"Run, Ethan, run!" System shouted loudly in his mind.
"Shut up, idiot! Do you think I am The Flash? And what do you think I am doing? Keep your voice down a little. Do you want to kill me before those monsters do?" Ethan shouted back, but still kept running as if his life depended on it.
"I should have never listened to this idiot. Now because of him, monsters are chasing me," Ethan sighed.
Two hours before, when he left the cave to hunt, everything went according to their expectations. But after coming around a tree filled with fruits...
At first, Ethan thought it was just a normal fruit, but the system informed him that it's a treasure. It can be used in medicinal pills or eaten like a simple fruit, providing benefits like body cleansing.
"With every cleansing, the body's stats will increase dramatically." Knowing this, how could Ethan let it go? But due to his cautious nature, Ethan still confirmed with the system.
" there will be no danger, right?"
"Don't worry, you are very lucky. You just came and found a treasure. It belongs to you, so take it. This is just a low-level medicinal ingredient. Nothing dangerous will happen." The system was so sure that Ethan gained confidence and started collecting all the fruit on the tree and putting them into his inventory.
But who knew, just as he picked the last fruit, the forest all around him became silent. Ethan stopped and looked around.
"Do you feel something?" Ethan asked.
"No, I don't feel anything," the system replied.
"That's the problem. Just now, I felt the forest went quiet." Ethan said while looking around cautiously.
"You think too much. Just finish with it and we can go monster hunting."
As Ethan started picking the fruit, a swoosh sound came from behind him. Ethan suddenly fell from the tree to protect himself, but the tree got destroyed in half and the remaining fruit with it.
Looking around for the culprit, Ethan found a leopard with a horn; its body was black and looked quite menacing.
Ethan didn't feel any fear, but then a second one came and stood beside the first one. Ethan was surprised but still felt he could defeat them both. However, to Ethan's surprise, more monsters appeared, and in just five seconds, a total of ten monsters surrounded him.
Ethan's legs started to tremble, and he cursed the system for getting him into this situation.
"I know all of you understand me. I was just picking the fruits to give you all as a gift. It must be quite hard for you to climb the tree, right?" Ethan spoke, trying his luck once again. But only growls came in reply.
"Hey, idiot, what should I do now?"
"Why are you asking me? I don't have a body to help you kill them. Why don't you just run?"
"Wow, what a great idea. I didn't even think of that," Ethan said sarcastically.
Ethan took a step back to check their reaction, but they still didn't move. So he took another one. Seeing them stand like statues, Ethan gained a little courage and started moving back while still facing the monsters.
After going a little further, Ethan suddenly turned around and increased his speed. The system kept shouting in his head.
But suddenly, he heard the sound of monsters behind him. He knew they were stronger than him, but he didn't turn around and started firing arrows behind him just to slow them down. He didn't even know which direction he was running.
After what felt like a lifetime, Ethan reached a clearing without trees. In the middle was a small pond with clear crystal water.
Seeing that the monsters were not following him, Ethan relaxed and started drinking from the pond.
But he didn't know there was a person standing silently behind him, watching him quench his thirst. When Ethan finished and turned around, seeing the person behind him startled him so much that he fell into the pond with a splash.
Ethan hurriedly got out of the pond and took some distance from the person.
Surprisingly, the person was a beautiful girl in her mid-twenties. Her hair was golden and shining like a star in the sky. Her face was perfect, and her body aligned perfectly with her face. She looked like a goddess. Ethan forgot for a moment where he was and kept looking at her.
*Cough.* Suddenly, the girl coughed and brought Ethan back to reality.
Though embarrassed, he remained alert. Seeing that she wasn't speaking, Ethan asked, "Who are you?"
I don't know what she thought, but suddenly she blushed, making Ethan very confused. Then she replied, "My name is Elaina, and... I am your future wife." Though she finished her words while stuttering, it left both Ethan and the system dumbfounded.
Ethan just kept looking at Elaina quietly, as if his soul had flown out of his body. After a moment of silence, the girl spoke again.
"Why are you silent? Say something."
Ethan didn't know what to say. Is this girl a psycho or something? Ethan started to get even more scared.
Without saying anything, he started running in the direction he had come from. Then the system suddenly said, "Ethan, run as far as you can. This girl's danger level is quite high."
"And how did you find that out?"
"She said she is your wife. Trust me, there is nothing more dangerous than a wife in this world." Hearing this, Ethan was dumbfounded again.
"What nonsense are you talking about? My life is in danger, and here you are making fun of me." The system became a little sad as it whispered, "But I was serious." Ethan chose to remain silent and started thinking about a way out of this predicament himself.