Chapter 02 - Encounters, Encounters and Encounters.

A few hours have passed and now the sun was setting and soon evening was upon the world. Not wanting to get attacked again, Mike looked around the gigantic forest and found a hollow trunk that was enough to accommodate him and soon went to sleep.

However, just after a few hours into the night, the loud howling of wolves woke him up with a startled jump. Looking through a hole that was nearby, he saw a wolf reaching almost 8 meters in height sniffing around the area.

Mike desperately prayed that the wolf won't find him and would just move on but unfortunately his prayers were left unanswered. The wolf suddenly stopped and swiveled its head in his direction before loudly howling, almost busting his eardrums.

"Fuck!" He cursed as he prepared his rifle and set it into burst firing mode. Mike poked the rifle's barrel into the hole and tried to get a steady aim at the wolf, however, the monster wasn't just gonna stand around. It rushed at the hollow trunk he was in with monstrous speeds before it swiftly swiped its claws with fearsome power, destroying the trunk and sending him flying and crashing his back unto a sturdy tree.

Mike spewed out blood, tainting the ground in front of him red. His vision blurred and his body filled with unfathomable pain. 'Am I going to die?...' That thought kept repeating itself as he was struggling to keep his eyes barely open.

Knowing that he was gonna die soon if he doesn't do anything, he quickly opened his inventory and used the medkits. Suddenly light green particles were emitted from his body and like magic, his broken ribs were recovered and internal injuries healed.

Seeing the human wasn't dead yet and strange emerald lights were emitting from him, the wolf was instinctively surprised before it rushed once again, intending to finish him once and for all.

Mike hurriedly raised his rifle as he set it to fully automatic, wanting to kill it as quickly as possible and soon took aim, thankfully the wolf was rushing at him in a straight line, not knowing the dangers of the rifle.

He pressed the trigger with the familiar sound of 'Pratatatata!' soon emerging from the rifle, and as the bullets flew out from the muzzle, the wolf met its end as the bullets pierced its eyes and brain. The wolf crashed unto the ground, dead with unusual black blood leaking from its wounds.

Seeing the wolf finally dead, Mike soon heaved a sigh of relief before remembering a terrifying fact.

Wolves always hunt in packs.

He quickly reloaded his rifle ready to deal with the incoming shitstorm. Soon, a group of five wolves emerged, growling as they saw their lifelessness brethren lying on the ground, dead. They turned their heads and saw a human crouching behind a log holding a strange metal thing in his hands.

Rushing, they readied their claws to tear the human apart however, they let out pitiful whimpers as an unexpected pain shot throughout their bodies. Realizing the cause of the pain had come from the despicable human, they frenziedly rushed at him.

Mike, however, didn't let up. He continued to fire, reload and repeat, until they were all surely dead. And soon, the five wolves laid on the ground, less than 10 meters from him, not moving.

[You have killed a Dire Wolf! You have earned 500 PR and 250 AP!]

[You have killed a Dire Wolf! You have earned 500 PR and 250 AP!]

[You have killed a Dire Wolf! You have earned 500 PR and 250 AP!]

[You have killed a Dire Wolf! You have earned 500 PR and 250 AP!]

[You have killed a Dire Wolf! You have earned 500 PR and 250 AP!]

[You have killed an Alpha Dire Wolf! You have earned 1000 PR and 500 AP!]

[You have been promoted to Private First Class! Access to Recruitment and Arsenal functions has now been granted!]

The notifications popped up in front of him, yet he didn't care. He was tired, physically, emotionally, and mentally so he went back to his trunk and soon fell into a deep sleep.

After a night's rest, Mike groggily woke up and crawled out of the trunk he was in.

Sitting down on the base of the trunk, he searched his backpack for MRE's to eat. Tearing the package and preparing it according to the instructions, he soon had a piping hot meal.

While he was eating, he checked the notifications from last night and was ecstatic. Mike could finally recruit someone and buy vehicles that were badly needed.

Finishing the meal excitedly, Mike browsed through the Recruitment section. He could see a lot of people he could recruit and the details of who he was recruiting. In the game, players were able to see the background of soldiers they recruit as they were automatically generated. It was even said that the interaction between the players and soldier's personalities and antics was so life-like that players couldn't able to tell the difference between them and normal people.

