My internal mental processes speed up into a blur.

　　According to the clear conditions, I don`t have to defeat these creatures. I just need to get to the top of the hill. If I run with all my might and get to the jagged rocks they will no longer be able to pursue me. It wouldn`t be any trouble. None at all.

　　&But what if the next floor has a massive load of enemies? What if all of the enemies are level 20 while I`m still level 0? I need to survive, but if it just means dying a bit later then there`s no point.

　　I need to beat them. I need to kill them with my own two hands.

　　But who says I need to do it in a fair fight?

　　shows interest in you.>

　　The world briefly pauses and holds its breath. The three boss monsters don`t move. I can`t hear the weeping of the wind and the whistling of its arrow brethren.

　　&Huh?

　　And then the world starts moving again and my feet whirl beneath my feet faster than I have time to think, and acting as a starting shot, the three beasts throw themselves to me, barking and growling and roaring, but since we`re all running downhill they can`t properly run, demonstrated as the wolf briefly tries to speed up to catch me and ends up falling ass-over-teakettle and tumbling down the side of the hill. Taking that opportunity, I slash my sword at it, forgetting that it`s literally blunt. Instead of doing any damage whatsoever to the exposed abdomen of what I now see is a she-wolf, it simply bounces off, less than ineffective.

　　&Damn it!

　　In my attempt, I briefly stalled, an opening that the leopard happily takes advantage of by leaping at me and catching hold of my exposed left arm. I don`t have time to try to counteract, so all I can do is stab my sword into its mouth, chipping off one of its front fangs and making it mewl in pain, the surprise of the attempt making it lose its grip on me. By this point the she-wolf has gotten back to its feet, but I`m already gone, back to running like high hell. My breath is starting to grate in my throat but I can`t stop.

　　Just a bit further down, I can see the whistling woods grow nearer and nearer and some form of hope latches onto me just as I hear a loud growl.

　　Purely by instinct, I throw myself into a roll to the right, just in time to watch the lion fly by, paws and claws raised and ready but missing me by only a hair. My breath hitches as I tumble to the ground, rolling once and then twice before somehow leaping back to my feet.

　　The forest is close now and the whistling arrows that I had almost forgotten the sound of once again come to my ears. Fleeting hope comes to my chest and like a dehydrated desert walker spotting an oasis, I bound for the trees, leaping with near desperation into the way of the storm of arrows, my shield raised to cover my head and chest and my sword in the same position.

　　About a dozen arrows stab into me as I fly across a clear spot before rolling into the shade of a tree, my arms and legs and abdomen and chest all pierced with innumerable arrows, and just as I force myself to a stop, I`m given the delicious visage of the pursuing beasts, just a hair behind, also leaping into the fray of arrows. Watching their bodies get pierced by dozens if not hundreds of arrows before falling over reminds me of them but seeing the horrible beasts die is too delicious to avert my eyes from.

　　<[Level Up]>

　　Bleeding Resistance has increased by 2.

　　Strength has increased by 3.

　　Stamina has increased by 5.

　　Magic Power has increased by 2.

　　Hypnagogia has increased by 1.

　　Enhanced Vision has increased by 2.

　　Battle Focus has increased by 1.

　　Field Focus has increased by 2.

　　Regeneration Meditation has increased by 1.

　　Poison Resistance has increased by 1.>

　　&Oh good lord in heaven. It`s& it`s beautiful&!

　　I feel like crying. It`s so not cool to cry but it really does make me feel like crying. A bunch of hard-to-raise skills just suddenly got a huge boost. And my normal stats have also gone way up. It really is like a light from heaven.

　　Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author`s consent. Report any sightings.

　　Human Level 4

　　Strength: 7

　　Agility: 13

　　Stamina: 14

　　Magic Power: 15>

　　I don`t like looking at my status because it reminds me of what username I have, but for once, I`m glad to see it.

　　My only problem is that, well&

　　Why did I only get messages for the she-wolf and the lion?

　　Looking to my left, the answer to that is obvious. There, on the other side of the hail of arrows, stands the leopard. It`s got an arrow stuck in its paw, but that`s it. I guess it was a little bit more clever than its two coworkers.

　　No matter. I`ve only got a dozen or so arrows stuck in me, so I`m basically fit as a fiddle. Yup, I could absolutely do a tap dancing routine right now.

　　<20:32:11

　　Day 29>

　　1:03:28:49>

　　Alright. How do I solve this?

　　Since I can starve for an unknown amount of months, my best bet would be to make this into a battle of attrition. If I just stay here, the leopard should eventually starve or get thirsty to the point where it will have no choice but to brave the arrows in order to get to me and my supple, red flesh. For once, I wish the poison in the arrows was stronger, because as is, the leopard won`t die just from that single one alone.

　　And since there`s only a little more than one day left until the next attempt, I need to settle this now.

　　Looking at the leopard, I can tell that it`s too intelligent to be goaded into attacking. If I`m going to do this, I`ll have to be the one to take the leap. But if I do it as is, I`ll be too battered by the arrows to put up a proper fight.

