Chapter 2

*Pant… Pant… Pant…*

After running for god knows how long, I finally managed to escape from those things. Finally coming to the realization that my life wasn’t in danger anymore, relief washed over me. This caused the rush of tension to leave my body, and I felt my strength slowly slipping away. Because of that, my body felt heavy and was assaulted by a wave of unbelievable exhaustion. Surely, it was the effect of all that fighting and running. Seriously, tired as I am, I even considered sleeping right then and there.

Aaahh… Looks like I over did it this time. But it’s weird, even though I have just recently awakened from this body, I feel comfortable moving it around. It’s almost as if this body has always been my own from the very beginning…

While still feeling utterly confused, I gazed around searching for a possible place to hide and rest my tired body. At first, I thought that this was just a huge grassy field. But looking at it again, I’ve come to realize that this area wasn’t just covered in grass. The most striking feature of the area was its moist soil, then from what I have seen so far, it was also dotted by numerous small lakes. In simple terms, it was a huge wetland area. In normal circumstances, finding a place to hide in a wetland area should be impossible because it was normally flat with nowhere to hide. But for some unknown reason, this place had large rocks erected all over it.

I forced my shaky legs to walk around for a little longer. And not too long, I found the biggest rock in the immediate vicinity. With unsteady feet, I walked towards it and hid myself behind its shadow. As I lied down, I felt the moisture of the soil beneath me sipping on my fur. Honestly, trying to have a peaceful rest in such conditions was tough, but my body really needs a rest in order to regain its strength. Well, it’s not like I’m a stranger to such harsh conditions.

As my eyelids felt so heavy, I followed my instinct and closed my eyes. While I was tethering between the bounds of a dream and reality, I remembered all the bizarre events that happened to me. I can’t believe that a freakin frog would threaten my life like that. What in the world was those things anyway? And… where in the world am I? This enclosed area, it's almost as if… like a… dungeon…

It was not as if I was ignorant about fantasy settings. After all, during the time that our Familia’s affair finally stabilized, I gathered and read books and I was also kind of a sucker for fantasy stories. There was also that one time when one of my executive invited me to play an MMORPG, it also kind of became a big deal within our Familia since after hearing the news that I played an MMORPG, a lot of members also followed suit and it spread like a wildfire in our Familia.

Remembering the old times, I smiled unconsciously. I have seriously lived quite a fulfilling life huh? The beginning might be full of suffering and hardships, but I still managed to find good friends and live an arguably decent life at the very end… Honestly, even if I’d die right then, I would have no complaints… But now, I’m back to square one... I know more than anyone that life is precious, but I really don’t know how I should feel about this… Is it merely a coincidence that I am here? Or maybe it was deliberate and was done on purpose? If so, for what? And why me? Also, is this truly a fantasy world? Damn it… I have… so many… questions…

***

In a place surrounded by the greenery of trees and grass, there was a young wolf. The young wolf has quite a huge family. In that place where the only source of light was that shining things up above, he was living a peaceful life with his father, mother, three siblings, and his father’s pack. Being that the young wolf was the youngest of the three brothers, he always looked up to his father and two older brothers who were respected by the rest of the pack.

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Together with his younger sister, the young wolf was trained to hunt for prey at a very young age. Of course, being that they were still weak and young, the two young wolves' older brothers always came to their rescue whenever they were in mortal danger. The young wolf was always happy whenever he got the chance to hunt together with his younger sister, in fact, it eventually became their way to bond. Because of this, the young wolf’s sister became attached to him. Of course, the young wolf was also quite fond of his sister, and he actually doted on her whenever he had a chance. Unfortunately, this peaceful life doesn’t last too long…

One day, during the usual hunt of the pack, the young wolf’s hunting group was ambushed by another hostile pack. For the veteran hunting members of their pack, this was not a particularly rare incident. In fact, every time the pack went to hunt for food. There was always the possibility that they would clash with another hostile pack. It was because the area was actually ruled by four huge packs headed by four exceptionally powerful alphas. One of the alphas being the young wolf’s father who was a Frost Wolf, while the other three rival packs were led by a Flame Wolf, Lightning Wolf, and a Tempest Wolf respectively. Among these three rival packs, the pack led by the Tempest Wolf was the most hostile to the young wolf's pack.

Since being ambushed was not that rare of an occurrence, the young wolf’s group wasn’t even fazed when they were attacked. The young wolf’s group despite being on the receiving end of the surprise attack wasn’t in disadvantage in the slightest, and one particular great wolf was the reason for that. The said great wolf was running around the battlefield felling any enemy wolf or great wolf alike in his path, and that wolf was the young wolf’s eldest brother.

Being that the young wolf was still a Dire Wolf Cub and the weakest of the group, he was being protected by four Dire Wolves on the back and was watching that scene unfold before his eyes. In actuality, the young wolf wanted to join and contribute to the fight. But since they were being attacked by a group of Great Wolves and Dire Wolves, he would just be a burden if he attempted to join the fray.

And so, the young wolf watched his brother slaughter their enemies. One particular Great wolf died in a gruesome way. After being tackled by the young wolf’s brother, the enemy wolf flew and rolled to the ground and was bitten by the neck. The wolf tried to resist, but while still biting the wolf on the neck, the young wolf’s brother lifted up the pitiful wolf. Seeing that their comrade was in a pinch, the other enemy wolves charged in to help. But as if mocking the enemy wolves charging towards him, the young wolf’s brother threw the pitiful wolf toward their comrade. And in a show of the young wolf’s brother's abnormal strength, the pitiful wolf’s head was separated from its body. The pitiful wolf’s body slammed to its comrades causing them to recoil in shock while its head flew to the side.

While the young wolf’s brother was fighting multiple enemies at once, the other members of the young wolf’s group were also showing their strength by killing the other enemy wolves one by one. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the young wolf on the back didn’t suffer from any attack. Since it was an ambush, there were some enemy wolves who managed to reach their position. But unfortunately for them, the four guards of the young wolf weren’t weak by any means. Even though the four guards were all still a Dire Wolf, they still managed to defeat the two Great Wolf who attacked them. As an individual, the four Dire Wolves were no match against a single Great wolf. But by fighting as a team while using hit and run tactics, they managed to defeat them. In the eyes of the young wolf, the four Dire Wolves were moving with so much coordination that it was hard to believe that they were different individuals.

After fighting for a while, it was clear which had the upper hand. The enemy wolves suffered multiple casualties, and some of the surviving ones were also wounded, this means that it wouldn’t take too long before the enemy wolves turned tail and ran. In the young wolf’s mind, he was sure of their victory, that was until something unbelievable happened.

As the young wolf’s group became certain of victory, they sensed an overwhelming presence. Following their innate instinct, the young wolf’s group band together including his brother and look at the direction where the presence came from. The young wolf’s body trembled in fear, and not only him, everyone in their group trembled including his seemingly invincible brother. The reason was standing before their eyes. It was the Tempest Wolf, one of the most powerful monsters in the area. As the young wolf stared in disbelief and horror, the Tempest Wolf raised its head and let out an ear-piercing howl. As despair gripped the young wolf’s heart, the realization dawned on him…

HE WAS STARING AT AN ALPHA.