001

Today was the worst day of my life.

That is a very powerful statement considering the fact that none of my days are that good or cheerful to begin with, and to think that all of it started with a simple trip to the department store.

I had just returned from work and was in no mood to go anywhere, but I had to considering the fact that I was staring at an empty fridge right now.

So I wore the only thing that wouldn’t want to make me kill myself, track pants and a simple printed black T-shirt and headed out.

Looking at my short messy black hair and the dead look in my eyes, some people find it difficult to look at me. But I can’t blame them, if I came across someone who looked like a walking corpse, even I would avoid eye contact. My tall and lean stature probably makes it worse, I could only guess.

Quickly making my way through the familiar path, I arrived at the store. Thankfully, I come here regularly so at least the cute shopkeeper doesn’t find me weird.

She is the daughter of the old man who owns this place. Few months ago he was hospitalized due to a stroke, so she had to come and take over the store.

I have yet to ask her name or even have a proper conversation for that matter, but I highly doubt that it would go over smoothly with my confidence and looks.

I quickly take all I need, which isn’t much as it’s only a few packs of instant noodles. I’ll do proper grocery shopping tomorrow. With a list and all that. But right now, I just want to go home, eat some crappy noodles and sleep.

Man, just thinking about my bed makes me sleepy.

I walked up to pay while trying my best to hide the fatigue on my face, she saw right through me and my poor attempt at hiding it from her almost made her chuckle. But she was still very polite about it as she asked.

“You look extra tired today, is everything ok?”

“Everything’s fine, it’s just that we have too much work nowadays so it’s taking a toll on my sleep.”

I wasn’t lying, it has been hell in the office for the past few days. We had already missed the deadline for delivery, which in turn was making me work overtime. I wouldn’t even complain if it weren’t for the fact that I haven’t slept properly in the past few days.

She was about to say something when suddenly from the corner of her eye, she spotted something. Rather, someone.

Following her gaze, I looked in the same direction.

It was at this moment when both of us noticed it. Two people barged in through the door, they had their faces covered and one of their hands was tucked inside their oversized coats, they looked like they were hiding something. I don’t think it would take a genius to know what they were hiding.

We both knew that they weren’t here to buy anything so without wasting any more time she reached for her emergency alarm and I instinctively moved a step ahead trying to cover the storekeeper as she called for help.

But my feet were obviously slow as the man in the front almost immediately, as if in response to my movement, pulled out his hand from the coat revealing a handgun.

Before her finger even touched the emergency button, a bullet came flying through and blew her head to tiny bits. I could see blood flying out in the other direction.

Seeing this, I just stood there with a blank look on my face. No words came out of my mouth, I wanted to scream but even that refused to be let out.

It just happened way too fast. I still wasn’t completely sure what had happened.

The person who just shot the girl almost instantaneously aimed it at me. As I looked down the barrel of the gun pointed at me, I froze. It seemed so sudden that my mind wasn’t able to keep up with it and I just stood there.

By the time my head caught on to what was happening, he had already tightened his grip around the trigger.

This was it. I was going to die. I involuntarily closed my eyes.

With my eyes sealed shut, I waited for the intense pain that would soon be followed by my cold, limp body devoid of life falling to the floor, but it never arrived.

The loud sound, the intense smell of gunpowder, or even the deafening silence that immediately followed, none of it came. One thing did come though, and it was a breeze. A cold breeze.

A very cold breeze. An almost freezing blow of cold air that rushed past my fatigued body making it quiver a little.

Surprised by the sudden change in the environment, I immediately opened my eyes to see.

I guess my mind wasn’t ready to accept whatever it was right in front me, so I rubbed them and looked again, nothing had changed, so I rubbed them harder and gave it another go, but there was still no change.

I didn’t want to accept it, but all of it was right in front of my eyes.

Dead trees with branches covered in snow and a vast expanse of white lands that expanded as far as the eye could see. I was standing on the cold hard ground wearing nothing but some cheap sneakers.

There is a circle of impact where I am standing, and the snow in that place has blasted away. There was sort of a small crater around me.

I looked around but the two attackers were nowhere to be seen. My location had been suddenly changed but I still wearing the same clothes that I was and I still had my bag filled with noodles with me.

I recalled the horrific scene of the storekeeper’s brain spraying out of her head and I almost had an impulse to gag, I also felt sick in my guts, there is a strange pressure there all of a sudden.

Grrr…

My mind had yet to catch up to this and I was still struggling when I heard it, the slow and deep growl. It was right behind me.

With cold sweat covering my back, I slowly turned and looked back while trying my hardest to not let out a scream. I didn’t want to agitate whatever the hell it was.

What I saw right after turning was horrifying to say the least.

It was a silhouette far off in the distance, a bi-pedal beast, from afar it looked quite similar to a bear, but from the distance between us, I could easily tell that it’s at least twice the size of a bear.

Even though there was such a huge gap between us, it still managed to scare me. I could feel its eyes on me.

I don’t know how, but I was able to feel its aura, if I can call it that. My body shuddered feeling it.

This time, my body reacted far quicker than my mind did and I ran. I ran in the opposite direction of that… thing.

If it was just this, then that would’ve been enough, but it clearly wasn’t. Abundant sounds of different kinds of beasts surrounded me from all sides. My five senses became extremely sensitive as each and every movement or even a slight rustle in the wind was enough to make me immediately change directions.

So I ran in this random mess of a pattern as I was trying to avoid encountering even one of those creatures.

I don’t even know how long I ran for, but it must’ve been more than an hour at the very least.

When I became certain that the place that I had run off too didn’t have any signs of the creatures from before, only then did I let my body finally relax.

Becoming a tired mess, I crumbled down on the cold ground, my feet radiating with an indescribable pain. Even after sitting down, I didn’t let my guard down even one bit.

The cold that was now starting to kick in did feel a bit tolerable as the pain far outweighed whatever the cold breeze could do.

Within the sounds of my wheezing breath and the silence of the quiet but eerie frozen forest, a loud ‘ding’ sounded in my head and I was presented with a slightly glowing blue screen right in front of my face.

This screen hovered right in the middle of my field of vision.

[Skill: Sprint Lv.1 has been acquired.]

[Qi has increased by 10]

Status

Name: Grant Steele

Lv.0

HP: 14/23

MP: 0/0

BA: 0/0

QI: 12/12

Skills: Sprint Lv.1

“What the fuck is happening!?”