NOVEL WEB Chapter 13: Deer
At the perimeter gate, a personnel in uniform handed Danica a small khaki bag and a pair of reinforced gloves.
"Here," he said in a neutral voice. "Use these to collect samples. Upload data through ArkNet for points and bonuses."
"Thanks," Danica replied, offering a small smile as she slipped the gloves on. She stepped out of the shaded gate area and into the open, her boots hitting solid earth. Before her, a path forked in two directions—left led toward a dark, dense forest and right descended into the skeletal remains of a once-bustling city.
She lifted her wrist and tapped her VM. A semi-transparent map flickered into view, floating above her watch like a digital compass. Two zones were highlighted in soft blue: Forest Biome and Urban Ruins.
She stared at the map for a moment, eyes darting between the glowing lines. "Alright chat… where do I go first?"
[NatureFan_001]: The forest!!!
[ScanMasterJ]: Into the forest, there are many things to scan there!
[UrbanGhost]: Uhhh the comment in the upper one, you're just biased. The ruin city will also have many things she can scan.
[ZomBro88]: Yeah, they might have zombies, you know.
[Four_Eyes_VT]: I think you should go to the forest—as the mission wants you to scan and collect samples. Going to the forest is smarter since you can get more points with those plants. And with 200 years of evolution, there may be mutated animals there, which is totally exciting!!
[VeraCraft]: Calm down, FourEyes, you sound like you're writing a thesis.
[FourEyes]: Let me live 😤
Danica chuckled, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Alright, alright. Forest it is. You nerds make a compelling argument."
She turned left and began walking toward the dense green expanse, a few other players branching off with her, while others took off toward the ruins.
[RiftedSoul]: Hey Dani, that glowing flower behind you? Can you scan it?
She paused, glancing over her shoulder. Sure enough, just off the path, a faintly glowing blossom shimmered beneath a fern. Intrigued, she walked over, opened her scanner app, and raised her wrist. A soft chime echoed as a projection floated above the flower.
[New Flora Detected]
[Name: Undiscovered]
[Status: Unknown]
[Potential Use: Unknown]
[Note: Bring a sample to your local bio lab to receive reward.]
[Note: Upload images and data to ArkNet for additional points.]
"This is definitely something," Danica murmured. She crouched, gently pulled the flower out, careful not to damage the roots and slipped it into one of her specimen pouches.
[BunBunDropkick]: These biomes are nuts. It's like its own world.
[NeoYak]: Mark your way back, Dani. Don't just rely on the map. It'll be easier if something goes wrong.
Danica looked up, thoughtful. "Yeah... good point."
She picked up a sharp stone and started carving small Xs into tree trunks every few meters. "Can't believe I'm LARPing survival skills from old movies," she muttered to herself with a grin.
The deeper she walked, the thicker the woods became. The hum of insects, rustle of leaves, and faint chirping of birds created a weird, peaceful tension. Everything felt alive but alien.
She crouched now and then, snapping a picture with a blink through her contact lens, occasionally collecting samples of odd-colored moss or bizarre mushrooms.
[SilentMuffin]: This is actually amazing. The game has real ecology.
[SaltedSnek]: But don't you think the first missions are kinda boring?
[PixelKnight]: Yeah... this first mission kinda mid.
"I don't think so," Danica replied, weaving through twisted roots. "The game's just started—and there's still so much to uncover. Especially now that the pioneers just landed."
Danica had been walking for a while now, the steady crunch of leaves and the occasional chirp of birds filling the silence around her. Every so often, she'd stop to take a picture—flowers growing between tree roots, strange fungi curled along trunks, vines that shimmered faintly under the dappled sunlight. She wasn't in a rush. The forest had its own rhythm, and she found herself syncing with it.
Just as she was preparing to snap another shot of a curling, violet-veined leaf, she heard it.
A faint rustle—soft, deliberate. Not the snap of a twig, but the brushing of something large through the tall grass just ahead.
Danica stilled.
[GoldenEyes]: Yo, why'd she stop? Did something move?
[NeoYak]: You better not be dying while I'm reheating pizza.
