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The Stage
Chapter 3

Chapter 3

In a forest and under a brush, Cai Shengwei woke up with a start as though he was struck by lightning. He panted and felt all over his body in order to confirm he was still alive, and he found himself wearing a silver suit of armor with an iron sword near his resting site. He quickly stood up and let his eyes wander around his immediate surroundings, searching for any clues as to where he was.

In one of the trees, he noticed an envelope, so he strode over and opened it.

"You have been chosen to be the knight in this play. You are in the middle of the Black Forest and are in urgent need to get to Black Castle. There, you will find your princess in distress. The best of luck, Lu Fei."

Cai Shengwei crushed the paper in his hand in seething anger. "That beach!" How dare she do this to his friends?! Being unable to quell his hatred by just crumbling the letter, he opened it back up and ripped it to shreds. Luckily, he had noticed a map before he threw his rage out onto it. At least the woman had some sense and gave him something to follow.

According to the map(specifically the dot which said "you are here"), he was a little over a hundred kilometers away from his destination. Considering the fact that he had to walk, it would take him a few days. "You have to wait for me, Xin Lumei! I will be there soon to save you from whatever horror you are facing."

And so Cai Shengwei began on his long, tedious journey. After a few kilometers, he was panting for breath as he clung desperately to a tree. It was that darn suit of armor he was wearing. It was too heavy and big, so it restricted his movements and weighed him down. Therefore, he decided to take it off after he caught his breath and hoped there was something underneath in order to keep him from going around in his birthday suit.

As it turned out, his luck had run dry. There was nothing beneath the suit, not even something to cover up his private parts. He had no choice but to wear the dumb armor and exhaust himself. Now that it has come to this, his journey, it seems, would now take about a week.

Cai Shengwei continued on like this until his stomach started to grumble around noon. Sadly, he didn't have any food on him. "I swear that Lu Fei wants to kill us in her own, cruel and weird way." He was worried about the others since he figured that their situation would be no better than his own, except for the princess. "Well, at least Xin Lumei wouldn't have to worry about fetching her own food."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

He began to look around for a rabbit, deer, or anything in general to eat. He wouldn't risk plants as he has no real knowledge of them, so he could end up eating something poisonous without even knowing. His safest bet was to hunt for some meat.

As a forest is bursting with life, he was able to find a small rabbit fairly quickly. Cai Shengwei tried to step as lightly as he could in order to sneak up behind the creature, but its ears were too sensitive and heard him before he could get a few meters away from it. "Tsk. If only I had a bow, then I could hunt without having to worry about things like this."

He decided to take off his armor for now and go naked until he had caught his lunch. As the shoes were also of heavy metal, he had to put them aside as well. He had no protection at all save for the sword provided. He felt very uncomfortable and squirmish in his state. Even though nobody was around, he felt someone watching him so anxiety began to build up.

He wanted to get the hunting over with as soon as possible. After many fails, he decided he should probably set up some type of trap. Therefore, he found some vines, tied them together, and set the snare up.

Once he finished, he hid under some brush and waited. It was only around nightfall when some unfortunate creature triggered the trap. It happened to be a deer.

Cai Shengwei smiled as he knew that its meat should last him for at most three days if he kept all of it, but its weight would really be too much as he still had to wear that stinking armor. Maybe he could make its pelt into clothes...But, he had nothing to bring the ends together, so he quickly ruled the option away.

He was reluctant to kill it, yet he had to because it had fallen prey to his trap. He was extremely hungry too. He brought out his sword and placed it on its neck. He glanced over to its eyes, a mistake on his part as the fear held within them melted his heart. He let his sword fall to the ground. He couldn't do the deed.

"I-I'm so sorry, little deer. Please forgive me. I'll just stick with plants and take my chances." Cai Shengwei choaked out as he scrambled to untie the vines with shaky hands. Once the deer was out of custody, it ran like the wind. It jumped over roots and fallen trees.

Whiz!

Suddenly, an arrow came flying true through the air and landed its target with ease. The deer fell to the ground with a loud thump. Then, a man holding a bow and arrow exited from his hiding place behind the trees. He walked to the deer and finished it off with a small dagger.

After, he looked over at Cai Shengwei. "First time hunting, little man?"