A quiet look stayed on Ethan's face as the purple glow lit up. His grin grew bit by bit without a sound.
Just about everything felt much the same as Blizzard Online.
A quiet hum filled his head as the screen hung mid-air. Light from it touched his eyes, just barely. Trees blurred at the edges of what he noticed. What stayed clear were stats climbing higher - signs pointing to patterns he knew how to read.
In Blizzard Online, stats only rose through effort. You either hunted monsters endlessly or spent an absurd amount of money on stat boosters. And stat boosters were no joke. They were legendary-tier items, rare to the point of myth.
Entire guilds would go to war over rumors of one appearing in a dungeon.
Fewer than a dozen stat boosters ever appeared during his time.
He had used exactly one in his time in Blizzard Online.
One boost alone pushed his power and speed so high that players called him a cheater. Even then, the increase he'd just received from killing a single Prima felt… excessive.
His eyes went back to the numbers on screen.
Five points stronger now.
Strength up by five.
Agility up by five.
Magic up by six.
Defense up by five.
All from killing a monster that, in the game, barely gave enough experience to matter.
A player in Blizzard Online would brush past Primas like dust - beginner fodder, really.
Hours spent grinding them early on, then forgetting they existed. But now his eyes locked onto numbers rising… gains that should have needed heaps of kills just to match.
So this world isn't a perfect copy.
A weight dropped behind his ribs. It stayed there.
This place followed Blizzard's rules - but they were… loosened. Amplified. Rewards were heavier. Growth was faster. The ceiling felt higher, and the floor far more dangerous.
Ethan's smile grew.
If that's the case…
He could still be faster than most, even on four legs. Strength doesn't care what shape you take.
A shiver ran down his spine at the thought. Tiny he may be, breakable even, downright absurd if you asked some - yet facts stayed true.
Figures never bent. Strength built up just the same, shape didn't matter one bit.
Maybe one day he'd move so fast people wouldn't see him coming. Magic rising like heat off stone, reflexes sharp enough to dodge anything.
His defense hardening until even blades couldn't cut him. Being stuck in a rabbit's shape felt tight, yes. Yet walls crack when pushed hard enough.
Maybe I'll go beyond who I was before.
His pulse jumped at the idea.
Once, he held the top spot in Blizzard Online. The daily struggle wasn't new to him. Systems? He'd lived them. Shortcuts came with dangers - he saw that clearly.
If this world rewarded him more generously than the game ever did, then it was only a matter of time before -
Squelch.
The sound was wet.
Thick.
Unmistakable.
Thoughts tore through Ethan, sudden as a crack in thin ice.
The sudden sound made his ears jerk. His muscles locked tight before he could think.
…What was that?
A hush broke into chatter among the trees. Above, a soft shake of leaves stirred. Air slipped along the bark of standing trunks. Still, beneath every small noise, one echo stayed locked inside him.
Squelch.
He knew it.
Familiar echoes filled his ears once again.
Not minutes ago. Seconds ago.
His gaze slowly shifted toward the bushes ahead of him, and a chill ran through his small body. His excitement drained away, replaced by a creeping dread that crawled up his spine.
That sound...
It's the same one the Grey Prima made when it moved.
His paws trembled slightly against the forest dirt. Something deep told him to shift - dash away, vanish - yet he stayed stuck, caught where reason met panic.
Don't panic. Just check.
Frozen breath by frozen breath, Ethan twisted his neck - slow, uneven - until his gaze landed deep in the thicket where the noise first broke through.
Nothing.
A hush passed through the trees. Stillness took hold, brief but deep. Nothing stirred - only silence, hanging like fog.
Stillness held everything.
No glow. No Prima.
A wave of relief washed over him, so strong his shoulders sagged slightly.
...False alarm?
Out came a trembling breath - one he didn't know he'd been keeping in.
Perhaps the trees played tricks. Rain-soaked foliage underfoot. Ground sliding sideways beneath feet. Anything but -
Squelch.
Squelch.
Squelch.
The sound broke through once more.
This time, closer.
A sudden crack split the quiet when the thicket shuddered, limbs twisting apart under unseen force.
Mid-step, he froze - air stuck sharp in his chest while his pulse hammered, racing as if danger had already found him.
Then they emerged.
One.
Then another.
Then a third.
Out from the damp leaves slid three pale shapes, shifting unsteadily forward. Inside each quivering heap, a soft blue glow hovered, tucked amid the wetness - rising, then fading, rising again.
Not quite solid, not quite liquid, they crept with that inner light twitching in uneven rhythm.
Grey Primas.
Three of them.
Staring hard, Ethan felt a sharp ache behind his eyes.
A cold wave crashed through him, drowning the last bit of sureness like a light snuffed out. Warnings piled up inside his head, each louder than the last.
Three.
Not one.
Three Grey Primas.
Out of nowhere, his past win seemed thin - like paper. One Stone Shot came close to emptying every bit of soul power he had. Despite the higher limit now, the number stayed low: twenty. Just twenty.
This time, one spell like before wasn't happening again.
Off to the side, the dim system display caught his eye again. Still, the figures stayed frozen. Not helping. Just hanging there, blank as the silence around him.
Out ahead, the three Primas eased into a scattered line while shifting forward, crafting a wide curve without thinking. Moving at a crawl yet meaning every step, their jelly-like shapes quivered with each reach.
They closed in, pulsing through the air like slow waves pulling inland.
They weren't attacking yet.
Closer they came, step after step.
Ethan's chest tightened.
In the game, Primas almost never attacked unless provoked. But these ones had already proven that rule meaningless. One had attacked him without warning.
Right there, three Primas just standing around - had to point to something specific.
This world isn't playing fair.
His paws pressed into the dirt as he tried to steady himself, his mind racing through options. Run? Stand and face it? Hide? He had terrain, trees, distance - but his limbs ached from wounds, and his soul energy was dangerously low.
But staying put just wouldn't work.
When the trio of Grey Primas crept ahead, their centers pulsing a shade more intense, a weight grew inside Ethan's ribs.
This time, there would be no win.
And he knew it.