The windy air of the night was soothing to my soul, and the twin silver lights of the moon looked peculiarly tantalising to the eyes.
I couldn't help but take a deep breath, inhaling the fresh scent of the forest.
Before me lay the graveyard where I had buried the human body, and beyond it were the mangled remains of the three imps I had just slain.
And me?
I was sprawled on the ground, staring ahead with an expressionless face, my mind set on a goal I had just forged, one I would follow for the sake of my survival.
In the midst of all of this, my stomach growled.
I touched my stomach and winced. "I'm hungry." You know that feeling when you could devour an entire bucket of fried chicken or fifteen tacos? Yeah, that was exactly what I was feeling right now.
'Hey, Sophi, is the cooldown for the skill combine done?'
[Nope, host. It'll still take some time.]
'Then scan everything I see and notify me if you find any food.' I whined, slowly wandering through the forest in search of something edible.
[Alright, host], Sophi replied again in her mechanical tone.
Every passing second, my hunger seemed to grow worse, my stomach rumbling like a starving beast.
I searched for quite some time, yet found nothing remotely edible.
At last, after nearly an hour of scavenging, I stumbled upon a strange yellow apple and bit into it without hesitation.
The taste was awful, like chewing on a piece of stale bread. Still, it was food, and that was all that mattered.
Bit by bit, the gnawing hunger eased, and a touch of clarity returned to my eyes.
That's when I heard the wind whistling behind me.
Instinctively, I turned, catching a glimpse from the corner of my eye, an arrow, slicing through the air, aimed straight at me.
"Shit." I shouldn't have been able to react in that tiny sliver of time, but somehow, I did. My hand shot out instinctively, and I caught the arrow with my bare arm.
Then came a familiar sound, low, guttural growls that made my skin prickle.
Even though the night's darkness cloaked the forest, I knew exactly what I was hearing. The Yellow Imps. The same ones I'd encountered before.
In the shadows of the trees, their presence seeped forward like predators closing in on prey. They were here to hunt me.
'How many are there, Sophi?'
[Replying to host: approximately sixty-nine imps.]
"Shit," I muttered again under my breath.
A rustle came from behind. I spun around instantly and drove my fist backward.
My fist slammed into a tree, the trunk shuddering from the force. I froze.
Before I could react, something stabbed into my back but my hardened muscles stopped the blow. The tip barely pierced my strong skin before it was halted.
I spun on instinct and drove my fist into the Imp before it could move. The blow launched it through the air, slamming it into a distant tree. Its body went limp right after.
But the darkness was against me. In the shadows of the trees, I was exposed and vulnerable while they were hidden.
I could feel them. Dozens of gazes boring into me from every direction. They have completely encircled me.
'Determine all of them, Sophi.' I gritted my teeth, knowing it was going to be a long night.
[Okay, host.]
The fight raged on. I punched through every Imp that lunged at me, their bodies caved with each blow. Whatever they stabbed me with barely scratched me; even when several attacked at once, they couldn't inflict real harm.
But still… The exhaustion was creeping in. My breathing grew heavier, my limbs felt heavier to move.
'Damn it… I've lost too much blood.'
'How many are still left?' I asked [Sophi].
[There are still twenty more Imps.]
I collapsed to my knees, panting heavily. Around me lay the corpses of the Imps I'd just slain.
The last twenty still lingered in the shadows, waiting patiently. And now seeing my state, they saw their chance.
Ten of them rushed in, daggers ready to strike.
I lifted my head, the corners of my lips curling upward: "They fell for it."
Bang!
In moments, they were down. The remaining ten hesitated, then began to retreat into the darkness.
My body was spent, but relief washed over me.
"At least I survived," I muttered.
My guard was down and my body at its most vulnerable moment.
That's when everything went wrong, something tore into me from my back, ripping through flesh and driving deep.
I looked down in disbelief. A scimitar had pierced clean through my chest, my own blood dripping down its blade in slow, heavy drops.
From the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a creature like the Yellow Imps, but larger, stronger, its muscular frame gripping a curved scimitar.
With a sudden snarl, it kicked me square in the back. The impact hurled me through the air, my body skidding and bouncing across the ground three times before finally stopping.
My mind felt blank and filled with confusion, 'Shouldn't Sophi have detected it if it had been sneaking up on me?'
The answer came almost immediately, as Sophi finished analyzing the massive Yellow Imp standing before me.
[Name: Nameless
Race: Medium Imp
Level: 13
Class: Assassin
Health: 100
Strength: 8
Defense: 8
Stamina: 8
Dexterity: 8
Physique: 8
Speed: 8
Skill:
'Medium Imps?' Before I could even make out my thoughts, the Medium Imp grinned and ran towards me. While I could barely muster any resistance, my body exhausted, I knew one thing this monster was an intelligent one.
It waited until I was vulnerable to attack while sending its subordinate.
So, I ate the purple berry and hurriedly rolled back to dodge the scimitar slash from the Imp. Standing back up, I felt a jolt of electric impulse throughout my body.
"This power is amazing," I mumbled as I looked at the descending slash from the scimitar with calmness, even though it should have been impossible to dodge and the Medium Imps grin couldn't be contained.
But at the last moment, I extended my hand and caught the scimitar with my bare arm.
The Medium Imp snickered and tried to yank it free, but I locked my fingers tightly around the blade, refusing to let go. Realization flickered in its eyes, followed by a flash of fear.
"What's wrong? Scared already?" I chuckled darkly as I raised my fist and drove it forward.
My punch landed brutally, sending the Medium Imp crashing to the ground. I exhaled sharply, prying the scimitar loose with difficulty.
With the weapon in hand, I finally felt a shred of safety. With this, I should be able to finish it off.
But life was a bitch.
An arrow suddenly buried itself into the same wound the scimitar had carved earlier…