"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"
I could barely hear myself over the chaos behind me as I ran harder than I thought was possible.
Red Lightning crackled around me as my boots tore through the dirt while the wind ripped against my face.
The forest behind me was screaming.
Hundreds of shrill screeches merged into something that didn't sound like living things anymore.
Goblins.
At least five hundred of them. Maybe more.
Every branch, every rock, every inch of the ground behind me was alive with them climbing, clawing, howling, and shrieking.
And me?
I was running for my life.
[How the hell are they able to keep up!?]
I glanced back once. Big mistake.
They were everywhere. Pouring between trees, swinging from branches, crawling over each other like a flood of arms and teeth.
The ones in front were half-trampled by the ones behind.
One leapt from a branch above and almost landed on me.
I ducked under it, heard claws swipe at my back, felt fabric tear just below my shoulder.
"Too damn close!"
A rock came flying past my face, close enough to make my hair flutter.
I stumbled, caught myself somehow, and kept running.
Precognition kept me one heartbeat ahead. Just one.
Just enough to survive… not enough to relax.
I twisted around a tree as a dozen stones whistled past, splintering bark where my head had been.
Every second, the forest roared louder.
My body was burning, lungs clawing for air, mana draining fast.
But slowing down wasn't an option.
Behind me, the swarm broke through the undergrowth like a living wave.
Some slammed into trees, others tripped and got crushed under their own kind, but the rest didn't stop.
They didn't even care if the ones ahead died. They just kept coming.
The sound of it…
All those bare feet hitting dirt, the shrieks, the snapping branches… all resounded like eldritch thunder.
I could feel them getting closer.
I jumped over a log, and hit the ground running, then twisted my body left as one almost grabbed me by the shirt.
My spear's tip scraped the ground as I spun and slammed it's blade into the chest of the one too close for comfort
- CRACK!
Red lightning exploded through its body before it dropped twitching, smoke rising off its skin.
But it didn't matter.
Ten more took its place.
"Okay… okay, plan B," I panted, scanning ahead for anything that might help me lose the trail.
But there was nowhere to go. Just trees. And then some more trees.
And behind me surged hell itself.
And I could feel it… my MP was about to run dry.
"Shit…" I hissed under my breath as another rock flew past my head.
And right there, mid-panic, mid-sprint, I pulled the shop open.
Screen blinked alive in front of me, the list jerking with every stride.
And with a single search, I found it.
{ Grade 9 Mana Potion.
100 MP recovered.
Price: 100 Credits.}
"What the hell… why does this cost so much!?"
Didn't matter.
If I ran out of mana, I'd die before the system even finished saying 'Status Critical'.
I mentally slammed the purchase button.
-Ding!
{Purchase Complete}
A bottle flickered into my inventory, which I pulled out instantly, and a burst of blue sparkles lit the air before I grabbed it, almost dropping it as I ran for my life.
"Come on, come on, come on!" I muttered, fumbling with the cork while dodging another stone.
One grazed my shoulder, another hit the dirt beside me, nearly tripping me, before finally yanking it open and chugging half.
The liquid burned cold going down, like swallowing ice wrapped in lightning.
And the next beat, I could feel the mana flooding back, filling me like a breath after drowning.
"Perfect… Half was enough." I exhaled, wiping my mouth.
MP full.
Body alive.
Brain? Still panicking.
But something clicked inside me.
Running wasn't going to solve this.
They were too many, too fast, and I will once again burn through my MP pool in less than half a minute.
If I wanted to live… like really live, I'd have to stop running.
And if I wanted to bring Mom back, insanity must become my default setting.
Besides…
I glanced back.
Five hundred goblins.
All Tier 1 early stage, each worth 100 EXP.
That's a whole lot of EXP.
If I could kill even half of them… that's still 25,000 EXP.
My hand tightened around the spear.
I don't have the luxury to take it slow.
I need to get stronger, faster, right now.
And if that means becoming the biggest monster in this monster-infested forest…
Then so be it.
A small laugh escaped me, sharp, cracked, and maybe a little insane.
"Alright then…" I whispered, feeling the red lightning extending to the spear.
I stopped.
Boots dug into the dirt as I skidded, even though every ounce of instinct screamed at me to keep running.
The forest behind me was a wall of sound, branches snapping, bodies crashing.
And I turned around.
The horde was already there.
Hundreds of shapes tore through the trees, eyes glowing, mouths snapping open and closing.
"Fortune favours the bold, they say…" I grinned, the fear and thrill twisting together till I couldn't tell the difference, while lightning cracked across my skin as I raised the spear and dashed straight at them.