''What?!'' A shout echoed in the forest. The shout came from a young man, around 17s or 18s, with brown hair and Chain Armor covering his body.
His face was pale as he looked at the descriptions of the notifications.
''My avatar will be connected with my real-world body?! This is madness— this must be a joke.'' He scratched his head anxiously and came to the conclusion, ''T-That's right, there is no way it is so advanced, i-it must be a bluff!''
He nodded like he knew exactly what he was talking about.
He was currently standing in the middle of a small area, which was void of any trees, which also meant that he didn't have a lot of cover.
A dozen meters away, there were few trees, but it could hardly be called as cover.
''Right, I need to go hide.'' The young man made up his mind and then remembered to reload his weapon, which was an ordinary Flintlock Pistol.
''Interface.'' He said aloud and waited for the holographic screen to pop up, but instead, a different kind of notification did.
*Beep*
[Interface has been closed!]
The young man blinked dumbly and then remembered…
''N-No!'' He screamed with disbelief, ''Interface!'' He screamed this time.
*Beep*
[Interface has been closed!]
''No!'' The young man couldn't believe it and looked inside Flintlock Pistol's chamber.
It was empty…
He forgot that he used Inventory as storing place for his bullets, and he completely forgot that he needed to open Interface to access it.
''I am so dead!'' He screamed and fell down on his knees, ''This was my chance… Chance to become famous, fuck!''
He completely stopped caring if anyone heard him and started throwing a tantrum.
His screams of rage and frustration echoed far away.
A minute later.
''Ah… Wait…'' After getting back his composure, he remembered that there was a way to get bullets.
By stealing them from other Players!
''Yes!'' The young man cheered and stood up, ''I am so smar—''
*BANG!*
A bullet pierced through the young man's skull, killing him instantly.
His body didn't turn into pixels, instead stayed on the snowy ground.
Soon, a dark-cloaked figure came and looked at the young man's corpse.
''He had nothing?'' He thought aloud at first but then saw the Flintlock Pistol, ''Hmph, poor.'' The dark-cloaked figure left instantly the exposed place, feeling very annoyed that he didn't find what he was looking for.
Food!
…
A white-haired youth was slowly moving between trees, making sure that he had cover at all times.
He hadn't met anyone so far and knew that it was only a matter of time before he had to either kill someone or die trying.
He had been on the move for around half an hour and was skeptical whether this forest had any caves and had thoughts about going to the mountains.
But soon, he received his answer about whether he should go or not.
In the distance, behind the trees, was a small mountain, not taller than 20 meters.
A thick layer of snow covered it, and ice was forming around the surface.
But, he wasn't concentrating on the mountain itself, instead on the small snow pile behind the trees.
There were few gaps on the snow, which were soon covered after another layer of snow was piled on top.
But, he managed to get a glimpse of something behind the snow pile. It wasn't a mountain wall, instead something else.
Isaac became curious and walked slowly, dodging the twigs on the ground and went past the trees.
Soon, he reached the snow pile that was specially gathered on this specific spot.
He touched the snow pile with his bare hand and stuck it inside. Soon, his whole arm was covered in the snow, but then he felt his fingertips exiting the snow pale and didn't feel anything obstructing a path.
He didn't feel the mountain wall or anything that could be stopping him from entering the interior of the mountain.
Without caring, he used his body and walked through the snow pile, which made him covered in snow.
The first thing he saw was a dark place with rocky walls. Isaac was relieved that he actually managed to find a cave, but after looking around the surroundings, it wasn't exactly perfect for hiding.
He doesn't think it would be difficult to find the cave he was in, especially with the snow pile gone.
But still, he decided to camp here for the time being.
Isaac first made sure that there wasn't anything unexpected inside the cave.
The end of the cave wasn't that far away from the entrance, but Isaac found something that would help him after all.
If a Player walks straight for 10 meters from the entrance, there will be a wall blocking the path, and it looks like the end of the cave at first.
But, without walking straight and instead of turning right on the 8-meter mark, there was another 10 meters of walking ahead.
The cave's interior was shaped like L-letter, giving Isaac an idea.
If he hides at the end of the right turn, he would be much more safer.
And, he knew precisely a way to keep him even safer.
Isaac left the cave and looked around carefull.
After ensuring that no one was around.
He ran past the trees and appeared in the area, where over a dozen twigs and sticks was located.
He grabbed them all and carried them all the way to the cave.
He planned to use half of the twigs and sticks to light a campfire, but the rest will be used as an alarm.
Isaac crouched in front of the entrance and littered the ground with twigs. If someone enters the cave without permission, they won't see the twigs that are covered in darkness and will step on them, which will make a loud enough noise for Isaac to react.
Once he was satisfied with twig placements, he went back to the end of the cave and made a small campfire, but he didn't light it up.
He has to go fetch his food and the items he left behind.
Isaac feels much safer inside the cave, but he will be in a big problem without food.