Richard woke in a foul mood. Not only had he failed to get more beads—he'd even lost the one he already had.

  So much for being smarter than these creatures. When the moment came for fight or flight, he chose flight—sealing his fate to die of starvation. Dejected, he replayed yesterday's events over and over in his mind until he heard the workers arriving. Watching the workers feed the pups one by one, Richard saw more unmoving goblins dragged from the cave. Judging by how weak he felt, his turn wasn't far off. That was assuming he'd even be fed without his necklace.

  When his turn came, Richard resolved not to cower. If the worker tried to drag him away, he'd fight with everything he had. Clenching his fists, he fixed the approaching goblin with the fiercest stare he could muster.

  Setting the gourd down, the worker gave Richard a confused stare. Muttering in annoyance, it rummaged through his bedding, found nothing, then shrugged and carried on with the feeding as if nothing was wrong.

  After the first portion, it paused in thought—then gave Richard a second. Stunned, Richard couldn't think straight, even after the worker walked away.

  "Was all this for nothing?" Richard wondered. Emotionally and physically drained, he let the goop pull him into sleep. The next day was no different—it seemed that in uncertain cases, some goblins simply defaulted to the most common allotment: two portions.

  With the crisis averted, Richard finally had some breathing room. He could let the goop do its work and drift in blissful uselessness—but he knew more challenges were coming. If he wasn't ready, he could die.

  For god's sake, he'd nearly died in his first two weeks. Without luck, his second chance at life would have been over. Steeling himself, Richard focused his mind and thought: 'status'. Like the previous times, a transparent window appeared before him.

  #########################

  General:

  Name: None

  Path: None

  Patron: None

  Stats:

  Body: 2

  Mind: 12

  Spirit: 6

  Exp: 0

  #########################

  It seemed his body parameter had gone up by one. If these numbers were some kind of measurement, it made sense—his body had grown stronger over the past week. He could crawl with some proficiency now, and his senses, like sight and hearing, felt far sharper than before. Richard wasn't a gamer, but this sure felt like some kind of level up. Sure, he'd played a few when he was younger, but he'd always thought of them as a bland imitation of an already boring life. Still, he couldn't ignore the similarities—and if this was a game, he needed to master it at all costs.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Looking around him as the last workers started exiting the cave, Richard reaffirmed his decision: he needed to take his fate into his own hands.

  Richard knew he was still in deep water. The worker had given him two portions this time, but what about the next? He also couldn't be sure if having no beads might affect him in ways he couldn't predict. To fix that, he needed another necklace. The easiest option was stealing from a one-beaded pup, but that would bring him back to where he started. A three-bead necklace was out of the question too—it would look suspicious on his gaunt frame. With no other choice, Richard grabbed his sharp stone from last time and began searching for the string he'd lost yesterday.

  Though his memory of yesterday was hazy, Richard easily found the large pup with a taste for beads. Looking darkly at its sleeping form, Richard sighed and looked away.

  Searching the area, he saw no sign of the string. And with no better ideas, Richard began methodically combing the ground. The effort drained him far more than expected, sapping both strength and will. With no luck, he abandoned the search and moved to plan B: stealing a two-bead necklace. He disliked the thought of dooming another intelligent being, but after yesterday's fear and desperation, his morals had grown to be far more flexible.

  Richard picked a smaller two-bead pup near his sleeping spot. Close enough that he could observe how the workers handled one without a necklace, but not so close that suspicion might fall on him. Richard had no way of knowing whether the goblins could detect his crime, so playing it safe seemed reasonable.

  Determined, Richard crawled toward his mark and carefully sawed at the necklace with his sharp stone. This time, luck favored him—he freed it without issue, and hastily crawled away.

  Back at his spot, he studied the necklace. He should have felt proud, even triumphant, but all he felt was a dull ache in his gut.

  "Maybe this world isn't so game-like after all," Richard thought grimly. Still, he fastened it around his neck and, with some effort, tied the severed ends together.

  With the task complete, exhaustion finally claimed him.