Крик все ще луною лунав у л?с?, але Кано вже впав на дерево. Його оч? широко розплющен?. Дихання уривчасте. Сорочка просякнута наскр?зь. Все його т?ло тремт?ло, але не в?д холоду.

  В?н щойно побачив те, чого жоден смертний н?коли не повинен. Щось не призначене для людських очей. Його пальц? вчепилися к?гтями в бруд, н?би ч?пляючись за саму реальн?сть. Але в?н пробуксовував. Ковзання...

  Здавалося, що в?н все ще пада?.

  ?Я в ?ншому св?т??. "Це не сон. Чи не галюцинац?я. Цей... ? реальним?.

  Перед його очима все ще танцювали обриси того, що в?н бачив: р?ки кров?, вогонь, що пожирав м?ста, оч?, що бачили його наскр?зь, ? голос, що виносив вирок.

  Кано з?рвався на ноги ? закричав у порожнечу:

  — До б?са вас ус?х!

  Його голос грюкнув об дерева ? повернувся н? з чим. Т?льки тиша.

  — Я зак?нчив! — вив в?н, як поранений зв?р. — Я н?коли про це не просив! Ти мене чу?ш?! Я н?коли не хот?ла цього життя! Я н?коли не хот?ла влади! Збережи сво? прокляте спас?ння, свою м?с?ю, свою долю, сво? шанси!

  — Мен? набридли ви вс?!

  В?н затулив обличчя руками ? впав на землю. Його серце калатало, як бойовий барабан. У вухах у нього зарев?ла кров. А в грудях — порожнеча. Але в його душ?...

  Т?льки одна думка:

  "Що ти робиш? На кого ти кричиш? Тут н?кого нема?".

  В?н розплющив оч?. Пов?льно озирнувся.

  Л?с. В?тер. Тихий шелест трави.

  ?Я не вмер?.

  Глибокий вдих. Пауза. Видих. ?... тиша.

  "Я живий. ? це... це акт?.

  В?н об?йняв себе, н?би намагаючись з?брати розтрощен? шматки думок.

  "Я не знаю чому. Не знаю за що. Але якщо я тут — тод? я маю вир?шувати?.

  Його оч? загострилися. Його погляд зупинився.

  Кано п?дняв голову.

  "Я б?льше н?коли не п?дкорюся. Будь-кому. За що завгодно. Я буду робити те, що вважаю правильним. А якщо комусь це не сподоба?ться — в?н може потрапити до пекла?.

  Пауза. Тиша.

  То...

  Urrrrrrgh. Зрадницьке гарчання з живота потягло його назад на землю.

  Kano leaned forward and groaned:

  — Oh, of course… Hunger.Of all things, hunger still works just fine.

  He rolled his eyes.

  "Alright. I'll find something. No way I'm dying of starvation on day two. That would be the worst punchline in history."

  He scanned the nearby bushes and quickly spotted a cluster of small berries.They were deep blue, glistening under the sun, and gave off a faint, sweet aroma.

  Kano narrowed his eyes.

  "Looks like blueberries. Or, you know, the kind that tricks you with a nice smell before you start hallucinating, turn into a frog, or worse."

  He crouched down, plucked one, and slowly raised it to his nose.The scent was pleasant.

  "Okay… survival 101: If you wanna know if something's edible, first, crush it and see if your skin melts."

  Carefully, he squashed the berry between his fingers and dabbed a bit of juice on his wrist.A few seconds passed.Nothing.

  He waited longer — still nothing.

  With a resigned sigh, he touched the tiniest drop to the tip of his tongue.No bitterness.No itching.

  "Alright… either it's safe— or it's one of those poisons that works so slowly you don't even notice it killing you. Great."

  He took a deep breath, popped the berry in his mouth, and started chewing.The taste was a little tart, but overall? Not bad.He nodded to himself.

  "Well, it's not a meat pie, but it'll do. Better than dying thirsty and starving."

  Quickly gathering a few more, he tied the hem of his shirt into a makeshift pouchand continued walking.

  But he hadn't gone more than a few steps when he saw it— a stream.

  Clear water shimmered gently, and tiny fish flickered in its depth like silver threads.

  Kano froze.

