Raj awoke the next day, delighted that his wounds had more or less cleared up. While they may have seemed like devastating wounds, most of my important organs were protected, and VIT took care of the rest, he mused. He got up, doing some light stretches as he walked out of the cave. His first order of business was to eat breakfast, which had just been a piece of grilled boaralo meat and some lake water to wash it down. He wasn’t exactly excited about the food, but it kept him alive.

After eating his so-called breakfast, Raj pondered what he should do next. He knew that this world was dangerous, and his current lifestyle may be enough to live out the rest of the tutorial. Even if the beasts that the gorlax had scared away started to come back, he could avoid them for as long as he needed, only venturing out for food. That being said…

Raj knew how these LitRPG worlds worked. His books always described a world where power ruled supreme, while those who were weaker were stomped into the mud. Considering that the tutorial guide had said that those ideas had been fed down by whoever was running or managing the tutorial to begin with, it seemed like a good indicator as to what his current reality was. Raj knew he could not just hide away. He would have to hunt to gain levels in order to preserve his future. At the same time, I refuse to just run around like a banshee and pick a fight with everything that moves, he thought.

With his mind set, he grabbed his sword out of his spatial ring and headed out into the forest, confident that he would succeed and return stronger than ever before.

*****

Why? Why do I always have to be such a complete and utter idiot? Raj internally cursed, running through the forest, his visibility low despite the fact that it seemed to be mid-afternoon. His lack of vision kept causing him to trip over roots, and stumble his way across the uneven forest terrain. He quickly reviewed the notifications he had amassed over the past few hours of hunting.

You have slain [Fox - lvl 3].

You have slain [Elk - lvl 3].

You have slain [Squirrel - lvl 2].

You have slain [Elk - lvl 2].

You have slain [Elk - lvl 3].

You have slain [Elk - lvl 2].

It had taken Raj roughly a few hours of hunting these lower-level beasts, and he was starting to truly understand why the people in his books loved to jump at higher-level foes. Still, he had finally received a reward for his efforts after he had killed the last elk.

Congratulations!

You have leveled up x1!

Stats have been distributed.

The EXP rush that he had felt at the time was largely staved off due to the large, hairy, four-legged beast chasing him. He had dumped his Free Points into AGI without thinking, partially because that is what he wanted to do, but also to get the living fuck away from the nightmarish abomination chasing him.

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The damn thing had two snakeheads on the body of a gorilla with dog legs. Raj quickly turned his head, stumbling a bit over a root in his path, and used his Identify(Common) skill.

[??? - lvl 22]

The creature’s level, coupled with the fact that he got question marks when he tried to identify it, had spurred him to even greater speeds. He had been running at first due to the sheer level of danger the thing exuded. I’m fucked right? I’m also going to assume that I can’t see its species because it's too high level for me to identify it properly.

His own bravado had caused him to storm out into the forest like he owned it, and he had kept hunting monster after monster with no rest. That had kept his MP and SP in particular from being able to regenerate. Now, he was not sure if he could even get back to his camp, much less fight and beat the thing. His HP was fortunately pretty high, as the lower level creatures had not posed too much of a threat to him.

Raj knew that the only reason he had not been caught by the monster yet was because of the forest itself. The huge creature’s body kept ramming into the trees, and staggering over every bump in the ground. Raj’s entire plan for his survival was to make the dumb beast get itself distracted or caught for a moment so that he could escape. He knew it was his only chance.

Raj continued ducking and weaving through the trees, making sure not to hit one himself. This deadly chase continued for another 5 minutes before the damn thing finally ran straight into a large oak tree, both its snakeheads somehow becoming intertwined. Raj did not even know how that was possible outside of cartoons, but he decided to not spare another moment of his time and started running again.

After what seemed like the longest 2 minute run of his life, he finally got to the clearing. He opened up his status to check the changes and his resources.

Status

Name: Rajeev Narayanan

Race: Human(H)

Class: Warrior[(Common-H) lvl 8]

Profession: None

Titles: Giant Slayer, Vitality I

HP: 343/350

MP: 90/90

SP: 11/160

Stats

Strength: 23(22)

Agility: 22(21)

Vitality: 35(34)

Endurance: 16(16)

Intelligence: 9(9)

Wisdom: 8(8)

Free Points: 0

Class Skills: Mana Slash(Common)

Profession Skills: None

General Skills: Identify(Common)

Just as he had suspected, his HP had remained high. His SP however was dangerously close to bottoming out. He just shook his head, knowing he would have to go out hunting again to get stronger, considering things like that existed in the tutorial. He just needed to space himself and give himself some rest in between. He chuckled slightly when he realized that something as simple as five minutes of rest could spell the difference between life and death.

It’s a punishing world, isn’t it? He thought bitterly. Despite his internal turmoil, He knew his feelings about the subject did not matter in the long run. Ultimately, he knew the only thing he could do was adapt to the new, harsh reality he lived in. No, he thought. There is no could. I will adapt. I will not die, and I refuse to let Arjun go either. For better or for worse, that is my promise.