My head hung down.

My ankle was bound by a chain, and my hands were tied behind my back.

I felt like a piece of meat being aged to enhance its flavor.

The little man who had captured me had left me there, in his makeshift camp in the middle of the forest.

Strangely enough, the trees didn't attack us.

There must have been different species of trees or something that made them aggressive.

Regardless, my situation was worrisome, and I needed to find a way out.

I began to sway from side to side.

A few Yards away, there was a branch I could reach with my free leg.

I swung back and forth, back and forth, until I managed to grab the branch with the tip of my shoe.

I was in an uncomfortable position, and I didn't think I had enough strength to pull my entire body up using just the tip of my foot.

"And now?" a voice said, making me shudder and let go of the branch.

It was the little man who had returned.

He had his lance strapped to his back and his arms loaded with canvas bags.

My body continued to sway, and I looked at him, my head upside down and a knot in my stomach.

He didn't seem bothered by what he had just witnessed.

He stepped forward, placed his bag on the ground, and began to pull on the part of the chain he had attached to a tree, slowly lowering me down.

Once I was on the ground, he tied my feet together.

"Try not to break anything," he said simply.

Then he took out some sort of apple from one of the bags he had brought.

It looked like an apple, but instead of being round, it was angular, with many sides.

It seemed like a machine-made piece, too perfect to come from the earth or fall from a tree.

He tossed it between my legs.

I looked at it with great curiosity, and he noticed.

"You arrived here not long ago, didn't you?" he asked.

I raised my head without responding.

"If he knows I'm a beginner, he'll think I'm an easy target and..." I stopped thinking for a moment, then realized there wasn't much more he could do to me; I was already his prisoner.

So, I decided to answer. "Yes, yesterday."

He simply nodded upon hearing that response.

"You'll get used to it... We all do..." he said bitterly.

Strangely, I sensed uneasiness in him, as if he felt guilty for keeping someone captive.

"So, what are you planning to do with me?" I asked, hoping to see if there was an escape route or if despair was making me hallucinate.

"We'll see," he simply said, picking up a black tuber from one of his bags before sitting against a tree.

His response wasn't "I'm going to kill you," and he didn't seem to need food, so I wasn't a meal for him.

The worst possibilities were therefore ruled out for the moment.

That was pretty good news.

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye; he was eating the strange tuber he had taken, his face expressionless as he chewed.

He seemed to notice my gaze.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I lowered my eyes and decided to eat as well.

I raised my legs and bent my back to grab a piece of the fruit with my teeth.

I managed to sink my teeth in and tear off a piece of the strange grayish fruit.

Apart from its mechanical appearance, it tasted good.

Slightly tangy and very sweet, with the juice flowing.

The inside was white and contrasted with its outer appearance.

At that moment, I realized I was famished, so I decided to take another bite, and then another.

I had barely finished when the man tossed another fruit at me.

I looked at him for a moment, thinking how considerate he was.

"I would have thought he'd give me the minimum to keep me alive, but I'm actually going to be able to eat my fill!" I thought.

I quickly devoured the second fruit.

My technique for eating without using my hands became more and more efficient.

This fruit was so dense that eating two pieces was enough to fill my stomach.

I raised my head, and he threw me a third apple.

That's when I realized something was off.

"No thanks, I'm full!" I told him.

"Eat," he replied coldly.

I looked at him; his eyes were bloodshot, and there was something obsessive in his gaze, something mad.

I obeyed and bent down to eat the fruit, this time more slowly.

In a discreet manner, I whispered, "Show up."

And the screen appeared.

This time, not in front of my eyes, but just above, facing me.

I looked up, which must have made my captor think I was looking at him.

My profile seemed the same, the same stats...

The only thing that had changed was my experience level.

I was now at 50 XP out of 120.

I thought it must be a few points gained for "First time being captured," or something of the sort.

But 10 XP seemed little.

I whispered again to see the details of my gains.

There, just below the "Swan Dive," there were 5 experience points and 5 potential points that had been added twice for eating two Secret Fruits.

"Secret Fruits? That's what I just ate, I suppose. And what are 'potential points'?" I wondered.

But the biggest question was why he was giving me experience points.

What was his objective?

Was I like an animal he was fattening up before devouring it?

Or was he going to level me up and then kill me to gain a bunch of points?

I imagined all sorts of scenarios, and they all led to the same conclusion: I must find a way to escape before discovering what he was planning to do with me.

It took me several minutes to finish the third fruit, and immediately he threw another one at me.

He was still sitting against his tree, staring at me and occasionally glancing down.

He was looking at his screen, probably having developed his perception and monitoring any changes in my stats.

Could he see my experience bar rise? Or just my level?

My experience had increased by 5 more points, and once again, it mentioned that I had gained 5 potential points.

I needed to know what they were for.

I lowered my head once more and pretended to bite into the fruit. With my mouth hidden, I whispered, "More information about potential points."

The screen shifted, this time to my right, close to my thigh.

It displayed a new bar I had never seen before and some explanations.

The bar didn't seem to have a maximum; it was filled with 15 points.

The explanation read, "POTENTIAL POINTS CAN BE USED AS CURRENCY! CONVERT THEM INTO XP POINTS OR DEBT POINTS!"

"These points are the most flexible and useful to have, it seems. The ability to convert them into experience points means I'm actually gaining 10 XP for each fruit. That's huge!" I thought.

I took a bite of the fruit and began to chew.

"After all, if he wants to level me up, I'd be foolish to refuse," I thought afterward.

My situation seemed like a waiting game.

With potential points in reserve, I could surprise him by leveling up all at once. Then I could allocate all my points to strength, which should enable me to break my chains.

The problem with this idea was that if I waited too long, he might simply put his plan into action, and I would lose my opportunity to escape.

And this man had more experience in this game than I did; he had probably done this before.

He would be prepared for this kind of plan.

But something puzzled me even more.

"Why doesn't he eat these fruits himself to level up? Are they poisoned? Or did I miss an important rule?"

I continued to eat my fruit, my eyes fixed on the screen, and my mind lost in thought.

Once I finished my fruit, I raised my head.

My stomach was starting to ache, and I felt nausea creeping in.

This fruit, which had been delicious at first, was becoming sickening.

My captor plunged his hand into the bag he had near him, hesitated for a moment, then threw another fruit at me.

His gaze was no longer the same; madness had given way to a kind of empathy.

I couldn't understand what he was thinking.

I lowered my head toward the fruit, but just the thought of eating it made me want to vomit.

"It's okay, you can wait a bit before eating..." my captor said, hesitating before adding, "It's just that the faster you level up, the sooner we can move on. It'll be more comfortable for you," he finally said.

"More comfortable? How so? Are you planning to set me free?" I asked, feigning naivety.

"In a way... Let's just say I'm going to entrust you to people who will take care of you. Much better than if you were left alone in this place," he said, again conflicting with himself.

I said nothing.

I had just realized that I was dealing with a human trafficker.

He was leveling me up to increase my value.

I was going to be sold as a slave.