The spider is about to kill Watson.
I slide as fast as I can under the spider.
Not even in my past life did I waste the opportunities I got.
Bang!
The spider's hemolymph and entrails bathe my body.
Stoker's bullet fractured my left hand and left it somewhat bruised, because I had little "fear" to infuse into my hand, but the important thing is that the spider was destroyed by the bullet.
Crash!
The spider's body falls to the ground.
[You have killed a 4-skull monster: +1.13]
"I thought I was going to have to use all my fear points, but thanks to Watson, it wasn't necessary," I think as I collapse on the ground.
"Take out what's left of the spider's core," I tell Watson, who comes to my aid.
"I had to shoot the area where the spider's core was to make sure I killed it. It's a shame, because fragments of a core are only worth a third of what an intact core is worth," I think as I try to stay conscious.
••••
"System?"
[Fear points available: 18.87]
As I am on the verge of unconsciousness, I hear wolves howling in the distance.
I curse, then tell the system to assign 15 points to the fear attribute and the rest to health.
What does it matter if I get less experience? If I live, I can kill up to a million zombies. Just kidding.
••••
Dan Helsing (Level 4) (Hunter)
Attributes:
Health: 4.9/38.87
Stamina: 9.1/31.1
Fear: 15.2/71.41
Intelligence: 12.7
Strength: 40.45
Agility: 51.52
Skills:
1. Tracking.
2. Stealth (blocked).
3. Fast arms.
4. Poison resistance (low level)
[Fear points available: 0]
•••
My left hand is fine. I grab "Stoker."
My right arm starts to regenerate. Watson watches in horror as the flesh on my right arm seems to be alive and rejoins itself, allowing my right arm to be attached to my body again. Even so, in the end, there is an ugly scar, and I can barely move my arm.
Watson, who had picked up "Scarlet Rose," hands it to me.
"You did well," I congratulate him.
I stand up. The howls sound close, but they come from different directions.
"Maybe they won't come closer. This forest doesn't only affect people," Watson says as he also looks into the dark, deep forest.
"Then how did the spider get to the village?" I ask as I walk over and sit on the huge spider's body.
"Its webs. It must have scattered webs until it found this place. The more powerful monsters are, the closer their instincts come to reason." That's Watson's answer.
"Damn, it's good to have a scholar around," I joke as I load two bullets into Scarlet Rose.
I don't load any more bullets because I need to manage my power of "fear."
I don't know what kind of situation will arise.
I put "Scarlet Rose" in its holster and continue wielding Stoker.
"Give me Ghost," I tell Watson.
He doesn't hesitate.
I load three bullets into Ghost. Each bullet from Watson's revolver costs me less fear than the bullets from "Scarlet Rose."
What's more, Watson showed guts at a time when any other man would have wet himself or defecated.
The cold night breeze blows, and sometimes strange sounds can be heard deep in the forest, yet we remain alert and on guard.
Although I feel tired, there is no time to sleep. Every strange sound in this forest could be a sudden, deadly threat.
Watson hands me a packet of cookies, but I have to refuse them. I can barely move my right arm, and I'm not going to let go of Stoker just to eat some cookies. It would be a ridiculous death.
The hours pass, and day breaks.
With only minutes to go before 11 a.m., Watson says to me:
"I want to help those women."
He doesn't seem uncertain as he speaks.
"Just this once, don't let it happen again. Kindness and excessive consideration can get you killed in a dangerous environment," I warn him, but I decide to support him.
He proved himself last night when he attacked the evil spider.
Sometimes I have to give in, so that he too can grow and be more useful.
Someone without self-esteem lacks courage in a harsh and dangerous world like this one.
In my previous world, it was the same, except that here the law of the strong is evident. Because when nightmares attack, only the strong can keep the rest of humanity alive.
Watson goes down into the tunnel, followed shortly after by the three women, who seem dazed after what they have been through.
All three are dressed in dirty rags, with scars and bruises on their bodies.
They look at me with caution and fear.
I'm not interested in winning their sympathy.
"What time is it?" I ask Watson.
"10:58 a.m.," he replies, looking at a wristwatch.
We wait two minutes that seem like an eternity. Almost two-thirds of my power of fear has returned.
The breeze blows, the sound of the river comes from different directions.
Suddenly, we hear the river, we smell it.
The safe hours have begun.
"Let's move forward," I say as I now wield "Scarlet Rose" while loading another bullet.
We all leave the village together without straying far.
An hour and a few minutes later, walking at a pace the three women could keep up with, we leave the forest.
The treeless exterior feels welcoming.
We have to hold out for almost four days. We have no need to enter the forest again; we have obtained a great haul.
I lie down and tell Watson to stand guard; I can barely stay awake.
••••
When I wake up, I see the sky in chiaroscuro. Watson has already made a fire, and the three women are huddled together, frightened, near the fire.
He is holding "Ghost" in one of his hands.
"It seems he has matured on this mission or punishment, whatever you want to call it, in the end it was almost the same," I think and stand up, stretching my somewhat sore muscles. Since I became a hunter and acquired the power of fear, I haven't felt this sore.
After stretching my muscles, I eat a packet of cookies and drink half a bottle of water.
"It's your turn. Rest," I say to Watson.
He looks at the three women.
"Don't worry. I'm a man of my word," I tell him.
Watson nods and then rests his head on his backpack, and within seconds he is asleep.
As I stand guard, night falls, and I hold "Scarlet Rose" in my left hand.
Sometimes I look at the forest, and I feel as if the forest is looking at me. Not a monster or several monsters, but the immense and imposing forest.
Faced with this feeling, I can't help but think that the forest is one of the fearsome "Nightmares" that threaten and terrify humans.
◇End of Volume 1◇