Gideon sat at the mouth of the cave, his eyes scanning the forest below. From here, the land sloped downward, the trees thickening the farther his gaze traveled. The cave itself seemed to be set into the side of a mountain. Sparse growth clung to the rocks nearby, but the real forest began only once the ground leveled out farther down. That was where he would have to go. He had supplies for now, but not enough. The dried meat from the bag was finite, and the water from the skin wouldn’t last forever. He would need a source of both if he wanted to survive. A plan. That was the first step.

  He took a steadying breath and rose to his feet. The barrier shimmered faintly across the cave’s entrance as he stepped forward. When he crossed the threshold, it fizzled out of existence with a sharp crackle of blue light. Gone.

  He froze, staring at the empty air. That was it, then. No retreat, no safe haven to crawl back to. The cave might still serve as shelter, but without its barrier it was no safer than any hollow tree or ditch in the forest. "Figures that the System wouldn't give me a safe place to camp out" Gideon muttered to himself. He clenched his jaw and forced himself to move on. No time to waste.

  The descent was rough. Loose stones slid under his feet as he picked his way down the slope, through thickets that scratched at his legs. He still needed to get used to his new body, as occasionally he would stumble due to his legs being shorter than his brain told him they were. It would come with time, of course. More than once, he had to stop, crouch, and use his skill to move quietly when a rustle in the brush or some other unseen noise nearby set his nerves on edge. The skill guided him almost instinctively: placing his feet where they made the least noise, crouching in just the right way to minimize his profile. It wasn’t foolproof, but it was better than nothing.

  After a slow and careful descent, he finally reached the forest floor proper. The canopy swallowed the sky. The air felt heavier here, damp with the scent of earth and moss. He listened to the forest, his nerves stretched taut. "Probably safer here than exposed on the mountain" Gideon said out loud as he stared forward at the dark tree line. "Plenty of places to hide in here, I bet."

  Two days passed as Gideon made his way through the forest, exploring and acclimating to his new body at the same time. He moved slowly and cautiously, following animal trails, doubling back often, always watching for threats. "Safety over speed, at least for now" he muttered. He climbed a towering pine once, hoping for some sign of civilization. Unfortunately for him, he saw nothing but an endless sea of treetops and, far behind him, the mountain he had left. No roads. No villages. No smoke. Just forest. "Sheesh, just how big is this forest?" Gideon wondered aloud as he scanned the area all around him from the treetop. Disappointed, he made his way back down and continued moving. Gideon had made finding water his first priority, and eventually he found it, in the form of a narrow creek winding through the undergrowth. He rushed forward, and drank deeply, its water cold and clear. Relief loosened something in his chest. Water meant survival, at least for now. He filled his waterskin as he considered his next move. He quickly decided to linger near it, even as he pushed outward in short loops to scout. No reason for him to move away from the first source of clean fresh water he had found, after all.

  However, not everything he found in this forest reassured him. Once, he was forced to scramble up a nearby tree, clinging to its branches as a pack of wolves loped along the creek bed below. They padded by silently, their lean bodies moving with effortless grace. His heart hammered in his throat as he remained motionless, his body pressed as hard as he could manage into the tree trunk. Only when they disappeared into the distance did he dare to move again. This was a stark reminder for Gideon that he was by no means high up on the food chain here. Food was another problem. By this point, the dried meat the System has provided was nearly gone. His stomach growled frequently now, a sharp reminder that he couldn’t delay. He needed to hunt something and eat to survive.

  He began to prioritize finding food more urgently, and eventually found a small rabbit by the creek on the morning of the third day. It nibbled at the grass, ears flicking as it twitched its nose. Gideon crouched low in a nearby brush, every muscle tight. “Alright,” he muttered, keeping his voice as low as he could. “Time to see if I can make this work.” He activated

  

  

  Gideon grinned. A weak creature. Killable, if he could manage to hit it. Rabbits were fast and slippery things. Luckily for him he had the element of surprise. He picked up a nearby pebble and tried casting

  

  

