Chapter 2 - Rune

I looked around once again, trying to spot any difference from my dream, but the place was exactly like what I had dreamed. In fact, I was seriously starting to doubt if it was even a dream. Given recent events, I'm increasingly inclined to think it wasn't.

Just thinking about it made my hand involuntarily go to my neck. That moment, when that thing devoured my head, was real too. However, it only brought more doubts. How the hell was I still alive? Was that some kind of glimpse into the future? That option seemed totally plausible to me, while also making me wonder if my head was really intact.

Anyway, getting lost in thoughts wouldn't help me get out of this situation. Besides, the fact that, theoretically, this isn't the first time I'm experiencing this makes me feel less anxious than before. Sure, I still wish I could cry and call for my mom, if possible, but to be honest, that wouldn't solve the situation. It would just embarrass me.

Just like last time, some passengers started getting off the bus, all seeming anxious and confused. In fact, I related to them the first time, although I didn't believe I'd actually risk being killed by some kind of monster just by getting close to the forest.

With that thought in mind, I returned to the bus and found a vacant seat. As I grabbed my phone, I checked the time: exactly 8:59 PM, one minute before the incident occurred.

Speaking of which, the girl who tried to talk to me last time stayed on the bus this time. She looked completely confused as she looked around, as if checking something. Moreover, her gaze almost always rested more on me than on the other passengers, except when she fixed it on the forest, which was the point she looked at the longest.

Well, honestly, I don't blame her. I'd probably stare there too, since it feels like something could emerge at any moment. In fact, something would actually come out of there. However, since no one was close enough to the forest, I didn't see the need to alert anyone about it. Besides, it would seem somewhat suspicious, and they'd probably run over here on their own when the monster showed up.

And just like before, as soon as my watch changed to 9:00 PM, a huge monster emerged from the forest. I noticed every passenger inside the bus held their breath, and even the passengers outside weren't moving, contrary to my expectations.

But the monster didn't seem ready to attack; it just stood there, observing us, while everyone stared at it. I tried to focus my eyes as much as possible to understand the biology of that creature, but at this moment, something strange appeared before me.

[Glacial Sloth] - (Lv: - 26): A carnivorous monster with nocturnal hunting habits, it usually doesn't feed on prey it hasn't hunted.

A translucent screen, similar to a game's, suddenly appeared before me. I must say, even I was quite surprised by this. It's not like I was expecting something like this to just show up. However, like every man, as soon as this thing appeared, several thoughts started popping into my mind.

(... This is impossible... isn't it?) I asked myself as I swallowed hard.

Considering all this situation, I realized there was only one thing to do. Who cares if I'm going crazy? In moments like this, the crazies are the ones who stand out the most. Before acting, though, I looked around and, as expected, everyone was focused on the giant sloth. No one paid attention to me. My lips began to tremble slowly as I tried to form a word.

"Status" I whispered, just so I could hear myself.

And, surprisingly, or maybe not so much, given all this situation, another translucent screen appeared in my field of vision. Although most things don't surprise me anymore, I must admit what I witnessed left me stunned. Somehow, my attributes were being counted in numbers.

 Name: Noah Jade []

Level: 0

Gender: Male

Species: Human

Title: N/A

Primary Class: N/A

Secondary Class: N/A

Strength: 2

Constitution: 3

Agility: 1

Perception: 2

Intelligence: 6

Ether: 3

Available Stat Points: 0

Available Skill Points: 0

Runes: Return from Death [Lv - MAX]

General Skills: Identify [Lv - 1], Ether Manipulation [Lv - 1]

While concepts like strength, agility, and perception were relatively simple to grasp, constitution, intelligence, and ether not so much. While intelligence could be classified as something intellectual, it could also have other meanings. Additionally, there was no mana, but rather ether, which I imagined had the same effect, just with different names.

Undoubtedly, what intrigued me the most were the runes and general skills tabs. I could understand the [Identify] skill listed under general skills, as it was probably what I had just used to check the sloth's status. However, I was still somewhat confused about mana manipulation.

My gaze was also fixed on the single power listed in the runes, [Return from Death] It was probably what brought me back when I was killed by the sloth. However, being aware that I had actually been killed didn't make the situation any less frightening.

I briefly turned my gaze back to the sloth again, but all it did was stand there, watching us. Frankly, if that creature attacked us, we would probably all die. Even with a status screen, what could I do against that sloth? It was level 26, while I was level 0. The level difference alone showed how impossible it would be to defeat it at the moment.

Furthermore, seriously, what kind of sick game is this? Whoever brought us here seems to really have no intention of letting us leave.

Suddenly, I began to hear murmurs around me. Focusing my vision on the sloth again, I realized why everyone had started to get anxious again: it had started to move. It seemed to be entering the forest again, but we couldn't expect logic in this situation.

So, slowly, the monster began to disappear from view among the trees. When we could no longer see it, I heard several sighs from the passengers around me. However, at that moment, that wasn't what I was focused on. As I stared intently at my rune, I wondered if I couldn't have something more detailed from it. My hand moved slowly towards the rune, trying to click on it, when another translucent screen appeared over my status screen.

Return from Death [Lv - MAX]

A rune that lets the holder return to a specific random point in the past while keeping their memories intact. However, in situations of intentional death, the rune will remain inactive, resulting in the permanent death of the bearer.

This honestly seemed too good to be true. No matter how I looked at it, this power was simply too strong. Even if I died, I would just come back and could try again. Although pain is a factor, just the knowledge that I won't actually die provides me with great relief and peace of mind.

Of course, I'm not a psychopath either. Obviously, I'm afraid of pain, and the idea of dying seems simply too insane to me. But, in the end, that doesn't diminish the merit of this rune. I can certainly say that I was very lucky.

By the way, now that the sloth had gone away, the other passengers finally seemed to calm down and started forming small groups. To be honest, I'm not sure if you can really call that a group, but that was the impression I got.

But the group that seemed most relevant at the moment was led by a muscular, rough-looking man. I wasn't exaggerating when I said he looked rough, as he emanated a strong sense of danger.

I was so immersed in my thoughts that I didn't even realize someone was beside me trying to get my attention. More precisely, it was both girls who tried to talk to me during my first life. Can I call it that? Well, it seems right, so I will.

"One of the passengers mentioned that if we say "Status" we will be able to see something similar to a game screen" the girl said while keeping her younger sister by her side.

"Oh, thank you" I replied with a nod.

I wasn't really paying much attention to the other passengers, so I had no idea they were assessing the situation. Anyway, I had already seen everything on my status screen. The interesting thing was that the mere thought that I had already seen everything made the status screen close automatically. I was genuinely curious about how that worked.

Even after telling me this, the girl was still standing there, staring at me. It seemed like she wanted to ask something.

"Would you like to tell me something else?" I asked, keeping my gaze fixed on her.

Upon hearing my words, she finally seemed to gather courage and assumed a firmer posture.

"He said he's forming a group to explore the forest... are you going to join?" the girl said, pointing directly to the group where the muscular, scary-looking man was.

Furthermore, the way she spoke seemed more like a statement that I should go anyway than a genuine question about my decision. Well, to be honest, that was already on my mind. Our food won't last forever, and honestly, with monsters like that previous sloth wandering around, I don't think I'll survive for long if I stay at level 0.