Chương 18: Shrapnel Chest

Recap: You escaped a Warg into a crevice. You're full HP but low on evolution progress. A Giant Rat is nearby. You voted to USE THE GLASS SHARDS. I had a stomach full of broken glass. Most people would consider this a medical emergency. I considered it ammunition. The rat was outside the crevice. Skitter. Sniff. It was close. Ten feet. Maybe less. The Warg was patrolling further out, but its howls had stopped. That meant it was hunting silently. If I bit the rat, I might make noise. A squeal. A struggle.

The Warg would hear. If I spit the glass… it was silent. Sharp. Deadly. Okay, Alex, I thought. Don't cut your own tongue. That would be embarrassing. I focused on my stomach. The glass shards were floating in the acid, untouched. I isolated one sharp fragment. About the size of a fingernail. SYSTEM NOTIFICATIONSkill Used: Regurgitate (Precision)Cost: 1 StaminaCurrent SP: 13/20 I opened the false bottom a crack. Just a slit. I pushed the shard up with my tongue and flicked. Thwip. It flew through the air. Silent.

Invisible in the dark. Shhk. A wet sound. Then a thud. The rat twitched once. Then stopped. No squeal. No struggle. The glass had hit its eye. Or its brain. Either way, it was dead. SYSTEM NOTIFICATIONTarget Defeated: Giant Rat (Level 1)XP Gained: 5 XPCurrent XP: 45/50 (Level 2)Status Effect: Glass Shards (Lost)Note: Ammunition expended. Forty-five, I thought. I need five more. Just five more XP and I hit Level 2. I felt a surge of hope. I was so close. I could feel the stat points waiting for me.

The Taunt skill unlocking. The possibility of not being everyone's favorite doormat. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I slid out of the crevice. The coast was clear. The rat lay dead on the dirt. I moved to consume it. Eat the body. Gain the HP buffer. Maybe find something in its stomach? Rats eat anything. But as I approached the corpse, my tremorsense pinged. Thump. Thump. Thump. Heavy. Rhythmic. Smelling of wet dog and ozone. The Warg. It hadn't left.

It had been waiting. Watching. It stepped out from the shadows of the tunnel. It looked at the dead rat. Then it looked at me. It didn't roar. It growled. Low. Deep. It knew. It knew I killed the rat. It knew I was here. And it looked hungry. I was 45/50 XP. I was 1/3 Metal for evolution. I was a box with a stomach ache. The Warg was Level 3. Elite. I couldn't fight it. I couldn't outrun it (not in a straight line). But I noticed something. The Warg was wearing a collar. A thick leather band with a metal tag.

Metal, I thought. That's item number two. If I could get the collar… I'd be 2/3 Metal. Still not enough to evolve, but closer. But to get the collar, I had to get close to the Warg. To get close to the Warg, I had to not die. The Warg took a step forward. Saliva dripped from its fangs. Current Stats: HP: 14/15 (Unchanged) Mana: 10/10 (Unchanged) Stamina: 13/20 (Regurgitate cost) Inventory: 3 Pebbles, Rusted Iron Dagger (Undigested). Glass Shards (LOST).

Status: Level 2 Close (45/50 XP), Evolution (1/3 Metal), Warg Hostile. What do you do? A) EAT THE RAT (FAST) Consume the rat corpse immediately. Gain the HP buffer. Ignore the Warg for now. Hope the Warg waits for you to finish. (Cost: 2 SP. Gain: +5 HP (Meal), 5 XP (Total 50/50 = LEVEL 2!). Risk: Warg attacks while eating.) B) TAUNT THE WARG (DISTRACTION) You don't have the Taunt skill yet, but you can make noise. Creak loudly. Try to lure it into a trap or narrow passage. (Cost: 0 SP. Charisma Check. Risk: Warg gets angrier.) C) GO FOR THE COLLAR Lunge at the Warg. Try to bite the collar off. Ignore the rat. Prioritize Evolution progress over Leveling. (Cost: 2 SP. Damage: 2-6. Risk: High Combat Danger. Reward: 2/3 Metal Items.) D) RETREAT TO CREVICE Back up. Hide again. Hope the Warg loses interest in a "hiding box" and leaves. (Cost: 2 SP. Stealth Check. Risk: Warg might dig you out.) VOTING CLOSES IN 24 HOURS. Reply with A, B, C, or D. Most votes wins. [Author Note] Thanks for voting on Chapter 17!

Option C (Glass Shards) was creative! You killed the rat silently, but now the Warg has returned. You are ONE encounter away from Level 2!