just for your information, sorry if there are some words that cannot be understood because this story was originally in my language and translated into English so there may be some parts that are difficult to understand due to language limitations

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  Ryo woke up gasping for breath, his eyes immediately widening when he realized his head was lying on a girl's lap. Reflexively, he immediately got up and took a few steps back, still confused. His body felt lighter—the pain that had previously paralyzed his body was gone.

  The woman slowly stood up, her face clearly visible under the moonlight. Her long hair flowed softly in the wind, and she only looked at Ryo with a faint smile before turning around and starting to walk away without a word.

  Seeing that, Ryo immediately called out to her, "Wait!"

  The woman stopped, but did not turn around.

  Ryo swallowed, his heart beating erratically as he asked, "Are you... Mika Tanaka?"

  Once again, the woman did not answer immediately. Only silence filled the night. Then, slowly, she started walking again.

  "Wait! Why did you help me?" Ryo's voice sounded more desperate this time.

  The woman's steps stopped once again. Still facing away from Ryo, she answered in a soft but firm voice, "You can't die... If you die, someone will be sad."

  Before Ryo could ask further, the woman's body began to glow with a soft light, shimmering in the darkness of the night. In a matter of seconds, the light grew brighter, enveloping her figure until she finally disappeared completely, leaving Ryo still rooted to the spot.

  The night wind blew softly, but Ryo felt something colder grip his heart—a feeling he found hard to explain.

  After that, Ryo walked towards the inn, but as he got closer, his eyes caught something that made him immediately alert—many royal guards were patrolling the area. Realizing the danger lurking, Ryo immediately changed his plan. He turned around and ran towards the Hunter's Guild.

  As he ran, Ryo could feel the gazes of the citizens focused on him. Only then did he realize—the mask he usually wore had been confiscated in prison. Now, his identity was wide open. However, there was no time to think about that. He kept running, ignoring the curious gazes around him.

  Upon arriving at the guild, Ryo immediately headed to the reception desk. His breath was still ragged as he asked, "Where's my ID?"

  The receptionist without further ado handed him a card. When Ryo saw it, his brow immediately furrowed. The name written on it was Ryo, not Ryu like he had used before. Before Ryo could question it, the receptionist whispered something to him.

  "Garreth has already told me about your true identity."

  Ryo was surprised, but before he could react further, the receptionist continued, "If you want to get out of the kingdom without being noticed, use the sewers north of the city."

  However, before his explanation could finish, several royal troops suddenly entered the area around the guild. Ryo had no time left. He immediately rushed out of the guild, running as fast as he could towards the location that had been mentioned.

  After some time, Ryo finally arrived at the entrance to the sewers. Without hesitation, he immediately entered the dark and foul-smelling hallway. He walked carefully, trying to find a way out, but without any clear directions, his journey took longer than he expected.

  Finally, after a long time walking through the narrow and winding hallways, Ryo managed to get out into the outside world. Fresh air greeted him immediately, but he couldn't stay still. Without wasting any time, he ran away, leaving the kingdom's borders as far as possible.

  As night began to fall, Ryo arrived at a forest. His eyes caught a large tree with a hole in the bottom, large enough to be used as a resting place.

  "This seems like a safe place for now," he muttered.

  With his body tired and his mind still filled with various worries, Ryo entered the tree hole. After making sure he was well hidden, he finally let his body rest. That night, for the first time in a long time, Ryo was able to sleep with a little peace of mind—even though he knew, this was only the beginning of his long journey.

  As the morning sun began to illuminate the forest, Ryo opened his eyes. The night's sleep had helped him recover a little, but his empty stomach was starting to feel torturous. With his body still weak, he continued walking, looking for something to eat.

  After walking for a while, he found a path that seemed rarely used. He decided to follow it, hoping to find a settlement or at least a source of food. After walking for quite a distance, his eyes caught the shimmer of water in the distance—a large lake spread out before him.

  "If there's water, there's fish," he muttered.

