Over the next week, I started putting way more effort into bringing more and more meat for the butchery, starting by pulling the bull that gutted me to them and making a solid 25,000 Beri. The trip was tough due to the lack of a wagon yet I had levelled up from the fight and allocated the point to brawn, raising it to 4G

It felt considerably easier to drag the hunking pile of meat down the trail even if I had to take frequent breaks because I felt like I could barely breathe at some points, though after about 4 hours of just trying to drag this thing over, I was finished, and the moon started to rise.

Fast forward about a week and I did my usual job of shooting animals, bringing them back and getting money, without any help from Hunter at all, and I even got a level out of it, putting another point into brawn. I had to do a little more than we usually did because one of the farmers got himself killed - I wonder who did that - but it all worked out until today.

I was looking through the local papers to entertain myself how I could and on the back, I saw tiny versions of bounty posters spread across the page. There, I saw myself, wanted for 200,000 Beri. I didn't see any explanation for it anywhere in the newspapers but I knew it was somewhat related to the farmer and his wife ratting me out.

It was very low though, and on the back of the page, not many people would see this, right? I could continue working for the butchery and support myself, waiting until I was able to compete in the Devil's Mighty Stronghold.

If I just go to work, act natural, and try and hope for the best I'll be able to continue my job until the tournament.

-

"Look, I don't know what ya' did but a bounty hunta' said he was gunnin' for you, and I don't wanna see my workhorse get shot up," Hunter said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Fuck!" I shouted. "What's he look like?"

"How am I supposed to know, I was shitfaced drunk."

Damnit, I walked away without a word and made my way to the apartment, but I turned away without a second thought. The bounty hunter might be there waiting for me.

I only had my rifle and the two pistols, with my knife resting in my holster as well. I wouldn't dare use them if I could, but it was certainly a necessity when a man felt the need to shoot and kill someone over 200,000 beri. If it was equal to a yen, then they're killing someone for about 2000 dollars.

I needed to go into hiding, or at least hop islands, the best place I knew was the forest, even if it was a little dangerous with all the fucking animals who want to rip me to shreds. Still, he'd have to track miles of forest for days, and there are certainly bigger fish out there that can still be killed quite easily with a surprise shot to the head.

I headed into the alleyways, which I was now familiar with, having explored the town a little more. I soon exited the alleyways and dashed on over to the forest, before starting my trek deep into the wilderness.

I made my way deeper than I had ever been whenever I was hunting, and I found a small bear cave which I noped the fuck away from. I've fought a bear before and all the bullets I shot at it merely irritated it.

I continued further on and heard a rustling in the branches, I immediately turned, my revolver lined up to where the noise came from.

A wolf popped out of the bushes and I immediately shot a bullet, but it missed as it dashed away right before I pulled the trigger.

It went side to side and I sent out two more shots, one missing it and one lodging itself in its back.

It rolled off into some bushes and I fired twice into them, hoping to get it. But it managed to hop away just in time.

One bullet left before I switch guns, I gotta be quick with this.

As it attempted to pounce on me, I fired a shot into its head as brains splattered, and I gained another skill in [Marksmanship]

I quickly reloaded the gun while walking off, hoping not to attract any more wolves, knowing they were pack animals. On second thought, I needed to run, they were fast as fuck and if I kept up that average of 1 fully loaded gun per dead wolf, I wouldn't be able to survive an encounter. So with that in mind, I started sprinting fast and as far as I could manage, eventually stopping due to a stitch.

This island went on forever, it seemed. I assumed that most islands would only be a few miles in diameter though if I had to guess, I've traversed a half marathon without the coast in sight.

I saw some palm trees ahead with coconuts dangling from the centre so I walked over, hoping to collect some good food that'd sustain me, not taste like fucking onions and store for later.

I gripped the tree and quickly shifted my legs from the ground to the tree. I quickly made my way up, pushing off my legs and pulling myself higher. This felt considerably easier than my attempts back on earth whenever I was fooling around with friends and I managed to reach the top in about fifteen seconds.

I released one arm and gripped tightly with the other, grabbing one coconut by the other and throwing it into my inventory, I had to shift to the other side of the tree to grab the rest but eventually, I was done and I quickly made my way back to the ground.

About 2 meters from the ground I hopped down and accidentally landed on my back, which hurt like a motherfucker but I pushed through the pain in the hopes of coconuts.

I sat up and took out my knife as well as one coconut and started hacking it open, my brawn and celerity helping to not only crack it open but also considerably dull the blade, I needed a machete if I was gonna be doing stuff like this more often. I finished with my first one and gulped down the juices before moving on to the next.

Andthenextandthenextandthenextandthenext

I finished up and stored them all in my inventory, and took one right out to see if they still contained coconut water, and it sure did.

I looked around and it seemed as if this place was pretty safe for the time being, so I started throwing some sticks and branches together until I had made what I considered some damn fine shelter.

I slipped under the rickety structure and curled up, closed my eyes, crossed my fingers and prayed to every deity that I could recall, from Greek mythology to Hinduism.

I eventually drifted off, dreaming about two raccoons starting a rock band, and they used their popularity to kill people. Literally, they threw the concept of popularity at people's heads and the victims just spontaneously combusted.

Weird ass dreams aside, I had a pretty nice sleep, all things considered, and I was eager to start the next day of escaping from a bounty hunter.

I got up, brushed my eyes, patted down my guns and stretched my arms, bellowing out a loud yawn.

"Pretty comfortable there, ain't ya?"

A/N:

Had a brief hiatus cuz of writers block, gonna make less frequent posts from now on.