The bald man reaches down. He grabs me by my neck and my stolen clothes, lifting me into the air like I weigh nothing.
He slowly uses his thick nails to scratch and pierce the skin of my neck. Blood starts to trickle down.
I need him to drop me.
I still have the handful of dirt I grabbed when I was on the ground. I throw it directly into his eyes.
"Argh!"
He drops me immediately to rub his eyes.
Taking advantage of his blindness, I gather all my remaining power. I drive my knee upward, straight into his groin.
SFX - THUD
He drops his sword. He clutches himself with one hand while continuing to rub his eyes with the other, groaning in pain.
I don't hesitate. I grab his dropped sword.
It's heavy. The blade is duller than I expected. I have no practice.
I swing it with everything I have, aiming for his stomach.
SFX - SHHLUNK
The blade bites into him, but it doesn't go through. It gets stuck—deep enough to hurt, but not deep enough to kill him quickly.
Feeling the steel in his gut, he roars. He starts swinging his arms wildly, trying to hit me even though he can't see.
I let go of the sword and drop back to avoid his flailing limbs.
I snatch up my spear from the ground. I see a gap in his defense.
I lunge. I drive the spear tip directly into his neck.
SFX - SPLORTCH
Blood sprays from his neck rapidly, coating me in red. He drops to his knees, gurgles, and falls face-first into the dirt.
Dead.
I look at the wound. The inside of his neck is visible. Something that looks like his liver? or some other organ basically plops out onto the ground.
My stomach lurches. I almost vomit.
I slam my hand over my mouth and hum loudly to suppress the gag reflex. Mmm-mmm-mmm. I can't waste precious energy throwing up again.
I rest nearby for a moment, waiting for my heart rate to slow down. I try to think of what to do next.
After a few minutes, I get up. I try to move his body.
I push him. He barely budges. Unlike the lean man, this guy's weight is basically twice mine.
After struggling for a while, I manage to shove his body into the bushes.
I start to loot him, but I stop. I need to deal with the evidence first.
I go back to the spot where he died. The dirt is soaked in an immense amount of blood.
I make some rounds, cutting bushes and picking leaves from the side of the path. I throw them over the red dirt to cover it.
As I work, I hear a sound.
SFX - TWEET-TWEET
A distant whistle.
I freeze. I focus on the sound.
The whistling gets louder. And with it, footsteps. Coming from the same direction the bald man came from.
I quickly jump into the brush to hide. I wait as the person gets closer.
SFX - CRUNCH... CRUNCH...
What's that weird smell?
I sniff the air. I look over to the dead body in the bushes. He has defecated on himself.
Oh, that's what it is—no, I do not have time to get distracted.
I force my eyes back to the path. I keep my guard up.
I see the old man from the campsite. He emerges from the dark forest, whistling a tune, not caring about anything going on around him.
He keeps walking straight. He almost walks right over the patch of bloodied dirt I tried to cover.
But unluckily, he drops his pouch. It lands directly on top of the leaves.
As he bends to pick it up, he pauses. He sees the dark red color seeping through the dirt. He swipes his hand, moving the leaves aside.
He picks up a pinch of the dirt and inspects it.
I see my chance.
I pull out the small throwing knife I took from the lean man. I throw it at him.
SFX - SWISH
But unluckily, my aim is off. The knife follows a trajectory that looks like it will miss his head by a few inches.
I blink.
When I open my eyes, the old man is lying on the floor, bleeding. The knife is buried in him.
Did he move his head to the left?
I step out of the bushes and start making my way to the body.
Unlucky guy, I think. He moved right into it.
I reach him and go to pick him up.
"Yeah, he is too heavy," I say. I change the plan. I'll just drag him away.
SFX - DRRRAAGG
As I start to drag him, I hear a strange shooting noise.
SFX - THWIP
Before I can even react, I feel immense pain in my right hand.
An arrow has pierced through it.
It was the sound of a crossbow firing.
"Aaaaaahhhh!" I scream. It is the most pain I have ever felt since landing in this world.
I instinctively drop the body and clutch my right hand with my left.
Through blurry, tear-filled eyes, I look at where the shot came from.
The old man is standing at the edge of the woods, right where he just came from. He has a crossbow in his hand and a smirk on his face.
Wait. If he is standing there... then who am I dragging?