“Ahhhh, what is this?!” Kurushimi shouted out, her voice echoing through the forest. With one thing after another, she finally snapped, resorting to venting out her frustrations into empty space.

“Both ways end in death? Isn’t that too unfair?” Kicking the ground, despair was openly shown on her visage; her voice becoming hoarse and the light in her eyes fading. She had been thrown into this place all of a sudden and killed not once, but twice. She wasn’t even spared through death, being forced to relive the scenario over and over.

And then there was that woman… that cold and stern voice that awaited her, appearing with her death. Kurushimi had never heard a voice even resembling hers. She couldn’t help but be curious about her identity. Perhaps she had something to do with all this? Would she be able to help?

‘KREEE EE-!’ As she stood there, the dogs shrieked once again, announcing their arrival. Kurushimi turned around to face them, gulping nervously and clenching her fists. Running didn’t work. Everything would only repeat in the same way as before. But there was one variable, the woman at the end. ‘If… I die again, maybe I could speak with her?’ Kurushimi thought to herself.

Her knees wobbled and sweat dripped down her forehead. She was in despair, but not enough to die without care. Her nerves were agitated to the max but this was all she could think of.

“Stop.”

As Kurushimi lifted a foot to step forward, she was suddenly interrupted by a voice. “Ah-!” She exclaimed, her expression filled with shock. As she was commanded, she quickly withdrew her foot and stood still. The dogs squared off against her, not moving as of yet.

“You!” she shouted, struggling to say anything more than that. Unexpectedly, the woman had spoken early, prior to her death. At this moment, she remembered the words that woman had told her as she was dying. ‘I suppose I must help.’ In her crushing despair, Kurushimi had finally found a moment of hope.

Before Kurushimi could speak any further, the woman spoke, “If you want to survive, do what I say.” Hearing the cold and to the point statement, she gulped once more before nodding. She had no idea what the help was going to be, but this was her only hope. “Beside your right foot, there is a stick. Pick it up.”

Kurushimi listened and hurriedly picked up the stick. It was fairly sizable and sturdy. Seeing the canisfangs begin to approach, she nervously asked, “O- okay, what now?”

“You fight them.”

“Huh? Can you repeat that?” Kurushimi was unsure if she had heard that right! Did this woman just casually tell her to ‘fight them’? Three vicious and bloodthirsty dogs; fighting against huge fangs and claws, with a stick… It was at this moment, Kurushimi realised she had put her life in the hands of a madwoman.

“You fight them.” As if she had said nothing strange, the woman repeated herself.

“Okay, Voice-san. Tell me, how exactly am I supposed to do that?” Kurushimi questioned, simultaneously giving her the nickname ‘Voice-san’. Kurushimi was not confident in her chances in the slightest bit. She was unsure if she could take on one, let alone three!

As if it was obvious, the aptly named Voice-san replied, “I’ll assist you?”

Flustered, Kurushimi scrunched up her face, “Wait, wait, wait, wait! How are you going to-”

“Pay attention, they are coming.” Voice-san cut Kurushimi off, directing her attention to the dogs ahead. They shrieked in a low and threatening tone, saliva and spit dripping from their mouths as they approached her.

Perhaps because she wasn’t immediately running away, the dogs still didn’t get too close. Instead, they continued the standoff. They seemed to be acting with more caution than before, not that there was anything to be cautious of.

Now that she was so close, Kurushimi was able to get a close-up view of their grotesque features. Their skin was a hideous purple and their huge jaws covered the majority of their faces. It was a mystery how they could actually see like that.

“The dog to the right is the most likely to attack first, prepare yourself.” As Voice-san predicted, the dog to the right was the first to sprint forward. Holding her breath, she braced herself, strengthening her grip around the stick.

“It’ll open its mouth and attempt to bite you, jam the stick in before it can.” said Voice-san. The dog unhinged its jaw, revealing the inside of its mouth. Memories of the horrible deaths she had faced to those fangs flashed by. She was scared. Unbelievably terrified. But…

“Don’t be. Do what I say and you’ll be fine.” With Voice-san’s reassurance, she entrusted her life to her for real this time. Sweat dripped down her forehead. As Voice-san had commanded, she jammed the stick into its mouth.

The stick held it back as it struggled, wrestling with the stick as it relentlessly tried to bite Kurushimi. The stick was managing to stop it for now, but it was clear that the stick wouldn’t last very long.

“Now, sweep its front legs and knock it over. When it hits the ground, stamp down on its neck. It has a naturally fragile neck and will die instantly upon doing so.” RIght on time, Voice-san relayed the next commands. Kurushim hurriedly attempted a sweeping motion with her leg. With no more support from its front legs, the dog immediately fell down with a thud.

“Now, crush its neck.”

Lifting her foot up, she dropped it down with all her might. ‘Crack-!’ The bone-chilling sound of the dog's neck breaking rang in her ears. Such a sound would normally be disturbing to her, but when it was at the behest of the dogs that had been so terrifying just a moment ago… It was euphoric.

“You-!” Kurushimi shouted, clenching her teeth and lifting her foot up again once more. “DO ‘Crack-!’, YOU ‘Crack-!’, HAVE ‘Crack-!’, ANY ‘Crack-!’, IDEA ‘Crack-!’, HOW ‘Crack-!’, PAINFUL ‘Crack-!’, DEATH ‘Crack-!’, IS?!” The dog had already been killed a long time ago, yet she continued to stamp down on its neck. “That’s what you get for killing me… Twice…” After catching her breath, she briefly looked over it before turning to the other two dogs. However, something else met her vision instead.

[You have leveled up!]

[Stat points are available! Do you wish to distribute them now?]