The game also showed what the soldiers were good at and were rated with, Standard, Spec Ops. and Black Ops Grade. With Standard Grade being the lowest, and Black Ops Grade being the highest. Of course the prices for recruiting them varies, for example, the soldier Mike was looking at a soldier that was rated to be Black Ops. Marksman, however, the cost to recruit him was a whopping 1,000 AP while he could recruit an standard marksman with just 100 AP points.

Thankfully, the game also provided another option for players who didn't want specialists or individuals and just wanted numbers.

Mike just wanted exactly that, he was alone in a dangerous place and wanted extra protection. He didn't care if he was thought of a coward as he knew that as one man alone can't survive in the unknown. Mankind proved that fact countless times as it could only progress and protect itself if they banded together.

What cowardice? What of pride? Can they protect you from the dangers of the unknown? Of course not!

Mike knew that fact and thus the decision for extra protection was made. Looking at his 2275 AP points, he decided to recruit a standard fireteam with a fair price of 1,000 AP points, deciding to save the spare points for later, in case he needed it.

Pressing the recruit button, a blinding light flashed his eyes as he instinctively closed them. Feeling the light finally died down, he opened his eyes and saw five soldiers neatly lined up. They all wore the standard battle gear except they had no insignias on their right shoulders.

One of the soldiers, a grizzled middle-aged man, stepped forward and sharply saluted. He had brown hair in a buzz cut and sharp brown eyes, coupled with his stern face. He looked and acted like a seasoned soldier.

"Sir! Sergeant Rogers reporting for duty!" Rogers reported, then one by one the other soldiers also stepped forward and introduced themselves.

'It seems he's the squad leader.' Mike mentally took note before introducing himself to his soldiers.

"I'm Michael Bradley, I'll be your commanding officer from now on." He briefly introduced himself.

"Now, with that of the way. I'll brief you on where we are first. We are located in an unknown forest with gigantic animals that are very dangerous-" He began to brief them before he was interrupted by Rimmers, one of the grenadiers.

"Sir! How dangerous exactly?" Rimmers, a well built man that was in his early twenties with brown hair and eyes, questioned.

At the question, Mike paused and his combat experience from last night flashed in his mind, causing a minor anxiety attack. He quickly calmed himself down before he gravely answered.

"Rimmers, I encountered a wolf that's big as two men together. Its claws could easily cut the thick tree trunks around us and it sent me flying in one swipe. Do I need to tell anymore?"

Rimmer shuddered before replying. "N-no need sir!"

"Now as I was saying, I also encountered another creature in this forest. They were little green men, their appearance is similar to the goblins from the fantasy books back on earth. This leads me to believe that..." He paused as he looked into the hidden vast blue sky obscured by the tall trees.

"We aren't on earth anymore."

The soldiers were grim-faced at the declaration as they gripped their rifles with force. They knew that the moment they were brought into the world by their CO but they denied it in their minds, however with their CO's confirmation, their denials were quickly shattered.

"Anyways, regardless of whether we're in another world or not, we need information. Our primary objective, for now, is to find any human settlements and gather information. Any questions?" Mike finished the briefing and looked at the soldiers.

"None sir!" The soldiers sharply responded in chorus.

"Good. Now let's move out!"

...

The group of men was cautiously walking through the forest. With careful steps, they avoided the occasional patrols of goblins and other monsters they saw and moved swiftly to accomplish their mission.

A day ago, their party had taken on an investigation quest that requested them to find out what's causing the thunder-like roars happening in the "Forest of False Serenity".

The forest earned its moniker through the deceiving appearance it had when travelers first discovered the serene-like forest. The travelers, being brave and ignorant had ventured in, yet they didn't return eliciting a rescue party from the local barracks in the nearby town.

However, the rescue party also had not returned. Alarmed, the Mayor of the town, posted a search and rescue quest in the local adventurer's guild. With the hefty reward being offered, adventurer parties were formed and ventured into the forest.

With their skills, they found the travelers and the previous search party before them, except they were now corpses littered with slash marks, claws and some of the bodies weren't even fully intact!

The search and rescue soon quickly returned to the town with grim news. Surprised that a serene-like forest was filled with many dangers and were near the town, The Adventurer's Guild warned the populace and new adventurers to not be deceived by the forest's serene appearance as it's inner woods are far sinister.

The investigating party's scout, Eric, returned to the group of men with a surprising piece of news.

"Boss, I found monster footprints, possibly goblins, in the northeast direction. It's about 200 meters away from our position." He reported his party's leader, William, a man in his late thirties. He had a scar going over his right eye, coupled with his greying black hair and with his robust physique, William had an intimidating appearance.

