Chapter 2: Survival (1)

I can say with confidence, I am a very ordinary person.

Just a regular guy from a regular family. I make friends like anyone else, served in the military like any other soldier, and, like many, I enjoy games.

The only difference? I was so obsessed with a particular game that I practically lived in it.

If I wasn't playing with friends, I was grinding solo, completely immersed.

"Soul World"

That was the name of the game I loved.

At first glance, it seemed ordinary. But once you got into it, its depth was staggering.

Your choices shaped the future, the character dynamics were masterfully woven, and while the story darkened as it progressed, it never felt forced, if anything its descent into bleakness was part of its charm.

But it had one fatal flaw, the controls were absolute garbage.

Clunky, unresponsive, and buggy to hell. More than once, I nearly smashed my keyboard in frustration.

So despite its brilliant story, the game was a niche favorite, loved by a devoted but masochistic few.

And yeah, I was one of them.

I'd cleared it multiple times, memorized every detail, and got attached to the characters. But that didn't change the fact that it was a brutal experience.

And nothing embodied that brutality more than a certain damn squirrel.

Officially, its name was Ratatosque, but within the fandom, everyone called it Porori.

This little bastard was infamous. It teabagged you mid-fight, mocked your failures, and most importantly it killed you in one hit.

At the academy, students would enter the nearby forest for training. Venture in too deep, and Porori would be waiting.

One misstep, and you were done for, dodging was next to impossible thanks to the janky controls, and even if you somehow won, it would play dead, only to land a cheap shot the moment you let your guard down.

Porori was, in every way, a troll designed to make players suffer. I pressed a hand to my aching stomach, scowling.

"Someday, I'll skin that damn squirrel alive."

The foul stench of urine and shit filled my nose. 

I was lying against a tree, surrounded by darkness. Hadn't it been daytime when I collapsed?

That meant I'd been out for hours.

And this forest? It wasn't just home to Porori. Other dangerous creatures lurked in the shadows.

If I didn't get out of here soon, I'd be dead.

I groaned, forcing my battered body upright. Even breathing hurt after that hit to the stomach.

Honestly, it was a miracle I was still alive.

In the game, taking a direct hit from Porori meant instant death. Surviving was so rare that it hardly even mattered.

I gathered fallen leaves and rubbed them over my skin.

It wouldn't get rid of the stink entirely, but at least it masked some of it.

Sure, there was always the risk of poisonous insects hiding in the leaves.

But hey. Life was already a pile of crap. What's one more risk?

The forest was dense, humid, a blend of jungle and wild woodland. The sun had set faster than I expected.

One bit of good news, Porori's presence meant stronger monsters wouldn't be nearby.

The food chain here was clear, Porori was the apex predator in this area.

Nothing else dared challenge it.

Which meant so long as I reeked of that little bastard I was relatively safe.

Or at least, I thought I was.

"Growl."

I froze.

A wolf stood before me, baring its fangs, it was emaciated, its ribs jutting out beneath ragged fur. Probably exiled from its pack, starving, desperate.

A lone predator, willing to attack anything for a meal.

'Why the hell is a hungry wolf here?'

This forest wasn't restricted by level, so technically, anything could spawn.

And this wolf?

In Soul World, it was weak.

But the problem wasn't its strength.

It was its relentlessness, wolves like this attacked anything weaker than them.

And right now? It had decided I was weaker.

'How the hell did it figure that out?'

Even with Porori's stench clinging to me, a beast was still a beast.

I swallowed hard, stepping back.

I had no weapons. No real survival skills.

If I were Bear Grylls, maybe I'd turn this thing into dinner.

But I wasn't.

"Grrrr.!"

Before I could react, it lunged.

I barely managed to raise my arm.

SNAP! 

Pain.

Pure, searing agony as its fangs sank into my flesh.

"AAAGH!!"

My vision blurred for a split second before snapping back.

It felt like my arm was being crushed in a vice. Blood ran down my sleeve.

I gritted my teeth.

The wolf's wild eyes locked onto mine. It wasn't letting go.

If I didn't act fast, I will die, fear had paralyzed me before.

Now?

Instinct took over.

I groped the ground with my free hand feeling for anything, anything I could use to kill this beast

My fingers closed around a jagged branch.

Desperate, I drove it straight into the wolf's eye.

SHLUSH

The sensation was sickening.

But survival drowned out disgust, I wasn't dying here.

I refused to die here.

The wolf shrieked, thrashing violently. It staggered back, pawing at its bleeding eye.

For now, it was vulnerable.

I glanced at my arm, a deep gash, blood oozing freely.

If the wound didn't kill me, infection or rabies would.

My odds of survival had gone from 99% death to 100% guaranteed death.

No.

Not yet.

I knew this game, I knew the plants that stopped bleeding, the herbs that fought infection.

I wasn't dying until I figured out what the hell brought me here.

The wolf writhed, blinded, still disoriented.

I didn't hesitate.

I stomped its skull, pinning it down.

Crack!

It yelped, snapping at my foot.

I snatched the broken branch from its eye

And with everything I had left plunged it in deeper.

SHLUSH! SHLUSH! SHLUSH!

The wolf spasmed.

Its skull caved, the branch deep into it's eye

Its movements slowed, then it stopped, dead.

I gasped for breath, heart pounding. Sweat dripped down my face.

'Id killed it.'

"I actually killed it."

Adrenaline still surged through me, but reality sank in fast.

I wasn't some seasoned warrior.

I was just an ordinary guy.

But when life was on the line… the mind didn't care survival was the priority.

[First Hunt Successful! Strength and Agility Slightly Increased.]

A familiar notification appeared before me.

I stared at it, breathless.

This world,

This game,

It was real.

And I had no choice but to survive.

I didn't even bother looking at the status window. I had just brushed hands with death, what else was there to worry about?

My mind was blank. Even after killing something tho not human, nothing happened.

It felt like my survival instincts were forcibly suppressing the nausea.

Like it was nothing. As if the adrenaline surging through my body acted as a natural sedative.

[Attribute: Wild Instinct learned!]

Wild Instinct?

The moment I saw it, my gaze instinctively shifted.

[Wild Instinct: ???]

[The wild isn't for the weak. It's where the strong survive.]

[All senses are heightened, and the longer you survive, the stronger you become.]

Usually, characteristics come with a grade, something you can level up.

But this one? Nothing but question marks. I'd never seen anything like it before.

What the hell does this even mean? Even with a new trait, I didn't feel any different.

Maybe my brain just refused to process how absurd this situation was.

Throb!

Pain flared in my left arm, yanking me back to reality. I winced at the sharp, tingling sensation.

Now that the adrenaline, my temporary sedative was wearing off, the pain settled in.

'First, treatment…'

I ignored the wolf's corpse. Tending to my wound took priority.

Thankfully, I remembered a plant that helped stop bleeding. Deep in the forest, medicinal herbs were easy to find.

'I'll survive… I have to survive…'

And once I do, I'll drag the bastard who threw me into this hell to the very top just to make him fall even harder.

If it was the so-called "God" who did this, I'd curse him to his face.

[You have blasphemed God. Faith level decreases.]

"What the f*ck."

As if this wasn't bad enough already, now it's getting even worse.