Two days have passed since Michael decided to stay in the forest and grind for corpses to use his Status Harvester on. Coupled with the new skill Raging Blow, he went on a rampage, killing any creature he encountered. He also looted more wooden sticks because of Raging Blow breaking the one he used. It would have been a good idea if this were any regular RPG world. However, the man still needed food and water for survival, which he completely neglected to resolve. It was only until Michael experienced the negative effects of dehydration and starvation that he decided to find a source to satiate his needs.

“Fuck! This isn’t some normal mode, huh? This is full on hardcore, survival, immersive-as-fuck mode! I never knew that I’d still need food and water to survive! Maybe I shouldn’t have harvested all of the corpses I looted, just to satisfy one of my needs. I either need to get out of this forest and find a nearby settlement, or find a monster to eat. Hopefully its blood would be enough to hydrate me as well. At this point, I don’t give a fuck if it’s a rat,” thought Michael, as he frantically searched for anything he could find to satisfy basic human essentials.

He knew that he would not be invincible, with the first two encounters of other lifeforms of Eternatus being some of the worst he has ever experienced. But the thought of requiring food and water to survive eluded him until he felt hunger pangs and tiredness. This in turn halved his HP, STA, MP, and its REG stats. He also noticed the struggle to hold all of the Hard Wood that he looted, and had to drop them.

“You’d think that there would be more plants to eat since this is is forest…” Michael tried eating some leaves from the bushes, seeing as how he failed to find any fruit-bearing ones. The leaves tasted bitter, and it did not help alleviate his hunger pains. He saw fruit hanging from the trees, and made attempted to hit it in the hopes of knocking some fruit down. Since he had almost no strength to behold, he failed to get even one fruit to fall. Michael could use Raging Blow on the tree, but he did not want to risk exhausting his remaining stamina in the process.

“My Automatic Harvest deactivated as well, and it didn’t drop any of the corpses for me to eat. I can’t force it out once the corpses were in. Lucky me.” Michael attempted to focus on the calm and quiet forest, hoping to catch any sounds of rustling, water flowing through streams, or any fruits and vegetables that he can reach. At this point, as it is almost night, he became desperate as it was nearing his third day, which could get more dangerous in the condition that he is in right now.

As soon as he heard rustling behind the bushes, Michael immediately rushed towards the sound. His adrenaline gave him enough power to speed to the bushes, and ambushed it, jumping through the barrier of leaves and branches. However, the creature evaded the attack at the last second, as it heard intense footsteps. Michael landed face first onto the dirt of the forest, but swiftly got back on his feet. He gazed at the victim he tried to ambush. His face paled as soon as he saw what he tried to attack.

“No… Not these fucks again,” said Michael. He dreaded having to face another one of these since his first encounter did not fare well for him. He instinctively covered his crotch with his left hand, readying his Hard Wood with his right. “It’s those goddamn dick-biters again!”

Developing PTSD from the previous world was not enough for him. Now he has PTSD from this world in the form of a furry wolf tearing off his penis. It did not help that this one is larger than the one he fought two days ago. He saw the furry creature bear its teeth at him in an aggressive manner, causing him to flinch in fear. However, he quickly steeled himself out of the fact that he would either die starving, or die getting his unmentionables ripped off. Michael did not want any of those options, so he settled for a third: beating the fuck out of that wolf, and eating everything it has to offer.

Two wild beasts, facing each other in a battle to the death. The wind blew dramatically, rustling the many leaves in the forest. Michael’s unkempt brown hair, torn black jeans, creased shoes, white shirt with many dirt marks all over it, worn down black zip-up hoodie, and the expression of insanity gave the impression of a wild animal instead of a human.

The large wolf leaped at him, aiming to gnaw Michael’s face off. However, Michael expected the wolf to come at him like that, and used Raging Blow on it. Raging Blow was quicker than the attack the furry creature thew at him. The wolf got knocked back into the ground, a heavy thudding sound following after. It was still not dead, indicating its higher HP.

But Michael did not care for that. He did not want to harvest corpses right now. Even if he did have the option to do that, he still would refuse. He desires food. He needs it. Instead, he slowly walked towards the wolf, recovering from the vulnerabilities given by the skill. The giant creature did not seem as imposing and wild as it did previously. Instead, it whimpered in pain and anguish at the massive injury it took from Michael’s blow. It attempted to crawl away from the battlefield, but Michael’s slow pace surpassed the wolf’s crawling speed.

Michael soon stood over the dying wolf. If he were any other man, he would have gave the wolf one final blow and cook it before eating. But Michael is desired food in his gut, prioritizing his survival over all. At this point, he would not care for morals or cooking food to remove any pathogens. He wants his hunger pain to cease. This was not Michael that the wolf faced, but something else entirely. A monster of a man.

