Mistress Of The Evil Forest

Case 1: Little owl in the forest.

crack

crack crack

''Hngh...''

It's noisy. Who's disturbing my sleep...?

crack

''Ugh... So bright.'' I mutter.

I slowly open my eyes, feeling a slight resistance from the sticky eyelids. I blink a few times, trying to clear the sleep from my eyes. I see a blurry image of white, gradually becoming sharper and clearer. Eventually, my vision returns to normal.

I turn my head in confusion. The... Wall? Surrounding me is all white, and are those veins running on the surface...?

Oh, there's a hole above my head. So that's where the light is coming from. 

Ignoring the burning sunlight, I try to peer through the hole, squinting my eyes. I can vaguely see leaves. Lots of leaves in fact.

It's... Trees? But tree leaves are normally not greyish like this.

squish

Hm? What is this-

''Ugh...''

I immediately frown when I realize that my body is covered in some kind of slimy liquid.

That's yucky. Did someone put glue on my body or something?

Whatever. I need to get out first. This hole above me is nowhere big enough for me to get through...

Can I just punch the hole bigger? It sure doesn't seem that sturdy.

So I throw a punch at the surface near the hole, and sure enough-

crack

It breaks like an eggshell.

crack crack crack

A few more blows and I have a hole barely big enough to feel like I can get through.

''Hah.. Even the smell is terrible.'' I mutter, standing up and poking my head out of the hole.

Where am I actually? It's-

''Oh.''

HISS

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Hi Mister Snake, why are you so big...?

My whole body is shaking. The creature in front of me could only be described as a giant snake. Its body is as thick as a tree trunk, with glassy grey scales that shine like hematite in the sunlight. Its golden slit eyes look at me calmly, but I can still feel the immense bloodlust in those pupils.

In its mouth is a giant white egg, similar to the ones I can see scattered around me.

RUN!

I immediately jump out of the thing that I'm in and sprint off in a random direction.

''Hah... Hah...''

Why? What? How? How did this happen??

gulp

I reluctantly turn back to check, and fortunately, the snake is not following me. Let's keep running just to be sure.

My lower back feels heavy for some reason, but I still have to run.

"Hah...''

As I expected, this is indeed a forest. But the trees here have this depressing grey color to their leaves, which makes them look ominous.

Wait, I hear something. That sound is... Water running? Is there a stream nearby?

Great. I think I'm going to have to survive here on my own, since I don't see any human traces around, so securing a water source is undoubtedly the first priority.

''Hah...''

I've been running toward the sound for a while now, and I can finally see the creek through the dense trees. I hide behind a relatively large tree and wait for my stamina to recover.

''Hah... Hah...''

''Phew...'' I let out a breath and peek out to scan around the stream.

Good. Doesn't look like anything dangerous is here.

I walk cautiously toward the gently flowing stream, turning my head constantly to look for a possible ambush.

gulp

Standing in front of the clear water, I calm my beating heart and prepare myself for a revelation.

''...I knew it.'' I mutter, staring at the unfamiliar face on the surface of the water.

My eyebrows are thin and arched, framing my slit orange eyes perfectly, while my small nose is high and prominent, giving me a refined look. My chin is slightly pointed, adding a touch of cuteness to my face as well. Not to mention the milky white skin and long silver-white hair that cascades down all the way to the water. 

My slit pupils are strange. Normally you would expect the slits to be black, but mine are white for some reason.

But overall, it is a delicate and flawless face nonetheless. A world away from my previous look...

Actually, it doesn't look that much different? Maybe except for the color of my eyes and hair, and perhaps I look around three or four years younger now, but other than that...

''...''

Whatever. Water comes first, I'm thirsty.

I kneel down and use my hands as a bowl to scoop water up and begin to gulp it down.

gulp gulp

Refreshing.

I should take a bath too, I really can't stand this gooey liquid all over my body. And very conveniently, I am totally naked right now, so.

I walk to the middle of the relatively shallow water and crouch down, submerging my entire body.

''Hu~... Hm?''

Wait, there's something on my back-

''Eh?''

I belatedly turn around to see a pair of white wings spread under the clear water, connected to my lower back. I try to fold them back, and they fold back. I try to spread them out, they spread out.

I can feel my wings just like any other part of my body... It's surreal.

So I was a bird after all. I had my suspicions ever since I came out of the egg earlier, but to see this... Is pretty cool, really. I don't have a clue why I'm here, I'm sure I was taking a nap at Chloe's house... But the important fact is that I'm alive, and hopefully Chloe is alright too.

Rest in peace, my unborn siblings in those eggs...! I will probably not remember you, but thanks for distracting the snake anyway.

Regardless... This is clearly not Earth, no matter how you look at it. If I remember correctly, what is it, a fantasy world? Chloe used to talk about her fantasy games all the time.

Is it possible that there are horror monsters here as well? I certainly hope so. I really want to meet them in real life.

But first, I need to figure out my life here. Water is secured, now I need food. My body is that of a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old right now, so it will definitely be difficult to hunt big animals. That means I have to be really clever.

Let's get going.

I rise to my feet and step briskly out of the water, flapping my wings to dry the feathers. After a few rounds, I fold my wings back and start to move.

Walking along the creek, I try my best to scan the water for fish. I actually saw some small animals earlier when I was running for my life, but I doubt any of them would be a satisfying meal.

And frankly, I'm still scared of Mister Snake.

''Oh, here we go.''

A moderately big fish spotted. I should probably make a spear beforehand... But I feel like I can catch this guy by hand for some reason.

Well, here goes nothing.

I step back into the water again. Very gently, I approach the unsuspecting fish from behind. When I see that it is close enough, I pull my hands back, ready to strike anytime.

The fish suddenly turns around, but for some reason freezes when it sees me.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I grab the fish with both hands, my fingernails digging into its flesh. Was my finger strength this strong...?

splash splash

''Ugh... Stay still.''

I look around and see a moderately large boulder near my position. That should do it.

THUD

I hold the tail of the fish and smash its head against the boulder. Died instantly. Goodbye mister fish, you'll be a delicious meal-

[You have defeated a Lv.3 Zircon Fish]

[Proficiency achieved a certain level]

[Being: Aurora Lv.1 has become Lv.2]

[1 skill point acquired]

[Skill proficiency achieved a certain level]

[Skill: Sharp Claw Lv.1 has become Lv.2]

[Title: 'Brute Force' acquired]

[Title: 'Brute Force' equipped]

A bunch of blue messages suddenly appear before my eyes.

...What is there to be surprised about at this point. Fortunately, I was 'educated' by Chloe on this subject before. It's a system, right?

So do I have to shout 'status!' or somethi-

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Name: Aurora              

Race: Owl-kin                    Title: Brute Force

Level: 2

HP: 12/12                    MP: 14/14

STR: 2.2                     INT: 8.2

AGI: 2.8                    STA: 2.1

Skill: [Sharp Claw Lv.2], [Domination Lv.1],
[Night Vision Lv.1], [Stealth Lv.1],
[Enhanced Hearing Lv.1].

State: Hungry.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

So I don't have to.

That saves the embarrassment. Not like there's anyone near me right now or anything.

And even if there was, I'd be embarrassed about my nakedness first.

Naked owl without a single towel... 

''Eheh, eheheheheh...''