C7 Wolf

Lee Cha swiftly scaled the treetop, peering through the leafy gaps at the undulating waves of green that stretched to the horizon. The view was breathtaking, yet his thoughts were elsewhere.

Some three or four kilometers away, the wind stirred, causing the treetops to sway and a flock of unidentifiable birds to take flight with a flutter.

Whoosh! It must have been the wind whistling through some unique landform that produced that eerie sound earlier.

It was akin to the ghostly moans he'd heard at night in his rental—nothing more than auditory hallucinations.

He reassured himself repeatedly.

A few seconds later, a wail!

Another roar echoed through the air.

Lee Cha's footing gave way, nearly sending him tumbling from the tree.

A chill wind swept by, sending him into a quivering frenzy, driven not by cold but by fear.

That sound—it was like a tiger's roar! Could it be a tiger-like Mutant beast?

He inhaled sharply.

"System, what kind of world is this?"

Please explore by yourself.

"Are there any Mutant beasts here?"

Please explore by yourself.

Lee Cha gritted his teeth in frustration.

This damn thing...

Alone in the wild, with no soul in sight, the dense, dark forest loomed ominously, oppressive and foreboding.

What could be more frightening than the prospect of facing a Mutant beast?

The sound was rich and powerful, resonating with a peculiar sonority.

The roar of a tiger scatters all creatures in the forest—a primal knowledge etched into their genes by the ancients.

If it indeed was a tiger-like Mutant beast...

Lee Cha clambered down from the tree in a mix of jumps and slides, donning his still-damp jacket and shoes with unprecedented haste. He snuffed out the campfire and meticulously covered it with soil using branches.

Having done all this, he bolted in the direction opposite to where the roar had originated. But after a few paces, he doubled back, snatching up the wooden box and the sharpened fish spear he had fashioned.

What should I do? What should I do? The questions raced through his mind as he ran, and just then, a gust of wind hit him head-on.

His face fell—the wind had shifted.

No good. He recalled from his readings that tiger-like Mutant beasts had keen noses. It would surely catch the scent of the roasted fish, and then my scent, and track me down.

How could two legs ever outrun four?

Despite taking the Primary Cell Repair Fluid, he hadn't developed any special Abilities; he just felt somewhat stronger than before.

His thoughts raced as he dashed toward the creek, knowing the flowing water would mask his scent.

In an instant, his right foot plunged into the cold stream. It was wider than he anticipated, and he found himself stepping onto the far side, but there was no time to worry—he had to keep running.

He ran until his legs gave out, then stopped, gasping for air, hands braced on his knees, calves quivering.

His jacket and jeans were torn from the branches and thorns along the path, but thankfully, his thick winter clothes protected him from any cuts.

The forest's terrain was treacherous, and he hadn't made it very far.

After a brief rest, feeling a bit of his strength return, he prepared to set off again. But just then, a rustling noise came from behind.

Damn it! How did it catch up so quickly?

His eyes bulged with fear as he forced his weary legs into a sprint, cursing his luck for not having an extra pair of legs.

He realized after a few steps that this pace was unsustainable; he'd be overtaken in minutes, tackled, and torn apart.

The rustling grew louder.

He glanced back.

A blur was closing in fast.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, his vision swimming.

Then, a large tree a few meters ahead sparked a glimmer of hope.

Ditching the wooden box, he tapped into a surge of power he'd never felt before and bolted for the tree.

In under five seconds, he was at the treetop, harpoon still in hand.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The sounds drew nearer...

Heavy running echoed from below. Lee Cha held his breath until his face turned crimson, eyes wide, scanning the ground.

Suddenly, a gray shape streaked by.

Huh? That wasn't a tiger mutant beast.

Was that... a wolf?

Lee Cha barely had time to breathe before his heart leapt into his throat, and the pounding footsteps sounded once more.

In his field of vision, one wolf appeared, then another, and another... until there were over thirty wolves. One paused to take in a scent.

From his vantage point, he could see the wolf was lean with long legs, its tail drooping. The fur was a mix of brownish-yellow and grayish-black, ears perked up, eyes a dark amber with black pupils. Its mouth, slightly agape, revealed a dense array of fangs, and a crimson tongue peeked out slightly.

This was his first time seeing a wolf up close, and his first encounter with a wild pack. Their icy, murderous gaze sent his heart into a fierce, erratic rhythm.

As the sound of the pack faded, his relief was short-lived, replaced by mounting anxiety. Had the wolves been driven here by a tiger-like Mutant beast? It seemed wiser to make a quick escape.

But what if he ran into the pack again? He didn't want to find himself trapped between wolves and a tiger...

Wait, those wolves looked like pre-Cataclysm species. Could it be that unevolved wild beasts still roamed the wilderness?

He climbed cautiously to a sturdy fork in a large tree, watching and listening intently. Even if a tiger approached, the tree wouldn't offer safety. Tigers from before the Cataclysm could swim and climb; evolved tiger-type Mutant beasts would be even more adept.

Minutes passed without a tiger sighting, but then he spotted a grey wolf stumbling along. What had happened? Was it an elderly wolf weakened by injury, or one that had clashed with a tiger?

Lee Cha scrutinized the area behind the grey wolf for a long time. No tiger was a good sign.

But as he turned back, he froze. The grey wolf lay at the base of his tree, panting heavily. Its thigh was slashed with several gashes about ten centimeters long, oozing blood.

"Come on, big guy, just a little longer. You'll catch up with the pack soon," he murmured.

