Chapter 2: Survival of The Fittest

Chapter 2: Survival of The Fittest

The tiny black coin was barely noticeable, its colour matching closely with the floor. If she hadn't been desperately looking for even the tiniest insects, she would never have spotted it.

Evelyn walked over and examined it carefully, but could not find anything special about it except that it had ten vertical line marks in two rows of five.Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

"Is this the number of people in the test? Or does it serve some other function? Or is it just a scratched-up coin? This room is so meticulously clean but this is still here, it might have some purpose."

She couldn't be sure, but it was better to keep it with her for now. Since she didn't have any clothes or anything to keep the coin in, she could only helplessly clench it in her hand and walk forward. If nothing else, it was a hard thing she can hit someone with.

As she came to the end of the corridor, another door appeared in front of her, and this time intense light assaulted her the moment she touched it.

"What?"

The corridor was gone, and so was the gate.

Tall trees and shrubbery filled her vision with greenery, it looked like a forest that went on as far as the eye could see.

"A jungle? But this might be good for me."

Her body was scrawny and weak. It would be stupid to go around looking for fights. To make matters worse, she didn't have any weapons except for the coin, and she had her doubts of finding anything useful in the jungle.

"Well, sticks and stones are still better than these tiny fists. And I have to find something to eat, it hurts so fucking much."

She ignored the phantom stabs of pain from her belly as best as she could. Her primary concern was the nature of the test. If she understood correctly, the test was just a barbaric elimination, and whoever survives in the end wins.

If she really had to rely on just her bony fingers and muscle strength, the scrawny body she had was really too hopeless to pass such a test.

"No, focus Evelyn. Humans didn't dominate the animals because they had the strongest bodies. I just have the be smarter than nine other people and I can get through this alive No matter what, I can't die again after getting a second chance!"

She first found a tall bush nearby and carefully crawled in. After making sure she was hidden and wouldn't be easily found and killed by a roaming competitor while she wasn't paying attention, Evelyn started thinking about how to survive till the end.

"They said it's funny to watch them kill each other so maybe the others are fighting each other to the death whenever they cross paths."

In that case it was better to hide until they were done killing each other.

She had no futile fantasies of the last remaining people eliminating each other and achieving victory without fighting. Evelyn knew very well that she would have to fight at least the last person who remained besides her. But that didn't mean she had to fight everyone else and get injured or exhausted before the inevitable final battle.

Suddenly, the coin in her hand gave a pulse of warmth, attracting her attention.

"What's going on? One of the marks vanished?"

Her lips arced unconsciously as hope spread through her chest. "If I can tell how many people are left at any time through this coin, then I will know exactly when to make my move!"

Although there was a possibility that both her conjectures of there being ten competitors and the coin being able to track their survival were wrong, there was no other lead she could think of holding on to. At this point, she could only place all her hopes on this path, and tread dauntlessly.

The eerie silence of her surroundings made her feel strange. Unlike a real forest, it was as if the entire thing was created on a whim, and the creator did not bother putting 'unnecessary' things inside.

"This place is way too silent for a jungle I can't hear any birds, no animal calls, not even mosquitos"

Although it was a good thing for her, it also made her slightly worried. Her body was in a state of starvation, and in such condition, she didn't know if she could survive an encounter with the final enemy. Even if they were not in their best state, even a healthy teenage boy could kill the current her quite easily.

"No just hiding is not enough. I must make sure I'm ready when they come!"

Evelyn didn't even consider going out hunting and searching for her enemies in this place. With her numerous disadvantages, doing so would simply be suicide. In that case, she might as well make it a test of patience.

Her heart made a BOOM as she felt excitement and terror course through her being.

"They saw me, definitely, they're coming to kill me."

She had been staring at her surroundings for hours, memorizing every detail. There was no sound that she hadn't made herself for so long, there was no way it wasn't the other person if she heard anything in this place. She was not so delusional yet.

"Coming to kill me coming to kill me"

Despite her dilated pupils and rapid breathing, her mind was suddenly devoid of fear.

"Come come"

There was no more rustle, but she could feel the other person only a few meters behind her. Since it was almost night, she could barely see anything, and the same went for the other person.

They probably felt that she was in this bush, but weren't making any sudden moves to alert her in case she wasn't in there but somewhere else.

She wasn't going to wait anymore.

There was a loud whoosh as she shot off from the bush, away from the presence behind her. After running for a few seconds, she felt that she wasn't being chased, and she turned around, unnerved.

Gulping nervously as she stared at the tall and buff shadow coming out from behind a tree, she clenched her makeshift spear and coin behind her.

"Hah, what a waste."

The disdain in the thick, manly voice was clear. "I thought what kind of fighter my last opponent would be, to survive this long without me even catching a glimpse. But it was just a puny rat bitch that only knows to hide and run. I feel like a moron when I think of how I was planning to lay around and ambush you after you exposed your location. Phew."

His silhouette slowly became clear, and the thick blood on his naked body made it no secret that he was a hunter in this game of life and death. Evelyn wasn't listening to his derision, however. Instead, she was staring intently at the vulnerable looking thing dangling between his legs, and then his eyes.

It was the first time she had seen that thing exposed like that, but she still knew that was a 'weak spot'. There was only one thought in her mind. "If I can spear either that or his eyes, I might win."

One look at the almost meter long heavy wooden club he was carrying on his shoulders like it weighed nothing, however, made her think twice about whether it would be wise to get close to him.

The man didn't seem to care for her response or thoughts anymore, and his relaxed staring quickly changed into a pounce as he cleared half the distance between them almost before she could react.

Evelyn bolted in a panic, almost falling down several times. The laughter of the 'hunter' behind her rang in both her ears and heart.

"Don't go wasting my time, little bitch!"

"Eek!" A painful wheeze tore through her throat as she felt his club almost brush across her back. She knew it hadn't touched her. She knew because she wasn't dead yet, because that thing would have shattered her spine if it made contact. But it still felt like she was cut in half.

The laughter behind her seemed to intensify as she ran past the fruit tree, and then abruptly changed into a mortified shriek.

Without wasting any time, she bounced back using a tree, ignoring the ringing pain in her bones, and stabbed haphazardly with her spike. Evelyn didn't even pay attention to how brutally her makeshift trap had skewered the man's privates, not only mutilating it but also sending the pepper juice straight into the wound.

"Die die die die die die!"

Despite being almost out of her mind, each of her stabs burst with almost all the power that her scrawny body could manage, and she focused on nothing but his eyes.

" die"

" please die"

" please"

With darkness getting thicker, she could no longer even see the state of her opponent. All she could feel was her own rapid breathing, the ringing in her bones, the burning from the splinters in her skin and the silence of her enemy.