[Threat level - moderate]
This single line of text appearing at the bottom of Theo's vision was all it took for him to nearly fly into panic mode.
'Not even a low threat first?!'
He cried out as he took but a single look at the tree's trunk obstructing his way into the hole in such a perfidious way that he simply could not hope to squeeze through.
'Even if I could, what if it would block me from covering its top up?'
Before he could waste even more time deciding, Theo dashed to the back, in the general direction of where his last hiding hole was.
He ran with all his might, the adrenaline exploding in his veins dulling the pain of his injury and speeding up his dash.
[Threat level - moderate] > [Threat level - high]
Halfway to the hole, the threat detection changed again, now flashing in red.
Whatever was ticking it off was approaching fast. And with Theo's blood spraying from his wound with every step he took, he didn't delude himself into thinking he could hide for long.
No.
Right now, the only way for him to survive, even if only for a little bit longer, was to escape below the ground, below where the threats of the surface could reach him.
'Seeing how that tree followed the laws of gravity…'
Theo attempted to form some sort of makeshift plan on the go…
Only to realize that there was one element of the background noise so unnatural that it somehow perfectly fit the situation he was in.
It wasn't the beating of his heart so loud it felt as if his entire self was pulsating with it. It wasn't the sound of the leaves, sticks, and foliage he crushed underneath his feet with every step he took.
It was…
A chorus slowly building up to the first climax of their song?!
'Shit!'
Caring not for keeping his mouth pristine, Theo cursed and dove, his eyes already locking on the nearby hole.
[Threat level - high] > [Threat level - imminent]
'FUCK!'
Diving ahead, Theo dove head-first into the hole, summoning his building menu before he could even fully drop down into the shallow hole.
'Fuck! Shit! Curses!'
By now, the chorus was entering its full swing, with the basses establishing a rapid rhythm matching the rate of the beating of his heart while the higher voices now rang on alarm in great excitement and joy of their serenade.
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And to top it all off, Theo's threat detection prompt now fully disappeared…
Only to be replaced with something that had a uniform name across all the games, all the stories, all the media it ever appeared in.
A boss' health bar stretching across pretty much the entire width of Theo's vision.
'Place it, now!'
Crying out in his soul, Theo finally aligned the bluish, see-through blueprint of the dirt block with the entrance to the hole. And right as the top of his head struck the bottom of said hole, all the light suddenly cut off.
'Am I…'
Theo gulped his saliva down, allowing himself but a second of respite.
'Wait, if I'm not down, then it worked!'
The hole was now sealed.
And it would be one hell of a relief if not for two things.
The first of the two was the massive, blaringly red health bar with "Oilrat (level 148)" written right on top of it.
The second, however, was far more mortifying. It was the shaking of the hole Theo hid in, indicating that even his escape underground didn't push the boss of the area to give up on its prey!
'Dig.'
Theo's mind cleared as soon as his panicked mind finally solved the puzzle and marked down the one and only path to his survival.
'DIG!'
Caring not for the pain, Theo summoned his shovel and bit its stone blade into the bottom of the hole.
[Digging: 54%]
[Digging: Completed]
[Digging: 54%]
[Digging: Completed]
The ground shook right as Theo's digging took effect, causing him to fall further half a meter, only to then drop again.
Instead of stopping, he whipped out his building menu again, but…
The faint shine of the daylight broke through the roof of dirt as the Oilrat above furiously slashed at it with its long, sturdy paws.
What Theo could remove with two quick swings, however, the Oilrat took a bit more than that. And before it could break the hole's seal, Theo slapped two more blocks into the place where he landed just before.
Pushing only about a meter down, Theo could feel the ground around him noticeably calm down, the tremors of Oilrat's furious digging now struggling to reach Theo's current hiding… coffin.
Because that's exactly what his hideout was, a two-by-one coffin of solid earthen walls.
Barely enough space to curl his body up in.
And so, more than eager to put as much distance as possible between himself and the boss of the area, Theo dug down.
[Digging: 54%]
[Digging: Completed]
'Normally, I should be reaching the rock level, shouldn't I?'
[Digging: 54%]
[Digging: Completed]
Theo fell down on his head, having no time to twist his body around in his narrow hole.
And then again.
All to escape as far… as it would take.
[Threat level: Combat]
The dark-red warning continued to blare right at the bottom of Theo's eyes. Right above it, the area's name now revealed its final name.
[Forest Outskirts - Safe Zone (fake)(Miyazaki's Snicker) - Within Range of Oilrat (level 147) patrol route!]
[Forest Outskirts - Safe/Oilrat (level 147) invasion]
And then, just below it,
[Oilrat (level 147) - Locked-in]
[Digging: 54%]
[Digging: Completed]
[Digging: 54%]
[Digging: Completed]
[Digging: 54%]
[Digging: Completed]
Theo threw two more blocks of earth to block the path of retreat, only to turn and shovel away at the next three blocks, finally making enough room to turn so that his legs - not his face and injured shoulder - would face the direction of his digging and then the inevitable fall.
'I should angle out, not dig directly below my feet…'
Theo gritted his teeth, judging the two options as he dug three more blocks.
There were so many questions he had…
But for now, he just dug away, rushing as far away as he could from the sharp fangs of the boss monster.
And finally…
[Threat level: Imminent]
[Oilrat > Alerted]
The drums of the choir finally slowed down to a tense background as the voices mixed through the air and then in Theo's ears.
'Where is this music even coming from?!'
Finally allowed to take a breath, Theo cried out in his soul, daring not to make a sound.
And right as he did, the pain of his carved shoulder nearly knocked him unconscious.