisfactorily before rolling up the map. Apparently, after reading the map for 15 minutes I had been able to understand at one-tenth of what it depicted.
The map was exceedingly complex and was most likely meant for experienced hunters. It not only showed things like locations, distances, shapes and sizes but it even showed distributions, land topology and weather conditions of some areas. If I wanted to understand what the map fully meant I had to be well versed in cartography which sadly wasn't a big skill of mine.
Oh well...so much for being the Mastermind...
Haha...you really fumbled yourself, haha!
My inner voice mocked me, once more.
I ignored it and continued.
Reading the map had been a Herculean Task but there was one thing I able to grasp; it was the fact that the Wyvern Woods was just a region on a larger landmark called the Wyvern Mountain.
"This game never fails to impress me... they modelled a whole mountain and rendered it with this level of graphics...God...", I laughed before saying, "Just...how much was their budget? What bloody computer where they using?"
I smiled before shaking my head.
If I overlook the company's double-faced nature...I have to admit...they truly outdid themselves...this game will win GOTY for years to come...
I shook my head and said, "Stats."
[Name:] Alex
[Title:]???
[Level:] 1
[EXP:] 0/100
[Skills:] Oversaturation, Memory Palace, Echolocation, Art of Learning, Ambidexterity, Martial Arts, Anti-Lip Sync, Invisibility, Manipulation, Technical Knowledge (depreciated), Pickpocket, Panoramic Vision, Dexterity
[Aliases:] The Mastermind, The Fool
[Debuffs:] Partial Hearing, Myopic Vision, Anti-Lip Sync, Rizzless
"Oh...there's a new one..."
Dexterity...is that the last one...? Hmm...I don't think so...
I lingered for a moment and then focused on the new skill.
[Skill:] Dexterity: In the past, your diligent efforts in training caused your durability and endurance to rise considerably. This skill raises physical categories by a certain amount.
"Hmm...I guess that's why my injury hasn't been hurting as much as it was yesterday..."
Come to think of it, did we spend a whole day here...is this the next day back in the real world too...
I scowled.
Does time...move the same as in the real world as well...?
I lingered for a moment and then sighed.
I won't figure out, until I get out of here first...
I took a deep breath and opened the map again.
"With this map, I can at least tell where I am and the way back to the lake but...", I trailed off as my gaze rested on a certain part of the map. On it, was a red cross that seemed to be placed close to where I was.
I turned to look at the skeleton corpse.
Was that where this guy was going...before he was killed...?
I stared at the skeleton for a moment and then at the sword.
The katana was what attracted me here in the first place...but after examining the body and thinking, I've been reluctant to touch it...
What if the katana had some strange hex on it...? Like if it could cause whoever touched it to rapidly age and die...
No... that doesn't seem right...what about the person that stabbed him...why weren't they affected by the strange hex...wait...were they even human...
I shifted uncomfortably at that last thought.
As I looked at the katana with a hint of longing in my eyes, I looked down and sighed.
To think that the first ever katana I see with my very eyes, holds the probability of being a literal death trap...ugh reality...you really know how to hurt a man's spirit...
I reluctantly abandoned the idea of wielding the silver sword and turned back to the map.
"Now the question is...do I want to go back or do I want to go to this place?"
I stared at the map silently, recalling the memory of my lonely bus ride to the facility. I looked down with dark eyes and said, "Who gives a shit about them? Let's go to this place instead."
"Store."
Following that, an outline formed around the map before it slowly disintegrated into tiny white sparks.
[Unequipped Item:] Leather Map
I watched the map store itself in my inventory before taking a deep breath and saying, "Alright, let g-"
But before I could finish my sentence, I suddenly felt a shiver run down my spine.
[Bloodlust detected.]
[You have been threatened by an enemy.]
"Huh?"
I heard a strange whooshing sound and turned back.
"What the-"
SHEEN!
The sound of steel cutting through the air and biting flesh echoed in the woods. I recoiled from a slash on my left hand before crashing to the ground and unceremoniously rolling away, causing the wound on my back to reopen.
[You have been wounded.]
"Tss...", I hissed in pain as I touched my shoulder before glancing down at my left hand; a new fresh wound was pooling blood.
Fuck...another injury...
My eyes darted around before resting on where I was previously standing.
"What the fuck?"
My eyes widened as a deep sense of terror washed over me. My legs began to shake and my mouth began to quiver.
Etched on my retina was the image of a skeleton with a damaged skull clad in a tattered hunter's attire and wielding a silver katana in its right hand.
[Level 3. Lost Skeleton.]
"Oh...God..."
CLACK! CLACK!
The appalling sound of bones grinding against each other resounded as the skeleton monster straightened its body after swinging downwards. It raised its head and peered straight at me, causing my heart to jump in my body.
