Steel Will.

[Dodge!]

*SWISHHHH*

Missing only by a few centimeters, James quickly ducked and the moment he saw the creature's paws to his side, his eyes widened.

'Big! Too big, what is this fucking creature?!'

That bear-like paw was literally the size of his former self.

'SHIT!'

As he continued running, he finally had a quick glance at the monstrosity chasing him.

It was a bear...except it's around 10 times bigger, as its fur was emerald-green while its deadly cold eyes stared at him.

Unlike other predators where they mostly roar to instill fear into its prey and opponent's, this one was akin to a cold blooded beast.

It knew it didn't need to do anything to scare others off.

Just its mere presence was enough to terrify most living beings on Earth.

Most...

'Fuck! I- Oh, it has antlers? That's sick...'

[Host, there's no time for you to get distracted! Quickly run while we think of a solution!]

'We?'

[Just run!]

He listened while doing everything he could.

He tried to go through tons of obstacles so he could at least slow it down for a bit.

But, unfortunately it was all for naught.

That 'bear' just breezed through, smashing tress, rocks and even boulders into smithereens.

At this rate, the bear could catch up to its prey any second now.

No, it was toying with him.

It was obvious.

However...

'What's that sound?'

As he was desperately running for dear life, his ears picked up the sound of waves...it also carried a weird smell.

'Ocean?!'

[...]

SWOOSH!

Unfortunately, this time, he miscalculated.

James moved nimbly with his foot, while he dodged another swipe...

'ARGH!'

The tip of its claws still dug a few centimeters deep into his arm and shoulder...

Blood poured out immediately like a broken dam.

'Damn it! How much distance-?!'

At this moment he realized something was amiss...

His arm felt numb. More specifically the place where he got injured is starting to feel uncomfortable...

James took a quick glance and was horrified.

He didn't need to have the IQ of a Harvard student to realize the state of his arm.

'V-venom...?'

Black lines started appearing and it quickly spread to the rest of his arm like a coiling snake.

James gritted his teeth, while he looked straight forward.

His eyes had one single focus.

Survive.

Survive.

Survive.

Again he sprinted, again he dodged its fatal blows...yet no matter how much stamina he has, it was bound to run out.

'Cliff...Ocean...'

He saw it, his freedom...

Though, the monstrosity suddenly sped up.

James was about to jump off, but he looked back.

He saw it.

Its paws that were as massive as his former self.

It was within his line of sight.

James' eyes came to a deadlock with the predator's.

Time seemed to freeze.

It was at this moment though, that the first time in its hunt, the beast saw eyes that had it had never seen before.

Desperation...it could feel.

Fear...also.

All familiar emotions that it felt from other preys it had devoured.

But...

Why does it feel uneasy?

...

...

...

WOOSHHH...

The paw moved faster than the previous ones, as it swiped in a horizontal move.

James' inhuman reaction speed made him bend his back until it was parallel to the ground.

He used his core and pulled himself back up.

And the next action made the beast confused.

Meanwhile the system was also surprised.

Using the the beast's momentum he grabbed its paw and began running across its massive arms.

James sprinted while his right arm held an object.

Seeing that the distance was enough, he jumped across to the side of its face.

All this time, his eyes never wavered and was dead on his target.

Mid-air, James held a rock that had rough and sharp edges.

Determination drilled through his entire being, he tensed all his aching muscles to its max and twisted his body.

His target was set.

Landing behind the head he forcefully used his incapable arm and grabbed its antlers.

The bear roared furiously, its grunts and growls reverberating throughout the dense packed forest, scattering nearby and weaker mammals away.

It moved its whole body trying to shake him off.

BOOM!

Its back smashed against a huge boulder, breaking it into huge and large chunks of rocks.

Sounds of bones cracked as a mouthful of blood flowed out of James' mouth.

His ribcage got cracked, while he suffered a traumatic blow to the spine.

He got the wind knocked out of him as his breathing got raspy.

His consciousness was almost non-existent.

Only his will and instinct continued to drive his body to its limits.

'Survive...'

