“So… Let’s try to review what happened to me,” Glenn spoke aloud, arranging his memories.

  “First.” He frowned while adding a few sticks to the fire. “Why did I get transported to this world? Did I die?”

  That’s weird. I was in good health and in my bed until I woke up on that battlefield, so that excludes the truck-kun cliché. Unless a truck crashed into my house? Glenn laughed, shaking his head.

  “Tsk. What if the tacos and tequila did kill me…”

  Maybe my sister already found my body, dead from alcohol poisoning. What would she even write on my grave?

  Glenn chuckled a bit more before returning to silence. Laughing made him feel a little better.

  Only a little though.

  He rubbed his forehead, recalling any noteworthy events among his last actions on Earth. From what he remembered, it was quite a normal day.

  “Let’s see… I got up late in the morning due to the party the night before. I ate breakfast, then lunch about an hour later… After that, I went to uni where nothing happened like usual and came straight back home.”

  Inspecting one of the grilled mushrooms, his eyebrows creased. He hesitated for a second until he shrugged and bit into it.

  It was disgusting. No, actually, it just tasted like dirt. Rubber dirt.

  Glenn forced himself to swallow. He was going to need all the nutrients he could get if he wanted to stay alive.

  But he’d prefer something tastier.

  “Back home, I played around, ordered that taco… which that bastard took an hour and a half to deliver…” Glenn winced, realizing he couldn’t order food at his place ever again. Another loss he’d never recover from.

  “I ate the tacos, which tasted… Okay, I guess? Miles better than this shit anyway…” He gagged.

  “My night ended with that party and that last shot of tequila. Shit, maybe someone poisoned it?”

  Glenn seriously considered that option, but he remembered he somehow safely returned home to his comfortable mattress. And he was still alive well into the evening.

  Looking at the sky pensively, he thought about everything he’d miss. Graduation wasn’t far away, even though he didn’t work hard for it. His sister was going to participate in that national fencing competition… He’d never get to watch her compete.

  Damn, and I even got that girl’s number… I’ll never see her again either. Glenn peered into the flames.

  She was really pretty. What was her name? Ania, Onea… Uh, Olga? Whatever. It doesn’t matter anymore…

  Glenn sighed, throwing away a wet branch that couldn’t feed the fire. He truly was at a loss for how to feel. He wanted to cry, but yet, he was unable to.

  And now he was here, with cannibal ghouls, tentacle monsters—or whatever Father Albenas was—coexisting. There were two moons, and one of those was a blood moon. As if this world wasn’t ominous enough.

  “God damn it… I should have taken those sparring lessons…” Glenn regretted, thinking back to his sister’s insistence.

  Well, what’s done is done. There’s no use dwelling on the past.

  At least he got the thrills he wanted so much. A very, very gory journey so far, but an adventure still.

  He grabbed the rabbit skewer, pinching his nose before forcefully biting through the flesh. It didn’t taste good. Worse than the mushroom, actually. Is that because there’s no salt?

  The meat was tough and dry with stringy fibers and not a drop of juice. The cherry on top was the gamey taste, which was probably made worse by Glenn’s cooking. And let’s not talk about the charred bits.

  Glenn still ate every single scrap, pushing through his disgust. Nothing stopped him from grimacing badly at each bite, though.

  The sun wouldn’t rise anytime soon, so Glenn gave up his very small hope of seeing it. He’d have to traverse the mountain under the crimson moonlight.

  He stored the untouched grilled vegetables in his pocket to eat later. That’d make a snack just in case; he was taught to never waste anything.

  Glenn held his hands above the fire for a moment, enjoying the warmth as he tried to motivate himself to stand. He was going to need it. The higher he climbed, the colder it would get, after all.

  “Hopefully I’ll be able to find some settlement once I’m up there…” He sighed before shaking his head.

  Glenn watched the blood moon and its little, white sister, thinking.

  Is it always this bright? Living in red every night must be strange. Unless everyone is used to it. Then, I’m the strange one. Glenn chuckled.

  If there were moons, there had to be a central star, right? There wouldn’t be any moonlight without a sun, after all. Or suns.

  Unless the rules of reality were broken in this world? Then Glenn could not expect anything. Full unknown ahead.

  “How exciting,” he muttered in a deadpan tone, searching through the shadows of the forest for any threat before he departed. He picked a large branch and lit it on fire, waving it around to test the safety of the torch.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “It probably won’t last that long… Alright, let’s go then—”

  Howl!

  Glenn froze. The wind had died down at some point. But the wolves kept howling. And that howl was quite close.

  Too close.

  He hurriedly kicked the campfire into the river, extinguishing it before leaving. He was almost entirely dried by now, so that was one issue off the list.

  Howl! Howl!

  A bead of sweat dripped down Glenn’s back, sending a shiver through his whole body. There were many howls, which meant many wolves. A pack.

  Uh oh.

  He picked up his pace, checking his surroundings worriedly.

  When he finally spotted the mountain through the foliage, it was still a fifteen-minute jog away. Or a ten-minute run. Both worked, but the latter seemed more appropriate.

  A growl emerged from the bushes, giving the last push Glenn needed to bolt without looking back. Something panted and charged behind him. But he couldn’t pay it any mind.

  The growls intensified. That ‘something’ became two, then three ‘somethings’. Glenn clenched the torch tightly, aware that it might be his only lifeline against the fiends.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Glenn heaved, dodging trees and roots. The ground shifted rockier, and vegetation scarcer, signaling his destination was near.

  A flash of amber irises leered ahead, and Glenn suddenly stopped. He turned, finding yet another pair of eyes to the left and right. They were everywhere.

