Upon exiting the old man's dwelling, Glen was suddenly seized by a sense of being watched.

Instinctively, he followed his intuition and his gaze alighted on the second floor of the house across the way.

All was quiet there. Seemingly, there was nothing amiss. The windows were but pools of inky blackness.

"Who resides there?" Glen murmured sotto voce, as if posing the question to someone else yet equally to himself.

Rummaging once more through his memories, he was certain that he had never set eyes on the owner of the house opposite the old man's.

"Hehehe..."

A hoarse, subdued laugh emanated from behind him, diverting Glen's attention.

He turned his gaze towards the old man, seated within the house, half - veiled in the shadows.

"The fellow over there is quite affluent. You might give some thought to paying him a visit."

This old man... Glen couldn't be bothered with him and replied with a nonchalant, "I'll consider it."

...

Glen made his way out of the town. His destination was the site where he had been attacked the previous night. He intended to retrieve that revolver.

Now that he had crossed over into this world, ensuring his survival was of paramount importance. Only afterward could he contemplate leading a more comfortable existence.

Although the town still exuded an eerie atmosphere during the day, there was no immediate peril. Otherwise, the previous owner would have perished long ago.

Along the way, he encountered no other townsfolk coming or going. He was alone, and the chirping of birds was a scarce melody.

When Glen returned to the place where he had regained consciousness the day before, the scene that greeted him instantly heightened his sense of vigilance.

The revolver was conspicuously visible. He spotted it at a single glance.

However, the corpses had been reduced to a gruesome mess of minced flesh and strands of hair still attached to the scalp.

Are there wild beasts here? A shiver ran down Glen's spine.

He took a few steps forward and retrieved the revolver. He had planned to make a hasty departure, but then an odor that instinctively repelled him wafted into his nostrils.

Unable to discern the direction from which the odor originated, Glen remained rooted to the spot. His eyes scanned left and right, and his fingers tightened around the shotgun he had wrested from the old man.

He had checked; the shotgun was capable of firing three rounds, sufficient to deal with common wild beasts.

The odor grew stronger, an omen that something dreadful was approaching!

This place truly is... Glen maintained an outward calm, yet his mind was on full alert.

A faint sound reached his ears, like that of a creature treading on dried leaves.

The sound drew nearer, its every nuance so subtle that, were it not for Glen's inexplicably sharpened hearing, he would have been oblivious to it.

Those footsteps seemed to fall in perfect rhythm with Glen's heartbeat, causing beads of sweat to form involuntarily on his forehead.

He still could not determine the direction from which the sound was coming, and his field of vision revealed nothing. This sense of helpless anticipation, of waiting for danger to strike, grated on him.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Rustle...

Suddenly, the sound ceased, and the surrounding world was plunged back into a silence that was anything but reassuring.

In an instant, Glen felt the hairs on his body stand on end, and a chill swept over his back.

Damn it! It's behind me!

Even as he cursed inwardly, his body executed a lightning - fast roll to the side. Yet, the anticipated attack did not materialize.

Filled with bewilderment, Glen crouched down to take a look.

The danger was indeed lurking behind him.

It was a colossal black beast, roughly the size of a horse. It bore a striking resemblance to a wolf, with a solitary eye centered on its forehead. Its head was disproportionately large compared to its body, and its mouth stretched from one side of its neck to the other. Its menacing fangs, partially exposed beyond its lips, were enough to send a chill down anyone's spine. The creature as a whole was a terrifying sight to behold.

At that moment, the monster was regarding Glen with a quiet intensity, a glimmer of wariness in its single eye.

Glen wordlessly leveled the shotgun at the beast. He was uncertain whether the firearm could fell this monster. With no information about this creature to be found in his memories, he refrained from pulling the trigger until it showed signs of aggression.

Translucent saliva trickled down like a string of connected pearls. The monster kept licking its snout with its tongue, as if yearning for something.

The man and the beast stared at each other for a few seconds.

Finally, the monster started to move slowly, edging closer to Glen. Its sharp teeth gradually became fully exposed, and a low growl rumbled from its throat.

Glen knew that with such a huge beast approaching, there was no way he could defeat it. So, he made a resolute decision and pulled the trigger!

Bang!

Blood spurted out on the beast's forehead, eliciting a heart - rending howl.

But Glen could see clearly that the bullet hadn't penetrated. The metallic sheen glimmered in the flesh above the single eye.

Without pausing, he reloaded with lightning speed and fired the second shot!

However, the beast didn't give Glen another chance.

Right before Glen's wide - eyed stare, the beast dodged to the side at an incredibly unreasonable speed, narrowly avoiding the bullet.

"Fuck!" Glen took aim again, preparing to fire the third shot. But a gust of bloody wind rushed towards him! The glistening white fangs were right in front of his eyes!

"Get away!" Glen's body jerked backward violently. He exerted all his strength to twist his waist and abdomen, delivering a powerful roundhouse kick that shot straight up and landed on the beast's chin.

Years of combat experience were deeply engraved in his soul, even though this body wasn't originally his.

The moment his foot connected, Glen felt as if he had kicked an iron block. His sole went numb from the shock.

Yet, this roundhouse kick was delivered with full force. Thanks to Glen's enhanced physique, the beast, weighing over eight hundred kilograms, was sent flying backward and performed a backflip!

Glen lost his balance and crashed onto the grass. He quickly sprang up to his feet.

The beast, having endured that kick, knew Glen was not someone to be trifled with. So, it hesitated instead of charging forward rashly.

Glen was panting heavily. The leg that had delivered the kick was trembling non - stop. But at this moment, he absolutely couldn't show any sign of weakness. Otherwise, all that awaited him was the beast's brutal hunting.

Whether it was because it had tasted human flesh or just its inherent nature, the beast, after pacing for a few seconds, lunged at Glen once more.

Glen immediately tried to dodge, but their speeds were far from comparable. The beast's huge jaws clamped down on his ankle. With a sudden toss of its head, Glen felt as if the world was spinning.

His body crashed heavily to the ground. Pain overwhelmed his entire body. As soon as his vision cleared, he saw the gaping maw of the beast looming over him. The aura of death was more distinct than ever, and his heart was pounding at an extremely rapid rate!

In an instant, the substance filling his blood vessels suddenly boiled. Glen felt that it was out of instinct that his body underwent a drastic change. His right hand lashed out instinctively.

A tearing sound, accompanied by the beast's howl, resounded through the forest.

Glen felt as if his eyes were covered by a thin layer of blood - colored gauze. His mind was filled with a raging desire to kill, a craving for blood, and a longing to destroy everything!

He already had the intention of killing his opponent, so he launched himself at the beast, and the two engaged in a fierce fight.

They were evenly matched in strength, but Glen still retained his combat instincts. Thus, he easily gained the upper hand.

In less than a short while, the beast's skin was turned inside out, its bones were exposed, and its body was in a pitiful state.

After taking a few more blows, the beast was pinned to the ground by Glen's hand, too scared to move, and let out whimpering sounds of pleading and submission.

Glen was about to finish it off, but a glimmer of clarity returned to his frenzied eyes. Then, he regained his complete rationality.

He stood there, stunned for a long time, feeling the surging violence welling up inside him. A look of bewilderment crossed his face.

He lowered his head to look at the hand that was pinning the beast down. Black, needle - like hairs covered his entire arm. The sharp claws glistened with a cold light. Coupled with the wolf's snout that came into view below, it all spoke volumes.

He had transformed into a werewolf!