With his plan set and curiosity about this world still buzzing under his skin, Long Chen stood up, his feet sinking slightly into the lush green grass. The vast forest before him was both magnificent and intimidating. He then took his first steps out of the open field, crossing the tree line and plunging into the shadow of the primeval forest.
The air grew colder and damper. His senses sharpened, along with the awareness of his own vulnerability. He was in an unknown world, possibly full of dangers, wearing only the clothes on his back.
His eyes scanned the forest floor, passing over fallen leaves and exposed roots, searching for anything that could serve as protection.
That's when he saw it.
Leaning against the trunk of a fallen tree was a thick dark wooden branch, probably broken off from an older tree during a storm or strong wind.
He approached and picked it up. The branch was surprisingly heavy and solid, about the thickness of his wrist and the length of a short sword. He held it, testing its weight and balance. It wasn't a steel blade, but it was sturdy and durable enough.
With the hefty branch in hand, wielded like an improvised sword, Long Chen felt a wave of adventurer's confidence. He stepped deeper into the primeval forest, each step into unknown terrain a mix of caution and excitement. The green was overwhelming; ancient trees, giant ferns, and dense vegetation that seemed untouched by time.
"Okay, first step: let's find something to test my skills on. Preferably something weak," he muttered to himself.
As if the world had a twisted sense of humor, something small and white jumped out from behind a bush, stopping a few meters away from him. It was a rabbit. A white, fluffy rabbit, with intense red eyes and... a single sharp black horn growing from its forehead.
Long Chen's mind, coming from the 21st century, immediately made a connection. "A rabbit? Looks a bit bigger than average, so no doubt it should be delicious."
His mind never paused to think that a horned rabbit probably wasn't an ordinary farm animal. The urge to try it and also test his own abilities outweighed his caution.
"Come here, bunny! Today you're going to be my dinner!" he shouted, a grin on his lips, stepping forward with a lively expression. He raised the branch, ready to deliver a sure strike to the creature.
The rabbit, however, did not react like expected prey. In the blink of an eye, it vanished from where it had stood.
Bang!
Long Chen missed the strike, hitting only the ground, sending up a cloud of dust and grass.
And then, swoosh!
Before he could recover, an explosive pain erupted in his face. The rabbit had leapt, spun in the air, and delivered a powerful kick with its hind legs right to his nose.
CRACK!
Long Chen was thrown backward, stumbling and landing in a seated position. Warm liquid dripped from his upper lip. Blood. His nose was broken.
"What kind of damn rabbit is this?!" he shouted, pain mixed with disbelief. But the rabbit didn't give him time to think. It lunged again, moving in a zigzag pattern too fast to track. Long Chen stood up clumsily, swinging the branch in panic.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
His attacks only sliced through the air. The Demon Rabbit, as he now called it in his mind, was too agile. Moments later, a sharp pain pierced his shoulder. He looked down and saw the rabbit's horn stuck in his flesh, opening a nasty cut.
"Damn it! You Demon Rabbit!"
He shouted and threw the creature away, but the damage was done. A hole about a centimeter deep opened in his shoulder, and the horizontal cut looked ugly even if superficial. Blood dripped, staining his linen clothes. He was panting, wounded, and utterly humiliated — by a rabbit.
"Okay, okay! I get it! This 'game' is on hell mode from the start!" he complained out loud, the reality that this world was no walk in the park hitting him hard. He knew he couldn't truly die here, but damn, the pain was 100% real.
"All right. I don't want dinner anymore. I'll leave you alone." He said with a miserable smile, caught between pain and humiliation.
Without hesitation, Long Chen turned and began running desperately. Adrenaline surged, but his weak, injured body was no match for the speed of that demon creature.
Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!
He could hear the quick leaps of the Demon Rabbit closing in behind him, zigzagging closer to his back. Panic froze his spine.
He felt the sharp prick imminent on his back, the air shifting behind him. He knew it was the horn, about to pierce him again.
"Hell! You asked for it. I might die here, but you'll definitely go down with me!"
In a desperate, instinctive move at the last moment, Long Chen spun on his heels. Using the momentum of his run and spin, he channeled all his strength, fear, and frustration into a single horizontal strike with the branch.
CRACK!
This time, the sound wasn't from his nose. It was a heavy, muffled thud. The branch connected directly with the rabbit's head midair. The creature was thrown to the side, hitting the ground with a thump and rolling a few times before lying still.
Long Chen stood there, panting, chest heaving violently. He waited, but the rabbit didn't move. Carefully, he approached, holding his own shoulder to stop the bleeding.The rabbit's red eyes were now dull and lifeless. It was dead.
Sigh!
A long breath of relief escaped his lips. He leaned against a tree, feeling the pain in his shoulder and nose dripping blood. "Never again... underestimate a rabbit."
Looking around for a place to recover, he spotted a nearby slope with a dark opening at the base of a gigantic tree — a sort of cave formed by its roots. It was the perfect shelter.
Dragging his aching body and the rabbit's corpse, he entered the safety of the small cave. The first order of business was treating the wound. He tore a piece from his sleeve and tied it around his armpit and shoulder to stop the bleeding for now.
With that done, he decided to clean the creature. Without a knife, he had an idea. Carefully, he broke off the sharp horn from the rabbit's skull. It was surprisingly hard and pointed, so it took a lot of force to snap it off, making a perfect tool for the task.
He began his work, first cleaning the organs and separating them as he had learned in his previous world. Unfortunately, there was no water, but he would have to manage without it.
However, when he used the horn tip to pry open the creature's skull searching for anything useful, something unexpected happened.
As soon as the head split, a small crystalline stone, about the size of a bean and pulsing with a faint red glow, rolled out and clinked on the cave floor.
Long Chen froze, eyes wide. He picked it up, feeling a slight energy emanating from it. It wasn't just a stone.
"That looks like... a Demon Core?" he pondered, excitement beginning to overcome the pain in his wounds. "So killing demon beasts here really gives 'loot'!"