Running through

The wild howler, the man-eater, stared at him with its painted face. Its glare was brazen. It ripped off his bone dagger if his waist fondled it in his hand, and he smiled with a maniacal grin.

Joji moved back, and the howler tossed the dagger from one hand to the other, teasing and taunting Joji. He could feel it; any moment now, he strikes.

The cannibal began chattering his teeth; his eyes were widened, and they made his eyes bulge, giving him a bizarre look.

Joji felt scared just looking at the man. In a flash he jumped in, instantly killing the gap between them and swinging the bone dagger before Joji could react.

The bone cut into his chest, and he was lucky he wasn't much closer; he'd be dead. A red notice pops up in Joji's pov; it's a message from the system telling him to run, as the howler's speed far exceeds his own.

Joji jumped backward just in time to dodge his second swing; the cannibal growled with a creepy smile on its face, stuck the bone dagger in its mouth, and licked the blood off it.

Joji felt disgusted; he balled his fist, determined to fight it; he looked down at his leg and saw a black puss seeping out of the tourniquet.

Joji took a fighting stance, the only one he knew from a video game. The howler stared at him, his eyes inflamed with hunger; he smiled, revealing all his teeth and twisting the paint on his face. He took a stance too, tightening his grip on his bone dagger.

Joji aims for one shot, just one; he knows if he gets that, his speed won't matter; he'll have the upper hand. He excelled in power, and he knew he far surpassed the cannibal in brute force.

The redhead watched on; they hadn't made a move yet; the howler was chattering its teeth, taunting Joji, but seemed calm and focused.

In a flash, she gasps as she sees a surge of blood jet out; Joji has made a mistake. I underestimated its speed, he ran it through my throat in a flash. The blood jets out of Joji's jugular.

The howler pulled his hand back for another slash at Joji. Joji quickly blocked the dagger with his hand and threw an uppercut at him, but he saw it coming and jolted back in a flash.

Joji put his hand on his neck, applying pressure to his jugular, I'm dead, he thought. There's no way I'm beating this man and I've only got two lives left.

He puts out his only available hand, balling it into a fist; at least this way, he'd seem like a threat. Wait what are these guys, they're not players they must be NPCs, damn it I'm gonna get killed by an NPC

The howler watched him steadily wait for an opening, it knew from years of living in the jungle that injured animals could be at their deadliest.

Joji watched him closely, knowing he had nothing to lose; if he was gonna lose his life, then he would take him along. I'm there's no coming back and facing this scum again; even if you have to cut my head off, I'm still gonna kill you, Joji's face twisted in rage.

He was calculating his moves; its speed was all he had. I'll let him stab me and then I'll grab his hand, he won't be able to use the knife then I'll pummel him to dust

The red watched on, the light sun rays that man it through trees illuminated her supple white skin. Blood was all over the ground under Joji's feet.

Realizing her rescuer was in danger she slowly pulled out his emerald spear, dragging it out of the dead howler.

Joji charged in this time, but he faked it to startle him. Joji just stumped his feet, leaned in, and pulled back at the last moment, but it was enough to fool the howler. The howler darted back, scared of Joji's brazen face.

Joji was only trying to gauge its top speed. Realizing it had been tricked it jumped in after Joji but this time Joji came prepared using his right arm as bait he let go of his neck and a small amount of blood jets out

Joji blocked with his right hand, and he felt the dagger pierce into his skin; he smiled and swung that hand away from the howler with the blade still embedded in his arm.

He makes the mistake of underestimating the howler's grip as the howler pulls out the dagger at the last moment. Joji gasped, stunned by its sheer speed; he quickly made his move, grabbing his hand and stopping him from using the bone dagger.

Joji threw a punch at him that turned his face away and tested the strength of his neck. Instantly, the cannibal turned its face back to Joji. Blood was dripping down its nose and lip. Its eyes seemed to sunken deeper into his head, but his hunger only seemed to grow.

Joji, stunned by the look in his eyes, punched him again, to prove to himself that the cannibal wasn't all that scary, but it only returned with more hunger, forcing Joji into more senseless punches.

With its face bloody, it smiled as its food had only been made better with the fury Joji displayed. Joji didn't even realize all he held onto was his wrist. With his hand free he threw the bone dagger to his other hand.

Joji saw it flying and lunged in to grab it but he was too slow; it was gone before he could touch it. With the bone dagger in his hand, he darted in and stabbed Joji in the chest.

Joji felt the dagger cut through the bone in his ribs, he quickly grabbed the cannibal, trapping him in a bare hug. It couldn't escape, Joji had it trapped, and he couldn't get a good grip on the dagger, but the damage had already been done.

"I'm gonna crush!" Joji screamed as he tightened his grip around the cannibal; he could hear his bones break as it fought for its freedom, was using the last bit of strength he had, and the constant kicking from the howler was becoming too much to handle.

It thrashed wildly as Joji tried to crush it in his broad arms; he kicked and kicked until it unintentionally landed a kick on Joji's groin. Joji felt the wind knocked out of him; his mind went blank, and he hadn't even felt the pain yet.

His grip weakened, and the howler was about to break free but clenched tighter; the surges through him, and he felt like collapsing, but he tightened his grip.

The howler's grip began to break, and as a last-gasp effort, it sunk its sharpened teeth into Joji's shoulders. Joji had already lost so much blood, and the kick at the groin already drained his strength; he couldn't take anymore.

The howler began to chew on his flesh, and Joji's grip weakened; he swayed backward like he was about to fall, but then, out of the blue, he saw a green blur cut through the air, it was headed for him, and he had a sharp impact sound, it sounded like stabbing.

He felt something poke into his belly, he felt it amidst the howler skin he held against his. The howler raised his head and coughed up blood; it looked at Joji in the eyes; its eyes shivered; they were bloodshot, but it looked scared; it coughed up more blood and dropped its head on Joji's shoulder.

Joji could feel its body go limp; he broke his grip and let it fall on the fall; he put the pressure back on his wound and looked down at the howler.

My spear, he said.

He saw that the cannibal had been run through with the spear. He turned and saw the redhead standing.

Oh, she threw it; man, she's hot; I almost forgot she was even here. Joji fell on his back and went unconscious. Damn, I'm dead, and that'll be one life left. This Is a real bummer. He was fading fast, but he could hear her walking towards him.

The last image he sees is of him brushing the hair off his bloody face.

From quicksand to raptor, to snake, to cannibal, can I catch a break? Men, my bad luck must be legendary.

Getting cancer at the prime of my life. I had it all: a nice lady, a house, a couple of cats and dogs, a decent job. Then, damn it and it all fell apart. I had to quit and sell it all for chemo; then I went bald for a while; that was much worse.

Her world fell apart too, I don't know. Maybe she never really loved me, or maybe I got too pathetic to love. I was pathetic then, and I guess I'm a bit pathetic now. Look, mama I'm stuck in a game; look, Lori, I'm stuck in a game; I made it! I'm so pathetic, that the last thing she ever said to me