The night air hung heavy and cold, a damp chill seeping into Tyler’s gloom armor as it shifted subtly with each tense breath. A text panel erupted before his eyes: Slime Activated Skill:Bash

  It offered no respite. With a renewed surge of sickening speed, the monstrous creature lunged again. This time, Tyler met the assault head-on. He channeled every ounce of his strength into a desperate upward slash, the honed copper of his dagger singing a deadly song as it met the slime's resilient surface. A sickening thwack

  Tyler stumbled back, his breath ragged. He smoothly transitioned to his remaining dagger, his grip tightening. "Grone told me that they have a lot of durability when fused," Tyler thought grimly. "He did kinda struggle with a level 27 slime that time." The rhythmic pulse of the blue slime filled the chilling silence.

  The text appeared before Tyler's eyes: Slime Activated Skill: Bash

  Tyler’s gaze dropped to the fallen dagger, its stats momentarily imprinted on his vision: Attack Power: 44 User ATK: 77

  The slime, in its victory dance, seemed larger than the one Grone had faced—easily three feet tall and four feet wide. Tyler glanced at his HP display 79

  Before he could fully assess the situation, the slime launched itself again. This time, Tyler met the attack head-on, his fist connecting with the gelatinous mass with a sickening twamb. The slime recoiled, its impact against the forest floor a dull thud. Instantly, Tyler activated his Rush skillthub

  He unleashed a flurry of punches, a rapid-fire barrage that sent the slime reeling backward. Each blow connected with a sickening thwack

  His fist shot forward, a blur of motion, connecting with the slime with the full force of his rage. The tree behind the slime trembled violently, the impact creating a small gust of wind that ruffled the leaves. The slime, unable to withstand the force, began to disintegrate, dissolving into a blue dust that vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind only a tennis ball-sized, pulsating core.

  Tyler breathed heavily, the exertion leaving him breathless, as the core vanished into his inventory. The sudden rustling of bushes shattered the silence. Eight slimes, a pack of smaller, yet still menacing creatures, emerged from the undergrowth, their gelatinous forms shimmering in the dim light. Surprise, cold and sharp, pierced through Tyler's exhaustion.

  "Looks like that cry was a call for help," Tyler muttered, the realization dawning on him. His daggers reappeared in his hands, their weight familiar and reassuring. A quick assessment revealed that all but one were above level 10level 6 slime

  Meanwhile, at the Crossroads base, Rebecca stood at the counter, about to accept a new D-rank quest. The young man behind the counter presented her with a selection of fliers, each detailing a different mission. "This one," she declared, her finger tapping decisively on one of the fliers.

  "Are you sure? This is one of the toughest D-rank quests we've got," the young man said, a hint of concern in his voice.

  "What? You don't think I can pull it off? I'm a level 46 D-rank hunter

  "Right!" he said quickly, retrieving a pencil from his pocket and offering it to her. "You'll need to sign—" he began, but Rebecca interrupted again. "Yeah, yeah, I know where to sign," she said, her signature a bold flourish across the flier.

  The young man took the flier back. "Good luck out there, miss," he offered.

  "Don't need it," Rebecca replied, already turning to leave.

  The other man behind the counter watched her go, a sigh escaping his lips. "Hunters man i tell ya," he muttered, shaking his head. "She probably thinks she's better than everyone here."

  The young man sighed and said, "Yeah, probably."

  Rebecca neared the forest and sighed. "I should have been nicer to him," she muttered. "He didn't mean it that way. It's all because of my stupid uncle—that bastard stole my money while I wasn't looking and left. I almost died while taking that money. Those hunters could have killed me back then." She said, "Well, it's time to hunt for shadow claws."

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  Level up!

  SPECIES: HumanNAME: Tyler EvansRANK: ELVL: 31CLASS: CraftsmanHP: 102/102 MP: 95/95STR: 89 AGI: 77DEF: 141 STM: 78STATUS: HealthySkills: Armour Craft, Weapon Craft, Weapon Mastery, Alchemy

  Another notification appeared: Achievement Unlocked: User has killed over 30 monsters in total: +7 Stamina.

  Tyler smiled and checked his stats again.

  SPECIES: HumanNAME: Tyler EvansRANK: ELVL: 31CLASS: CraftsmanHP: 102/102 MP: 95/95STR: 89 AGI: 77DEF: 141 STM: 85STATUS: HealthySkills: Armour Craft, Weapon Craft, Weapon Mastery, AlchemyEquipped Skill: Rush-MC 17

  "Time to look for Shadow claws," Tyler said, moving deeper into the forest.

  As he walked through the forest, he spotted a small bush with leaves remarkably similar to those depicted on the quest flier. System text appeared above the bush: Brunish Bush

  He checked his inventory and found a bush-shaped icon. "Woah, I thought it would only take the leaves, not the whole bush," he said, shaking his head. "Now that I think about it, the system displayed its name—it doesn't do that with every plant. Is this an ingredient I can use in alchemy?" he wondered.

  He heard the sound of running water, closer now; he was nearing the river.

  Reaching the riverbank, Tyler paused. The sound of the running water was strangely soothing, a calming counterpoint to the tension of the hunt. It reminded him of the peaceful sound of rain. He began to follow the river, searching for the narrow path he and Grone had traversed before. As he walked, a system notification appeared above a peculiar plant growing at the water's edge, its roots partially submerged. The text read: String Drain Plant.

