First Contact

Another thirty minutes or so after I managed to kill my first ever monster - and first ever living thing to be honest, since I avoided killing insects whenever I could - and I had come to a rather startling realization that no one else could ever come up with.

I was lost.

Like, completely and utterly lost in the middle of this unknown forest that had monsters that looked very capable of killing me if I let my guard down, or even worse if they were all like that goblin from earlier...

The other realization that hit me like a truck - probably like the truck that Bunny had scheduled for me - was that I really didn't have a system or some other kind of cheat skill; I had been hoping, praying even, that she had just been joking with me and that there really was something to aid me in this wonderful journey.

I tried saying 'System!' out loud, shouting it in my mind, poking the corpse of the monster to absorb it or something... anything that came to mind I tried, and when none of them worked I was left to just smile wryly and come to terms with the realization that I was, in fact, just a person inside of this new world.

A Bunnykin that looked stunning, but just a Bunnykin nonetheless; no special powers, no unique traits, no advantages, nothing at all to give me aid besides my wits, wiles and body, which honestly...

That didn't give me too much hope at this very moment since I didn't know much about how people lived in this world; was this a world where all things sex was shunned, where there were clear classes and attempting to break out of those classes was strictly prohibited?

Maybe there was a Church here that guaranteed people were chaste and reserved like my world's ancient times, or perhaps there was a government in place that disliked that form of self expression and wanted no part of it at all!

Or perhaps I was lucky and this world was as open - and maybe even more open - than my previous one, and if that was the case maybe, just maybe I could carve out a niche for myself yet again.

But until I got out of this damnable forest that was just a pipedream, and as the sun fell and the forest got shrouded in darkness it was seeming even more unlikely to happen since there were even more growls filling the air around me.

Dread began to set in as I realized there was a chance I die on my first night to goblins, or maybe even worse thanks to all the anime and manga I had read about these terrible monsters; my earlier encounter proved that since it's first reaction to seeing me had been to get hard.

That didn't bode well for me as I continued to walk through the forest aimlessly, and the minutes now were stretching out into forever and a half instead of just blending together into hours; each growl had me jumping at random shadows, and each time I felt that something was close my heartrate spiked drastically.

Exhaustion was being kept at bay thanks to adrenaline, but that meant the moment it stopped flowing I was going to crash hard, maybe even go unconscious for a half day or longer just to recuperate into a workable state.

It was hard to maintain my hope as the darkness became inkier, and while me being a Bunnykin apparently granted me some lower form of night vision I was still practically blind inside of the forest, leaving me even more scared than before.

And yet, just like the goblin had the first time, suddenly something appeared out of the trees and stopped right in front of me, startling me greatly; whereas the goblin had been an entire foot shorter than me, this thing was a foot and a half taller, and definitely stronger if the width was anything to go by.

"Well well well, didn't know it was huntin' season for bunnies~! Whatcha doing out here all alone, miss?"

Relief was about to settle in when the thing in front of me spoke words I could understand, only for stranger danger to overwhelm that relief as I stared up at the towering woman with a new set of uneasy, unknown fear.

Sensing that, she chuckled and stayed where she was, watching as I pointed my sword at her only for me to then notice the absurdly giant blade on her back that was as tall as I was, which made her chuckle deepen as she added "I ain't looking for any trouble, little miss. Just curious to see someone out here all alone."

I swallowed hard at that, wanting to lie and say I wasn't alone only to realize it likely wouldn't change anything at all, so I just nodded and stared back at this towering woman, who had crossed her arms beneath her impressive bosom as she looked down at me.

"Did you come out here on your lonesome, or did you get separated from your group? This isn't a place to be all on your own, little miss."

There was slight worry and concern in her voice, and while I knew better than to take things at face value I desperately needed to get out of here, so I swallowed yet again and just said "I... I don't know... I just... woke up here and-!"

Her eyes narrowed at that, before she sighed and asked "Do you remember anything at all? Name, where you're from, things like that?", to which I replied "I know those things, I just don't know how I got 'here'!"

"Damn... Listen, I know you Bunnykin are horny little things, but a word of advice? Stay away from mages if at all possible. Fuckers are always waiting to do something crazy, and in recent years amnesia spells have become far too common."

"Ulya! Where- Oh, who's that?"

Another towering woman appeared out of the trees, though this one had scales instead of skin on her arms and neck alongside a pair of golden, glowing eyes that were rather unsettling; and like her comrade Ulya she had a gigantic weapon on her back, though this one was a hammer instead of a sword.

"Little bunny here got amnesia'd and dumped. Probably has no idea about this forest or how to get out. You're lucky, little miss; the forest gets many times more dangerous at night, and we were on our way out. C'mon, let's get you to the city."

It seemed odd at first for them to offer to help without any other confirmations from me, but it was like I was an open book to them since Ulya smiled at me and said "You're not even a D Rank, are you? Definitely not strong enough to be out here normally. So let's go."

The warmth in her eyes and the small smile on her scaled friend sent my adrenaline slinking away out of my system, and before I knew it all of the stress and exhaustion hurtled for me now that they were no longer being held at bay, and I fell to the ground with a dull thud as I passed out right in front of them both.

Talk about a survival mindset... good job me~!

But there was nothing that I could do as the darkness swept over me yet again, claiming my mind and sending me spiraling into the abyss of unconsciousness.