Michael kneeled before the dying wolf, and grabbed its large body. He set his upper body over the creature using his arms. The wolf whimpered, with water escaping from its eyes. Michael moved over the wolf’s head and licked its eyeballs, in a desperate attempt to satiate his thirst as well. When he saw the tears stop flowing, Michael’s face hovered over the creature’s body. He unsealed his lips, revealing his maw, and quickly shut his jaws over the wolf’s furry flesh.

He tore off its raw flesh, its blood spewing all over his face, but Michael payed no heed to the mess that presented itself. He swallowed the meat and blood, satiating his hunger. The wolf itself let off one final cry before laying in an eternal slumber. Michael relentlessly torn the corpse’s flesh, picking it apart until nothing was spared. He picked out the wolf’s still beating heart, and ripped into it with his jaws. More blood spilled all over, and Michael drank it, believing that it would help his thirst.

The wolf met a brutal end by Michael Shagger, and only its bones remained as the history of its existence.

“Huh?” Michael saw the menu pop up, showing his recoveries. He became confused as to why it showed this when he did not even eat or drink anything. His sanity returned along with his main attributes. Michael was not aware of the heinous act he committed, until he looked downwards to his dead meal. “What the fuck?!”

Michael soon checked his body to see blood stains covering his hoodie, shirt, and pants. He gazed back at the wolf corpse that he ate, and almost threw up. He resisted the temptation, as he knew that he would go back to whatever insanity that he never was conscious of. “Did I do this?” Michael wished to never go back to the man… No. More like the monster that he was.

He knew that he needed to get out of the forest as soon as possible after this. Despite being a low-leveled area, the place drove him to a madness he never thought possible. He journeyed around the forest, searching for any pathway that he can take to any civilization. Michael needed to find his way out before those two states drives him too far.

Half an hour later, he spotted what looked to be a medieval carriage in the distance. “Is that what I think it is?” Michael rushed to where the carriage traveled, hoping that he would find the path out of the forest and into a settlement of sorts. As he neared, he saw a man at the front of the carriage, and four other men on foot. The four men were armed with metal swords sheathed in their scabbard, and wore chain mail over their gambeson, only having protective plate armor on their shoulders.

Michael approached the carriage to greet them. However, when the party spotted him, they unsheathed their blades immediately, ready to fight the threat at their gaze. One of the men called out to him. Luckily, he spoke what at least sounded like English to Michael. “Oi! Stop right there! State your business or move on!” The man spoke in an accent sounding like a combination of British and Irish.

Michael’s eyes welled with tears upon making contact with living and civil men. He may not have liked encountering people in the previous world, but his experience in the forest made him wish for contact like this. “Ahh, shit! How should I speak to them,” thought Michael. “Uhh, ‘ello there! What a foin aftanoon innit?” Michael attempted to speak in the accent similar to theirs, but it sounded more like broken English instead.

“Oi, you mocking me mate?” The man was not amused at Michael’s attempt to speak like them. Michael inwardly panicked.

“Fuck! I’m not trying to get my ass dropped right now! Fuck it, I’ll just speak to them normally,” thought Michael. “I, err, was just wondering how far the nearest village is from here. I’ve been stuck in the forest for almost three days, you see.”

One of the other men looked at him weirdly. “Now you sound like a chump,” he responded.

“Well shit! You sound like you have a motherfucking stick up your ass. I guess we’re even!” Michael would say that out loud to the four if he could, but he did not want to be beaten to a pulp by men who looked like they could bench over hundreds of kilograms.

The man that called him out then pointed to the direction opposite of where the carriage is going, and said, “We just came out from a village, around a thousand paces from here. Just keep traveling up the path and you should be able to see it.”

“I see. Thank you, my good man,” said Michael.

“Alright then. Have a good afternoon.” The man that gave Michael the way to the village bid him farewell, and their party continued to travel their way.

“I’m finally going to be free from torture!” Michael gleefully walked on the pathway, towards where the man pointed at. He walked in an exaggerated manner, arms swinging around excitedly as he took each step. He thought of grinding more corpses to harvest since he now found a way out of the forest, but then decided against it, seeing as how the last time he did, he suffered from starvation and dehydration. Michael does not want to experience that again.

“Come to think of it, why didn’t I get sick from eating raw meat?” Curiosity took the better of him, and he searched his skills and passives for anything that made him immune to diseases. He did not find any of them, so he looked at his status effect history, and made an interesting discovery.

“I became immune to natural diseases as I became starved and dehydrated?! Damn, that’s useful. Wish I could have the immune part without the other things. I wouldn’t wanna become a fucking cannibal. It was already hard enough for me when I ate that wolf raw.”  Michael gagged and nearly threw up when he thought back to the bloody mess he made. He will make sure that he would not become in that state of frenzy ever again.

With those thoughts out of the way, Michael journeyed towards the village, in hopes that his life in Eternatus will get better. After all, he hit rock bottom, and it was just the beginning for him, right?