Chapter 9

"Well... I'm lost."

Barely any sunlight was visible as night started to engulf the forest and the once cute creatures that surrounded the forest were nowhere to be seen. Two moons could be seen at a distance further emphasizing the 'other worldness" of the place I was in.

'I don't really mind being out at night but since it is my first time in this world, I don't really wish to spend my time out. Especially since I know that there are multiple creatures capable of killing humans with powers pretty easily. Then again, who am I to talk."

I giggled.

I continued to walk the forest as I saw multiple creatures that I only ever dreamed of meeting. Such as a huge bunny creature that had horns on it.

'I believe it was called a Jackalope. There are a lot of them in this area surprisingly, but they are a pleasant surprise. ' 

The jackalope noticed my presence and just stared me down and continued chowing down his meal. 

Not missing this chance to get closer to the animal, I started approaching it slowly in a tiptoe manner as to not scare it away. Only the wind could be heard rustling amongst the leaves.

Right as I was about to touch the animal that seemed to allow me to pet it, it looked up and darted away, kicking up the dust as it jumped away.

"blegh" I exclaimed as dirt was put in my mouth.

'I was so close' I sighed as I was disappointed in this turn of events.

"I thought it was going to let me pet it."

"Forget that. I need to find a way out since it seems I have run out of time."

I glanced at the darkness that surrounded me. As I was about to head towards a different direction, I heard an earth-shattering screech approaching. The once quiet environment turned into a sea of cries of multiple entities. 

'I need to run! No way in hell am I going to face something that shakes the earth.'

Using all that I had, I started bolting towards the opposite direction from where the screeching was coming from. Even though it was night, I was well adapted to it, so it wasn't too difficult to navigate the terrain. Using a card, I summoned a small knife that had a black blade and red grip and started slashing all the leaves that got in my way. As much as I wanted to use a bigger knife, I didn't really want to lug a huge knife when I needed to run away. 

No matter how much I ran, it seemed that the screech did not get any quieter. In fact, it was quite the opposite, it actually got closer. 

"Damn it!!!! Why is it heading my direction!!!"

That's when I noticed a bunch of trees being knocked down. 

'Nope. I can't outrun it... so let's change tactics." 

I was now in a hole under a tree.

'Yeah.... F That. I don't want to fight. I don't want to risk my life for some random monster. That's just not my thing.'

As I was justifying my decision, I noticed that the tree I was under was now gone. I felt only hot air blowing down my back.

As I took a glanced upwards, I noticed that there was a huge minotaur towering over me.

"Just my luck..." 

The minotaur then threw a punch directly at me, using one of my cards, I teleported away. The ground where I once stood was now decimated, leaving only a crater in its wake. 

'Why the hell is it targeting me!!! What did I do!!!'

'Let's get the OP form out.'

Trying to summon my mask and powers that came from it, nothing appeared in front of me. No matter what I said, I could not summon the mask.

"Shit!" I screamed as I saw the incoming attack.

Leaving no time to think, the minotaur grabbed his axe and sliced a bunch of trees in attempt to cut me in half. 

This time I decided to teleport in the air to avoid the falling trees, leaving me wide open to an attack. 

The minotaur seemed to only get quicker after every swing and noticed the opportunity. The instant I teleported, he swung as fast as he could, touching my body ever so slightly.

Taking a once over of my body, I noticed that I was bleeding a fair bit.

I was surprised by the damage but remained calm. 

'I won't survive long like this. Also not feeling anything seems to be dangerous. This is bad.' clutching my bleeding abdomen. 

The minotaur was recovering from his previous flurry of attacks but was already preparing for his next attack.

'Let's use my cards for attacks then.'

All my cards flew up in the air, creating a circular motion around my body. 

"Decimate him!!!"

All the cards started piercing the Minotaur's body as it swung its axe violently, destroying some cards in the process. 

Through all of the process, I tried to think of the cards as if I was throwing each and every one of them, the cards needed to be thin to pierce the Minotaur's body.

The Minotaur, visibly enraged, screamed, summoning a red aura around him and shook the area, destroying all the cards I had summoned to kill him.

"HAHAHAHA. God damn it, you are strong." as I clutched my bleeding part. 

"Honestly, I shouldn't have this much trouble dealing with you especially when I killed a bunch of OP commanders. So, what's the difference now from back then?" 

Given no time to think, he charged at me with his whole body. 

The moment of the collision, I was launched 20 meters onto a canyon, leaving a huge dent on it. Lots of animals could be heard whimpering and sprinting through the forest.

"Yo, it seems I can survive something like that haha." I chuckled as I looked at the unbelievable situation. "

"What's different?" I pondered.

The minotaur then flung itself towards my location once again. 

"Whatever let's clear this stage." I exclaimed, removing myself from the wall. 

The moment I changed my approach, I realized that I was able to tell the damages I took without looking at my body.

An interface appeared in my vision showing a glowing blue silhouette of a human with red blotches on the certain places. 

'It seems I gained a mecha interface to tell what part of me is damaged, how convenient.'

The monster made it to my position and swung once again, this time, with red aura surrounding it.

Using the small knife, I had created earlier, I managed to parry the attack of the huge minotaur as if his size meant nothing to me. 

The minotaur was visibly surprised by the sudden reversal. Not in his wildest dreams did he think that his axe would be deflected by a human, especially when it was one who was this weak. 

I smiled unconsciously.

"I think I get it. I didn't get nerfed. It wasn't a coincidence I won against commanders."

"I'm just playing the main game instead of the tutorial now."

As if responding to my remark, a mask appeared on my face.