My legs shook violently, and every braincell I had screamed danger. My whole body was desperately itching to get away from this thing.
The monster's empty eye sockets suddenly ignited with a mad light as it clenched its jaw, freezing the teeth in a revolting grin.
CLACK! CLACK!
I heard the sound of bone scraping against each other and suddenly, the image of the skeleton on my retina expanded rapidly.
"Oh shit!"
I instantly jumped back barely avoiding getting beheaded and instead getting a shallow scrape on my throat.
[You have been wounded.]
I winced in pain as I landed and without wasting a single breath, I turned around and ran away.
HUFF! HUFF!
God! What the hell?! No! What the actual hell?!
A skeleton?! A skeleton, for fuck's sake! What the fuck is going on?! How the hell is it alive?!
I ran as fast as my legs could take me, desperately trying to escape from the skeleton monster that was hot on my trails.
"HA! HA!"
I ran, and ran until I finally tripped and crashed face-first into the ground.
CLACK! CLACK!
"Oh no...", my eyes widened as I struggled to get up but it was of no use, the skeleton was already too close.
"Fuck! Fuck!"
I screamed as I ran to hide behind a nearby tree. I crouched and put my hands over my mouth, desperately praying to God for him to save me.
But it was all futile.
CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!
I heard the sound of the skeleton's bones scraping against each other and suddenly felt its shadow over me.
In that moment, all that awaited me was death!
SWOOSH!
The deadly blade of the silver katana fell down like a guillotine, promising a swift and gruesome death. It was approaching me at a deadly speed, carrying the unsatiable bloodlust of its wielder, the Lost Skeleton.
Everything moved in slow motion: the falling leaves of the Wyvern Trees, the winds that caressed the grass below, the blade of the silver katana and unmistakably, the blade of a hunting knife.
CLANG!
The sound of steel clashing against steel reverberated from my position as my hand trembled from the force of the Lost Skeleton's sword.
[Equipped Item:] Hunting Knife
I said I won't die to a goddamn game!
A determined expression etched its way to my face and at the same time the Lost Skeleton's force seemed to reduce, as if it was dumbfounded. Not wasting the opportunity, I pushed the Lost Skeleton back causing it to stumble.
Instantly, I rolled to my feet and moved towards the skeleton who reflexively swung its sword at me. I crouched to the ground dodging the deadly blade before bolting up to deliver a powerful uppercutting punch.
[Skill: Martial Arts has been activated.]
"Tss...", I hissed in pain as my knuckles throbbed from the impact; a small hint of bone chipped of its skull.
The Lost Skeleton stumbled back and fell on its hind, apparently dazed from my blow. Seeing this, my heart raced, immediately I lunged forward and in my left hand an item was being spawned.
[Equipped Item:] Glass Bottle
"HRRAH!"
With a loud cry, I smashed the bottle against the skull of the Lost Skeleton causing both to burst from the incredible impact; the water stored in the bottle was displaced into several directions.
The headless skeleton froze for a moment before collapsing to the ground like a broken marionette. It was in that same moment, the system spoke.
[You have felled Level 3. Lost Skeleton.]
[You have gained 6 EXP.]
[Glass Bottle has been lost.]
Upon hearing that, I slumped to the ground in exhaustion. I laid there for a long time slowly catching my breath.
I sure have been collapsing a lot, huh...
I raised my hand and witnessed the broken part of the Glass Bottle slowly scatter into tiny sparks.
"You served me well..."
Stats...
[Name:] Alex
[Title:]???
[Level:] 1
[EXP:] 6/100
[Skills:] Oversaturation, Memory Palace, Echolocation, Art of Learning, Ambidexterity, Martial Arts, Anti-Lip Sync, Invisibility, Manipulation, Technical Knowledge (depreciated), Pickpocket, Panoramic Vision, Dexterity
[Aliases:] The Mastermind, The Fool
[Debuffs:] Partial Hearing, Myopic Vision, Anti-Lip Sync, Rizzless
Once again, I was greeted by the HUD of my stats.
It changed!
[EXP:] 6/100
So, killing enemies gives you EXP, huh... am still far from hundred though...
"Still, I've found a way forward..."
I turned to look at the sky, a smile etching its way to my lips.
I remained in that position for a few moments before standing up and turning to the corpse of the Lost Skeleton.
'Pah! You should have stayed dead!'
I thought of saying that but instantly swallowed it.
Nah... I ain't saying that...not with my luck...
I lingered for a moment and then said, "May your soul find peace."
I looked away from the skeleton and then to the sword, I stared at it for a while and then sighed.
Welp...beggars can't be choosers...
I walked towards the silver katana, hesitated for a moment and then picked it up.
Just as I was expecting the worse to happen, the system spoke and the katana disintegrated into a million sparks.
[You have gained an Epic Item: Silver Lining.]