This Is Not the Life That I Imagined

John struggled to regain his composure as the wind rustled the leaves ahead, sending an eerie shiver down his spine. The sound, usually soothing, now heightened his unease. The unknown loomed before him, and his mysterious arrival in this strange place only intensified his unsettled feelings.

"I hope all of this is a bad joke. I've lived for 27 years and never heard of any freaking monster. "John muttered, taking cautious steps toward the jungle.

"Who's the twisted sicko who dragged me here? There are no monsters in this world, John. Well, if I face a lion or a bear, I'm dead. But hey, it's no monster. That's the bright side, right?"

His movements were slow, eyes constantly scanning the dense jungle. His footsteps echoed in the oppressive darkness, breaking the silence between each subtle rustle of leaves.

John, walking aimlessly, not knowing which way leads out of this place. He is guided more by the primal need to escape than any sense of direction. Intensely scanning his surroundings, wary of any sudden movements in the trees, the tablet suddenly vibrated, startling John into a clumsy dance that nearly sent his sword flying.

"damn it, what else?" He fumbled for it, and he sees the following:

(Your talent "Double Focus" is active.

Warning: there is an anomaly!

It's not working as recorded in the system.)

"Great," John whispered, his voice barely audible. "I have a talent I didn't know about, and it's already malfunctioning."

Suddenly, a guttural, raspy groan and the crackling of twigs sliced through the air, freezing him in place. The sound of hunger, pain, and decay entwined, a cacophony that chilled John's veins.

With each passing moment, the dreadful sounds grew more intense, and the eerie chorus was amplified by the rustling leaves. 'What in God's name is that sound? Is the monster re—real?!'

He broke out in a cold sweat as he stood still. He dared not breathe, fearing that even the softest exhale might draw the attention of whatever grotesque entity lurked in the shadows.

His heart raced as he waited, every second felt like an eternity. The rustling leaves now carry an ominous undertone, blending with the guttural groans that resonate through the darkness.

John's senses heightened as he struggled to decipher the origin of the unsettling sounds. His grip tightened on the sword, every muscle tense as he attempted to blend into the shadows.

The tablet, dormant for a moment, suddenly flickers back to life. The screen's glow reflects on his face, displaying the same message about his talent. He barely registered it, his attention locked on the dreadful sounds closing in.

Narrowing his eyes and biting his lips at the words on the screen, hoping the tablet light won't attract the creature. His heart races, each beat echoing in his ears as the sound of twigs snaping become closer.

"Is this... the monster?" John whispers to himself, fear coating his voice.

Suddenly, a hideous figure emerged from the shadows. Its form, barely discernible in the dim light, moved with an unnatural gait. The monster inched closer, revealing gnarled limbs and a face twisted in agony. Reality crashed around him as the monster came into full view, its horrifying features etched in itself into John's mind.

A primal fear seized John, and without a second thought, he turned and bolted, his footsteps echoing through the jungle, each one a desperate plea for escape.

And as John sprinted through the tangled underbrush, the creature's unearthly howls echoed behind him, creating a chilling counterpoint to the relentless drumming of his heart.

His breaths came in ragged gasps, each step pushing him further into the depths of the unknown. The tablet continued its flickering and vibrating that only fueled John's anxiety.

The monstrous silhouette pursued him, its presence manifested in the fleeting shadows and the consent horrifying growls. In his desperate flight, John stumbled over roots and vines, his mind a whirlwind of fear and confusion.

The monster's groans grow distant, but the primal fear lingers, making John wish for wings to flee faster out of here. He ran without keeping track of the distance or time, relentless until he gasped for breath, unable to continue.

Finally, when he could run no more, he collapsed against a tree. "What the hell was that?" he panted, his hands trembling uncontrollably. His breath comes in ragged bursts as he struggles to articulate.

"Wh—What did I just see?" He can't calm himself after seeing that thing.

The tablet vibrates again, scaring John into throwing it away. "Mother of peaches … scared the hell out of me. "

His eyes scan the message on the screen as he lifts the tablet from the damp and leafy jungle ground.

(Your talent "INSANITY CHECK" is active.

Warning: there is an anomaly!

It's not working as recorded in the system.)

"I swear, this thing is more trouble than it's worth," he muttered, stuffing the tablet back into his backpack. But the device vibrated again before he could put it away.

(The system detected that you encountered a level 1 monster: Wild-Fury.

Wild-Fury:

type: normal

level: 1

status: unknown (the status will be revealed by killing 5 or observing 10 of the same monster for an extended period of time)

skills: unknown

updating the mission) 

John stared at the new mission displayed on the screen.

(Previous mission: Find a level 1 monster.

Time limit: No limit.

ـــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــ

Current mission: kill a level 1 monster.

Time limit: 4 hours.

Penalty for failing the mission: Electric shock for 15 minutes. Warning: This could cause permanent paralysis.

Reward for mission completion: 10 points for killing your first monster

"Points can be used to buy from the organization").

He was stunned, for the first time since he awoke, he didn't know how to react.

Should he laugh at the absurdity of these people thinking he would go back to the monster? Should he rage at the twisted sicko who issues this mission? Should he despair at his cluelessness and hopelessness? Or should he fear the unknown, the wild-fury, the penalty, or the fact that someone, who he had no clue about, knew and monitored him?

A whirlwind of emotions hit him—none could help him out of this twisted test. John stared at the words on the screen with a face full of reluctance and despair. He couldn't understand why any normal human being would try to get close to that creepy monster and kill it with a sword!

