My body first collided with branches, which softened the fall.

Then my legs hit the trunk of a tree.

I felt my bones crack upon impact. It sent my body spinning.

If it had been my head, even with my chain helmet, I would have died.

But my head followed shortly after.

It struck another tree trunk, not as violently, but enough to knock me out.

.

I woke up.

There was a taste of blood in my mouth.

My whole body ached.

I assessed my condition, trying to see how bad the situation was.

I tried to open my eyes, but couldn't. It was as if someone had taped my eyelids shut.

I tried to breathe through my nose, but it was completely blocked.

My mouth was open, but breathing hurt.

The muscles of my face, as well as my throat and lungs.

Every tiny movement of my face triggered intense pain, as if my nerves had gone on strike and were sending the maximum amount of pain signals to make themselves heard.

I barely felt my shoulders, arms, and back.

But it didn't feel like good news either.

The biggest problem was my hips and, above all, my legs.

I made the mistake of trying to move them, probably a reflex to check if I was paralyzed.

The good news was that I wasn't paralyzed.

The bad news was that the insides of my legs had turned into mush.

I couldn't walk or even put any weight on them.

I finally managed to open my eyes. The sunlight was overwhelming, blinding me as if its rays were needles.

I immediately closed them.

"I'm screwed," I thought.

This brute had thrown me so violently that she hadn't even bothered to find my body and finish me off.

"Ironic that this time I die because I'm worthless," I thought.

I was surprised to find something humorous about my situation. I was showing a resilience that impressed me.

"I can't let myself die; that would be doing her a favor... So this is what Sif felt..." I thought.

I reached out with my right hand, searching for my chain.

There, I felt metal, my finger passing through a link.

I commanded my chain to come closer. It began to tighten around my chest, passing under my arms.

I opened one eye slightly to find something to anchor it to.

Over there, there was a tree.

My chain wrapped around the trunk, and then I pulled on it to bring myself closer.

The pain in my shoulders and arms was bearable, my nerves were too busy flooding my brain with pain signals about my legs.

I pulled until I reached the tree.

I muttered for my screen to appear, to check my profile.

I had 5 HP and 16 EP left.

I had been through worse.

On closer inspection, I realized that I had internal bleeding but still had a good two hours before it would kill me.

Hell was being generous with me today.

I continued to hoist myself from tree to tree.

I felt like a maggot, it was humiliating, but at least I was alive.

"In hindsight, if I had known she would react so violently to an attack from me, I would have attacked her and kept my PP," I thought.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Those PP could have helped me level up.

But I had invested in the idea that my best chance came from that Knight I didn't even know.

Sometimes I didn't understand my own ideas.

As I moved a little further, I saw a dirt road beyond the forest I was in.

I wasn’t sure what to do. "Being exposed is a bad idea, but my best chance of survival might be to be found by a player in the mood to save a life." I thought.

I decided to give it a try and hoisted myself to the nearest tree by the road.

With my back turned to the ground, my legs dragging, I gave it my all to pull my body forward.

I leaned my back against a tree trunk, in the shade. I was in view if someone passed by.

In my condition, I couldn't see any way to earn DP to survive my injuries.

"Maybe by climbing up to the Knight, she probably killed him, and maybe she hasn't sold his armor?" I thought.

But looking at my map, I saw that I was several kilometers away.

No chance I could make it there with the little energy I had left.

"She really threw me far," I thought, with a certain admiration.

My eyes were a little less sensitive to the light now, I was getting used to the sun.

I checked my screen again, I had a bit less than two hours left to live.

Not knowing what to do with that time, I looked at my chain and decided to analyze it.

"MEDIUM-QUALITY CHAIN! 37/50 HP ! 120 PP!"

"Medium quality? Seriously? The guy had everything in superior quality, premium all the way... And when I need points, I end up with the item of the lowest quality?" I thought, with bitterness.

But on second thought, a chain that a level 7 could break couldn't be of very good quality.

