Hell's Glitch (LitRPG): Into a Dark Adventure by Belart Wright Page A

successfully adjusting to the dark, just not all
the way yet.  But the footsteps were growing louder.
    I hope they didn’t see me.
    They had probably seen him while he was in the moonlit
clearing, whoever or whatever it was.  He frantically searched around for
whoever was coming and found the silhouette behind him over his right hand
shoulder.  The thing seemed to be walking deeper into the forest and paying him
no attention.
    He was stuck at a crossroads wondering what to do next.  The
smart thing to do would be to keep going and avoid whatever that thing was, but
that was also cowardly.  He hadn’t even seen what it looked like.  He had to at
least do that before he chickened out.
    He crept through the trees without making a sound.  He had
to look down at his feet to make sure he had them.  The silent movement must’ve
been a Cutthroat class perk or maybe an ability that came from the equipment.  He
wasn’t sure since he hadn’t read any of the descriptions yet.
    He used the silence to his advantage, closely stalking the
strange creature milling about through the forest.  A sliver of moonlight
peeked through a tiny opening in the canopy and the thing walked right under it
for a split second.  Sam saw thin and dark brown wooden flesh and elongated
branchlike limbs.  He only saw it from the back, where it was mostly covered in
dark purple leaves.  It was taller than most men, easily towering over Sam.
    Well I’ve seen it now, time to move on?
    The answer was no.  Now that he saw it, he had to kill it. 
That was the law in these types of games.  There was a chance that this thing
could later sneak up on him while he was fighting some other creature, or it
could even have some useful item that he needed.  It would definitely have
souls to drop, this game’s version of experience points.  He equipped his Dagger
by grabbing it from its scabbard and stalked forward.  The plant creature had
stopped near a tree and seemed to be doing nothing.  Sam, aka Sarem the
Sanguine, inched forward a little bit, then a little more.  The tree he waited
behind now was right next to the creature.
    He held his breath and peeked around at it.  Even in the
dark, he could see that its back was to him.  His sight was pretty good, now that
he was accustomed to the dark.  He inched forward just a little more, then felt
a shiver followed by a cold sweat.  He stopped in his tracks immediately
knowing something was wrong.  The plant creature raised its purple leafy head
to the sky and shrieked.  It was a dreadful sound and Sam felt another wave of
cold come over his body.  The dreadful noise sounded like a whistle, a cry, and
a scream at the same time, together carrying a foreboding melody.  Sam had
never heard anything like it.  He slowly and quietly crouched and watched the
surrounding forest for any signs of movement.
    Is this thing calling someone?  Does it know I’m here? 
Is ... is it singing?
    He was ready to run at a moment’s notice, but the leafy
thing was still staring up at the sky and there was no movement in the forest
around them.  Perhaps he’d found his first glitch.  He didn’t dare stop and
report it now.  He wanted to see what the creature would do next.  It hadn’t
transformed or anything and its behavior seemed to remain the same.  It didn’t
even seem to know he was there.  Once it started moving, he moved with it.  It
seemed to be moving back to where he’d first heard its footsteps.  Compared to
Sam, the thing was a heavy stepper.  It loudly crunched all manner of foliage
under foot as it passed its original location.
    When it stopped again, Sam made sure to get even closer. 
This time he was quick to look around for other approaching movements.  He only
made his move when he was certain he saw no other movement in the forest and
his moves were quick, clean, and quiet.  With three silent steps he was at the
monster’s back and with one swift motion he plunged his Dagger deep