“This really is a dream come true. There's all this sense of freedom and adventure. Also, nothing too crazy for me has happened. It almost feels like I don’t have bad luck.”

Amaya was two hours deep in the forest.

She couldn’t seem to holster her knife as she had a fascination for blades. Her hand was itching to use it on something.

“Can’t wait to test it out. It’ll probably be a game changer even if it's not the best weapon.”

Her mind was already starting to play out scenarios.

“If a monster comes at me from ahead, I’ll just do this.”

Amaya slashed the air in front of her, killing an imaginary goblin.

“Just like that. And if a monster comes from the side, I'll do this.”

She quickly turned, slashing another imaginary goblin.

“Should be easy.”

Tmp. Tmp. Tmp Tmp.

Her ears picked up on numerous footsteps coming from further down the path. By the time she faced the direction they were coming from, she saw what the footsteps belonged to.

A pack of wolves, now charging directly at her.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for! Bring it on!” Amaya shouted.

Without a doubt, this was her moment to shine.

Pointing her knife at them, she grinned.

“I’ll call this move the wolf-ending slash.”

She didn't even have time to make an attack, the wolves overran her right away. She was dragged across the dirt as many fangs bit into her flesh. Her clothes were being torn, her arms and legs were dripping with blood.

From every direction, there was a wolf gnawing at her.

A painful scream left Amaya's mouth.

“AAAGGHhhh!!!! IT FREAKING HURTS!!!!! I DIDN'T IMAGINE IT GOING LIKE THIS AT ALL.”

( HP: 9/20 )

Her health began to drop, but she couldn’t do a whole lot in this situation.

Her adrenaline allowed her to ignore all the pain for just a second while she gripped her knife. Then with a swift swing, she stabbed a wolf in the face, causing its body to go limp.

Shnk!

[ Exp >>> ]

Amaya quickly yanked her knife back, and stabbed a second wolf, through the eye. It let out a brief whimper then fell over.

With her arms being free now, she swung at the other’s causing them to back away for a moment, long enough for Amaya to get back on her feet.

( HP: 4/20 )

However, she changed her mind about fighting.

‘I have to run. I won’t last long enough to win.’

Despite all her bloody wounds, she had the strength to sprint away, limping.

In no time, the wolves caught up to her.

Having no other option, she climbed up a tree just in time, a pair of fangs missed her leg.

Chomp!

Amaya hugged the tree for dear life.

“HOLy crap….What the freak! Did I almost just become their next meal?!”

For now, she was safe, but the wolves were still waiting below, growling with hunger.

Her plan was to just wait it out. In the meanwhile, she would tend to bites on her arms and legs.

Once an hour went by, it was clear that her plan wasn’t a very good one. The wolves were persistent, still waiting.

‘Gosh! They act like I’m the only food in this forest.’

It was time for a different idea, one that would likely involve combat.

To Amaya’s luck, most of her HP was recovered.

( HP: 18/20 )

She stood up on the branch, catching each wolf's attention. They all gathered around the tree, waiting to feast.

‘There’s only four of them. I might be able to do this. yolo , I guess.’

Amaya took a deep breath then leaped from the tree.

Fwsh!

On the way down, she slammed her foot into a wolf’s neck, snapping it.

Crackle!

[ EXP >>> ]

She followed up by attacking the nearest wolf, rapidly stabbing its ribs. A trail of blood followed her knife as the wolf fell lifelessly.

[ EXP >>> ]

The hairs on Amaya’s head tingled, she anticipated an attack coming her way. At the last moment, she leaned to the side. The thrid wolf had tried to bite into her neck, but got a mouthful of air instead.

Instantly reacting, Amaya slashed its throat, beheading it.

Slash!

[ EXP >>> ]

There was just one Wolf left, but after seeing what happened to its friends,it didn’t try anything. Instead, the wolf turned tail and ran.

“I won’t let you run from the fight you started.” Amaya shouted with rage.

With an accurate throw, her knife spun through the air before piercing the wolf’s skull.

Shank!

[ You Have Leveled Up ]

Amaya wiped the sweat from her forehead with relife.

“Phew…I didn’t know I had it in me.”

She retrieved her knife back from the wolf’s corpse and wiped the blood from it.

“I’m really surprised I managed to win that. I was scared that they’d get me before I could do much.”

Her level had now risen to 3, so she observed her improved stats.

( Level: 3 Hp:90 Mp:20 Atk:35 Speed:13 Endurance:15 )

It was a huge difference, if this version of herself fought the wolves, she wouldn’t have had to climb a tree in the first place.