  Without thinking, he immediately looked for a straight tree branch to use as a spear. After finding one, he sharpened the tip with a stone until it was sharp enough. However, catching fish turned out to be much harder than he had imagined. He tried for hours, but always failed. Only after who knows how many attempts did he finally manage to catch a fish.

  Hunger made him impatient. He immediately lit a fire and grilled the fish over the coals. When he finally bit into it, a bitter taste immediately spread in his mouth.

  "Is this poisonous?" he thought, but hunger overcame logic.

  Despite his doubts, he still finished the fish, thinking that if he didn't eat, he might starve to death. After he finished, he put out the fire and continued on his journey.

  However, about an hour into walking, his body began to feel strange. His vision was blurry, his stomach was nauseous, and cold sweat soaked his body.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "Damn... don't tell me—"

  Before he could finish his thoughts, his body lost balance. Ryo fell limp in the middle of the road, his consciousness fading.

  ---

  When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a campsite. The smell of burning wood was in the air, and faint chatter could be heard all around him. He was immediately alert.

  Around him, there were three men and one woman.

  A large man with heavy armor—a tank.

  A hooded man with two daggers on his waist—an assassin.

  A long-haired man with a long sword on his back—a swordsman.

  And finally, a woman in a magic robe—a witch.

  Ryo immediately sat up and stared at them sharply.

  "Who are you guys?" he asked in a wary tone.

  One of the men chuckled. "Relax, we're just adventurers who happened to find you passed out on the road."

  The female witch added, "You were poisoned. Luckily we found it in time."

  Ryo paused for a moment, remembering the fish he had eaten earlier. He sighed, feeling annoyed with himself.

  The witch then handed him a bowl of warm soup. "This contains antidote magic. Drink it."

  Ryo took the bowl and began to drink it slowly. It tasted bland, but he was still grateful because his body began to feel a little better. After eating, the side effects of the soup began to show—sleepiness attacked his body.

  "You should rest first," the swordsman said.

  Ryo had no choice. His body was too tired to fight the effects, so he let himself fall asleep.

  ---

  The next morning, the adventurers prepared to return to the kingdom.

  "Do you want to come?" the tank asked.

  Ryo immediately shook his head. "No way. I have other business. If I come, it will only endanger you."

  The four adventurers looked at each other, but eventually nodded.

  "Alright, then, be careful on your journey," the assassin said.

  Without further ado, they parted ways there. Ryo stared at their retreating backs before finally continuing his own journey, with his destination still unclear.

  As Ryo prepared to continue his journey, suddenly the assassin from the adventurer group shouted at him.

  "Hey, take this!"

  Ryo turned and saw the assassin throwing a dagger at him. Reflexively, he caught it.

  "It's a sign of friendship," the assassin said with a faint smile.

  Ryo frowned, confused by what she meant. However, he didn’t want to refuse, so he just nodded and put the dagger away at his waist. Maybe this was some kind of their culture, he thought.

  After parting with the adventurers, Ryo continued on his journey. As he walked along the path, he suddenly heard the sound of creaking wheels in the distance. He quickly hid behind the bushes, straining his ears.

  The sound was getting closer—a horse-drawn carriage passed in front of him. However, what surprised him was the cargo the carriage was carrying.

  Children?

  Ryo's eyes narrowed as he looked inside the carriage. Several small children sat there with pale faces, as if frightened. And among them, his eyes caught a familiar figure—a girl who had once helped him when he was in prison.

  Unconsciously, his feet began to move, following the carriage carefully.

  However, his journey did not last long. From behind the trees, five figures appeared to block the carriage.

  "Stop right there!"

  The carriage came to an abrupt halt, and from the shadows of the trees, five armed bandits emerged. Quickly, they surrounded the carriage and dragged all the children down.

  Ryo felt his chest tighten. He wanted to step forward and fight, but his legs froze in place. Five people... I'm alone... I can't win.

  He bit his lip, cursing his own fear. However, he couldn't just stay still. He followed the bandits from a distance, waiting for the right moment to act.

  After a few minutes of walking, the bandits stopped in a clearing. Four of them began to loot the goods from the carriage, leaving only one to guard the children.

  This is my chance!

