Mission : reach the first rank and maintain the position for a week!

Progress : Rank 21/23

Name : Yohan

Race : Lion (Male)

Status : wounded (Tired)

Skills :

- Challengers Mind

- Basic Instincts

I checked my status page after I finished eating the muscular cow and saw that my rank had been raised to twenty-one. Is this because the muscular cow is one of my competitors? Or am I just strong enough to be considered rank twenty-one?

I think nobody knows about that.

Before I forget about this I believe I should mention this to myself, I really hate and love raw meat. hate because the smell of blood was disgusting. It smelled thick and disgusting. I don't know about other lions but I don't like the smell of blood.

on the other hand, I loved raw meat. especially one where there is blood in it. I don't know about the taste because I don't really taste anything when I eat raw meat, but the toughness of meat somehow matches my appetite. it gets better when there is blood in the meat because then the meat will have both the sensation of soft and hard.

it feels as if I'm eating a hotdog with cold bread but warm sausage. good and not good at the same time.

after such a good meal, I continued my self-proclaimed journey down toward an open land. It was empty, right at the end of the road, down the ledge. The ground was dark brown, and there was a thick smell of blood coming out of the land. yuck!

I tried to avoid the blood-smelled land by moving in another direction. The blood-smelled land was still covered in this new direction, but at least it was not as bad as the first one. I kept going, and after a few hours of walking, I finally found a river.

The river looks so fresh, and it comes from the mountain. Which part of the mountain? I wasn't sure and didn't want to make sure.

I am very happy to see the river because, since the muscular cow some hours ago, I have not drunk anything except blood. I am a lion, not a vampire bat. I don't like to drink blood. Thank you very much.

I began to approach the river and started to look for a good place to drink. I walked along the river edge and finally found a good area to drink, with the land gradually submerging into the water and a big tree that act as a roof over my head.

I took a few sips of water and rested my body under the tree, taking some well-earned rest for my tired body that didn't do much other than walk.

As drowsiness began to crawl into my head, putting my mind in a half-conscious state, my mind suddenly started to think.

What kind of creature do I want to be? Can I change my form again later?

First of all, I want to be human once more if it is possible. Or at least as close to humans as possible. The reason is that I think humans have the advantage of forms that most animals do not have. The human body is carefully evolved to be better at facing all kinds of challenges, while the animal body can only help them in their respective habitats. So said a video on MeTube that I watched by accident.

Secondly, I just want to feel as close to my original as possible. Being told you are a copy is bad for the heart, and it gets worse when you also look different than what you originally were. I can tell that if I didn't have the Challengers Mind skill, I might have already turned insane.

Thirdly...

Ah, there is no third. Just two reasons.

Then it is decided. If there is a possibility, I will become human once more.

ZzzzZZZ

*****

I wake up when the sun starts to shine in the west.

Yep, west.

Back home, people would say that this was the sign of the end of the world, but I guess there is no such thing here.

I took some more drinks from the river for breakfast, then I started to walk again. But where should I walk?

Hmm, I don't know. Random direction, then!

Seeing that the sun is rising from the west, and the blood-smelled land is in the west, that means I will go to the east, which means I have to go across the river.

As I think about this, I begin to pay attention to the river. It looks shallow, and the current is not too strong. I think I can cross the river pretty easily.

I begin to put my feet into the water. My instincts suddenly flared, warning me about the danger of water. But instead of pulling my feet back, I decided to be quick and rush my way across the water.

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All in all, everything was fine. I was just wet. No, I was drenched and I hated it!

I quickly shake the water out of my body, like cats usually do when their bodies are wet. I can feel that there is some water still remaining on my fur, but the sun can help me with that.

I began to walk again, going to the east with no aim and a mission that I did care about.

I walked for a few hours until I finally found a forest. The forest was filled with big trees that looked like they were about tens or hundreds of years old. The tree leaves were thick, and the forest itself looked dark as sunlight could not reach the floor of the forest.

I decided that the forest would be my next destination and as I walked into the forest, a voice was suddenly heard from my left side along with stabbing pain in my chest and belly.

KIIIEEKKKK!!

A huge male dear, with big sharp antlers, charged at me and stabbed me on the side while pushing me away from the forest.

Roaaarrr!!

I roared in pain as I tried to remove my body from the antlers. I struggled a bit, but finally, I am free! But my side is messy, and I am in danger of bleeding to death.

Don't worry about that. What is important right now is to take care of this deer, as it threatened to charge at me once more.

How do you fight a deer that can stab its antlers deep inside you in one quick charge?

