Jack was having a bad day.

Jack had been having a bad day ever since he found himself transported from the comfort of his home to this green nightmare.  He had done some thinking, and at this point, Jack was pretty sure that he wasn’t on Earth anymore.

There were a couple of clues that indicated that Jack was somewhere else. The first clue was the sudden shift from comfortable repose (cell phone out, aimlessly clicking through memes) to falling suddenly upon a forest root.  

Though his head might still hurt from that abrupt shift, it was not his only clue. 

 No, the biggest clue was the incredibly bright, giant red moon covering a huge portion of the sky. 

Jack breathed in and out heavily while observing the trees around him. 

Hmm, those trees look pretty uhh tree-like, Jack thought to himself with a quick glance around.  He couldn’t hear any nearby creatures or see any either. 

 He tried once more to stand up. Jack managed to stand only after shifting to his side and contorting himself so that he could lift with his strongest muscles.  Jack felt crushed, each breath was a laborious effort.  Was the gravity higher here too?

Jack wobbled before standing up fully.  He felt that the gravity is more here, wherever here might be. He sat down again, abruptly.  Jack was debating his next course of action while thinking about how long it would get strong enough to be used to the extra weight, Jack shook the thought away while reflexively checking for his cell phone.

“No service. Figures” Jack grumbled to himself with a low curse, throwing the phone back into his jean’s pocket. 

Jack tried to remember anything he could about surviving in a wilderness.  He struggled to remember anything relevant, but he had grown up on a diet of computer games and television and only had the vaguest, stream-a-documentary-once-in-a-while understanding of what would be important to his survival.  

He patted himself down, and found jeans, shirt, wallet, and cell phone.  

“Water” he said with a pained breath.  

Even sitting Jack still felt crushed.  

“People, yeah.”  Jack was taking much deeper breaths now, focusing on a rhythm that better used his diaphragm. 

“Civilization!” 

Breathing was still an effort, his head and tail bone both ached from landing on them too hard, and Jack couldn’t shake the feeling that he was  going to die in this new world, but  he couldn’t keep a wide smile from spreading across his face.

I wonder what this new world will bring?

---------

Jack had eventually decided to pick a direction and start walking.  To Jack, one direction was as good as another.  This paid off almost immediately, as Jack stumbled upon a path.

 Jack’s emotions were a mess as he found the path and tried to figure out if the wide nature of the path and marked dirt were signs of civilization or just the products of a confused mind and tired body.  Jack was painfully aware of the crushing weight of his new world as he debated with himself, but what Jack did not yet realize was a curious lack soreness from his back that was injured during his move into his first home in his thirties or an ache from his chest from the bypass surgery after the heart attack.  

No, Jack did not notice the absence of any of those aches or pains as he realized that the best way to resolve the question of road vs natural path was to follow it.  

What Jack did notice was the sky.    Huge bands and whirls of color were painted over the gigantic moon above, the whole vast disc of it seemed to glow with its own ruddy red glow.  Jack would have kept examining the sight before him if he had not found himself blinking and looking away reflexively.

It would seem that the moon was pretty bright after all.

And that was when the familiar but alien nature of the world around him really started hitting him.  Looking around Jack noticed that he seemed to have two shadows, a  short, deep black shadow from the red moon and a pale long shadow was cast by the too-blue sun.

The trees looked absolutely regular in comparison, similar to the oaks he had near his home back on Earth.  A quick stop to pick up a leaf confirmed it; the leaf had the regular oak shape that he was used to, too.

And so Jack continued.

He would stop and rest, while he caught his breath and checked out the world around him.  The large, bright moon seemed to be moving stately across the sky, while the too blue sun seemed to have remained stationary just above the horizon behind.  

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Which was frustrating to Jack because if the sun was behind himself and it was going down, that meant that Jack was walking east but if the sun was rising then he was walking west.

It was this act of glancing behind himself that saved Jack’s life.

The small green creatures with crude spears in their hands, had been stalking closer to Jack and were only seconds from being able to attack Jack’s un aware back before he had stopped and turned to check the too-blue sun. 

Known as goblins, this small raiding party of six was a small part of the reason why the path that Jack had been traveling on was in such a state of disrepair.  

The rest of the reason for the disuse of that road was the large horde of goblins that had recently moved into the natural valley formed by a river close by.

The leader of the six goblins saw Jack pause and look back, and so the leader leapt forward brandishing his spear with a shout!

Alerted by the shrill scream, Jack saw the rushing forms of the goblins explode into action.  To Jack, it appeared as if he was being beset by a group of viscous-toothed children! So Jack did what came naturally:

He ran.

