When I awoke, the sky was pitch black.

I made it.

I.

Made.

It.

I survived.

"Ha ... Haha!" I couldn't help myself. I laughed so hard I cried. Man, those last two days were really stressful. The constant hiding and skulking about, the freezing at any sound no matter how small, the fearing for my life whenever I heard voices, all of that really wore me down. But I'm here. I'm alive.

Growl.

...And I'm hungry. When I gulp, I can feel the dryness of my throat. I need some water too. But I survived. I'm no longer at risk of being stabbed. I push myself up from my tree-hole, fully intending on doing some light stretches before heading out.

Instead, I immediately crash into the ground. When I try to push myself up again, I feel like all my strength has deserted me. I collapse on the ground, weaker than ever. Well, shit. I crawl forward. Am I seriously reduced to this again? The growl from my stomach tells me yes. This is really getting old. I push my ear to the ground, hoping to hear some sort of water flow. I hear nothing. I crawl back into the tree hole, hoping to preserve some energy while I think.

Wait.

I remember watching a video not too long before I died in which they said tree bark was edible. Granted, it was for a specific kind of tree, but maybe I could do the same here. I twist my head to look at the tree. It's large and shaded, and has pine needles. Pine tree bark can be classified as food. I gulp.

Well, might as well try. The worst that can happen is food poisoning, which is a risk no matter what I eat. I peel off the grey bark on the outside of the tree, which reveals a whitish green inner bark. I'm fairly certain that the inner bark on Earth was whitish yellow, but you know what? This is close enough. The inner bark is soft, so I press into it hard and try to pull some out.

The key word there being try, as I completely fail. My limbs, while no longer sluggish, are drained of energy. Ha! Is that an excuse for anything? If I don't eat this bark, I'm going to starve to death! With far more force than I exerted before, I rip off some bark. Still not a lot, but now I have something. I pop it into my mouth, chew, and swallow. Ugh. Tastes like dirt.

...

I'm not immediately vomiting, so that's good, I guess. I manage to peel off some more inner bark before my meager strength fails me. I eat that too. I fall back into my little hole. Man, this sucks. With that in mind, I drift off into my dreams.

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

----

It's my third day sleeping in this hollow. On the second day, I decided to try eating the pine nuts as well. I still haven't vomited yet. The pine nuts taste better than the bark, so I've decided to primarily eat those. Also on the second day, I discovered that I could drink the sap. I swear, that sap was a godsent blessing. It was delicious. I think I've gathered enough strength to begin moving. Before that, however, I have no idea where the "ranger" actually is. I open the small box and take out the mirror. The palm that holds the mirror glows a faint shade of green. I feel a bit more drained now, but not nearly as much as the last time I opened it. The mirror flashes on.

Skills:

Disguise

Enhancement disabled.

Classification paused.

Messages from Patron:

0 Unread, 12 Read.

View Message Log? Y/N

No, I don't need to view the message log right now. Just as I push the N on the mirror, the mirror flashes again.

New Message from Patron.

Display? Y/N

I push the Y.

It seems you're doing well!

"What the fuck?" My voice feels less hoarse than before.

I advise heading out now. The ranger has already started to leave.

"Who's the ranger?"

Someone who can help you survive.

"Stupid question. Where is the ... ranger?" Okay, not fully there with the voice, but we're getting somewhere.

The ranger is in the most orange part of the forest.

"..."

Keep walking straight from the opening of that hollow and you'll be in the rough vicinity of his cottage.

"I see. Also, uh..."

?

"Thanks. For everything."

Aww, no problem! Don't worry about it!

"How can I repay you?" The more I dwell on it, the more worried I get. This feels suspiciously like a deal with the devil. Why is he helping me for free?

I told you. I'll give you my support, for just one thing.

"What is it?"

Kill the Hero.

"That's it?" He said that before, but is that really all he wants?

Yes. May the heavens strike me down if I lie. Well, not like they can, but...

"Who is the hero?" Well, let's see. If I'm the prince of the Azin Empire, it's very possible that that father is the King. I remember that the red man asked me to be a Demon King, so if I'm a Demon Prince now, I assume my father is a Demon King. And Goldy killed him, that means he's a murderer who's committed regicide and should be executed- wait, no.

I don't know.

"You don't ... know?"

You've seen the former Hero.

Okay, so since I've seen three people in my entire life here, I can safely assume that Goldy is the hero. Or, was the Hero, apparently.

The Hero finishes his duty when he kills his Demon King. Likewise, the Demon King finishes his duty when he kills his Hero.

Okay, so Goldy killed my father, who I'm assuming is the Demon King. He was the Hero, but when he killed my father, he stopped being the Hero, and now someone else is the Hero, and they have the mission of killing me?

"So, there's a whole new ... Hero, who needs to kill ... me, and I need to kill ... them."

Yes.

Okay. Okay. So, there's really nothing I can do about this, considering I don't even know who the Hero is. I need to find this ranger person. I put the mirror back into the bag, and start walking north.

Hoo, boy. I've got a lot to find out.