FWOOOSH!

STAB!

The rock that he so desperately held on stabbed into the eyes of the predator.

The excruciating pain made its movements more frantic, desperate and it was filled with madness to the point that even trees started swaying due to the wind pressure.

However, that didn't stop a certain someone...

And with another push the rock went deep enough until it reached its brain.

The bear that moved so frantically and viciously roared with all its might, ceased its movement like a windows shutdown.

[...]

"..."

The huge body slowly fell on the ground, kicking up all the dust and debris around them.

The corpse twitched a bit, before stopping altogether.

Dust still obstructed everything, yet a silhouette of a human could be seen slowly but surely rolling off the corpse.

Silence descended into the surroundings as the tense atmosphere slowly receded, the peaceful noise of waves and sea breeze could be seen and felt again.

Nevertheless, there was no one to celebrate...

[Host...?]

...

...

...

"What did she say?"

A voice of a woman was heard from the other end of the hologram.

"Unknown. 'The thing' has not been found yet."

"..."

It was silent at the other end of the call.

"You're dismissed."

"Yes, ma'am."

With end of the call, the hologram disappeared, while the woman sitting on her chair sighed and repeatedly tapped her fingers on her office desk.

She seemed to be deep in thought before sighing again.

"How long has it been since then?"

A seemingly reminiscent expression crossed her mature face, as there was a smile across her face, it seemed like she was fond of a certain memory that she had long forgotten.

"I've been in this seat for far too long."

She stood up and walked towards the curtains that prevented the sunlight from coming through.

The woman slowly opened the curtain and looked outside.

All too familiar scenes which contained the never ending view of the sea with several huge buildings topped on islands, cargo ships transporting goods, and countless amount of human sized dots.

"It could be considered a spectacular sight had it not been too repetitive."

For the woman, it was just...so boring.

"However, maybe I've finally found something worthwhile to pay heed on..."

She brought her fingers up to her hair and twirled it around playfully.

A mischievous and playful expression was etched on her face while a wolfish grin that she tried to suppress slowly crept up.

"Don't you think so too?"

She gave a side glance, just enough so she can see someone standing there.

"Your habit of sneaking up on someone hasn't changed at all."

It was unknown whether it was a provocation, however she didn't get the respond she wanted as the figure remained still.

The woman clicked her tongue annoyingly while her gaze suddenly became sharper.

"If it hadn't been for that incident, you wouldn't even be here listening to my non sensical ramblings, you know?"

She walked towards the figure that had nothing but black clothes on. Two guns could be seen on his hips while a dagger was attached to his forearm.

A black cloth was also covering his face excluding the eyes.

"I thought you wouldn't be that kind of man, but to think you actually had the audacity to eradicate the entire population of a city in the US, is quite...marvelous indeed."

She was circling around him, looking up and down like she was praising an animal at a circus for its wonderful performance.

"Truly a worthy specimen to groom! Ah, how I long to see your face again...!"

She backed away, as she hysterically laughed, madness was clearly laced in her voice, and while licking her lips, an image of a beautiful woman appeared in her mind.

That woman was accompanied by a young girl. They were smiling happily in her image...

But...

"Ohhh~ Yes~ How I wish...how I wish to erase those smiles off your faces, traitors!"

A purplish hue covered her figure as wind pressure swept the surroundings.

...

...

...

[You're awake, Host.]

"..."

[1 week. You were unconscious for one week. Fret not, most of your fatal injuries have been healed due to the system speeding up the recovery process. However...]

The system didn't say anything anymore.

So after a long while it spoke again.

[The system stopped the venom from spreading further...but the damage has already been done...]

James struggled to even get up.

The system watched its host struggle, before he gave up and crawled to a tree and leaned against it.

James looked at his left arm that had black and some green lines covering up.

He knew.

He already knew what had to be done.

With trembling lips, he asked with his hoarse voice that been dry due to not getting hydrated during his deep sleep.

"Is it impossible to...recover?"

The system hesitated before saying.

[Amputation is required to have a better performance for survival.]

"..."