New Year, New World, New Game

Darkness flooded the woods, its trees so tall that the tops threatened to pierce the moonless night sky.

The deathly silence surrounding the forest, broken only by the rustling of leaves, the whistling of the nightly breeze, the chirping of crickets, the singing of nocturnal birds, the slithering of snakes, the hurried footsteps of a running young man, and another set of footsteps in the distance.

The latter was far bigger and louder than Miles's, even though there was a considerable distance between the first and the latter.

'How did I end up like this, for God's sake?' Miles huffed, unwilling to stop running from his pursuer.

Ever since the world changed to this game, which people began to refer to simply as The Glitch, Miles had been doing everything he could to gather resources and information, to become as strong as possible to not die at the hands of these monsters that appeared out of nowhere back in New Year's Eve.

Three months after the beginning of The Glitch, no matter how hard Miles tried, he still seemed unable to leave the sub-ten division, where all the newbies, rookies, and weak players stood, stagnated, and segregated from the real players. Players with Classes, skills, and even those affiliated with powerful guilds.

Now, three months after the beginning of that damn death game, Miles thought that he finally had reached rock bottom.

He opened the system window containing his basic information and grunted.

[Name: Miles Thorn]

[Affiliation: None]

[Level: 05]

[Class: Unacquired]

[Skills: None]

[Strength: 13]

[Agility: 08]

[Dexterity: 09]

[Perception: 15]

[Intelligence: 20]

"Tsc" Miles opened his inventory bitterly, just to make sure he was not dreaming.

[Inventory: Empty]

"Argh!" Miles dug his foot into the grass, bursting forward as hard as he could while the ginormous pursuer kept on his trail.

Panting even more heavily, though, Miles felt his steps wavering, and not long after, he could not help but trip over a protruding root, falling face-down to the grassy ground.

"Damn… It…" Miles huffed, trying to catch his breath.

The ground shook beneath him, and as he turned on his back to breathe easier, he saw the faint, dark orange light glowing atop his pursuer's head.

Little by little, the light became less faint, and Miles became able to read the monstrosity's name once more.

[Beast – Tarhut, Guardian of That Which Was Lost]

[Level: 12]

Alone, with no equipment, defenseless to anything that cursed forest had to throw at him, Miles breathed in and out as the Beast approached, closer and closer.

"If only I had unlocked some magic skill, like the other players who invested points in Intelligence…" Miles stumbled as he got up.

Looking from the approaching Beast to the trees around him, however, the seed of an idea began to sprout in his mind, and he immediately got to work, staggering towards one of the sturdiest and tallest trees he could find, his muscles aching and screaming in protest after the mad race against the humongous Troll-like beast.

When the creature finally came into view, its gray skin glistening against the light of the moon, that only now decided to show up, still a bit shy through the thick cover of clouds, Miles was already hidden within the branches and leaves of the tall tree, looking down at the monstrous Troll-like Beast.

It carried a heavy club the size of its impossibly muscular arms, and its torso and legs were covered in furs. It looked primal, tribal even, but nothing of its looks could deceive anyone from the gleam of pure malice and intelligence in the Beast's eyes.

Suppressing a groan, Miles held in his hand a pointy branch he had taken from the tree while climbing up, holding it like a spear as he sized the Guardian down.

'That's it… I have to be as quick as possible if I want it to be over as soon as possible…' Miles breathed in and out, quietly, watching as the guardian looked around, unable to see its target.

Biting his lower lip, Miles took a step forward, standing at the edge of the branch, the leaves rustled, and Tarhut looked up with murder in its eyes. As soon as it saw Miles, though, he jumped towards the Beast, holding the makeshift spear with its tip pointing downward, helping break the air resistance, and accelerating Miles' fall.

Tarhut let out a roar that shook the entire forest, and swung the club upwards, aiming towards Miles, ready to turn the boy into bloody goo.

Miles' fall was so fast, though, that even with its evil intelligence, precision, and superb strength, Tarhut's attack missed him by a hairsbreadth. Miles' strike, however, pierced Tarhut cleanly through its eye, making the Beast let out a sharp, painful shriek.

The woods had plenty of protruding roots throughout its grassy ground, and as Miles fell, trying his best to land as smoothly as possible, he used it to his favor, running towards Tarhut's back, but the Beast did not turn around, still focused on its eye, trying to take the makeshift spear out.

It took a step backwards, though, having heard its target's steps behind him, and Miles' lips turned up into a wide grin as he saw the Beast's foot step falsely over one of the many enormous protruding roots, and sprinting like crazy, his muscles burning with pain, he got out of the way just as the monstrous Tarhut crashed to the grassy ground.

Reaching the monster's head, feeling his stamina run lower and lower, Miles grabbed his makeshift weapon and fought through the giant's slaps, as it tried to swat him down like the bug it probably saw Miles for.

Counting the seconds, with nothing else in his mind, Miles breathed in and out, focusing all of his strength into that decisive blow, aimed right at Tarhut's temple.

Falling silent, he tried to calm even his heartbeat, pretending to have fled or disappeared.

'One… Two… Three…' Miles kept counting, his heartbeat calming down little by little, and when Tarhut grunted, seemingly accepting the fact that its target had become not only its torturer, but also a ghost, and tried to get up, Miles let out a roar of his own, striking with the sharp wooden spear as precisely as he could.

A heartbeat later, he felt the unnerving sensation of skin being pierced, then flesh, and not long after that, the fine layer of bone that separated his weapon from the Beast's brain.

"Die, die, die, DIE!" Miles pushed harder, finally feeling the soft tension of the Troll-like Beast's brain being pierced by his wooden weapon.

Everything took less than a second, and with a swift spasm, the guardian of that which was lost died, leaving Miles alone in the woods, falling on his knees and panting heavily, drawing each and every breath like it was his last.

The system, however, had noticed his feat, and its holographic window appeared before him, black background with ghostly blue lines of text that said:

[You have killed a Beast – Tarhut, Guardian of That Which Was Lost]

[You received ??? EXP]

"Yeah… I did it…" Miles smiled weakly. But the system was not done with its messages yet, making Miles' eyes widen and glimmer with tired happiness.

[You received: Guardian's Pendant x01; Guardian's Will; Scorching Rune x01; Key to What Was Lost]

[Level up]

[Level up]