In an eerie forest, where each day a creature would lose its life, where killing was the only way to survive, a lizard could be seen standing like a human, its gaze focused ahead.
In front of it was a white rabbit, but one could see that the rabbit was in a rage due to its red eyes. Its body was covered in a light bluish-white energy, but its legs had the highest concentration of this energy.
Suddenly, the lizard started jogging in place, as if it were boxing.
The rabbit lunged at the black lizard—but the black lizard seemed to have expected this.
With a step back and a twist of its hind limbs, the black lizard dodged the attack beautifully, albeit narrowly.
The black lizard then used its left forelimb, punching the rabbit fiercely.
The rabbit's eyes turned even redder, its anger increasing—but alas, its intelligence was still low.
It struck again. Using this pattern, the black lizard—who seemed intelligent—continued to counterattack.
Steadily, Daniel began to exploit the rabbit's weakness—its lack of intelligence—to defeat it.
He battled the rabbit until it had only 5 HP left.
It was then that the rabbit entered true rage mode.
Daniel could feel the vast pressure it emitted.
In the power scale of this world, the realm of the Volkoid was weak, but to Daniel right now, it was like facing a powerful being.
The rabbit's size increased—growing as large as a lion, while Daniel remained the same—just a small lizard.
Driven by instinct, Draco quickly distanced himself from the Hopper Rabbit.
Its aura had skyrocketed, and Daniel's senses screamed of danger.
All he saw was a flash of light—and then, the next thing he knew, the rabbit's leg struck him, chipping away 15 HP.
Everything turned dark.
He felt death creeping toward him.
As he was immersed in the sensation of dying, he suddenly felt something—or someone—tugging at him.
He saw a wisp of unknown energy swirling around him.
He could feel its loneliness—as if no one had ever been close to it because of what it was.
When Daniel looked around, he realized he was in a strange space.
Only this lonely, still, black wisp was there.
Daniel glanced around, vigilantly scanning his surroundings, before his gaze returned to the black wisp.
After spending minutes there, he finally lowered his guard when he sensed no danger.
Taking a step forward, he reached out to touch the black wisp.
He didn't know why, but he felt the urge to pat it.
The loneliness it radiated was so intense that Draco could feel it in his soul—as if it had been ostracized from the world.
As he tried to touch the black wisp, he was shocked when it suddenly flinched and took a step back—as if it were afraid of him.
Suddenly, he found himself back in the forest.
Even though he had spent minutes in that space, it turned out that not even a full minute had passed in the real world.
Ding!
[Host has killed a Level 11 Hopper Beast. Gained 30 EXP and 10 DP.]
The system's notification surprised Daniel, who quickly stood back up, searching for the rabbit.
When he finally found it, a wave of nausea and pity washed over him.
Its entire body was rotting—even its bones were disintegrating into sand.
Daniel watched in confusion as the corpse decayed before his eyes.
According to the system notification, he had killed the rabbit… but how?
"Could it be… my Main Character Luck has finally activated? Is this the first display of my true power?"
Daniel's mind raced with possibilities—imagining himself subduing enemies and claiming victory after victory.
Ding!
[Since Host hasn't completed the mission, the DP will be sealed until Host reaches Level 10.]
When Daniel heard this, he harrumphed—everything would have to wait until he reached Level 10.
Drax appeared beside Daniel, eyeing him suspiciously.
The force that caused this… he was familiar with it, yet he was confused as to why Daniel had come into contact with such powers.
Drax carefully surveyed Daniel before sighing.
"Hey, what is the meaning of DP? I guess it's something related to the system shop, right?" Daniel asked.
"Uh, ummm… it stands for Devouring Points. All other information will be explained by the system after you reach Level 10," Drax said.
"Uh, whatever." Daniel shrugged it off.
He then began reflecting on his battle with the rabbit. He knew that if not for his higher intelligence, he would have lost woefully.
The use of Originat had placed him and the Hopper Rabbit worlds apart in terms of strength.
As Daniel was still deep in thought, he suddenly felt an unknown force strike him.
Everything turned blurry.
He was sent flying into the air, his body crashing through multiple trees—he didn't know how many—but the force behind each impact left him grievously injured.
Even with Pain Resistance, the agony Daniel felt was unbearable.
Moving was almost impossible.
He regretted not wishing for full resistance to pain.
He had never imagined that the reality of a fantasy world could be this harsh.
He could feel his life slipping away bit by bit.
This was the third time he had found himself on the brink of death.
Honestly, he was just tired.
The feeling of being so close to death was suffocating and painful.
He tried moving his head—at the very least, he wanted to see what had killed him.
When he slowly surveyed the forest beside him, he saw a giant rabbit.
It had the same fur and features as the Hopper Rabbit he had killed—and it stood beside the pile of sand-like ashes left from its fallen kin.
"Appraisal."
Ding!
Race: Hopper
Level: Early Stage of Soul Foundation Realm (Level 21)
HP: 150/150
When Daniel saw this, he just smiled bitterly.
It turned out that the parent of the rabbit he had killed had come to avenge its child.
What an irony!
Dying right after starting his cultivation journey in this world.
Life is such a bitch!!!
A/N: Continue to support this author, your support is my greatest motivation.