"Monsters!" Cried a woman, her voice pitched.

Holding her child in her arms, she ran through the cobbled streets.

"This way, hurry!" Shouted a guard in half-plate armor. Sweat beads covered his face, his hands tightly grasping his pike.

He and three others held guard before a stone temple.

Behind them were civilians of the town. They stood behind makeshift barricades made from various furniture in the temple's lobby, curled and close to each other.

"This is no time to cover!" An old priest shouted, holding a brass goblet. "Pray, and call for our gods, call their names to push the darkness away-"

From the skies, a giant winged beast landed before the temple stairs. The thundering sound and shaking ground quickly shut the priest.

The beast's acidic green scales glowed under the burning town, and a corrosive liquid dripped from its long, reptilian mouth, sizzling and eating the ground.

"Deathwing!" One of the guards shouted. "Close the doors."

The beast roared, droplets of corrosive saliva splattering across the cobblestones as it charged forward. His fangs slashed the stone stairs, leaving cut marks behind with each of his steps.

"Curse you, beast!" The remaining guards pointed their pikes toward the charging monster.

The Deathwing didn't stop. Guards' pikes failed to pierce his scales, and their handles snapped after the tension, sending their tips and splinters all around.

He bit the closest guard, its teeth cutting his armor, and ripped the man's body in half. Blood and flesh scattered across the temple stairs.

"Ah!" The other guard backed until it stumbled over himself and fell to the ground.

He tried to crawl back away as the Deathwing approached. "Stay... Stay away! No-" He screamed one last time as the beast quickly took his life.

The last guard standing before the closed temple doors reached to his neck and opened a copper amulet. Inside were dried petals of his wife's favorite flower.

He kissed the amulet and embraced his pike. "For you two!"

Beast stopped, its neck grow large, like a creaking frog, and glow brightly.

The Deathwing leaped into the air and shot down a green corrosive goo ball from its mouth.

The attack hit the helpless guard, smashing and gluing him to the temple door.

"Ah! Get this off me! It hurts, it hurts!" He screamed until his voice cracked as he tried to push the goo away. But whenever his fingers touched it, the armor turned to vapor and slowly melted.

The goo ate through the metal plates and fabric before melting the soldier's flesh and organs into nothing.

"My goddess, help me-" He gave one last desperate cry, his voice turning into meaningless gurgles halfway through.

His molten flesh released a putrid stench as Deathwing's saliva mixed with blood.

The door behind him was no different. Deathwings fluid melted and opened the door, leaving all the civilians helpless.

The Deathwing landed on the spot where it killed the last guard, splattering its half-molten remains, and slowly entered the temple, its mouth open, saliva dripping.

Damian watched all of that unfold from the second-floor window of the house he was hiding.

He lay on the ground and curled up. "This is not real, this is not real, this is not-"

Piercing screams of the dying townspeople rose from all across the town.

"Hahaha!" Damian clutched his head, his laughter turning to ragged gasps as the screams outside grew louder, sharper

"No, this is just a bad dream. I am not from this world. I am supposed to be at home lazing around." He got up. His fist pumped. "Yes, this is a dream! I only need to wake up."

He climbed to the window and stood on the edge. "Alright, I will wake up, never waste time in games, help my mother with chores, and call my grandparents more."

Damian took a deep breath. "Time to wake now." He stepped forward, and the wind caressed his skin as he gained velocity toward the ground, and just inches away, he stopped.

Time slowed to a crawl. The colors drained from the world. Then, a voice cut through the void, casual and condescending.

"Let me stop there." The voice echoed inside his mind as a fireball appeared before him and slowly took shape. It twisted in a manner defying the laws of physics until it resembled a human figure, except for no defining features like eyes, ears, and nose.

"What is with you people and trying to take your lives whenever you spawn in a dangerous area? Have some will, will you!?" It nagged.

A gilded walking cane appeared out of thin air, and the flame creature grabbed it.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Anyways, my name is Diablo, the vice moderator. I am here to help you understand the situation so you won't kill yourself early and destroy the entertainment of our dear patrons! After all, people who managed to clear their trail are less than a hundred even after fifteen years."

Damian tried to talk, but his body didn't respond.

"Your body not moving? Well, I can't let you hit the ground and splatter now, can't I?" Diablo gently pushed Damian into a more comfortable position and then made him sit on the floor. "Much better, right? You don't need to try talking, as I, Diablo, already knows how thankful you are! Now, if we wasted enough time, let me explain why we chose you to join Beasts & Demons!"

***

Damian woke up early. His alarm clock showed 5:45.

He pulled his computer chair and sat down, his eyes shining like stars. "Today is the day!" He shouted.

"I have been waiting for such an opportunity for months, studying extra hard so my family would allow me this."

He pushed the open button, and his computer turned to live, illuminating the room with RGB lights.

When the login screen opened, he typed in his password lightning fast.

"I am just a couple of steps away!" He quickly dragged the mouse on the only icon on the screen. "Beasts & Demons. The infamous open-world survival game is known for its impossible difficulty and ultra-realism. Today, I will end you!"

When he logged in, his character stood before a menacing, massive double door at the end of a giant, black, stone gothic bridge above a lava river.

Both sides of the if were adorned with shattered statues of gigantic gargoyles.

Damian cracked his fingers. "I killed twelve of the demon lords, defeated the twin guard gargoyles, each said to be stronger than a demon lord, and now, I am coming for you!"

He pressed the 'F' key, and his character slowly opened the doors.

