Vicious Dog

The moment he leaped out of the grass, Garen's concerns vanished.

Because the dog in front of him was nothing like some cute little pet.

At least, Garen had never seen a cute little pet that stood over three meters tall on all fours.

But what followed was fear of the unknown beast.

Garen froze in place, the thick wooden club in his hand hanging stiffly in midair.

Compared to that huge dog, the club as thick as a bowl seemed far too small, and even Garen's knotted muscles appeared insignificant.

And—

What terrified Garen even more was the big dog's appearance:

Fluffy, slightly curly brown fur; eye sockets that were almost entirely hidden beneath the fur; and a red tongue lolling weakly out of its mouth...

Was this dog a Teddy Dog?

A chill ran down Garen's spine.

Garen had never owned a Teddy Dog. The companion of his childhood in his previous life had been an honest, obedient Chinese Rural Dog.

But he had personally witnessed the terror of Teddy Dogs.

Once, he had gone to a friend's house to hang out.

Unaware of Tai Ri Tian's might, he had nearly been mounted by his friend's Teddy Dog.

The feeling had been an absolute nightmare.

And this gigantic Teddy, more than three meters tall, was simply a super-sized, unbeatable version of that nightmare.

But how could there be such a huge Teddy Dog...

Maybe it only looked like one.

Garen comforted himself that way, but he nervously swallowed and quietly took two steps back on his nimble legs.

"Woof?"

Big Teddy had already noticed Garen.

It abruptly turned around, fixing its gaze on Garen's powerful, muscular body, with so much bare flesh exposed.

"Woof woof woof!"

Big Teddy's breathing suddenly grew heavier, while its tongue and tail began wagging faster as though they had been stimulated by something.

Its eyes even revealed distinctly human greed and desire without any attempt at concealment, as though two lecherous little hearts were about to pop out of them.

"What the hell?"

Garen was so frightened that he blurted out a curse.

Being stared at like that by a dog even more terrifyingly large than an elephant was not a pleasant experience.

The dog in front of him was one hundred percent in heat!

And there were no other living creatures around besides him. It was obvious who this huge Teddy's target was.

Garen did not run, because he understood:

Although he was now something of a little Superman, this Big Teddy clearly was no ordinary vicious dog either.

And when humans faced a vicious dog chasing and biting them, running was useless.

If he gathered his Courage and showed some "killing intent," perhaps he could scare off this dumb vicious dog.

So Garen gripped the wooden club tightly, swung it through the air twice with murderous force, then shouted in a booming voice:

"Come on! Take me head-on!"

Big Teddy paused for one second, then sprang into the air.

Garen was utterly dumbfounded.

Dogs were naturally incredible jumpers, and their leaping ability became even more terrifying at an elephant-sized scale.

The dozens of meters between Garen and Big Teddy were crossed in a single bound, and the massive dog descended from above onto Garen's head.

Garen felt as though the entire sky had gone dark.

He lacked experience in fighting, and he especially lacked experience fighting "elephants."

So much so that, at this critical moment of life and death, Garen could not help but freeze for a brief instant.

And the ferocious Big Teddy seized that chance to leap onto Garen, knocking his tall, sturdy body to the ground.

Although Big Teddy moved swiftly, it exercised considerable restraint.

It did not bite him with its most lethal weapon, nor did it slice him with its sharp claws. It merely pressed a soft giant paw lightly against Garen's bare chest, then impatiently lowered its head and gave Garen a lick with its wet, slobbery tongue.

Garen cursed angrily and finally snapped out of his shock.

He realized the seriousness of the situation:

Resist. He had to resist!!

He absolutely could not let this Teddy Dog find an opening!!

Flames of rage ignited in Garen's eyes, blood surged through his chest, and an ordinary, unremarkable little civilian finally found the dignity of a warrior!

A tremendous strength far beyond his usual limits erupted from Garen's powerful body. He rose, shook free of Big Teddy's paw, and finally drove a punch into the corner of Big Teddy's drooling mouth.

A dull thud rang out, and the corner of Big Teddy's mouth was punched out of shape.

"Woof!"

It howled in pain, no longer bothering to cherish the "little beauty" beneath it. One enormous paw instinctively swung viciously at Garen.

The tall Garen was immediately slapped away like a ball.

When that giant paw struck him, Garen felt as though he had been hit by a truck.

While Garen's body was still suspended in midair, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind:

Detected that the host has taken combat damage.

Combat System unlocked.

Data Mode activated.

Garen's body, somewhat weakened by hunger, was instantly filled with his full reserves of energy.

And a familiar virtual reality interface abruptly appeared in Garen's field of vision:

Minimap, Skill Bar, Experience Bar, Avatar, Health Bar.

There was no Attribute Bar or Equipment Bar, however.

As for a mana bar, Garen did not have one to begin with.

