Transmigration had long since become a common trope in literature. In modern society, almost every young person who had dabbled in web novels would've come into contact with transmigration novels at one point. Some people would even imagine themselves crossing to another world or another timeline to satisfy their hearts' desire.
Meanwhile, Alice's case was a little more advanced. Not only had she read plenty of transmigration novels, but she even personally got transmigrated. However, she did not get hit by a truck because she was trying to save a little girl or an old lady crossing the road. She also didn't get stabbed while helping someone stop a thief. Instead, it happened in the blink of an eye. Literally.
After closing and opening her eyes while walking on the street, Alice suddenly found that her surrounding environment had changed. From standing in the middle of a metropolis surrounded by tall buildings made out of steel and concrete, she suddenly found herself standing in the middle of a dense and lush forest. Moreover, looking at how tall and massive the surrounding trees were, she probably wasn't in some grove. Instead, it looked like she was standing in a primitive forest that had never seen the signs of human tempering.
In reality, her real name wasn't Alice. However, after getting transported to this lush forest, she quickly noticed that her eye height had become inexplicably lowered. Hence, she made use of the nearby creek and verified that her appearance was no longer the same as before she had transmigrated. Instead, she was now a slightly shorter girl with blonde hair. If judging by appearances, she obviously looked like a westerner.
Moreover, she was the type of girl that matched the impression of what Asians had of western girls. Even the clothes she wore were a white-and-blue dress. Lastly, she found a pendant hanging from her neck, and crookedly engraved on the pendant were the letters A-L-I-C-E.
This was how Alice gave herself a new name. She didn't really have a choice in this matter. While she wanted to keep her original name, the problem was that she was evidently no longer an Asian. Wouldn't it seem strange referring to herself and having others refer to her using a Chinese name? It might be fine if she had transmigrated to another world, but what if she had simply transmigrated to the Middle Ages or a nearby timeline? If she came across some westerners at that time and continued using Chinese, those people would probably capture her for questioning. Hence, to avoid such an accident from happening, she decided to call herself Alice.
However, this worry of hers was quickly resolved. Why? Because she had basically verified that she was no longer on Earth.
Alice began feeling hungry along with the passing of time. Hence, while she felt that her current body was slightly weaker than her original body, she had no choice but to begin foraging the forest for edible fruits. Afterward, she encountered creatures that definitely did not exist on Earth.
For example, a lion with the horns of a bull and a snake with the wings of a bat. Evidently, there was no way she could win a fight against these creatures. Nevertheless, these things still allowed her to verify that she had indeed arrived at another world.
Sometime later, when Alice was about to hunt a rabbit with a fox's tail, she grabbed a few sharp stones as a weapon. As soon as she grabbed these stones, something similar to a system inexplicably appeared in her mind. However, Alice found it hard to call it a "system" as it only had one function: to allow Alice to appraise the "weapons" in her hand and grant her these weapons' corresponding effects.
[Weapon: Sedimentary Rock That Can Be Found Anywhere]
[Quality: Garbage]
[Effect: Strength +1]
[Additional Effect: None]
Meanwhile, through relying on her effort, luck, and the one point of Strength she acquired from the rock, Alice eventually succeeded in smashing a rabbit to death. Afterward, she spent almost her entire evening trying to light a fire, cooking the rabbit, and eating it. Although there were no readily available seasonings out in the wild, she had, at the very least, found a way to barely survive.
Alice did not know if people would appear in this primitive forest. She didn't even know if humans were living in this alien world. If there weren't any, then she would probably have no choice but to spend the rest of her life in this primitive forest… Of course, this would be the last option she would choose. Before abandoning hope, she would continue doing her best to walk to the forest's edge.
Meanwhile, it was currently already the seventh day since Alice had transmigrated. After not seeing any other human for an entire week, Alice had already started to feel that she had no hope of ever leaving this forest. After all, Alice was without a compass or any survival items. Her ability to survive in the wilderness was terrible as well.
