Ch.3 Forest in another world

I instinctively used my arms to push myself up as I sank into the ocean of fate. To my surprise, the water was shallow, and my head easily broke the surface. The sky was different. Instead of the bright morning sky from when I met God, it was now dark. And instead of the grassy land and beach, I found myself surrounded by a dense forest.

Just like that, in an instant I was on a different world.

Visually, the forest resembled one from Earth, though the trees were far taller and wider. But the sounds were an entirely different story. A chorus of unfamiliar noises filled the air, each one stranger than the last. The high-pitched chirping of birds overlapped with the deep, throaty croaks of frogs, creating an unsettling symphony. Insects buzzed and clicked from every direction, their droning hum adding an eerie undertone to the environment. Every now and then, a bizarre sound that could only be described as a wet, muffled fart echoed through the trees, making me cringe. It was a jarring contrast to the otherwise earthy, familiar smell of the forest, which still retained the fresh, woody scent I associated with home.

Feeling nervous, I pushed myself up and quickly scrambled out of the river onto a rocky beach. I had no idea which direction would be best, and getting lost in the forest was the last thing I wanted. Although I wasn't feeling hungry yet, I knew it wouldn't be long before I would. With no better options, I decided to follow the river upstream, hoping for the best. The plan was simple—find some kind of man-made structure and figure things out from there.

"As long as I keep the trees to one side and the river to the other I won't get lost." I murmured to myself and kept going.

The rocks on the bank dug into my bare feet with each step, causing discomfort. I needed to find something to cover myself with soon. As I scanned the area, I spotted a small campsite in the distance, on my side of the river. I could make out a few tents and a fire that was still half burning. Excitement surged through me, and I hurried, quickening my pace toward the camp.

When the camp was less than two hundred meters away, I decided to slow down. I had to remind myself that I was on an alien world now. My appearance—aside from the lack of clothing,might be different from those native to this planet. While God had mentioned seeding all worlds in the same way, there was no guarantee that evolution would follow the same path everywhere in the universe. A sudden appearance might only frighten whoever was at the camp, and frightened people tend to do stupid things.

I walked into the forest, keeping low as I moved from cover to cover, my eyes darting between the camp and my surroundings. About halfway there, I spotted a large, sturdy branch on the ground and picked it up as a makeshift weapon. If it made me look like some crazed, primitive tribal warrior, I didn’t care. Let the legend of the crazy naked man spread like wild fire in this world then.

As I got closer to the campsite, I took a moment to reevaluate the situation. It looked abandoned, though only recently. The tents were empty, with no signs of life. The fire pit in the middle, still faintly glowing, was on the brink of going out. There were no voices, no sounds of movement—just the ambient hum of the forest. I cautiously stepped out of the cover of the trees and entered the campsite, gripping the branch tightly in my hand.

Maybe the people who built the site had gone out scavenging, but no experienced woodsman would ever leave camp at night without a good reason. Something felt off, but I couldn't afford to dwell on it. Luck seemed to be on my side, and I wasn’t about to waste a second. I began searching the tents one by one, looking for any clothes that could help cover myself up.

After a few minutes of searching, I managed to find a shirt, a jacket, some pants, and a pair of boots that fit me well enough. These discoveries told me something important about this world. The shirt and jacket were clearly machine-stitched, with uniform distances between each stitch, and the soles of the boots had a patterned tread designed to provide better grip. These were clear signs that this world had undergone some kind of industrial evolution. I quickly dressed and returned to the middle of the campsite.

While I was lucky to find clothes, I wasn’t able to find any food or information about who the camp belonged to. If it had been merchants, surely there would have been merchandise and guards protecting the goods. If it were military, the camp would have been better concealed. The reason for the abandonment remained a mystery, and I decided it was best not to use the tents. Instead, I opted to find a tree to spend the night in, keeping myself hidden and safe from whatever might be lurking nearby.

In the end, I chose a tree thin enough for me to wrap my arms around and climb. Carefully, I made my way over to a larger tree with a relatively flat treetop. This would be my bed for the night.

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From my spot, I had a clear view of the camp below. After a little while of watching, my eyes grew heavy, and I slowly drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up again, the sky was still dark. I must have only slept for a few hours at most. I glanced towards the camp; there was still no sign of movement. The fire was gone by now, with only a faint glow emanating from the hot charcoal remains. Something felt off, however. The forest was quiet—no bird chirps, no insect sounds, even the strange fart-like noises were gone too.

While I wasn't an expert with words, I had spent a few months in a forest during the pandemic. During that time, I had an unfortunate encounter with one of the scariest creatures on Earth.

When the virus first ravaged through Canada in the summer of 2020, everything was shut down. Aside from stores and restaurants providing essentials to the community, the government had locked everything else down. By that time, I was already hitchhiking, and no matter how kindly you phrase it, hitchhiking essentially meant I was homeless. Few people were willing to let anyone into their homes, fearful of the virus's lethality, and even more so when it came to a stranger.

