Exploration

Through some unknown variable, the forest seemed to burst with new life with each step forward. Deer and rabbits danced past him, and plain brownish birds fluttered in the branches above.

But when Asher looked back at where he started, that patch of blackish soil was still as lifeless as before.

The life of this place actively avoided walking there. Why?

With no answer miraculously appearing at his feet, Asher turned his attention back forward.

He walked forward with a steady gait.

Step by step.

...

After thirty minutes, the 'steady gait' could no longer be applied.

Because he was currently being chased by a massive, brownish bear, nearly three times as tall as he was.

"What the hell!" He shot a glance behind him, praying that the monstrously huge bear had given up by now.

"It's been fifteen goddamned minutes!"

Asher panted laboriously. He had been sprinting nonstop, ever since it gave chase one hundred meters away from him.

He had even used [Bystander], but it seemed that the bear could still sense his presence.

Now it was only twenty-seven meters away.

'If I actually have to use 'Number 6' right now...'

He quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought.

The System didn't give him that overpowered cheat to use on a bear. If he used it right now, Asher bet that he could literally eviscerate that bear to pieces, but-

Without thinking, he leapt onto a nearby tree, scampering up its bark desperately.

Before he got halfway to the top, the massive bear slammed into the trunk, nearly causing him to lose his grip.

"Phew... the tree didn't fall."

Asher sighed a breath of relief as he made it up the leaves and branches, to the top of the tree. Looking down, he felt a twitch in his stomach.

Not only was he thirty meters high from the ground, but...

The bear still hadn't given up.

It lifted its paws, scratching at the trunk with razor-sharp claws.

Then it pulled back its arms.

"-!"

The tree swayed violently as the full force of a dozen-ton tank of flesh rammed into it.

"I-I swear, if I that was a splinter I heard just now..."

It was. As the tree leaned sideways past its normal capabilities, Asher jumped to another tree.

"We literally passed by seventeen deer, go eat something else! Spare your effort!" Asher shouted desperately as the bear looked up. Seeing Asher leap to another tree, it plodded toward it as well.

Asher made a tired grin as the bear readied its claws once again.

"I mean, I can go all day. This is a forest, kid... I think you got the wrong game plan."

...

An hour later.

Amidst the forest, a single cry rang out.

"Holy- Give it a rest!" Asher's fingers dripped with blood as he desperately hung onto a sheet of rough bark, hugging it instinctively.

The bear didn't listen to Asher's plead, stepping forward with that same mechanical menace.

It made its way to Asher, pushing past the seventy-fifth tree it knocked down. Behind it was a warpath of broken trees.

A single-minded war path to kill this human in front of it.

None of Asher's skills made a dent in its road to glory. Not even [Blossoming Trance] or [Addictive Scent] from his Grave of Cherry Blossoms E.G.O had any effect.

Not even [Echoes from Beyond]?

Not even [Echoes from Beyond]. Well, that was more for human opponents, with greater mental fragility.

The bear was unfazed.

Well, except for one that he hadn't tried yet.

As the bear approached the tree he sat on, Asher finally snapped.

"You damned bear, I didn't come here for this! Wanna fight? Let's go then!"

He snapped off three small branches, flinging them down as ash snaked around his skin.

They bounced uselessly off of its coarse fur, but that wasn't what Asher cared for.

'[Fourth Match Flame]: Maximum!'

That was three attacks right there.

Snapping another tree branch to use as his weapon, Asher took a deep breath.

As the grizzly lifted its claws once again, Asher dived off the branch he stood on.

He ignored the splintering tree behind him, aiming his body at the bear's neck.

"DIE!!"

The bear tried to turn its head toward the sudden noise, but it was already too late. The tree branch in Asher's hand crackled with heat as it neared the bear's neck.

A blinding white shockwave erupted from the impact.

The force of the explosion flung Asher into a tree trunk nearly thirty meters away.

Asher coughed up blood as more than half of his ribs shattered completely.

A victorious grin surfaced on his expression as his broken body slumped down.

In front of him was the marvelous sight of a decapitated bear, lifeless and still. Asher was far too pissed at the bear than to feel any sense of pity at the sight.

"Hah."

Asher waited a few moments before using [Nostalgic Room], simply basking in the residual adrenaline.

After a few dozen seconds, the pain finally began to set it. His hands had already burnt away, leaving two roughly cauterized stumps.

But before he could heal himself, he saw the greenish foliage in front of him darken under a gigantic shadow.

A near heart-stopping fear flooded his body as an amused growl rumbled in his ears, behind him.

It was a wolf's snarl.

"Hah... 'You didn't come here for this'? How interesting. Why exactly did you come here then, to my territory?"

An animalistic voice echoed in his soul as the wolf padded out to his vision.

As tall as the shortest tree, the wolf's mocking leer filled his vision. Six meters tall. Its eyes glowed cyan above its searing, splitting smile.

Riddled along its midnight-blue fur were ugly red scars, from bullet and blade alike.

"Then you are the one 'It' sent."

It laughed gratingly, prodding Asher's chest with a single claw as it shrunk to a more believable size.

Asher sputtered as blood dribbled from his mouth.

