Running through the Whispering Vales at night wasn't like a brisk jog to catch a train. It was like trying to navigate a maze of malicious code blindfolded.
With every step, twisted roots tried to trip me, and thorny branches tore at my already ruined tunic. I was relying entirely on the pulsating red dot on the translucent map floating in the corner of my vision.
Awooo...
The sound was closer this time. It pierced the freezing forest air and made the blood freeze in my veins. They were tracking me. The black monster blood soaking my clothes was acting like a giant, neon tracking beacon.
Suddenly, a small green bar materialized in my peripheral vision—a UI element I hadn't noticed before. It was shrinking with alarming speed.
[System Alert: Stamina depleting rapidly. Current Level: 12%]
My new body in this world wasn't built for a marathon. The green bar turned a sickly yellow, then began flashing a warning, obnoxious red. My lungs burned as if I was inhaling crushed glass, and my vision started to blur at the edges.
If that bar hit zero, I knew exactly what would happen. I would collapse, and I'd be an easy meal for those demonic wolves.
"Not yet... I'm not letting a fatal system error take me out now," I rasped, forcing my muscles to keep moving despite the frantic error messages my brain was sending.
The dense trees suddenly broke, and I found myself standing on the edge of a massive, dark gorge. I couldn't see the bottom, but I could hear the roar of violent water crashing against rocks far below. The only way across was an ancient suspension bridge made of fraying ropes and rotting wooden planks. It swayed violently in the freezing wind.
I looked over my shoulder. Emerging from the shadows of the trees were three pairs of flaming blue eyes. They had caught up.
There was no time to think or calculate probabilities. I sprinted toward the bridge. The moment my foot hit the first plank, the wood shrieked beneath me, sounding like it was about to snap in half.
Driven by pure instinct, I activated my passive skill. Source Code Vision.
The world shifted. The rickety bridge was no longer just wood and rope; it transformed into a wireframe of glowing geometric lines. Several planks glowed a blinding, warning red, tagged with a floating text box: (Structural Integrity Compromised - 95% Chance of Collapse). Others glowed a faint, stable green.
I began leaping from green plank to green plank, completely ignoring the red ones. I was playing a deadly game of hopscotch where one wrong input meant a literal Game Over screen.
Behind me, claws scraped harshly against stone. The first wolf leaped onto the bridge. Its massive weight caused the entire structure to tilt violently. I gripped the side ropes, my knuckles turning white, as my Stamina bar screamed at me. 3%.
"Move!"
I bounded across the last three stable planks and collapsed hard onto the solid earth on the other side. I immediately spun around and summoned the Rusted Iron Dagger from my inventory. It materialized in my hand instantly.
The largest wolf was halfway across the bridge, preparing to leap the rest of the distance, its jaws dripping with glowing saliva.
But I didn't aim for the beast. I looked at the main anchor ropes securing the bridge to my side of the cliff. Through my Source Code Vision, the tension points on the ancient ropes were glowing a furious, critical red. A structural weakness.
I raised the dagger and, with every last ounce of strength I had left, slashed at the right anchor rope.
Rusted iron met rotting fiber. The first rope snapped with a deafening crack, causing the bridge to lurch violently to the side. The wolf let out a terrified yelp, its claws scrambling uselessly against the splintering wood as it lost its footing.
One more desperate slash at the left rope.
The bridge gave way completely. The massive wooden structure, along with the howling, flaming wolves, plummeted into the dark abyss below.
I fell flat on my back, gasping for air, as the monstrous howls faded into the roar of the river below.
[System Alert: Threat successfully evaded.] [Tactical Survival Bonus: +50 EXP.] [Stamina depleted. Entering slow recovery mode.]
I dismissed the blue window and swallowed hard, my throat feeling like sandpaper. I slowly pushed myself up and looked ahead. Just a few hundred yards away, nestled between snow-capped peaks, warm torchlight danced in the darkness. I could see high wooden walls and a sturdy stone watchtower.
[New Area Discovered: Silverpeak Outpost] [Status: Safe Zone]
I let out a weak, exhausted laugh. Despite the agonizing pain in every muscle, I felt like I had just successfully deployed the hardest patch of my life. I had finally reached a save point.