My stupid, inexperienced mind said that I could either slip in the middle of the antlers and smash the deer's head, or I could move aside at the last second and bite its neck afterward.

Ok! The plan is ready, now it is time to fight.

Roaaaarrr

I roared to challenge the deer, taunting it to attack me. The deer seems to take my invitation and begin to charge, head down and antlers ready.

Here it comes! Last-minute dodge and attack plan, initiated!

I waited and waited until the deer was almost at me. At the last moment, I quickly jumped to the side, and everything went wrong.

For one, I forgot that a deer has a neck and can move its head. This means when I dodge at the last second, it just changes its head direction, and I am once again impaled by the antlers. This is painful!

The second one is, I forgot that I am now a lion, and I need to reorient my body before I jump. My inexperienced logical mind forgot to put this in the equation, so my dodge was delayed for a split second. Seconds that cost me more holes in my chest and front left leg.

I struggled once more and somehow managed to break free from the deer. My body is now feeling weak, due to blood loss and struggle. Maybe I will die soon? And then the story of my life will end, and nobody will be happy with that.

This needs to change! No more strategy!

The deer once again charged at me with its antlers, ready to kill me. This time, however, I didn't try to use any tactics at all.

In response to the deer charge, I lift up my front body and slam the antlers down, putting all my body, heart, and power into it.

Slam! Craackk!

Surprisingly, the left antler broke off and the deer's head was thrown to the side. It started to look dizzy, as it shook its head and felt that its head was now unbalanced.

Now is my time to shine!

I initiated my attack and pounced at the confused deer. It tried to impale me with its remaining antlers but failed as I slammed it away. The antlers didn't break off this time, but the deer head was thrown off once again, giving me a good space for finishing the deer.

With another paw, I slam the deer's head down and press it to the ground. The deer tried to struggle free from my control, so I hurried up and bit its neck from above.

Kieeekkkk! Kiieeekkk!

The deer screamed in panic and pain, but I didn't intend to let it go. With all my remaining power, it pushed my jaw and snapped the deer's neck. Instantly paralyzing it.

Craaackk!

The deer quickly lost all its power. Its body now fell limp to the ground, while its eyes showed a sign of fear. My bite didn't kill it, just paralyzed it from the neck down.

With my sharp claw and an exquisite gesture as if I were a high-class chef cooking an important dish, I slice the deer's neck while pressing its head down with more power.

Grrkkk!!! slash!!

I managed to break its skull and smash its brain in a single push, finally killing it for good.

It felt good to finally kill the deer, but now was finally the time to worry about my wound.

I fell to my side and moaned in pain. The deer beat me badly. I can feel my body weaken over time, due to loss of blood and tiredness.

Then my instincts kicked in. My mind unconsciously pushes my body to move and begin eating the deer. Mercilessly ripping big pieces of meat and gulping it down.

As the meat flows down my throat into my stomach, I can feel the pain in my body reduce a little. I keep on eating, now with a greater appetite than before.

Slowly, my wound started to heal. The holes started to close, and the traces of battle scars disappeared.

As I finished the deer, I could feel that my body was almost fully healed. There was just this little discomfort inside the wound, like an itch that you cannot touch.

I decided to rest up and wait for my body to heal naturally. I take some rest at the edge of the forest, behind a big tree that luckily has a big hole that is a good size for me.

There are some scratches on the walls and hoof prints on the ground in this hole. It probably belongs to the deer that I just ate recently.

As I laid my head down to rest, I called up my status window, as I suddenly had an idea that I needed to confirm.

Mission : reach the first rank and maintain the position for a week!

Progress : Rank 17/23

Name : Yohan

Race : Lion (Male)

Status : Wounded (Tired)

Skills :

- Challengers Mind

- Basic Instincts

As I expected, the deer was also one of the participants. This could probably mean that any animal in this place is a participant, and I need to at least defeat the strongest one to reach first place.

So far, I have already killed two herbivores, -or should I call them prey?- that are quite strong. The last one even almost killed me.

Killing those two put me at rank seventeen, but they were just herbivores. It is already common knowledge that carnivores hold stronger power compared to herbivores, especially when it comes to fighting. That doesn't apply to every case, though.

I cannot imagine what it would be like if I had to fight another carnivore. They might be a lot more dangerous than me, and they might be bloody murderers too!

Well, there was nothing good for thinking about future danger other than preparing your heart and mind for it.

With all that, my mind finally gives up on tiredness and soon I am lost to the dream of seeing my child and wife that I will never see again.

Hey, they were happy and I am still there too!

It's just, being a copy somehow feels a lot more frustrating and lonely than how it was explained by the blue screen

ZzzzZZZ