You look at your options. You’ve heard one too many stories about people who got lost in the forest only to end up dying by eating poisonous berries to try your chances with them and, while you have no idea what exactly a ‘Gicko’ squirrel is, it looked like it might have had rabies or something. That only leaves you with the mushrooms.

  Having come to a decision, you pick up one of the mushrooms. It’s spongey and looks unappetizing compared to the berries, but maybe its looks are deceiving. You brace yourself before taking a small bite out of it, only to grimace at the bitterness that coats your tongue.

  You force yourself to chew the spongy mushroom and swallow. You don’t want to continue, but your growling stomach urges you on.

  Somehow you force yourself to pick up another one. And another, and another, until you’ve finally, at last, finished. The taste lingers unpleasantly on your tongue.

  While you can’t say you’re full, at the very least your stomach has stopped growling painfully.

  You remain seated for a moment before getting to your feet. If you ever want to get out of the forest you better start moving.

  Putting some berries in your pocket just in case, you leave the clearing and head into the trees.

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  Your hand throbs painfully as you try and pull out the thorn.

  You stop for a second. A thorn? How? You look around, finding yourself standing in an unfamiliar patch of forest with no idea how you got there.

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  Your breath comes in ragged pants as you run forward. The sounds of your pursuers hot on your heels.

  You stumble on a root. And manage to catch yourself on a tree.

  What’s chasing you? You don’t remember, but you know that, whatever it is, you can’t let it catch you.

  Something is wrong with you. You can't remember.

  You just know you need to keep running.

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  Your head spins and throbs as you feel yourself being dragged through the forest.

  You try to look up, only to see a small blurry child pulling you behind them, your head swimming as you try to focus.

  It stops as it notices your movement and looks down at you before it turns to another child and makes a chittering sound.

  You only have a moment to ponder over the children’s strangely green coloration before one of them lashes out with something in its hands and your vision goes dark again.

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  You wake up with the world spinning around you. You resist the urge to throw up, somehow keeping down the contents of your stomach.

  You cautiously try to move only to find your arms bound by a crude rope made of green vines.

  The sound of movement catch your attention and you look up to see the two child-like figures squawking at one another as they occasionally gesture at you. You blink a couple of times to clear the tears from your eyes before they go wide.

  Whatever these creatures are, they’re not children. Sitting atop their shoulders is a head way too large for their body, and their fingers are more claws than hands, their yellow nails looking particularly long and sharp.

  One of the creatures notices you're awake and you flinch back as it bares a row of long, pointed teeth at you and snarls.

  It grunts something at the other creature and they both look at you before one of them walks over to you, its head bouncing up and down as it approaches. Its movement reminds you strangely of a bobble head.

  You brace yourself for whatever’s coming, but you're shocked when the creature grabs you with both hands and begins dragging you forward with surprising ease for a creature of its size.

  You’re shock turns to horror as you recognize the look in the creature’s eyes as it stares down at you and licks its lips. Hunger.

  You begin to struggle as it brings you towards the fire, its intention to eat you all too clear as your legs flail uselessly in the air.

  The creature’s feral grin widens and you hear its companion chitter excitedly.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Wait!” You shout. “Stop! Please!”

  You don’t know if the creature understands you, but if it does, it ignore your pleas.

  You realize the creatures could have thrown you in the fire while you were unconscious, it would have been easier, but they’re clearly enjoying your struggle.

  You pull against your bindings trying to break them, but whatever vine they're using it's too strong.

  Despite your best efforts, the creature unceremoniously tosses you into the fire.

  You let out a horrendous scream as the flames engulf you. Your clothes catch on fire as you try to roll away from the burning fire, but the creatures seem ready for you as it pushes you back into the flames with a long stick.

  You’re cries get louder as your body is wracked with pain, the flames eating away at you skin.

  You strain against the vine and feel them beginning to give way. The fire seems to be weakening them. You pull as hard as you can, desperate to get out of the searing heat. The flames continue to lick at you as your skin begins to boil and crack.

  Finally, the vines snap and your arms come free. You reach out, surprising the creature as you grab the stick in its hands and yank forward.

  The creature, taken off guard, gets pulled towards you, joining you in the fire. Its screams of pain echo your own and it lets go of the stick to clutch at its face.

