The Isekai Game

Shrine of the West

Vanessa began trotting through the forest. The trees were thick than houses and tall as towers. They were rich in leaves and poor in soil. Even while trotting from the west, she couldn't ignore the fact that the land was dying. From the dust kicking against her calves to the dying winds that left stains on her lungs, this place was clearly rotting. 

There was a rumble. Her eyes darted for its source. There was nothing in plain view. 

Vanessa flipped out her shotgun, slowly rotating herself to find this grumbling. 

A branch seemingly fell, catching her attention as a tree branch swiped towards her. 

She saw it just in time to fire three fire bullets at it that blew up. Another branch swung harder. Vanessa was sure to jump away while firing her shotgun. 

Somewhere in the middle of her firing, she realized it wasn't a tree of any kind, but rather a beast with bark for skin that swung at her. Its shape was similar to that of a lizard and a bear. Yet its size was like a house that blended with the trees. 

"How did I miss that?" she thought, firing at the beast. 

While shooting back, the beast clawed towards her as she ran behind a tree. 

Right when it was going to claw into her again, she locked in a stunt.

The instant the claw nearly slammed into her, she jumped on it to further jump into the tree. It was here she realized the beast had a dark mist-like aura glowing on its chest. 

Now at a safe range, she continued firing her flame enchanted bullets. But they did little damage and the bark wasn't igniting. Luckily, she remembered Logan's advice. 

It was clear. Instead of wasting her magic power on this thing, she turned around and ran away on the oversized branch.

The beast was already climbing up. She could hear its tongue lick against its teeth. Claws were ripping into the tree branches. Every step it took shook the branch just a bit.

A few white doves flew by. The beast ate a flew for a quick snack. It was fortunate none bothered Vanessa. It allowed her to fully charge her g*n. 

Right when the giant barked beast locked its yellow eyes on her, she held up her shotgun which was glowing bright blue.

Firing it at its peak, released a giant ice bomb that froze half of the beast's body. It fell below, cracking on the ground. 

A quick glance down, seeing the thing still alive, was more than what Vanessa needed to sprint away. In fact, as soon as she was able to jump to other branches, she did. 

Vanessa kept running without looking back for a good bit. Still, the white doves staring down at her was quite troubling. They didn't even move. All those little bastards did was watch her run through the trees. 

After a bit, she decided to slow down and look back. The thing wasn't chasing her anymore, but she needed to catch her breath. 

She sat on the center of the oversized branch. It was funny how they were wide enough to be dirt roads. More importantly, what was up with the dark aura? The dying land? A beast that looks like its one with the land, yet extremely hostile? And the white pigeons that watched her? So many mysterious in what felt like only 15-minutes. 

Adding to the mysteries was a little stone shrine on the ground. A glowing spirit, barely clothed, sat on the stone shrine. It was just what this land needed, Jesus. Or some deity figure at least. 

It took her a moment to climb down and run over. Doing so must've scared the poor thing because without a word it vanished. 

Vanessa stood in front of a guardless shrine, hoping the spirit would return to her aid. Instead, only faint gusts blew a letter to her face. 

A tiny smack it was. One that brought out a small chuckle from her. Sure enough, the letter was from her mysterious ghost.

"It's funny how the land is rotting. Each passing moment it gets weaker. Looking back, it was important. This land wasn't just a place of travel. It was more like a message from above. A message that detailed my future. I wish I saw the signs then. But I was blinded by the curse as well as my inner darkness. Vanessa, to win, you must learn from the unexpected and face those you trust above all else. Once you've made it to the heart, you will be able to free the curse of this land". 

In her confusion, she flipped the letter to see a map, "Oki". 

There were four shrines detailed on the map. Given the sunset, she assumed to be at the far west shrine. The north was filled with steep cliffs. That left the South for immediate exploration. 

While folding the map into her pocket, a light shined from the shrine. She took a stance, preparing for a fight. The light ignored all things material to evade her body. 

Vanessa didn't feel different. It was as though the light did nothing at all. But if that was the case, then what was the purpose?

Regardless, she couldn't let herself slow down. After a few minutes of odd staring, she headed south for the next shrine. Lucky for her, there was at least a dirt trail to follow.

This area of the forest was a little different. Trees weren't humungous nor thick. More like they were already dead. The leaves were falling if not ashed. Vanessa tried picking up a blue rose. But before she could touch it, it darkened to a crisped and withered away. 

That was it. No rocket science was needed. The four shrines were of the four elements, wind, fire, water, and earth. Given the locations on the map, she must've come from the wind shrine and was now in the fire shrine domain. 

If only that made sense. If the shrines were tied to the elements, then why wasn't the wind the enemy before. It was that dark aura that even Angelica mentioned as the darkness. But here it was the fire taking over the land.

Carcasses were laid over another. Lambs died with lions as brethren instead of foes. Ashes covered the trail the deeper she got until it was no longer visible. She nearly tripped a few times, noticing how feral mothers died guarding their children against the flames.