Chapter One: Rabbits and Rats

"Well, shit." Wang Yuan silently cursed under his breath.

He had been transmigrated to this world a few hours ago, in a middle of a dense forest. Up until now, he has seen many strange creatures, from abnormally large rabbits, to strange looking birds that can uproot entire trees. The latter of which almost made him faint. It was a fantasy world, similar to the novels he had read.

In those novels, however, the main protagonist either gets a system, or a powerful ability. Wang Yuan instead got his trusty fork.

'Not sure why I got a fork of all things, but hey, it helps.' He thought to himself as he casually flips the fork in the air. 'I don't think it will do jack against a bird that can uproot a tree, but it's reassuring to have something with me.'

Having nothing else to do, and hearing his stomach growling, Wang Yuan began to search for food, and a water source, of course.

So he began walking.

And walking,

and walking.

But no matter how much he walked, he didn't find anything that he can kill, neither did he find a water source. The only thing he found were the large rabbits, whom's length reached at least 2 meters. Of course, Wang Yuan immediately went 'I won't be able to kill this even if I had a real weapon', so he opted to leave them be. Thankfully, they didn't seem to be interested in him, either.

There were also berries, but the moment he touched them, his fingers got swollen. Thankfully, the moment he let go of them, they returned back to normal.

'Even berries aren't normal here.'

And so, the search continued.

As he was searching for food, Wang Yuan noticed many interesting details about this world. Aside from the ridiculous wildlife.

Firstly, this forest is wonky. For a few minutes of walking, you'll notice the trees are rather normal, only having a height of, at best, 6 meters. But a few moments later, you'll find a dozen or so trees reaching into the sky. Their height easily exceeded hundreds of meters, and he could've sworn he saw some things move up near the top.

Secondly, it has been a few hours, and the sun barely moved a quarter of its way. Day cycles are different, as well.

And finally, rabbits. Although already mentioned, but In Wang Yuan's words, "Oh my god, fuck these oversized rabbits."

Miraculously, after quite a bit of searching, Wang Yuan finally found something.

'Oh? Something's moving there!' just a few dozens of meters away from him, Wang Yuan could hear the sound of rustling. He slowly made his way to the source, making sure not to make a sound.

He found something rather upsetting, a small bunny, similar in size to the ones in his world, only that there was a faint string of red aura coming from its eyes. On the other side was the bird that can uproot a tree.

For some odd reason, he felt uneasy. It was as if his body was telling him that there's danger.

"Caw! Caw!" The bird had its eyes focused on the bunny, preparing to attack at any second. Wang Yuan, as much as he wanted to eat that bunny himself, decided it was best to get away from here before the bird notices him. And this feeling of uneasiness was getting stronger.

However, just as he was about to leave, he saw the head of the bird instantly explode, and the rabbit nowhere to be seen.

Shocked and puzzled, Wang Yuan stayed like that for a few seconds, before eventually snapping out of his trance as the bird's body fell to the ground. There it was, the rabbit, a few steps away from the bird, with its entire head dyed red. There wasn't a single cut on its body.

This rabbit just decimated that bird! The same bird that can uproot a goddamn tree!

This time, the uneasy feeling increased tenfold

Understandably, Wang Yuan took a few steps back, and mentally went 'Yep, fuck that, I'm out.', and immediately ran for it.

...

Thankfully, the rabbit didn't seem to have followed him. Wang Yuan let out a sigh of relief, and laid back against one of the trees.

"What's this horrible luck."

He couldn't find food, neither did he find a water source. And the sun was blazing hot. At this rate, he could at best stay for 2 days, before starvation and dehydration kills him.

"Well, at least I don't have to pay my college debts."

Being optimistic never hurts. Moreover, Wang Yuan began to think about the encounter just now. What was that feeling? Was it fear? But why did he suddenly feel afraid of a small bunny? He saw plenty of those huge birds before, but they never triggered a response like that. So of course, Wang Yuan thought it was because of the bunny.

'Now the question is, was that a special effect of the bunny, or do I have some magical power?' he thought about it for a while, but eventually dismissed the thought. He can't be sure if it was the bunny, or himself. He needs to find food, for now.

However, as if god himself had blessed Wang Yuan as an apology for putting him in this mess, Wang Yuan heard a small rustle. He slowly turned his head, and saw a large rat.

Wang Yuan instantly froze. While the encounter with the small rabbit almost made him develop a phobia, this rat didn't seem all that dangerous. It also didn't trigger that uneasy feeling as well.

