Chapter 148: Amelia’s Adventure in a Game-like World (4)

For a brief moment, her gaze flicked to a sturdy branch above. The thought of using it as an escape route barely formed before she dismissed it. The second she attempted to leap out of the encirclement, the wolves would attack. With their speed and the fact that she'd be midair, unable to dodge, she would be completely vulnerable. The risk was too great.

One of the wolves suddenly closed the distance, baring its fangs in a menacing snarl. Its sheer size made for an intimidating sight, but Amelia didn't flinch. She had already seen the consequences of hesitation earlier—giving in to fear was not an option. Instead, she took a firm step forward, her daggers raised, ready to counter any sudden attacks, especially from behind.

A flicker of movement in her peripheral vision.

Her instincts screamed.

Without thinking, Amelia pivoted, instantly identifying the blur racing toward her back. A second later, the wolf lunged, claws slicing through the air. Instead of trying to block, she let herself drop to the ground, narrowly evading the deadly swipe.

The beast soared just above her, its underbelly exposed—a fatal mistake.

Amelia didn't hesitate. In a single, swift motion, she drove her aura-infused daggers upward, slicing deep into the wolf's vulnerable underside. Warm blood splattered against her hands as a sharp yelp of agony tore through the air.

The creature crashed to the ground behind her, its limbs twitching as its life drained away.

She couldn't stay down.

Pushing off the ground, Amelia sprang to her feet, taking advantage of the brief shock paralyzing the remaining three wolves. Channeling her aura into her legs, she launched herself several meters into the air, landing on the thick branch of one of the immense trees that characterized this world.

"Awoooo!"

The furious howls of the surviving wolves rang out the moment her feet touched the rough bark. Snapping their jaws in rage, they wasted no time, digging their sharp claws into the trunk as they struggled to climb. Wolves weren't built for scaling trees, but their desperation pushed them forward, slowly but surely closing the distance.

Amelia knew she had only moments.

In a fluid motion, she dismissed her daggers into her inventory. In their place, her trusted bow materialized in her hands.

With a powerful leap, she put even more distance between herself and the wolves. Her hands trembled slightly from the lingering rush of escaping the encirclement, but she forced herself to steady them as she nocked three arrows onto the bowstring. Exhaling sharply, she activated Penetrating Shot and let the arrows fly.

"Swish."

The projectiles, glowing with a faint blue light, sliced through the air with lethal precision. The three wolves, still clinging to the tree trunk, had no chance to evade. Their skulls were pierced cleanly, and with a sickening finality, their now-headless bodies plummeted to the ground, landing with heavy thuds.

['Yellow' Wolves killed: 150K XP received x5]

[Class: Hunter has leveled up x19]

[Class: Hunter has reached level 46]

"Ahh... ahh..." Amelia leaned forward, panting, barely paying attention to the notifications flashing before her eyes. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, her heart pounding violently against her ribs.

"Ahh… That was intense," she muttered, running a hand across her forehead to wipe away the sweat—only to smear warm blood across her face.

"Oh..." She stared blankly at her stained fingers before deadpanning. A quick use of Clean later, both her body and weapons were spotless once more, but her breathing remained labored. Her gaze flickered downward, settling on the lifeless wolf carcasses scattered below.

'I should travel through the trees from now on… Staying on the ground is way too dangerous,' she decided. However, her eyes landed on the arrows embedded in the corpses, and she hesitated. She couldn't afford to leave them behind. Her quiver wasn't bottomless, and every arrow counted.

Her emerald eyes scanned the surroundings warily, searching for any signs of other beasts. She remained completely still, perched in the treetops, waiting. A full minute passed. When nothing emerged from the shadows, she made her move.

With a swift descent, she landed near the fallen wolves, her muscles coiled and ready to spring away at the first sign of danger. In one fluid motion, she retrieved her bloodied arrows before leaping back into the branches.

Only when she was thirty meters above the ground did she finally stop, her breath coming out in slow, measured exhales. She peered down, watching the forest floor intently. Nothing pursued her. A quiet sigh of relief escaped her lips.

The encounter had rattled her more than she wanted to admit. The thought of stepping foot on solid ground again filled her with unease.

Remaining perched high in the tree, she decided to take a short break while using the carcasses below as bait to lure in any nearby beasts. The moose's body had already proven to be highly effective—even if it wasn't her goal at this time—so there was no reason the wolves' remains wouldn't serve the same purpose.

While waiting for beasts to show up, she chose to rest. She had been moving and hunting for nearly two hours, and although her body wasn't too fatigued and could still keep going, her aura reserves were starting to run low. They weren't at a critical level, but it would be safer to wait until they fully replenished. Just in case.

With that in mind, she sat down, letting her back press against the rough bark of the tree as she activated her meditation skill. Unlike Mikael's, hers didn't work in combat, accelerating regeneration even in combat, but it allowed her to meditate without needing full concentration. This made it particularly useful for accelerating energy regeneration while still remaining aware of her surroundings in a hostile environment like this. With her skill doubling her regeneration speed, she estimated that it would take about an hour and fifteen minutes for her aura reserves to be fully restored.

Even as she meditated, half of her mind was elsewhere, her thoughts drifting toward Mikael. She wondered how he was doing after her departure. Was he training, like he usually did—something she knew he enjoyed—or was he in another world, hunting just like her? She had no way of knowing, but as her thoughts settled on him, she felt a small smile form on her lips. Her mood lightened, and the lingering tension from her sudden fight with the wolf pack began to fade.

