“So…Let’s try to resume what happened to me,” Glenn spoke aloud, arranging his thoughts and memories to try and make sense of what was going on in his life recently.

“First,” he frowned, “Why did I get transported into this world? Did I die?” He rubbed his chin while adding a few sticks to the fire.

‘That’s weird. I was in good health and was in my bed until I woke up on that battlefield, so that excludes the truck-kun cliché. Unless a truck crashed into my house?’ Glenn laughed, shaking his head.

“Tsk, maybe the tacos did kill me…”

Maybe his sister already found his body, suffering from a deadly intoxication. What would she even write on his grave?

Killed by tacos? What the hell?

Glenn chuckled a bit more, before going back in silence. Laughing did make him feel a little better.

Only a little, though.

He rubbed his forehead, recalling any important events among his last actions on Earth. From what he remembered, it was quite a normal day.

“...Let’s see…I woke up late in the morning, due to the party from the night before. I ate breakfast, then lunch about an hour later… Then I went to uni, where nothing happened, like usual, and came straight back home.” Glenn looked at one of the grilled mushrooms, his eyebrows creased. He took it away from the fire, hesitating for a second until he shrugged and bit into it.

It was disgusting. No, actually, it just tasted like dirt. Rubber dirt.

Glenn forced himself to swallow the mushroom. He was going to need as many nutrients as he could if he wanted to live a little while longer.

But he could use something a little more tasty.

“...After I went back home, I played around a little, then ordered that taco, which took an hour and a half, this bastard…” Glenn winced as he realized he’d never have the opportunity to order food at his place ever again. Another loss he might not come back from.

“I ate the tacos, which tasted…” Glenn rubbed his nose and moistened his lips, “...Okay, I guess? Miles better than this shit anyway…”

“My night ended with that party, and that last shot of tequila. Shit, maybe it’s the party?”

Glenn seriously considered the option, but he remembered somehow managing to reach home safely and the sensation of his comfortable mattress. He was still alive enough after the party, so it probably wasn’t that… Glenn looked at the sky pensively, thinking about all the things he was going to miss out on. Graduation wasn’t far away, even though he didn’t work that hard for it. His sister was going to participate in the national fencing competition…He’ll never see it if she still participates despite his absence.

“Damn, and I even got the number of that girl…I’ll never see her again too.” Glenn looked at the fire burning, his eyes peering into the flames.

‘She was really pretty. What was her name again? Ania, Onea, uh, Olga?’ He shook his head dejectedly, ‘Whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore…’

Glenn sighed, throwing away a wet branch he wouldn’t be able to use to feed the fire. He truly was at a loss for how to feel, currently. He wanted to cry, but yet, was unable to.

He always dreamed of adventure, of exploring the unknown and filling his curiosity with the strangest stuff. That’s why he always read so many novels and played so many video games.

And now he was there, in this world, with ghouls and tentacles, human cannibals, or whatever Father Albenas was coexisting. There are TWO moons, because one isn’t enough apparently, and one of those two is a blood moon.

As if this world wasn’t ominous enough already.

“God damn it…I should have taken those sparring lessons…” Glenn regretted, thinking back to his sister’s insistence back then.

Well, what is done is done. There is no use dwelling on the past.

At least he got the adventure he wanted so much. A very, very gore adventure so far, but an adventure still.

Shit, he almost died a horrible death twice. Was that him being unlucky, or just a normal rate for the people of this world?

“...Let’s not think about that,” Glenn decided, voicing his decision aloud to try and convince himself. He steeled himself and grabbed the rabbit skewer. He pinched his nose and forcefully bit through the flesh, grimacing. It didn’t taste good. Worse than the mushroom, actually. Was that because there was no salt at all? The meat was tough and dry, with stringy fibers and not a drop of juice in it. The cherry on top was the gamey taste, which somehow felt as if it was probably made worse by Glenn’s cooking. And let’s not talk about the lack of seasoning or the charred bits.

