Chương 2

Without being given even a second to actually prepare, the world shattered. Colours stretched into thin lines as space folded in on itself, and before I knew it, I was lying face down in some dirt. My stomach lurched as the world snapped back into place. I lifted my throbbing head, seeing flashing lights with each blink, and was greeted by another screen. Welcome to the tutorial! Adapt quickly. The tutorial is a specially designed area to give new Users time to get familiar with the System.

There are ample opportunities for everyone to learn and grow, as long as you manage to survive. Good Luck! What the hell is going on? Did I fall asleep? Is this a dream? I looked around, but the damn screen moved wherever my eyes moved. I swept it with my hands, but they just harmlessly passed through. Okay, deep breath. Do what you always do, stay calm and think. Analyze. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I smelled grass, dirt, and the general smells of nature.

I could feel the grass beneath me and hear leaves rustling in the wind. How is this damn screen still visible when my eyes are closed? I thought about making the screen go away, and surprisingly, it vanished! Opening my eyes, I saw a small clearing, surrounded by large trees on all sides. The grass beneath me was vividly green, and small bushes were spread around amongst the trees.

I sat up and saw I was wearing brown, thin trousers on my legs, a white shirt of some rough material, and the sand-coloured shoes on my feet felt coarse and hard. That about summed up what I could understand. What happened? How did I get here? Where is this place? A tutorial? The screen earlier said something about Earth getting assimilated into a system, and then the other screen mentioned a tutorial. What did it say? I wish I could read it again; it's the only source of information I have.

The screen instantly appeared once again, with the same message as earlier. It really did mention a tutorial. Adapt quickly? Survive? I dismissed the screen and immediately scanned my surroundings again. My rattled brain just felt like it woke up, and with a jolt I realized I was completely exposed in this clearing. I immediately bent low, and crawled as silently as possible to a tree that looked climbable. Observing the tree, it looked to be unoccupied, so I jumped up and caught the lowest hanging branch.

It was somewhat surprising at how difficult it was to climb up the tree, but I managed. Slightly out of breath, but feeling a bit more secure with my back against the trunk and about 3 meters off the ground, I started thinking again. Earth got assimilated into a system, and I got transported to a tutorial. Not just me, presumably everyone on Earth, but I'll worry about others when and if I see them. This is just like the stories I read online. My mind immediately went to one thought. Status!

I excitedly shouted in my mind. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. But nothing happened. No screen appeared, no notification sound, just the same slow wind shaking the leaves ever so slightly. Maybe I have to say it out loud? Giving a cursory look at my surroundings again, I warily said "Status" in a low voice. Still nothing. Character screen! Profile! Stats! Why isn't anything happening? Maybe I should focus on myself?

This system does seem to be reacting on intent, as evidenced by the tutorial screen coming up again when I wanted it to. I tried everything I could think about but nothing worked. Maybe I could try… Snap! What was that? It sounded like a twig snapping. I willed myself to be as silent as possible, and looked down. No matter where I looked though, all I could see were trees, grass, and dirt. I kept still, but as the seconds ticked by, I still could neither see nor hear anything.

"Anyone here?" called out a female voice, somewhere to my left. Didn't the sound come from the opposite direction though? There was silence for a heartbeat, then she called out again.

"Hello?" I started hearing movement. I strained myself, and a couple seconds later I could make out a silhouette moving through the trees towards me.

"Anyone? Helloooo!" They kept calling out, but my gut told me to keep silent and observe for now. They broke past the tree line and stepped into the clearing, and I could see them clearly without leaves obstructing my view for the first time. She's wearing the exact same outfit as me! She looked like a plain middle-aged woman, somewhere in the mid to late thirties, with black hair and auburn skin. Snap! There it was again! It sounded closer this time!

I tried to see what was making the sound, but the ground was teasingly empty, save for the gently swaying grass. A shadow moved in the corner of my eyes. I snapped my eyes towards it and my body locked before my mind caught up! With yellow vertical slit eyes and a tongue slithering in and out, a massive snake was moving closer, not on the ground, but amongst the trees! Worse, those horrible eyes were staring straight at me! I was frozen. It was massive!

Completely blending in with the leaves, its dark green body moved with eerie silence amongst the branches, barely moving anything as it passed by. It was in the tree right next to mine, with its eyes completely locked on to me. It is hunting me! I realized with dread. It probably became aware of me when I made noise climbing up the tree, or when I said 'Status' out loud. It kept moving closer, and I was still stuck in place. Move! I scrambled backwards, but that made the snake realize I was aware of it.

It suddenly sprang forward, its speed unbelievable! I jerked sideways, but there was nothing there but empty air! My hands desperately moved out of reflex, but I could not catch anything to stop my momentum. Shit! I crashed to the ground on my back, breath leaving my body in an instant. Somehow, my adrenaline enhanced mind was still working, and I managed to roll sideways into a seating position, and saw in renewed horror as the snake slithered down the tree, hot on my heels! It's much larger than I thought!

The scaled body was thicker than me, and its complete length still eluded me. Its head had almost reached the ground, but its body stretched upwards into the branches and beyond my sight. Its eyes were still locked on me, and my mind was racing, trying to grasp at the ever-dwindling chances of my survival.

"What was that? Is there someone there?" Amongst my racing mind and hammering heart, I was somehow able to hear the words of the woman. No. I shouldn't… The snake had almost reached me, and I kept circling back to the same thought. It's the only way! Move! Decision made, I turned and stumbled to my feet as quickly as possible. Run faster! I sprinted as fast as possible, with the dreaded feeling of the snake snapping its jaws around my ankle with every step.

My back kept tingling at the sound of the snake's rapid movement, but I finally managed to get to the clearing and saw that the woman was still there.

"Oh-Thank God! Do you know what's going on?" she asked. I paused, heaving deep breaths and having second thoughts again. I looked over my shoulder and saw the snake's head almost at eye-level with me, still with its eyes locked on me and gaining rapidly. I have no other choice! Stopping here means certain death! I turned and started running again.

"What are you doing? Hey! Get away from me!" she shouted as I got closer. She jumped away from me, but I saw her eyes go wide in surprise as I didn't stop and kept moving, reaching the tree line on the opposite end of the clearing. I stopped just past the first few trees, dreading my decision. There was a heartbeat of silence. Then, I heard her scream.