Akira didn't move for a full second. He kept staring at the top of the hill, at the exact spot where that figure had been standing a moment ago. But nothing was left there. Only the grass swaying quietly with the wind, and a light mist creeping between the rocks. He clenched his jaw tightly. No. He wasn't hallucinating. Someone was watching him. And he was certain of it. A cold breeze swept across the field, sending a shiver down his neck. Then he quickly turned toward the forest stretching out before him. It was dense. Dark. And entirely too silent. But beyond it... lay the nation of Tempest. Or at least, that's what his intuition told him. If he stayed out here in the open, he was an easy target. But inside the forest, he might at least have a chance to hide... or to reach Tempest before whatever was watching him caught up. He swallowed hard. Then said to himself in a low voice: — "Damn it... no time to think." And he took off. Akira dashed toward the forest as fast as he could, his feet pounding violently against the damp earth. He quickly entered the thick trees, dry branches scratching his arms and face as he forged his way through the shadows. He was panting. His heart pounding heavily. And the thoughts in his head colliding mercilessly. I am in another world. Someone is watching me. And I don't even know exactly where I am. He gritted his teeth and kept running. The darkness beneath the trees was denser, and the air here was heavier. Even the sounds seemed strange. A faint creak. Movement among the leaves. Something moving in the distance... then suddenly falling silent. — "This place is bad..." He whispered as he continued to run, but he barely finished the sentence when— Smack! His body collided with something soft and hard all at once, and he was thrown violently backward. — "Argh!" He snapped his head up, then froze. Something was standing in front of him. A creature with a roughly humanoid shape... but unnaturally broad and bloated. Its skin was a dark, grayish-green, stretched taut over twisted, grotesquely swollen muscles. Its eyes were small, but there was something filthy and feral in them. Its mouth, full of crooked fangs, dripped with saliva, and in its hand was a massive wooden club stained with dark spots that Akira didn't even want to guess the nature of. But before he could fully process the scene— a faint flash appeared before his right eye. Then, a small transparent panel formed.
[Target Analysis] Feral Goblin Level: 56
Akira's mind stopped working for a second. — "...Fifty-six?!" His eyes widened. — "You've got to be kidding me, right?!" The feral goblin snarled with a raspy voice, then swung its massive club directly at his head. — "Damn it!" Akira rolled to the side at the very last moment, and the club struck the ground violently. Boom! Soil and small pebbles scattered into the air. Akira's face instantly went pale. — "If that had hit me..." He didn't finish. Because if it actually had hit him, there wouldn't be much left of him to speak of. He scrambled to his feet quickly, taking two steps back. The feral goblin slowly turned its body toward him, then crouched slightly as if preparing to pounce. Akira breathed rapidly. Think. Think! No weapon. No experience. Nothing. He was just... a young man playing video games a few minutes ago. But before he could retreat any further— he felt something strange pulsing inside his chest. Then... A beat. A single pulse. Deep. Heavy. As if something sleeping within him had finally opened its eye.
[Alert] Activated: Survival Pulse
And in a single moment... everything changed. His senses sharpened drastically. The sound of the goblin's breathing became clearer. The vibration of its grip on the club became visible. Even the movement of the air around him... he could feel it. His eyes widened in shock. — "What is this...?" He felt something spreading through his body. Not heat. But power. A violent power, raw, but real. His body became lighter. His mind faster. The fear didn't disappear... but it no longer paralyzed him. Instead, it drove him. The goblin lunged at him with a raspy roar, raising its club above its head. But this time... he saw it. Clearly. The strike. The angle. The trajectory. Akira moved aside with sharp speed. Whoosh! The club passed by him by a narrow margin. And in that same moment, his body moved on its own. He clenched his fist, then drove a powerful strike into the monster's stomach. Boom! Akira's eyes widened. No... the goblin's eyes widened too. The massive creature staggered backward two full steps. — "Huh?!" Akira stared at his fist in disbelief. — "I... I did that?!" The feral goblin snarled in anger, and attacked again with greater ferocity. But something inside Akira had awakened. All the fear. All the pain. All that emptiness that had been stuck in his chest since his mother's death... began to stir. It was as if the system hadn't just given him power. It had given his pain a form. This time, Akira lunged forward himself. Under the pressure of the moment, a strange flash broke loose from within him. Something transparent, sharp, like a faded shard of light.
[Activated: Soul Fragments]
The shard pierced the goblin's face for a moment, and its entire body shuddered, stumbling back as if it had lost its balance. — "Now!" Akira pushed forward with everything he had. He pivoted his body, then delivered a full-force blow to the creature's neck. Crack! The sound of the impact echoed through the trees. Then the goblin staggered. One step. Then another. And finally crashed to the ground like a dead tree trunk. Thud! Silence fell. Akira remained standing in place, panting heavily, his eyes fixed on the massive corpse before him. A second passed. Then another. Then he said in a near-hoarse voice: — "...I killed it?" As if he couldn't believe it. No, he truly didn't believe it. Minutes ago, he was just an ordinary guy from Japan. And now... he had killed a Level 56 monster with his bare hands. Then the flash appeared before him again.
[Target eliminated] Feral Goblin – Level 56 [Gaining Experience...] [Raising Basic Stats...] [Strength +2] [Speed +3] [Endurance +2] [Perception +1]
Akira's eyes widened even further. — "This is... insane." His voice was filled with pure astonishment. He raised his hands slowly in front of him, then clenched his fingers. Yes... He could feel it. Something had truly changed. Something in his body had become stronger. Sharper. Faster. Even his breathing seemed steadier. But— In the very next moment... everything inside him froze. He felt it instantly. A presence. Strong. Heavy. Terrifying. Right behind him. His muscles tensed all at once, and he instinctively leaped backward as far as he could. He landed on the ground, panting, then snapped his head up— And there was a figure. Standing among the trees. This time... closer. Clearer. But its mere presence was enough to make the air around Akira suffocatingly heavy. Akira gritted his teeth, his heart pounding more violently than before.