The monster's sharp teeth made metallic clashes as it chewed on the flesh of the creature it had just killed, blood dripping from its mouth. It stopped right next to the viperwolf Eric had just killed and sniffed the carcass a few times before opening its mouth and proceeded to devour it.

The sounds of crunching echoed through the silent forest as bones crushed under its bite. Eric's stomach churned at the sight of ViperWolf's intestines being swallowed like spaghetti.

After devouring half of the corpse, the monster raised its head and looked around. It sniffed the air as its head moved from side to side, ears perked, as if searching for something.

Glancing behind the trees, Eric's heart pounded as he saw the monster moving. He didn't know if it was looking for him or sensing another presence, but either way, he wasn't taking any chances.

Don't move! Don't even breathe!

He put a hand to his mouth as he huddled behind the tree, no longer looking at the monster for fear of being spotted peeking.

The sniffing continued for a few minutes before it stopped, along with the sound of heavy footsteps. Eric looked to see why, but his body froze, rooted to the spot. The monster looked in his direction. Its four red eyes locked with his brown human one. Fresh blood was still dripping from its mouth.

Eric dared not breathe or move as his heart raced. His calm expression didn't match his desperate thoughts.

Run! Run!

His survival instinct urged him to run for his life, but part of his mind remained rational. The moment he saw the bear's level, he recognized the gap between them and knew that his chances of escape were slim to none.

Assuming that all attributes increased by one point with each level, using this logic, the level 129 bear had at least 129 points in all of its attributes, and that's ignoring its initial stats. It was safe to assume that the monster had at least 150 points in all of its attributes, which was more than ten times more than Eric.

The monstrous bear took a step toward Eric's hiding place, making his heart pound even harder. His mind raced for a plan, but he knew he couldn't defend himself, especially after he saw its level and the huge gap between them. Even though he didn't want to take the words of the video game interface as a reliable source, the fresh memories of that monster devouring his friend and the other people still plagued his mind. And the unusual shape of the monster, which resembled a mixture of different animals, didn't help either.

Eric's pupils dilated as the monster suddenly stood on its hind legs.

Fuck! It's at least 12 feet high!!

After taking a full look at the monster, Eric's initial decision to struggle in case it attacked him was quickly extinguished. He calculated his odds of winning and the results were :

No chance of survival!!

Eric scanned the area for anything that could keep this creature away when an enraged roar echoed, threatening to burst his eardrums. Without wasting a second, he bolted straight away, not even bothering to check whether it chased him.

Eric's thoughts were pretty simple:

When a strong scary monster roars, that's your cue to get the fuck out of here!!

Eric slipped between the trees during his escape, but it was hard to maneuver with the small gap between each tree. He slammed into some of them, causing purple marks to appear. thorns scratched his skin, some almost caused him to fall, but he quickly regained balance and continued his sprint.

If I'm struggling this much, then that monster may not be able to - he stole a glance behind, but his expectations were dashed as it saw what happened. His face drained out of the color and his eyes snapped wide open.

You gotta be kidding me!!

The Bear wasn't struggling at all; It just ran straight through the trees as it chased after him. Some trees swayed to the side, while others just snapped, unable to offer any kind of resistance against the creature's strength as it paved a path.

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Eric jumped aside, dodging a trunk thrown his way. He panted, sweat and blood covered his body as a result of not dodging some branches thrown at him in time. His body felt on fire, Legs sore and Muscles screamed. He was exhausted and reaching his limit as his vision blurred, but despite the pain and the thoughts that tempted him to just give up, He kept running, with gritted teeth and sheer will.

This won't do! I can't keep running like this. Sooner or later it will catch up! It's just a matter of time, that's all!!

His face drained of color due to all the blood loss. Consciousness slowly slipped and threatened to fall into eternal slumber. Just as he was about to collapse, the eyes that were on the verge of closing snapped wide open as he caught a glimpse of something ahead–Something that could give him a chance of surviving this hopeless chase.

He shifted his escape direction, heading left. With gritted teeth, he forced his sore legs to keep moving. One leg at a time. The increasing roars behind him served as nothing more than motivation to keep running without looking back.

Eric's eyes shone when he was within reach of the only thing that could help him at that moment.

The river!!

A cold shiver ran down his spine as danger bells rang in his mind. Turning back, his pupils dilated in horror as he caught a glimpse of the monster's thick paw reaching for him. Its claws grew three times longer as it extended from its paw. With a swing, all trees that stood in the way were swept away. Snapped in half and flew high in the air. The swing continued slamming into Eric.

The first thing Eric felt was the wind, the raging wind that threatened to burst his pupils if he didn't close his eyes. Then he couldn't feel the ground anymore, his legs dangled in the air. He was no longer on the ground, but flying high in the sky. And finally came the pain. The horrible stabbing pain that made even death taste sweeter compared to suffering this pain.

Am I...going to die?!!

Eric lost consciousness as his mind couldn't handle the pain coupled with all the blood he lost, causing his entire body system to shut down.

But after a while, he was shocked awake as he felt a refreshing yet cold shiver on his skin. He was in the water. It was cold and he couldn't breathe.

His vision blurred and didn't know which way was up or down. He just frantically moved his hands towards the light.

A big splash of water flew as Eric emerged. He coughed a mouthful of water before taking a deep breath. His vision cleared and he found himself on the river. The monster's attack seemed to have flung him into the river. His body moved along the current with no resistance at all.

The Monster?!

He looked around and saw the beast running from the riverbank, following him. Some branches and broken trees were thrown into the river after it passed them.

Persistent Bastard!

It didn't look like it was going to jump into the river, but it wasn't willing to give up its prey.

After making sure the monster didn't jump in, he turned his attention to the other side of the river and swam. The river was deep, and Eric struggled to stay afloat while fighting the current.

The current was too strong. Tiredness quickly set in as he found himself barely moved from his spot. He gritted his teeth, took deep breaths, and moved his hands with whatever strength he had left.

He kept his head down, concentrating only on his goal, the riverbank. That's why he didn't notice a tree trunk coming straight at him. It slammed into his body, sucking all the air out of his lungs.

He clung to the trunk and took a deep breath, but a jolt of pain shot through his body like an electric current, paralyzing him. Gritting his teeth, he tightened his grip on the log before a loud noise rang in his ears, causing him to look behind him.

Startled, Eric's pupils dilated as he found himself heading toward the waterfall. Ignoring the pain, he tried to reach the riverbank before it was too late. Unfortunately, the current was too strong for him to swim in his condition. Seeing his futile struggle, he abandoned the log he was clinging to and moved away from it.

He took one last look at the monster, who stopped running and watched him heading towards the waterfall. A feeling of absolute hatred and anger filled him as he remembered what the monster had done to Alex.

When their eyes met, Eric said, "The first time we met, you killed my friend." His lips quivered. "This time you left me on the brink of death."

"I don't know if I will survive, but if I do, I promise you that the next time we meet, I will rip you apart and feast on your flesh!" his voice turned to a growl as his pupils shrank to resemble those of a beast.

As if understanding his words, the monster let out a deafening roar.

"I will definitely kill you!" He whispered these last words as gravity took over and he fell through the waterfall.

With a splash, Eric plummeted from the sky into the deep pool, sending up waves of water sprays.

His abdomen churned violently, and agony spread throughout his body as if his very organs shook inside. Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth, and he felt himself sinking and suffocating.

Dark! It's too dark!

My body refuses to move! Have I broken all my bones!

He felt paralyzed as his body refused to obey him. Water entered his mouth and slowly choked him.

Am I going to die?