  Tyler approached cautiously, crouching down to examine the strange flora. "This is by far the weirdest plant I've ever seen," he thought, studying its thin, black branches that resembled tangled strings. He couldn't discern any roots.

  He looked closer at the strings; they seemed to be moving. "It's probably because of the water," he mused. He attempted to add the plant to his inventory mentally, but nothing happened. "Huh, why isn't it working?" he whispered, puzzled. He reached out and touched one of the strings. It felt surprisingly soft yet strong, and strangely warm to the touch. Suddenly, the string wrapped tightly around his fingers and palm.

  "What the—" he exclaimed, trying to pull his hand away. The strings held firm, their grip surprisingly strong. He tugged harder, attempting to rip the strings free, but more of the plant's tendrils attached themselves to his hand. Then, a system notification flashed before his eyes: String Drain Plant Activated Skill: Life Drain.

  A searing pain shot through his hand, quickly spreading to his entire body, a combination of electric shock and agonizing drain. His whole body ached, his HP plummeting. He groaned, pulling frantically at the plant's tenacious grip, but the strings held fast. His HP display flickered before his eyes: 81/10279/102

  "Come on!" he yelled, straining against the plant's hold. "I'm not going to die here! I can't die here!" he groaned, his HP now at 59

  "Come on, this is how it ends?" he muttered, his nose bleeding more freely, staining his gloom armor crimson.

  He pulled with all his might, feeling the plant's roots begin to tear from the earth. "Pull... pull..." he groaned, muscles straining with the effort. With a sharp crack, the roots snapped, and he wrenched the plant free. The strings instantly weakened, their grip loosening. He threw the plant aside, collapsing onto his backside, gasping for breath.

  "I thought I was a goner," he thought, breathing heavily. Slowly, he rose to his feet, his gaze dropping to his HP display: 34

  He checked the plant's status with the system; it only displayed the name, String Drain Plant, with no level indicated. "So it's just a plant... that almost killed me," he muttered. Regardless, he decided to extract its materials. The strings vanished into his inventory, leaving only the roots behind. In his inventory, a string-shaped icon, an 'S', appeared, with the text Drain String underneath. He noticed that focusing on any item in his inventory zoomed the icon and displayed its name below. This time, however, no number appeared beside the Drain String icon.

  He turned his attention back to the river, deciding to follow its course upstream.

  He spotted a quieter section of the river where stepping stones appeared amongst the rocks—the path he and Grone had taken. He wondered if someone had deliberately placed those stones to create a crossing. Reaching the other side, he immediately saw a Level 17 Gloomfang

  His daggers materialized, and he assumed a fighting stance. The Gloomfang eyed him for a moment before turning tail and fleeing. Rush Skill Activated, the system displayed as Tyler activated his skill, blurring into motion as he pursued the wolf. The trees whizzed past in a green and brown blur. He caught up to the fleeing creature in seconds, his dagger arcing down in a swift, brutal strike that connected with the Gloomfang's back. With a howl of pain, the wolf stumbled. Tyler swiftly withdrew his dagger, dragging the blade through the creature's flesh before delivering a final, fatal blow to its neck.

  He immediately stood and extracted the Gloomfang hide, leaving the flesh and bones behind. He kept walking straight, then stopped and thought. "That time when I was alone in the forest... which direction did I come from again? Oh, yeah, right." He said, hitting his fist against his palm.

  "I need to follow the river upstream again from this side, all the way back. If I pass that Venom Bloom

  He mentally collected the Venom Bloom

  Continuing his journey, he veered deeper into the forest's embrace. A dark shape moved in his peripheral vision, resolving itself into a distinct form as it drew nearer. It was a Hexhorn10

  Approaching the fallen beast, he efficiently harvested its hide. Then, a wave of nausea washed over him. A cloying stench, thick and acrid, assaulted his nostrils—the unmistakable odor of advanced decomposition. He shielded his nose, the familiar stench triggering a wave of revulsion as he moved towards its source.

  What he saw made his eyes widen. A body lay sprawled on the forest floor, bathed in the pale moonlight. One arm was gone, severed cleanly at the shoulder; a leg was similarly absent, leaving a ragged stump where it once had been. The fingers of his remaining hand were gone, the ends of his wrist bone stark and white against the dark earth, as if some predator had meticulously stripped the flesh from the bone. His face was pressed into the ground, obscuring his features, but the back of his head, the dark, damp curls of his hair matted with something dark and viscous, spoke of a violent end. A wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm Tyler; he fought it back with grim determination, his stomach clenching. He risked one last glance, the system message flashing before his eyes: Tyson Green LVL 47Extract

  Right then, something unexpected showed up. In the shadows, numerous red eyes glowed in the undergrowth. The system identified them as seven Shadow Clawslevel 20

  WARNING: FIELD BOSS MONSTER HAS APPEARED

  Suddenly, a small black rabbit, no bigger than a toddler, hopped from the bushes, its red eyes gleaming in the moonlight. It stood on its hind legs, its posture unnervingly upright. Tyler's heart pounded in his chest. A red level indicator appeared above its head:

  SHADOW WALKER: LVL 67SHADOW WALKER ACTIVATED SKILL: SHADOW DENThe rabbit smiled, revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth, stained crimson.