Second chance

[Ding! You have killed a green worm]

[Ding! You have gained experience points]

[Ding! The entity green worm has been added to your summoning list]

Ethan awoke to a splitting headache, blinking in confusion as strange, glowing words floated in front of his eyes. He rubbed his head in confusion when he felt something sticky in his hand.

He looked at his hand and saw something green squished up. He stared at the blinking notification in front of him and then at his hand. Fuck! Did he just rub a dead worm on his head?

He hurriedly cleaned his hand on his pants and tried to clean his head the same way.

What the hell? Where was he? Ethan stood up in a panic and looked around. The last thing he remembered was the screech of tires and the impact that should have killed him.

Instead, he found himself in the middle of something like a forest, surrounded by towering trees that seemed too big, too wild to belong anywhere on Earth. His mind raced as he stared at the strange messages still floating in front of him.

"Summoning list?" he mumbled in confusion.

What the hell was going on? He tried to touch the screen when he noticed that his hands were different. In fact, his clothes were different, and his body was also different. He looked a lot younger.

He was no longer in the neatly pressed suit and tie he'd been wearing before the accident. He was now in loose-fitting and simple linen clothes, like something out of a medieval reenactment. His shoes, polished leather oxfords, were gone, replaced by simple boots.

"No way," Ethan muttered, his heart pounding as he realized something was very wrong. 

"What the hell happened to me?"

Did just die and get reincarnated or some shit like in the webnovels? Was something like that even possible? So many crazy theories popped up in his head. Just as he was about to lose it, another ding sounded in his head, and a new screen appeared.

[New Quest Available: Survive.]

Huh? Survive what? Ethan did not understand, but the next second, his question was answered as something big walked out of a bush nearby.

Snarling at him, a massive, wolf-like creature, its fur matted with mud and eyes glowing a feral yellow, burst through the foliage. It was easily twice Ethan's size, all muscle and teeth, and it fixed its hungry gaze on him.

Ethan's body froze, panic seizing his mind. Now he understood the quest he had received. But how the hell was he supposed to survive something like this?

Fuck, this thing was bigger than the normal wolves he had seen in the zoo. He had no guns or knives, nothing on him. What was he supposed to do now?

[Ding! Forest Wolf, Level 5]

A notification popped up in front of him, snapping him out of his trance. The wolf inched closer, growling low, its hackles raised. The next moment, Ethan turned and bolted. What else was he fucking supposed to do?

His survival instincts kicked in, and he ran. Branches whipped his face, and his boots crunched against the forest floor as he ran like hell. The snarling of the wolf behind him grew louder, its heavy paws thudding against the ground as it gave chase.

Fucking hell. How the hell was he supposed to outrun this monstrosity?

Ethan's mind raced. Why was he here? What was happening to him? This was no dream, no delusion—everything felt too vivid, too real. The cold bite of the wind, the strain in his muscles, the sheer terror gnawing at his insides.

But as real as it all felt, Ethan had no idea how to fight off a level 5 anything. What was he? A level 1? He could barely keep his thoughts straight, let alone fight a creature twice his size, a freaking wolf.

The forest thickened, branches clawing at him as he ran. His lungs burned, and his legs screamed for him to stop, but he couldn't. He would fucking die if he did that. He glanced over his shoulder, and it was a mistake. Damn it, never look back!

The wolf's snarling face was not far behind, and its fangs gleaming as it closed the distance.

The next second, pain ripped across his body as the wolf's claws grazed his back, tearing through his clothes and leaving a burning line of agony in its wake.

Ethan cried out, stumbling forward. His vision blurred, and he felt as if he was going to die from pain, but he somehow balanced and continued running like hell. Not that it helped.

The wolf was on him, close enough that he could feel its hot breath on the back of his neck, hear the snarl of triumph in its throat. His mind spiraled, fear gripping him tighter than the pain.

He barely took a few more steps when once again a vicious snarl sent a shiver down his spine. Another blow raked across his back, nearly sending him sprawling to the ground.

Ethan gasped in pain, stumbling as blood soaked through his torn clothes. The second attack was even more brutal than the first. He was bleeding profusely, and he felt faint, his strength draining by the second.

This was it. He no longer had the strength to even run from the damned thing. He was going to drop dead any second now.

And then he saw it.

A small burrow.

Ethan's heart lurched in his chest as his eyes locked onto the small hole nestled between the roots of a gnarled tree just a few feet ahead. It was small, barely noticeable in the dimming light of the forest, but it might be his only chance.

The wolf was too large to follow him into such a cramped space. Maybe, just maybe, if he could reach it, he could buy himself enough time to figure out a plan, provided the damn thing didn't turn into an excavator or something and claw its way in right behind him.

It was not perfect, but it was the only plan he had to not die.

"Please… let this work," Ethan muttered as he focused all his remaining energy on that burrow. With a final, desperate push, he threw himself forward, half-falling, half-diving toward the opening in the earth.

His body crashed into the dirt, sharp rocks scraping against his arms and chest, but he didn't care. He scrambled on his hands and knees, forcing himself into the tight space, his breath coming in ragged gasps.

The earthy smell of the burrow filled his nostrils as he clawed his way deeper, dirt caking his torn clothes and bloodied skin like his life depended on it.

The wolf skidded to a halt just outside the entrance. It then slowly lowered its head and peered into the darkness with its amber eyes. Its lips slowly curled upwards into what could only be called a smile. A nasty one.

This was not over.