First Blood {Alpha}

The adventurers, Carl and Ricardo, pathed into a forest North of the rundown village. They thought about how they would get wood without a tool as they could not find anything of use before entering the forest. How will they succeed in harvest the wood that Nigel requested?

'The Hollow Forest' was the name given by the game's system. In truth, the area never had a name and it never will have as there won't be anyone strong enough to claim it. Shrouded in a thick fog that hinders a creature's line of sight, the forest seemed only inhabitable by mobs that don't rely on vision. Our heroes journeyed deeper into its ever confusing labyrinth with walls of old oak trees.

"I spy with my little eye....." Ricardo shouted.

"oi, don't make too much noise dude. This place givin me the hibijibis and I don't want some big ass spider to jump us while we aren't looking." Carl warned his friend.

Each tree was larger than the last and the fog slowly rose up as the duo approached the denser parts of the forest. They felt lost and had no breadcrumb trail to trace back to their starting point. A subtle but cool breeze flowed past them, causing a chill to run down their spine. Rustling leaves could be heard yet the source unidentifiable. Both Carl and Ricardo now find themselves in uncharted territory with no navigation to assist them.

The two decided to rest near a medium-sized tree and planned out their next set of moves. They concluded with cutting down the tree near them then walking straight forward to reach the perimeter of the forest so they can more easily find the village.

"So how we doing this?" Carl asked.

"Well, you want the smort wae or the gamer wae?" Ricardo responded.

"Suprise me since you have the intuition when it comes to this kind of thing," Carl replied.

Without hesitation, Ricardo began breathing rhythmically and channeling his focus towards the cubic tree. Afterward, Carl's face grew increasingly worried for he was starting to catch on what his buddy was attempting.

Ricardo struck the middle section of the tree and formed a crack that mended itself once he took his hand off of the block. Continuing his investigation, our crazy hero jabbed the plant rapidly whilst keeping track of the crack. This time it didn't disappear and even rooted inwards until the entire block was destroyed.

The two were immediately shocked after witnessing not what Ricardo had done but what remained after his punching session. To their surprise, the tree did not collapse and the leaves were still. It was a motionless trunk at the bottom and a separated tree body hovering above the trunk.

"I don't think eye-sack was born since there is no gravity here," Ricardo joked.

"He didn't invent gravity, you nincompoop. He discovered it," Carl corrected his friend.

No longer questioning the world that they exist in. The two quickly moved from tree to tree and harvested a plethora of wooden blocks until they felt the burden of a pack mule.

However, the noise generated invited an unwanted guess to their happy grinding spree. There stood behind them, a person with torn skin and rotten flesh. The man's body was heavily damaged beyond repair and his appearance spook the two.

"My god, they even have zombies here! Ye-he boi, finally some Exp to power me up. Aight, skin'an'bones become food for me so that I may become stronger!" Ricardo eagerly shouted while winding up a haymaker.

{Task Received : Run [Pacifist Series/Tutorial Series]}

The attack connected causing a shockwave to ring across the two entities' bodies in sync. Following the laws of conservation, Ricardo's being was struck by the sensation of his own haymaker and the same could be said for the undead in front of him. The only difference between the two was the human was writhing in pain but the pale creature was unfazed by the assault.

"I'm screwed. Why did I aggro it? Why did I dive in headfirst? Why won't I listen to rationality? Why did I hit it? Are we gonna die now?" Ricardo thought for he knew the creature would overpower the two with ease.

"RUNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!! We can't kill this thing or even scratch it. Attritional war won't work either just RUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!" Ricardo yelled to his friend.

The race for survival began abruptly. Our protagonists have to sprint and outmaneuver the monstrosity facing them. The enraged ghoul locked onto its running dinner and roared before charging after them. Carl and Ricardo ducked, jumped, and bolted in order to throw the creature off its course but with no luck, the only ones that grew tired were them for they were aimlessly running through a dense fog.

The weakened duo desperately tried to escape with bloodied legs that were cut by branches hanging idly by and arms that have seen better days. Only stopping once they climbed an enormous tree taller than the mist.

"Bullshiet," *huffs and puffs "what kinda stupid game pits the newbies against whatever the fuck that thing is? I thought zombies were slow, not Usian Boltz's offspring." Ricardo shouted in frustration.

"Don't worry about me" *huffs and puffs "I'm holding on," Carl spoke while heavily panting.

"gReAt, nOw hE waiTing dOWn theRe. Jesus, at least sing 'baby shark' before coming after us you uncultured swine." Ricardo continued.

Now stuck up a tree like a terrified feline, both of them have some time on their hands to work out a distraction for their hunter.

After spotting a long body of water in the distance, they came up with a feasible strategy that required Carl and Ricardo to take a leap of faith. The instant they landed on the soft leaves which cushioned their fall, they stormed away with the might of a thousand apocalyptic horsemen for they realized they were at the mercy of this world. The realization of their minority quickly cemented in Carl while Ricardo wholeheartedly denied the idea.

They darted quickly towards a river deep enough to cover their heads underwater just by standing. The fatigue no longer bothered them as they were pressured by the predator gaining on them. The obstructing trees and boulders didn't slow the two down as they couldn't afford to lose any more distance between their aggressor.

Upon arrival, they swam across as swiftly as they possibly can. Just like they gambled, the undead being simply sunk to the bottom and was grounded by its own weight. Even though the water currents were fast and volatile, the two managed to get to the other side leaving the zombie to drown and decay under the pressure of the channel.

The river rushed downwards to a cliff and eventually drops off of it like a spectacular waterfall show. Our heroes were glad that they weren't swept away by the currents as it would likely spell doom for their frail bodies.

"Get" *coughs and pants "OutSKILLED BIA-TCH," Ricardo celebrated.

What Carl and his buddy didn't realize was the situation didn't improve and only worsened compared to the last minute.

"um... why didn't the task 'run' get completed?" Carl spoke with a terrified face.

Sometimes in life, one mustn't celebrate too early as it could bring misfortune to themselves. Without a moment's rest, the river bubbled and a brilliant, vibrant green glow erupted from where the undead stood.

*Ominous Orchestral Music Starts Playing

"why do I hear boss music?", Ricardo quietly thought.