2 System: Six days to live

*Tzzzzz*

The electrical shock spread from his neck as Aiden was forced to wake up in a coughing fit. The taste of iron in his mouth reminded him of his harsh reality.

'What was that? A live skeleton, huh?!" He couldn't believe it, even if he saw it with his own eyes, "Is that even possible?"

"PADS, search for anything that resembles that thing."

[No match found.] The robotic voice sounded in his mind, "Would you like to induct the data into the database?"

'There is no data! 'Aiden sighed before he confirmed it.

[Extracting evidence from memory... The host will feel nausea during extraction.]

As soon as the voice sounded, his stomach churned and he vomited air out of his empty stomach along with some residual blood.

[Successful extraction.] Aiden was already struggling to get air by the time the confirmation came. His weak body collapsed on the ground.

"Don't ever extract data from my memory," Aiden grumbled as he looked at the grey sky. 'Who recorded the previous data?'

He had already asked the question in the past. The professor replied that several robotic explorers had been sent to Earth. Although none of them survived more than twenty minutes, each time they could still send back one or two pictures of the new beast.

It took a moment to realize this, but he jumped back on his feet as soon as he did. "System, how many minutes have passed since I landed?"

[14:25.]

'If none of the robots had survived for more than 20 minutes, then...' And before he could think of the worst, it happened.

He could hear the noise in the distance, along with the sound of hooves that came running with it.

[21 seconds till contact. Confirm…] Aiden spared no effort to listen to the system's explanation.

'What am I supposed to do? Weapon?' Aiden turned to look at the messed up pod shuttle, 'No I should look for the medicine first.'

Before he could decide what to do, the timer turned 18 in the corner of his eyes, and the system added, [7 seconds till visual.]

'I have to leave.' But running is out of options. Aiden looked up. He was greeted by the giant trees, and he didn't dare to hesitate.

He crouched down to gather the wind mana around him. It was much easier to gather mana on Earth, but Aiden couldn't care less about it now. As soon as he jumped, the wind mana created a strong blast behind him, propelling him up into the air.

[Skill [Wind Gale] is activated. Mana used: 17. Remaining Mana: 42]

It was a high-grade skill so the mana expense was higher but Aiden couldn't be stingy now.

And most of all the skill was effective. With one jump he had reached 4 meters up into the tree but he wasn't satisfied. He used it again. Sending himself higher on the tree opposite of him and he used the skill once more.

[Skill [Wind Gale] is activated. Mana used: 17. Remaining Mana: 8]

By the time he reached a wide branch high above the ground, he had been struggling for a lung full of air.

Aiden had no idea whether it was due to injury or to the presence of excessive mana in the air. Perhaps it was just because he used mana too quickly that he had a hard time breathing.

Soon the timer had stopped at the edge of his vision as the forest became silent. Aiden wasn't sure whether or not there were insects in the forest, but he couldn't hear one now.

This is not a place with enough light. On top of that, most of the light was filtered out of the grey cloud. The place is shifting between dawn and night. There wasn't a moment out there that was bright enough to be called a 'day'.

The rustling continued in the dark east forest. Soon the darkness parted, and the system recognized the beast that had appeared.

[The vampire deer. Height between 3-4 meters. Antler could grow to more than 2 meters. It's bipedal...]

Aiden couldn't read the rest, as the low-frequency screech forced him to turn to the deer. Its body was covered with thick black hair, and the antlers were large enough to impel a human.

However, it was staring at the light that was blinking at the shuttle right now. His snout was wide open, exposing the sharp teeth along with the mouth. And the long tongue that came out of the mouth was the one that made a piercing cry.

If the camera on the shuttle did not send its feed to the system, Aiden would not have noticed the small mouth full of sharp teeth at the end of the long slithering tongue.

Another thing Aiden had observed was the stench. Looking at the beast, hissing beneath the tree, Aiden was certain that it was the source of the tree.

'How can the blood stench be so dominant? System, record it in your database.' Even in a situation like this, Aiden didn't forget about one of his missions. The more he contributes to the database, the more credit he earns on his return.

After recording enough of the data, the shuttle was silent. No matter how many times it had hissed, there was no response. It kept looking around, but it couldn't find the one it was looking for.

The blood that Aiden had vomited had already attracted his attention, and it was trying to find its source.

The slithering tongue was moving in the air as if it had a brain on its own. It was screeching in every direction, trying to find its prey. Then it turned back to the branch.

* Creeeee *

The sound of its screeching had changed. The eyes of the giant deer turned to the branch, too. It was for a moment, but in that single moment, Aiden felt the red ruby eyes piercing through his soul. He tried to hide, but it was too late.

The screech resonated at the air again, yet Aiden didn't dare to look down. He knew it had seen him but was hoping that it won't find him.

"It's going to kill me, it's going to kill me," Aiden muttered in an intangible language as tears tickled down his eyes. 'Feeling restless' was not the right phrase to explain the situation of his mind.