Although Alice had watched some survival programs before, she had evidently been watching them for entertainment. Now that she had encountered such a survival situation, she could hardly remember any of the tips mentioned in those programs. The only thing she could remember was how to read a tree's growth ring. However, she was currently nothing but a helpless little girl right now. How could she possibly chop down a tree much larger than herself to study its growth rings?
"Am I really going to spend the rest of my life in this place…"
At night, Alice sullenly sat on a clearing she had opened up for herself. The virgin forest floor was covered in leaves, and even a slight mistake could lead to a forest fire. So, Allice would always be extra careful whenever she started a fire. After going through these past seven days, Alice had gradually gotten the hang of lighting fires, so she managed to light one up today quickly.
As a fortunate side note, while her dress's fabric might seem thin, it was surprisingly warm. Hence, coupled with the campfires she made, Alice was able to avoid catching a cold. Even so, maintaining her current lifestyle wasn't a solution. After trekking through the forest for a week, the dress had already suffered minor damage. If she still failed to find the forest's exit, she might have to mimic savages and use animal furs to make clothes.
Leaning her back against an icy, giant tree, Alice gradually dozed off. She had been trekking uneven terrain for seven consecutive days. She had also hardly gotten any sleep during this period. If this had happened before she transmigrated, it would've been an unbelievable feat. However, she had now started to despair a little. After failing to find the forest's exit for so many days, she even began to wonder if there were any humans on this planet.
However, after closing her eyes for a while, Alice started to feel that something was amiss. The sound of footsteps had gradually started entering her ears.
Because Alice had cleared the area for a campfire, there was a thick layer of fallen leaves and branches surrounding the clearing. Hence, the footsteps of anyone stepping on this layer of leaves and branches would also be magnified.
After noticing the movement, Alice hurriedly opened her eyes. Then, her body shuddered.
Before she knew it, five black wolves had appeared in her surroundings and were currently slowly approaching her from multiple directions. It was apparent that these wolves had set their sights on her meat.
Alice broke out in cold sweat in this situation, her back quickly becoming drenched. She might've successfully killed some animals previously by relying on the stones she picked up on the ground, but those were all small animals. She had not grown arrogant to the point where she thought she could dispatch five black wolves.
How long have these things been targeting me already?
Alice was feeling a little depressed. Other protagonists would usually have their danger sensitivity set to MAX as soon as they transmigrated. They could hear movement even from several kilometers away. Even if animals targeted them, they would immediately get the feeling of "something is following me." However, Alice was different. She didn't even know how long these five black wolves had been targeting her already. If it wasn't for the wolves stepping on the piled-up leaves and branches, she might've noticed the wolves only after they had taken a bite out of her.
However, Alice did not wish to wait for death to claim her, either. The five wolves seemingly had no intentions of pouncing on her immediately. Instead, they were slowly tightening the encirclement. Hence, Alice quickly looked around for something that she could use as a weapon. If she got lucky, she might be able to find something that wasn't "Garbage." In that case, she might be able to break out of the wolves' encirclement.
Alice had been gradually figuring out the role of her "system" these past few days. To her dismay, the system didn't possess anything like an exchange interface or stat interface. The system only had one function: the ability to evaluate whether the items in Alice's hand were a weapon. If the system deemed an object to be a weapon, it would give the weapon a quality rating and corresponding abilities. Afterward, Alice would gain the weapon's abilities and stat bonuses.
Moreover, the system's appraisal standards were quite strange. Under normal circumstances, stones and branches were categorized as "Garbage," and the effects they provided were minor things like "Strength +1" and "Speed +1." However, at one time, Alice picked up something named "Tree Branch Dyed With a Wolf King's Spit." The item's quality was "Not Bad," and its effect was "Strength +2." Hence, from then onward, Alice came to understand one thing.
The quality of a weapon was not equivalent to the value of public perception. Although some things might be considered rubbish by the average person, the system might consider it a good weapon, thus providing Alice with unexpectedly better effects.
Therefore, Alice's only hope in this situation was to find something that looked like trash but might possibly be evaluated as a high-level weapon by the system.