I loosely grasped the rough bow with my thumb and index finger pointing outwards and simultaneously drew the bowstring back with my right hand. When the side of my hand brushed against my cheek I knew I was ready to proceed.
Keeping my chest in parallel with the nocked arrow and my elbow straight back, I shifted the weight of the draw from shoulder and arm to back. The muscles in my back tightened, with general relief spreading through the body as the burden had been lifted off the weaker intrinsic muscles in the shoulder.
I was now ready.
I took a second to line up my sight, keeping the sinew-string centerline with the bow and a fixed gaze on the [Northern White Fox] just beyond the forest line. The same [Northern White Fox] that seemed to be perfectly illuminated in the transition between night and day.
As I steadily inhaled I let the bowstring slip cleanly off my finger-tips and followed the arrow's trajectory with my eyes.
It flew true.
The thwack of the bowstring releasing its tension brought a strange satisfying feeling, in essence, it was soothing.
To some, Archery is considered an Art form.
I don't believe they are wrong.
But a moment later I see the fox twitch and jerk upwards, the thud of the arrow masked by the yelp of the fox. Momentary indiscretions in the serenity of the forest, but all things pass.
At the end of my exhale I proclaim to no one in particular, "Alright, clean kill." But before I could utter another syllable I was interrupted by the system message:
[Northern White Fox, Level 6 has been slain!]
[You have gained +78 Experience!]
My first hunt and first successful kill had gone without a hitch; I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited and grinning ear to ear. Though I would also be lying if I said it was my first kill ever in the game, having played in the unreleased version during the Alpha and Beta testing phase of the game's development.
Yeah, I wasn't exactly a first-timer here.
Getting back to my feet, I looked on at the [Northern White Fox] as it lay forever still, thinking to myself how much easier that had gone than the first time I ever tried to kill a creature in-game.
Doing one better, I decided to think out-loud.
After all, in the middle of the deserted northern forests on a bright winter day I had to stave off the boredom between hunts somehow, even if it was entirely crazy to do so.
"Mission accomplished!"
"And I'm almost level 1 whistle~."
Brushing the snow off my knees first, I then placed my [Old Hunting Bow] on my shoulder as if it were a bag of sorts and picked up my remaining [Crude Wooden Arrow x9] to hold in my left hand. Beginners like me without a backpack have to deal with carrying everything by hand.
An unfortunate set of circumstances for the time being.
Walking towards the body of the fox I decided to continue my game of thinking out-loud, "What will you provide me with today, my little [Northern Fox]!" …of course I already knew the answer to that, as a fox didn't drop weapons, armor, or items.
That would be… silly.
"Simply silly should something so satisfying show," oh alliteration how I love thee. If only I were a more talented being, that wouldn't have been so lame. Oh well, the things one comes up with when bored and alone. It's like singing in the shower even though you're tone deaf and monotone.
Can't care when no one is there! Hah ha! As I continued to laugh at myself a sudden chill caused my body to shiver, "Ah damn, its cold, I need to hurry this up."
Speeding up my pace, I retrieved the arrow lodged just below and behind the shoulder of the fox. The arrow had landed cleanly, delivering a near instant death with little pain. After adding the arrow to my collection, I then nonchalantly grabbed the fox's leg and let it dangle from my right hand as I continued on with the hunt. Recycling arrows was economical, and recycling was good for everyone after all.
Well, maybe not for the producers and sellers, but it wasn't like I could afford new arrows.
Losing myself to thought once again as I traveled, I found myself unsure of what the developers were thinking when they designed the starter village that I had selected in the very far "Northern Wastelands."
With my beginner's clothing amounting to an [Old Tattered Short Pants] and [Old Tattered Tight Tunic], I was literally freezing out in the snow. I took no pleasure in masquerading as a male stripper lost in the snow-filled forests of the North.
Was that really the design goal of the developers for players who started in the North? And did I mention that I had no shoes or boots?
My feet were already numb.
An hour out in the cold without any clothing would typically lead to some problems, but thanks to my high Endurance stat I had an abundance of stamina and could endure the temperatures a bit longer than normal. This left me at least another hour before I would succumb to the cold.
Of course, that also meant I would be wasting at least an hour of the critical daylight period as I warmed up by a fire… but that's how the system worked. Life was tough in the North, especially with an eight-hour calendar day cycle. Four hours of sunlight followed by four hours of darkness… it almost forced you to log out of the game, really.
Making my way through the forest in search of more prey, I couldn't help but admire the desolate beauty of the North before me.
The Northern Triangle where I had started was the northern most group of villages on the continent. The Triangle Villages were poor with very few inhabitants and limited development, with each spread roughly ten miles apart while the surrounding areas were considered barren as they provided little if any hunting at all. Those were all negatives for a beginning player.
Out of the entire list of over a hundred starter villages in the game it was rated a terrible 0.5/10… the lowest by far.
Yet in the end I still chose it.
There were certain charms not readily apparent to those looking to simply power level through content. The winter wonderland with its abundance of space and lush trees that decidedly marked the landscape, the rolling mountains to the east that cut through the background opposing the beautiful and open ocean to the west. The peace and serenity one can only find in the solitude of nature, free from all the noise and bustle of the crowded cities, free from people in general.
Yeah, out of a population of nearly 500,000 players on release day I was the first and only player to grace the Northern Triangle with my presence.
I was the only human, the only player character in at least fifty miles if not a hundred.
I really, truly was alone.
Snap.
Freezing in place I quickly scanned my surroundings but could not see anything. I held my breath as I struggled to listen, keeping my eyes wide and at attention, searching for any sign of disturbance, any sign of movement.
Snap.
The noise was getting closer and was to my right, but as I looked at the area in front of me, the area away from me, and the area far off in the distance I could not see a thing.
Snap.
At this point, I set the fox that had been dangling loosely by my side onto the ground and slid my bow off my shoulder. Setting down nine of the ten arrows, I slowly and quietly nocked the arrow and drew my bow.
Standing silently in the snow, my mind began to run through various scenarios before it occurred to me that predators were often far more quiet than prey, but that was no guarantee. Just because I could hear it, didn't make it a rabbit.
Silence had filled the air as the tension grew.
I stood still waiting, waiting with my bow drawn and at the ready. This close to the village I could only expect a rabbit or a fox, but the atmosphere was strange.
Snap.