DanMachi: It's destined to lose its self.

"What's happening?"

"What's happening?"

"What's happening?"

"What's happening?"

Kopii, filled with fear and panic, began to scream loudly in despair. In his entire life, full of various trials and tribulations, this was a first. The overwhelming fear he felt at that moment was completely incomparable to anything he had experienced before. Even when he almost died in the sinister dungeon, he didn't feel such acutely unsettling fear then. The forest around him was silent, as if frozen in stillness, nothing was happening, just like in the endlessly tiring minutes before. Kopii stood, and gradually, little by little, the panic began to subside, like a receding wave on the shore. Kopii surveyed the forest, he heard only one strange owl, no other sounds, no rustle, no sigh.

"Aahaao." Kopii sighed, trying with all his might to fully calm down, and he began to reason, analyzing what exactly had happened recently. After long and agonizing contemplation, Kopii thought wistfully, "Maybe it's just a dream?" These vague thoughts, in a way, gave Kopii confidence, but soon another thought came: "But maybe it's not a dream at all, and it's all really real? If that's the case, what should he do?" Kopii simply didn't understand what to do. "If it's a dream, how do I know?" And suddenly Kopii was struck by pain.

"Yes, pain. If it's a dream, then I shouldn't feel pain." Kopii, without hesitating for a moment, bit himself on the hand. He felt nothing: no sharpness of pain, no taste of blood, absolutely nothing.

"Vsssss…" Kopii suddenly heard a strange sound, his attention was drawn to something unusual, he wanted to turn around, but for some reason his gaze fell, and he saw his own body, as if separated from himself. "What?" flashed through his mind, making his heart freeze.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa." Kopii closed his eyes and suddenly stood up, as if struck. Kopii's body was covered in a cold sweat, like shock, and he looked at his hands, which were shaking as if they were living beings themselves.

"It was just a dream. Ahahhazazaza, it was just one of those terrible nightmares." Even with this knowledge, the unfeigned horror of having died in a dream did not go away. Kopii, clearly unable to find peace, looked around and sighed. He sees his camp, his things were in place, and finally he hears the sound of the forest. There was no silence, the forest came to life again.

Kopii slowly sat down on a fallen tree, trying to calm his trembling. His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it wanted to burst out of his chest and run away. He replayed the dream in his head over and over, as if trying to understand what could have caused such a terrible nightmare. The dream was so real that the feeling of death still hadn't left him.

But Kopii understood that things wouldn't get done by themselves, so he got up, gathered his things, and continued walking towards the place where he knew the ingredients for potions grew. Kopii walked through the forest, trying to somehow distract himself from these nightmarish, devastating memories. Every rustle, every shadow made him flinch, as if the forest wanted to say something. He kept looking back, as if expecting to see something that would confirm the reality of his sudden dreams. But the forest was quiet and calm, the birds sang their melodious songs, and the sun's rays pierced through the foliage of the trees, creating a captivating play of light and shadow.

Despite all this, Kopii couldn't shake the growing feeling of anxiety. He felt that something was wrong, that the forest was watching him, that danger was lurking behind every tree, ready to strike an unexpected blow. He quickened his pace, wanting to get to the right place as soon as possible and return to safer and calmer conditions.

Finally, Kopii reached the clearing where the specific ingredients he needed grew. He began to collect herbs and roots, trying not to lose vigilance for even a moment. His movements were fast and precise, as if he was afraid that something terrible and frightening could happen at any moment. Finally, he collected everything he needed. But this was only one clearing out of the four marked on the map, so confidence in tomorrow was still a distant light.

Kopii carefully looked at the map and sighed, realizing that the herbs he had collected were already enough to keep Naaza from bothering him for about a week. But Kopii wanted to collect as much as he could possibly carry. Naaza gave him a large backpack for this, he fondly remembered it. He had only filled part of it. So, with hope and purpose, he headed to the next point on the map.

Walking through the forest, Kopii was distracted by a strange sound, one that wouldn't let him pass by. He became curious, and according to his natural instincts, he decided to take a look.

"Oh, goblins." Kopii dropped his backpack and headed towards them. They didn't notice him at all. Kopii stood, he wanted to kill them first with his sword, but then he changed his mind and took out his bow. It was one of those bows of Naaza's that he never used in the dungeon, because she usually used a longbow. And Kopii preferred short bows because of their speed, and he didn't want it to slow him down, like a longbow. Like an experienced hunter, he climbed a tree and began to draw the bowstring, aiming at the nearest goblin. "One down," Kopii said to himself with a slight smirk. He watched as the goblins began to panic and search for him, but it was useless. "Another goblin, and then another." They already realized where I was, but in the end, it was completely useless. Everything was as always, the goblins turned out to be weak and disorganized. Kopii climbed down from the tree and headed back to his backpack, continuing his journey to the next destination.