If this uneasy feeling is something like a danger sense, something indicating how dangerous something is, then it would help him aplenty.

'But, if that strange feeling wasn't produced by me, and this rat turns out to be dangerous, then I'm as good as dead.'

Wang Yuan gulped, as he stared at the rat. He grabbed the best weapon he had, which was of course, his trusty fork. The rat's size was quite a bit larger than an average one, being almost half a meter in length. Its eyes were red, and it was staring at Wang Yuan.

For a full minute, both of them didn't move a muscle, their breath in sync. Then--

"KAHHH!" This seemingly harmless rodent somehow instantly jumped a dozen of meters in an instant, its body a few inches away before it bites Wang Yuan.

Surprised, Wang Yuan immediately jumps two meters away, and thrusts the fork to the side of the rat. However, that didn't stop it in the slightest, and it kept lunging towards Wang Yuan. Thankfully, due to its size and low weight, Wang Yuan could easily swat it away with a punch or a kick whenever it tried to bite him.

'The one time I'm actually thankful for going to the Gym.'

The rat let out another screech, before jumping dozens of meters away. Wang Yuan looked at it in confusion, as the rat took a huge chunk from a rock nearby.

'Did that rat just--'

It kept munching on the rocks for a few moments, before rearing its head back. Wang Yuan immediately strengthened his grip on the fork, and got ready.

The rat spat the rocks towards Wang Yuan at an incredible speed. Wang Yuan's eyes widened before he crouched in the last moment.

Boom! Crack!

The sound of cracks could be heard, and yet Wang Yuan didn't feel a single thing. He slowly opened his eyes and looked behind him.

A few of the trees had holes the size of a soccer ball, smoke still coming out of them. If that has even touched him, he would've immediately died. Somehow, he didn't experience that uneasy feeling.

'They were fast, but I didn't think they'd be this strong. Then, doesn't that mean that strange uneasy feel came from the rabbit, instead of it being some strange ability?' Wang Yuan thought for a moment, before shaking his head and turning his attention towards the rat, who had already taken more chunks from the rocks nearby while Wang Yuan was still in trance.

"Shit!"

Wang Yuan immediately ran to the left behind some rocks, and continued running. He didn't know if the rats attacks could penetrate rocks as well, and he didn't want to find out.

The rat let out a few more shots. Thankfully, while they were strong and fast, an animal is still an animal, and its aim was horrendous. None of the shots even managed to graze Wang Yuan.

While the rat tried to ready more shots, Wang Yuan kept getting closer and closer. Shot after shot, Wang Yuan's mobility, coupled with the thick forest and the rat's terrible aiming, he dodged all the shots with ease.

And eventually, he was close enough. He jumped with all his might towards the rat, his fork in his hand, ready to strike. The rat immediately tried to jump away, but Wang grabbed it by its tail.

"No, you won't. You annoying shit."

He immediately slammed the rat at one of the rocks nearby with all his might.

"Try to eat this."

The rat let out a weak cry, but Wang Yuan kept smashing its head by slamming it. Eventually, the rat's body went limp.

"Phew. It might be able to jump very far, but that's it. Its biting speed is similar to that of an average rat, and it isn't very good at aiming." Wang Yuan tiredly said, "Now, how am I going to skin this-- huh?"

As if jinxing it, the rodent's body started to slightly vibrate. Even after its skull has been exposed, it managed to let out a blood-churning scream, as its body began to vibrate even more.

'What in the--'

Its claws were slowly getting larger, and its size was slowly increasing, its fur was even changing color. There was no doubt, it was undergoing a transformation.

Wang Yuan's eyes showed a trace of fear, but quickly returned to being focus.

"KYAAAAAAAAH--"

*Plop*

Wang Yuan interrupted the rodent's transformation and scream midway, by smashing its head full force by slamming it again to a rock, its visible skull beginning to crack.

"K-Kah--"

*Pluck*

Not allowing to mutter any more words, Wang Yuan immediately thrust the fork full strength at the rat's skull, easily shattering its already cracked skull, and tearing through its brain. The rodent immediately died down, its body now truly going limp.

"...Hah. Regardless of how powerful it is, an animal is still an animal, I guess." Wang Yuan said, "Did it expect me to just let it transform?"

And like that, Wang Yuan dropped the rodent on a stone nearby, and began to think on how to skin it.

However, when he tried to grab the rodent again, he suddenly felt an extremely strong shock, and his vision immediately darkened.