Jack was never much for athletics on Earth, but here in this strange land, he found himself surging forwards and he pushed himself further down the road.

SCREECH..

He knew from tone alone that the goblins objected to his running, the high pitch of their barking chatter went straight to his adrenal glands.

Fight or flight.

ItsIt’s an instinctual thing, and Jack’s body sent him moving at top speeds. 

“What?” Jack cursed.  

The goblins were gaining on him.

Jack was trying to think as he ran with high steps on the uneven dirt of the road.   

He came to a decision and pivoted with a shout “You messing with ME?” while he turned to face the goblins  chasing him.

The lead goblin stutter stepped to slow down a bit and to give his compatriots time to catch up.  The goblins started to spread out slowly.  No longer rushing after him, Jack was finally able to size up the goblins that were chasing him.

Jack’s eye was  drawn to the point of the goblins’ fangs and dull tips of their spears. To Jack the goblins were an unstoppable menace!  But from the other point of view, from the goblin’s perspective of Jack, he had changed suddenly from the perfect prey into a hidden dragon.  Because the goblins saw how tall Jack was compared to them, the tallest goblin stood only up to his waist.  

Jack was panting, and saw that the goblins were too. As soon as there were three abreast, the goblins charged again!  

He grabbed the closest spear and pulled while spinning. 

THWACK.

The back end of the spear shaft smacked the goblin in the side of his head. 

Jack took off running again.

He heard growls and barks.

The goblins were chasing him again!

Jack could barely breathe, he was running so hard.  His hands had a death grip on the staff.  

He was running so hard that he felt the gums of his mouth hurt as he ran.

Why did he feel so crushed by this world?

Jack, stopped.

He turned.

He did not shout.

The goblins behind him slowed then stopped.

Perception is a funny thing.  Prey will run and predators will chase.  Jack had made himself a target on his original stroll by paying too much attention to the view of the sky, and Jack had triggered the goblins’ own primal instincts the second he ran.

But Jack saw that there were only four creatures following him now.

Were the others sneaking up behind him?

Jack panted for a breath, while the four goblins brandished four spears at Jack.  He noticed that the goblins seemed to be breathing as hard as him.  

With a mighty shout Jack lunged towards the lead goblin with his stolen spear!

All of the goblins flinched, the last of the four even dove off to the side!

Jack’s stolen spear came to a stop a distance away from the lead goblin.  The tip of the spear wobbled in the air.  And perception was a funny thing. What had seemed so sharp and long and dangerous on the goblins was obviously much shorter than Jack was expecting. Comically so, in fact.

Jack saw the goblins glancing at each other with a chittering laugh before beginning to approach him again.

Clearly, the goblins had been expecting something much more. 

This time, Jack stood his ground rather than running.  It was time to fight.

His feet were wide apart as he held the very back of his spear.  To him, it was a bit longer than a baseball bat. He lashed left then right, batting aside the spears coming for him.

He stepped into a swing on the goblin.

BONK!

Pain erupted in his side!

AGONY! Pain like Jack had never felt before, struck him just as he felt his spear connect with the goblin in front.

He had to survive!

Another spear was coming for his face, Jack grabbed it and ripped the stick out of the goblin’s hands.  Jack returned the spear with another overhand smash to that goblin’s head.

TEARING PAIN!

Jack got the spear turned around. Stabbed.

He stabbed again... hit?

Jack felt resistance as he tugged the spear back, lashed out again as he fell in a tangle heap.

He punched, kicked!

Everything was happening too fast for Jack.  The strange new world with its regular seeming trees and horrific little monsters.

He struggled to his feet

All Jack knew was that he had to get away.   His life on Earth had been a tranquil one, for the most part.

Jack stumbled away as he bled from many cuts.  

None of the goblins followed.

----------

Jack had made it as far down the road as his feet would carry him.  He found a comfortable looking spot next against a tree.  

Jack’s world was red.

He found a major cut in his side, right over what used to be flabby love handles, as well as cuts all across his hands and forearms, which confused Jack as he had absolutely no recollection of gaining those cuts or the cuts from the back of his calves.

All Jack knew was that he hurt like hell, and he wished his body was stronger, better able to withstand injury.  He hacked a cough and spit as he felt the weight of the world settle on him as the weight of this new world settled onto him.

As he slipped slowly into unconsciousness, dreaming about growing tougher and exploring the world, a crash resounded within Jack’s mind!

[Level Up! Adventurer 1]

what?