"The rumored throne room of the demon king. Only a thousand players reached here, and only 95 killed you." Damian moved closer to the screen, his grip on his mouse tightened.

"And I will be 96th one!"

The demon king, an onyx-skinned giant with goat legs and twisted horns, his flesh covered in ancient runes carved on them, glowing with strength, wearing only a trouser adorned with skulls and jewels.

The battle opened without cutscenes, and Demon King suddenly got up and unleashed a flurry of magical attacks. Each explodes with blinding brightness.

"Ha! My uncle's writings already warned me about this!" Damian grabbed his sunglasses and approached the screen even closer.

His fingers skipped between his main keyboard and the modified keyboard he filled with potion and buff macros in a captivating rhythm.

Slowly but steadily, he chipped the demon king's health.

Whenever Demon King cast a spell, Damian used its counter, and whenever he debuffed him, Damian used the nullifying potion for it, and after a long grind, Demon King fell to his knees.

Damian suddenly pushed himself away and jumped up from the chair.

His computer screen glowed golden. "Victory!" Written on the screen.

"I did it." He spoke, his voice slow and gentle, as he fell to his knees.

"For years, I grinded for this victory." He smiled. "Ever since my good-for-nothing uncle started my addiction to it, I dreamed of this day."

He got up. "I can't be on my knees on the day of victory."

Damian approached his computer. A small icon box was under the victory screen.

"Start the real game, yes or no." He smirked, nose high. "This should be a secret mode previous winners never told anyone. Of course, I accept such a generous offer!"

Damian clicked the 'Y' key. His chest puffed out. "Uncle, I cleared this damned game!" "I just wish you were still here to see this." Damian smiled. "Well, he would probably mock me, saying I could have done it much easier with a different strategy, but even that would be nice."

The second he pressed it, the victory screen flickered, and his entire computer whirred louder than ever before. The RGB lights on his tower flashed wildly, and his usually silent fans roared like industrial ones.

"What the hell?" He reached for the power button, but his screen went dead before he touched it.

Damian stood still, eyes wide open, hand mid-air. An eerie silence filled the room.

He slowly turned to his computer. "Don't tell me you broke down now."

He glanced at his equipment. They still glowed, "Alright, there is still some light. Maybe it's just a software problem." He leaned in, just about to press the power button, when the screen lit up again with a blinding golden glow. The light pulsed and swirled, forming intricate, rotating runes around the edges of the screen.

Before Damian could react, the screen seemed to stretch outward, bulging like a balloon. The air in the room shifted, vibrating with energy as the glow sharpened into a perfect circle. "Wait, is that a?"

A sudden, powerful gust of wind blasted from it, scattering his strategy notes and knocking over his empty soda cans.

"No, no, no!" Damian yelled, trying to fight against the vortex as the pull intensified. The force was irresistible. He tried to grab his wardrobe, but his hands slipped.

His feet left the floor and dragged into the light. He barely had time to scream before the portal swallowed him whole.

The reality warped around him as he passed through a seemingly endless tunnel of infinite colors before fainting from sensory overload.

***

Damian slowly opened his eyes. He was standing over warm, golden sands. "Where am I." He murmured as he pushed himself up.

"It is blurry." He squinted his eyes with his elbows.

The sun beat down from a perfect blue sky, and waves gently hit the shore in a rhythm. The sand he stood above was warm.

He was undamaged, still in his pajamas and slippers.

"This is nice, but where am I?" He turned around.

Beyond the beach, black smoke clouds covered the town.

Flames covered entire buildings, and columns of fire spiraled into the sky.

On the town's entrance, a giant statue stood broken. It was shattered, with only the bottom piece left behind.

Damian shivered as a scream blasted like a bomb in his head, pulling him back to reality.

"No way," he whispered, eyes wide. His heart raced, and he recognized the town from mere moments ago.

Unknowingly, he was taking steps back.

"This... this cannot be. The cobblestone streets, the stone temple, and that statue. I know this town from- Agh."

He was so focused on the town he tripped on a driftwood and hit the ground.

But before he even processed the pain, a piercing screech came from the sky. Massive winged beasts circled the town in groups, their scales radiating an acidic green glimmer.

"A- ar- are these Deathwings?" He stuttered.

Not just one, but a pack of them, enough that they blocked the sun with their bodies.

One of the creatures dived sharply, slamming into the side of a stone house. It broke through the stone wall. Screams followed its attack.

Another Deathwing spat a ball of corrosive goo to a group of unlucky townsmen trying to escape. It exploded on impact and consumed them slowly, leaving vapor and an unbearable smell in their place.

Damian's legs shook, his mind racing but unable to keep up.

He gagged, holding his mouth to puke, as the unbearable smell of the corrosing flesh entered his nose. He clawed himself with his trembling arms and shrieked in pain. "This isn't a dream," he muttered.

The Deathwings shrieked and locked eyes with him.

"Shit!" Damian rushed forward, running in zig-zags to blur the monster's view. His slipper slipped out of his feet. "Why is there a late-game mob here!" He shouted as he used smoke as his veil and charged into an empty building.

He quickly climbed to the second floor and hid in a closet while old Deathwing searched the first floor.

Damian closed his eyes and held his breath as sounds of wood shattering and metal hitting the floor echoed infrequently until old Deathwind gave up on chasing him after finding the pantry in the basement and taking his share.

"Out of all games, why it had to be this one!" He said, his fingers clawing the sides of his head.