The Survival of an Inferior

"Young master, wake up." someone nudges my body.

"Ngh...Who?" I mumble.

"Orca. The carriage departing for Chael is here."

"H-Huh?! Oh...okay...I'm getting up." I say.

-------------------------
You have rested for 6 hours.

Hunger: Fine -> Hungry
Thirst: Fine -> Thirsty
"Exhaustion" Status Ailment removed.

Body Status:
Muscle Soreness(Full Body)
-50% overall stats

Bruises on the right shoulder and arms.
-30% atk stats

Stress
-5% overall stats

Abrasion on hand palms
-5% atk stats
-------------------------

Wow, look at all of these bloody debuffs. I'm really glad I switched to marksman now, which is not reliant on my stats.

Recently, I've been exercising on top of practising my firearms mastery. My muscles felt simply numb and fatigued at first but after some time, aching and pain barraged my entire body.

I try to move my body out of the bed, even such simple actions cause irritating discomfort.

After having a quick breakfast, I dress up and meet Orca at the front of my mansion. My family's carriage is stationed near the gate.

"Hello, young master." A man with red hair and a beard says, extending his hand. "I'm Radz Usher. Nice to meet you, my team and I would be your escort to Chael."

I take his hand and shake it firmly. "Thank you," I reply and went for the carriage.

...

Radz stares at me from behind with a nonchalant expression, frowning but expressing no signs of irritation or surprise.

Orca carries three heavy bags of baggage and I help her load them onto the carriage.

"Young master! It's okay, I can do it myself." Orca exclaims.

"You are too slow. Don't worry about it." I say. "Besides, you are simply returning to Chael for a week. Why is there so much luggage?"

"W-Woman's stuff." Orca mumbles.

What? I'm not trying to be stereotypical but why??

I sigh it off and quickly pack the baggage. I simply brought a large bag and my musket with me. I never know when I may need it so I brought a dagger, a few mana stones, some food and water, and my trusty flint and steel.

"Alright, we are good to go," I shout to the coachman.

Soon, the carriage starts to vibrate and waves of gallops ring in the atmosphere.

Orca, sitting directly across my seat, notices my complexion. "Young master?" she asks.

"Hm?"

"You look...worried."

I try to force a smile. "Ah? Don't worry about it."

But I can't hide my anxiety. One of the main reasons why Elvis Arcane is difficult is because of the Butterfly Effect. The future of this game always differs when the player acts even slightly differently, thus rendering some knowledge of previous playthroughs useless. Moreover, I'm "Arsto", a character that has never survived the first 5 minutes of the game.

...

My existence itself is a gargantuan variable. I don't know how drastically the future will change now.
=================================
1 day later.
=================================
The view outside the carriage has been the same for the last 20 hours...endless mountains.

Among snow rocky terrains, we finally see a contradiction, black smoke fills the sky not far from the carriage.

!!

"That's...coming from Chael..." Orca mumbles. She starts to tremble and sweat.

Shit! What's going on?!

"Sir! Can we go any faster!?" I exclaim to the coachman.

The coachman nods and whips the horses.

"NEIGGHHHHH!!" The horse refuses to move, trembling.

?

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I-I'm sorry sir. The horses are afraid of something...beyond this path. I'm afraid there are beasts present."

I click my tongue and grab my musket, loading a mana stone into the cartridge.

I kick open the door and jump out.

"Young master?" Radz says.

"Captain, stay here and protect the carriage. I will distract the beasts. Get to Chael and determine the situation and decide whether it's too late to help." I say.

"But-"

"THIS IS AN ORDER. STAY." I say resolutely.

"Sir, when you hear the signal, start to move the carriage," I say to the coachman and depart after.

I can only take one mana stone with me. I hope 50 shots are enough.

Not long after, I can see some red corpses on the white snow, probably people trying to escape from Chael. Three wolves as big as a human are feeding on the corpses.

The wolves notice me and turn their head, revealing purple crystals around their blood-splattered faces.

"Haha...fuck." I mumble.

Tier 2 snow wolves...are you fucking kidding me.

I quickly lift my musket and shoot at one of them, the bullet pierces its eye and kills it instantly.

-------------------------
+10000 exp
-------------------------

"RARGH!!" The two wolves leap at me.

*BAM!*

*CHING!*

I tried to kill another but the crystal on its face took the hit. One of the wolves pounces on me.

However, my muzzle is already facing up at its head.

*BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!!*

Enough firepower was present to blow its head off.

--------------------------
+10000 exp

+1 exp
2/100 exp[Bullet Hell]
--------------------------

I throw the carcass at the last wolf and run into the woods beside the road.

The third wolf bends its knees and leaps high with a blast.

?!

It lands near me and jumps in. I manage to swoop behind a tree trunk and it bites the wood instead.

*CRUNCH!!*

It tears the wood apart like tofu but my musket is already at its eye.

*BAM!!*

--------------------------
+10000 exp
--------------------------

Huff huff...

I fall into the snow and take a breather.

Usually, snow wolves travel in packs. There are probably more coming my way.

"Eh...It's good. Then the carriage won't be attacked." I mumble.

I take my dagger and cut a hole into the wolf's stomach, grabbing a sticky and bloody stone out. After "washing" it within the snow, a gradual blue can be seen. I place the mana stone into my coat.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOO!!" A howl reverberates through heaven and earth. The remaining wolf's pack is near.

I take a deep breath and grip the musket firmly. Bringing it to my face, I mumble "Alright, bring it on."