  "Food. Real food. And it's not gonna vanish like that damn rabbit yesterday!Plus fresh water! What else does a man need to survive?"

  He dropped to his knees and took a sip from the stream, the coolness flooding his mouth.Then he looked around, eyes darting for anything he could turn into a tool.

  By the bank, he spotted some rge rocks.One of them was heavy, smooth, with a sharp edge.

  He picked it up and weighed it in his hand.

  "Alright. New pn: I throw the rock, hit a fish—bam, breakfast. Genius."

  Then he paused.

  "Wait... that's dumb. In games, you just tie a stick to a rock and—bam—instant spear."

  He grabbed a broken branch nearby and, after a minute of improvising, ended up with a half-decent pointy stick.

  He stepped cautiously into the water, eyes focused on the fish darting zily through the current.

  They had no idea.

  Kano narrowed his eyes.

  "Okay… steady… aim…"

  He jabbed the spear with all the precision of a caffeinated squirrel.

  SPLASH!

  Water exploded outward.Ripples danced across the surface— the fish?

  Gone.

  Vanished like ghosts in fog.

  Kano stood frozen in pce.

  Then groaned—long and low.

  "I… I didn't even come close. What the hell was that, Kano?! You just stab down and hit a fish! What were you doing in gym css all your life—missing the floor?!"

  He ran both hands down his face, clenched his jaw, and gripped the spear again.

  "Okay. No problem. I got this. One more try."

  He straightened up, focused, stepped a bit deeper, and struck again.

  SPLASH!

  The fish fled again—just like that.Gone.

  Kano clenched his fists.

  "I HATE THIS. I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT!"

  He stomped out of the water, kicked the stone he'd used to sharpen his spear, and let out a long, exasperated breath.

  His stomach growled—again.

  "Alright, Universe, I get it. No fish today. Back to berries."

  Muttering under his breath, he scraped together the st pieces of his dignity, wiped his face, and headed back toward camp.

  He dropped to the ground with a grunt, wiped his forehead again, and stared into the void.

  "Seriously? I can't hunt. I can't fish. What a phenomenal start to my new life."

  His gaze wandered to his pitiful shelter.It was more of a suggestion than a structure.Even the wind seemed too embarrassed to knock it down.

  "If I don't want to freeze to death or get eaten by some woodnd freak, I need to reinforce that mess."

  Finding some thicker branches, he started to strengthen the frame.A few minutes of hard work, a couple of accidental headbutts into branches, a sprinkle of cursing— and at st, something that resembled stability.

  Kano exhaled hard, leaning against a tree.

  "Alright. At least it won't colpse from a dirty look now."

  He tossed a few berries into his mouth and stared out at the forest.The shadows deepened, and the sounds of the woods began to shift.

  Night was ciming the world.

  "God, I hope there are people in this world. Or at least something that talks. Because if it keeps going like this…"

  His eyes nded on a patch of ground where a small creature had once sat.Its tracks were still fresh.

  He knelt, running a finger across the marks.

  "What was that? Just a random animal… or something else?"

  "Or maybe I'm just paranoid. Seeing signs where there are none."

  His stomach growled again, louder this time.

  He sighed deeply.

  "Okay. Philosophy can wait. Food first, existential crisis ter."

  He pulled out the rest of the berries and tossed a few more into his mouth, chewing methodically.

  "Great. It's official now— I'm a herbivore."

  But one question refused to leave him.

  "How long can I actually live like this?"

  He leaned back and stared up at the sky.

  Silence.

  The forest kept on living, uncaring, indifferent to his presence.

  And then— a thought, sharp and sudden, broke through the fog.

  "I need to find people. Or anyone who can speak. I can't keep wandering these woods forever, hoping some magic meat pie falls from the sky."

  He looked around.

  Trees.Bushes.The stream, still gurgling calmly.

  No sign of civilization.

  But water...

  Water always leads somewhere.

  "People build near rivers. If there's even a hint of civilization in this world—it'll be along the stream."

  His eyes sharpened.

  "Alright then. Time to move."

  He rose to his feet, rolled his shoulders, grabbed his makeshift spear, and took his first steady step forward.

  The forest may have tried to keep him trapped— but he had no intention of staying.

