The sun barely made it through the trees.
Light trickled in like it was apologizing for showing up late. The forest floor remained damp, shadowed, and cold. But I didn't mind. I had survived the first day, made a deer less dead, and hadn't been eaten by anything the size of a house.
Progress.
Back at the hut, the vine in the corner had grown again, this time creeping closer to my bedroll like it was checking in on me. I touched it. The glow returned. The warmth ran through my fingertips like a soft hum.
[Vital Thread Stabilized.]
That small comfort was enough to push me into action.
I had no food left. The bread was gone. The canteen was nearly dry. And I still didn't have shoes. If I was going to live out here, I needed more than glowing vines and sarcastic system messages.
So, I made a plan.
Step one: Find water that wouldn't kill me.
Step two: Forage or hunt. Preferably without dying.
Step three: Don't touch anything with teeth unless I knew it liked me.
Simple.
I headed east, where the slope dipped and the air smelled wetter. Every few minutes, the System pulsed faintly.
[Lifeforms Detected: Low threat.]
[Scan Radius: 5 meters.]
I passed bushes, insects, and a suspiciously large mushroom that looked like it could eat me. I gave it a wide berth.
Eventually, I found a stream.
It was shallow, but clean. Pebbles lined the bottom, and I could see fish darting through the water like silver shadows. I filled my canteen, splashed cold water on my face, and drank until my brain stopped screaming.
The System pinged again.
[Flora Detected: Greenroot Bulb – edible.]
I turned. A cluster of small plants huddled near a fallen log, their pale leaves shaped like teardrops. I knelt beside one and tugged gently.
A plump root came loose from the dirt.
I sniffed it.
Earthy. Bitter. But not poisonous, apparently.
I chewed carefully.
It tasted like disappointment and shoe leather.
Still, I swallowed.
A second root followed.
Then a third.
The System chimed.
[Congratulations. You are now slightly less pathetic.]
[Life Energy +1.]
I chuckled under my breath. "Thanks, I guess."
Then the ground beneath me shifted.
Just a little. Just enough.
I stood quickly, scanning the area.
Nothing moved.
But the feeling was back, that tug at the edge of my awareness. Like the threads I felt during healing, only deeper. Older.
Buried.
I knelt again and placed my palm flat against the earth.
The System pulsed hard.
[Hidden Source Detected.]
[Unstable Life Signature – Suppressed.]
[Would you like to investigate? Y/N]
I hesitated.
The answer was obviously no. I was barely qualified to heal scraped knees. I had a glowing hand, no weapons, no backup, and no clue what was buried under the moss.
So naturally, I said, "Yes."
[Initiating root trace...]
The vine on my wrist glowed faintly, then pulsed downward into the soil.
I watched, transfixed, as a faint green line traced itself across the ground like a crack in reality. It snaked forward, curling around rocks and roots, then stopped near a cluster of trees up ahead.
I followed slowly.
The forest grew quieter the deeper I went. No birds. No wind. Even the leaves seemed to hold their breath.
I reached the end of the trail.
A tree stood there, twisted, ancient, and wrong. Its bark was blackened in places, its roots gnarled and sharp. Unlike everything else in the forest, it wasn't glowing.
It wasn't alive.
It was... asleep.
I stepped closer and reached out with my hand.
[Warning: Suppressed Entity Detected.]
[Classification: Dormant.]
[Life Signature: Fragmented.]
"Is this... a dead tree?"
[Incorrect.]
I touched the bark.
And everything exploded.
My vision went white. Then green. Then black.
The forest vanished.
The ground vanished.
For a moment, there was only stillness.
And then—
A heartbeat.
Not mine.
Not human.
It echoed once. Then again.
Then something whispered.
Low. Ancient. Not in words.
A feeling.
Memory. Hunger. Waiting.
And then it was gone.
I hit the ground, coughing, my hand burning. I looked down.
The vine around my wrist had blackened at the tip.
"What the hell was that?" I gasped.
The System didn't answer.
Not at first.
Then—
[New Quest: Roots of the Forgotten.]
[Objective: Uncover the nature of the Dormant Tree.]
[Risk: Unknown.]
[Status: Optional.]
[Reward: Unknown System Upgrade.]
[Warning: Proceed with caution. Entity classified as unstable.]
"Unstable?" I muttered. "Now you tell me?"
No response.
Figures.
I sat back on the grass, heart still racing.
I didn't know what I had touched, or what had touched me back, but it wasn't just a tree. It was something deeper. Older than the forest. Older than the Systems, maybe.
And I had just knocked on its front door.
Wonderful.