Chapter 3: Escaping the Forest
"Huff... Huff..."
After running nearly half a mile, Arthur finally stopped. He collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted, gasping wildly for air. He wanted to scream and curse the system for its negligence, but he couldn't even muster the breath. After a short rest, he spoke angrily.
"Why didn't you tell me about the protection card?! If I'd known, I wouldn't have spent nights terrified of monsters!"
[Notification was sent to the 'Unimportant Notifications' tab. You did not check it.]
"How is this unimportant?!" Arthur grumbled in frustration. Eventually, he forced himself to calm down, unwilling to argue with a system he didn't even understand. While resting, he checked the notifications tab and, just as the system said, found one confirming he had received Temporary Protection for forty-eight hours. He also saw other trivial notices, like his login time and the record of his First Login Bonus Gift.
Once he caught his breath and regained some energy, he realized it was getting late, so he built another camp—this time doubling the thorny bushes around it. Still, fear and anxiety kept him from sleeping peacefully.
...
( Three Days Later )
The sun rose high, its bright light illuminating Arthur's exhausted form as he trudged through the forest. Naturally, fatigue and lack of sleep had dulled his focus and slowed his steps. Five days had passed since he arrived in this world, and his situation hadn't improved—in fact, it had worsened. His feet were blistered from ill-fitting shoes, and without the First Aid Kit to treat and disinfect his wounds, he would've surely developed an infection.
"Will this forest ever end? Damn it, I've been following this river for days and still see no sign of humans!"
"Hey, System, don't you have a map or something useful?"