Realizing the gravity of his situation, Dan continued marching in the direction where he believed the settlement would be. Compared to before, there was now a noticeable sense of urgency and caution in his movements.
His eyes constantly surveyed the surrounding forest, searching for anything that looked even remotely suspicious.
There was a long list of things that could go terribly wrong.
For example, encountering a monster above his level. These creatures were undoubtedly one of the greatest dangers a player could face in Grimm Play. Although death was supposed to be nothing more than a minor inconvenience in most MMORPGs, Grimm Play was different.
The developers had repeatedly emphasized that the game would feature a sophisticated death system.
Players could respawn, of course.
But depending on how they died, there could be penalties such as experience loss, equipment damage, debuffs, and, in particularly unfortunate circumstances, the loss of items.
On the other hand, the current "Dan" had no reason to believe he would receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist if he died.
Death.
It was such a terrifying concept.
Naturally, no one truly knew what happened when a person perished.
Did consciousness simply disappear?
Did something exist beyond death?
Was there an afterlife beyond their reach?
Humanity had spent thousands of years asking those questions, yet no one had ever returned with a definitive answer.
Dan had never been particularly philosophical about it.
Death was simply something that happened to other people. It was a distant yet absolute «Law» Something that existed at the end of a long, abstract road.
But now... he couldn’t help but wonder what If he died.
’No. I’m not going to die.’
Dan quickly pushed the thought away.
Certainly, there was no point imagining the worst. There was no reason to assume death here would be permanent.
He was still inside Grimm Play.
There had to be some sort of respawn system. Additionally, he hadn’t even encountered a monster yet. As long as he remained careful and cautious, nothing would go wrong.
"...Ughh. I’m starting to miss my apartment."
Dan sighed. Only a few minutes ago, he had been excited about exploring the game. Now he was beginning to realize that Grimm Play might be considerably more realistic than he had originally wanted.
Still, he couldn’t afford to panic.
Upon noticing something on the ground, Dan slowed his pace and carefully examined it. There was a faint trail that seemingly led to a certain direction ahead.
"Footprints?"
He crouched down and narrowed his eyes.
They were partially obscured by the grass, but they were definitely there. Another thing he couldn’t help but notice was that the footprints were considerably larger than his own.
If he had to guess, they were only a few inches wider than his feet, but the shape was unmistakably humanoid.
’Someone came through here.’
The possibility of encountering another player immediately came to mind. After all, monsters probably wouldn’t leave footprints shaped like that.
He carefully examined the surrounding area and noticed several sets of footprints. Most were fresh while others were partially covered by dirt and leaves, suggesting that they had been there for a while.
Dan followed the trail with his eyes which continued deeper into the forest.
"...Could this lead to the settlement?"
His spirits lifted. Perhaps he had finally found the correct path. Dan stood up and looked ahead. For the first time in a while, he felt a little more confident.
’If there are people nearby, then everything should be fine.’
If they turned out to be NPCs, he could ask for directions. And if they were players, he could finally confirm whether he was the only one experiencing these strange problems.
Then again, there was also the possibility that he might encounter something unpleasant. Just because the footprints belonged to humanoids didn’t necessarily mean their owners were friendly. There could be bandits. Monsters that disguised themselves as humans. Hostile NPCs. And, perhaps most dangerously of all, other players.
’Still, the chances of that happening are probably low.’
He couldn’t afford to become paranoid about every little thing. Finding people was still better than wandering through the forest alone.
Dan followed the trail, and the footprints became more numerous as he progressed.
At first, there had only been one or two sets but slowly increased to five and a dozen more.
At first, there had only been one or two sets, but the number slowly increased to five, then a dozen, and eventually far more than he could count.
’There’s definitely a settlement nearby.’
The footprints were heading in the same direction, and judging by their varying sizes, they belonged to quite a few different people.
But they all shared the same humanoid characteristics. Soon, he met the owners of those footprints.
Mysterious, intelligent beings he had never seen before.
They were humanoid creatures dressed in tattered clothes, resembling a tribe of people from some ancient civilization. Their skin was reddish, their bodies were covered in various markings, and a single horn protruded from the side of each of their heads.
Demi-human species that reminded him of an Oni. Dan stared at them for several seconds in confusion.
’...What the hell are these things?’
He had seen plenty of strange races in the game’s promotional material, but none of them had looked quite like this.
Their appearance was primitive, almost savage, yet there was an unmistakable intelligence in their eyes. Five of them in number, talking among themselves as they walked, occasionally gesturing toward one another.
Dan briefly wondered if he could have a reasonable conversation with these lots but decided to try anyway.
After all, what other choice did he have?
"Um... Excuse me?"
The creatures immediately stopped and turned toward him.
"Ah. Uh, you wouldn’t happen to know where the nearest settlement is, would you?"
He tried his best to appear as presentable and non-threatening as possible, but none of them answered his inquiry.
One of the horned creatures slowly stepped forward.
It was considerably taller than Dan, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. A crude weapon resembling a stone axe hung from its waist.
The creature stared at him. Then, it sniffed the air.
Dan’s expression became slightly awkward.
’...Why is it smelling me?’
The creature sniffed again before its expression suddenly changed. There was an unreadable look in its eyes, along with something else.
Recognition.
The creature’s eyes widened ever so slightly, as though it had suddenly recognized someone, or something, it hadn’t expected to see.
Confused by this development, Dan tilted his head.
’Does it know me?’
That made absolutely no sense.
He had never seen these creatures before, much less interacted with them. For some reason, though, the creature almost seemed afraid of him.
" #### Scent of ######!"
As if panicked, it began shouting something to the others in a language he couldn’t understand.
The other creatures reacted immediately upon hearing whatever it said. Their relaxed expressions disappeared, replaced by varying degrees of panic. A few even started backing away from Dan in fright.
Dan raised both hands and shouted, "Wait, wait! I don’t mean any harm!"
But it was pointless. None of them seemed to understand him. The horned creature continued shouting, with its voice becoming increasingly frantic.
"####! #### Scent! #### Slaughter!"
The creature that had approached him earlier was trembling. Its entire body was shaking as if it might collapse.
This wasn’t an act. Whatever they had sensed from him, it had frightened them badly enough to make an entire group of armed creatures tremble with terror.
Before Dan could even speak, the horned creature and its companions suddenly turned around. Within seconds, the forest swallowed them whole before his eyes.
He remained standing on the path, staring after them with a dumfounded look.
...What the hell just happened?