3 Exploration (1/2)

”Huff! Huff!” A young man paused to catch his breath. The many beads of sweat that once covered his forehead began to fall onto the grass covered ground, as he crouched. This young man was naturally Niko, and for the last twenty minutes, he had struggled to run and walk, through this forest. In the beginning, he was just starting to get used to walking and running without any problems and enjoying his new body, however, the happiness turned into a strange feeling as the forest made it almost impossible to enjoy the experience.

”This forest... Is so difficult… To travel through… ” Gasping for air every second, Niko murmured to himself.

Even Though his body was healthy again, it did not mean he was in good shape. Thankfully, hunger and thirst didn't seem to affect others in this world making traveling in this forest slightly easier.

¨Ugh!” Niko picked himself up as he straightens his back, ¨Status!¨

[Name: Niko Lazar]

Level: 1

Exp: 0%

[Status]

Strength: 1

Constitution: 1

Agility: 1

Intelligence: 1

Mana: 1

Mana Power: 1/1

[Unique Title]

None

[Skills]

None

¨Sigh...¨ A disappointed look appeared on his face. He expected at least something to change. Usually, when playing the mainstream RPG games, the statuses of beginners would improve extremely fast whenever they did something. Game companies did this to keep the players interested, sadly those who created this world didn't feel the same, or rather couldn't care less.

From what Niko had read in the booklet, this world was a complete replica of an RPG game. The types of games that stereotypical, overweight thirty-year-olds played in their mom's basement, except for a few serious differences. Difficulty. It was like a super hardcore, hardcore mode. One life, pain, injuries, and actual physical effort.

When monsters died, they dropped loot and when someone did something outstanding or different they would be awarded. It was almost like he was truly inside of a game. He always dreamed of being inside of one, leaving earth with his sister to explore another world with magic and a healthy body, however, this wasn't exactly what he had dreamt of.

Niko looked at his surrounding with a dark face. He hadn't seen any other human beings for the last twenty minutes of running. Even the few who also decided to stay back and read the booklet, Niko couldn't find a single trace of them. ¨That orb said the forest was endless…¨ Niko began to think.

Suddenly, to his left, he heard a loud scream, ¨Ahhhh!!!¨

The scream wasn't that of pain but surprise. The scream was extremely sudden and as quick as it came, it disappeared.

Niko quickly turned his head towards the direction of the exclamation, ¨A trap? The scream was that of surprise and nothing else… It was very close too... Surely someone was caught in a trap!¨ Niko cautiously moved towards that direction, brushing off vines and other greens.

After a few seconds, he was finally out onto an opening without the cluster of green. What laid in front of him was a hole, about three meters deep with a man on the bottom just picking himself up.

The man was slightly muscular with an average build as he wore a gray shirt, blue jeans, and casual shoes. His hair was short and dirty blonde as well as covered in leaves and sticks. Below the man was a bed of leaves and sticks which should've been the camouflage that hid the hole from others.