Chapter 04

As the voice counted down, a fuzziness grew through my body, and everything around me slowly dimmed to black… A new world materialized in front of me. I was standing in a small opening surrounded by giant evergreen trees. The only light coming from the mesmerizing stars above. So many, it was like one of me and Kat’s camping trips, when we would just lay back and watch the Milky Way. It was bright for clearly being nighttime. I lowered my gaze and noticed the thin layer of snow covering the ground. I also noticed the black leather boots in the snow beneath me. My boots. I moved my feet and heard the snow crunch. This was incredible. How how could this not be real? As this thought swam through my brain, I heard more crunching snow. I turned to look behind me. Holy shit! Thirty feet behind me, a gray wolf was running towards me. I stumbled and fell to my knees as the beast got closer. “Shit!” I muttered and got up. I started to move, running through the snow. To where I had no idea. Just away from that wolf. The snow-covered branches whipped me across the body and face. Coldness entered me, but I just kept running. I chanced another look back, and it was definitely getting closer. Shit, this was too real. My lungs started burning. How long could I keep this pace up? When my brain finally caught up to my body, I noticed something clapping against my leg. I looked down and saw what it was—a sword. That’s right, this WAS a game, and I had a weapon. My fingers fumbled to unclasp my sword. Of course, I had never taken a sword out of its scabbard, and I was clumsy. Eventually, I pulled the short sword free and turned to face down my attacker.

Northern Wolf Level 03

A system message popped up in the corner of my vision. Ok, level three. I can do this. I held the sword in my right hand and waited for the beast to strike. One, two, and three, the Wolf leaped. It came at me faster than I thought it would, and even though I knew it was coming, I was caught off guard. I had planned to slash at it. Instead, I raised my arm up, protecting my head and neck. The damn thing bit right into my forearm. “Ahhhhh, FUCK!” It hurt like hell. Jesus, this was so damn real. The force of the jump and the weight of the beast pushed me, and I fell onto my back. The beast tearing into my arm. The edge of my vision was increasingly turning red. I assumed that meant I was taking damage. I did not need to be told. I could feel it. It was quite possibly the most painful thing I had ever encountered in my life. On the lower part of my vision, my health bar appeared. It was like the system gave me what I was thinking about. I was nearing half my HP.

The Wolf continued to rip at my arm. Violently shaking its head back and forth. I rolled to my side and pushed at the beast with my left arm. I was about to roll on top of it when the Wolf let go, rolled over, and got back up to face me, Growling and foaming with my blood between its teeth. I picked myself up and realized I had held onto the sword. Thank god. I faced the beast and gritted my teeth right back at it. Damn, fighting through the pain and facing down death. My heart was thundering in my chest, and adrenalin coursed through me. I had never felt so fucking alive. I roared a battle cry at the Wolf and swung my short sword before me. “Bring it!” I said, and the animal came at me. This time, I was ready. I swung the blade backhanded and slashed the Wolf across its face. It yelped and backed away.

You hit Northern Wolf with Rusted Short Sword for 4 damage.

Damn it, only four damage. The fucking sword didn’t even cut it. I looked at the blade.

Rusted Short Sword - This weapon has no prerequisite. Anyone can use it. But…who would want to? It’s not even sharp.

Huh, The game had a sense of humor. I wasn’t expecting that; I thought as I listened to the prompt in my head. The Northern Wolf must have noticed my lack of concentration. It came at me again. This time, it pounced left and right as if trying to confuse me. I followed my target, anger, and adrenalin fueling me. It leaped at me again, and this time, I did not slash. I stabbed forward and skewered the beast. I heard a yelp as the wolf’s weight landed on me and pushed me to the ground again.

You have hit Northern Wolf for 11 Damage

You have slain Level 03 Northern Wolf

Congratulations! You have slain your first animal. Keep at it, and one day, maybe you can do it without nearly dying.

I lay there under the dead wolf, breathing heavily. For a game as realistic and gruesome as this, the sarcastic AI prompts seemed a bit off. Hmm, maybe it was there to remind us that this is not the RL (real world).

I pushed the beast off with a grunt and slowly got to my knees. I breathed in a large breath and let it out slowly as I looked up to the stars again. They were becoming dimer, which meant it would not be long before the sun was up. I stood and looked down at myself. I didn’t have time earlier to investigate what type of armor or clothing I was wearing. It appeared that I was wearing nothing that brought up a prompt, which probably meant it was just clothing. Nothing that added any stats or armor. As I noticed before, I had a pair of black leather boots on. To go with the boots were some type of thin brown leather pants and a sleeveless shirt of some kind. Of course, it was all covered with dark, sticky blood. For only wearing a sleeveless shirt, I was surprisingly warm. I recalled that the game had said that humans learned to endure cold weather. Maybe that’s why I didn’t feel the cold.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

I stuck my sword back into its scabbard after wiping off the majority of the blood in the snow. I looked around. I was in another opening in the forest similar to the one I had started in. Nothing appeared to be nearby. The Northern Wolf’s corpse lay in a puddle of blood, melting the snow around it.

