Not A Comfortable Night

After barely surviving her berry-induced near-death experience, Risa decided it was time for Step Two of her Totally Epic Isekai Adventure: find a place to sleep before something eats me.

Unfortunately, the only available “shelter” was the tree she had just suffered under.

She sighed and leaned against it.

“Well, this is fine. I love sleeping outdoors. With no blanket. Or fire. Or protection against whatever eldritch horrors live in this stupid world.”

A distant wolf howled.

Risa exhaled through her nose. “Right. Of course. Why wouldn’t that happen.”

She scanned the area. No weapons. No food. No allies.

Her only options were:

Climb a tree and risk falling to her death.

Stay on the ground and definitely die.

Accept her fate and haunt Aila out of spite.

Risa considered option three for a long moment before reluctantly choosing option one.

She grabbed the lowest branch and hoisted herself up. It was harder than she expected.

“Wow. I really should’ve done more PE.”

After much struggling (and a few embarrassing near-falls), she finally settled on a thick branch. It wasn’t comfortable, but at least it was above ground-level murder range.

She stared up at the sky, sighing.

Somewhere, Aila was probably sleeping in a soft bed, surrounded by adoring villagers, basking in the glory of her Chosen One-ness.

Meanwhile, Risa was a homeless tree goblin.

She closed her eyes. “I swear, if I get isekai’d into another world after this one, I’m demanding a refund.”

The Not-So-Restful Sleep

Risa had just started to drift off when—

SNAP.

Her eyes shot open.

Something was moving in the bushes below.

Slow. Heavy. Breathing.

Her brain went into immediate panic mode.

“Okay. Okay. It could be anything. Maybe it’s a cute little forest animal! A fluffy bunny! A—”

A deep, guttural growl rumbled from the darkness.

“Nope. Not a bunny. 100% not a bunny.”

She clutched the tree trunk, barely breathing. Whatever it was, it was big.

A shadow shifted. Glowing yellow eyes locked onto her.

Risa internally screamed. “WHY IS THIS HAPPENING.”

The creature circled the tree, sniffing the air.

Risa had exactly one plan.

“Maybe if I stay completely still, it’ll think I’m part of the tree.”

A long silence.

Then—

The creature stood on its hind legs and started climbing.

Risa’s soul left her body. “IT KNOWS. IT KNOWS.”

She grabbed the nearest branch and started scrambling upward like her life depended on it. (Because, well, it did.)

The creature growled and swiped at her. She barely dodged.

“NOPE. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I REFUSE TO DIE IN A TREE.”

Desperate, she grabbed a loose branch and—

WHACK!

She smacked the creature right across the snout.

It yelped and dropped back to the ground.

Silence.

Risa, still clinging to the tree, stared down in shock.

“…Did that actually work?”

The creature growled, clearly furious.

“Okay, cool, never mind, goodbye.”

She immediately threw the branch at its face and booked it.

She didn’t know where she was going. She didn’t care. All she knew was that she was NOT getting eaten today.

Risa was running for her life, screaming into the void.

She really, really hated this stupid isekai world.

(TO BE CONTINUED… if she survives.)

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