I sprinted as if my life depended on it.

At almost the exact same time, a loud bark sounded out from behind me. No, that wasn’t a bark. It was a roar.

I did not even bother turning around. Even without looking, I could already tell. The disjointed growling, the sound of crunching leaves, it was chasing after me.

What the hell was that thing? Why was it here? Did it eat humans?

A thousand thoughts a minute flashed through my mind. Still, everything was drowned out by my innate desire to escape. As such, for a brief moment, I became a slave to my instincts. I ran through the forest with no intention of stopping. I ran without regard for where I was going. I ran as if I was trying to escape from my own shadow.

I ran and ran and ran.

Still, no matter how much I ran, I could not escape the creeping sensation of death. It breathed down my neck like a hungry specter.

That dog monster thing, whatever it was, it was definitely faster than me. The gap between us slowly shrank. Sooner or later, it would eventually overtake me. Unfortunately, I was powerless to prevent this. I could do nothing but push those fears aside and continue running.

After what felt like an eternity, I suddenly felt a cold tingle on the back of my neck. A gust of wind blew past my ear. My body instinctively moved. Without thinking, I immediately dropped to the floor.

A brown blur rushed past my head.

THUD!

The dog monster landed directly in front of me. Its paws left an obvious imprint on the forest floor. I did not waste any time admiring the dirty brown sheen of its fur. In an act of quick thinking, I grabbed a handful of soil and threw it at the creature’s face.

The effects were immediate. It visibly recoiled as a short whine leaked out from its maw. The creature desperately shook its head back and forth.

It struggled for a few seconds before it suddenly turned towards me. Despite the fact that its eyes were still closed shut, I did not dare approach it. Even in its current state, it still exuded out an aura of dread and despair.

I quickly scrambled backward. At almost the exact same time, the creature extended its neck and tried to blindly nip at me. Fortunately, I had moved just in time. I barely avoided its red splattered jaws.

I did not dare test my luck any further. Before the creature could fully recover, I hurriedly picked myself up and sprinted off in a random direction.

Again, I ran.

As I ran, the surroundings started to change. The trees within this part of the forest were more numerous, their branches fuller and more abundant. The bushes and thorns that occasionally popped up, now covered almost every inch of the forest floor. They acted like nature’s very own spider web, restraining those reckless enough to come here.

I desperately fought my way through this mess. The thorns stabbed at my skin, while the uneven terrain made it difficult to run across. I inwardly hoped that these new obstacles could somehow obstruct that thing from getting closer. Unfortunately, as I would quickly come to learn, they served as nothing more than a mild distraction.

It was still there. It had already recovered and it was quickly gaining on me. No matter how much I ran, it all felt hopeless.

Eventually, I started to slow down. It was inevitable. My legs burned, while a distinctly metallic taste colored my throat. It felt as if I was running across a vat of quicksand. My own heavy breathing echoed through my ears. It was loud but even louder were the rapidly approaching footsteps coming from behind me.

How far away was it? How much time did I have left? I wanted to check, but I lacked the courage to do so.

Just as I was thinking about changing directions, something suddenly happened.

“Ah…”

Before anything else, I first felt it.

A sharp and sudden pain exploded out from the right side of my shoulder. It was as if someone had just stabbed me with a scorching hot fireplace poker. The pain immediately took the wind out of my sails. I staggered forward like a red-faced drunkard.

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Just as I was struggling to maintain my footing, an abrupt weight suddenly descended from above. It pushed me from behind. My legs buckled and my knees shook. The weight forcibly dragged me to the ground.

I hit the forest floor with a deafening bang. A sharp hiss leaked out from my lips as I unconsciously writhed in pain.

The fire-like pain, which originally started in my shoulder, quickly blossomed, expanding out towards every inch of my body. Bathed in its agonizing ache, I could do nothing but scream until my throat turned hoarse.

At the same time, the sound of growling echoed from beside my ear. This time, it came accompanied by this horrid smell. The stench could best be described as a mixture of rotting meat and sour alcohol. The dog, this monster, it had bitten my shoulder. It gnawed and munched on it much in the same way a puppy chews on a chew toy.

I did not know this then, but it had come dangerously close to my vitals.

I tried to muster up the strength to free myself, but the creature was too heavy. No matter what I tried to do, it stubbornly refused to let go.

