Matthew looked up at the large, repulsive face of the Guhder for only a moment before he almost jumped backward into his bed's hard metal frame.

He let out an audible "Ugh" as he got the air hit out of him, but this also allowed him to reexamine his situation.

Looking around, he first noticed the lack of light. It was now nighttime, with the only light coming from a campfire to the side of the Guhder. Looking at the fire also allowed him to see a similar reflection of light bouncing off a thin, transparent surface.

Matthew started reaching out to touch the surface but caught himself at the last second, remembering the timer that started the last time he touched it; the Guhder was watching him carefully, and when he pulled his hand back, it looked visibly disappointed.

Matthew eyed the large creature and wondered aloud. "So you can't hurt me as long as this bubble is here, and you know that."

Finally coming down from yet another adrenaline rush, he felt his back ache from where the metal had dug into his skin; Matthew reached around to rub the already bruising skin and started thinking.

"How do I get out of this situation? All around me is just a darker forest. Maybe he will lose me if I start running." He looked back at the Guhder, seeing it get bored and sit at its fire. This gave Matthew an idea.

"He has his side to me right now. If I time it right, I may be able to sneak out of here." So he waited what he thought was half an hour and slowly touched the side of his bubble.

The timer immediately popped up, and he looked at the Guhder to see if he had reacted. Thankfully, after a few moments without a reaction, he felt ready to move again.

As the time hit zero, he watched the beast closely, watching for a reaction.

When none came, Matthew summoned every ounce of ninja energy as he stealthily rolled off his bed. The monster groaned, and he froze. The Guhder didn't turn to look at him, though, and Matthew thought it must have been out of boredom as he saw it play with a stick in the fire.

After a few more moments, he started backing away again. He could feel the soft, spongy grass under his bare feet, making him look down. The only thing he was wearing was underwear, basketball shorts, and a red and black shirt that his mother made for him. The shirt's front had sparkling letters saying HAPPY HOLIDAYS. Matthew allowed himself a small smile before refocusing.

"I hope there aren't any sharp rocks around here." He thought as he made it to the tree line.

The Guhder's campsite was not huge, but it was large enough that it had taken a little while to get to the first tree. Matthew put the tree between him and the monster and continued walking. The light from the campfire grew dimmer and dimmer, so he took measured steps to avoid fallen branches.

Matthew felt like he had passed 100 trees before stopping to allow himself to relax. He let his shoulders sag and breathed freely for the first time in what felt like days. He felt relieved that his eyes were finally adjusting to the darkness, but with such large trees blocking the sky, it was still difficult to see.

He was starting to feel relaxed when a sudden chill crawled up his spine. His hair stood on end. Matthew froze, scanning the trees around him, trying to figure out why, but he didn't see anything. He felt his gut clench and started walking again, trying to dislodge his growing feeling of doom.

Then, as he saw something flash by on his left, he flicked his head around, trying to follow the movement, but it was gone. He continued walking, shaking his head, thinking he must be getting paranoid, but then he saw a shadow move on his right.

Matthew spun, trying to follow whatever was there, but again, it was gone. Deciding that his brain wasn't just playing tricks on him, he picked up a rock and backed up against a large tree.

For a long time, there was nothing, only the silence of the night and his short ragged breaths. Matthew felt his pulse start to quicken as sweat started flowing. He kept looking around for any more movement, and that is when he finally noticed two eyes reflecting the dim light of the moon coming from around a tree.

The creature stepped around the trunk and into a ray of moonlight. Before him stood a wolf, its fur matted and wet. Its growl reverberating in his chest. The wolf barred its fangs, revealing sharp yellowed teeth.

Matthew's mind started to race. He hadn't spotted another wolf yet, but he knew that wolves are pack hunters; he continued looking around, watching for flickering shadows. Not seeing anymore, Matthew looked the snarling wolf in the eyes and tried to turn his fear into something that resembled courage. He stepped away from the large tree and held the rock tightly in his right hand, turning his knuckles white.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The wolf acted first, hunching back, its glowing eyes locked on Matthew. Then, it shot forward, a blur of teeth and fur. Matthew dodged, a claw striking a grazing blow on his arm. He tried to hit the wolf but was only a moment too late. The wolf turned, snarling, and started circling him.