His back was wet with sweat, so was his palm. Every time he tried to close his eyes, he could see a pair of red eyes staring at him.

He was scared. He felt someone squeezing his heart every time he heard the sound of hooves hitting the hard ground. He couldn't breathe, yet he kept muttering like a fool, "It's not going to come so high in the tree. It's not going to see me. It can't be...

*Tzzzz*

His neckband sent a burst of electrical charge through his body. In a moment of vulnerability, he was struck unconscious by a sudden shock.

*Tzzzz*

Next short burst of electrical shock from the PADS forced him to wake up. There was very little duration between each pulse, but in that moment of carelessness, Aiden had almost fallen.

No matter how much they were trained, after all, they were teenagers. Seeing a giant beast in a picture is one thing, but looking at the eyes was different. And that's why the pulse was programmed as a combat support system in the PADS.

[Host is in a state of shock. 34% drop in rationality. Emergency short bursts activated.]

[Hormone level under control. 47% increase in effi...]

The notification continued to appear in his mind, but Aiden ignored it. As soon as he woke up, he quickly stabilized his body on the branch.

The beast was still shrieking, but it was no longer affecting his mind. After a short burst of the collar, his mind had calmed down.

'What am I doing here? I've been trained for so long and I'm going to fail as soon as I get here! No, I promised them. I'm going to live.' Aiden shot those thoughts back in his mind as he peered to reassess the situation.

That thing was a few meters away from the tree, but Aiden had no idea what it was going to do. Yet he was sure of what he had to do.

'Flash' As soon as he ordered the shuttle, it sent a short burst of high-intensity flash. It radiated the forest for a moment, and on the next, the forest plunged into suffocating silence. But it was effective to draw the beast's attention.

*Boom*

*Boom*

The assault went on, and Aiden could see it all. The camera on the shuttle continued to send feedback to him. As soon as it flashed, the beast charged at the shuttle in force.

Due to the elongated hind legs when it was on four, its body arched awkwardly. But his strength could not be ignored. Each time the giant antler clashed with the shuttle, it penetrated the outer shell.

Alas! It was made of conmet, more commonly referred to as conscious metal or mana metal. As long as there is mana or any kind of energy in the surrounding area, it can be repaired on its own. When the beast attacked for the second time, the wounds of the first attack had healed.

'This won't do.' Aiden couldn't help but sigh. 'It is a beast without intelligence. Driven by instinct it will continue to attack until it dies. I have to end it quickly.'

Aiden peeked down while the beast had no intention to spare any glance towards him.

'Ready the taser at the maximum strength.'

[Taser is on stand-by.] In his mind, the system verified.

"Release" Aiden screamed in rage. Just as the antler reached the shuttle once more, enormous electric snakes shot from the vessel. It was a short time but the blinding light forced Aiden to turn away.

The attack has been effective. The beast fell to the ground as part of its antler broke off. Its body continued to spasm. It took a while before the beast could stand up again.

Still, it's been struggling to stand straight. Fear was in its eyes as it looked back at the shuttle. It gave another piercing cry with its tongue before the vampire deer vanished in the dark forest.

The whole ordeal was played out in front of his eyes, but Aiden couldn't spare a glance at it.

He felt someone squeezing his heart hard enough to burst as he stared at the face in front of him. It's a face. He stared at the human face. A human face with no eyeballs or teeth inside the mouth.

'How could there be another human in here? And it's not just one.' As the spark spread from the shuttle, Aiden saw thousands of faces staring right at him. However, he was confused, 'When did they get so close?'

He could not even ask the system to check the beast, nor could he look away. He felt that they would attack him as soon as he looked away, so he didn't dare.

The wind sent chills down his back every time it touched his wet back. His eyes were itching to close, but he couldn't.

'It's better to give up.' Even as he thought about it, he couldn't dare to lose his taunted nerve. Aiden was already running on the fumes, and now he felt he had exhausted it, too. 'It's better to die now. I could never win against so many of them.'

*Dong* Dong*

'Cowbell, isn't it?' Aiden was startled. In a moment of carelessness, he closed his eyes. He was ready to accept his death, yet he cried out in frustration. "Nooo."

He opened his eyes, and he was greeted not by a face, but by a butterfly. Precisely, an insect that looked like a human face with wings of butterflies.

[Face flies. 0.6-0.8 meter in length. With a wingspan of 2 meters. Gives off a pheromone that induces hallucination.]

"You bastard, can't you let me know before the hallucination starts?" Aiden couldn't help but curse out loud while struggling to avoid all the face flies that were flying around.

[The host wasn't under a pheromone-induced hallucination.] The robotic voice poured a bucket of cold water on his body.

"Wasn't that the flies? Then why did I hallucinate? "Aiden was shocked at the explanation.

[The host is diagnosed with Acute Mana Poisoning,] As soon as he heard the robotic voice, all the strength left his body. But the voice wasn't finished, [Host can live for a maximum of six days.]