At around two meters tall, it wouldn’t have seemed that big before. But now they were both cubs, and even stacked on top of each other, they’d barely reach fifty centimeters. They were a giant and two tiny little things.

The Big-Leaf Monster stared at them with blood-red eyes. Its huge, ragged mouth hung open, drool dripping from it. It had already decided the two fox cubs in front of it were food.

“Big bro, I’m kind of scared... I feel like it’s going to eat us.”

Nai looked at the ugly green Big-Leaf Monster in front of her and, for some reason, felt afraid. The feeling welled up from deep inside her. She couldn’t face it as calmly as she would in a game.

She hid behind You, trembling slightly.

“Heh, to be honest, big bro’s kind of scared too. The deep-down kind. Nai, there’s no time. When I say so, run as fast as you can toward that clump of grass. I’ll follow right behind you.”

Three, two, one...

“Run!”

At You’s shout, Nai shook herself all over, then sprinted on all fours toward the patch of grass behind them. You followed right after her.

“Damn, running on all fours feels so awkward.”

He tried running, but his body felt uncoordinated and clumsy.

The Big-Leaf Monster saw its two meals speeding away and let out a loud, strange roar.

Maybe it was trying to work itself up. Maybe it was just instinct. Once the roar stopped...

Its whole body dropped low. Its powerful limbs drove its big hands into the dirt, and it took off on all fours.

Patter, patter~

Catching the two siblings, now turned into little foxes, was easy for the Big-Leaf Monster. A few bounds carried it several meters at a time. After doing that ten or so times, it caught up to them in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh, whoosh~

A pair of dark, blackish-green hands rose and came crashing down. You, running behind Nai, felt the faint whistle of wind.

“Look out!”

Nai was running ahead. In a flash of worry, she glanced back—and saw the monster’s attack. She immediately dug in her paws and stopped.

She whipped around and threw herself into You, knocking him aside just as he was running at full speed.

Smack!

But the monster’s hand sent Nai flying, and the Big-Leaf Monster itself toppled over from the force of its momentum.

“Yip!”

Nai’s HP plummeted. A message flashed into her mind: HP -10. Status: Weakened.

“Nai!”

You caught sight of the black furball that had been knocked flying. That was his little sister! How could she take a blow like that and be okay?!

He immediately took off after her, bounding forward on all fours...

“Oh no, that’s bad!”

The moment You saw the battered little ball of fur, he gently picked up his weakened sister in his mouth and ran into the grass behind them.

By then, the Big-Leaf Monster had gotten back up and charged into the grass after them.

“Heh... stupid big bro. You actually fell for such a basic trick.”

Nai was extremely weak now, her eyes only half-open.

“Nai, hang in there! Big bro will find a safe place for us soon.”

To escape the Big-Leaf Monster chasing them, You didn’t care what lay ahead. He stuck to places with dense branches, hoping they’d slow down the monster’s strange roars behind him.

But with his sister on his back, and his own speed so slow to begin with, the Big-Leaf Monster caught up to them with ease.

“Raaagh!”

The monster’s roar signaled that it was attacking again.

Smack!

This time, You couldn’t dodge. The blow sent his whole body flying. A sharp pain shot through his back, so intense he nearly cried out.

But he had to hold it in. If he was stupid enough to open his mouth and cry out in pain, Nai would surely get hurt again.

His body flew through the air for a short distance before hitting the ground. A message appeared: Ding! HP -10. Status: Weakened.

You’s eyes were half-open now too, and his vision had gone a little black-and-white, just like in the GE game.

“No! I have to get up. I don’t want to die like this.”

You struggled to his feet.

“Big bro, put me down. When I was flying through the air just now, I saw a little hollow in a tree to the left. We should be able to hide there.”

“Nai, are you okay?”

Hearing Nai’s weak voice, You gently set her down.

“Mm, I’m okay. Let’s get into the tree hollow before the monster finds us.”

Nai pointed toward the hollow with her little paw.

“Okay.”

The two siblings didn’t waste any more time. They hurried toward the tree hollow.