Free Web NovelChapter 3: The Cost of Survival
Yuki kept running until his lungs burned, only stopping when he could no longer sense or hear the heavy thudding of the Snow Drake behind them.
"It’s gone," he panted, letting out a heavy, ragged breath as he leaned against a snow-covered boulder. He set the floating entity down.
"Okay. Now talk. What the hell is happening to me?"
"You need blood. Specifically, essence-rich blood, since your race is a Pureblood Vampire," the System explained.
"A Pureblood?" Yuki blinked, gesturing vaguely to his lower back. "Is that the reason why I have a tail?"
"Yes. And it’s also the exact reason why you keep passing out."
"Great. Fantastic," Yuki groaned. "Where am I supposed to get essence-rich blood? I don’t exactly want to pass out again and wake up in the middle of another kidnapping attempt."
"You can get essence-rich blood from literally any living creature that possesses a circulatory system," the System said casually.
Yuki stared at it blankly. "And how am I supposed to do that when everything I see is trying to kill me?! Seriously, why is this entire continent so deadly?"
"For your information, this was the safest possible zone I could drop you into."
"This place is the safest?!" Yuki threw his hands up in disbelief. "No wonder a Demon King doesn’t exist! They’d all be dead before they could even finish their character customization!"
"Oh, shut up and stop complaining!" the System snapped, completely losing its temper. Its digital aura flared a violent, erratic red. "Did you think this was going to be some sort of casual cake walk?! Well, news flash, pretty boy, it’s not! So instead of crying about it, go out there and hunt something, you useless brat!"
Yuki froze, completely stunned by the System’s sudden outburst. This wasn’t what he had signed up for at all. But as he looked down at his trembling, pale hands, reality finally started to sink in. Whether he liked it or not, this was his new life, and complaining wasn’t going to change his current, frozen circumstances.
"Tch." Yuki turned away from the hovering ball of fluff and started walking.
’I can’t believe this,’ Yuki muttered internally, his irritation mounting. ’Not only did they drop me into the world without letting my body adjust to its full strength, but they gave me nothing but a thin, simple dress to wear. In the middle of a snowy mountain. In a deadly forest! They completely ignored the basics of survival, no gear, no items, nothing!’
"What are you mumbling about over there?" the System asked, still sounding thoroughly annoyed.
Yuki didn’t bother answering. He simply wasn’t in the mood for its attitude anymore. Right now, his stomach was growling, his vision was getting a little blurry, and all he wanted was something to eat.
Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound of blood dripping onto the hard-packed snow echoed alongside Yuki’s raspy, ragged breathing.
"Huff... huff... huff... How many more of them are there? God, I can’t do this anymore," Yuki wheezed. His eyes wandered down, his vision blurring from the agonizing pain of a massive wolf bite tearing into his upper thigh.
"System, how many more are there? ...System?" He blinked, the fog in his mind clearing for a fraction of a second. "Oh, right. It’s gone." He had dropped it somewhere during the chaos.
"Grrr..."
The final snow wolf stepped closer, its icy breath fogging in the air as it growled at Yuki, slowly circling its prey.
"Just you left, huh?" Yuki spat, wiping a mixture of sweat and blood from his forehead. "Then come at me!"
Hearing the challenge, the wolf dashed forward. It lunged, bringing a massive, razor-sharp claw down to strike Yuki. But Yuki’s instincts reacted first. His slender tail lashed out like a whip, slicing cleanly across the wolf’s attacking paw and forcing the beast to wince back in pain.
Numbed by the adrenaline, Yuki seized the opening and moved in for a finishing blow. His hand swept forward, his claws slicing a deep arc across the animal’s eyes, blinding it instantly.
But Yuki wasn’t fast enough on the retreat.
CHOMP.
The wolf’s powerful jaws clamped down on his left arm. Instantly, its teeth dug deep into Yuki’s flesh, causing thick, dark blood to spray outward, painting the pristine snow a vibrant, violent scarlet. The wolf began to thrash wildly, ripping and tearing more of his tender skin apart.
"Nngghaaah! God, this hurts so fucking much!" Yuki shrieked. But even through the blinding agony, he recognized a golden opportunity he couldn’t afford to waste.
Using his tail, Yuki whipped it around the wolf’s snout, binding the jaws and clamping them shut around his own trapped arm. Sensing the sudden trap, the wolf tried to let go and retreat, but it couldn’t break the tail’s grip.
Desperate, the beast began using its remaining paws to violently claw at Yuki’s torso.
Yuki didn’t give it the chance. Straightening his right fingers into a lethal spear, he drove his clawed hand deep into the wolf’s neck, aiming straight for the windpipe and the jugular.
Stab. Stab. Stab.
"Just die already!" Yuki screamed angrily, his voice cracking as he felt the bones in his left arm grinding into useless, torn mush.
Over and over, without missing a single beat, he drove his claws into the wolf’s throat until the beast’s thrashing finally slowed, and its heavy body went completely limp.
"Huff... huff..."
"It’s... it’s finally over. Agh, shit, it hurts like hell!"
Yuki unwrapped his tail from around the wolf’s snout. He pried the dead animal’s jaws open and pulled his arm free—or rather, the mangled piece of shredded flesh that used to be his arm. He stared at it, his expression a mix of horror and cold calculation.
"That’s not good... Best to just cut it off and let it grow back."
Since he had put 100% of his points into survivability, regenerating a limb was entirely possible, but the process to get there was going to be a nightmare. Yuki took a deep breath and held it, wrapping his tail tightly around the top of his shoulder to cut off the blood circulation.
’I can’t believe I’m actually about to do this,’ he screamed internally.
Bracing himself for the absolute worst, Yuki dug his own right claws into his shoulder joint and began the grueling, agonizing process of sawing his own arm off.
