Panic clawed at William's throat, threatening to choke him. The goblin, a creature ripped from the pages of a fantasy novel, had sunk its sharp teeth into his flesh, tearing through muscle. Blood welled up, staining his trousers a dark, ominous crimson. After a mighty struggle, William managed to shove the goblin away. It stumbled back only briefly, eyes blazing with fury, waiting for the next moment to pounce with a deadly attack.

  He was losing his mind, that was the only explanation. But the pain was real, the creature was real, and the danger was immediate. He had to act, and he had to act now. Breathe. He forced air into his lungs, fighting the urge to give in to blind terror. Think. He was William Shard, data analyst, master of patterns, not some helpless victim in a monster movie.

  He raised the branch, his makeshift weapon, but hesitated. A direct attack had proven ineffective. The goblin was too quick, too ferocious. I’m pretty sure they don’t teach you how to fight goblins in data science classes, he thought with a wry smile. Think, William. You need a different approach. You need data.

  His eyes darted around, taking in the frantic scene. The goblin circled him, its small body coiled like a spring, ready to pounce. But even in its frenzy, William noticed something. The creature’s breathing was becoming laboured, its small chest heaving with ragged gasps. The arm he’d struck earlier hung at an awkward angle, clearly injured. Fatigue. Injury. Two crucial data points.

  Great. It’s wounded and still wants to eat me. Talk about an overachiever. Despite the throbbing pain in his leg, which felt like an alarm clock that wouldn’t stop ringing, he felt a flicker of hope. I have an advantage. I just need to exploit it.

  There was no point in trying to overpower the creature in a direct confrontation; he had to outlast it. Dodge. Evade. Tire it out. That was his new algorithm.

  William’s leg screamed in protest as he shifted his weight. The aching throb limited him, but it wouldn’t prevent him from running, even if just for a bit. With adrenaline surging through him, he quickly turned and ran, hoping to create some distance. The goblin snarled, temporarily startled, but quickly recovered, eyes locked onto him, burning with determination.

  This was his chance. He ran, despite the constant protest from his injured leg, putting as much distance as possible between them. Every inch felt like a mini victory, but escaping was his only option.

  But he didn’t get far. Each step jolted pain through his injured leg as if it had taken offense to his flight. "Of all the times to be underprepared, this really takes the cake." He stumbled, hands scraping against the rough ground. For a moment, he feared he might fall, but he pressed on, fuelled by desperate hope. He could hear the goblin's quick, laboured breaths behind him, small feet pounding against the forest floor. It was gaining on him. "Maybe I should have signed up for that self-defence class instead of bingeing those fantasy novels."

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  Just then, something unexpected happened. In its exhausted frenzy, the goblin tripped over a tangle of exposed roots, its small body tumbling head over heels. It crashed into a nearby rock with a sickening thud, a sound that sliced through the forest's silence like a knife.

  William, despite his own desperate flight, felt compelled to look back. The goblin lay sprawled on the ground, unmoving. Its crude club lay a few feet away, discarded and forgotten.

  With caution, heart still pounding, he approached the fallen creature. It didn’t stir. He nudged it with his foot, holding his breath. No response. He bent down, his injured leg throbbing, and examined the goblin more closely. It was dead. The impact with the rock had clearly been fatal.

  "Well, I survived… somehow. Looks like I got lucky this time, very luck. That goblin literally took itself out… Things just keep getting stranger." A wave of relief washed over him, so potent it almost buckled his knees. He'd escaped. But that relief quickly twisted into nausea and unease.

  “Look at that,” he thought, a cold sweat running down his spine. “First time fighting for my life, and I end up indirectly killing something. Just great.” A strange turmoil swirled inside him. He had never taken a life before, except in video games, but those didn’t really count. Sure, he had seen the animated violence on screens, but there was a stark difference between pixels and reality.

  Seeing the goblin lying there, dead because of his actions, sent a chill through him. "Kill or be killed," he mused darkly. "What’s next? A therapist to discuss my feelings about this? Spoiler alert, not doing well." He felt a stab of guilt, but it quickly passed and changed into a firm determination. He couldn’t let sentimentality hinder his survival. If he was going to make it in this harsh landscape, he needed to be relentless, to adapt. “Survival isn’t kind. It’s a battle, and I refuse to be the casualty.”

  As he examined the dead goblin, searching for anything useful, he noticed several wounds on the goblin's body, older scars that were partially healed. They weren’t bite marks or scratches. They were clean cuts, precise and deep, as if made by something sharp, a sword, perhaps?

  A chilling thought gripped him. The goblin hadn’t been hunting him, it had been fleeing. Running from something that could inflict such injuries. He’d been so focused on his own survival that he hadn’t considered the bigger picture.

  "Way to be a self-centred hero, William," he muttered, shaking his head. "Next time, try engaging your brain before you engage in a life-or-death situation." He looked back the way the goblin had come, into the depths of the forest. What was out there? What had the goblin been running from, and was it still lurking in the shadows?

  He had no answers, only more questions. But one thing was clear: he couldn't stay here. This place was too dangerous. The goblin had found him easily enough, who knew what else lurked around? With his injuries hampering him, he would be easy prey. He had to keep moving. He decided to follow the path the goblin had taken. It was a gamble, but it was the only lead he had. "Let’s see what else this delightful forest has in store for me. Hopefully, it’s not another wannabe predator with a nasty bite."