Chapter 3 - Entering the forest

"Sure, I ain't planning on hiding here forever. Also, I don't reckon we got much of a choice" I replied, keeping my eyes locked on her.

On the other hand, she simply nodded in confirmation. Then, she turned and began to walk, but stopped abruptly. Turning back again, she looked at her sister and me. Then, she pointed to herself.

"My name's Ellen Doe" Ellen introduced herself with a friendly smile.

After introducing herself, she immediately pointed to the little girl beside her, whom I was already pretty sure was her sister.

"This here's my sister, Noelle Doe"

Her sister seemed quite shy, and in a way, I could understand her. After all, we were thrown here suddenly, and she must be mighty scared about the whole situation. I ain't really the best at dealing with kids. Though I do have a sister, she's already a teenager.

So, all I could manage was to put a friendly smile on my face. However, it seems like it didn't work too well, cause Noelle gave me a strange look, and Ellen was practically laughing at me. Sorry for trying to be friendly for once in my life.

Putting that aside, I wanna emphasize that I wasn't upset about it. We walked over to the group that was ready to head into the forest. The man who seemed to be the leader was organizing the other two fellas who would accompany us.

"We wanna go too" Ellen exclaimed as we approached.

When the man looked at us, he raised an eyebrow, but simply shrugged. Honestly, I didn't much care for the way he was looking at us. Seemed like he saw us as two nuisances or something.

"I don't mind, but I'll warn you now, you're responsible for yourselves. If anything happens, you gotta fend for yourselves" the man replied, seeming not to care much about what we might think.

Actually, that was probably the case. Besides, in a way, my thoughts were pretty much in line with his. I ain't risking my life for folks I don't know. Again, even if I can come back after dying, it still hurts to be killed. So, I ain't dying for no reason.

"That's fine by me. Even you must know it's crazy to go into this forest alone" I replied as cordially as possible.

Listening to my words, the man put his hand on his chin, seeming to ponder my response. His gaze shifted between the forest and me, suggesting he was considering the risks of taking us, though he'd already agreed earlier. Also, I ain't liking how he's looking at us one bit. I'm pretty sure this fella would use us as bait to get away.

Well, I'd do the same, but I wouldn't make it as obvious as this guy's doing. At the very least, I'd try to make friends with the person first. Besides, even though I don't much care for others in general, I don't reckon I could just discard someone after getting to know em.

The next few minutes were spent on preparations. Leo, the name of the muscular man I found out, tried to recruit other people to accompany us, but, to my not much surprise, except for those who already intended to go, nobody new joined us.

Nobody would be willing to venture on a suicide mission without some guarantee they could come back, unless they were brave enough or understood exactly what was going on, like it seemed to be the case with Ellen and Leo.

They probably already figured, by examining their stats, that there's a leveling system here. The mere fact that this exists means the possibility of facing challenges in the future that will require a high level is very real. Anyway, I ain't really caring much about the others; they're strangers to me. My priority is getting back to my sister, no matter the cost.

My gaze was fixed outside the bus as I pondered this, precisely directed towards the forest. I ain't got the slightest clue what's waiting for us there, or what we might face. Also, I ain't planning on becoming a suicidal adventurer, rushing into the forest recklessly. At the slightest sign of danger, I'd surely run without looking back.

I cast a brief glance at Ellen, who was busy convincing her sister to stay inside the bus with the others. Seemed like the little girl ain't liking the idea of being separated from her sister one bit. However, I can't blame Ellen; if I were in her shoes, I'd do the same. Though that perspective might change a bit when you have the rune I possess.

Even so, I ain't sure if I'd really trust leaving my younger sister with all these unknown folks. When you're cornered, you never know what a human being is capable of to survive.

"Hey, you ready? We're about to start exploring the woods" Ellen said, and then my eyes met Leo's intense gaze as he pointed to the forest with his finger. He held a metal pipe in his hand, but I wasn't interested in asking where or how he got it.

"Sure" I replied, getting up.

As I stood up, he handed me the metal pipe, and I quickly grabbed it. It seemed like those would be our makeshift weapons, although I sincerely doubted they would be of much use against monsters like that sloth.

After handing me the weapon, Leo turned around and began walking toward the front of the bus, where we would exit. By the way, I noticed that the bus we were on had only one exit. I hadn't noticed that when I got in, but it's pretty strange, to be honest.

As Leo, Ellen, myself, and the other two guys walked, I noticed that we were being watched by the other passengers. It was clear that we were their only and last hopes, as no one else seemed to have enough courage to venture more than a few meters away from the bus.

If you ask me, this is complete nonsense. At this point, everyone should already be aware of the status window, even if they don't fully understand its meaning. The kids with us on the bus probably already told everyone, as this looks a lot like a game.

Even with this knowledge, the most people we managed to gather to enter the forest were just five, including me. Honestly, all I could do now was pray that they would regret their choice before it was too late, even for that.

As we exited the bus, we were greeted by the moderate warmth of the sun. This was another intriguing fact about this place: although the sun was present, it seemed static. Even when we looked directly at it, our vision wasn't impaired, as if it were there, but not at the same time.

"Let's go!"

With Leo's words, we entered the forest, leaving the bus passengers to their own devices. But perhaps it was us who needed luck.

As we entered the forest, the first thing we noticed was the environment around us. It was as if we had entered another dimension. Besides the sound of our breathing, we could only hear the wind whispering through the leaves of the trees, along with other strange noises in the distance, whose source we couldn't discern. Honestly, I hoped this serenity would continue, at least for now.

"I think it would be better if we walked together, each covering a point of view" I suggested.

This was the first time I had spoken since we entered the forest. Everyone was extremely tense, obsessively watching for any movement, any sign of something that might emerge. Since I didn't know their powers, I wasn't sure what role to assign to each of them.

After that, we organized our formation: Ellen behind me, Leo in front, acting as our guide, one of the guys on the left, and the other on the right, while I remained in the middle. The reason I ended up in the middle was simple: everyone gathered around me when I suggested the idea.

As soon as we heard a noise coming from some bushes ahead of us, everyone quickly resumed heavy breathing and trembled slightly, including the man who had led us there, although to a lesser extent. However, as he took a deep breath, he quickly regained his composure, which surprised me a little.

"It's gonna be okay, guys. Take a deep breath and get ready. As long as it's not something like that sloth, we should be able to handle it" Leo exclaimed.

With those words, although still trembling, everyone seemed to gain a little more courage, gripping their metal pipes firmly.

And then, from the bushes, three little green creatures emerged, half our size. Their pointed ears stood out as they wore tattered skirts tied at the waist. Their yellow eyes displayed peculiar pupils, and their sharp teeth resembled those of a monster. One of them wielded a dagger, another a spear, and the third held a bow.