Indanger

Wenalin’s POV

The forest was louder than I expected. Birds shrieked from the trees, bushes rustled every few seconds, and somewhere far away a wolf howled long and low, like it was claiming the entire woods for itself.

I adjusted my grip on my rusty short sword and squinted at the dirt path. My legs were already sore. I’d been cutting through the undergrowth for nearly an hour, and the only thing I’d found were…

“Slimes,” I groaned. “Why is it always slimes?”

One bounced toward me, jiggly and disgusting, with its weird little plop plop sounds. I swung my sword lazily, and the blade sliced through its gooey body. It burst with a faint pop, dropping a slime core into the grass.

[ +5 EXP ]

[ Item Acquired: Slime Core ]

I crouched down, scooped it up, and tossed it into my pouch. I glanced at my EXP bar.

Level → EXP: 35 / 100.

“…At this rate, I’ll be eighty years old before I hit level two.”

I sighed and kept walking, cutting down two more slimes on the way. My body was already starting to sweat, and my arms ached from swinging even this pathetic sword. My stats weren’t lying: my endurance was trash.

The Encounter

I was about to turn back toward the castle when I heard it: a low growl. Not the distant, lazy kind, but a deep rumble—close, and hungry.

I froze. The bushes ahead shook. Leaves rustled, then parted.

Out stepped a wolf.

But not like the normal brown wolves I’d fought before. This one was huge, its fur shimmering with streaks of gold under the dappled sunlight. Its eyes glowed an unnatural yellow, sharp and intelligent, and its fangs looked like they could snap my arm in two.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

Gold Wolf – Lv. (Rare Monster)

I blinked. “…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The wolf snarled, crouching low, ready to pounce. My heart thumped so loud I swore it echoed in my chest. I tightened my grip on the rusty sword, though my hands were already trembling.

“Alright, doggy,” I muttered. “Let’s… not kill me today, okay?”

The Fight

The wolf lunged.

I rolled clumsily to the side, the air whooshing as its claws slashed where I’d been. My rusty sword scraped against its flank, barely leaving a mark.

[-5 HP]

[HP: 95 / 100]

“Great. I just made it mad.”

The wolf growled, circling me. I raised my sword again, swinging with all my strength when it rushed me a second time. The blade hit, this time cutting deeper, but still—it wasn’t enough. Its claws swiped across my cloak, tearing fabric.

[-12 HP]

[HP: 83 / 100]

My arms burned, my breathing grew heavier, but I forced myself to cast a spell. I pointed my free hand forward.

“Blackball!”

A weak, dark orb formed in my palm and shot out, slamming into the wolf’s side. It staggered, more annoyed than hurt.

[-10 MP]

[MP: 40 / 50]

I fired again. And again. Each orb chipped away at its HP, but my MP bar dropped like water down a drain.

[MP: 10 / 50]

The wolf was bleeding, but still strong, still fast, and I… I was running out of mana.

Out of Mana

I stumbled back against a tree, panting hard. My sword felt heavy in my hand, my legs wobbled like jelly.

[MP: 0 / 50]

[SYSTEM ALERT: You cannot cast skills. MP depleted.]

“…Crap.”

The wolf saw its chance. It roared and sprinted at me, faster than before. I raised my sword weakly, but my arms gave out. The blade slipped from my grip and clattered to the ground.

It leapt.

I had no choice. I lifted my arms over my face, bracing for the claws, the fangs, the pain—

But nothing came.

The Awakening

Instead, the air around me… changed.

It grew heavy, thick, almost suffocating. The sunlight dimmed, swallowed by a sudden black haze. I opened my eyes, and froze.

My body was glowing. Not white, not gold—black. A swirling, seething aura of pure darkness wrapped around me like living shadows.

The wolf, mid-leap, froze in the air. Its glowing eyes widened. Its body trembled. It… was afraid.

I blinked. “…What the heck?”

The black aura pulsed outward like a heartbeat. The ground cracked beneath me. The trees shivered. The wolf whimpered, its proud golden fur bristling as it landed awkwardly and backed away.

I raised my hand instinctively. The aura surged. A sphere of pitch-black energy burst forth, massive and unstable, and slammed straight into the wolf.

BOOM.

The explosion shook the forest. Smoke rose where the wolf had been.

When it cleared, the Gold Wolf was on the ground—burned, battered, and unmoving.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

Rare Monster Defeated!

+300 EXP

[ Item Acquired: Gold Wolf Fang (Rare), Gold Wolf Hide (Rare) ]

Level Up!

