I took my first cautious steps out of the cave tunnel, my old runners sinking slightly in the soft loamy earth with every step. With each step, I relaxed a hair as the tension that had been building in me slowly released its grip. I couldn't help but wait for something to attack me; my luck so far had been less than stellar in new places. At the same time, there was an edge of disappointment. Something had ignited the fire within me, fueling my desire to grow stronger and survive against all odds. That would require more levels, which would almost certainly require killing monsters. The thought of killing monsters elicited an odd feeling mixed between apprehension, terror, and a fierce hunger. The edges of panic and shock that had been creeping through my mind previously were nowhere to be found, which was strange. I didn't want to examine the strange calm that had fallen over me too closely; I wouldn't be looking this gift horse in the mouth.

  I crept into the jungle, crouched low, my head swiveling from side to side. As I made my way past the edge of the vine-strewn tree, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end, and my skin crawled at the sensation. It felt like something was watching me, like its eyes were drilling holes in the back of my head, or more likely, my actual back, where all the tasty organs were hidden behind my ribs and spine.

  I made my way deeper into the jungle, but the feeling wasn't going away; if anything, it had gotten stronger as I weaved between the trees as stealthily as I could manage. Every step felt wrong, like something was just a bit off. Instead of ignoring it, I chose to listen to my gut instinct. I turned and bolted off through the trees at a ninety-degree angle to the path I'd previously been taking. A hiss of frustration ripped through the air from somewhere behind me, and I whirled to face the source of the sound. The sight that greeted me was the single largest snake I had ever seen before outside of a fictional setting. The damn thing looked like it was between fifteen and twenty feet long, covered in a mix of blue and black scales that held a haunting similarity to the flickering vines that covered the jungle. The icy blue eyes of the massive reptile stared at me as if trying to penetrate my very soul. In that moment, I knew, somehow, this monstrous snake wouldn't just let me leave. One of us was going to die here.

  Adrenaline flooded my veins as I stared back at the deadly serpent while its tongue flicked out, tasting the air. I cast around looking for something I could use as a weapon, anything was better than nothing, which was what I had right now. The moment I took my eyes off the snake, it struck. The serpent was like a blue and black bolt of lightning as it lunged, stretching its whole length to launch itself towards me through the air. Its maw opened wide, fangs dropped, and it was ready to deliver what was likely a very fatal dose of venom. There was no thought, no planning, just instinct screaming through my blood, and my body obeyed. Without conscious thought, I found myself rolling to the side as the blue-black blur shot harmlessly overhead.

  I was still boggling at how fast the damn thing was. It was damn near twenty feet long and as thick as my leg. How did something that size launch itself through the air like that? It shouldn't be possible. My gaze fell on a good-sized rock that was shaped somewhat like a triangle. I scrambled towards it, snatching up the stone as soon as my hand made contact with its smooth surface. Once again, my instincts screamed at me as I raised my gaze from the ground. This time, they didn't scream to escape.

  They screamed Fight.

  I torqued my upper body around faster than I ever had before that moment, my left foot sliding back along the loamy ground of the jungle floor, taking me neatly out of the path of the snake's newest lunge. The rock in my hand sailed around, powered by all the muscle in my upper body; it was like the head of a mace descending upon the skull of its unfortunate victim. The shock of impact vibrated up my arm, making my hand ache in particular as the rock made contact with the back of the snake's head, hurling it down into the ground.

  I dove for the snake with my rock held high, determined to end the threat as quickly as I could. Pinning the snake down with one arm, I brought the rock down on the back of its head. I raised the stone again, and again it fell, again and again until the snake's head was a pulpy mess on the floor of the jungle. I fell back on my hind end, staring at the bloody rock in my hand, breathing heavily. Thoughts whirled through my mind like a dervish as I stared at the crimson liquid covering the smooth stone.

  I'd killed that snake, me.

  A small part of me wanted to be repulsed at what I'd done, the part that had internalized some of the values of polite society. The greater part of me understood that this was nature at its most primal. It was the primal edict that for any one thing to live, another must die. Predators ate prey, the prey ate plants, and so went the circle of life. This was no different. As my thoughts began to settle, I had to admit to myself that some deep part of me felt like it was grinning savagely at the thought of being the superior predator today.