But once Mikael left her thoughts, they shifted to Lyra—the only friend she had left. 'My only friend still alive…' The thought was bitter, and before she could stop herself, her mind strayed further—to Aria. A sharp pain clenched at her heart, her chest tightening as her breath grew unsteady.

"Boom."

"AHHHH!"

"Don't eat me!"

"Run!"

The past slammed into her like a crushing wave, drowning out the present. Nexoria. The invasion. The screams. The blood. And above all, Shadow's final words.

"Go!"

The memory hit her like a hammer. She saw it again—Shadow standing firm, back turned toward her, unwavering as she held the line. A silent promise of sacrifice.

'No. No, not now—'

Her breathing grew erratic, shallow gasps struggling to fill her lungs. A suffocating weight pressed down on her chest as her vision blurred at the edges, dark spots creeping in.

"Thud."

Her back slammed against the tree as her legs gave out. Hands flew to her head, fingers digging into her scalp as if she could claw the memories away.

'Breathe. Breathe, dammit.'

She forced air into her lungs, each inhale jagged and uneven. Seconds stretched endlessly before, little by little, reality regained its hold over her.

When she finally looked at her hands, they were trembling. Her fingers twitched uncontrollably, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to ignore it. This wasn't the time to fall apart.

Closing her eyes, she focused on steadying herself, allowing meditation to pull her away from the ghosts of her past.

Only once her aura reserves were fully replenished did she rise to her feet, making a conscious effort not to overthink as she prepared to continue hunting and gaining levels.

And that was exactly what she did. For hours, she hunted 'Yellow' beasts without pause, using her elevated position in the trees and the range of her bow to snipe unsuspecting prey below. Each time she felled a beast, she left its carcass where it fell, knowing the scent of blood would attract predators—predators that she would then take down as well.

She repeated this cycle over and over. Eventually, the overwhelming stench of blood saturated the area, driving away any remaining creatures. But that wasn't an issue—she simply moved to another part of the forest and resumed her strategy, never allowing the lack of prey to slow her down.

Caution remained her priority. She kept her distance from every target, unwilling to repeat the mistake she had made with the wolf pack. Each time she climbed down from the trees, she did so with extreme care, ensuring she never left herself vulnerable.

Time passed, and her level skyrocketed. Every 'Yellow' beast she hunted granted over a hundred thousand experience points, rapidly propelling her forward. It didn't take long for her to max out one of her Tier 1 classes. The moment she did, she switched to another and repeated the process, squeezing every possible gain out of this opportunity.

Her stats soared. Within mere hours, her power had multiplied, and she placed a special emphasis on increasing her Spirit stat, fully aware that it played the greatest role in determining her overall combat strength.

Now, standing on a thick tree branch tens of meters above the ground, Amelia gazed northward. 'I should be strong enough to hunt 'Orange' beasts now…'

A quick glance at her stats confirmed her suspicions. They had increased several times over since she had first arrived in the Yellow Zone. If she pushed forward, the potential experience gain would be immense. Hunting in the Orange Zone would allow her to accelerate her growth at an even greater pace. After all, a single beast from the Yellow Zone provided twenty to thirty times more experience than one from the Green Zone, yet the difficulty of hunting them certainly wasn't twenty to thirty times higher.

With these thoughts swirling in her mind, her aura reserves now fully replenished from her brief meditation break, she watched as the sun crested the horizon. An entire day and night had passed—every moment spent either hunting or meditating. But now, with the dawn breaking and her body in peak condition, there was no better time to attempt her first hunt in the Orange Zone.

She set off immediately. Her speed was noticeably far greater than when she had first entered the Green Zone. Moving from tree to tree, she was nothing more than a blur, her rapid movements barely making a sound. The only reason she wasn't traveling even faster was that she deliberately held back—if she went too fast, she risked creating a sonic boom, something that would immediately alert every beast in the area to her presence.

Even at her current speed, it still took her nearly an hour to reach the border of the Orange Zone, a clear indication that the Yellow Zone was vastly larger than the Green Zone.

Just as she was about to step into the new territory, a notification from the party system flashed in the corner of her vision. A small smile graced her lips as she saw the sender—Mikael. He had returned from the Akashic Records Universe.

Earlier, while she had been hunting 'Yellow' beasts, she had joined a video call where he announced that he would be leaving to investigate something. Ever since then, a quiet sense of unease had settled in her chest. But now, seeing his message, the tension she hadn't even realized she was carrying finally melted away. He was safe.

Her fingers moved swiftly as she began typing a response, letting him know she would be back soon. But just as she was about to send it, her gaze flickered toward the Orange Zone before her. She hesitated.

'It would be a shame if I didn't at least step into the Orange Zone…'

She had made incredible progress during her time in this world, but deep down, she still craved a real challenge. Aside from the wolf pack ambush, none of her hunts had been truly difficult.

With a conflicted sigh, she deleted the message and retyped a new one, informing Mikael that she'd be there in an hour—she had something to take care of first. The moment she sent it, a small wave of guilt washed over her. She was making them wait just to satisfy her own desires… but it was too late to take it back now.

Pushing aside the lingering guilt, Amelia focused on the task ahead. She quickened her pace toward the Orange Zone, fully aware that her time was now limited. In one hour—hunt finished or not—she needed to be out of this world and back in the apartment.

Author Note:

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