A teenage boy sat perched atop the thick branch of a tree. Despite the glasses seated on his nose and his long, curly bangs, he radiated an aura of calmness. Below him was a wolf, its tail curled as it lay in the light of the moon.

Noah had been watching the wolf den for the past hour. Since leaving the cabin, he hadn’t encountered any obstructions or wandering beasts. This made sense, as the difficulty of the tutorial would be too high if there were any more wolves.

In his original plan, Noah had wanted to stealthily enter, but he discarded it before it even began as there was a guard. Noah was sure that, unlike Nick, the wolf would wake up at the slightest disturbance.

He adjusted his weight before jumping to a nearby tree noiselessly. The wolf’s long snout twitched, causing Noah to freeze. He soon realized it was another false alarm, prompting him into thinking that someone was messing with him.

Noah shook his head, clearing his mind of these strange thoughts. The wolf had stopped moving so he smoothly climbed down the tree. Making sure that he didn’t step on any dry leaves or sticks, Noah snuck to where he last saw the other pack’s tracks.

To pit man against beast, this was Noah’s plan. By aggravating one of the wolf packs he would lead them to his group. With the element of surprise and the wolf’s individual power, his group would be slaughtered. However, it wouldn’t be fully one-sided, and that’s what Noah was betting on.

Nick certainly would put up a resistance and with the help of the tools that were stored in the cabin, the fight would cause a major ruckus in the peaceful night. This disturbance would then attract the remaining wolf group, giving Noah clear access to the cave.

As for why he wanted to enter the cave, it was because the cave contained the exit to the trial.

Noah was assured of this due to the layout of the forest. The trial was supposedly meant to be an assault-type trial, as the cabin was located on the outskirts of the forest and the cave was located in the densest part of the forest. A base and a target. These were the two necessities for a proper group attack.

It was quite simple, really. The cabin would provide stability for the group, allowing them to rest and recuperate before attacking the wolf den. Noah understood this well; with a safe place to fall back to, humans were less likely to take risks. It provided safety, but in reality, it increased the difficulty of the trial greatly. Who would want to leave the cabin and fight?

Using the light of the moon, Noah sprinted across the forest’s floor, weaving through the compact foliage. The wolf tracks were difficult to follow, but with his experience, he didn’t have much of a problem. Climbing up a tree, Noah held his breath as he scouted the hill.

Four, no five wolves, including a cub, slept atop the empty glade. Seeing the little pup, Noah’s mouth split open, his white teeth glowing in the dark. Luck was on his side.

He jumped down from the tree, the soft grass cushioning his short fall. Noah squinted and raised his foot, putting it forward one step at a time as he silently walked around the wolves. Close enough to hear their relaxed breathing, he could feel his heartbeat increase, pounding in his chest as if it wanted to escape. However, the risk paid off and he managed to arrive at the sleeping wolf pup undetected.

“There you are,” he whispered gently as he picked it up. The young wolf’s eyes burst open, wanting to yelp out loud but Noah clamped its muzzle shut with his hand. It struggled fiercely; its body twisting and turning like a worm, but Noah held it tightly.

Exhausted, the pup went limp in his arms. Noah felt the grin on his face widen as he left the glade, the moon reflecting ominously in his deep, brown eyes.

* * *

“Something’s licking my face?” Eden thought to herself, turning her head away from the unpleasant sensation. Despite her efforts, the feeling persisted, and like a slip of moist sandpaper, dragged across her face over and over again. Frowning, she opened her eyes only to find a cute, small wolf pup staring at her.

Seeing its sparkling eyes, a smile involuntarily appeared on her face. However, her mind quickly cleared up and her rationality returned, causing her to break out in a cold sweat, her smile fading into an expression of extreme graveness.

“Why is there a wolf cub in the cabin?”

Thinking this, she jumped up from the bed she was sleeping on, running out of the cabin as if her life depended on it. As there wasn’t any time, Eden didn’t bother to warn the group. Running past the still-sleeping Nick, she scoffed without turning back. He deserved what was coming to him.

The forest was dark, the moon losing its former radiance due to the thin, cloudy blanket covering the sky. A wolf’s howl resounded in the still air, followed by another and yet another until they combined together into a cacophony of the night. Surrounded by trees, Eden supported her hands on her knees, panting.

Looking down at her torn clothes and ragged appearance, she cursed her bad luck.

“These fucking trials. Since being kidnapped here, nothing has gone well. Being forced by some insane system to do these stupid tasks along with those two morons, a senile old man, and a pathetic kid, how could this happen to me?”

She clenched her fists but continued running.

“I was set for life! Good-looking, popular, the class valedictorian, and running an internship at a national-level laboratory, my life was perfect! Now I’m running from god-damn wolves and I don’t even know why.”

She gasped, sucking in air at a copious rate. A cold breeze swept up her long hair. She unclenched her fists, finding that her dirty nails had dug deep into her palms, piercing her skin. It was only when Eden ran a full ten minutes away from the cabin that she stopped.