Glenn still ate every single bit of meat on the skewer, pushing through his disgust and the terrible taste. Nothing stopped him from grimacing badly at each bite, though, so he did just that.

The sun didn’t seem like it wasn’t going to rise anytime soon, so Glenn gave up his very small hopes of seeing it. He’ll have to travel at night, and probably climb the mountain under the crimson moonlight. Hopefully, that’ll be enough light.

He stored all of the untouched, grilled vegetables in his pockets, to eat later. That’d make a small snack just in case, and he was taught to never waste anything, anyway.

Glenn held his hands above the fire for a moment, enjoying the warmth as he tried to motivate himself to move. He was probably going to need it. The higher he will be climbing, the colder it’ll get after all.

“I really hope I’ll be able to find some settlement once I’m up there…” He sighed, before shaking his head. No way in hell was he going to go back to the bloody plains or stay in the forest like a hermit.

Glenn looked at the blood moon and its little, white sister, thinking.

‘Is it this bright every night? That’d be incredibly disturbing if it is. Living in red every night must be a little strange.’

He could see pretty well, it was a night clear of any clouds.

‘Unless it’s not strange, and everyone is used to it. Then, I’m the strange one,’ thought Glenn with a chuckle. He then imagined the world draped under crimson darkness forever, before shrugging the image off.

If there were moons, there has to be a sun, right? There wouldn’t be any moonlight without a sun, after all. Or suns.

Unless the rules of reality are broken in this world? Then Glenn could not expect anything. Full unknown ahead.

“...How exciting,” he muttered with a deadpan tone, searching through the shadows of the forest for any threat before he departed. He picked the largest branch and lit it up on fire, waving it around to test the safety of the torch.

“...It probably won’t last that long…Alright, let’s go then—”

Howl!

Glenn froze, listening to the sound of the forest. The wind had died on his own at some point, and the bats had stopped flying, but the wolves…the wolves kept on howling. And that howl was quite close.

Too close.

He hurriedly kicked the campfire into the river, extinguishing it, before grabbing his sword and leaving the temporary camp. He was almost entirely dried by now, so that was at least one issue off the list.

Howl! Howl!

Glenn felt a bead of sweat drip down his back, sending a shiver through his whole body. There were many howls, which meant many wolves too. A pack, probably.

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Uh oh.

He began to accelerate slightly, looking left and right worriedly. The mountain was getting closer, but he’d still have to walk for a good fifteen minutes. Or run. Both worked, as long as he arrived at his destination.

Maybe he should run?

A bush trembled with a growl, giving the last push Glenn needed to run desperately without looking back. The sound of something running behind him extremely fast came to his ears, but he ignored the noise. He couldn’t be bothered right now.

The “something”, which was probably a wolf, became two, then three “something.” Glenn was clenching the torch tightly in his left hand, aware that this might be his only lifeline against the beasts. The howls became more ferocious, and the growls intensified.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Glenn heaved, dodging trees and roots, avoiding thick bushes and thorns. The ground was becoming rockier and the vegetation became scarcer with each step he took, encouraging him.

Then, it came to his mind that they might follow him on the mountain.

Ah. That was a problem he didn’t account for beforehand. Well, he could still hope. Glenn ran with all his strength when he suddenly stopped. He saw a shadow stare back at him in front of him. He looked back, finding a pair of yellow eyes staring at him with a mean look. He turned to the side, finding yet another pair of eyes, to the left, to the right, they were everywhere.

They stepped out of the shadows like embodiments of darkness, their pelt as black as the night.

‘Five, six…seven…Oh, and that must be the Alpha, which makes eight. Eight fucking wolves.’ Glenn bit down on his lip, clutching tightly both his sword and his torch. He waved the fire around, pushing back the beasts, for the exception of one that was particularly massive.

It had a long, mean white scar on its left eye, giving him the scariest look among all the wolves. Glenn knew this was his opponent. Well, all of these wolves were his opponents, technically, but the only one that wasn’t scared of fire was this Alpha.

