Chapter 4: Level up

Grumble!

Leon unknowingly had taken a nap, and his stomach rumbled with hunger after he woke up. It wasn't a normal hunger, either. Feeling like he hadn't eaten for at least three days, Leon stood up, nearly falling onto his side as his eyes shook and propelled himself onto the wall.

"This is bad. I need to eat something." Leon bit his lips and did his best to control his hunger.

With a hand on his stomach, Leon walked to the doors, opened them without deep thoughts, and crossed onto the other side. He'd appeared in the darkness world again, but it was vastly different from all corridors Leon had gone through.

The darkness mimicked the forest.

He saw black bushes, trees, soil, and roots.

"You fuckers knew I'd be hungry," Leon whispered indignantly, cautiously going forth, alerted like never before. "Where are fruits? Where are… monsters?"

Leon's hunger heightened, his mouth kept producing much saliva, and he felt like turning into a glutton who would devour anything: those weren't natural reactions. But precisely because of that, Leon's eyes became muddled with ravenous desire, and he was ready to clash with monsters to savor their flesh.

He wouldn't mind devouring them the way the darkness monsters had done their prey.

But then, his hand went from his stomach to his chest, and his nails dug inside his skin. "No… I must cook them first."

Those words were like a magic spell, bringing some of Leon's sanity back. With his eyes no longer clouded with hunger and thirst, Leon left the first trails in the third test, going forward.

His awareness seemed to expand the more wary and sane he became, and keeping his hunger in check, Leon slowly blended his senses with the environment. In this forest, it was easier for him to sense any change in the environment. No wind whistled, too, which greatly helped him.

Staying true to the proven way — moving forward — Leon slowly distanced himself from the doors, which was not as easy as it sounded. First, branches severely slowed him down. Leon cursed at every branch which splintered under his shoes, for he believed he'd exposed his location.

He wanted to be a predator in this challenge!

Secondly, anything could come from behind the trees and bushes, right? Fortunately, Leon's eyes were used to moving back and forth from all his years of being a pro player. Leon also had to rely on his guts and instincts in his career.

Those alerted him now, even though he hadn't seen or heard anyone.

Halting his steps, Leon trained his eyes on the tree far away from himself. It was ahead and on his left, thick and tall, seemingly like a good spot to hide to surprise someone.

Leon balled his fists and steered to the side, creeping toward that tree. He grew tense, his heart drumming loudly, and his stomach became like a black hole, not letting out any sounds. It patiently waited for Leon to get some food.

At last, Leon was close to surprising whatever was behind the tree, but then, as though knowing about him creeping from the start, a black snake shot like a rocket from the side, his jaw wide, revealing sharp and elongated teeth. He was fast and precise, aiming for Leon's neck.

But that uncomfortable feeling once again spread and alerted Leon of the snake's target, giving him sufficient information. Jumping to the side, Leon promptly reacted and avoided the snake's first attempt to bite him. Close to his first enemy, Leon extended his foot forward, pressing his whole weight on the snake's body.

While the monster hissed in pain, Leon grabbed the long, slippery body to split it apart. He began tearing the darkness, his fingers sinking easily through the dark element. And when Leon discovered that it was just darkness, nothing more, his hunger turned his stomach into hell.He went furious and tore off the monster instantly, not giving him a chance to return and attack for the second time. The beast turned into black particles, which swirled like escaping shadow.

Leon's eyes flashed with a message.

[You have killed Lv. 1 Darkness Snake.]

[You've gained 5 EXP.]

"So… Nine more and I'll level up…" Leon stood up, his stomach grumbling like a small beast.

It'd notify all beasts in the vicinity, but Leon didn't seem to care about it. He believed the test didn't want him to satiate his hunger and that it would last until the end. However, Leon wasn't muddled enough to lose all his sanity, and he hoped that leveling up would cleanse his hunger.

It was a common concept in games, wasn't it?

Thus, with such a belief in mind, Leon continued his path ahead. Many snakes hurtled at him, and he fought them all head-on, grasping and squeezing them to death, sometimes suffering health points losses because of such a brazen way of fighting. But as he had one thousand of them, and those snakes bit at most twenty health points, Leon didn't particularly care about them.

[You have killed Lv. 1 Darkness Snake.]

[You've gained 5 EXP.]

[You've leveled up.]

Upon leveling up, Leon felt a refreshing feeling going over him, similar to release during intercourse but not as good as a union of lovers. Still, it splendidly washed over him, rinsing away all exhaustion and hunger. Unfortunately, Leon's mouth was still dry, and he really wanted to chew on something.

[You can allocate 2 points to your stats.]

"I don't know what skill I'll get, so I ought to keep those points stacked." Leon hadn't felt any trouble so far in the tests, so he'd decided to hoard points for later.

pAn,Da n<0,>v,e1 He didn't know what kind of skill he'd get from the fifth room. If it was some magician skill, he would have some points wasted as he had been using his fists and kicks in those challenges. And now that he knew leveling up would help him with his hunger and stats, Leon was set on hunting around the black forest first and leveling up more.

He couldn't waste such a good leveling ground, could he?