"I see," William nodded to his party member's report, before asking. "Are you sure you didn't find anything else there?"

"Nothing I couldn't notice Boss." Eric shaked his head. He knew for a fact that his Boss was always a cautious person, that's why he double checked everything, aside from the group of erratic footprints that led deeper in to the forest, there was nothing else there.

"Will, don't worry about it too much will ya?, 'side's what's the worst that could happen?" Angelo joked around, snickering at his leader's trivial worries.

"You just had to say it didn't you?," A exasperated voice interjected with a sigh before it continued with an unamused tone. "Remember the time we got ambushed by those Trolls?"

"Enough, both of you." A new cool voice intervened as he looked at the two bickering men, Angelo and Soren, A swordsman and an archer, respectively, always bickered amongst themselves.

"Thank you Torrez. Anyways, get in to formation." William nodded at his party's mage, before he looked at his bantering party members.

Eric, his scout was a young man just into his early twenties. He had a slim yet firm build, typical for scouts like him. He had a head full of black hair in an untamed style and brown eyes. Eric wore the typical clothing of a scout, which was a simple green shirt and black pants with leather boots.

Angelo, the swordsman in his party. Unlike Eric, Angelo had a strong physique. He wore a metal chest plate over his leather tunic and wore arm guards that were made from a strong and light metal. He had grizzly blond hair and blue eyes.

Soren, their archer had a build that was purely for speed and agility. He wore a green hood that obscured his face and had a bow and quiver slinged around his back. For his bottoms, he wore black pants and sandals.

And last but not the least, Torrez, their mage. He wore a simple blue magician's robe and carried a wooden stave with a blue crystal at the tip of it.

Soon, they arrived somewhere in the forest. William, scanned his eyes around the area and saw the footsteps his scout reported. Seeing that they were still fresh tracks, they had decided to follow them.

However, as they moved forward, they couldn't help but feel something was wrong.

"Boss, I don't like this..." Eric looked around them, feeling something was watching them. Waiting for them to let their guard down.

"If something happens, I'd like to say that this was Angelo's faul-" Soren resignedly said before arrows laced with poison came shooting out and goblins started bursting out of the bushes, armed with rusty swords and axes.

Vaguely, they could see goblins in the trees with bows and arrows, cackling madly as their eyes shone with malicious intent.

Not needing to be told on what to do, they swiftly got into action. Torrez started swiftly chanting as the mana dormant in him started moving according to his «Will» until it was redirected into his staff and soon, a Barrier manifested around them, before it was broken by the attacks.

Sorren quickly unslung his bow and placed an arrow, he pulled back the string and an arrow was soon flying that pierced a nearby goblin between his eyes, quickly ended it's life.

Charging, Angelo brandished his sword and swung towards a group of goblins, slicing their heads off. He crazily laughed before rushing once more, with overwhelming vigor.

"Don't rush, damn it!" Eric cursed before kicking a goblin and turning around with a dagger in his hand. He stabbed and sliced at any goblins that got too close for comfort.

"Sorren, take out those archers in the back! Eric, stay close to Torrez," William issued commands as he blocked a goblins slash before he kicked it's abdomen. "Angelo! You and I are gonna stick together!"

His party members replied in chorus, However, before they could take action once more, they could hear the sudden booms in the distance. Looking around them, they could see goblins dropping dead as the booms continued to rang out without stopping.

In less than five minutes, all the goblins had died with small holes in their heads, leaking disgusting black blood unto the ground.

The group of men gulped as they saw how they quickly died, even Angelo, the hot-headed member in the party broke out in cold sweat. They went into a circular formation, with Torrez on standby, ready to cast a barrier.

"Who's there?!" The footsteps that were nearing to their position alerted William and his party as they looked around the area with wary and vigilant eyes, not wanting to be ambushed again.

"Easy there fellas. We're the ones that saved your asses back there." A strangely green dressed man emerged, chuckling. He was holding a strange metal thing in his hands that had a bit of smoke coming out.

They turned their eyes over and saw similarly dressed men emerge, with a young man in tow, catching their attention as he didn't look like he'd belong to the group of men. Regardless, they stayed silent before it was broken by William.

"Thanks for the help back there, I didn't know there was another party investigating here." William thanked the group of men before signalling his party to lower their guard.

"Ah? Investigating party?"