Felix came to, his skull pulsing with a sharp, relentless ache. His eyelids felt like lead as he pried them open. "Where…what happened?" he groaned, shifting slightly, only to be met by fresh waves of pain that coursed through his body. "Ugh... damn..." A dry chuckle slipped out, quickly turning into a cough that left his ribs throbbing. "At least I'm not dead."

  Taking a few deep breaths, he flexed his fingers. Sharp jolts shot up his arms, but nothing felt broken. Testing his legs, he wiggled his toes, bending each knee slowly. Another sigh—this time, relieved. "All intact..." He scanned his surroundings, taking in the dense forest around him. Towering trunks and a canopy of large, green leaves filtered sunlight into a dim, greenish glow, the scent of earth and grass filling his senses. Laying his head back on the ground, he closed his eyes, revelling in the cool shade, the comforting signs of life around him. "This isn't anything like Tron..."

  After a while, he sat up again, wincing as the pain flared. I'm not moving anytime soon... He opened his map, noting the jagged line showing his frantic escape path. He'd left the grasslands and entered a forest. Just then, a faint flicker at the corner of his display caught his eye. The title field in his character window flashed softly. Focusing on it, he saw two new entries.

  'New title - Steadfast Strider. New title - Escapist Of Fate.'

  Felix's eyebrows shot up. "Titles? Really?" The moment he focused on each title, a description appeared.

  Steadfast Strider: You have braved a perilous path with unwavering resolve. Increases unarmoured movement speed. Agility +1; Agility +2 when wearing light or no armour.

  Escapist of Fate: By breaking free from the chains of destiny, you've strengthened your soul and heightened your reflexes in mortal danger. Soul +1; Agility +1 when in danger of death.

  "Whoa..." He scanned each description again, shaking his head in disbelief. Pride flickered briefly through the pain, and he grinned. "Guess that bastard toad gave me something, at least."

  Deciding, he chose Steadfast Strider. "Increasing my agility will help me run... probably, and that's already saved my ass once... no idea what 'Soul' does, anyway, so I guess I'll leave it." Just then, his stomach growled loudly, pulling him from his thoughts. "Alright, food first," he muttered, hauling himself to his feet with a grunt. Every inch of him protested the movement.

  Then, as he was closing the window, he noticed the button labelled Inventory. His pulse quickened. "Could it...?" With a glimmer of hope, he opened it, nearly weeping. Inside it were three items.

  'Item - Linen shorts, Type - Clothing, Description - Light linen shorts designed to keep movement unrestricted while giving mild protection against the cold.

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  Item - Pack of travel rations, Type - Food, Description - Rations consisting of hardtack and jerky. One pack of rations typically lasts for 7 days at the rate of 1 ration per day.

  Item - Healing Balm, Type - Ointment, Description - An ointment that can heal minor injuries over an hour. Must be applied directly to injuries. Should not be consumed.'

  Felix nearly collapsed in relief, eyes fixed on the healing balm. "Thank you, inventory gods."

  Reaching out to grab the balm, Felix's hand passed right through it, leaving him blinking in surprise. Pulling his hand back, he frowned. "Oh, come on." With a sigh, he muttered, "Alright... so I can't just grab it." He focused harder on the balm, hand extended, but still—nothing.

  'Help: Items can be summoned into the user's empty hand.'

  Felix groaned, irritation lacing his tone. "For fuck's sake..." Focusing on the balm once more, he extended his hand, palm up. There was a faint blue flash, and then—"Ha! It worked!" With relief, he knelt and gingerly smeared the paste over his wounds.

  The balm smelled sweet and minty, but felt thick like goose fat. His injuries stung sharply at first, the tingling mint filling each cut, followed by an odd sensation as his flesh slowly began knitting together. Once he'd covered the last cut, the tin was empty. He peered into it, mildly disappointed. "So... it just leaves me with an empty tin? It's kinda irritating how much that makes sense." With a shrug, he screwed the lid back on and focused on putting it back into his inventory. It disappeared.

  Sighing in relief as the balm soothed his muscles, he then summoned the linen shorts. Feeling the soft fabric, he was pleasantly surprised. "These are actually pretty nice," he muttered, rubbing the material between his fingers. Then he glanced down at his blood and balm covered body and paused. "Maybe I'll wait…" Returning the shorts to his inventory, he slowly sat back down and pulled out the rations “Not like anyone's anyway

  The package was a hefty bundle wrapped in brown paper, secured with twine. Opening it up, he found smaller, individually wrapped packets. "Pre-packaged, huh? Convenient." Taking one out, he stored the rest back in his inventory.

  'Item - Rations, Type - Food, Count - 6, Description - Rations consisting of hardtack and jerky.'

  Tearing open the smaller package, Felix inspected the contents: a single dry biscuit and a piece of jerky. "Not very generous, I guess," he muttered, sniffing the scentless food. He took a tentative bite of each. The biscuit was like cardboard, dry and caking up in his mouth, while the jerky was tough and rubbery, wedging between his teeth. "I don't know what I was expecting, honestly." He shrugged and wolfed them both down. Surprisingly, his hunger dissipated almost immediately. "Wow... the taste? Definitely not great, but damn did that hit the spot."

  Letting out a sigh of satisfaction, he closed his inventory. Glancing over himself, he noticed the balm was gradually disappearing, absorbing into his skin. "Wow. that's really fast," he muttered absently before truly taking in the sight of his body. "I seriously need a shower." He lifted his arm, gave a tentative sniff, and recoiled with a cough. "Like, really badly. Then maybe I can finally put on some clothes."

  Stretching his sore muscles, he groaned, then scanned the surrounding trees. "Right... next on the list: sleep." He eyed one of the nearby trunks and squinted into its thick branches. "Guess I'll sleep up there. That's what people do in movies, right?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Can't believe my survival instincts are coming from The Hunger Games."

  With a sigh, he shook his head and started climbing, determined to get some well-earned rest.