  You slash out with the stick towards the other creature, yelling as you try to use your ability. Only a garbled sound of pain escapes your mouth, but it seems as though your intention is enough as even through the flames you can see a blue glow wrap around the stick in your hands.

  You swing and catch the other green child upside the head, snapping it in half and sending the creature sprawling to the ground.

  Rushing out of the fire, you begin rolling on the ground, trying to douse the flames that still painfully burn your skin. Moments later the flames die out and you try to stand, feeling your burnt skin crackling as you manage to get to your feet. Your clothing pulls painfully where it and your flesh have melted together.

  Somehow you ignore the pain and look around. You see the creature you pulled into the fire running around in circles, screeching as it pats at its burning rags. The other creature glares at you as it gets to its feet and charges forward, lunging towards your torso, too small to reach anything higher.

  You pull back a fist and croak out “Power Strike.” Your voice hoarse and raw.

  You're faster than the creature and your punch connects solidly with the its jaw, knocking it to the ground. Not letting the opportunity pass, you pounce on it before its companion has time to recover, letting your fists wail down on it wildly as you let loose with your ability.

  You wince as your fist crunches into its face and it lets out cries of pain as tries to cower beneath you.

  You feel disgusted as red blood flows like water from the creature, you want to stop, but that small moment of hesitation gives the creature time enough to lash out with its clawed hands. It scrapes across your face leaving you with several deep, painful gouges.

  The newfound pain clears your hesitation and you continue to hit the creature, its resistance lessening as the damage from your repeated blows builds up even as you've run out of the necessary mana to keep using your ability.

  Eventually its movements cease and you stop hitting it. You get to your feet and look around for the other creature only to see it scrambling out from beneath a bush.

  You start forward, intent on finishing off the creature, only to jump backwards as it spins towards you, swinging a crude looking spear in its hands.

  Despite your quick reaction, the creature manages to graze you and break your skin, causing you to inhale sharply.

  The creature seems to gain some form of confidence from its weapon as its grin returns. It charges forward and you twist to the side, avoiding the blow only for another one to come.

  Little by little you get pushed back as you try to think of a way to close the distance.

  Your eyes dart around the clearing, but you don’t see anything that could help.

  You know you can’t let the situation continue as each time the creature thrusts forward it deals a little more damage to your already injured body.

  Gritting your teeth, you brace yourself as it attacks again and you step forward, allowing the spear to graze your side.

  The wound is deeper than those before, but your actions have allowed you to get close enough that it can no longer use the spear effectively. You swing forward, your fist making contact with the creatures shoulder, sending it spinning to the ground.

  You lash out with a foot, catching the creature under the chin and it lets go of its weapon as it cries out in pain.

  Your fight turns into an unskilled brawl as the creature begins to bite and claw at you. Without the mana to us your ability you lack the power necessary to overwhelm the creature, but the damage you inflict from each punch brings you closer to victory.

  Eventually you manage to land another proper blow that sends the creature sprawling to the ground again.

  You quickly grab the discarded spear and point it at the creature.

  Seemingly uncaring of the threat the weapon represents, it scrambles to its feet and charges at you.

  You thrust with the spear and are surprised when the creature continues its charge, not even attempting to dodge, only for the spear to pierce its chest.

  The creature’s assault comes to an abrupt stop as it looks down at the spear sticking out of its chest with surprise before it slumps over.

  You let go of the spear as a familiar flash of light engulfs you and you feel your injuries heal instantly.

  A blue screen pops into your vision and you look at the downed creatures before reading it.

Gicko Goblin defeated; 670 experience acquired.

You have leveled up!

  You quickly open your Status screen and put your free point in Agility. It was only your improved speed that let you deal with the … Gicko Goblins.

  Dismissing the screens, you approach the other Gicko Goblin and look down on it.

  Its breathing is heavy and labored. And as you stare at it, you become strangely conscious of the creature's blood on your hands. You feel like you shouldn’t take any chances and end things immediately, but again you hesitate. Despite having already killed one of the creatures, that was in the heat of the moment. You’re not sure you have it in you to take its life in cold blood, even if it is a monster.

What do you do?

1) Kill it.

2) Leave without killing it.

3) Feed it some berries to see if they’re safe to eat.