John gritting his teeth in anger while his gaze fixed on the tablet, as if addressing an unseen presence behind the screen "I can understand if you give me a gun or something, but sword! really!!! A sword against that freak of nature?!

what could you gain from this, huh?! WHAT COULD YOU GAIN, YOU PIECE OF––?!" He snapped for a second and let out a roar at the end.

The next moment, his pupils dilated, his eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat. As John's heart pounded in his ears, the realization struck like a lightning bolt – two shadows, two twisted forms, dancing in the periphery.

Without wasting another second, John sprinted with everything he had in the opposite direction. Much to his horror, he realized that there were several ferocious Wild-Furys in the jungle.

He ran and ran until he couldn't hear the monsters anymore. Now resting his back against a tree trying to catch his breath. 'S#*t, I shouldn't have made a loud voice. this is not going well. how will I survive this place? '

the tablet vibrated again it the same message as the previous one.

(Your talent "INSANITY CHECK" is active.

Warning: there is an anomaly!

It's not working as recorded in the system.)

He wanted to scream, to rage against the insanity of it all, but he knew better. The jungle wasn't safe. The damp ground, with his sweat and the wind made him shiver from the cold.

After catching his breath, he starts walking again but this time more carefully than any time in his life. Overwhelmed by a sense of coldness, abandonment, fear, and frustration, he appeared as fragile as a leaf, ready to be swept away by the slightest breeze.

Each step he takes requires the full force of his willpower and resolve to survive, rather than surrender to despair. The tablet vibrated, reminding him of the time ticking away.

(Time remaining: 3 hours 30 minutes.)

As John traversed the dark jungle, each step weighed heavy with fear and uncertainty. The tablet's persistent vibrations served as a cruel reminder of the impending mission – 'Kill a level 1 monster.'

A task that seemed insurmountable given the horrible encounter he'd just escaped. Hours passed in a blur of anxious footsteps and rustling leaves.

(Time remaining: 3 hours).

The countdown on the tablet mercilessly ticking away, echoing the drumming of John's heart.

(Time remaining: 2 hours).

(Time remaining: 1 hour 30 minutes).

(Time remaining: 1 hour 12 minutes).

 His exhaustion was palpable; every breath felt like a struggle against the oppressive darkness.

(Time remaining: 60 minutes).

In the final hour, desperation clawed at him. Thoughts raced through his mind like shadows dancing on the jungle floor. 'Should I confront it? What if I fail? Can I really face that monstrous thing?' Doubt consumed him, each doubt breeding another.

(Time remaining: 40 minutes).

As the countdown neared its end, a sinister groan echoed through the trees, jolting him from his tormenting thoughts. Panic set in. The monster was near, and he was nowhere near ready.

He stumbled, legs heavy with fatigue, anxiety clenched his chest. The groans of the unseen monster penetrated the dense foliage. Panic surged, urging him to flee, yet his legs, heavy with exhaustion, threatened to betray him.

From the shadows, the monster Wild-Fury emerged, a grotesque entity that defied the natural order. Its twisted form moved with an unnatural gait, each step sending shivers up John's back.

The creature stood at a height that surpassed any human John saw, its limbs gnarled and contorted in a distorted dance of pain. The skin, if one could call it that, clung tightly to its skeletal frame, revealing a sickly pallor.

The creature's body seemed to writhe with unseen agony, every movement accompanied by an unsettling symphony of cracking joints and muted groans. The creature's movements were disturbing, as if pain and malevolence forged a horrendous ballet.

John's senses were assaulted by the stench of decay and putrefaction, a foul odor that permeated the air. In the dim light of the tablet's glow, the details of the Wild-Fury became clearer, each feature etched in horrifying detail.

The monster's guttural groans, now closer than ever, creating an aura of dread that lingered in the air. The creature's eyes gleamed with malevolent intent, its twisted smile widening as it reveled in the terror it instilled.

The countdown clock flashed its relentless numbers, ticking away the seconds to confrontation.

 (Time remaining: 39 minutes 47 seconds)

The fight was inevitable. His trembling hand tightened around the sword, every nerve in his body screamed at him to run.

The creature claws draw near—almost reaching his head—with a surge of instinct, john activated his two dormant skills, in a heartbeat, the world around him sharpened.

John's senses heightened—exhaustion momentarily forgotten. The sword in his hand felt like an extension of himself. The fear that had gripped him transformed into a cold focused.

All sounds vanished, every tree disappeared, leaving only this abomination in his sight. The monster's movements were jerky, unnatural. Its decayed limbs moved with an eerie coordination as it swing its hands at John.

The details of the Wild-Fury, from the angle of its claws to the contorted movement of its head, became crystal clear in John's heightened senses. John jumped out of Wild-Fury's reach, threw the tablet away, and used both hands to hold the sword tightly as he fended off the creature bouncing at him with its sharp claws.

The attack jolted John making him talking a step backward to steady himself. His hand numbed under the assault.

The clash of steel against decaying flesh created a macabre melody that resonated through the night. Guttural groans from the Wild-Fury intertwined with John's grunts of effort, forming an otherworldly chorus.

John's movements, guided by a mix of fear and newfound determination, were a chaotic yet calculated effort to evade the monster's relentless advances.

He sidestepped the monster's lunges, and blocked what he can't evade. Wild-fury terrifying assault continued, with every passing second its onslaught becoming more relentless.

John struggled to maintain his defense, the weight of each blow taking a toll on him. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he sought an opening, a chance to counterattack.

The countdown clock neared its end, a constant reminder of the impending mission failure. Whether it was an unexpected surge of strength or sheer willpower, he continued to face the monstrous adversary with unwavering resolve.