Ashe Griffin experienced what started as a calm awakening. His eyes wavered open ever so slowly and he exhaled a waking breath as his gaze focused on the root, leaves and dirt that his face rested upon. At this point, a wild train of thought made its way through his mind, and he experienced an entire spectrum of emotions before pushing his chest off the ground in a state of confusion. He opened his mouth to speak but "What the fuck?" was all that he managed.

He looked down at his chest to see if he was clothed in the boxers and Red Hot Chilli Peppers t-shirt that he had gone to sleep in the night before, still on all fours at this point, but was painfully disappointed to find that to others it'd seem as though he shared the same sense of fashion as a newborn baby. He swung his head upwards now, his eyes now wide as his state of panic seemed to only progress, and saw before him only woodlands to his dismay. He was also quick to realize that he was suffering from a splitting headache. As Ashe's gaze further scanned his surroundings, he failed to find anything that stood out among the thick forestry, though it seemed he had been stranded in the middle of nowhere. His jaw clenched as tears began to build up in his eyes.

A strong gust arose from behind him, allowing air to enter an orifice other than his mouth or nose. This acted as an excellent form of motivation for Ashe, stirring him up hastily from where he laid. After a few moments of wallowing, he swallowed hard. "Alright", he said to himself. He refocused his gaze on the woodland before him and hovered momentarily as he considered his options. Unfortunately, the choices that laid before him were few. No, in fact, there was only one. To trek aimlessly through the woodlands that he found himself in and hope that he might reach some form of civilisation.

"If only I had my phone on me." Ashe groaned, almost pleadingly. "A dream maybe?" he considered, "No... I'm too lucid." Various possibilities popped into his head, each rationalized and discarded. "It's settled then. During my night's rest, I've been robbed. Stripped. And relocated. All while having not woken up- Oh, then it'd make sense for me to add drugged to the series of events." Ashe concluded, his demeanour much calmer than it had been before. Perhaps the unusually fresh air of the forest and the soft, rich soil underfoot contributed to his change of state. After all, how far from his town could he really be?

As if in response, Ashe heard a sharp, high-pitched growl from above. As he peered upwards he was met with the sight of a rabid squirrel. It had a gaping mouth and its tail twitched rapidly as it stood above Ashe on the branches of a nearby tree. What made this squirrel stand out, however, was its enormity in size. Unfortunately, Ashe had little time to consider such a thing as he let out a shocking screech. The creature was upon him but was quickly knocked aside by an instinctive smack.

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The forest floor did little to assist Ashe in his defence against the creature, which he now considered to be a monster of sorts, as the tree roots by which he stood offered poor footing. The creature was upon him once more, this time inflicting actual damage as it gnawed at Ashe's shoulder. Ashe cried out, cursing the creature before managing to gain a hold on it. As he peeled the squirrel from his flesh, he lowered himself to the ground where he then thrust it against the tree roots, bloodying them.

Ashe fell back onto his arse, panting as he attempted to regain his breath. He peered at his wound, daring to touch it before wincing in pain. Rabies was one of many thoughts that crossed his mind within the seconds that passed after he slew the creature. Shock once again reflected upon his face as he watched the corpse of the squirrel smoulder into ash which was then whipped away by the wind, leaving behind a small, brown sack.

One shock after another, [Achievement Earned: Be gentle, it's my first time] appeared in Ashe's vision as text within a near-transparent, 2D rectangle that gave off a slight, light blue hue. Under it, read further text, [Reward: +1 Strength]. His mouth now laid agape and his words failed to form.

A long time passed as Ashe attempted to wrap his head around what had transpired. "Am I in a fucking RPG?" He had played enough games to understand what achievements were, and what the +1 Strength meant, but that didn't mean this made any more sense. Finally, he roused himself up from where he stood. Now that the adrenaline from the life or death scenario he had just faced faded, he groaned as his head once again swam, his thoughts pounding. He focused on the leather bag that had been left behind, before leaning forward to touch it with a probing finger. Another window appeared.

[Loot: Ravenous Squirrel?]

Followed by two options, Accept or Decline. "I am, aren't I. Surely this must be some kind of VRRPG? This is like a standard opening in one of those LitRPGs!" he complained, tears once again building up in his eyes as the weight of what he had done suddenly dawned on him. He had just crushed an animal to death. Be it a living creature or some sort of enemy NPC, he couldn't tell reality from... whatever this was. "Accept", he whispered, wiping his eyes with his inner elbow. As he reopened his eyes, he noticed something in his peripheral, to the bottom left of his vision. Text. He could focus on it, so long as he didn't move his head towards it.

[+1 Leather Pelt]

[+3 Merk coins]

This was followed by another window, with text that read:

[Local objective: Collect 5 Leather Pelts]

[Reward: Trousers]