The forest was too quiet.
Rey walked along the narrow trail, his boots crunching against dried leaves, but he couldn't shake the sensation that something lurked just behind him. He stopped. The air itself felt heavy, as if the forest was holding its breath. Slowly, Rey turned his head.
At first, he saw nothing—only trees stretching upward like wooden spears. But then, he noticed it. Long claw marks, gouged deep into bark, five parallel lines scarred across the trunks. Even the nearby stones bore the same marks, as though something enormous had sharpened its claws here.
Rey's grip on his dagger tightened.
"…Five claws," he whispered to himself. "Same as the others… Could there be a monster that owns this territory?"
But he shook his head and forced his focus back to the task. He was here for a simple goblin extermination quest. Nothing more.
He pushed through bushes, searching for any trace of goblins, but what he found instead made his eyes widen.
The clearing was drenched in blood.
It splattered across the ground and trees, pooled dark and fresh. Scattered weapons lay abandoned—rusty clubs, broken daggers. Torn green ears and severed goblin fingers littered the dirt like discarded trash. The stench of iron and decay filled his nose, making him gag.
Rey crouched, dipping a finger into the blood. It was still warm.
"…Fresh."
Something—or someone—had slaughtered an entire goblin pack not long ago.
A trail of smeared crimson led deeper into the forest. Against his better judgment, Rey followed. Each step made his heart pound harder, every rustle of leaves behind him raising his paranoia. The trail ended at the mouth of a cave, its entrance yawning open like the maw of a beast.
Rey swallowed hard. His boots splashed into shallow puddles of blood as he stepped inside.
Deeper in, faint light flickered—torches burning weakly against the damp stone walls. Then he saw it.
At the center of the cavern stood a throne. A throne made of skulls. Bones, cracked and splintered, stacked together and held in place with dried blood. The seat itself dripped red as though it were alive.
And there, beside it, a golden crown glimmered faintly in the torchlight.
Rey froze, his dagger raised. His eyes darted across the cave walls. More claw marks. Five again, carved so deeply into stone it looked like butter. Weapons lay abandoned around the throne—goblin clubs, daggers, crude spears—all broken, bloodstained.
"…This quest," Rey muttered under his breath. "It wasn't failed. Someone… or something… already killed them before I got here."
Chills crept down his spine. He turned on his heel, forcing himself out of the cave. Yet even when he stepped back beneath the sun, the unease clung to him. Something else was in this forest. Something stronger than goblins.
The morning light was almost blinding as he emerged, closing his eyes for just a moment.
That was when the bush behind him shook.
Rey whipped his dagger up. The forest went silent. No wind. No birds. No sound at all.
Then it stepped out.
A beast cloaked in midnight fur.
Its very presence seemed to devour the world's sound, the trees bowing away as though unwilling to touch it. Its claws gleamed like blades of obsidian, each one long enough to gut a man in a single swipe. From its forehead jutted a single horn, wickedly sharp, centered by a patch of brown fur scored into a perfect 'X'.
Its eyes were fire. Twin embers of red rage, ancient and merciless.
The bear roared.
A number flared on its palm.
25,000.
Rey's breath caught in his throat. That wasn't just high—it was monstrous.
The beast lunged. Its claw split the nearest tree in half with one swipe. Rey rolled aside, leaves exploding into the air. His dagger barely scratched its fur, bouncing off like steel against stone.
The bear slammed its shoulder into him. Pain exploded across his ribs as Rey's body was hurled into a tree, bark splintering beneath the impact. He coughed blood, clutching his chest.
"Dammit… This is supposed to be an E-rank quest!"
The beast roared again, charging. This time its horn struck a boulder, cracking stone as though it were clay. Rey darted forward, stabbing into its shoulder, but the beast thrashed, smashing him off against another tree.
Particles of white light began swirling around the monster. Its speed doubled. Rey's eyes widened as he was slammed again into the dirt, coughing blood into the soil.
The bear loomed over him, claws raised to finish the job.
He blocked with his dagger—only for the blade to snap in two. One claw raked across his chest, tearing even through his iron armor. Hot blood soaked his shirt as agony flared down his torso.
The beast's maw opened wide.
And then—
Rey's chest burned.
The mark. The ∞ symbol carved into his soul glowed fiercely. Numbers flickered above the bear's palm.
25,000… 23,777… 19,000…
The beast faltered, confusion flashing across its burning eyes. Rey clenched his fist and swung. His punch slammed into its jaw, staggering it backward. The number dropped again—this time to 9,000.
Rey staggered to his feet, his chest bleeding, his vision blurry. But his legs refused to give out.
"I know that move," he rasped. "That won't work twice."
The bear vanished in a blur, reappearing behind him. Rey ducked instinctively, feeling its claws whistle over his head. It was slowing down. He could sense it.
His eyes darted to the ground—two crude wooden clubs, left behind by the goblins. He snatched them both, gripping one in each hand.
The beast lunged. Rey shoved one club into its mouth, its fangs crunching into the wood. With the other, he swung down with all his strength.
CRACK.
The beast groaned, stumbling.
Rey didn't stop. He smashed again and again—its legs, its shoulders, its skull. Each strike was accompanied by a spray of blood, each blow pushing the beast closer to collapse.
With a final roar, Rey spun, driving the club upward in a brutal uppercut.
The bear's head snapped back. Blood spewed from its jaws. Its body toppled to the ground, breathing ragged and shallow.
But Rey didn't hesitate. He raised both clubs and brought them down again and again until bone shattered. Its horn snapped clean off. The beast twitched once, then lay still.
The number above its palm drained to 0.
And then the ground split.
Dark hands, black as tar, reached up from a swirling abyss beneath the corpse. They dragged the beast's body downward, swallowing it whole. Within moments, nothing remained.
Only its broken horn lay on the ground.
Rey stood trembling, drenched in blood—his and the monster's. He bent down, picked up the horn, and clenched it tightly.
"…This could be useful," he muttered.
His chest throbbed with pain, his armor cracked, his vision swimming. But he forced himself to move. Step by step, back toward Iwata Village.
He had survived. But the forest was no longer the same.
And Rey knew—something had changed in him too.