A cold sensation on my stomach wakes me up. The water has raised all the way to my waist while I was unconscious. I pull my body away from the river and drag myself to dryer land. Lying on my back I see the sun is still high on the sky. My whole body feels numb. I don’t have the strength to stand up. I don’t even have the strength to sit. All I can do is lie on the ground and bask in the sun.

To distract myself from the pain I open my status screen. There is nothing else I can do.

Level 2 Hit Points 4/16 Stamina 2/20 Mana Points 11/32

STRENGTH: 10

INTELLIGENCE: 16

DEXTERITY: 11

SPEED: 20

CHARISMA: 2

Everything is low. Dangerously low. I need to do something about my HP and stamina. The numbness and pain across my body is almost unbearable. The wet clothes sticking to my body feel unnaturally heavy. The pleasantly warm sunlight only reminds me of the poor state I am in.

“I…need to…d-do something…” lying on the ground won’t fix anything. The scary guard may come find me. Some wild animal may find me. I need to find a safe place to recover. I need to find a way to recover.

My stomach hurts. At first I have no way of telling if it is because of the fight, because of the cold or because of the hunger. Soon enough, the familiar sounds confirm to me that there is nothing wrong with my body, or at least that’s what I hope. The crams on my stomach continue to assault me as I let myself get dry by the sun. I would have never imagined being hungry could be this painful. A pain completely different from the bruises on my skin or the tiredness of my muscles. My body is desperately telling me that I need food.

I think to myself that it makes sense. I have not been eating properly since I got here. In fact I have not been eating at all. A lot has happened to me since I came to this world and I have failed to take care of this body. If the stamina stat refers to actual stamina then it makes sense that a proper meal and some rest would help me recover it. Listening to the needs of my body may be the most intelligent thing to do in this situation.

In other words, now that the danger is gone I can’t help but feel hungry.

With a goal in mind, I force myself to get up. Now the problem is where to find food. I slowly walk the unfamiliar forest. Every step forward is a challenge. The small slope of the riverbank took a heavier toll on me than I expected. Instead of just walking straight, I am now forced to use the trees around me to support my own weight. Just traversing the few meters between them without tripping takes all of my strength.

The river behind me has been completely engulfed by the forest. With no landmarks to guide me, the autumn foliage surrounds me in all directions. I have no idea how long I have been walking or where am I going.

Out of breath, I decide to stop to rest for a moment. I don’t want to think about the fact my legs gave up and I find myself unable to stand up. I twist my body and get comfortable leaning on a tree instead.

“Of course it was not going to be that easy…” No animal is going to jump in front of me and conveniently let me eat it. No one wants to be eaten. Memories of the nature documentaries I used to watch as a kid start popping up in my mind. All the clever ways predators had for hunting down their prey. How herbivores evolved to run and hide from those same predators. Of course it was going to be hard. I was very lucky to find those wolves so easily. In fact, what I am going to do if I run into wolves or other monsters now? Pointlessly looking around does little to put my mind at ease. I am in no shape to run or defend myself.

With a heavy sigh I rest my head on the tree. Embraced by the warmth of the sun and with the rustling leaves as my lullaby I start to fall asleep. As I close my eyes the hunger starts unearthing more old memories.

These rose tinted memories of a younger me eating happily with my family in front of the tv are not real. They cannot be real, I never had that kind of relationship with them. My father never ate with us. He spent most nights drunk, sleeping with random whores. My sister never smiled at me like that. Even as a kid, all she did was bully me. My mother’s cooking was never this good. Just entertaining the idea of yearning for her food fills me with disgust. A small smile forms in my lips. As my consciousness drifts away I wonder who was the first one to find my corpse. I would have loved to see their faces while they clean the mess I left behind.

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The sound of dry grass being crushed wakes me up. I lethargically open my eyes and find myself lying sideways on the ground. The forest around me is cold and dark but the dim evening sunlight passing through the leaves is enough to let me see. In front of my face, the source of the noise frantically sniffs the air.

I guess the creature could be described as a hare. Sure, it may be lacking those iconic long ears but I refuse to think of an animal this big as a rat. In fact its brown fur and six legs make it somewhat resemble a flea. The hare uses the oversized teeth on its snout to dig the ground. The bizarre way they bend make them look less like tusks and more like a helmet.

My first instinct is to freeze in fear. As I see it hop around all I can do is hold my breath and wish it goes away. It takes me a while to realize how good an opportunity this is. The hare seems to be ignoring me. All it does is dig a few millimeters and move to the next spot, occasionally stopping to sniff the air. That’s when I notice my cloak is the colour of the bushes around me. It has not seen me yet.