Looking around, she had unintentionally entered much deeper into the forest. Like the clouds shielding the earth, trees were densely compacted together. She cautiously wove around gnarled roots and twisting trunks, wanting to turtle up in some hole, hidden away from it all.

“Shit!” she swore, tripping over a leaf-covered root. Dirt scrapped her soft hands, dirtying them further along with her mood. Sweat stained her forehead and back, her once-blue jeans tarnished with mud. An ugly expression had crept up her once-glamorous face.

‘Crack’ A branch broke, not from beneath Eden’s foot, but from behind her. A shiver ran down her spine as the light crunches resounded behind her, the sounds of dry leaves being stepped on. As if she were a robot, her head swiveled just enough for her to look behind her.

“Huh? There’s no one here,” she mumbled, tilting her head in confusion. However, to her surprise, her head continued to tilt to the right, further and further as a haze of darkness clouded her peripheral vision. She wanted to speak, to ask the world why the night was getting even darker than it already was, but her mouth refused to move.

Strangely, the earth seemed to rise before a dull thud entered her ears.

“I’ve fallen down?” she questioned, finding herself parallel with the ground. She could see small details that were never there before. The skeleton of an old leaf, tiny granules of stone, a line of ants transporting some sort of shiny, green beetle.

Eden wanted to chuckle, but yet again was unable to. An uncomfortable feeling welled up in her chest, a deep-rooted urgency to prevent whatever was happening to her.

Yet she ignored it, finding the ants much more interesting. They worked together flawlessly, like a well-tuned machine or an assembly line. She blinked, surprised to find tears sliding down her cheeks, wetting the soil. It was then that a giant’s shoe crushed the ants in front of her. Despair engulfed her and just like that, Eden Lyones died.

A sigh escaped Noah’s lips, the broad-headed axe in his right arms still dripping blood as he viewed Eden’s decapitated corpse. Crouching down, he searched the body’s pockets in case she had anything of value. Although it was still early in the tutorial, cases of treasures being obtained weren’t unheard-of.

Unfortunately, Eden had nothing. Not that Noah expected anything, but it was better safe than sorry. It always was.

Wolf howls accompanied the stink of death. A deep sense of understanding welled up in Noah’s heart.

The world moved on.

Despite the mad roars of an old man, the panicked shouts of two young men, the murderous howls of wolves, or the headless corpse drained of blood, time continued to flow onward and life continued to struggle. A faint smile danced across Noah’s lips.

“Whether in life or in death, humans remain the same. Flesh and bone will always be ugly, no matter the appearance that covers it.”

How could Noah not notice the game Eden was playing? No one would look out for strangers when they didn't even know if they could take care of themselves. Yet because of his actions, a talented young woman died just like that, slain by his own hands.

This was the thrill and the beauty of living. Anyone could die at any time, the universe was chaotic. But this is exactly why Noah loved life.

Had she expected that she would die? Never. She was young, intelligent, and attractive, so why would she think so morbidly, so hopelessly? She wouldn’t. And Noah was sure that there were hundreds of millions just like her all around the world, arrogant and naïve and therefore dying indignantly and stupidly.

Such was the nature of the system. Emotionless, uncaring, and only rewarding those who deserve it. It has sacrificed billions of lives to develop one peak talent, and would continue to do so. After all, it is easy to find a thousand soldiers, but hard to find a good general.

“Oh? The clouds are gone.” The faint moonlight brightened the forest, casting a spell of serenity on the peaceful landscape. The fight had already ended as Noah jogged to the wolf’s den. He sped up, the wolves were on their way back. Cutting the grass by the roots had taken up valuable time, now it was time to complete this trial.

The gaping cave appeared once again in Noah’s vision; a black hole that sucked in any and all forms of light. He didn’t hesitate for a moment before walking in, his right hand grasping the axe tightly and his left feeling the cold, stone wall.

The cave grew damper and damper as Noah continued to walk downwards. The slope was noticeable, and he often had to slow down and stretch out his leg, feeling for any dangerous drop off or hole.

His nose twitched, the smell of feces invading it. He could only shake his head, feeling that the system was quite thorough. He was in a wolf den, after all.

The tutorial's trials didn't take place on the newly-integrated planet, rather, they were in a separate, unknown dimension. It was not unlike a dream. The system had full control over every part of it, from the beasts to a grain of sand. The only grounded aspect of it was death.

Two minutes later, he arrived at a large opening. A cavern, full of stalactites hanging from the ceiling like pale, white fangs. Water drops echoed, dampening the moody environment. To Noah’s surprise, there was a thin, but long, crack splitting ceiling, the moonlight beaming down through it like a pale curtain.

Shrouded in the light was an old, wooden chest. Realizing what it was, Noah walked to it and it slowly opened.

There was no light, no sound, only the plain, white panel that the system always used. However, contrary to a look of pleasant surprise, a bewildered expression appeared on Noah’s face.

Solo Chest Reward: Basic Wish