[BunBunDropkick]: Did you wash your hands tho
[NeoYak]: Yes omg!?
[SilentMuffin]: Shhh. Something's coming.
Danica slowly lowered herself into a crouch as her eyes scan the green. The rustling grew louder, and then, pushing through the brush with an unhurried gait, came a deer.
It stepped into the clearing like it belonged there—calm, almost graceful. White spots speckled its brown coat, and its hooves made no sound on the damp ground. It moved toward a patch of moss, lowered its head, and began to graze.
Danica blinked, stunned. For a moment, it was like staring at something out of a wildlife documentary—peaceful, untouched by war or time.
"A deer?" she whispered under her breath, unsure if she was speaking to herself or the chat.
The stream delay caught up quickly.
[LinlinDraws]: Whoa, kinda underwhelming, not gonna lie.
[PixelFox]: I was expecting like... a bear with mushrooms growing out of its back or something.
[Helios]: It's still cool! I haven't seen a deer since middle school.
[FourEyes]: Hey, this could still be a mutation! Get closer, Dani, maybe it's hiding something.
Danica adjusted the focus on her lens slowly, careful not to move too fast. The lens clicked softly, and she captured a photo just as the deer lifted its head and turned toward her.
Click.
Their eyes locked as time slowed.
From the side, the deer looked normal. But now—face-to-face—Danica could see what the camera might not have captured immediately.
There wasn't just one head.
The second head was smaller, twisted slightly off-angle and clinging to the side like an unnatural growth. It blinked. Once.
The main head had both antlers, one ear, a snout. The second was missing an antler and its nose was... off, flatter somehow. Pinkish blotches covered its skin like a rash, and between the two heads—where the skulls met—was a third eye. A single, milky, glassy orb that shifted in her direction.
Danica's breath caught in her throat.
[JonJon]: Oh my god…
[YsaCoded]: What the hell—?
[TrulyMadly]: Guys… it's got TWO HEADS!?
[Helios]: Wait, are those PINK GROWTHS?? Like tumors???
Danica didn't move. She didn't even blink.
The deer stared back at her—no, both heads did. For a moment, neither of them made a sound. The air around her felt heavier somehow, like the forest itself was holding its breath.
Then, the deer's ears twitched.
It lifted its head, eyes darting—not toward Danica, but past her, to the trees on her left.
She barely had time to react.
There was a blur of white fur. A flash of red eyes. A growl so deep and close that it rattled through the earth.
Something lunged from the underbrush and slammed into the deer, sending both creatures crashing into the ground. A yelp—a scream—pierced the quiet, high-pitched and sharp. Danica dropped to the forest floor, hands instinctively covering her ears as the mutated deer wailed in agony.
When she looked up again, she saw it clearly.
A massive wolf, twice the size of anything she'd ever seen, with shaggy white fur streaked with gray. Its eyes glowed red, but not in a mystical way—in a way that felt angry, primal and real.
It had clamped its jaws around the deer's primary neck, and the smaller head flailed uselessly, eyes bulging. Within seconds, the deer stopped struggling as blood stained the grass beneath it.
Danica's heart pounded so hard she thought it might burst out of her chest.
The wolf looked up.
Right at her.
Its chest rose and fell with each breath, teeth still glinting beneath the deer's throat. They stared at one another in silence—her frozen, it unmoving.
Then, as if deciding she wasn't worth it, the wolf began to back away, dragging the deer carcass into the thicket. It never took its eyes off her.
Danica didn't breathe until it vanished between the trees, the dragging sounds fading into silence.
Only then did she suck in a breath, shaky and shallow.
"Holy shit," she whispered, collapsing backward against a tree. Her hands were trembling.
[Helios]: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT???
[YsaCoded]: That wasn't a regular wolf right?? Right???
[FourEyes]: Definitely not. That thing had mutated strength. Look at the size.
[Jon Snow: Is that an Artic Wolf?
[PixelFox]: Danica are you okay?! That thing could've torn you in half!!
Danica looked down at her hands. They were shaking uncontrollably.
"This... feels too real," she murmured. "Way too real…"