Arrival

The gust of wind scattered throughout the forest as the leaves made a gentle rustling noise that accentuated the beauty of the rising sun and its calm morning dew. Yet behind the scenery, a terrible nightmare hid. However, far from that location, a man of terrible physique—filled with wounds and gashes all around him, along with his tattered attire that reeked of dried blood—was sure to bring about unknown dangers.

Fortunately, the gentle touch of the cool breeze seemed to have woken him.

"!!!" With a face filled with tiredness and dried blood, he looked left and right.

"Ouch!!!" The wounds on his body ached in pain as he attempted to stand, but failed, crashing down to the earth.

"Gah!!!" he screamed as his bottom ached from the landing.

"What the heck happened?! Didn't I just got sho—" While breathing heavily and muttering under his breath, he was cut off by a sharp pain.

"Agh!!!" With pain etched in his expression, he screamed in fear and despair as numerous images flooded his mind. They disappeared only when the image of a woman with platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale white skin appeared in his memories, as if singing him a lullaby. The vision eased the tension in his head as he processed the information he needed.

"Hmm…" He breathed a sigh of relief, as the majority of the pain subsided, and almost all the information he needed arrived intact and peacefully—thankfully without killing him.

With the necessary information now in his mind, his eyes and ears twitched with alertness, as he knew full well that this was not the same world he used to be in. In fact, it was said that he needed to save this world. The request was so ridiculous that he couldn't help but grin under the blue sky above him.

'How could I possibly save a world with such a wounded body and tattered clothes?' was the thought he dwelled on for a few moments.

Fortunately, realizing his predicament and being thankful for a second chance at life, he spread his hands and arms around his body, searching for something usable. Upon arriving at the pockets beside where his sidearm should have been, he found an M1 Military Knife and searched for more around it.

Unfortunately, there were no firearms, ammunition, or even consumables present in his pockets or holsters. This meant he had to survive with only a military knife—for now—with a wounded body.

'Great, a military knife and a wounded body. Gotta be enough to save the world, I guess,' he muttered under his breath.

Nevertheless, he once again took a deep breath and attempted to stand.

"Hngghh!!!" Within a few breaths, he was already breathing heavily. Though this time, he managed to stand up. Only then was he able to fully assess his body.

"Damn. Could be worse." As if already used to being in such a state, he was thankful that his wounds weren't too deep.

Now knowing where the problem lay, he removed his t-shirt and ripped it into pieces, preferring to wear only the trench coat so he could use the torn cloth to cover his wounds and avoid infection.

With his wounds somewhat bandaged, the next thing he needed to find was a water source—to wash the bandages, drink, bathe, and recover from his injuries.

After focusing his mind and establishing a clear objective, he unclipped the military knife, grabbed it, and raised it, prepared to fight or defend himself if a predator or wild animal attacked.

With one hand lowered and the other holding the knife raised, he set off in a randomly chosen direction, walking slowly as his body ached from the pain.

Unfortunately, as if his luck had worsened, a loud howl of a wolf echoed in the distance. The forest began to rumble.

With fear creeping up his back and chills racing across his skin, he instinctively took cover behind a tree surrounded by bushes. There, he found some comfort—though his body still trembled as he tried his best to silence his breathing.

Peeking around the side, he was struck with despair as his stomach turned from the scene before him. A few hundred meters away, he saw a wolf staring directly at him. When their eyes met, the wolf dashed toward him.

His body froze. He wanted to run, but his instincts screamed that something worse was out there—and urged him to stay.

The wolf rushed forward, now just a few dozen meters away. But as if to vindicate his instincts, a shadow flashed past—barely missing his location behind the trees and bushes.

Moments later, the wolf whimpered. An unknown sound and image appeared before him.

[The World's Trial: Survive This Day's Twilight Of The Red Moon Until Tomorrow.][Rewards: Complete Immunity From The World's Infection. Full Body Recovery. Construction Droid x6, Resource Droid x6, Logistics Droid x3, Manufacturing Plant (Small) x1, Cloning Facility (Small) x1, Pathfinder x1.]

"W—" he gasped. Thankfully, not too loudly.

He saw horror: a man gnawing at the wolf, which was gasping for air. The wolf whimpered until a few more people arrived—and began to gnaw and feast on its now-lifeless corpse.

He didn't know how long he had been out of it, but when he regained focus, a floating window appeared beside him. The people were gone. The wolf's corpse—gone.

Looking at the window, he read the text:

'World's Trial… Twilight Of The Red Moon… Immunity… Infection… I see.'

Having grasped the situation, he knew he needed to survive the entire day to heal and gain immunity from the infection. It must be a virus or disease, he thought. But what was the Twilight Of The Red Moon?

As if answering his question, the window changed, like a TV flipping channels:

[Twilight Of The Red MoonDaytime Of The Red Moon – Double the Standard State Of The UndeadNighttime Of The Red Moon – Quadruple Standard State Of The Undead]

After reading everything, he was baffled—stunned by what he read.

'Undead… Infection… Immunity… Dead People… Save the World…' were the thoughts racing through his mind.

When everything finally clicked, he formed a strategy.

'So basically, this world is suffering from a virus that kills people and then revives them to eat the living? Sounds like the plot of a novel—but this is reality. If the virus enters me, it won't kill me immediately. That means surviving until tomorrow is possible... I just need to avoid dying from blood loss with all these wounds.'

And so, with everything in mind, he set off, searching for a defensible location where he could survive the entire day—until tomorrow.