“...Come on, fuck off!” Glenn spat as he lunged with the torch, the wolf jumping back to safety, slowly turning around him. He glanced at the mountain. It wasn’t that far. He could make a run for it.

He just needed a distraction. His sword in his right hand, and his torch in his left hand, he carefully took a step forward, toward the mountain. One step at a time. The wolf backed off as soon as the fire approached them, the Alpha playing a little too close to it for Glenn’s taste. Its tail was drifting on the floor, raising small clouds of dust as the beast prepared to attack. Its fangs, incredibly long and large, were yellow, and probably sharp enough to chew through any armor.

The Alpha growled and clacked his fangs, before lunging forward, its maw wide open to try and rip Glenn’s arm. Thankfully, he was prepared for such an eventuality. With precision that could probably defy the best baseball players, he threw the torch straight into the beast’s throat like he would have done for a javelin. He threw a javelin only once in his life before, and it had been much less graceful. The wolf didn’t seem to be expecting such a thing and whined as the torch lit his throat on fire. The other wolves looked at their leader confusedly, wondering how the Alpha could possess the sole thing they feared, before concentrating back on Glenn.

Sadly for them, Glenn was already a dozen meters away, running as fast as he could.

“Fuck, I can’t believe it worked!” He grunted and jumped over a collapsed tree. The river he bathed in was to his right and came from the mountain. Logically, if he followed the river, he should arrive safely to his objective.

And then he’ll probably have to fight off the wolves without fire.

‘That’s a problem for future me to think of, right now I need to go there!’ Glenn gritted his teeth and accelerated, dashing through the vegetation. The wolves finally came to their senses, abandoning their burning leader and running after Glenn.

Glenn’s eyes gleamed in relief as he finally arrived at the mountain’s foot, and without wasting a second, he began climbing it. There were some kind of natural stairs carved into the mountain, which Glenn used to climb as fast as he could.

When he thought back to it, it seemed a little unlikely that stairs would simply naturally carve themselves, so he just accepted it to be a man-made path. And man-made paths meant humans nearby! If that wasn’t a good piece of news, he didn’t know what was.

The wolves reached the bottom of the mountain a second later and stopped in front of it. Glenn turned back, his sword firmly clenched in his right hand, heaving raggedly as he watched them. The wolves looked at him and growled, before turning and going back into the forest. Glenn breathed in and out for a moment, unable to come up with a reaction. Then…

“FUCK YEAH!! HAHA!!” Glenn laughed, sitting on the stairs with relief. That was a risky bet, and he won it.

“Phew, haha…that was crazy…” He wiped the sweat off his forehead and relaxed slightly. He felt much safer now; he could see his surroundings almost entirely, as much as the red moonlight allowed him to anyway. Any threats coming for his life, he’ll see them coming.

Glenn gave himself a few minutes of rest, before sheathing his sword and looking up at the mountain. It seemed high, but not that high. There was no tree, dirt, or even bushes; just a bit of moss alongside the river flowing down, but besides that, it was a very, very bare mountain. A colossal chunk of gray stone blocks the view.

“...Alright, then, let’s get this over with already.”

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The wind whistled gently on the young man sleeping in a hammock, an opened book on his face. His body was swerving left and right along the breeze, rocking him. His hands were clasped behind his neck and he was snoring lightly, the sound muffled slightly by the book.

“GLENN. MILLER!” A female voice roared from far away, calling the young man. The latter didn’t react, far too deep in his sleep and dreams. Angry steps trotted toward him, and a pale, fair hand grabbed the book and took it away, letting the rays of light assault his face. Glenn grimaced, lazily hiding his eyes with his hand. Who dared to wake him up from such a nice dream?

“I can’t believe it. Your exam is in three weeks, and yet, here you are, lazing around!” The lady yelled at him, clearly animated by purely evil intentions. Glenn simply turned away, plugged his ears, and did his best to continue his comfortable sleep.