Selling it wouldn't be enough to level up.

I needed 160 DP in total.

By examining my clothes, I saw that they were worthless.

Once again, I was just a few points away from survival.

"40 DP must be obtainable without too much difficulty," I thought.

I just had to find some berries or feathers that would earn me a few PP.

But with my eyes that I couldn't open properly and my EP dwindling like melting snow, I couldn't afford to move much.

Suddenly, I felt my head drop.

I lost consciousness once again.

.

A distant noise woke me up.

I was still in the same place.

With a quick glance at my screen, I saw that I had about twenty minutes left to live.

"Damn," I thought.

I was about to move and try to find something to sell when I heard a sound approaching.

It was music.

Childish music.

I turned my head and saw a carriage coming closer.

It was made of thick red and black wood.

Two large horses in armor pulled it.

Some kind of megaphone was attached to the roof, playing a strange tune.

There was no coachman, no one driving this strange vehicle.

It advanced and stopped right in front of me.

There were no windows or doors. Then a wooden panel lowered, held by two small ones on each side.

The interior of the carriage was so dark that it was impossible to see what was inside.

A sign just above indicated: "Buying and selling." And "No credit given."

"A merchant?" I thought.

"Well, here's a customer in a sorry state," a voice emerged from the shadows.

I tried to see, but I couldn't make out anything.

"How many points do you need to level up?" he asked.

I moved my lips, but no sound came out.

I cleared my throat and felt a pain that made me shed a few tears.

Then I raised my head and tried to speak again.

"160..." I told him.

My voice was hoarse, I didn't recognize it, my vocal cords might have been damaged.

"Let's see..." he said.

I waited for his response.

"You give me your chain, and I'll give you enough points to level up," he said.

I opened my eyes wide, then immediately closed them. I had forgotten the pain of letting so much light into my pupils.

My chain was my main survival tool, but selling it was better than dying.

I grabbed the chain to fold it and hand it to him, but I stopped when he spoke again.

"No, not that one. The small one around your neck," he said.

"My little chain? Why?" I thought.

It was a much easier choice, this chain didn't serve me much. But strangely, the idea of selling it seemed unacceptable, as if its value was immeasurable.

I gently shook my head from side to side in refusal and extended my larger chain.

"Mmmh..." I heard.

He seemed to be thinking.

"That one is not worth 160 PP... But if you add your boots, I'll take it," he said.

"My boots? They are worthless. But if that's the price to pay to survive, I'll gladly give them," I thought.

I extended the chain a little more, and a muscular arm grabbed it.

There was indeed a human inside.

Removing my boots was going to be difficult.

I pointed at them, hoping he understood that I couldn't take them off and hand them over.

"Wait," he said.

I heard a metallic sound, then a tiny metal creature emerged from his small window.

A robot.

It looked like a toy. Its head was round, and its hands were pincers. It made a sound like running water as it advanced.

It jumped to the ground, and without hesitation, its pincers grabbed my boot and pulled until it came off.

I felt a sharp pain, my foot was swollen and red.

But the robot didn't stop there, it went to pull off my other boot.

Once retrieved, it jumped back inside the carriage.

Springs had been placed in its small legs, which looked like metal rods.

"The deal is done," said the voice.

Then he added, "If you change your mind about your little chain, I've marked a hideout on your map, that's where you'll find me."

Then the wooden face of the carriage closed, and the horses started walking again.

I looked at my screen, panicked. It didn't display anything.

I wanted to shout to call him back.He must have forgotten to pay.

"Come back..." my voice faltered, almost a whisper.

The childish music resumed, and the carriage became smaller and smaller on the horizon.

Then my screen showed a gain of 160 PP.

He had paid.

I allocated all my points to my debt bar.

All the pain disappeared.

My legs moved again.

It was an indescribable relief.

I stood up and looked at the red vehicle in the distance. I had just escaped death, but it wasn't time to rest. I needed to find out what secrets this carriage held.