Tim will prey with subterfuge

After careful thought, Tim concluded that a head-on approach was too risky. His constitution was only 1, and he could be smooched by either John or Anna. He would be patient and wait for the perfect opportunity to pounce on one or the other.

Tim stalked the couple for what seemed like a couple of hours. He observed that they barely spoke to one another. Anna seemed mad at John, but Tim couldn't make head or tail of what they were saying, and it was probably not really important. After a while, the landscape began to change from a dead land covered with pulsing red veins to a forest-like biome. At that moment, he received a notification mentioning that his passive skill, hard to see, received a penalty of 50% because of the biome. He had to be extra careful for the next part of the hunt, but he knew he would get his prey.

John and Anna were walking for hours. They barely understood what was going on. One minute they were hiking in the gloomy swamp near Swamp-Point, following the guided path. When John suggested using the old way to go where nobody had gone for centuries. Anna had argued that it was a bad idea; they didn't know what they would find and at the preservation center had clearly stated to stay on the path. The swamp was dangerous, from dangerous animals to sinkholes in the mud underneath the stagnant water. John had argued that if the swamp was really dangerous, they wouldn't be permitted to venture alone. Anna finally accepted John argument, and they began to walk on a small path in the swamp, and a couple of seconds later they both fell into a sinkhole, but it wasn't the end. Everything went black for a few seconds, and they both opened their eyes in a desolate landscape. When they first opened their eyes, a dot was blinking in front of them. They both saw some writing that vanished a few moments later.

New level 1 integrated into the system. All systems locked until level 3.

And now, here they were, walking to who knows where. At least the land seems to change. It was a good sign; at least they were not lost in some kind of desert destined to die of thirst and hunger. Anna could see trees on the horizon. The trees seems twisted, bare and dead, but as they approched the could see that the trees were not dead, but were with some fruit hanging from it.

"I think it's a good spot for taking a break," said John, sitting on the ground.

"At least the ground here doesn't seem alive like in some horror movie depicting hell. I'll go farther; I need to pee. You can wait for me for a little while."

"Please be careful; we don't know if there's danger up ahead." Said John, knowing the moment he said it that words were wrong.

"Now you choose to be careful." Spat Anna, feeling anger rise in her body.

"How many times must I say it? I'm sorry, but at least we are still breathing, and we are together," argued John, trying to defuse the situation. Anna felt a bit of shame reacting this way. She knew that fighting here would result in nothing good. She turned around, muttering "I'm sorry too," and walked up ahead.

Anna walked a few minutes to reach the first of the trees. She gasped at seeing the variety of tree species, but she couldn't recognize any. Farther ahead, she spotted a tree with the bark forming the body of a woman. The resemblance was astonishing, like a sculptor had done an art project on the tree. It wasn't a statue, Anna could see sap dripping from what looked like the woman's breast. As she looked down, she saw that the woman depiction ended at the top of her legs. Sap was dripping there too. Anna moved closer to inspect the tree; a sweet aroma was coming from it.

Something in her mind was telling her to stop moving towards it, but the smell was intoxicating, like lilacs and vanilla. Anna had to touch it; she was thirsty, and the sap looked delicious. She was saved by John shouting from where Anna left him.

"Don't go too far; we don't know what can be lurking in the woods."

With the impromptu interruption, Anna managed to stop herself from touching the strange sap. She quickly walked away and found an ordinary hellish tree to relieve herself. She quickly dropped her pants and squatted against the tree. In that moment, the mind worm pounced or more accurately, crawled onto Anna's leg. She was too preoccupied to look around her that she didn't look under her. Hidden between the roots of the tree, the mind worm was there waiting.

The worm began climbing on Anna's bare leg, secreting more and more aphrodisiac slime. At first, she felt nothing, but a warm sensation which was not unpleasant. She thought it was only the wind on her bare skin, still on the lookout for any movement around her. That sensation climbed towards her pubis, and that's when she felt a push on her pussy; she finally looked down, and what she saw was a sight from a nightmare. A brownish worm the size of a mouse was pushing against her vagina, and the worst part of it was already sliding in. She quickly tried to grab the monstrosity, but her erratic movement made her lose her balance, and she fell to the ground. By the time she was able to flip onto her back, the worm had pushed through. The worst of it all, she felt flushed as when John used its mouth down there. She even let a small gasp of pleasure escape her lips.

Once inside its prey, Tim quickly activated the symbiote skill. The system reacts quickly. In front of Anna's eyes, a window popped open.

You have been infected by a mind worm .... Attempting a safe roll using will .... Will receive a negative effect from the aphrodisiac slime ..... Ready to roll

Then, in front of her eyes, she saw a multi-faceted die being rolled with a number to reach to succeed.