Doing this seemed to anger the monster trying to wake him up, and he suddenly felt the hammock being inverted. He crashed down on the ground, waking him up entirely. He grunted painfully, rolling to the side before rubbing his eyes. He pushed himself from the ground and yawned, then stretched as if nothing happened.

“What are you worried about, ma’? It’s just a test, I don’t understand what you’re getting on your high horses for.” He asked, half with confusion and the other half with mockery. He rubbed his neck, cracking it at a precise angle to relieve an annoying pain.

The lady who woke him up sighed loudly. In her mid-forties, but still very beautiful, his mother was looking at him with a mix of anger and worry. With her hands on her waist, she seemed helpless to decide whether she should beat some sense into her son, or give up the fight.

Glenn would rather have her choose the second option, of course. Her hair arrived at her shoulders, with the same brown as Glenn’s hair.

“I leave for five minutes, hoping you’ll be focusing on your lessons, and yet…” She sighed and shook her head sadly, “...Yet here you are, sleeping. What am I going to do with you?”

Glenn shrugged and took the book from his mother’s hand.

“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that…” He glanced at the author’s name, “...That reading Jankélévitch isn’t going to help me, ma’.”

He chuckled, smiling brightly at his mom. The wind picked up, making the hammock and their clothes flutter with it. The woman looked at the horizon, before gesturing at the house behind her.

“Come on, let’s get inside.”

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“Gasp…Gasp…First…I had to fight a ghoul, and take out a spear impaling me…” Glenn hissed through his teeth, taking a break from the climb. For some reason, he felt like complaining, so he did exactly that.

“Then I had to fight the tentacle monster of hell…Gasp… To then run away…from a pack of…gasp…wolves…”

Glenn stopped and leaned on the wall, one hand on his chest. His heart was beating madly, unable to follow up on the effort. He’ll have to admit, his stamina wasn’t the best, and he wasn’t training for it. Thankfully, the climbing classes were starting to show their worth, as the stairs became increasingly steeper.

On another positive note, there wasn’t a hint of wind up here, not even a breeze. Glenn had expected it to be much colder up here, but no, as a matter of fact, it was warmer. What kind of fuckery was going on, he had no idea, but that certainly made the ascension more pleasant.

His calves were starting to burn, and his lungs were desperately asking for a break, so Glenn did as his body ordered and rested. He turned his back to the mountain and looked back at the view, smiling softly at the view as he caught his breath.

The blood moon was still high in the sky, as was its little white sister. The forest, reaching far beyond the horizon, was covered in a crimson veil, hiding mysteries, wonders, and horrors.

Mostly horrors, if Glenn could trust his experience. There wasn’t anything very pleasant in that forest. Besides the holy root that saved him, of course.

All hail the root.

Glenn resumed his ascension, burning what remained of his energy to finish the rest of the climb.

“Gasp…Gasp…”

With one last effort, he pulled on his arms and arrived at the peak. The top was flat as if a giant had come and cut it with a knife to make a small platform.

“Gasp…Fuck…Phew…” Glenn wiped the sweat off his eyebrows and leaned against the cold stone.

“Phew…I’m exhausted…” He muttered, before straining and pushing himself up. He glanced at the peak, finding it to be actually, completely flat. There was no default in the cut, proving that it was something that had been man-made. How did someone cut a bit of a peak?

Glenn had no idea.

“But shit…that’s weird, that’s for sure…” Glenn frowned, and drew a deep breath, calming his racing heart. He then also realized something strange. Generally, with the change in altitude, the air should get thinner and colder, but he had no issue breathing, and he was almost too warm.

Glenn placed his hands on his waist, taking another breath. He glanced at his surroundings and rubbed his forehead.

There was something weird, and he couldn’t put his finger on what.

Well, whatever that weirdness was, it’ll have to wait for a quick break, because he was really tired right now.