Chapter 2: Echoes of Betrayal

In the deep forest, memories stirred in Emily's mind. As she walked through the green paths, she remembered a story—not hers, but of the village where she seems to have lived until recently.

Emily's people lived peacefully in the forest. Their village, an elven village, was safe and prosperous, a symbol of family and nature's beauty. They lived in harmony with nature, and had the knowledge required to be self-sufficient in the middle of the gigantic forest.

But darkness approached. Some elves were tempted by the promise of power from the Demon Kingdom, and they turned against their own kind. One fateful night, the villagers were woken up in the middle of the night due to the screams that echoed amidst the village in the vast forest.

The previous days, some elves had said they were going out to gather herbs and never came back. The villagers were worried about them encountering a dangerous creature in their expedition and were desperately searching for them everyday.

But that night, they came back with a different appearance. Their skin had become dark and pale, just like that of demons. The dark elves started murdering the elves one after another. Not only that, they also seemed to be sucking up their blood when biting their necks, just like vampires would do on the stories from the Earth. They destroyed the village, bringing chaos to the once peaceful forest.

She remembers vividly how most–if not all the elves were murdered. Emily felt their sadness and betrayal deep within her. It wasn't her choice to carry this burden, but fate had its own plans. She managed to run away to the forest in the middle of the chaos.

The forest seemed endless, its secrets hidden by ancient trees. But driven by her past regrets, Emily walked on. She wouldn’t give up now that she has been given a second chance. Emily grew tired, her body aching as she walked. The familiar forest now felt strange and vast, offering no comfort. And she was afraid the dark elves would still be around looking for those who might have escaped.

Her body was marked by scratches and bruises. But Emily held onto hope, believing there was light beyond this situation. With determination, she continued, hoping to get as far from the village as she could.

She felt alone, despite being accustomed to not having anyone to rely on, she was all alone in this desolate forest and that was fearsome. As she kept walking, the weight of loneliness grew heavier. Memories not her own filled her mind with sadness, but at the same time the regrets of giving up in her past life kept her going, she didn’t want to repeat the same mistake again.

The forest seemed less vibrant now, drained by the fatigue and the betrayal feelings that still lingered. Emily's footsteps sounded hollow, but she kept going, determined to overcome any challenges that came her way.

Yet, doubts crept in. What if there were no other villages? What if she was truly alone in this strange land? What if the only ones that remain are the demons and the dark elves? She didn’t know anything about this world and anything apart from the village she remembers to have grown up in. Emily felt afraid as she thought about surviving in the wild. The forest, once comforting, now felt full of danger. What if there are dangerous creatures around?

As time passed, Emily felt her hope fading. The forest seemed endless, but Emily kept moving forward, guided by the hope of finding safety and peace. Then, just when things seemed hopeless, Emily found something amazing—a tree with something that looked like fruit, promising food and strength.

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Emily felt curious and excited as she approached the tree. The fruits looked similar to some things she remembered from her old world, but quite different at the same time.

“Are those tomatoes…? Growing from a tree!? Please, don’t be poisonous!”

But the tree branches reach so high and climbing those towering trees doesn’t seem like an option. The trees in this forest were gigantic, not only in height but in wideness as well. I need to find something to pick them up.

Emily noticed some sticks nearby, remnants of fallen branches on the forest floor. She tried looking for a stick long enough to reach the fruits, but there were only small ones and the distance to the fruits was quite high, almost five times Emily’s height.

“What should I do? Think, think!”

It seems I need to be creative here. Even if I reach the fruits, there is a high chance they would get completely smashed when they touch the ground, as it appears to be a soft kind of fruit.

Emily started gathering sticks as long as she could find them. Now she needed something to tie them up. Grass wouldn’t make it, she needs something sturdier so that the branches stay in place.

She remembered the roots were sturdier than the grass itself, so she dug out several of them with a stick. And gathered the soft branches of bushes around. It was quite a pain to dig and cut, her small and once soft hands were now covered in dirt and bruises.

With nimble fingers, she began to weave the fibers around the sticks, fashioning a makeshift contraption—a rudimentary pole with a basket-like attachment at the end. As she completed her impromptu creation, she extended it towards the fruit, cautiously maneuvering the basket to catch the ripe bounty.

“I got it! I got it! Finally!”

With shaky hands, Emily picked the first fruit and tried to smell its scent. It had a very sweet scent. Despite its tomato-like appearance, it doesn’t seem to be one. Emily stared at the fruit for some time, thinking if it would be okay to eat it. And then–

“Inspecting item…”

A voice echoed in her head.

“W-what?! That voice. Who is this!?”

Emily said, taken aback by what was happening.

Then—the voice spoke again, as if ignoring Emily’s question.

“Peamato:

A very sweet fruit

Safe to eat raw”

“Huh? Hello!?”

This robotic voice doesn’t seem to respond to me at all, as if it was some kind of program. Am I inside a game? Well, at least it gave some crucial information. I’ll give it a try.

Emily took a bite, surprised by the flavor—sweet—it was extremely sweet, nothing at all like a tomato. The texture and sweetness resembled pears when they are very ripe. But the flesh was pink, the skin was bright red and its shape round, just like a tomato.

As Emily enjoyed the fruit, she felt amazed by the beauty and mystery of the world around her. She realized her journey wasn't finished yet, there was so much to discover and so many opportunities to finally find her own place.

I was so amazed and stunned by all that had happened today, that I didn’t realize I was this hungry. Perhaps exerting my body too much didn’t help. Besides, my body seems to be that of a ten-year-old child. So I ended up eating lots of this fruit until I couldn’t even move with ease.

However, these fruits can keep me going but they’re not very nutritious. It’s getting darker anyway, so maybe I should set up camp here for now. There seem to be several of this type of fruit tree ahead, and there are many fruits on this tree alone. It should be okay if I stay here for some time.

I gathered some grass and leaves to create a makeshift mattress to sleep on. I don’t feel safe sleeping outside on the floor but I am so tired right now that anything would do.

As she attempted to fall asleep, she pondered about everything that was happening in her life.

Ah… I am so tired. But somehow this doesn’t feel like it felt in my previous life. This feels like a different tiredness. It feels… not so bad. Despite the challenges and effort I have to overcome to survive… being surrounded by such beautiful nature, breathing in fresh air, physically exhausting myself in tasks, seeing the beams of natural light that reach some parts of the forest, the sounds of the trees… Yeah, this is not bad.

However, sleeping outside in the middle of the forest without anything that protects me or conceals me… This is definitely not something I enjoy! I have to do something about it… but that would have to be tomorrow. I am so sleepy right now.

And, with those thoughts, feeling renewed and very tired at the same time, Emily didn’t take long to fall sound asleep.