  Without thinking, Ryo used all his strength and ran towards the bandit guarding the children. At full speed, he jumped and kicked the man right in the chest.

  Bugh!

  The bandit fell to the ground, surprised by the sudden attack.

  "Run now!" Ryo shouted at the children.

  The children immediately scattered, running towards the forest. However, the girl who had helped Ryo remained behind. She looked at Ryo with eyes full of conviction, then grabbed his left hand.

  At that moment, Ryo felt energy flowing into his body. His vision blurred for a moment, then a transparent screen appeared in front of him.

  [Skill Acquired: Wind Slash]

  Ryo stared at the screen in confusion. He had not had time to process what was happening, but the explanation for the skill immediately appeared in his mind—he had to slash the air, and the attack would produce a sharp wave of wind.

  Without hesitation, Ryo grabbed the dagger the assassin had given him and swung it towards the four bandits who were looting.

  "Wind Slash!"

  A wave of wind shot out—too fast. In an instant, the bodies of the four bandits were torn in half. Blood sprayed into the air, splashing red on the previously clean ground.

  Ryo froze in place. His eyes widened as he looked at the bodies in front of him.

  Too easy...

  The hand holding the dagger began to tremble. He swallowed hard, trying to comprehend what he had just done.

  However, his fear grew even more as he looked back.

  The children he had just saved were now staring at him with expressions of horror—as if he were not their savior, but a terrifying monster.

  Ryo felt his chest tighten.

  However, among all the frightened children, only one person was different.

  The girl.

  She looked at Ryo... and smiled.

  However, before Ryo could say anything, the girl's body swayed and she fell unconscious.

  After that, Ryo carried the girl and prepared to leave. However, he suddenly heard the sound of horse galloping from a distance. Quickly, Ryo looked for a place to hide. When he peeked out from behind the trees, he saw the royal troops on horseback approaching.

  Ryo began to panic. Does the kingdom already know that I ran away? he thought. Without wasting time, he immediately ran deeper into the forest, not realizing that he was still carrying the girl. After he had gone far enough, he realized and felt how stupid he was. I should have left her... If I hadn't brought her, maybe the royal troops would have saved her, he thought regretfully.

  Meanwhile, the royal troops finally found the children who were previously saved by Ryo. However, instead of bringing them back, they only asked which direction Ryo went. The innocent children pointed towards the forest, and without paying them any further attention, the royal army continued their search. Ryo, unaware of this, continued to run deeper into the forest.

  The further he went in, the more Ryo felt that this forest was very dangerous. An uneasy feeling began to envelop him, as if something was watching him from behind the darkness. Because of that, he quickened his pace, trying to find a way out. A few moments later, after running non-stop, Ryo finally managed to get out of the forest and found a wide meadow.

  The air there felt cool, the wind blowing gently against his face. He finally stopped and placed the girl on the soft grass. With a gasp, Ryo sat down beside her.

  Unconsciously, he slapped himself on the cheek. Stupid! Why did I bring this child this far? he thought.

  However, right after that, the girl slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was directly fixed on Ryo, then with a sweet smile, she said, "Thank you..."

  Ryo's face immediately turned red. The girl's smile was so innocent and sweet, it made him a little nervous. But then he shook his head and slapped his own cheek again. Don't be stupid, he's still a kid! he thought to himself.

  Seeing that, the girl looked at Ryo in confusion. "Why did you slap yourself?" she asked.

  Ryo just sighed and replied, "It's okay."

  After that, Ryo asked, "Are you okay?"

  The girl nodded. "I just ran out of MP, other than that I'm fine," she replied.

  "Then, can you walk yet?"

  "Yeah, I think so."

  After making sure the girl was okay, Ryo introduced himself. "My name is Ryo Takeda."

  The girl smiled again and replied, "I'm Luna."

  Ryo nodded. "Okay, Luna. We should get out of here soon."

  Luna nodded, and the two of them started to continue their journey.

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  just for information, luna is a girl around 11 - 13 years old, her hair is white with black eyes, her face is beautiful even though she was very dirty at that time.