Zero pushed his way through the thick jungle, sweat pouring out of his body making every movement difficult. The voice of baritone crickets coupled with growls in the distance faded his confidence of having companions in the wild. Swearing to himself, he rubbed a stubborn vine from his body that was stuck on his shirt.
"That damn goddess," he muttered, glaring at the endless sea of green around him. "What kind of divine genius tosses someone into a new world with no directions, no supplies, and no damn human settlement?!" His voice rose as frustration boiled over. "Oh, you'll give me your blessing? How about a map instead, huh?"
With a discomfort in his throat, he soon heard the hazards of a distant falling water mass. The vocals soothed him and made him quicken his pace. He looked for where the river could be found and soon saw one with cool surface water gently glistening between the flickering light. Crouching down, he drank a handful of the ice-cold water and then looked up to see his own reflection.
A pale, chiseled face stared back at him, with long black hair streaked with white at the tips. His crimson eyes, sharp and intense, seemed to glow faintly in the dim light. He leaned closer, taking in the dark circles under his eyes and the mess of his hair.
"Wow," he said, mockingly in a most sarcastic tone as usual. "I look like I just came out of a horror movie. Who in their right mind thought this would be an idea for a design?" He tousled his hair and attempted to make the mane suitable for human sight but to no success.
Now that his thirst was quenched, Zero made his way to his next issue- a fierce hunger that was raging within him. He saw the fish swimming around in the water and crouched down near the river. He attempted to scoop one with his hands but each time the fish escaped as quickly as a flash.
"Come on, it's just one fish!" he shouted, thrusting his hands into the water once more His efforts took toil because no matter what, the fish seemed to rub his nose in the dirt.
After what felt like an eternity with wet sleeves and bare hands, Zero felt the need to groan and lay back down. "Fine, starve me, see if I care!" he told the river while grabbing a nearby stone and crushing it into the bushes out of annoyance.
A loud shrill scream answered him. Zero became stiff.
A few steps out of the brush a nice-looking creature stepped out. A long maw of a wolf with flaming yellow eyes and dark fur like glass. It snorted and revealed its fangs and stared at him with intent.
"Ugh, no. Not a chance. Never..." Zero said hesitantly before retreating even further from the creature.
The beast lunged in Zero's direction.
Zero bolted, white-knuckled now with adrenaline coursing through him as he is shot out of the jungle. He could still hear the creatures growls as they got closer. He found a tree branch which was low enough to jump off from. He jumped up and hurriedly grabbed the branch, trembling as if his life depended on it, and pulled himself up.
The monster was right below him now, its snarls vibrating in the air as it fiendishly gnawed on the trunk of the tree. Zero was only able to find a dizzy branch of the tree telling a voice in his heart to stop panting so much. 'Okay, I learnt my lesson: never, ever throw stones in the jungle' he swore.
And then, eventually, the beast raised its head in day and ambled into the shrubs. A moment of sheer relief as Zero let out a deep breath but it was too early in the day for him to feel momentary happiness. A quiet hiss circled round above him, and it sent shivers down Zeros spine.
When he moved, he noticed that even he would not resist his sheen long enough, revealing a slithering snake looking through its glistening scales.
"Of course, why not? The world is full of snakes" Zero stated with a passionless face.
He slackened the strain around the branch and fell down like a sackcloth. Any tearing pain in the leg went unheard as awkward amounts 'hurt' his leg, but anything was better than sharing a branch with a snake.
With a groan, he sat up, unclipping the tome from his belt. The dark cover and sinister design appeared to be more burdensome, mocking him for his current state. "Okay," he said to himself, flipping it open. "Let's see what you can actually do for me."
On the first page, a single word glowed faintly: [STATUS].
Curious, he muttered the word aloud. The moment the word left his lips, a shimmering window appeared before him, displaying his name, age, and other details. It felt like something straight out of a video game.
Zero blinked. "Well, that's... new," he muttered, scanning the screen. "Okay, Kaldor. Maybe you're not completely useless. But you're still on my list."
He studied the screen intently, a spark of hope igniting amidst his growing frustration. Maybe this world wasn't entirely out to get him after all.
Zero's gaze locked onto the glowing window before him. The shimmering screen displayed several columns, each labeled with a different attribute:
Name: Zero
Age: 17
Strength: 3 [Even a dog has more strength than you.]
Agility: 5
Endurance: 4
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 15
Luck: 6
Charisma: 2 [Are you actively repelling people?]