It was already getting dark, and the evening shadow was gradually covering the forest. Kopii looked at the sky and looked around. "Good place." Kopii lit a fire, the light of which danced on the surrounding trees, driving away the night darkness and giving some peace to the cool night. He took out dried fish and a piece of bread from his backpack, had dinner, reflecting on the past day. The dream, the goblins, the journey ahead – all of this mixed in his head, creating a vague sense of unreality. He understood that he needed to rest to gain strength for the further journey, but sleep wouldn't come.

He tossed and turned for a long time, trying to calm his nerves, which were like taut strings. Images from the nightmare surfaced in his head again and again, making his heart beat faster, as if it was trying to break free. He got up, went to the fire, and threw a few branches into it, hoping that the fire would bring warmth and confidence. The bright flame was soothing, embracing him with its light and giving a sense of security. He sat down next to the fire, closed his eyes, tired of the preferred thoughts.

Kopii regretted not taking books with him. He just thought that the task wouldn't take much time. And now he has nothing to do. Sleep just won't come, and thoughts of the day pierced him like poison. And so 49 minutes passed as Kopii stared at the fire, which still did not give him peace. He finally felt tired, and without hesitation, lay down to sleep on the cold ground, which somehow became cozy under his body.

But sleep didn't come, as it always did. Kopii tossed and turned again, trying to find a comfortable position, as if searching for something that could give him nirvana. Thoughts, like pesky flies, swirled in his head, not giving him a minute of peace. He felt tired, but found himself in that unpleasant situation when the brain refused to shut down. In the end, he decided to get up and take a walk around the camp, hoping that the fresh air would help him relax and calm his anxious thoughts.

Leaving the fire's light, Kopii plunged into impenetrable darkness. The forest seemed completely different at night, unpredictable and dangerous. The sounds intensified, became more distinct, frightening and disturbing. He heard rustles in the bushes, the rustling of leaves, and the hooting of an owl in the distance, which spread from somewhere deep in the forest. He tried not to pay attention to it, but the anxiety gradually and steadily increased. Suddenly he felt someone's persistent gaze on him.

He turned sharply, but saw nothing in the dark. The darkness hid all objects and creatures around him. He froze, listening to every sound, almost holding his breath. For a while, nothing happened, and he already began to think that he had imagined it. But then he felt the gaze again, this time more distinct and persistent. He slowly moved forward, trying to make out something in the darkness.

Then they began to emerge. Kopii instantly knew who they were. Goblins, there were many of them, but possibly even more were hiding in the darkness, ready to attack at any moment. Kopii, realizing that he hadn't taken his weapons with him, was horrified, imagining that if he had fallen asleep at this time, they could have killed him. But Kopii pushed those hidden thoughts aside because he noticed that they had begun to carefully advance. Kopii was unarmed, he didn't hesitate and climbed a tree, hiding from them, until they began throwing stones and sticks at him, making his situation even more precarious.

Kopii decided to climb as high as possible. Kopii hesitated but still jumped to another tree. But the branch he jumped on couldn't withstand this pressure, and he fell down. Falling through the branches, Kopii managed to grab onto one of them, but one of the goblins hit him in the head with a stone. Kopii looked at the goblins in bewilderment, and it seemed to him that they were mocking him. This angered Kopii to the core.

He felt blood start to flow down his face, dripping onto the ground, and this made him even angrier. Kopii, in desperation, broke off a branch and jumped onto the nearest goblin, crushing it on the spot.

"I remembered that you are weaker than the ones I faced in the dungeon." The remaining goblins hissed with rage and fear, but Kopii was already ready for battle. He twirled the broken piece of branch in his hands, as if it were a deadly weapon, from which imminent death was expected. The goblins began to surround him, but he didn't let them get close, acting confidently. He made sharp strikes with the branch, knocking down the nearest enemies. The goblins attacked from all sides, but Kopii moved quickly and deftly, dodging their chaotic attacks and executing his own.

His rage gave him strength, and he felt no pain from the wounds. He just wanted to destroy all these creatures who dared to disturb his peace. He continued to fight until the last goblin fell to the ground, completely immobilized and defeated. Kopii breathed heavily, his body was covered in blood and dirt, and his face reflected the full range of emotions, including satisfaction and anger. He looked at the bodies of the goblins lying around and felt satisfaction from his victory.

"Too weak."