  The wolves stepped out of the shadows like embodiments of darkness, their pelts as black as the night.

  Five, six, seven… Oh, and that must be the Alpha. That makes eight. Eight fucking wolves.

  Glenn clutched his sword and torch tightly. He swung the flame, pushing the beasts back, except for the one that was particularly massive.

  It had a mean, white scar on its eye and gave him the scariest stare. This was his opponent. Well, every predator posed a threat, but the only one unafraid of fire was the Alpha.

  “Come on, fuck off!” Glenn spat as he lunged with the flame. The wolf jumped to safety, slowly circling him.

  Glenn glanced at the mountain. It wasn’t that far. He could make a run for it.

  He just needed a distraction. Glenn waved the torch as he carefully stepped towards the foothills. The rest of the beasts backed off as soon as the embers approached them, but the Alpha remained undeterred. It beat its tail against the soil and prepared to attack. Its incredibly large fangs were yellow and sharp enough to chew through any armor.

  The Alpha clacked his fangs. It lunged forwards with its maw wide open, trying to rip off his arm. Thankfully, he was prepared for such an eventuality. With precision that could defy the best baseball player, he threw the torch straight down the beast’s throat. The wolf whined as the flames singed its esophagus. The rest of the pack clamored around their wounded leader before concentrating back on Glenn.

  Sadly for them, he was already a dozen meters away, running as fast as he could.

  “Fuck, I can’t believe it worked!” He grunted and jumped over a collapsed tree.

  The wolves finally came to their senses, abandoning the burning Alpha and racing after Glenn.

  His eyes gleamed in relief as he arrived at the mountain’s foot. A dark purple mist rose from cracks in the soil, sending a shiver down his spine. That was nothing, however, compared to the sharp fangs of hungry predators.

  Without wasting a second, he dashed through the haze. There were natural stairs carved into the ridge, which Glenn used to climb.

  It seemed unlikely that stones would naturally carve themselves, so he accepted it as a man-made path. And man-made paths meant humans! If that wasn’t good news, he didn’t know what was.

  Once the wolves reached the mist, they abruptly stopped in front of it. Glenn turned back, heaving raggedly as he watched them. The canines glared at him and growled before returning to the forest. Breathing in and out, he was unable to emote. Then…

  “Fuck yeah! Haha!” Glenn laughed, collapsing on the stairs. That was a risky bet, and he won.

  “Phew, haha… That was crazy.” He wiped the sweat off his forehead.

  Now, he felt safer. On the clear, rocky slope, he could see more of his surroundings—as much as the red moonlight allowed anyway. He’d see any threats coming.

  Glenn gave himself a few minutes of rest before sheathing his sword and looking up at the mountain peak. It was high, but not that high. There were no trees or bushes—just moss alongside the river. A colossal chunk of gray stone blocked his view.

  “Alright, then. Let’s get this over with already.”

  ***

  The wind whistled gently as Glenn slept in a hammock, an open book resting on his face. His body rocked in the breeze.

  “Glenn! Miller!” an older woman’s voice roared.

  The young man didn’t react, far too deep in sleep. Angry steps trotted towards him, and a pale hand grabbed the book away, letting rays of light assault his face. Glenn grimaced, lazily shielding his eyes. Who dared to wake him from such a nice dream?

  “I can’t believe it. Your exam is in three weeks. And here you are, lazing around!” The lady yelled, clearly animated by evil intentions. Glenn simply plugged his ears to continue his comfortable sleep.

  Doing this angered the assailant, and the hammock suddenly inverted. He crashed to the ground, stirring awake. After grunting painfully, he yawned and then stretched as if nothing had happened.

  “What are you worried about, ma’? It’s just a test. I don’t understand what you’re getting on my case about.” He asked, half with confusion and half with mockery.

  His mother sighed loudly. She was in her mid-forties but still very beautiful. Her hair arrived at her shoulders, the same brown shade as Glenn’s. She looked at him with a mix of anger and worry. Hands on her waist, she seemed helpless to decide whether she should beat some sense into her son or give up the fight.

  Glenn preferred the second option, of course.

  “I leave for five minutes, hoping you’d focus on your lessons, and yet…” She shook her head. “Here you are, sleeping. What am I going to do with you?”

  Glenn shrugged and took the book from his mother’s hand.

  “I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that…” He glanced at the author’s name. “…That reading Jankélévitch isn’t helping me, ma’.”

  He chuckled, smiling brightly at his mom. She gazed at the horizon before gesturing at the house behind her.

  “Come on, let’s get inside.”

  ***

  Glenn stopped and leaned on the rock wall, one hand calming his chest. His heart beat madly. He had to admit, his stamina wasn’t the best. Thankfully, the climbing classes were showing their worth as the mountain’s stairs grew increasingly steeper.

  On a positive note, there was no hint of wind on the higher slopes, not even a breeze. Glenn had expected it to be much colder, but no. As a matter of fact, it was warmer.

  What kind of fuckery is going on? He had no idea, but that certainly made the ascension more pleasant.

  Gasp… Gasp… His calves burned, and his lungs desperately asked for a break.

  With one last ditch effort, he pushed forwards and arrived at the peak. The top was flat, as if a giant had cut it with a knife to create a plateau.

  “Gasp… Fuck… Phew…” Glenn wiped the sweat off his eyebrows and leaned against the smooth stone.

  “Phew… I’m exhausted…” He muttered before pushing himself up and examining his surroundings.

  The peak had to be man-made. It was completely level—as if he had climbed onto a pedestal. Who bulldozed this, and for what purpose?

  Glenn had no idea.