"What did you say?!" Claire shouted, trembling in fear.

Darlina snapped a finger, and a screen appeared in front of Claire. It had the words, "Starting in..." and counted down from five.

Seeing that Darlina was serious about what was about to happen, she quickly looked around to see if there was someplace she could run to. Unfortunately, all Claire could see was the grassy field swaying gently in the wind.

Claire pulled out the handgun and aimed it at the monster, just as the countdown reached zero. Rapidly pulling the trigger, several of the shots missed with only a few striking the monster. Though the beast winced, the only signs of her damaging the thing were singe marks on its fur.

Roaring, it charged at her. The claws digging into the ground and flinging dirt into the air as it charged right at her.

As Claire kept firing the gun, she tried to think about how to survive. Even if Darlina had said that it would inevitably eat her, Claire refused to believe she couldn't live through the encounter. "Think, Claire!" She yelled at herself.

When the monster was a dozen feet away from her, it leaped into the air with its maw opened wide.

It was like slow motion, seeing the saliva in the thing's mouth pouring out as it anticipated the meal. The eyes of the creature locked onto the figure of Claire. Claire could even hear the sound of the claws cutting through the air with the goal of slicing her body into pieces.

Moving on its own volition, her body rolled out of the way just in time. The move was purely on instinct. Claire could feel the claw get close to her arm just as she cleared out of the way.

"I can do this!" Claire thought to herself, completing the roll. Struggling to get up, she quickly lifted the weapon to resume the attack. "I just need to keep dodging while attacking this monster! This is how I'll avoid being killed by the thing!" She felt confident about the outcome, a sense of pride welling up inside.

Raising the gun to retake aim, the only thing to be seen was the jaw of the monster filling her vision.

"How is it that fast?!" Claire could only think to herself before she could only hear her screams as the monster bit its teeth into her head.

-------------------------

Gasping, Claire opened her eyes to see the same empty grassy field. As her sight began to focus, her eyes could Darlina standing in front.

"I first want to congratulate you on your ability to dodge the first attack. Based on our projections, an adventurer with no prior experience would've been eaten on the initial attack. Still, you were able to evade the attack." Darlina clapped, supportingly at Claire.

With Darlina mentioning how she had died, Claire began to hyperventilate in panic. Her mind struggled to understand what was happening and was being overloaded. "I died!" The words kept being repeated in her mind.

Instead of helping Claire, Darlina simply watched as Claire fought the thoughts racing through her mind.

Slowly, Claire was able to regain her composure, even if the feelings were still raw in her mind. As though it understood the trauma it had gone through, her body continued to tremble.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Darlina tried to comfort the girl.

One of her eyes still twitching, Clarie yelled, "You're sorry?! What does that even mean?!" She took a deep breath, the torrential emotions beginning to bubble up but stopped at the last minute.

"Experiencing your own mortality is necessary to survive in this world. Having gone through the process once, the level of fear towards death should have decreased drastically." Darlina sighed. "Now, you'll have both a respect towards danger and not be burdened by the known fear of death. This is an important thing to have since you'll be training in a dangerous environment to survive an even more dangerous world."

Spitting out the build-up of saliva in her mouth, she used a forearm to wipe off the spit.

"Not even soldiers trained and have experience in war will be able to survive this world. In order to not be swallowed by the nightmares roaming about in the world, you'll need to reforge your body and mind into something stronger." Darlina's voice was level as though her words were common sense in the new hellish environment above ground.

-----------------------

End of Part 1

Though she still felt tremors going through her body and feeling mental shockwaves, Claire was starting to understand what Darlina was trying to convey.

Thinking back to the monster and how Claire believed she'd be a match against that thing, it made her realize it was essential to put more weight into what someone with more knowledge stated. Darlina had clearly explained that Claire had no chance to defeat the thing, but she stubbornly believed it was possible. "At the same time, I didn't react with as much urgency as was needed for the situation I found myself in. When I'm in a life or death position, my brain needs to be firing off accurate outcomes so I can determine the correct course of action." She squeezed her fists, feeling frustrated by how useless she felt.

Setting her thoughts aside, Claire asked, "If that monster was inside of the free simulation, meant for adventurers with no experience, how is it possible for anyone to develop their skills?" It had just dawned on Clarie that if her weapon did as little damage as it did, then how was anyone able to become stronger?

Darlina brightened at Claire's questions, as though it was something the robot was hoping Claire would ask it. "Your thinking is correct. Yes, the monster that ate you is something a new adventurer would have zero chance of surviving against." Pointing at the handgun at Claire's waist, "But would it surprise you to know that your weapon is sufficient at killing that monster?"

Raising her eyebrow in surprise and confusion, Claire demanded, "My shots didn't even make the thing bleed! What nonsense are you talking about?!"

Gently shaking her head, Darlina said, "It's due to how you utilized your weapon. If you had correctly attacked the creature, you'd have subdued it." Raising a hand to prevent Claire from interrupting, "I'm not saying that killing the thing would've been an easy task, but that the results would have been vastly different compared to what happened before your death."

Not knowing what to say, Claire was silent.

"If it helps, the monster you were matched up against is one of the toughest creatures in the simulation, and something adventurers would need to actively search out." Darlina's voice tried to sound comforting to Claire. "It's not something you'd randomly encounter, but instead a sign that you can progress to the next simulation level if you have the necessary Guild Points to purchase time."

Just hearing that she wouldn't be facing such a thing right away helped to make Claire relax. In her mind, she imagined stepping into the simulated environment and being eaten right away. It wasn't a thought that she enjoyed contemplating and was happy to know that such a scenario wouldn't be the case unless she was ready.

Snapping its fingers, Darlina made a monster the size of a wolf appear. It even had a similar appearance as a wolf, though horns were protruding out the side of its head just in front of its ears.

"This is a Horned Wolf, which is more common and relatively easy to defeat. It's still a challenge, so approach these creatures as though you could be eaten by it." Darlina cautioned Claire. "What makes these monsters harder to defeat is how they are often found in packs, meaning they coordinate their attacks. But by themselves, even someone of your skills will be able to kill it. The fact you were able to dodge the previous monster's initial attack means the training you've done with the military in the Fort has provided some benefits."

Not bothering to look around to find a place to hide, Claire simply pulled out her handgun. This time, while she took aim, Claire was trying to anticipate what was going to happen and have several ways she could avoid getting injured or killed.

"To make sure you're ready to move onto the next part of the training, I'll have you defeat this monster numerous times. As an added benefit, each time you kill the monster, your body will be healed of any injuries regardless of how severe. It'll still be possible that you lose a limb or two, but don't let this hamper your thoughts." Darlina explained in a cheerful tone.