WHUSH!

William hurriedly moved his body, barely dodging the attack from the snake.

He could hear the hissing sound of the creature as it slithered past his head, its slimy rough skin nearly grazing him. It was a close call, and he almost stumbled as he swiftly created distance between himself and the reptile.

‘That’s… a Green Anaconda!’

On Earth, it was considered the largest snake in the world, able to reach the length of nine meters and 550 pounds; an insane feat for a snake. The one in front of William was barely five meters, and it was definitely leaner than a grown Green Anaconda, but it still looked utterly frightening.

‘Damn… that was too close.’ He huffed slightly. ‘If I didn’t detect it ahead of time, it would have likely swallowed my head, or more of me.’

At that point, it would have been game over.

‘I underestimated this Stage. I assumed I’d be safe since I would be far away from other Players, failing to consider that they aren’t my only enemies in this Stage.’ Will admitted to his mistake, keeping his eyes on the snake as he calmed himself with deep breaths.

In no time at all, his racing heart returned to normal and his mind became focused.

‘There’s no need to panic. Even if I get injured or die, that just means I have failed the game and I will be sent back to Earth with no memories of this place…’ He remembered the words of Administrator M. ‘I want to see Kevin again, or at least confirm his well-being, which means I don’t want to lose… but even if I lose, I won’t die.’

Doubt gnawed at him as he had this thought.

What if Administrator M was lying about the fatality of the Tutorial? What if dying here actually meant true death? What if he was an exception to the rules, hence he would not return to Earth if he died, unlike other participants?

So many other thoughts akin to these swirled around in his mind, but there were all swiftly dispelled by one thing.

‘[Check].’

In his heart, Will knew that he was in no danger at all.

As a result, despite the surrounding situations and uncertainties that he experienced, he remained calm. Despite a bloodthirsty anaconda eyeing him with hungry eyes, he did not falter or show any sign of fear.

He was perfectly still… crouching slightly in a defensive stance as both hands swayed around.

‘If I had a weapon, I could use it to slice its throat or stab it from the side once it got close, but I have nothing of the sort.’ His thoughts flowed calmly through his clear mind. ‘Which means the only other choice I have is constriction.’

Will considered fleeing, but what good would that do?

The Green Anaconda looked hungry, and he had no idea of the topography of this forest. He could easily get lost, fall for traps, or run into other predators.

Worse still, he could run into other Players.

‘I need to avoid those possibilities and deal with the situation as quickly as possible. Fortunately, it seems the Anaconda is actually wary of me, and thanks to [Check], I can somewhat predict its pattern of movement.’

Thanks to these factors, the latter especially, Will was confident in his ability to win.

‘Steady… steady…’ He moved to the side, almost like a crab, with both hands spread apart, as if waiting for a hug.

Then—

‘Now!’

WHUSH!

Like a bolt of lightning, or the sudden rush of water from a geyser, the snake rushed towards Will.

Fortunately, he was expecting it.

In an instant, he dodged the attack and swiftly wrapped his arm around the reptile’s neck, both of them crashing backward. However, Will had already predicted this would happen, which was why he specifically chose to stand right in front of a rather sturdy tree.

Thanks to this, he was able to hit the snake’s head on the thick bark of the tree.

“HISSSSSSS!!!”

Will ignored the creature’s hiss of pain and tightened his hold on the slithering creature.

It wasn’t very thick, so he could tightly squeeze its throat without much difficulty—though the way it wiggled made the act more difficult than he wanted.

‘It’s a good thing I made it hit its head on that tree, stunning it, and ensuring that it can only muster weak resistance.’ He gritted his teeth and tightened his hold on the snake. ‘I can only imagine how strong it would be with full resistance.’

Will wasn’t particularly frail or weak, as he had a well-toned and muscular body. However, he couldn’t call himself athletic, or incredibly strong by any means.

As a result, dealing with something like a Green Anaconda for the first time was quite tasking on him.

However…

BAM!

Will shifted backwards, hitting the snake’s head on the tree again.

BAM!

BAM!!

BAM!!!

After a series of hits and loud hisses, he was able to successfully asphyxiate the weakened snake, and after a few more hits, he confirmed it was dead.

‘Should I squeeze tighter and hit it one more time? Just to be safe?’

As Will wondered this, panting heavily, his body already aching from the sudden stress he put it through, he saw a panel appear in front of him.

[System Notice]

You have defeated Middle-Rank Green Anaconda (Lvl 1)

~You have Leveled Up!~

“Haaaaa… good.” He whispered, slumping to his knees as he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

It was a grueling task, one he thought would never end, but he actually pulled it off—leveling up in the process.

“System.”

Will called, looking at his Stats with a smile.

[STATUS WINDOW]

- Name: William (Lvl: 2)

- Class: King

- Integrity: 2

- Physique: 2

- Aptitude: 2

- S Points: 0

- Privileges: NIL

[Skill Information]

1. Check

{Locked}

[End Of Information]

“This is good… it’s progress, at least.”

Despite saying this, William felt some kind of dissatisfaction in his heart; something almost akin to disappointment in himself. Slowly, the overflowing feeling of relief was tainted with a sense of inadequacy.

‘I’m really weak.’ He told himself. ‘I almost died just now.’

This realization woke him up, allowing him to properly face the reality that he now lived in.

‘I can’t afford to be careless again. That means being more wary of everything around me and also taking every little detail into account.’

Anything that his [Check] did not discern for him would have to be taken into account.

‘Which means I can’t assume that I’m safe here.’

Will raised his head, his eyes transfixed on the very sturdy tree that helped him kill the Green Anaconda. It was very tall—the tallest one around by his observation.

‘I need to get a good grasp of the topography, which means I need to get a good look around.’

That meant he had to climb the tree.

*******

[Moments Later]

“Huu…”

Now at the top of the tree, his body desperately clinging to the dry bark like a koala, Will took a good look around him.

All he saw—for miles, at least—was a sea of trees.

‘What a large place.’ He marveled. ‘This whole place is just for Stage 1? Interesting….’

He remained at the top for a while, getting a good grasp of his bearing and ensuring to take note of certain trees that seemed taller or stranger than the others. He could also see huge bodies of earth surrounding the entire forest—almost like it was within a valley.

‘I can see a river nearby, and is that… a cave? They’re both close and worth checking out.’

He tried looking further, but his vision failed him. There was only so far he could look, so after taking a good account of the details in his nearby vicinity, he decided to get down.

However, right as he was about to, he heard a sound.

This was different from what he heard before. It wasn’t the sound of leaves rustling, or the movement of an animal.

No, this was…

“S-someone! Someone help meee!!!”

… A human’s scream!