The sun grilled upon Bold as he took a step after the other with extreme effort. Sweat came running down his chin, his mouth was dry and his back was aching. It’s been an hour and a half since he left the town of Mallimau. He wasn’t sure how much distance he had walked but he knew he sat to rest three times and that definitely wasn’t a good sign. It would be very convenient if he could summon his horse to his aid. But every attempt at typing the code and activating the spell was in vain.

He was all alone in the woods. But luckily for him, he could see a board was placed next to the road. Within a close range, Bold realized that the board was showing a small part of the map.

“Husky dusk Village is 9 kilometers away. You are here”  

Under the text he could see that he only walked for about 4 kilometers. Bold sighed and dropped his cargo.

How the hell am I supposed to reach my destination like this? If I keep carrying my cargo under this god blasted sun I just might pass out. If there is some sort of a way. Maybe a shortcut!

Bold then realized something by looking at the board.

Husky dusk village is 9 kilometers away but only if I walk along the road. I could take a shortcut and go through the forest which by the looks of the map could make the 9 kilometer journey into a 6.5 kilometer one. Hmmm. The risk was undoubtedly high but to hell with that. I have to take a chance. It's still better than withering and dying under the heat. And as far as I can tell the forest wasn’t that dense. And the terrain under the forest seems to be descending so I could just walk upwards if I want to return to where I was.

He began his travel in the woods without hesitation and immediate satisfaction was felt when the trees and their leaves blocked out the burning light of the sun. He could trip and fall for sure. But what scared him more was the possibility of encountering the animas mentioned in the instructions.

However, thirty minutes of walking proved that his enemy was not the animas. It was thirst. He did not have any food or water and even with the forest’s concealment he was perspiring heavily. 

As he moved along an unknown path in the desolate forest he found a tree that has a strange hole in it. And inside that hole Bold saw a blue juice of sorts. He was thirsty as hell, he waited no longer. But as he reached the juice he hesitated. He didn’t know if it was safe to drink. Despite this world being a simulation, the instruction clearly stated that his body was identical to the real which means getting poisoned was a possibility.

But that possibility was nothing more than an afterthought for Bold cause at the moment he was dying to drink something. Stuffing his face into the liquid and pulling it out afterwards he was gratified with immense relief. The liquid was actually very tasty. It almost felt as if he was drinking multi-fruit juice.

As he was satisfying his thirst with the tree juice he heard the sound of leaves rustling. He walked away and looked at the nearby bushes but could not detect the source of the sound or any movements of sort.

This is strange. Ehh, might be the effects of the sun. Just drink, drink , drink. 

And as he was about to continue sipping the juice from the inside the tree he heard a hissing sound from above. Bold noticed the terrifying creature which was standing on one of the branches of the tree in front of him. It was a blue-furred monkey with two horns on its head. Fangs that seemed big and strong enough to tear through rocks could be seen in its mouth. The beast had a tail the length of its entire body and at the tip of it was a small blade.  The creature did not seem pleased with Bold’s actions. He didn’t know what he had done but the only thing he knew was that he needed to run.

AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.

The baboon leaped into the air, curled into a ball and spun forward like a bowling ball. This way the tail with the scalpel gained a devastating speed.  But Bold sidestepped in time to dodge, causing the monkey to slash nothing but thin air. As soon as it’s four legs landed on the ground the beast lunged at Bold with its saber-like fangs. He brought his arm in front of his face to shield himself but the monkey bit his arm.

He felt an immeasurable pain running through his veins. His scream echoed throughout the forest and as soon as he recovered from the shock he raised his other arm to punch the crazed beast but the monkey’s tail moved like lightning and pierced his eye with its blade. He could feel his brain being electrocuted by the insurmountable pain.

Pale with panic and panting, Bold grabbed the monkey and slammed it with enough force against the tree that it was willing to let go of its bite. Bold turned around and ran. He didn’t know where he was going or what he was going to do. He just needed to escape this hellhole. It was strange to navigate through the forest with just one eye but he still somehow managed.

While he was running he wondered how much damage his body had taken. And at that moment information suddenly surged into his brain. The baboon’s bite caused him 4 damage and the stab in the eye caused him 8. But as he was calculating an extreme pain and heat was felt in his back, the monster had managed to slash his back with its tail. But Bold ignored the pain and dashed towards a light source.

He could see a wide area with no trees behind the bushes so he jumped through it and the monkey followed after him. But this decision revealed itself to be regretful as he realized that he was now on the edge of a small cliff. Beneath the cliff was a plain area filled with dirt. The fall would be a good four-story building height and he definitely did not plan on dying.

So Bold turned around to face the beast. The ape roared and screamed. Saliva was thrown out of its savage mouth. But Bold had enough of it. He yelled crazily at the monkey in an attempt to scare it away but the beast screamed back. But it did not attempt an attack. Instead, it opted to rage and threats to completely guarantee its dominance.

Bold realized that this was his chance for a counter-attack. He only had one card up his sleeve and he didn’t even hesitate on whether it’ll work or not. Bold typed on his wristboard and hit the enter button. The beast leaped towards him but as soon as Bold saw a pink shagai appear on his palm he nailed it towards the beast.

It was the camel form. The sphere suddenly gained immense size and it reached the beast’s body and blew up, knocking the monkey backward. But the explosion’s shockwave also reached Bold and within a second, he noticed that he was falling.

Is this the end?

His vision blackened, chills went down his spine and he felt the friction of the wind cutting his back.
Everything was over... Upon landing on the ground, he felt his entire body being crushed.