Lee Cha watched the grey wolf with a somber expression.

"Wolves are known for their loyalty. Could it be that some of the pack will return to aid their fallen comrade?"

No sooner had he spoken than he wished he could smack himself twice for his cursed tongue. To his dismay, a larger-than-average brown-black wolf had actually returned. It approached the injured gray wolf and tenderly licked its wounds.

Perched on a tree branch three meters above the ground, Lee Cha watched the pair with a furrowed brow. They seemed to be genuine, unevolved wild wolves; otherwise, they surely would have detected him at such close range.

His mind wandered to the little birds he'd observed earlier. Since the Cataclysm, ordinary birds had vanished, so why were there so many bird calls here? It raised the possibility that this world hadn't undergone any evolution or mutation at all—it was a normal world.

According to the books, even the smallest mutant beast was several times larger than this wolf. Yet, having studied pre-Cataclysm wild wolves, Lee Cha respected their formidable nature. Clutching a harpoon, he knew better than to confront them directly, especially this massive specimen that likely held the rank of alpha.

Wild wolves were known for their impressive combat prowess. As a child, he had witnessed a young beggar armed with an iron rod being savagely attacked by a rabid dog. The man was left bloody and torn—if not for timely help, he would have been mauled to death. Online records indicated that before the Cataclysm, an ordinary wild wolf could not take on seven or eight feral dogs, but killing three or four was well within their means, particularly for an alpha.

And so, the brown-black wolf intermittently licked the gray wolf's wounds and emitted soft whines, seemingly coaxing and encouraging its packmate.

"If only I were an Evolver..." Despite his disdain for Evolvers, Lee Cha couldn't help but yearn to be one. He remained crouched on the branch, time dragging on until his legs grew numb and unresponsive. It was then that the gray wolf suddenly lifted its head and snarled at the brown-black wolf.

The brown-black wolf cocked its ears and retreated a few steps, locking eyes with the gray wolf as it issued a deep, rumbling growl. After several roars from the gray wolf, the brown-black one finally turned and bounded away, transforming into a black streak that vanished into the forest's depths.

The gray wolf settled back down, its eyes growing dull and its breaths increasingly shallow.

Lee Cha breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Phew, that was close!"

He shifted his position and waited a bit longer, ensuring the brown-black wolf wouldn't return before leaping down from the tree.

The gray wolf, startled by Lee Cha's sudden appearance from above, snapped its head up and snarled at him, its face twisted into a menacing snarl.

Lee Cha retrieved the wooden box he'd discarded earlier and began to back away slowly.

In a hushed tone, he said, "Brother Wolf, I mean you no harm. Our meeting is a twist of fate. May you find peace and freedom from pain in heaven, and perhaps watch over me so I can escape this forest soon..."

To his surprise, the gray wolf, seemingly condemned to death, miraculously got to its feet and bounded off in the direction the pack had vanished.

Lee Cha was dumbfounded. "???"

I'm impressed against my will.

It's a pity you can't speak; otherwise, you'd surely be the first wolf to snag an Oscar for Best Actor.

After a brief moment of reflection, he picked a direction at random and took off running.

Half an hour later, he emerged from a thicket taller than himself, looking every bit the wild man, his body plastered with Ghost Needle Grass and Blue Ears.

He surveyed his surroundings with a puzzled look until his gaze landed on a snapped tree branch, and his expression shifted.

"Am I seriously just walking in circles?"

To avoid the wolves, he had chosen the most challenging paths, even those barely passable, only to receive a swift lesson from Mother Nature.

The jungle was a maze of brambles and impassable spots, the lush undergrowth and trees obscuring any sense of direction.

Undeterred, he tried another way, only to find himself back where he started after ten minutes.

"Could I really get trapped here?"

Sitting down, anxiety creeping in, he felt utterly drained in less than half an hour.

"Stay calm! There's got to be a way. First, I need to figure out which way is which."

No compass.

He observed the sun and the tree canopy; the south side was denser, the north more open. North was up, south down, east left, and west right.

Alright, I've got a rough idea of the directions. Now, which way should I go?

He began to methodically break down the situation.

The stream he encountered during his escape was flowing, which meant that following it downstream would inevitably lead to a lake or a larger river.

Where there was water, there would be people.

The stream represented an escape route.

But now he faced two issues: first, how to find his way back to the stream, and second, what if the stream cut through the tiger's territory?

"Damn it, what am I thinking? Running around the jungle like a chicken with its head cut off, I'll end up dying of thirst or starvation. Might as well take a chance. If I die, I die; if not, I live on." He gritted his teeth in determination.

Where was the stream? He racked his brain.

He couldn't recall its location, so he had to start from scratch.

After waking up... he had climbed a tree, the tiger's roar was to his left, and the sun seemed to be to his right!

Lee Cha sketched with a stick on the ground and finally exhaled in relief. He had pinpointed the direction of the tiger: northwest!

Next was the stream. He didn't remember which way he had gone after crossing it.

But he did remember fishing while facing the sun. The clearing where he had come to was sparsely vegetated, and the glare of the rising sun was intense, leaving a strong impression on him.

That meant the stream was to the west.

Whether due west, northwest, or southwest, heading westward greatly increased his chances of finding the stream.

After a few seconds of thought, he chose to head straight west.

Peering through the foliage, he confirmed his direction, repeatedly checking over his shoulder.

Ten minutes later, he abruptly halted and began to slowly backpedal.

A short distance ahead, a grey wolf lay beneath a large tree.