***
As my mind sinks deep into unconsciousness, a familiar scene plays out in front of me. I'm sitting in an old car, clearly well worn and in need of a cleaning. I'm in the back of the car, on the driver's side. The person in front of me turns their head, revealing a stern looking middle aged man with brown hair and green eyes. The person in the passenger seat turns as well, revealing a pretty middle-aged woman with black hair and blue eyes. They seem to be arguing over something. I recognize them as my parents and try to call out, but I don't have control over my body. I can only watch helplessly as the scene of my nightmares from the past five years repeats itself once again. A childlike voice calls out, seemingly coming from me. "Mom! Can we get food? Im really really hungry!" The pretty woman, my mom, laughs. "You ate just an hour ago, are you hungry already? I'm sorry, but we can't be late to your appointment. You'll just have to wait until after we're done." This was a perfectly reasonable thing, but little me was not having it. "No! I'm hungry right now!" I start having a mini tantrum, kicking the seat in front of me lightly. My father turns around and scolds me. "Rain! That is not an acceptable way to act! Even if you're hungry, you cannot start yelling in the car." He says sternly. That's when it happens. "Look out!" My mother screams. My father quickly turns his head to look back at the road, but it's too late. The swerving car hurtles towards us, the driver seemingly drunk. I brace for impact, but before it hits us, I'm suddenly back in the real world, soaked in sweat. I sit up quickly and attempt to calm my breathing. 'Just a dream..it was just a dream..' I calm down and steady my breathing. I peek out of the shelter, blinking in the sunlight. It's seems to be morning already. I stretch and get up. I look down at the carcass of the wolf from last night, already attracting flies. "Eughh..I should've done something with it last night. Now I have to deal with the smell when I'm taking the fur. I'd come to the conclusion that I'd need to take the fur, realizing the need for warmer clothes and bedding. Especially after finally realizing that I'm really in another world and the authorities aren't coming for me. Who knows how long I'll have to stay here. For now, my only goals are to explore the jungle and try to find my way out. And if I happen to get crazy OP while doing so, well, that's just an added bonus! The first step in my plan is: to get washed up. After having not washed for a little while, and having the blood of the wold all over me, I really need to get clean. I make my way over to the river slowly, being wary of other monsters that might smell the blood and come for me. I reach the river safely, and look at my reflection. My hair is a mess, a tangled web of dark hair matted in blood covering half of my face. I can see leaves and twigs sticking out. My face and clothes weren't spared either. My face and clothes are covered in dirt and grime, dried blood providing a disgusting smell. The wolves claws has ripped my clothes to shreds. I'm now wearing little more than rags. "Ugh..I didn't know it was this bad. I guess I really do need a bath." I strip down to my underwear and plunge into the river, making sure to check if there were any threats first. After seeing nothing, I gently relax in the cool water, feelings refreshed as it gently washes the grime away. After relaxing for a bit, I get serious and start scrubbing.
***
Around thirty minutes later, I clamber out of the river. My dark hair cascades all around me and glistens in the afternoon sun. I gently scrub my dirty clothes before putting them back on. 'I'll really have to find something new to wear soon, or I might just roam around naked.' I laugh wryly at the thought and head back to camp. I grab my spear and a few leftover berries that I hadn't taken with me last night. I set up into the forest, leaves crunching underfoot. I push past the dense overgrowth before I come to a brightly colored deer, leisurely munching on plants. 'Alright, my plan for today is: to catch some monsters and level up again! Or at least some normal animals. I've grown tired of small fruits and berries already.' I grip my spear and quietly approach the deer, being careful not to make any noise lest the deer be alerted of my presence. Suddenly, the wind shifts, and the deer swiftly looks up at me and bounds away. Despite my last ditch effort to catch it, it evades my grasp, and I'm left sitting wearily on the ground. I sigh, and get up to find something else. Unfortunately, this process repeats throughout the whole day. I set out one last time before giving up, resigned to eating a paltry meal of berries once again. However, I soon find something new. A boar, standing a whopping 6ft and bristling with tightly coiled muscles, is grazing nearby. It doesn't seem to be much different from regular boars, besides being much bigger. It doesn't have any strange markings on it either, leading believe its only a regular animal. However, it's still a formidable foe foe someone like me, who has little to no experience fighting. I slowly creep up on it, employing the light footfalls and controlled breathing I had learned to employ while attempting to hunt deer. I shift my feet, trying to get better momentum as I swiftly thrust the spear at the boars side. It's quickly alerted, dodging at the last second and leaving only a light graze as it's eyes flare with rage. It growls loudly at me and snorts, charging at me in an attempt to trample me. I quickly dodge out of the way, fear rushing into my head. "Fuck!Why did I think killing a wild boar would be easy?" I say as I swiftly dodge and evade the boars charges. This only makes it even more enraged. I grip my spear tightly, desperation fueling me as I strike back. For several minutes, we're entertwined in a mad dance of survival. Or.. should I say me running around shrieking as it chases after me. Luckily, it's huge frame slows it down, and I use it's own momentum to sprint straight towards a tree before deftly jumping left. As the boar is disoriented, I strike my spear as deep as I can into its eye socket, pouring out every last bit of strength. I feel an unfamiliar emotion coursing through me as I observe its pain. It struggles feebly, before finally collapsing to the ground. I sigh and sink to the ground. 'That was a close one.' Only then do I realize what I had forgotten. "FUCK!!" My cries echo through the trees, scaring birds away for miles around.
***
I sit around the fire, enjoying my grilled boar meat. "Haah..now this is true wilderness survival!" I'm evidently content with my meal, however I'm still salty about my realization. All those deer..all those hours working to no avail..when it could've all been avoided if I had just used my abilities from the system. I sigh, but there's nothing to be done about the past. I bite into the juicy flesh of the roasted boar, glistening and bursting with flavor. At least, as compared to the berries I had been eating for the past couple days since coming here. 'It could certainly use some seasoning' I think, as I look into the flame bitterly. It had taken me half an hour to drag the boar all the way here, and another to figure out how to light the fire. I ended up just emptying one of the glass bottles carried in the satchel and shining sunlight through it, eventually lighting the dry and flammable twigs on fire. I felt disappointed about wasting whatever was in the bottle, but I honestly have no clue about how to use it. It's better to be more practical. As for the body of the wolf, I had clumsily skinned and washed it, and then left the fur and skin out to dry. It ended up being an amazing wolf fur cloak, much warmer than the rags I had on before. It had taken an excruciating amount of time and effort, as evidently a stabbing weapon is not meant for cutting. My fragile wooden spear had finally snapped in half, leaving me with no choice but using my wolf claws for a weapon. Thinking about the wolf, I recall the strange sensation that coursed through me when I killed it, the boar as well. I finally realize what it is,identifying the emotion as joy. 'Really? Joy? Wow, I must be crazy. I could've died or been injured both times, yet I was having fun?' I think in confusion. However, it's the truth. The happiness I got from those fights was well beyond anything I had felt since my parents death. "Yes..I must find that feeling again!"I say vehemently.
[And so begins the legend of "The Battle Junkie."] Teehee XD
sorry for the weird description and actions of the parents. also, tbh, rain forgetting her powers was actually me forgetting sha has powers, I just didn't wanna half to rewrite all of it bc im lazy. sorry guysss. i know i havent uploaded in two days and im sorry but I'm going to summer camp in a week or two so I won't be able to upload anything. I've decided to just upload as many chapters as possible. Respectfully, I'm in tears, bad author.