The outward changes were even more dazzling:

A brilliant light suddenly flashed over Garen's nearly naked body.

When the light faded, Garen was wearing a magnificent suit of armor, and a broad sword had appeared in his hand.

But Garen had no time to examine his armor, nor any interest in the Combat Interface that had suddenly appeared in his vision, because—

He was still flying through the air in an uncontrollable arc.

And Garen's current situation was extremely dire:

In the direction he was flying stood a Tall Monster Tree that did not exist on Earth.

The entire tree was covered in sharp spikes, each one gleaming with a metallic sheen.

Its branches jutted out in every direction, like an enormous mountain of blades.

And Garen, sent flying by Big Teddy's slap, was hurtling uncontrollably toward that mountain of blades.

Rip—

After a crisp tearing sound like fabric ripping apart, Garen's entire body was left hanging upon that mountain of blades formed by sharp spikes.

The sharp spikes pierced through Garen's heavy armor and sank deep into his internal organs.

His hands and feet were also thoroughly impaled by the long spikes.

Even more terrifyingly, one spike happened to pass through Garen's eye socket and plunge directly into the most vulnerable part of the human body: the brain.

No one could survive such an injury—

Except the protagonist.

"I..."

Garen, with a wooden spike still stuck in his brain, said in astonishment, "I didn't die?"

Not only had he survived, he did not feel any pain at all.

The only effect of the wooden spike entering his brain through his eye socket was that it had blinded one of Garen's eyes.

No, there were some other effects as well...

Garen examined the system interface he had just awakened and saw that the Health Bar above had somehow lost a portion.

And it was only a small portion.

For a game character, that was not even damage worth noticing, much less a fatal wound.

But for an ordinary human made of flesh and blood, having one's brain pierced by such a sharp, thick foreign object—

That was enough to settle down in an urn.

Garen suddenly understood:

Was this what Data Mode meant?

Just like a Character Model in a game, all vitality had been converted into HP. There was no such thing as a "vital point."

Even if the brain or heart was struck, the damage would be judged according to the force of the attack.

The same attack would deal the same damage whether it hit the foot or the head.

Garen was amazed. Ignoring the fact that spikes were still piercing straight through him, he eagerly began studying his system:

Other than lacking an Equipment Bar and Attribute Bar, it was generally the same as in the game.

There was even a small "1" written on his Avatar, representing his current level.

Only one skill in the Skill Bar was lit up: Garen's innate Passive Skill.

Perseverance (Passive):

"If Garen does not take any damage for 4 seconds, he restores 8% of his maximum HP every 5 seconds."

This skill description seemed a little different from the one in the game.

Garen found it somewhat strange, but did not dwell on it too much.

A flickering golden light also shimmered over the darkened Skill Bar. This was the signal that he had one Skill Point available to learn a skill.

Without a moment's hesitation, Garen first learned the Q Skill, which was useful both for attacking and fleeing:

Fatal Strike:

"Garen removes all slow effects from himself and gains 30% movement speed for 3.5 seconds.

For the next 4.5 seconds, his next Normal Attack deals additional damage and silences the target for 1.5 seconds."

Wasn't that the effect only available when the skill was fully leveled?

Garen finally noticed something was wrong:

He had only put one point into the skill, yet it already had the max-level effect from the game.

Also, why was there no specific damage value in this skill description?

As Garen pondered this, the mechanical voice of the system suddenly sounded in his mind:

"The specific damage dealt by skills is determined by multiple factors, including the host's physical qualities, force exerted, and the opponent's defensive ability. The host may independently explore the techniques for using skills."

Garen roughly understood. Reality was not a game, after all. This unscientific cheat of his had to compromise with reality in many ways.

"Then why did I get the max-level effect after putting only one point into the skill?"

Garen asked in his mind again.

"This question does not require an answer. The host may investigate it independently."

The system responded emotionlessly, then fell silent again.

Garen asked several more pointless questions in succession, but the system acted as though it had crashed and refused to respond.

Apparently, this thing was not really Artificial Intelligence. Only questions judged to "require an answer" could make the program react.

Hanging from the spiked tree, Garen became so engrossed in exploring the New World of his system's functions that he could not pull himself away.

He even forgot that dozens of spikes were still stuck in his body, and he also forgot...

"Huh?"

Garen, absorbed in his mental world, finally came back to his senses. "What's biting me from behind?"

"..."

Garen fell silent, and the hand gripping his sword hilt suddenly tightened with tremendous force:

"Damn it!"

"I forgot to kill that Teddy!"

PS: Ahem... everyone says I went a little overboard with the Teddy Dog joke at the beginning, and that it's kind of toxic...

But it involves too much content, so it really isn't easy to revise.

After Chapter 20, I'll send it off with a boxed lunch. The reading experience will get much better.

To borrow a line from Law-dono: Long live understanding~

(;￣ェ￣)