Closing the stat window, a new concern filled her mind as she took a look at herself.

Her clothes were battered and torn, revealing the majority of her skin.

“Freakin 'great. I’m nearly naked…”

She sighed, turning back on the path towards the town.

However, like always, the terrible luck had something else planned for her day.

A dark, raspy spoke out from behind a tree.

“I just knew there was blood being spilled. I could smell it after all.”

Amaya looked towards the direction of the voice and froze.

There stood an unsettling figure. It had dark-gray skin with cracks up and down it. Two gaping holes instead of eyes, and it stood at least a good 7 feet tall. (213.36 cm)

As the sun set, the darkness turned this situation into pure nightmare fuel.

Amaya could only stand still, unsure of what to do or say.

The entire forest grew quiet to the point where not even the wind was heard. All the while, this creature grew a wide grin.

“Boo.”

Amaya nearly jumped, speaking with a trembling voice.

“H-hey?”

‘I was starting to think this was reality, but this has to be a nightmare.’

She didn’t even want to blink at this point, but her eyes started to sting from the dryness, so she closed them for a moment.

When she opened them back up, a hot breath touched the hairs on the back of her neck.

It was already behind her, it's the same raspy voice spoke, like it had read her mind.

“Yeeessss. It’s a nightmare. A nightmare in reality.”

Amaya’s eyes widened, her pupils shrinked. She tried to turn around and face the creature, but she was swiftly impacted.

Bwsh!

A devastating strike bashed her chest, her body launched against a tree.

Thump!

‘What…just happened?'

She was dazd, her head was spinning and her vision was blurry.

All she senses is confused while trying to process the situation. Peering through her blurry vision, she was able to make out the outline of this Thing, walking towards her, eerily.

This was not good.

A violent cough left the back of her throat, blood spurted out.

“BLOod?!... My blood?”

She sucked in a breath, and noticed the deadly wound on her torso. The size of a large fist.

By the seconds, her body's red liquids were gushing out, soaking her shirt.

‘No… This can’t be real…’

She coughed up even more blood, “This is all a joke, right?” she murmured to herself.

But she knew the answer to this.

The pain and fear, it was all too real to just be a simple nightmare or dream. It was real., actually happening.

Her face began to turn pale, and her body became weak.

‘No…No…’

Just like the phrase “My memories flashed before my eyes”

Each of her own memories began playing through her mind, like a movie. Except, each scene showed nothing but bad luck.

“No....”

It couldn’t end off like this.

[ You Have The Will To Survive]

[ Time Remaining Before Death: 4 minutes ]

Somehow, somehow, Amaya got back on her feet, gripping the side of a tree to hold herself.

Her terrified eyes looked at the creature once more. It was just standing there, staring, wearing a grim smile.

If demons were real, they’d look just like the creature before her.

Amaya yelped in terror, then ran off with a limp, as fast as humanly possible.

For some odd reason, the creature didn’t chase after. It only kept a smile and spoke with a whisper.

“Keep.On.Running. I’ll catch up when I feel like it.”

Amaya ran, and ran and ran and ran and ran.

It felt like hours, when in reality it was probably only a few minutes. She was becoming exhausted and her time was running out.

[ Time Until Death: 1 minute, 50 seconds. ]

Tears started to fill her eyes. Though she knew tears wouldn't change a thing.

“I’m going to die like this…I hate this..”

No matter how far she ran, her wound wasn’t going to magically heal. Death was inevitable at this point.

Amaya fell to her knees, her hands slid underneath the dirt as she clenched it.

She cried, and cried.

“PlEASE!! STOP! Stop this bad bad luck!”

She looked up at the countless stars in the night sky.

“Please. Just a chance. Even if it’s a small one. I want a good luck, just this once.”

Before she accepted her fate, her eyes caught a glimpse of something bright through the trees. A glimmer of lights.

“People?”

Wobbling, it took all her conecretated strength to stand. She slowly slipped past the trees, towards the glimmers.

It wasn’t people. It was better than that.

She found a village, numerous poles of lights everywhere.

[ Time Until Death 40 seconds ]

The clock of life was ticking, so she desperately dragged her feet, coming closer and closer to a doorstep.

‘....Almost…there…”

There couldn't have been a worse time for her legs to completely go numb.

Thump!

She collapsed and her body gave up. Her eyesight became a dark tunnel.

‘This is it, huh…Screw you…life.’

Till her vision went out, she despised the bad luck that life had given her since birth.