  Gideon grinned at that. "Thanks, System. Could have been useful before I hacked this damn thing apart, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers." He stared down at the butchery he had just completed. "That will be definitely be useful in the future" Gideon mused. Now it was time for him to figure out how to make a small fire and cook the small amount of meat the rabbit provided. He thought back to a survival fantasy book he had read in his youth. He remembered vaguely what the protagonist had done when he needed to create a fire. Gideon spent a few minutes searching around the area, and gathered dry sticks, some moss, and some leaves. He stacked the sticks carefully, and made a small pile of moss and leaves within the stack. He found a rough stone and struck his dagger against it until sparks flew. He smiled to himself and kept striking the stone, flinging small sparks at the small pile of tinder he had created until it finally caught. Smoke curled, then a small flame. He cheered, then slowly kept feeding the fire until it was steady, and big enough to cook meat on. He skewered the meat on sticks he had sharpened with his dagger, and held the chunks over the flames. As he finished cooking the meat, a second soft chime echoed in his head, and another notification gently pulsed in the corner of his vision. He immediately opened it.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  

  

  "I wonder how many specific things this System has Skills for" Gideon mused as he read the description. "Probably one for everything from Woodcutting to Blacksmithing. In any case, this one will come in handy as well. Thanks System. Things are looking up." Gideon grinned and sat down on the ground, taking a quick bite of the rabbit he'd just cooked. It tasted gamey, and he'd burned it slightly in the fire. But he ate every scrap of meat he could cook. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever eaten. Gideon sat in front of the fire, basking in his successful hunt and the feeling of a full belly for the first time since he'd woken up in this strange new world.

  The fox struck him from behind without warning. It leapt onto his back, claws raking down in bloody lines that tore through flesh and cloth alike. Gideon screamed and staggered forward, crashing into the dirt. It bit into his shoulder, and snarled, snapping at his neck. He raised his arm, and its razor sharp teeth sank into his forearm, hot pain exploding through him. He reached up and yanked the fox off of him, throwing it down to the ground as hard as he could manage. The impact with the ground stunned the fox enough for it to release Gideons arm from its jaw. He grabbed a fistful of small rocks off the ground and tried to cast a spell, tried to focus on

  Gideon somehow managed to shove it aside, gasping, his own blood mixing with the fox’s as it soaked into his tunic. The sound of the struggle echoed in his head. Too loud. Too much noise. Something definitely heard the commotion, and was likely already coming to investigate. He had little time. If he stayed here he was going to end up the second course for whatever showed up first. He staggered to his feet and stumbled over to the creek, falling frantically into the cold water, then righting himself. He began scrubbing at himself with shaking hands. Blood swirled around him in dark clouds, although he could not say if it was his or the foxes. Most likely both. He hurriedly finished scrubbing the blood off his arms and chest, deciding he did not have enough time for a proper wash. He prayed silently that his efforts would at least break the scent trail.

  He gritted his teeth, ran back over to where he had been sitting, grabbed his bag and waterskin, and quickly began to move, leaving the scene behind. He activated

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Gideon stared at the Resource Pools section. Only 4 Health. He was also incredibly low on Mana and Stamina. He'd been lucky to escape with his life. He blinked as he slowly read through the rest of the Status page. Fourteen percent of the way to Level 2. He had nearly died, and was in horrible pain, but the silver lining was that the experience had pushed him closer to the next level. He knew it beforehand, but this just confirmed it. If he was going to survive, no, if he was going to thrive in this world, his path forward was going to have to be drenched in blood.

  He watched as his Health crawled upward in agonizing increments as the hours passed. Seven. Ten. Twelve. At fifteen Health, the bleeding from his back stopped. The bite mark on his hand scabbed over. His back still burned, but it dulled from agony to ache. By nineteen, he could move without tearing open the wounds again. He breathed a shuddering sigh of relief. He had survived. For now.

  The breakdown hit him like a wave. Gideon curled into a ball, and his chest heaved as the sobs ripped free, his tears hot against the dirt beneath him. All the bravado, all the careful logic of stats and skills shattered under the weight of the truth. Up until now he had been pretending, clinging to the idea that this was just another game. He’d hidden behind the same logic he always used at a table or a screen, telling himself he could min-max, strategize, and find a way to win. But this world wasn’t forgiving. It wasn’t play. It was teeth and claws and blood. He could have died. Easily. The System didn’t care. It would simply mark him as dead and move on. And tomorrow, the same thing could happen again. The terror hollowed him until the sobs burned out, leaving him empty, trembling, and spent.

  Exhaustion dragged at his body, his eyelids too heavy to fight. The den stank of blood and death, but it was all he had. Tomorrow the world would demand more of him. Tomorrow he would have to take, kill, and survive all over again. He hated it, feared it, but he knew the truth. The only alternative was death. His last thought before sleep was bitter but sharp: "I will survive. Whatever it takes." With that thought, Gideon finally succumbed to his exhaustion, and sleep claimed him.