[ All Stats +2 ]

[HP and MP fully restored]

Aftermath

I stood there, staring at the faintly glowing drops, my body still wrapped in black flames. My hands trembled—not from fear, but from… confusion.

Then, as quickly as it came, the aura faded. The shadows dissolved into the air, leaving only me standing there, short, sweaty, and holding a rusty sword again.

I bent down, picked up the drops, and shoved them into my pouch. My voice came out flat.

“…Well. That happened.”

I brushed dust off my cloak, kicked at the scorched ground, and sighed.

“So I have… some kind of hidden death aura. Cool. Totally not suspicious.”

Nonchalantly, I turned back toward the castle, humming faintly as if I hadn’t just nuked a rare monster with forbidden-looking dark powers.

If anyone saw me right now, they’d probably call me a demon lord.

But me?

I just wanted a bath and maybe some curtains for the throne room.

...----------------...

The black aura thing didn’t go away from my mind, but I wasn’t exactly panicking about it either. If anything, I was… curious.

I mean, sure, it looked like I’d just borrowed the power of some demon lord hiding under my bed, but hey—if it kept me alive, then who was I to complain?

And oh boy, did it keep me alive.

Farming Made Easy

After that Gold Wolf incident, the forest basically turned into my personal training ground.

Boars? One glare, down.

Bigger wolves? One swipe, gone.

A giant snake that slithered out of the river at me? Yeah, it didn’t even make it past two seconds.

Every time the black aura flickered awake, monsters froze like prey staring at a predator. I didn’t even have to swing much—the energy itself lashed out, blasting them into sparkly little EXP particles.

[SYSTEM ALERT]

+120 EXP

+200 EXP

Level Up! Lv. 10→ Lv. 14 → Lv. 26 → Lv. 29

“Cool,” I muttered, stepping over another smoking carcass. “Faster than grinding slimes, at least.”

By the time I dragged myself back toward the castle, my pouch was stuffed full of loot: fangs, hides, claws, cores, even a glowing crystal or two.

I stared at the pile, sighing. “I can’t eat wolf hides. Guess it’s time to… ugh… socialize.”

I go again to the Kingdom

The Kingdom’s capital was bigger . Sprawling stone streets, people bustling around with baskets, merchants shouting deals, knights patrolling in shiny armor.

I stood at the door with my cloak pulled over my head, short as ever at 4’9, looking like a lost child.

The guard gave me a long look. “Are you… alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Where are your parents?”

I tilted my head. “…Dunno. Probably rich and busy.”

He looked confused, but I didn’t stick around for questions. I walked straight in.

And wow. People stared. Not because I was cute (I mean, maybe a little, not gonna lie—my face was annoyingly flawless, genetics did at least one thing right), but because I was dragging a bag that was way too big for someone my size.

At the Adventurer’s Guild, the stares got worse.

The receptionist, leaned over the counter. “ kiddo. You lost?”

I heaved my bag up onto the counter. It hit with a heavy thud. Claws, fangs, glowing hides spilled out like treasure.

The guild went silent.

“…I’d like to sell these,” I said casually, brushing dust off my cloak.

The elf blinked. “…Where did you—?”

“Forest.”

“You killed… all of these?”

“Yeah.”

The silence grew thicker. Somewhere behind me, a guy choked on his drink.

The Shock

The guildmaster himself came out, a burly man with a scar over one eye. He sifted through the loot, holding up a Gold Wolf Fang that gleamed unnaturally.

“...This is from a rare beast.” His voice dropped. “You took down a Gold Wolf. Alone?”

“Mm-hm,” I answered, nonchalant, leaning on the counter like I hadn’t just confessed to soloing something that took veteran parties weeks to find.

The room erupted.

“Impossible!”

“She’s lying—look at her, she’s tiny!”

The guildmaster’s gaze sharpened. But instead of pressing, he started chuckling. Then laughing outright.

“You’re something else, kid.” He tossed a heavy pouch onto the counter. “For all this loot? You just made half a year’s wages in one trip.”

I peeked inside. Gold coins sparkled back at me. My eyes widened for a split second—then I shrugged, tying the pouch to my belt.

“Cool. Thanks.”

The guild was still buzzing, people whispering and pointing. A group of adventurers even tried approaching me, asking my name, my party, my rank. I ignored most of them, waved vaguely, then walked right back out into the market.

Shopping Spree

Money in hand, I spent the rest of the day strolling through stalls.

A new bed? Bought.

Curtains? Black velvet, obviously.

