My eyes are open, yet I can’t see. The stillness of time permeates into my skin, stifling to my very core. I am floating, but my body feels heavy, sort of like I alone am bearing the weight of the heavens. I try to make a single movement, but my effort amounts to nothing. I am at my limit, and I tire to stay awake. I guess all I can do is sleep. But if I sleep, I believe nothing will ever be the same when I wake up again.

. .

. . .

*Bzzzzz* *Bzzzzzzzz* The singing of insects drones on.

I reluctantly open my eyes, and the grogginess from a disturbed awakening immediately dissipates, smothered by the soothing feeling of the cool and damp grass underneath me. I sit underneath a towering tree canopy, as I listen to the singing insects and the call of wild animals. In one direction, a faint trickle of flowing water is audible, and my throat tightens because I notice my thirst. I get up and stumble through the forest floor in search of sweet relief.

Upon escaping the undergrowth, I am met with an open, sparkling river straight out of a high budget nature documentary. I hardly ever visit the far outdoors, except a few times when I took summer camping trips. But the image in front of me takes the cake. It is so breathtakingly beautiful that I almost forget my thirst. I step closer until I am standing right by the riverbank. The water is clear, but that is not the only thing that catches my attention.

Myself.

The image reflected depicts a young girl unfamiliar to me. She is cute yet intimidating. Long and silky silver hair frames slightly over light brown eyes. I turn away, unable to take another second to stare into those sharp eyes staring back at me. I glance down at my body, as I raise my hands to make sure it’s still me. Large, fair-skinned hands slightly twitch back. My chest is small; it’s quite easy to tell from my part because I can see my toes just fine by looking down.

I am not me?

Did I die?

My throat becomes tight once more.

Go to the nearest capital.

Right, there's that to do. Where is the nearest capital? I glance back at the forest whence I came from; the tree shadows seemingly appearing darker. Yeah, I'm not going back there. If I do, then I'll be the next Gretel without the breadcrumbs. Besides, even if the route to civilization is through a forest, I don't have any proper supplies for a spontaneous camping trip. Or do I? 

I am wearing black tactical clothing with numerous filled pockets. I take each item out and lay them on the ground. There are a few coins of undetermined value, a pouch of pumpkin seeds, a badge, rolls of gauze, a sheathed knife, and lastly, a flask, which I assume contains either alcohol or water. I take a sip from the flask. Ugh, gross. It’s coffee milk. 

I stare at the odd collection of items, some more useful than most of the bunch. I question why pumpkin seeds and coffee milk are included, considering that I have a dislike for the taste of seed and milk. 

After putting each item back inside their respective pocket, I choose to walk upstream on a slight uphill slope. I walk for an hour or so, hoping that something appears, despite my tireless state. 

Up ahead, an unnatural formation looks to be around five kilometers away. Tall walls surround a large metropolis glittering with speckled lights, contrasting the late evening sun. On the outskirts of the city walls, people with flashy hair colors are waiting for entry. They stand in multiple lines, every one of them resembling a cut and paste anime protagonist. 

One particular line is much shorter than the others, so I walk over there to line up. The last person waiting enters the gate just as I arrive.

“Authentication, miss,” a uniformed man says in a gruff voice.

Do I have any? I recall that I have a badge; I don’t know what it represents, but it’s the only thing that is close to what he wants. I pull out the badge and flash it at him.

“Go right ahead, miss,” he says after inspection.

I walk through the gate, passing another uniformed man, though this man is older and looks much more experienced in his line of work as a gatekeeper. 

He walks to where I was standing at the checkpoint with the first guard. “Newbie, your shift is done! That girl just now, isn’t s-...? Hey, stop dozing off! Just because no one is in line doesn't mean you can take it easy!” the older guard barks. “I swear, if you slack off one more time, you'll be taking an apprentice role for the Gods know how long,” the older guard sighs.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

--- --- ---

The entryway into the city consists of a large tunnel, so the distance between the gate and the inner city is quite far apart. Perhaps this architecture is designed to give citizens and the ruler more time to escape, should they be invaded.

