Ahh~
Arthur groaned as he felt his head would explode any second.
'Didn't I die? Why am I still feeling pain?' he murmured and opened his eyes.
He was hit by a truck while saving a stray cat.
Arthur was lying on the grass floor, the shadows of leaves dancing on his handsome face as some sunlight reached his face, making his eyes hurt a little.
He sat up as he reached his hands to the back of his head.
"It's healed. I am not injured?" He didn't feel pain or any sign of a wound on his head.
'But… that truck?'
"What happened? Why am I still alive?"
Arthur's mind was in chaos. He was sure that he died in an accident and then… he woke up in an unknown forest.
"Where am I?" He mustered his strength as he started to walk in the direction of the sound of flowing water.
'It must be a river.'
He was surrounded by giant red trees reaching hundreds of feet, the sunlight barely reaching the forest floor.
Arthur was following the sound of the river. Even after trailing for almost an hour now, he wasn't able to reach the source of the sound.
He felt as if his legs were on fire. He had never walked that much in his entire life.
Growl~
His stomach was making noise as he hadn't eaten anything since the morning.
"Damn! I should have eaten something before leaving for work. Who knows I would get into an accident and then… this makes no sense," Arthur sighed as he silently followed the sound.
He was thirsty, hungry, and tired!
"Who knows if any wild animals attack me."
He had never seen trees this big in his whole life. Everything here felt different, as if it were magical.
"Hah.. ha.. h.. finally! I reached it," Arthur laughed, as he had never felt this small in his whole life while facing a massive river flowing through the forest.
As far as his sight could go, there was nothing but this white and foamy river, raging on the ground like a horrendous beast, ready to swallow everything.
He was sure that if he fell into it, he would die without a doubt.
It wasn't because he didn't know how to swim; he was actually good at it. The flow of the river was just so fast. He didn't think even a so-called gold medalist from the Olympic Games could survive here, let alone pass through this watery hell.
From time to time, some massive silver fish would jump from the river and dive back into it, sending echoes of splashes across the forest.
"I have never seen this fish before. What species does it belong to?" Arthur pondered as he watched the river carefully.
He could see a massive red creature moving in the river as if it were trying to catch those silver fish.
Arthur wasn't able to get a clear picture of the creature as the water was slightly muddy because of the river's fast flow, but he was sure it was quite big.
Before he could do anything, he heard some strange cries from the forest.
"Shit! What's now—"
Arthur looked around as he found a tree in the distance. He ran and swiftly climbed onto the tree.
Fortunately, he had learned how to climb trees from his father.
At first, his weak and untrained body was unable to carry him to the top, as his soft hands were bleeding, cut by the sharp bark.
But he didn't care. He didn't know what was coming and didn't want to die… well, he didn't want to die again.
He had just died a few hours ago!
Before he could climb to the top of the tree, he saw a herd of deer running in his direction, each one as big as an elephant.
"What the—" He opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself.
He was just so terrified. Where was he now?
The deer were giants, some of them reaching twenty feet, their bodies covered with long brown hair with white patterns like a zebra—or at least that's how it looked to Arthur.
Something alien, yet somehow familiar.
"So they are here for water, huh!" He sighed and wiped the blood that was leaking from his wounded hands.
If he had been on the bank of the river just now, he would have been crushed by their herd.
The biggest and most muscular-looking deer stepped out of the herd as it cried before anyone reached the river.
The herd waited patiently on the bank, looking into the river for hidden dangers.
"It senses the danger!" Arthur looked at the deer with curiosity. He noticed that the deer that cried earlier was the biggest and probably the leader of the herd.
"Aren't deer usually acting on their own and less as a team, or rather a society… compared to humans and wolves?"
"But here, this guy is probably their leader, an alpha. Look at those muscles—he probably has a harem of ten at least," Arthur laughed inwardly, finding his thoughts a little off-putting.
"Did they notice the red creature? I am sure it's still hidden in the water," Arthur pondered as he silently observed, no longer making silly comments.
He saw an old and frail-looking deer step out of the herd as it moved toward the river.
The old deer was probably the weakest and skinniest among the group, its steps shaking under the command of the alpha deer.
It reached the river and started to drink water from it.
"So there's nothing!"
"I thought the creature was waiting, but seeing nothing happened to the dee—"
A massive pincer rose from the river, tearing through the raging waves as it struck the deer's torso.
Thud~
A sickening sound of cracking bones and ruptured flesh echoed through the forest.
At the same time, a raw, tearing scream ripped from the deer's mouth as its body was torn into two pieces, the pincer holding the upper body as it slammed it against the waves.
Blood and viscera fell into the river, becoming food for the fish.
The silver fish that once appeared beautiful and heavenly now swarmed the remains, enjoying the deer's death and feeding on the blood and flesh.
Arthur watched the entire scene unfold as a chill ran down his spine and sweat covered his back. He felt an urge to vomit, but instinctively, he swallowed it down.
He was sure now, he is not on earth any longer!