I need to think carefully about my next move. I cannot waste this chance. For a moment I consider using /steal/ to aggro it. I decide against it. I have no way of telling whether getting hit by /steal/ would make it react like that white wolf did or not. It may just run away in fear. Either way, it doesn’t look like this thing has any useful skills. I don’t want to waste what little MP I have left.

Instead, I turn around to align myself to the ground. Moving is still a hassle. Just pulling my weight with my arm sends waves of pain through my body. The twigs and leaves crackling under me are enough to make the hare stop and start scanning its surroundings. The thing is alert but it hasn’t tried to flee yet.

I slowly ready my body trying to make as little noise as possible. I separate my chest from the ground and slowly rise my hips. I try reaching for the dagger on my belt but stop when I hear the rustling of my cloak. I would never be able to unsheathe it before it runs away. I firmly place my hands on the ground and carefully position my feet to start running. All the hare does is look around, frantically sniffing the air above its head.

Waiting for my chance to strike the world fades around me. Time seems to drag to a halt . The only thing in my mind is the prey in front of me.

I have no idea how long it took but the hare eventually drops its guard and starts digging again. The tired muscles on my legs tense as a twig loudly breaks under my foot. I curse in my mind but there is nothing I can do about it. That sound is my starting shot now. I kick the ground and propel myself at the hare. The loud noise is of course enough to startle the animal. As soon as I move it leaps backwards into the air and stares right back at me.

I really wanted to end it with a surprise attack. I really wanted to give it a painless death. It is too late now. Crashing with it midair, I pounce the hare with all my strength. Like a feral animal I dig my teeth into the furry creature. The taste of blood and the prickling of its fur fill my mouth. Using /bite/ is enough to quickly crush its fragile body.

With the sound of fractured bones and a horrifying screech the hare’s life ends.

I quickly spit it out but the sensation refuses to leave my mouth. The instinct to puke overcomes me despite having nothing on my stomach to puke. With a sore throat and a fast beating heart I lie down next to my prey.

“I did it…I did it…I did it!” A satisfied smile starts forming in my face as the unpleasantness starts to fade away. The growling on my stomach eagers me to start eating the hare.

“What should I do with it? How should I cook it?” With clumsy movements I sit and stare at the dead hare. “Stew? Curry? Stuffed? Maybe I could bath it in some oranges~”

Of course that wishful line of thinking ends up leading nowhere. My culinary skills are limited to turning on the microwave.

After some consideration, I decide that I need a fire. The forest around me is filled with dry leaves and brushwood. Gathering stuff to burn was no problem. The problem was how to start the fire. I have nothing as convenient as matches or a lighter. There is not enough sunlight and I have nothing I can use as a lense. I try twirling a twig but nothing happens. Making embarrassing poses doesn’t make a fireball appear. Striking two rocks together only made them shatter in my hand, leaving me with nasty cuts.

Eventually, I got a small spark after hitting a rock with my dagger. Repeating this success was hard at first but since I knew it could be done I kept trying until I got it. Actually starting the fire was also rather difficult. The wind kept putting out the embers and no matter how many sticks I added they would not burn. By the time I got a flame big enough to cook it was already nighttime.

Even after all this work, I still had no idea what to do with the hare. Driven by the hunger I decide to just throw it into the fire. I don’t need anything fancy, I just want to eat.

At first I was worried it would burst into flames but instead it almost put out the campfire. I kept desperately adding dry leaves until I saw the fur slowly catch fire. From time to time I would stab it to see if it was ready but blood and other fluids would start pouring, setting back the whole process again. I eventually reached the conclusion it was best to leave it alone. I threw in more brushwood and watched it burn.

Once the situation stabilized, I sat back and relaxed watching my meal get cooked. The scenery around me was completely shrouded in darkness. The only light as far as my eyes could see was my improvised campfire. Neither the stars nor the faint moonlight could shine through the dense foliage. The night was dead silent. Other than the sound of my own heart nothing could be heard. There where no insects, no birds, no monsters. It was almost like I was sitting in a small island of light surrounded by nothingness. Despite being alone at night in the middle of a forest, the light and warmth of the flames put my mind at ease.

With a big yawn, I decide the meat has cooked for long enough. I use a long stick to drag the hare away from the center of the flame and my dagger to cut off one of its many legs. Compared to how hard it was to cut through it, removing the skin was surprisingly easy. All I did was pull a little and most of it came off in one go. Looking closely, I cannot tell if it is cooked. At the very least it is not raw.

I cannot wait any longer. The smell entering my nose and the noises reverberating on my stomach compel me to eat. I don’t even care I don’t have any seasonings or toppings. I take the first bite.

Needless to say, it tasted awful.