Upon exiting the tunnel, it appears that I am in the marketplace because of the unmistakable scene of bustling people and the hubbub of bartering. I avoid bumping into people as I make my way to check out the stalls. One stall owner is selling an assortment of strange vegetables I have never seen before, while another stall owner is selling dried meats. It’s a typical market that offers all sorts of goods that can be capitalized on. 

Scents of smoked meats and spices waft the entire street; however, that does nothing to stimulate my appetite. I focus on planning the next steps I should take for the first night. Assuming that the gate will close by nightfall, I need to find a place to sleep later. But first, I need to figure out how the currency works, and what each coin I pocket is worth.

After passing the farthest stall, take a left, two rights, and two lefts. Your destination will be on your right.

So much for my plans. I silently mumble the directions under my breath to make sure I will not forget. 

As I exit the main street and enter a side street, the atmosphere drops. Within hearing distance, the lively energy from the main street becomes background noises. I guess this is the quieter part of the city. 

With the last rays of the setting sun, I hurry over to complete the last few turns. As I make the second-last turn, I stop short once I notice a group of rough-looking men within several feet of the next corner I will have to take.

“Hey misses, I think you’re in the wrong part of town. The main street is not here,” a lanky fellow speaks up after noticing my presence.

The other two in the group stare at me, deciding to let the lanky fellow do the talking.

“No, I am here for a reason. I came from the main street,” I reply.

“Well, you must be mistaken because there are no such shops here that serve pretty ladies like you. Only seedy shops exist here serving less than favorable customers, with even fewer tastes,” he chuckles.

“Okay, thanks for the information, I’ll be on my way,” I dismiss him.

“Is that so? Why don’t we boys help guide you to your destination? We know this place like the back of our hands, and we will be more than happy to help a lost lamb,” the lanky man says as he glances at his mates like so.

“No, thanks. I’ll figure it out by myself,” I say in a mildly annoyed tone. All I need to do is take another left.

“Ah, I tried asking nicely. But you need to come with us. We’ll be taking you to a shop that will serve customers a taste of you instead,” his lips twist into a sinister smile.

That was the cue for the rest of the group to move, as they stalk towards me.

I stand up straighter, finally regarding the situation.

They move slowly, taking their sweet time to casually blow out their last puff of smoke before carelessly flicking their cigarettes to the side. 

In this narrow alleyway, I watch them. With my back facing the wall, the only directions I can go from here is forward or to my left. 

It's always fascinating to see an animal's first instinct when it is cornered; in most cases, its first instinct is either flight or fight, but quite a few are something special. Humans too are subject to these situations. In a day-to-day event, some people battle their daily tasks, while others, shut themselves in, and hide from their responsibilities. Their nature is even more clear when they are facing a life or death situation; for instance, such as this moment here and now. 

My eyes slowly blink at the towering man facing me. The muscled underling bends his head down to give me an intimidating sneer. His thick hand is almost touching my left wrist. 

Oh, what will they do in a life or death situation?

I throw an uppercut directly to his jaw.

"MppphhH-?!" His body hangs in midair for several seconds from the force of the blow, and his face explodes like a crushed tomato. Blood spews from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. He crumples in the ground like a puppet who lost its strings.

“-You!” another underling screams as he rips a knife out of its sheath. He madly swings toward my throat, but he is slow. Too slow. His short arms cannot reach me when I take a single step back. I deliver a chop to his elbow tendon on the arm holding the weapon.

*KruccchHh*

He screams in pain at the sight of his forearm drop to his side like pudding. The useless limb sways in the nonexistent wind like a greased-up hinge. He falls into a fetal position on the floor from the pain, his legs unable to care about supporting his body anymore. With a shaky hand, he tightly holds onto his broken limb, fearing that it might just pop out of its socket. 

“She’s a fucking monster!” the lanky man from before runs away as he calls out to no one around. 

I look at the devastation I caused. I did this? A slight twinge of regret itches at my throat. I must have taken a wrong turn and ended up in this situation all by my own doing. Yes. That’s why the blue box couldn't prepare for this situation, and the blue boxes are never wrong. So, my fault, I guess.

“Auggghhhh. . .” the not-so-armed attacker groans out in pain.

Oh yeah, I just remembered what I need to do. I grip the man's hair, lifting his head off the ground, my other hand revealing some coins. 

“What is each coin worth?”