　　I need to heal up first.

　　I hate this strategy, but there`s no other choice.

　　Since I`m at a lack for time, I choose to just bite the bullet and pull out all the arrows at once. My stamina and bleeding resistance should be high enough to cover it properly.

　　As I pull them one by one, I dampen the pain by just counting them as I go. In the end, I pulled a total of 17 arrows out of my limbs, abdomen and chest. It hurts like hell and I think one of my lungs may have collapsed but the other works just fine so I should be okay. I`m two arrows short from death, so I should be okay.

　　Even though I can hear the hissing breaths of the leopard, I let my eyes close and slip into meditation.

　　With the clock in front of me, I count every second and every minute and every hour. I can`t spend more than 9 hours at this or my schedule will suffer. I can`t let that happen.

　　Deep in the darkness of my mind, I focus on that and nothing else.

　　Oxygen Deficiency Tolerance Lv.1>

　　Auto-Regeneration Lv.2>

　　Most of the damage heals pretty standardly and is well and good after only around three hours, but the lung is different. Being so complex, it takes much longer, and despite getting a tolerance skill for it, the oxygen deficiency still gets to me in the end, and after only a few hours, I enter Hypnagogia.

　　And by the time I awaken&

　　<14:50:50

　　Day 30>

　　0:09:10:10>

　　&I have only around 9 hours left? That`s&

　　I feel sweat bead on my back, turning the dried blood in my clothes once more watery.

　　I don`t have any more time. I need to act, and fast. On the other side of the arrows, I can see the leopard still there, pacing to and fro. After I take the leap, I`ll need to get straight into combat. There will be no other choice.

　　I& I can do it. I`ve gotten this far, right? Just a little bit more. That`s all.

　　Silently, I put my sword back into my inventory and bring out the axe. It will protect me.

　　I stand up. The leopard meets my gaze, and for one long second, there is a perfect understanding between us. I know what it`s thinking, and it knows what I`m thinking.

　　There`s no need for words.

　　"Graaarrgghhhh!" Roaring, I leap into the fray of arrows, holding up the axe so that it protects my head and chest, ignoring the adrenaline-dulled pain of a dozen arrows piercing my arms and legs, and the second I reach the arrow-less eye of the storm that surrounds the hill, I throw the axe forward, onto the leopard in an attempt to distract it.

　　But it`s far too quick-witted, and it easily dodges the axe with a small side-step, quickly throwing itself towards me in the opening I created. But in the small moment of the leopard dodging before leaping, I`ve already pulled two arrows from my legs and armed myself with them, and when the leopard leaps at me, jaws wide and claws on display, I waste no time stabbing the arrows towards the exposed face of the leopard, one in its open maw, the other in its eye.

　　Despite the obvious pain, the leopard snakes its claws around me, hooking them into my flesh as its jaw first clamps down on the arrow and then into my shoulder. With this as a start, the leopard clings the rest of its body onto me, the claws of its feet stabbing deep into my bowels, but I can`t afford to think about it. Pulling more arrows from my legs, I stab it into the supple skin of the leopard`s bosom hide. One, two, three, four arrows and counting. I don`t need them to go far in, I just need them to poison the leopard enough to make it unable to continue for much longer.

　　More and more arrows, but its jaws are powerful and the harsh clamp of it is enough to render my bones to dust, crunching them loudly as it chews and tries to reach my larger arteries.

　　But I`m not just letting this happen apathetically.

　　Once I stab a second arrow into its other eye, blinding it fully, the leopard finally shrieks and leaps back, disoriented and pained. But I won`t let it get away. Throwing myself at it, I grab two arrows from its bosom and stab it into its neck, and in some pure, feral need for vengeance, I begin to bite down into its neck, searching for veins, for blood, for anything that will let me kill it. Once the skin bursts and the blood flows into my mouth and tongue, the month-long dehydration comes back in full force and I lap at the warm liquid with sheer desperation.

　　Bite Lv.1>

　　Bloodlust Lv.1>

　　The leopard mewls and swats at my face with its massive paws, gouging deep gashes across my face and neck. Blood is rushing to my head and making me feel drowsy but it doesn`t matter. All that matters is killing this beast.

　　When I no longer have any arrows in my body to stab it with I start using the arrows in its own body to gouge deeper and deeper and once I`ve got a hole big enough, I shove my own hand in there and start digging around, eventually hooking my hand around what I think is an intestine that I then pull out.

　　Rip Lv.1>

　　Tear Lv.1>

　　And after a long and desperate fight, I finally feel the heavy breaths of the leopard die down.

　　<[Level Up]>

　　Dehydration Resistance has increased by 1.

　　Starvation Resistance has increased by 2.

　　Strength has increased by 2.

　　Stamina has increased by 2.

　　Magic Power has increased by 1.

　　Bite has increased by 3.

　　Bloodlust has increased by 2.

　　Bleeding Resistance has increased by 1.

　　Basic Swordsmanship has increased by 1.>