"Ahhh, I feel alive again."

After finishing her drink of water, Yuzuki stretched with satisfaction. Even though she was wearing a robe, the motion of her arms rising emphasized her chest. I couldn’t help but feel my heart race, possibly because her lips had touched my hand earlier.

"Water magic is really convenient, huh?" I said, trying to shift the conversation.

"Yeah, I've never been so glad to be a mage as I am today," Yuzuki replied with a sheepish smile, which made me avert my gaze.

"Sigh... Why am I stuck as 'unemployed'…? I mean, I did choose the 'Tenfold Experience Gain' skill, though…"

Shouldn't that make me good at anything? Sure, I got really good at peeling vegetables, but still…

"Huh? What do you mean by that? A skill?" Yuzuki asked, picking up on my grumbling.

"Oh, uh…" I hesitated before explaining. I told her about meeting the old man who called himself a god and how I was allowed to choose skills. There was no reason to keep it a secret, after all.

"Really…? Wow… I didn’t meet a god or anything like that."

"Yeah, I guess it was random for most people. At least that’s what he said."

"Maybe I got something random assigned to me as well… but I wouldn’t even know what it is."

"You probably got something, but without a way to check, it's hard to know what you’re good at."

"That’s true…"

Ah, maybe that’s why they use "job titles" to figure out what your strengths are. But if I’m listed as "unemployed," does that mean I have no strengths at all…?

"It would be nice if there were an 'appraisal' skill or something that could show your stats."

As I sighed and complained, Yuzuki caught on.

"Appraisal…? Stats?"

Oh, I guess she doesn’t play video games much.

"Well, in games, there’s a feature where you can see a character’s abilities, like strength or speed."

"I see…"

My stomach was still growling from hunger, but having quenched our thirst made a big difference. I started to feel a bit more at ease, and it was nice to be able to chat with Yuzuki.

But that feeling only lasted for a moment.

Suddenly, we heard footsteps approaching. The sound of branches snapping underfoot grew louder and closer.

"What…?"

Yuzuki immediately clung to my arm, and I stood up from the fallen tree, ready to react. From the bushes, a creature about a meter tall leaped out. The first thing I noticed was the single horn protruding from its forehead.

"Whoa!"

Without slowing down, the creature charged at us and leaped. I instinctively brought my left arm up in front of my chest, just as a shock hit my palm.

"Ugh!"

The intense pain and fear surged through me, and in a panic, I kicked the creature away.

"Mizumoto-kun!"

I heard Yuzuki's scream as I glared at the creature in front of me. My kick must have hit the right spot because it hesitated, eyeing me warily instead of attacking again. It looked like a rabbit, but it was the size of a large dog, and the horn on its forehead made it far from cute. Its bared teeth and fierce gaze sent chills down my spine.

"Let's run!"

I grabbed Yuzuki’s arm with my uninjured right hand and started running. My left hand throbbed in pain, but I ignored it, focusing all my energy on escaping. I had a feeling the horn had pierced my palm, but I was determined to believe it was just in my head.

What is up with this forest…?! A giant horned rabbit—is that some kind of monster or magical beast?!

I could sense the creature chasing us, but I didn’t dare look back.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, Yuzuki stumbled, tripping over a twisted tree root. I tightened my grip on her arm to steady her, preventing her from falling. When I glanced back, I saw that the horned rabbit was still right behind us, preparing to lunge again.

"Gyann!"

Out of nowhere, another beast sprang from the side and bit the rabbit’s neck. The rabbit let out a sharp cry before being crushed and killed.

"Wha… What…?"

The new creature resembled a wolf. It stood about 1.5 meters tall, much larger than any wolf I had ever seen on Earth. The wolf cast a glance at us before sinking its teeth into the rabbit’s stomach, devouring it.

"Eek!"

I heard a small, terrified squeal from Yuzuki. Watching the wolf tear out the rabbit’s guts and crunch its bones felt surreal. This was the harsh reality of the forest. For a couple of high school students with no survival experience, just living in the forest was hard enough. Add in these deadly creatures, and it felt downright impossible.

But there was no time to dwell on it.

"We need to get out of here while it’s distracted…"

I placed a hand on Yuzuki’s trembling shoulder, trying to comfort her. Her body shook violently, and tears streamed down her face as she stared blankly into the distance.

"Yuzuki-san!"

I whispered her name, careful not to alert the wolf. Slowly, her eyes focused again.

"Mizumoto-kun…?"

"Let’s get out of here, quickly."

"O-Okay."

We began backing away cautiously, but the wolf turned its head toward us.

"No way…"

I heard Yuzuki’s voice filled with despair, but the wolf didn’t seem interested in chasing us. It simply resumed eating its prey, its attention fully on the rabbit.

Swallowing hard, we silently prayed that the wolf wouldn’t follow us as we hurriedly made our escape from the terrifying scene.