The Grand Lake

Awakening and Recovery

Kuma groaned as he stirred awake, his body sluggish and aching. The first thing he noticed was his leg—completely intact, though marred with deep scars. His breath hitched. He had seen creatures regenerate in games, in nature, but now, experiencing it firsthand was something else.

He pressed a hand against his thigh, fingers tracing the rough, uneven skin. "So, it's not perfect... but damn, it's still a miracle," he muttered. The pain was gone, but the exhaustion lingered like a heavy weight on his chest.

Memories of the fight with the Memory Worms flashed through his mind. Their grotesque, writhing forms, the sickening crunch of his bones breaking, the overwhelming pain—then nothing. Just blackness until now.

His mind raced. "What if I try again with the Memory Worms?" he thought, then immediately dismissed the idea. "No, the system said I could only get one skill like this. If I take another, it'll overwrite Enhanced Regeneration."

Kuma exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "No way. This skill is perfect for me. There's almost no other way to heal in this place." But there was a problem. Passing out every time he healed wasn't ideal. If he had been attacked while unconscious, he wouldn't be here thinking about it now.

He needed to get back to his shelter. Pushing himself up, he forced his tired legs to move.

Testing the New Power

The next day, Kuma woke up feeling a little better, though the fatigue still clung to him. He decided to test his new skill in a safer environment. Holding his knife, he made a shallow cut on his arm. Immediately, he felt a dull pain, but after a few moments, the wound closed up. The healing wasn't instant, but it worked. However, his breathing became heavier, and he felt his stamina draining at an alarming rate.

"Yeah... not something I can just spam," he noted. "I'll have to be careful how I use it."

Then, something unexpected happened.

[Poison Resistance has leveled up to Lv.2.]

Kuma's eyes widened. "What?" He hadn't even realized it before, but now that he thought about it, those Memory Worms had to be toxic. He had been chewing on them, after all. If it wasn't for his Poison Resistance—and the ridiculous luck of rolling Enhanced Regeneration—he definitely would have died.

A shiver ran down his spine. The Memory Worm cave was a death sentence. And worse…

"I swear something was watching me in that cave," he muttered. The thought made him uneasy, but he pushed it away. He had other things to focus on.

Crafting and Preparation

Kuma decided it was time for some downtime. He sat in his shelter, tinkering with his flintstones. He shaped them into new spear points and even crafted a four-pronged spear and a hook. While he had traps set up, he wanted to try fishing on his own.

Hunger gnawed at him, so he sliced some old, dried Squabbit meat. There wasn't much left. "Might as well use this as bait," he thought.

With his newly crafted tools and bait in hand, he followed the river. As always, he stayed alert for danger—this was second nature by now.

The sound of rushing water grew louder as he moved. Eventually, he reached the source: the river drained into a massive waterfall.

"Whoa..." Kuma whispered, stepping closer. The sight was breathtaking. Mist rose from below, catching the sunlight and creating faint rainbows. It was beautiful… but also dangerous.

"If there's a waterfall, there might be caves nearby... or something living in them," he thought.

A new adventure awaited.

Strange Sounds from Below

Kuma admired the view—the mist, the shimmering light, the raw beauty of nature.

Then… a low, rhythmic thudding.

A tremor rolled beneath his feet. Faint. Distant. But enough to put him on edge.

"Maybe it's just the waterfall?" he thought, but the vibrations grew stronger.

Then he noticed it.

Birds. Dozens of them, launching from the treetops, scattering in all directions.

Kuma tensed. A bad sign.

A second later, a Thornback Boar herd stormed past, their heavy bodies crashing through the underbrush. They weren't just moving—they were fleeing.

His stomach tightened. Something massive was coming.

Then came the sound. A deep, seismic impact.

A pause.

Then another. Louder. Closer.

Kuma swallowed hard. Something was coming.

Not just walking. Each step made the lake tremble.

He turned toward the lake and felt his breath catch. Ripples. Giant, rolling waves, spreading outward. The water itself shuddered with each impact.

His mind screamed: "Run." But he didn't.

Not yet.

The Final Glimpse

A shadow moved beneath the lake.

Not a reflection. Not an illusion.

Something unnatural.

Then—two eyes opened beneath the surface.

Each one as large as a Thornback Boar.

Cold, glowing orbs, staring up from the abyss. Watching.

The lake pulsed. A deep, ancient movement.

Then, with a sound like thunder—the water erupted.

A jagged, moss-covered shell rose, as massive as a hill, dripping with lake water.

A claw, as large as a boulder, burst from the water and crashed onto the shore. The earth split. Trees snapped like brittle twigs.

The world around Kuma shook.

He ran.

Not out of choice. Out of survival.

Heart pounding. Breath ragged. Legs burning. He tore through the forest, his mind screaming, "Don't look back!"

But he did.

Just once.

And he saw it.

The Great Snapper.

A colossal, ancient snapping turtle, its armored shell covered in moss, its monstrous jaws capable of snapping a boulder in half. A predator older than the forest itself.

The beast lurched forward, faster than anything its size should have been. Its breath fogged the air, a warm, rancid vapor that carried the scent of rotting flesh. Its tongue, thick and serpent-like, flicked out, tasting the air. It wasn't just massive—it was hunting.

Kuma veered left, diving into a cluster of fallen logs, rolling beneath a rotting trunk as the ground quaked behind him. He barely had time to suck in a breath before he heard another crash—the tree he had just passed was obliterated by a single swipe of the monster's claw.

He squeezed his eyes shut. "Don't move. Don't breathe."

The snapping turtle's head turned. It sniffed the air.

Then… after an eternity…

It moved on.

Kuma barely made it away, finding a hiding spot beneath a collapsed tree. His breath came in ragged gasps, his hands trembling.

In the distance, the crashing of trees continued.

The monster was still moving.

"That thing… it owns this lake. I should never come back."

But deep down… he knew he would.