Instinctively, I moved a little to look for an escape route, but I couldn't move much. One of those felines launched itself at me. I managed to dodge its attack by pure luck, but I wasn't unharmed. One of those claws anchored itself in my shirt, tearing it off and also sinking into my shoulder, creating a somewhat deep wound.
Ban
"This... Is this blood?... My blood..." I touched my shoulder. This scared me more. It wasn't an illusion, it was my blood, it was my pain. What I was feeling wasn't a joke or a dream. It hurt like hell. I don't know where I got the strength from. But my legs moved on their own to run away from that place, but those felines are following me, I know it, they're hunting me.
"Damn, I need to find a way out... Somewhere to hide, someone, anything."
One of the Garturren appeared at my side and lunged at me, biting my forearm. I clenched my jaw as I felt the exaggerated pain, its teeth anchored in me as if it were going to snap my bone. I raised my uninjured arm and punched it in the eye to free myself, and somehow I managed. But my forearm is in really bad shape, so I decided to keep running.
Ban
"Ugh... shit... What is this... I feel so weak... My skin is turning red."
I found a hole under a tree and hid there. I analyzed my skin; my veins were red and very noticeable. I felt very dizzy and weak.
[POP-UP]
'You have acquired the poisoned status from a wound. You must heal.'
Ban
"Poison? So what they're releasing from their fangs is poison..." I breathe heavily. I hear footsteps and hold my breath. The felines passed very close to where I'm hiding. They sniff the ground and look around. I clench my teeth against each other and, to throw them off, I grab a small rock and throw it as far as I can. They immediately run away after the sound.
"This is bad... I'm going to die... What is this shit... What kind of realistic and psychopathic game is this?" I raise my wrist to see my user window. But I don't see any exit button or any way to contact another user.
Ban
"This shit hurts..." My eyes shift to a flower. A flower I recognize as the one Anri told me about when we were in that city. The flower that can heal wounds or something like that. I slowly get up and walk to where it's planted. Without thinking twice, I pull it out of the ground.
[You have acquired Rosary X1]
Rosary: Grade E common flower, its slimy leaves have low-level healing properties.
Ban
"Then... I have to eat this..." Without thinking twice, I put the flower in my mouth and chewed it, then swallowed it hoping to feel better, but instead, my nose started bleeding and I felt much worse.
"What's wrong... That was supposed to cure me... I feel much worse."
I threw myself to the ground to vomit. My stomach was in knots, my skin was prickling, and my vision barely helped me distinguish what was in front of me. I threw myself to the ground, breathing heavily.
[POP-UP]
You have misused an item, acquiring poison X2.
Garturren Poison: Ends in 15 seconds
Robario Poison: Ends in 25 seconds
Ban
"By the time this wears off, I'll be dead (cough) It's extremely painful (cough) But I can't die here. I have to find Anri." I struggled to my feet and walked around the area, holding onto the trees, very careful not to trip or be found by the Garturrens again. I spent several minutes walking. To my surprise, the poison wore off, and I slowly recovered. But my wounds were still open, which hasn't helped stop me from feeling the pain.
Without realizing it, I'd been wandering through the forest for three days. I was afraid to eat strange fruits I knew nothing about or plants I knew nothing about, but I had to do it to stay alive and survive at least for these three days.
Ban
"I found one!" I ran toward one of the trees because beneath its leaves were edible flowers... Well, they were the ones I'd been eating all this time to survive. As I got closer, I plucked as many as I could.
[YOU HAVE ACQUIRED RINELIA X3]
Rinelia: A common flower with red leaves and a blue stem, edible and can restore some hunger, and is used for simple meals.
[Congratulations, your survivor level has increased! You have acquired basic survival]
I started eating them one by one as I walked and saw this window in front of me. I've come to understand in these 3 days that this is true... I'm not in a game, somehow, I'm in another world, there's no way out of here or something like that. I'm hungry, and my body is my own, not a program or something, it's my own body.
Ban
"Why did this happen... Is it some kind of experiment? Why would some crazy person create something like this..." I stopped eating the flowers when I heard a noise and tensed up. But my expression was one of disbelief. It was a two-horse cart being guided by two men. I couldn't hold it in and ran towards them.
"HEY! Please stop, help me!" I ran after the wagon and smiled when I saw it stop. This made me excited. Maybe I'd finally be rescued from this forest full of Garturrens trying to kill me.
Stranger 1
"Oh Jerry, look what we have here... A person looks very bad." The guy smiled. His smile gave me the creeps, as if he had bad intentions.
Jerry
"Yes, Oswold. This will be a good source of income if we sell it along with the others in Arayamuki." I couldn't understand what they were talking about, so I just walked over.
Ban
"Hey... I need help... I've been in the woods for three days, running from some huge, poisonous cats, and eating dangerous things. Could they lead me to a town or city?
I'm anxious and desperate, you can tell from my voice, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Oswold
*Don't worry, we'll send you to a good place and we'll make some money with it. The situation in the city isn't easy right now." This man pulls out a knife and points it at me.
"Now get in the back of the wagon. I won't let you get away now."
Ban
"H...hey, there's no need for that... Calm down." I walked to the back of the wagon. It was practically a cage. Inside were people in a not-so-pleasant, dirty situation." Oswold pushed me, and I fell inside before the gate closed. I was left staring at the others inside the cage.
Oswold
"Well, let's hope we can get at least 100 gold tokens for these guys."
The wagon started moving. The skinny, dirty people inside the cage with me stared at me, which made me feel strange.
Ban
"Hmm... And you've also been rescued by these people?" An older man with broken glasses and a long mustache looked at me in disbelief.
Sir
"Saved?" Of course we weren't running away. These wretches are taking us to Arayamuki...
Ban
"Running away...? Arayamuki? Why were you running away?
Sir
"Son, any kingdom is better than Arayamuki. It's the center of illegal slave trade and capital..."
Ban
"I can't fully grasp this... This is too much to process."
Sir
"Those of us who appeared in Arayamuki chose to escape. The prices of all Arayamuki are exaggerated, and even more so now that this is the birth of a global economy in this shitty world."
Ban
"I see... And we're really in a game? Outside, I've almost died several times just surviving, and it doesn't feel like a game at all." The man shook his head, pointing to the others inside the cage.
Sir
"Do they seem to be enjoying this? Everyone has realized this isn't a "game." No one knows exactly what happened, but we can't get out. It's like it's another world." His words made one thing clear to me: there's no way out. I'm trapped in this strange reality, and what's worse is that I don't know my sister's whereabouts after being transported to the forest.