So, I decided to become the local boogeyman for a few weeks, to wait out the crisis. With some tools I got from a local supply store, I built myself a nice little shed in the woods. Living in the woods was nice—despite the hygiene issues and bug problems, it was peaceful and gave me a lot of time to reflect and think about our society.

A week in, however, I started noticing animal droppings near the shed, and they seemed to be getting closer each time I found them. I didn’t think much of it because I was relatively close to civilization and figured it was probably a deer, which was common in the region where I was staying. So, imagine my surprise when I pushed the door open one morning and came face to face with a large grizzly bear. My heart literally skipped a beat, and I slammed the door shut. The bear must have known I was there and had been getting closer to my humble little estate every day.

Despite my undeniable Canadian pride, it’s in moments like that when I wished I was an American. I shouted as loud as I could while the bear scratched at the wooden wall and pushed against it. I was terrified, using all my strength to press against the opposite side of the wall. Bang—I heard a loud boom from outside, and suddenly, the pressure on the wall disappeared. Heavy footsteps retreated hurriedly into the woods. I collapsed onto my bed, my strength completely drained.

A ranger on patrol had heard the commotion and saved me. One shot from his Colt C19 rifle had scared off the grizzly. If he had arrived any later, I might have already become bear food. He advised me not to stay in the region any longer, and of course, I listened. I stayed in a hotel until the restrictions lifted. That was an experience I wished to never part took again. Unfortunately, that's exactly how I felt when I woke up to to the quiet forest.

When danger arrives, the forest goes quiet. I guess that was a universal truth, no matter where you are. The silence is nature’s way of warning you that something’s coming, something you’d better be prepared for.

So I prepared myself, lowering my body until I was completely flat against the treetop, staying as quiet as possible and listening intently. There was one thing working to my advantage—the ability to see clearly in the darkness. Thank you, God.

I could hear people shouting and running in the distance, the sounds getting closer, followed by the unmistakable roar of some kind of beast. Moments later, I saw them—two men dressed in leather jackets and jeans, each carrying a burlap bag on their backs. One clutched a large rifle with both hands, while the other gripped a pistol. They fired continuously behind them into the shadows, at something I couldn’t see, all while sprinting toward my direction.

A few seconds later, the monster came into sight. It looked like a bear but with fiery red fur and three sets of limbs, which caused it to move in a strange, unnatural way. Its legs moved in waves, allowing it to take small, quick steps while keeping its body surprisingly stable as it pursued the men. The two men were firing their weapons, but most of their shots missed. It must have been pitch black for them, unlike me with my night vision ability.

As they got closer, I noticed that the two men were likely hunters. Aside from the jackets and jeans they wore, they also had large machetes and horns hanging from their waists. Even in the near darkness, they moved with surprising coordination, firing and covering each other as they reloaded. They were heading straight towards me, no doubt trying to make it back to the camp. My head was spinning—soon they’d reach my hiding spot. I had to think fast, either find a way to help them or, at the very least, stay hidden until it was safe.

I decided to wait and watch. There wasn’t much I could do without a real weapon, and the only thing that seemed to hurt the creature was the hunters’ guns. If I wanted to stand a chance of killing the bear-like beast, I’d have to get my hands on one of their firearms.

The two hunters rushed past me. One dove into one of the tents while the other, clutching the rifle, continued firing at the bear. A lucky shot hit the beast square in the right eye, stunning it as it roared, its front limbs desperately trying to shield its damaged eye. That’s when the second hunter reappeared, holding a spike-like object in his hand. I had seen it earlier while scavenging and assumed it was just a tent stake, but now I realized it was an explosive. The hunter pulled the cap off the dull end and hurled it toward the creature.

In the near pitch darkness, the grenade missed its mark by a small margin, flying past the bear and embedding itself in the dirt behind it. The explosion that followed was loud but did little to harm the beast.

“If only I had a grenade of my own,” I thought, mentally noting that I needed to learn as much as possible about this world to avoid making such mistakes again.

“Last one!” the hunter shouted as he prepared to pull the pin on the final grenade.

"Wait!" I yelled, leaping down from my perch onto the bear’s back while it was still disoriented. Grabbing onto its thick fur just behind its head, I held on tight.

“Pass it to me!” I shouted, relieved when the hunter didn’t hesitate and tossed the grenade toward me. It flew a bit high, but I reached up and caught it. My legs clamped tightly around the beast as I yanked the pin, then drove the explosive into its other eye before rolling off its back.

The bear let out another deafening roar before—Boom—the explosion hit. The blast was overwhelming, and I heard the heavy thud of the beast collapsing to the ground. It made no further sound. Lying there, panting, my chest

aching from the shockwave, I realized I had just killed a monster.