Evening crept in as a pale blue mist, seeping through the forest and swallowing the world in chill and shadow. The road I'd been following all day had long since surrendered to tangled roots and wild, uncaring green. If there was comfort in the hush of leaves or the murmur of water, I couldn't find it not with dried blood on my hands and memories clawing at the edges of my mind.
I set up camp beside a narrow creek that sang quietly over smooth stones, the sort of place that would have been beautiful if it hadn't witnessed my clumsy attempt to wash away what was left of three bandits. I knelt at the water's edge, sleeves rolled, scrubbing at my hands long after the stains were gone.
It didn't help.
Blood was tenacious, not just on skin but behind the eyes. I could still feel the sticky warmth, see the surprise in Leech's eyes as the dagger sank home. The weight of the world had changed; everything was a little heavier now.
A twig snapped behind me. I spun, fire flickering instinctively at my fingertips ready for monsters, men, or anything in between.
But it was just a pair of fireflies drifting lazily by, blinking like they couldn't quite agree on the tempo. I let my hands drop and forced a bitter smile.
"You did it, Arielle," I muttered. "You survived. Congratulations. Welcome to the club nobody wants to join."
I started building a small fire, more for the comfort of light than warmth. The forest at night was a different world: unseen things shuffled in the underbrush, monstrous cries echoed in the distance, and somewhere much closer, something that sounded suspiciously like a frog and a wolf having an argument.
My bundle of loot from the bandits lay beside me a handful of coins, a rusty dagger, a ring shaped like a snake eating its own tail. Trophies, or evidence, depending on who you asked.
I stared at my hands, now clean but shaking, and wondered if the old Arielle village scapegoat, weakling, ghost would even recognize me now. Or be horrified by what I'd done.
The system's blue window shimmered into existence, cutting through the gloom.
[Host detected: brooding by firelight. Recommended activity: less moping, more eating.]
I snorted, voice raw. "You're hilarious. Got any jokes for 'accidental murderer'?"
[Plenty. But let's not pretend you tripped and fell into that bandit with a knife. You did what you had to. Crying about it now is like mourning a smashed potato. Not even worth frying.]
Despite myself, I laughed short, sharp, a little hysterical. "Am I becoming a monster, System? Or just what this world needs me to be?"
[You're becoming alive, Host. In this world, the only monsters are the ones who die apologizing. Now, do you want to see your stats or should I show you a slideshow of sad orphans instead?]
I shook my head, tears stinging at the corners of my eyes, but I gave in. "Alright. Let's see how much closer I am to unstoppable."
The stats appeared, blue and silver, as crisp and cold as the creek's water.
Name: Arielle
Level: 4
EXP: 195 / 200
HP: 47 / 55
MP: 38 / 41
Strength: 15
Agility: 12
Intelligence: 8
Willpower: 15
Charisma: 4
Magic Affinity: Fire – Level 3
Techniques: Fireball, Flame Dart, Ember Dance, Shape Fire, Fire Shield, Fire Lash
Status: Slightly traumatized, significantly more dangerous
[Look at that. Just five experience away from Level 5. Not bad for a day's work and a moral crisis.]
"Do I get a stat boost for emotional suffering?" I asked, rubbing my ribs. "Or is that extra?"
[Special event: 'Facing Reality.' +1 Willpower, +1 Strength. Awarded for not running away from your own actions. Congratulations, Host. You're less useless than yesterday.]
A ping confirmed the boost. I stared at the fire, heart still hammering, but the new strength and willpower felt real earned, in a way nothing else in my life ever had been.
Night thickened around me. I pulled my cloak tighter, remembering the warmth of a home I'd never had. I let my thoughts wander back, unbidden, to the village those bleak days of hunger, the way my family looked at me with contempt, as if my very existence was an inconvenience.
A flash of memory: Riven laughing as I slipped in the mud, Mother counting potatoes like they were worth more than her children, Father's silence sharper than a blade.
[Don't waste tears on people who'd sell you for a potato,] the system drawled. [You're free. Let the past stay behind you, where it belongs: with the broken doors, the burnt hair, and the world's ugliest wigs.]
I actually chuckled at that, the bitterness a little lighter. "I wonder if they even noticed I'm gone. Or if they think a monster finally ate me."
[If they're lucky, it was a monster. If they're unlucky, you'll come back when you're strong enough and finish what you started.]
A shiver ran through me, not entirely from the cold.
Somewhere beyond the firelight, a distant howl echoed. My hand crept to the rusty dagger. But this time, I didn't tremble.
I poked at the fire, sending sparks whirling into the night. The forest was alive full of things that would eat me if I so much as sneezed wrong. Yet, here I was, defiant, alive, and just a handful of experience away from leveling up again.
Something rustled in the undergrowth. I tensed, ready for wolves or worse.
Instead, a squat, leafy head popped out a cabbage, of all things, with stubby little legs and sleepy cartoon eyes. It blinked at me, then waddled into the open and sat down by the fire like it owned the place.
We stared at each other in mutual disbelief.
"…Are you a monster?" I asked, mostly out of habit.
It yawned, opened its leafy mouth, and sneezed a few petals into the fire. Then it shuffled off into the woods, unbothered, as if saying, "I exist solely for comic relief and the occasional salad."
I glanced at the system, which promptly supplied a label:
[Encounter: Sentient Cabbage. Threat Level: Edible. XP: 0. Advice: Do not eat unless desperate for fiber.]
I burst out laughing, the sound breaking something tight inside me. Maybe I was losing it. Maybe I was finally becoming the person this world needed me to be.
The woods grew colder, the fire burned low, and the howls in the distance grew bolder. But inside me, something was changing: a new resolve, hard as flint.
I would not waste another tear on a family who wouldn't mourn me. I would not crumble under guilt or shame.
I would take my right to live in this world savage, hungry, and shining with the power I had fought to claim.
I lay back, the stars peeking through the branches above, and let sleep take me.
My dreams were fierce: blood and fire and the faces of the dead, the laughter of the village, and my own voice rising through it all, clear and proud.
I woke before dawn, the system's gentle chime greeting me.
[Time to keep moving, Host. This world won't wait for the weak.]
I smiled, rising with stiff limbs, heart steeled by everything behind me. Today, I'd earn those last five experience points.