Hacking the Game Didn't Go as Intended

CHAPTER 148: A Protector Sent, a Mystery Left

The sun was directly overhead now.

Daisuke looked up through the tree branches, shielding his eyes from the sunbeams. He tried moistening his parched lips, but even the saliva on his tongue had almost dried out. Belatedly, he noted that the pup he had driven away not too long ago had shamelessly returned. Despite the creature's evident fatigue and injury, he had the hind leg of a Horned Rabbit secured in his small jaws, strenuously dragging the motionless game toward him.

Daisuke's eyes quivered. "You... and even though I... Argh!" he tousled his hair aggressively, utterly remorseful. "Goddammit. I really don't like being indebted to anyone. I guess... you can stick around until I pay you back."

The tiny canine barked once, as if in glee, and then he collapsed with a whine.

"Hey!" Daisuke threw himself forward. "Are you all right?"

The pup whimpered.

"Jeez, you sure know how to guilt trip a poor guy."

The tiny tyke weakly licked the hand that tenderly patted his head. Meanwhile, from the cover of the brushes, crimson-red eyes watched the tender scene unfold. Despite her own hunger and loneliness, despite the profound yet encrypted voice in her heart and soul crying out, urging her to stay, the girl turned away. With each thud of her bared feet on the leaf-strewn ground, her carefully crafted mask of composure shattered, and she cried, memories swirling in her mind:

A beautiful couple loomed close, their presence haunting. The man's once-handsome face was marred by a deep frown, lines of worry cutting through his features. The woman beside him carried a sorrowful gaze, her cheeks stained with tears as she turned away, leaving a small child behind—her heart torn in two. Suddenly, the memory shifted, blurring into the haze of towering flames that licked at the night sky, their ferocity consuming everything in its path.

Amid the chaos stood a massive beast, its formidable form a dark silhouette against the fire, fiercely shielding the little girl from the encroaching destruction. The beast's protective stance remained unyielding, its oceanic eyes burning with an instinct to defend as it faced the looming peril, numbering in the hundreds.

Dismissing the painful memory, the girl looked around warily. The forest never seemed so dark and suffocating. Without her loyal canine companion at her side, this was the very first time she had been truly alone, and the solitude gripped her with an unfamiliar terror. Clutching her scarf, she tried to reassure herself that everything would be alright.

But the world was merciless, especially to those who ventured alone, and it wasn't long before the unforgiving forces of nature, misfortune, and fate indiscriminately bared their teeth. At the forest's edge, several pot-bellied Goblins lurked within the underbrush.

Sniffing the air with a grunt, the fiends immediately detected the unfamiliar scent of a stranger who had unwittingly wandered into their territory. They had been lying in wait for a more substantial prey to approach the watering hole, but fortune had favored them today. Instead of a more challenging quarry, a defenseless child had strayed into their reach. Her frail frame, though insufficient to fill their bellies for long, promised an easy meal—one that would require little effort on their part.

Terrified, the girl froze in her tracks, her chest heaving as fear and panic coiled its icy hands around her. The Goblins slowly closed in, their disproportionate forms barely concealed by scraps of filthy leather and patchwork armor. They clutched crude weapons—rusted blades, jagged clubs, and splintered spears. Their yellowed eyes gleamed with malice, and their twisted mouths drooled ravenously as they cackled and jeered in their guttural tongue.