John picked himself up off the floor, fighting a wave of dizziness. His vision soon returned to him, and he stared around in bewilderment. It had stopped raining. He was in a forest unlike any he had seen before. He knew it was a forest because it had trees, but that’s where the similarities ended. The trees were bizarrely shaped, and some of them even glowed strange shades of neon green, purple and orange. Plants littered the floor sporting huge, elaborate flowers and all around him the vegetation was so thick that he had difficulty seeing very far.

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“Hey! Where are you?! Show yourself!” John yelled out hoarsely. There was no response.

Not knowing what else to do, he began walking through the forest - trying to step carefully to avoid disturbing the dense foliage.

It didn’t take long for John to confirm that he was not on the island any longer. He crouched before a depression in the dirt. The trees did not let much light through, but he squinted at the ground. It looked like the footprint of a large hooved creature. There were definitely no deer, pigs or goats on the island. He had spent the last four years surviving on nothing but coconuts, fish and the occasional wild bird.

John looked up, suddenly feeling a strange prickling sensation. He felt like he was being watched.

Perception +1

There was that voice again. It sounded like a robot. John ignored it, feeling an imminent sense of danger as he peered around at the trees surrounding him. He wasn’t sure why, but his eyes suddenly focused on a dark patch of foliage. He squinted at it, his heart suddenly thudding, and he took a cautious step back.

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Perception +1

Instinct +1

Suddenly with a blur of motion, something burst out of the foliage faster than his eyes could see. A monstrous roar rang through the air just as he felt a tearing sensation across his chest. Something bowled into him, knocking him over.

Adrenaline rushing through his veins, John scrambled back to his feet. It only took him a moment to spot his attacker. Its fur was a shade of black so dark that it absorbed almost all of the light around it, and it seemed to blend into its surroundings, parts of its body appearing and disappearing as it stalked around him. Its eyes however glowed a neon green as it stared at him hungrily. John realised that it resembled a huge panther, but meaner.

He felt a throbbing pain on his chest and he looked down to examine the wound, seeing a deep claw mark. Fortunately the panther hadn’t penetrated deep enough enough to hit any organs, but each breath he took was painful. Might be a broken rib, he guessed. He turned his attention back to the creature, and he could see that it was assessing him. It took its time, not truly considering him a threat. Something told John that it was correct.

As John focused on the creature, he noticed some text appear above it.

Void Panther - Level 9

Level 9? What did that mean?

Suddenly John was distracted from his thoughts. The panther was gone. Literally. One moment it was there. The next it wasn’t. Feeling a prickling sensation along his neck, John threw himself down to the ground, a razor sharp claw piercing the air where his throat had just been.

Instinct +1

Oh shut up! John thought in his mind, but he didn’t have time to fuss over the robot voice. He scrambled to his feet and started running before he even straightened up. He ran madly through the strange forest, jumping over logs and shoulder-barging through vegetation. All the while he could still sense that he was in a deadly crisis, the panther hot on his trail. He didn’t dare turn to look back, not willing to slow down in the slightest.