  Kano walked along the stream, eyes wide, scanning every shadow and rustle.The forest still looked endless—like a green ocean with no shore in sight.

  "Come on… just give me something. A signpost? 'Vilge this way, forest monsters to the left'? A magic road sign? Anything?"

  He was tired— bone-deep tired— but he didn't allow himself to stop.His legs ached from sleeping on the ground, his arms throbbed from fighting with branches during shelter construction, and his stomach…

  "Yeah, yeah, I get it. Real food needed. Thanks, Captain Obvious."

  But then—he froze.

  Ahead of him was a path.Narrow, almost hidden between the trees, but undeniably made by someone.

  Kano stared at it.

  "Well, now… this is new."

  He crouched down and touched the dirt.

  Footprints.

  "Definitely not animals. Too even. Too... human."

  His heart began to race.He stood up, stared again at the path— then took a step forward.

  "This is it. My chance. I'm not alone in this world."

  The trail led deeper into the woods.Kano moved slowly, each step feeling more important than the st— as if one wrong move might scare civilization away.

  There were snapped branches, boot prints in the soil, scattered leaves torn from the path.

  "Someone's been here. And not too long ago."

  A smile crept onto his face.

  "Finally. Finally, some answers."

  He pressed on, unaware of what waited ahead.He moved carefully, trying not to make noise.The forest around him had gone… too quiet.

  And then— snoring.

  Loud, unmistakable snoring.

  "What the hell kind of monster is that?!"

  Kano froze, gripping his stick like a club.

  The snoring came again— so loud it made the leaves shiver.

  "If it's a bear, I swear I'll just lie down next to it and go to sleep. At least I'll die in my dreams."

  He gently pushed aside a bush and— there was a person.

  Well, an ELF.

  Kano blinked.

  Messy blond hair.Unbuttoned shirt.Empty bottle clutched in one hand...And snoring like the fate of the world couldn't possibly concern him.

  Kano took a deep breath.

  "Alright, checklist. Long ears? Yep. Cssic noble features? Yep. Drunk face? Absolutely. Congratutions, Kano. You've found your first intelligent lifeform. And he's an alcoholic."

  He nudged the elf's leg with his foot.

  — Hey. Elf. You alive in there?

  The elf mumbled something incomprehensible and rolled over with all the grace of a sack of potatoes.

  "Fantastic. He drank himself to death. What kind of bloody world is this?!"

  Kano ran his fingers through his hair, let out a heavy sigh, and looked up at the sky.

  "Okay. Two options. Either I keep walking and leave this guy here, or I drag his half-dead ass along and pray he can tell me where the hell I am."

  Kano took a deep breath.

  "I mean… I'm not gonna abandon the first living elf I meet, right? He might have answers!"

  With that noble (and slightly irrational) thought, Kano grabbed the drunk elf by the arms and started dragging him along the trail.

  "Damn it, you're heavy! Is that magic weight, or just a hundred years of wine?"

  The elf mumbled in his sleep.

  "I… am a mage… and I'm young… and I drank… for a century… just… one more sip…"

  Kano sighed. Deeply. From the soul.

  "Fantastic. A drunk elf bard. What's next, a talking mushroom with daddy issues?"

  He hauled the elf through bushes, over grass, tripped on roots, cursed at trees, and nearly dumped him on the spot at least ten times.

  But eventually—finally—he reached his clearing.

  He let out a massive sigh of relief and unceremoniously dropped the elf beside his sorry excuse for a shelter.

  "There! I've done my one good deed for the day!"

  Kano wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked down at the elf, who had sprawled out blissfully— arms wide, face peaceful, completely unaware he'd just been dragged half a kilometer through the wilderness.

  Kano sat down, arms crossed, and stared at his "rescued" prize.

  "Alright, buddy. Here's hoping that when you wake up, you'll sing less and talk more—like, tell me where I am, and what kind of insane world this is."

  He gnced up at the night sky. Stars had begun to bloom across the velvet darkness.

  "I wanted to find intelligent life… And I did. It's just not exactly... functioning at the moment."

  He gave a soft chuckle, shook his head, and took the st sip of water cupped in his palms.

  "Tomorrow's a new day. And something tells me… it's going to be interesting."