Another World Story

Day Five: Encounter

John took a once over on his clothes again. It... had really changed. He was certain he hadn't been wearing those clothes before. Heck, the black cotton pants he's wearing right now do not even have a pocket and John was certain he had used his school pants pocket before in storing those berries and jelly like plants.

"It's not like I changed clothes unknowingly," John muttered to himself. Such a notion was much more unlikely as he was transported with nothing aside from the school uniform he was wearing before.

"Did someone change my clothes while I was sleeping?" That... would be goosebumps inducing as even the underwear he was wearing before had changed as well.... meaning.... John didn't even want to think about it.

Shaking the thoughts out of his mind. John decided to attribute the change of clothes to his transmigration to this world. Perhaps all transmigrators get free native clothes given to them as a welcome? Yeah, that should be it. There's no other explanation other than that. Someone changing his clothes while he was asleep? Fshh. That was the most absurd thing he had ever heard.

Thus, with the clothes issue solved. John surveyed his surroundings.

He had chased after the brown bugger that stole his food reserves and was now definitely far from the hidey hole he was at before. Definitely not the brightest idea, but John wasn't the brightest to begin with. So, he could only move forward and not dwell on his folly.

As John had observed before, the area he was in was much more lacking in the light department as the towering trees and their leaves had covered the sky, well, mostly, as there were still enough for him to see around, but if night were to arrive, things would be much darker. Not like he had any plan to stay out during the night, god knows what kind of terrifying creatures lurk within this forest.

"I had better get out of this place." John said as he turned around and started navigating his way back. Although he was still slightly fatigued from running and most definitely hungry, he could only try to endure it. As far as John could see, there was no fruit growing from those trees. There were no berries in the surrounding area, and he had never seen those jelly-like plants which he had assumed were a basic herb, as he had seen plenty before. Water... or any such type was scarce as well. Although the trees were much bigger than the trees before, they, surprisingly, had much smaller roots. John wondered if they were of a different kind of tree from the other one, as he was not able to find any difference from each one.

....

While John was traveling on his way back, a pair of big light blue eyes gazed upon his back. Its eyes were filled with curiosity as well as with sapience that one could not find from the other of its kind in the forest. Maybe, perhaps, only those back in the... the creature shook its head as it tried to forget such memories. It then shifted its gaze to the round fruit in its hand and alternated between the human and the fruit, until eventually deciding to eat it.

If John were to see the creature, John would have easily recognized it as it was the same rabbit that stole his food reserves. He would've even chased after it. Alas! Even if he was there, John would still not be able to chase after the rabbit.

....

Traveling back was an arduous task for John as he was a person with a terrible sense of direction. But from John's perspective, he was much better than some green-haired swordsman pirate when finding the right direction. At least John could still recognize the places where he once passed by...

"...or so I thought. But I'm lost, aren't I?"

John couldn't help but look back, all he saw were trees, and plenty of them. He had not even seen a single sign of any other animals, and he had been walking for at most an hour and a half. Based on the speed he had run from his hidey hole to this area, he should've been back if not nearby.

"Did I take a wrong turn?" John wondered. But thinking about it more, John was chasing the bugger around, it was not like they took a straight path. More like zigzagging around the trees. John wondered if he was really stupid to chase the rabbit without even knowing the surrounding environment. Now he was lost and didn't even know where to go next.

John sat down on a nearby protruding root of some tree. He was hungry and needed to replenish his stamina, otherwise if he encountered something he wouldn't have the strength to even run.

"Haaa... what kind of sicko put me in this situation? I don't even have a single golden finger, cheat, or the like! Do I have to trigger something to encounter them?" John complained. His school uniform was changed, his food was stolen, and now he was lost in god knows what kind of creatures lurk nearby. He didn't even know whether he could last the next morning as he was hungry, and now he's getting thirsty.

After resting for a few minutes, John eventually stood up. He had to find something to eat; otherwise, he'd be dead meat.

"Now, where to go next?"

....

John looked around his surroundings, he had traveled quite far, although he had not encountered any creatures yet, he had seen plenty of trees. Some even had those round fruits, thus John was able to sate his hunger and thirst for a bit.

"It's that feeling again... what is it?" John asked himself. Even since he entered this part of the forest, he had the feeling of being observed. He did not how or why he had the feeling, but he didn't dare to neglect it. He looked around him, this time, with much more vigilance.

*Grrr! *

While John was looking around, he heard a faint noise. His first reaction was to crouch down below the shrubs and roots of the threes and pick up a slightly thick twig on the ground. He didn't know where it came from, but it seemed quite close to where he was. John, alert of his surroundings, immediately got near a tree and put his back on it. He looked to his left and right, focusing on his hearing, but failed to locate the noise again. John was tense, he heard the howling of some creatures just yesterday, and now it seemed like something was growling and was now coming near his area. John held down his right hand which was holding the twig and was now trembling uncontrollably. His heart pounded so hard that he could feel it reverberate in his ears.

"Stop... stop trembling!" John quietly said as he held the twig in his left hand, but instead, his left hand joined his right hand in trembling. John felt at a loss, something was coming close, and his hands weren't cooperating with him!

Suddenly...

*Grrr!*

"!!"

John didn't know how and why, but the moment he heard the growl, he dove forward and rolled. Something he himself had not even done once in his life!

"Ow, Ouch!"

John felt pain in his back as he hit something below the dead leaves. He didn't know if it was a rock or a root of one of these trees, but he didn't dare dwell on that matter. As soon after he dove forward, he heard the sound of something crashing down and the sound of something stepping on the dead leaves.

*Crash! * *Crunch! *

John immediately stood up, in pain, but gritting his teeth, he held the twig using both his shaking hands. Then he looked at the place where he was once standing. And there, something he had only seen in books appeared.

"...A wolf? No... a black wolf!" John was flabbergasted, it was a wolf almost half his height, it had sharp claws extending from its paws, fangs that protruded from its mouth and it had night-like black fur. Its sharp eyes were staring at him, looking at him like he was already dead.

*Lab-dub! * *Lab-dub! * *Lab-dub! *

John's heart pounded hard. He didn't need to know why, because he knew it too well. Yes, it was something he had experienced before, countless times, in fact.

It was the feeling of death.