I woke up sweating.
One thing was for certain, I needed to raise my strength.
What I can gather from that meeting last night, we only have one life. There is no resurrection, and 4000 had already died….
I then remembered those two who burned in front of me, 4002 at least…
I wonder how the rest of them died, I wonder what everyone else is doing. How have I not run into anyone from my world yet? Is this world truly that vast?
I opened my character screen, there was now a new tab at the top of the panel, Registrar.
While it didn't give any names or specifics it gave numbers of people that were still alive, and to my shock that number was suddenly dropping. Below it listed a load of different categories as if to scare those who were reading.
Incinerated: 1,784
Drown: 458
Beheaded: 650
Lacerated: 327
Exsanguinated: 157
Devoured: 678
Self Death: 52
I laid there in shock… All of these people died in such vicious ways… The Self Death number kept going up slowly. I wonder if people think killing themselves in-game will wake them up from this nightmare… 52….. 54…. 58…. 63….
I kept watching the number grow and grow as more and more people took their own lives.
I changed the tab on my screen, I couldn't bear to watch.
I refuse to look at this tab again, if this world is real I must face it with confidence and this only causes me distress..
I slapped myself across the face again,
I will become the strongest..
I felt my heart begin to race. Whether it was anxiety or adrenaline I didn't care, I pledged to myself that I would not just survive in this world, that I will thrive… then…
Akuma… Wait for me, I'm coming for you.
Then suddenly I heard Akuma's deep and familiar voice,
"I'll be waiting, muhahaha"
I shot up from my bed looking side to side around the room yet the voice was gone…
I must be hearing things..
Before I knew it, it was morning and I had slept for maybe an hour or two.
The elf at the front desk was already knocking on my door to kick me out;
"Time to go! Your one free night is up, newbie get after it."
I guess no matter what world the bottom of the barrel really doesn't get a chance to breathe.
I grabbed my gear and walked out the room not even glancing at the Elf. I was motivated and couldn't afford any distraction. A sense of necessity to survive and my own pursuit of power drove me from the city into the nearby woods where I found my first fight.
A large pair of wolves stood tearing into the body of a gnome. A humanoid smaller than a dwarf only two feet tall. He had colorful hair and leather jerkin.
I couldn't help but wonder if that was one of the people from my world….
I have the element of surprise, If I can take one out I have a chance to kill the other…
I rushed toward them with my sword ready to pierce the wolf from above when it turned, catching a glance of me from the corner of its eye.
It jumped out of the way mere seconds before my blade pierced its skull causing my sword to be plunged into the body of the gnome below.
Its face…. was already half eaten off by the wolves exposing his teeth and empty eye sockets.
Both wolves began to circle me, licking their lips in anticipation of a larger meal.
I raised my shield ahead of me covering my torso, I took a stance and rested the blade of the sword flat on the top of the shield pointed in their direction.
My heart filled with fire. I was ready to fight, yet the image of the half eaten gnome filled my mind..
The words
Survive …. Survive… SURVIVE… brought me to my senses, screaming in my head as I engaged in battle with the wolves.
They dashed and swiped at me from multiple sides with claws the size of small daggers as I clumsily rotated and blocked with the wooden shield.
The shield's weight caused me to struggle to move around freely and stumble.
Finally as one of the wolves dove for one of my legs with its mouth agape and fangs showing I slammed the pointed end of the wooden shield down onto his head.
*Crunch*
I could feel the skull of the wolf fracture as the shield slammed into it.
The second wolf leapt towards me swiping with his massive claws and slashing the back of my right leg..
Gah!.... My leg.. My shield is stuck…..
I left the shield implanted in the other wolf's head and staggered backwards blood dripping down my leg. Narrowly evading the wolf's strike.
No more protection.
Seemingly this next bout would end in either mine or the wolves death.
I grabbed the sword's handle with both hands and held it confidently ahead of me.
The wolf snarled and gnomes blood oozed from the sides of its mouth.
As it began to circle me, I rotated with it not to show a weak point.
Suddenly a branch snapped and it started jumping towards me aiming for my throat with its massive blood covered fangs.
I stumbled backwards, tripping over an exposed root and fell backwards with my sword pointed straight up as the wolf impaled itself on my blade.
Blood baptized me as it drained from the wolf now impaled above me,
It's cold…. And wet.. smelling of dead gnome… not a good feeling.
As my blade went deeper I could feel each bone break and muscle tear within the wolf.
This was no game, this was slaughter… Like that gnome I found, it's eat or be eaten.
I wiped the blood from my face with my shaking hands, only to realize that I had lacerations not just on my leg, but on my arms and chest.
I must have been caught by its claws without realizing. The adrenaline began to fade and I struggled to one knee, feeling the pain fully for the first time.
Holy shit… this really hurts. Suddenly I heard a ding, and a panel filled with text appeared above me.
"Congratulations! You have leveled up!"
My wounds threaded together and I was once again at full strength.
I looked around quickly for any other wolves but none could be seen.
After confirming I was alone I pulled up my character panel to find my stats had all increased by a minimum of one, except mana which didn't increase at all..