“Let go of me, let go of me, let go of me…” Incessant mumbling leaked out from my chapped lips. I tried calling out for help, but my voice grew weaker and weaker with each passing second. Soon, I was reduced to sputtering coughs and one-word cries.

Every time it shook its head, I could feel my muscle fibers tearing. It was desperately trying to rip off a chunk of my flesh, but it went about doing it in the most painful way imaginable.

My vision blurred. I could barely see anything through my tear-stricken eyes, yet, for some reason, I did not give up. At least, not yet. I desperately groped around in the dark, hoping, begging for something that might help me.

Eventually, my scratched hands touched something hard and jagged.

Without hesitation, I firmly grabbed onto it and swung.

I tried to hit the dog in the head, but because of the angle of my arm, I accidentally clipped my own ear. It hurt. It hurt a lot, but now wasn’t the time for that.

I gritted my teeth and tried again. I slammed the rock down onto the creature’s exposed skull. For a moment, its fur cushioned the blow before I felt something solid push back against me.

BANG!

I let out a sharp wince. The creature’s teeth sank even deeper into my shoulder. Even during a time like this, I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not I’ll need a tetanus shot after all this is over.

After a short pause, I swung the rock again. This time, the dog let out a yelp. Spurred by its pain, I did it again. The more it reacted, the faster my hand moved.

I swung again.

The rock’s jagged edges dug into my skin.

I swung again.

Hot blood splattered everywhere.

I swung again.

Like a hammer striking a nail, each subsequent blow seemed to only further deepen the creature’s teeth into my back. Still, I did not hesitate.

I swung again and again and again and again.

Eventually, the burning pressure stopped. The beast finally retreated.

My body instinctively relaxed. My grip loosened as my wrist limply fell to the ground. The blood-stained rock rolled across the forest floor. At the same time, I gritted my teeth and forcibly stood back up.

I briefly glanced over at the creature behind me. Its head was covered almost entirely in red. There was something pink and squishy leaking out from one of its ears. Still, its expression was what drew my attention the most. It was a mix between anger and pain.

Instinctively, I could tell. It was the face of a beast fully intent on killing.

Without hesitation, I immediately broke off into a desperate sprint.

There was a dull pain on my right shoulder. My ankle also hurt. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline, but right now, none of these things even registered within my higher thought processes.

I ran with all my heart. No, I ran even more than that.

This time, I was not aimlessly wandering the forest. No, off in the distance, I could just barely make out a faint white light.

There was a break in the tree line.

I desperately ran towards it. I don’t know why, but I felt as if everything would turn out okay as long as I can reach that tree line. Was it instinct or delusion? I don’t know, but I’d like to believe it was the former.

If I can just reach that place, If I can just get there before it can get me, then everything will work out. Everything will surely work out.

It was a delusional hope, but I pinned my everything on that hope.

After all, what else could I do? I was not ready to die, not here. I did not want to die without achieving anything in life. I did not want to die without a single friend. I did not want to die while still being a virgin. I did not want to die while my dreams remained dreams.

I did not want to die.

I ran. I ran as if each and every step was worth at least ten years of my life. The blood freely spewed out from my shoulders. It created a visible trail behind me, but right now, I did not care.

Again, I could hear it. The low growling, the soft trotting footsteps, it was coming. The dog monster was coming. Every second that passed seemed to only make the footsteps louder and louder.

It was closing in on me, but I was close too. The tree line, it was right in front of me.

This was my last chance.

No matter what, I was going to survive! I was going to live!

Then, I broke through.

As the bushes parted before me and the trees receded into the backdrop, I was met with a wide and open sky. It was as blue as the ocean with islands of white drifting across its cerulean surface.

The sky. The very representation of salvation and freedom. I could only appreciate it for a split second before the spiting fire returned.

At almost the exact same time, the creature had arrived. It lunged at me once more, latching onto the same spot from before.

I reflexively screamed as I inadvertently staggered forward.

Unfortunately, there was no way forward. To be more specific, the ground ended where I had previously stood.

The tree line was located right alongside the edge of a cliff.

For a moment, the feeling of weightlessness took hold. With a fluttering scream, I fell down the side of a cliff, dragging the creature down with me.