Candles, lanterns, food supplies, some comfy rugs? Yep.

An entire crate of books I couldn’t even carry? Sent to the castle by cart.

I even stopped at the blacksmith.

“Rusty sword,” I said, plopping mine down.

The blacksmith, a burly dwarf, stared. “…That thing’s practically scrap metal.”

“Yeah. Got anything better?”

His eyes twinkled. By the time I left, I had a sturdy steel short sword strapped to my side and a dagger tucked into my boot.

Back at the castle, I dropped everything in the throne room, dust swirling around me as I looked over my haul.

The dark, empty halls now had soft rugs, flickering lanterns, a proper bed, even shelves starting to fill with books.

I plopped down onto the throne itself, gold pouch still jingling at my waist.

“…Not bad,” I murmured. “Castle’s starting to look less like a haunted ruin, more like… mine.”

Everyone Else vs. Me

Out there in the kingdom, they were probably still whispering about the short girl who casually sold rare beast loot like she was buying groceries.

But me?

I was sprawled sideways on my throne, munching bread, legs dangling, watching the shadows of the forest through the high windows.

“…I’ll need curtains for those too,” I muttered, already planning my next trip.

...----------------...

It’s been… what? A month? Maybe more? Honestly, I lost track. My sense of time is kind of trash when I’m having fun—or, well, grinding like a psycho.

Who would’ve thought my tiny 4'9 self, with a weak heart back in the other world, would now be casually walking around with a level three digits high. Yeah, I hit level 100. Not gonna lie, it sounds impressive… but I’m still me. short, and with zero intention of flexing on people.

The castle that was once echoing with emptiness? Yeah, it doesn’t creak and groan anymore. It’s stuffed. Potions stacked on shelves like soda cans, herbs crammed into baskets, crates of monster materials piled against the walls. I have healing herbs, mana potions, stamina boosters, antidotes—you name it. If some apocalypse happened in this world, I’d be ready.

I wander the halls barefoot, nibbling on dried monster meat (don’t judge me, it tastes better than expected). My footsteps echo against the stone floor, but now instead of “lonely echo” vibes, it feels like the castle is alive. My little empire of hoarding.

Every day, I’ve been going into the forest, picking fights with anything that moves. Wolves, goblins, oversized bugs—annoying, gross, but good XP. I even ran into a freaking orc squad last week. They were all flexing with their giant clubs, and I thought, “Great, today’s the day I get pancaked.”

my black aura kicked in. That hidden power that first showed up against the golden wolf? I can used it properly now it's not hard to control It’s like this… dark, shadowy flame wrapping around me, whispering stuff I don’t understand, and then boom—monsters get shredded like paper.

After that, the orcs? Gone. Me? Standing there, arms crossed, acting like it was just another Tuesday.

Even selling the monster drops in the kingdom has become routine. The first time, everyone stared like I had three heads. “This tiny girl dragged in a golden wolf corpse??” I just shrugged, handed it over, and collected the gold. Now they’ve stopped asking questions. They just accept that I show up once a week, dump a pile of rare monster parts, and leave with bags of gold clinking against my hips.

Do I care about their stares? Nope. Do I wave at the gawkers? Also nope. I just walk through the marketplace, nonchalant as ever, like I’m shopping for milk and eggs instead of restocking on mana potions and castle furniture.

Speaking of the castle… I’ve turned it into my personal hoarder’s paradise. The kitchen is stocked, the alchemy room is basically overflowing, and I even set up a library corner with books I bought from the kingdom. Not because I like reading (ugh, no), but because it makes me look smart when I sit there grinding my game system menus.

And me? I’m… happy. Like, actually happy. My chest doesn’t hurt anymore, I can run around without collapsing, I’ve got my own rhythm, my own space, and a castle that’s slowly becoming less creepy and more… homey.

I catch myself smiling sometimes when I walk through the grand halls, sunlight streaming through the broken stained-glass windows onto piles of herbs and glowing crystals I collected. I look small—tiny, even—in this giant castle. But for the first time in forever, I don’t feel small.

Level 100, castle full of loot, stomach full of food. Yeah. Life’s good.

I plop down onto my overly dramatic throne (yes, I claimed it), legs dangling because they don’t touch the floor, and stretch with a yawn.

“Guess I should… keep going,” I mumble to myself. “Or maybe nap first. Leveling can wait.”

And with that, I lean back, arms behind my head, a little grin tugging at my lips.

For once, I’m not rushing. I’ve got time. And this time, I’m going to live exactly how I want.

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