Bountyhunter - My new story

[Notabot]

Hello:D

Im currently writing a story and im done with the first chapter...   so i wanted to hear ur thoughts. This is my first time posting one of my works in the internet.   Btw i translated it with ChatGPT. If someone wants the original text (its German) u can send me a personal message. Soooo i hope u enjoy the first chapter

Bountyhunter

Chapter 1: A Wicked Awakening

I am jolted awake by a loud bang. I look around. I am lying in a small open clearing, surrounded by forest. Slowly I get up and flinch as I hear another bang. I look in the direction the sound came from, but there is nothing there except dark forest. At first I do not really know what to do. Deep down I know that I should be afraid, but instead I am more confused by the situation. It is as if all my questions are blocking my fear. I scratch my wrist, but something about it feels strange. It feels as if there is something beneath my skin. Like a smooth, flat surface. I raise my arm to inspect my wrist. I immediately notice that small blue dots are glowing beneath my skin, forming a number. A ten. Even more questions start swirling through my head. A pounding headache echoes in my skull. I look for the nearest tree and let myself sink down to the ground against it. I sit there for a while, trying to gather my thoughts, when suddenly one thought breaks through all the others. A name. It feels so familiar that I immediately know: it is my name. »Elliot.« I say quietly. No doubt, that is my name. I continue to think, searching for any kind of answers, but I find none. It feels as if all my thoughts are shrouded in dense fog. Eventually, I give up.
I am just about to fall asleep when I suddenly hear soft footsteps. Quiet, quick footsteps that keep getting closer. The closer they get, the more panicked I become. I do not know why, but my gut tells me to run, yet curiosity wins in the end. The footsteps grow louder and louder. Finally I stand up, and before I can fully straighten myself, I am knocked to the ground. Still surprised by the impact, I scramble back to my feet. I feel a burning sensation on my forehead and pull my hand back in pain. Blood runs down my fingers. »Shit! Are you crazy?« I say as I turn around, holding my forehead. About a meter in front of me, a pale, skinny boy crawls backward across the ground until he can go no further because of a tree.
»Please! Don’t hurt me! I only have two points!« he begs with mortal fear in his voice, holding his hands protectively over his head.
»What? Why would I hurt you, and what do you mean by points?« I ask the boy in confusion as he slowly lowers his hands. His eyes are filled with tears, and there is a large scar on his right cheek.
»You don’t want to kill me?«
»Kill you? Why would I want to kill you?« I ask. The boy looks at me in confusion.
»For points.«
»What do you mean, points?« I say impatiently now. The boy looks at me as if I have just asked the stupidest question in the world.
»Points. For the ranking.« Slowly he stretches his forearm toward me. On his wrist, small blue dots shimmer beneath the skin, forming a two. I do the same. The boy tilts his head to better read the number and widens his eyes in astonishment.
»For someone who seems to know nothing about points, you sure have a lot. How long have you even been here?«
»Not very long. Maybe two or three hours. You still haven’t answered my question.«
»Wow… a starting value of ten…« he murmurs quietly. I take a step toward him and he tries to retreat further back, but cannot because of the tree.
»I want you to answer my question. Now!«
»Okay. I’m sorry.« the boy says, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. Now I feel bad for snapping at him like that. »Everyone here has a point value that determines your place in the ranking. If you kill a person, you get all of their points. The goal is to reach the top of the ranking. Why, I can’t tell you, but the people here do it unconditionally.«
»Who are the others?« I ask, trying to sound friendlier.
»The other bounty hunters.« Suddenly something clicks in my head. That word feels so familiar. I lean against a tree and slide down it until I am sitting on the ground.
»I know all of this is pretty confusing, but eventually it gets better. It took me a few days before I got some of my memories back.« I rest my head against the tree and stare into the distance. The boy takes a deep breath and seems to relax.
»What’s your name, anyway?« the boy asks me.
»Elliot. And you?«
»John.« the boy says while staring up at the sky. »I think we’re about to get the leaderboard.« Before I can even ask, he already answers me: »The leaderboard shows the top ten hunters with the highest bounty.« I nod slightly and look up at the sky as well. Suddenly a loud melody sounds and something happens in the night sky. The stars move. The stars that had previously been fixed in their places now move toward an invisible center. There they form a shape. It takes me a moment to realize that the stars are not forming just any shape, but a number. First a two, and then a four. But the stars do not stop moving. They now also form something above the 24. A face. The face belongs to a girl with shoulder-length hair. Expressionless, she looks down at us. Suddenly the stars move again. This time they form a 26, belonging to a bald man. The stars form more and more images with numbers, and I try to memorize them all. The last hunter is a boy with a large scar on his forehead and a point value of 63. The stars begin to move again, but this time away from the center until they return to their original places. Now the night sky looks as if nothing had ever happened. There were ten hunters in total.
»We should—« John cuts himself off.
»What?« I ask him as he stares intently in the direction he came from earlier. »What is—« Before I can finish speaking, he signals for me to be quiet by putting a finger to his lips. I crawl a little closer. »What’s wrong?« I whisper to him.
»The pigs followed me.« he whispers without taking his eyes off the forest.
»Who do you mean?« He does not answer my question, but grabs my arm and starts running. I follow him as best as I can, trying to dodge the branches whipping toward me.
»There’s one!« I hear someone shout behind me. Immediately I run faster. That fear is back again, and I know instantly: These people want to kill us!