Matthew could feel the warm blood flowing down his cold arm. His legs trembled. He watched the wolf closely and saw it throw its head back and howl—a long, piercing sound that seemed to echo through the night.

Matthew's good arm, still uninjured, winded back and threw the rock with all his might, striking a winning blow against the wolf's skull. The wolf recoiled, letting out a yelp, and ran into the night.

He breathed in deeply again, but that was when he heard another howl and another, and before he knew it, a chorus of howls came from all around him. Matthew turned in all directions, trying to find some escape, but he felt helpless.

Not willing to give up yet, he chose a direction and ran. It wasn't long before he started to hear running near him. The howls continued as he was running, seeming to follow him. He continued running in the direction that there weren't any howls.

Matthew stopped running abruptly. He now stood at a dead end. Before him stood a large stone face almost 90 degrees. He was about to turn and run when wolves came around each of the trees, blocking every route of escape.

He could feel his heart race harder than ever, making him keel over throwing up. He looked up again at the large cliff face, trying to weigh his options, but the wolves started walking forward, each emitting a low, reverberating growl that he could feel in his very bones.

Matthew looked around one more time for anything to protect himself with but was not given the time as the first wolf jumped at him, biting into his shoulder and making a splitting pain erupt; he hit the wolf in the face as he was dragged to the ground, the hit made the first dog release him, but then two more were biting him. One on his arm and one on his midsection, he felt each tooth enter his skin like dull needles hammering their way in.

His legs were flailing around, trying to kick away anything that got close until another set of teeth bit down. The constant flailing made the wolf on his arm bite harder, causing an audible crack to reverberate throughout the night. Then Matthew noticed he couldn't move his hand anymore.

With blood running and pain stabbing through his whole body, it was almost a relief as a giant wolf came up, standing above him, and bit down on his neck, killing him.

"AGHAGHGHHGHG"

Matthew woke up screaming, flailing his arms in all directions, trying to fend off the attackers, but the pain was gone, and all that was left was a dark room with words floating in front of him.

:Murdered by a wolf pack:

Time alive 33 mins

Level at death 0

Experience lost 0

Fun fact: Wolf attacks are rare even in this world. Generally, wolves avoid and fear humans. I guess you were just so weak that you were a free meal.

Matthew looked at those words, feeling tired. If measured, the amount of fear he had felt in the last 24 hours would have been more than his whole life before this point, and he felt drained.

New words appeared in place of the others.

By the way, last time, the answer to your question was that you will be returning to the place where you first spawned.

Matthew, who had been floating in a somewhat sitting-up position, lay down, trying to ignore anything the translator wanted to say. The translator's words followed his eyes, so he was stuck reading over those words repeatedly, and he could feel his anger starting to flare.

"Can you stop for just a moment? I don't care anymore. I found that out before dying again!"

The translator didn't say a word, so Matthew lay there unmoving until a thought crossed his mind.

"Hey translator, why was it dark out?" The translator seemed to take extra long before responding this time, and this time, it seemed to have some attitude.

Hmm, let's think about this. A great reason for it being dark would be that it is night; wow, was that so hard?

Matthew's eyebrows shot up. He stared at the words and started to feel bad for lashing out; he thought to himself, "I can't have my only way of getting information mad at me in this world."

"I'm sorry, translator. I didn't mean to be rude; I'm just really stressed right now. My real question was why it was already night, even though we had only talked for about 15 minutes."

The translator waited a few extra moments before responding.

Time works differently here. It's not faster or quicker than in the outside world, but depending on how you die, it will take less or more time for you to respawn. For example, if you are fighting a dragon that started attacking a village and you can't win but fight to protect others anyway, then you will get the minimum respawn time of 4 hours.

Now, in comparison, let's say you are sleeping, and a squirrel hides its nuts in your mouth, causing you to choke and die. That would earn you a much longer respawn time of a few days. By the way, dying to normal wolves has earned you a 9-hour respawn.

Matthew read it carefully and then asked his next question.

"How am I supposed to survive?" the translator took only a moment before responding.

In the end, it is up to you; you can escape, kill things, or train; all of this will help you grow your strength, but not here. Anything you do while here is as good as useless. You can only increase your strength while in the world.

With this, a familiar box appeared.

Return, Leave

With a trembling hand, Matthew clicked Return

You didn’t do bad but remember to please try harder next time and don't forget to enjoy yourself.