Would you like to loot this corpse? Yes / No

The instant I heard the prompt, I thought yes, and two items were instantly put into my inventory, which I learned could be found by just thinking about it.

You have received Leather Wolf Scrap - Gather 4 scraps, and a leather worker may be able to create a Leather Hide.

You have received a Wolf Heart - Eating this, preferably cooked, will regenerate your health pool. Side note: eating the raw heart of your enemy will give you strength, or more likely salmonella, consume at your own risk.

Ha, I had to laugh at the last bit about eating the heart. I supposed I wouldn’t try eating it uncooked unless I had to. I closed my inventory and looked around again. Everything looked as it had a moment ago. What was I supposed to do now? I had no quests, nothing telling where I should go. As I thought this, a map showed up in my vision. Huh, convenient. I examined it, and though almost everything around me was blacked out, except for the small portion of forest I had run through, there was a small circle to the north of me which read ‘Justara’s Refuge’. Having no other plans, I started towards the point on the map.

The sun began to rise as I walked North, up a steepening slope. The snow covering the ground got heavier, and the terrain became less tree-covered. Justara’s Refuge must be at the top of this mountain. A mountain it was, I noticed as I looked down the slope behind me. The view was magnificent. I could see an entire mountain range off to the southeast, and west the land flattened, though I couldn’t make out much else as it was under a heavy mist. I took in another large lungful of air as the sun continued to rise. I couldn’t believe how great I was feeling. I had killed my first beast, a life-threatening encounter, and now I was hiking up a mountain. If the rest of my time in Midrealm Online was anything like what I had encountered so far, this game was going to change the world.

I continued making my way towards Justara’s Refuge. The trees began to spread out, and the terrain became a lot more rocky, with large boulders spattered here and there. I stopped to take a breather when I heard it again. A soft crunching of snow somewhere behind me, it sounded far. I was pretty high up now, and the world around me was quiet. I turned, the sun reflecting off the snow, blinding me. I put my hand over my eyes and searched for the sound. It had stopped. I saw nothing, but out of precaution I started moving faster towards the Refuge.

New Quest! Kill or Outrun the Northern Wolf Pack.

You killed one of their own. Now, they want revenge. How many are there…who knows? Wolf packs can vary in size. Good Luck!

Reward: Beginners adventure’s chest. Chest contents will vary depending on Quest completion.

Holy Shit! I pulled my sword out and started running before the prompt finished. I continued to look from side to side but saw nothing. My own boots crunching the snow and my heavy breathing were loud enough that I heard nothing of the pack behind me. They were most likely gaining ground.

I chanced a look back, and yep, two wolves were damn close. On the map, Justara’s Refuge was close, but not close enough. The wolves would be on me soon. I decided to face my attackers.

I skidded to a stop on the rocky ground. The two wolves stopped, and a third came in from the left. They all began circling me. Well, fuck. Was all I would think. This would definitely be my first death. I should have kept running. One lunged in at me with a snarl, and I slashed at it, hitting on the muzzle, but of course not even cutting the damn thing. Jesus, I needed a new sword.

A second wolf leapt in and I stabbed; the only effective way I had to deal damage. I felt my blade puncture the wolf’s hide around its neck, and blood spurted from the wound as I pulled my blade back.

You have mortally wounded Northern Wolf Level 02

Yes! Maybe I could make it through this. The wounded wolf made terrible-sounding whining noises as it backed off and died slowly in the snow, creating a red contrast in an almost all-white landscape.

The other two wolves continued to circle, growling and snarling, a white froth around their mouths. This time, they both came in at once. I had time to think FUCK, as I missed my stab and got hit by both wolves. One tore into my left arm, and the other some part of my back. Somehow, I managed to throw the one on my arm off. But I stumbled forward as the wolf at my back bit again. The red began to pulse at the edges of my vision. I was close to death. The pain was unbelievable.

Just as I landed face-first in the snow, a loud twang sounded, and the wolf on top of my back yelped and fell off. I rolled over and defended myself with my sword. Nothing came, so I got to my knees. The wolf that was attacking me lay dead beside me with an arrow sticking out of its neck. I looked around and found an elven woman with long dark hair, wearing similar clothes as me, brandishing a short bow with an arrow notched, searching for the last wolf.

“Holy, Shit that hurts. Thank you.” I said

“Thank me later. Come on. I think the last wolf ran.” The elf said. She spoke with an accent.

I got up and limped my way towards the women. Together, we moved toward Justara’s Refuge. The small town sat upon a large flat area near the pinnacle of the mountain. It was not long until it came within view. We continued towards it in silence as the woman beside me seemed determined to stay alert in case anything else tried to kill us.