  I stared at the screen in front of me with a mixture of wonder and irritation. It was like my fantasy of growing stronger in this weird place had just cracked like a pane of glass and was just a hair away from shattering entirely. Then another screen overlapped the first. This one brought better news with it.

  I grinned; it seemed my desire to grow here wasn't dead after all. I quickly checked my status to find that I'd gained a single point in every attribute. The gears in my head immediately started spinning as the gamer in me began to theorize how this might affect my class and other things later. Having an even base of stats could be good or bad, depending on the scenario. For now, at least, I figured it would help me more than it would hinder. For now, I needed every advantage I could get, and a combination of brute force and survivability would likely serve me better than anything else, since I wasn't exactly what you would call a skilled fighter. I had never been; I'd always been more of a brawler who survived on sheer tenacity and a mean right hook.

  I dumped two of my free points into strength and the other into endurance. I grinned again when I watched the numbers tick up.

  Number go up, number go up make brain feel good.

  There was no sense in hanging onto my free points for a rainy day when I needed every advantage I could get to survive right now. A crawling sensation wracked my body, and I found myself shivering as I sat on the jungle floor. For several moments, the sensation intensified until it felt like there were bugs crawling under my skin, and then just as suddenly, the sensation vanished. I ran my hands over my body trying to assess myself for damage; maybe some of the snake's venom had gotten on me when I'd been reducing its head to mush, and that caused the strange sensation.

  Instead, I found that I'd lost a significant amount of weight in a matter of moments as I investigated my body. I shot to my feet, grinning. I'd always been what you would call hefty; no matter what I tried or how much I worked out, I'd always struggled with my weight. In a handful of seconds, I'd seemingly dropped something like sixty pounds. I felt lighter, and the gut that had been hanging from my abdomen had been reduced significantly in seconds.

  "Well, shit, I think stat points might just be the greatest weight loss drug ever." I paused for a moment and shuddered at the memory of the crawling sensation. "Even if it is the fucking weirdest feeling ever."

  I shook myself and refocused, my eyes roaming my surroundings, eventually falling on the corpse of the snake. A thought crept through my mind, a thought that seemed insane on the face of it. Then again, everything was kind of insane at the moment.

  "What are the chances I can loot this big bastard?" I muttered to myself as I leaned down to touch the corpse of the massive snake.

  I wanted to shout for joy when the screen opened in front of me; the gamer in me was practically frothing at the mouth to see what loot the big snake had to offer. I mentally jammed the yes button, and the screen disappeared. I looked around for my loot, but it was nowhere to be seen. A second later, pain flared in the top of my head, and I hissed, rolling to the side, looking around wildly until my eyes landed on the hilt of a dagger sticking up out of the ground. Note to self, step away after looting unless you want a free concussion with your loot. Two for one special. I walked over to the dagger and picked it up. It was an interesting design, minimal, but interesting. Its off white colour seemed almost like carved bone, though the blade yellowed somewhat following the wicked curve up to a very lethal-looking point. The snake skin-like wrapping of the handle felt good in my hand; the black and blue patterning was reminiscent of the beast it came from. Just as I wondered if the weapon would have stats that I could see, a screen popped up in front of the dagger I held in my hand.

  That would certainly be helpful. Best case scenario, I could stab something with my shiny new knife and just let the poison do its work; worst case, it was just some extra damage. It worked for me either way, and I wasn't about to turn my nose up at any advantage I could get, no matter how small.

  While I was examining my new blade, something else of interest had occurred. While I'd been examining the weapon, the corpse of the snake had been going through what almost looked like an extremely rapid process of decay. The corpse at my feet seemed to be emitting some sort of haze, almost like the heat haze that hung over blacktop roads on a hot summer day. In a matter of moments, the corpse had disappeared completely, taking the haze with it.

  "Guess that means I won't have to worry about body disposal," I muttered, staring at the spot where the corpse had been only moments ago. "Though that does bring up the question of food..." After a moment, I shrugged to myself.

  Burn that bridge when I get to it, for all I know, I don't actually need to eat here. Magical fuckery makes it hard to know what's what.