"It...? A-Are you talking about... System?" Asher could hardly twitch his mouth as an instinctive, primal fear shackled him to mere shivers of movement.

The bear was not even comparable to this monster. He was sure that not even the [Fourth Match Flame] could make a dent on it, just like how Harold was unfazed by it as well back in the Fixer examination.

"So that's what you call it now. What is your mission called? Does it speak of a little girl in red, or... Me?"

It growled, circling around his body methodically.

"Cough- Red Hood..."

Was this the wolf in the fairy tale? Why was it so different from what he expected? Those garish red scars weren't described in the plot at all...

And how did it know so much about the System?

"Ha!" The wolf flicked its tail to the side in amusement. The sheer wind force from that alone stripped a dozen trees' leaves off their branches.

"Then good luck... I shall be your enemy this time."

It ran its tongue on Asher's broken chest, cackling as he winced in pain.

"Find that red cloak. Give her a scent of hope. Only then shall the hunt begin." The wolf sniffed Asher's body as it laid down, the ground trembling at its deceptive weight, incongruous to its shrunken size.

With those words, it dug a claw into his leg.

The wolf pulled its claw out, and a fountain of blood gushed from a severed artery in Asher's left leg.

"Go on now. Stop the bleeding."

As his vision turned grey, Asher hastily pulled himself into the [Nostalgic Room].

The wolf grinned above.

...

But there was no room.

Asher found himself in another forest.

This time, its trees were black and burnt from flames.

He couldn't control his body. He couldn't speak. As his foot moved forward on its own, all he could do was think.

In front of him was an elegant mahogany table, unblemished by ash and char.

Laid on top of it were two weapons.

The first, a short, one-handed weapon. A scythe-like blade was attached to the top of the handle by a rusty joint, curving in an arc far downwards, almost parallel to the arm-length handle.

Coarse leather wrapped around the handle as a makeshift grip. The dripping blood coating its surface enhanced the glint of the blade.

The second was a shotgun, thin-barreled and sleek, sharing similar features to an antique flintlock, or a blunderbuss, though with a hint of modern, greyish flair.

The scent of activated gunpowder tinged the tip of his nose.

"@#$%!&*"

Asher clutched his left eye in sudden agony. Incomprehensible gibberish spewed from his lips.

When his hand lowered from his face, Asher found himself unable to see from his left eye. A dark curtain covered half of his vision.

He gnashed his teeth, the growl from his throat muffled by the mask covering his mouth.

Asher rushed to the table. Pushing past his crimson cloak, he snatched the weapons from the table. His hands were concealed by a pair of black leather gloves.

Handle in his right hand, gun in his left hand.

Gripping the two weapons caused a rush of unknown euphoria to course through his veins.

The scythe-bladed weapon attracted his gaze first. Swinging it once, Asher hummed as the blade turned on its joint, rotating to effectively double the weapon's length. With a push of a button on the handle's side, the transformation locked in place. Long range.

With another push of the button, the joint unlocked, allowing the outward-curving blade to fall back into its position, parallel to the handle. The heavily curved, double-sided edge was suitable for hacking and slashing. Short range.

Asher's head raised to the sky above, to the bright blue moon.

A beastly scream reverberated in his throat. The longer he stared at the moon, the bloodier his vision became, deepening with rage.

The sky dripped with crimson hate.

Suddenly, he could see through his left eye again.

With his left eye, Asher could see himself below, a crimson cloaked figure in the weave of trees.

What?

The disorienting perspective swirled in Asher's mind.

What was going on?

His right eye stared at the moon.

And it stared back at him, too.

The moon had turned into a single, bloodshot eye.

...

*Cough Cough*

Asher sputtered as he rose to his feet.

"W-What the hell-!"

He pushed off of a patch of rough fur, stiffening as the wolf laughed above him. It had reverted to its previous, monstrous height.

Stumbling off the wolf's tail, Asher wasn't given any time to ask questions.

He could only watch as the wolf raised its head to the sky.

An earsplitting howl echoed across the forest plains.

It turned back to him.

"Time for me to go."

However, the wolf didn't disappear immediately.

It flicked its head toward the moon, like it was waiting for something.

After a few seconds of waiting, the wolf growled with satisfaction.

Asher made a strangled squeak from his throat

The moon's eyelids had opened.

The enormous bloodshot eye locked its gaze on the wolf, vibrating as the creature stared back with a taunting smirk.

"WOLF!!!"

Miles away, a coarse scream responded to the wolf's howl.

The sky sank to red as the forest became silent under the crushing pressure.

"See you soon, Meat." The wolf faded into the shadows as the clouds above glowed with blood.

Before Asher could even process what happened, a deafening gunshot rattled his eardrums.

The swath of trees behind where the wolf laid a second ago vaporized as several thousand steel pellets tore through their trunks like mere paper.

"That damned wolf..."

Asher's jaw dropped as his eyes fixed on the figure that appeared in front of him. An eye-catching crimson cloak fluttered in the wind.

'That... That's supposed to be... her?!'

A System prompt blinked into view.

[The name 'Little Red Riding Hood' has been updated.]

'??'

['Little Red Riding Hood(ed Mercenary)': WAW-class Abnormality.]