The sun hung lazily over the sprawling open forest, casting long, tangled shadows that danced with the swaying grass. Dr. Selena, a young woman in her late twenties, crouched low, her bow resting lightly in her hands. Her sharp green eyes flicked from shadow to shadow. She wasn't just some clueless newbie dropped into this world — she had chosen [Hard Difficulty], and she damn well meant to survive it.
She was currently on Floor 1 of [HARD] mode.
She was first summoned to a resting area , of white marble present everywhere.
She was given an option to choose her weapon.
She picked the bow, it was the most familiar object to her.
Bowstring taut. Breath measured.
"Why get your hands dirty when you can rain death from afar?" she whispered to herself, flashing a sly grin.
The familiar comfort of a bow nestled against her palms made the chaos of this bizarre world a bit more bearable. She'd been a professional archer once — tournaments, medals, the whole 50 meters. That experience now hummed in her muscles, whispering tactics in her ear.
The [OBJECTIVE] blinked in her vision like an annoying reminder:
[OBJECTIVE: KILL GOBLINS]
[PROGRESS: 0/3]
Easy enough, she had thought at first — until she saw them.
Five goblins.
Green, warty, and foul-smelling creatures, bundled together like some grotesque traveling circus. Their jagged rusted weapons glinted under the sun. They hadn't spotted her yet; their small, beady eyes scanned the surroundings poorly.
Poor eyesight, but sharp noses, she noted, ducking lower behind a thick bush. She had learned in the orphanage, after all, how to hide when sneaking sweets from the kitchen.
[SKILL ACQUIRED: BASIC STEALTH]
A satisfied smirk pulled at her lips.
Yet hours crawled by, and every goblin group she stumbled upon — three sightings total — was five or more.
"Come on..." she muttered. Her muscles ached from squatting, and her stomach grumbled embarrassingly loud.
Just as she resigned herself to either starving or stupidly charging in, fortune smiled — or maybe sneered.
A group of four goblins.
Four goblins. Just four.
Her heart pounded. She could do this.
She moved silently, her breathing shallow, her fingers feather-light on her bowstring. Drawing an arrow, she aimed at the nearest goblin — a squat creature scratching its belly with a broken dagger.
Thwip!
The arrow lanced through the goblin's throat with a wet crunch. It toppled silently, gurgling its last breath. The others whirled around, shrieking.
Selena already had another arrow drawn.
Thwip!
The second goblin had time to blink stupidly before another shaft thudded deep into its throat. It gurgled and collapsed, clawing at the dirt.
Two left.
They roared in anger, tiny crude spears raised high as they charged.
The remaining two goblins howled in fury, charging her with surprising speed. Selena's eyes widened — they were faster than she thought
Selena cursed, drawing another arrow — but her fingers fumbled. She wasn't some fantasy protagonist immune to stress. She missed the draw entirely.
A goblin spear nicked her side, slicing through her shirt and skin alike. Pain lanced through her, white-hot.
"Motherf—!"
No time.
Instinct took over.
She reversed her grip on the next arrow and jammed it downward with savage strength. The pointed tip drove into the goblin's eye socket. It squealed, twitching violently before going still.
She was occupied, giving the other goblin a chance.
The last goblin tackled her bodily. They rolled across the ground, Selena's bow knocked away.
"You're ugly up close!" she snarled, wresting another arrow free from her quiver.
The goblin raised its dagger, shrieking in its horrid language — and stabbed.
Selena hissed in pain as the blade plunged into her shoulder. Blood sprayed across her cheek, hot and metallic.
Rage overrode reason.
She gritted her teeth, shoved the goblin back with her uninjured arm, and drove the arrow upward under its chin with all her strength.
The goblin went limp, its dagger clattering harmlessly onto the ground.
Selena sat there, panting, staring at the gore-smeared arrow still embedded in its skull.
[COMPLETED FLOOR 1]
[OBJECTIVE COMPLETED]
[KILL GOBLINS: 4/3]
[BONUS REWARD]
[REWARDS CALCULATED]
[UNLOCKED: BASIC STATUS]
[YOU HAVE RECEIVED: 50 GOLD COINS, 1x LOW HEALTH POTION, 1x RANDOM SKILL CARD, SKILL (F) ARCHERY]
The system's voice chimed sweetly in her ear, but Selena barely heard it.
Her shoulder throbbed. Her side stung. The forest blurred around the edges of her vision.
Pain.
Real.
"Hah...hahahaha..."
The laughter started as a chuckle. Then deepened. Then burst from her throat in ragged, hysterical peals.
Blood soaked her shirt, her face was splattered crimson, and her hands trembled — yet she laughed like a lunatic under the golden sun.
She'd almost died.
Over goblins.
"Hard mode," she gasped out between fits of laughter. "Yeah, sure. Hardcore my ass."
After she claimed the reward, she started getting healed.
The world around her shimmered, and a soft, soothing glow enveloped her body.
Her wounds closed. Skin knitted together. Pain dulled and vanished like smoke in the wind.
Selena slumped backward onto the grass, arms sprawled out like a defeated queen after a battle won.
"Round one," she whispered, feeling exhaustion seep deep into her bones, "goes to me."
The leaves above rustled, as if the forest itself chuckled at her madness.
She stayed like that for a while, savoring the absurdity of it all.
This world wanted blood?
Fine.
She had plenty to give.
****
Flight became meditation.
Hours passed. Not measured by time. By thoughts.
Kaiser scanned the transformed landscape, his current goal was to test his strength.
So he had to find a magical beast with strength on par with him.
Magical beasts scattered below. Impressive. But not challengers.
I need something... worthy.
While flying his mind shifted to his goals in this life, he didn't have much goals when he reincarnated but now did.
After seeing the Anaconda King and the Black Caiman King getting destroyed by humans, his first goal was to gain strength enough to be invincible here.
Atomic bombs? Planetary destruction?
Bring it. One day in the future he would tank them, without a scratch.
The second goal? Pure adventure to the Universe, he wanted to explore the starry skies. It would be fun.
A man's romance, he thought. No. An eagle's romance.
Universe. I'm coming for you.
His last goal? was to find out how he was sent here and for what reason, he refused to believe what happened to him was an accident, the damn f*kiing plane crashing into him and that truck.
Then.
Movement.
Far below.
The Black Caiman King appeared.
It was sunbathing outside the river.
Well. Hello again.
It seems to have mutated not subtle but dramatic.
Scales now looked like living mercury. Shifting. Adaptive. Each movement a quantum leap in evolutionary potential.
The creature had changed. Grown. Transformed.
"I guess you could call it a Silver Caiman King now," chuckled Kaiser.
Kaiser's metallic feathers ruffled.
The Black Caiman sensed him. Looked up.
Their eyes lock on to each other.
Two apex predators. One sky. One sea.