"Let's go, Spooks!"

A hard, metal surface pressed hard against Lily's back, thrusting her several steps forward. She stumbled, but managed to keep her footing thanks to pure luck, much to the obvious dismay of the voice behind her.

She glanced back, meeting the icy glare of a young man. He was young, like her, and wore vestments common to rookie adventurers. But that's where the similarities ended. Unlike her, he towered well over a foot taller, and carried with him a large, bulky tower shield that he had no problems using to try and push her onward.

What's more, he was youthful, vigorous, and very much alive. Lillian Wake…was not.

A little over three months ago, Lily and the rest of her senior class had all been taken away from their lives as students at Ridgeview High School when, during a class trip, a freak storm had caused their bus to careen off the road and down a mountainside.

When they woke up, they found themselves in a strange land of magic and monsters.

With nothing to their name and no idea how they'd gotten there, they found a nearby town and did the only thing they could do to survive: become adventurers.

In this world, adventurers were sellswords who took on commissions from the public in order to make money. It was a dangerous line of work, but it paid well, and it was the only real option for a group of kids from another world who lacked any other kinds of specialized knowledge of skills.

Everyone had wanted to work together, but the guild guidelines were clear: the maximum size for a party was six members, so the thirty-two classmates were forced to split into groups. And with a skill like [Necromancer], it was no surprise that nobody else in her class was eager to have her on their team.

Rather, no one except Diana, Lillia's best friend.

Things started out…rough…to say the least, and it quickly became apparent that the young students from another world weren't ready for the rigors of this strange and dangerous new fantasy land. Three died within the first week, then six more the week after.

Despite its small size, Lily's group had done surprisingly well for themselves, and had even managed to reach the rank within the guild where they were allowed to delve into dungeons—magical places where powerful monsters guarded rich rewards and ancient knowledge.

But ultimately, their good fortune had run its course, and the dungeon proved to be far more deadly than any of them had realized. That Lily had made it out at all was thanks to [False Life]. It was a spell unique to her class, and it had bought her just enough steps to make it away from the massacre as the monsters of the pit feasted on the remains of her party members—including Diana.

Unfortunately, [False Life] also had a catch. It had given her enough life force to make it away from the battle, but if the spell ended before she could heal herself, then she would do more than just die. The negative energy that now flowed through her veins would become a permanent fixture, and she'd cease to be a human being. Instead, she'd be cursed to live as a zombie—an undead monstrosity.

By the time Lily made it back to town, she was little more than a shambling corpse, and though she had retained her mind, the rest of her faculties had been severely reduced. She no longer needed to breathe, nor drink. The only urge she had was to gorge herself on flesh—any flesh, dead or alive.

Her classmates were horrified, to say the least, and it wasn't long before rumors started to spread. A few of them looked at her with pity, others with suspicion. Why was she the only one that lived? Had she abandoned the people she called friends to die at the hands of vicious monsters? Perhaps she should have simply died with them rather than turn to dark powers to preserve her own life.

She pleaded her case, but to little avail. The only reason she was allowed to stay was because her newly zombified form proved itself to be quite hardy, and to her classmates who desperately wanted to gain power and improve their lot in life, that presented an opportunity. If she couldn't use her magic, and she couldn't fight, then the least she could do was stand between them and the monsters and take their attacks.

And it worked. Lily's body was exceptionally resistant, enough that she could usually take a handful of blows from even a direbear and stay standing.

But no matter how many wounds she suffered for their behalf or how many times she leapt in to take a blow meant for someone else, it never changed their opinion of her. If anything, in their eyes she wasn't any different than a meaty shield—not a friend, but a tool that helped keep them alive.

Their treatment of her outside of adventuring wasn't any better. Zombies weren't allowed in towns or villages, so she spent most of her days off wandering the dumps looking for scraps of decaying meat, and her nights under the cold, star-less night sky or holed up in an out-of-the-way cave.

Fast-forward a month, and Lily found herself walking along a familiar path. Her new party had only recently risen to D-Rank, which meant they could enter the dungeons. Knowing what lurked there, Lily had begged and pleaded for them to wait a little longer and gain more experience before descending into the labyrinth, but her words fell on deaf ears.

Even now, her uncertain steps were being goaded on by the party's leader, Trent. Thanks to him being part of the warrior class, Trent was the de facto party leader, and he was determined to prove himself strong enough to rise even higher in the guild's rankings. Moreover, he was only too happy to use Lily to do it.

"I said move it, you zombie bitch!" he slammed his foot into her back, and this time she fell forward onto the hard ground. It didn't hurt, though. In fact, she'd long-since forgotten what pain felt like, and the earthy flavor of the dirt floor that rose up to meet her was also lost on her rotten taste buds.

"Get up," Trent said, kicking Lily in the side as he advanced out of the darkened hallway and into the large room. "I swear, you're so goddamn slow. Fucking useless." His companions—Gina the wizard, Seth the ranger, and Evan the priest—followed behind him and began examining the room.

No one took the time to help her, or even glanced her way, leaving her to struggle shakily back to her feet on her own.

"Looks empty," Evan said, moving to examine one of the walls.

"Fuck!" cursed Trent from across the room, kicking over one of the empty barrels that sat in the corner. "I thought these damn dungeons were supposed to be filled with loot! Where the hell is everything?"

"Probably further in," Seth replied as he moved towards the doorway at the far side of the room.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Gina, being Gina, seemed too busy looking at herself in the little hand-mirror she kept on her, and brushed a fingertip through her brow to straighten it. Even in a fantasy world, she was still a slave to her looks.

She caught Lily looking at her and snapped the mirror shut. "What are you looking at, you ugly cadaver?" she hissed, prompting Lily to look down and away. It was sad to think that she and Gina used to be part of the same friend group back when they were still students, only to be one of the first to turn on her.

She could hear Gina 'hmph!' and walk off after that.

Though not particularly noteworthy by any means, Trent's party was relatively coordinated, and each one spread out to put their skills to use, looking for hidden secrets or clues within each room before moving on. This gave Lily brief, fleeting moments to herself, and she meandered her way towards what looked to be an old wooden chair which had seen better days.

It wasn't as though Lilian had any kind of 'stamina', so she never got physically tired. Still, the act of sitting seemed to settle her mind a little, and so she took every opportunity. Unfortunately, thanks to how slow she moved, by the time she got to sit down, it was usually only a few seconds before her party opted to move on.

She had only just barely sat down when Trent's voice shouted across the room, "We're done here, let's move."

Lily 'sighed', and rose to her feet again, slowly treading towards them.

"Jesus, could you be any slower?" Trent rasped as the rest of his group joined him at the doorway, turning to wait for Lily to make her way over. "God, it's like you're dragging your feet on purpose."

"I'm gonna go scout ahead. The map says the path diverges here…" said Seth. "I can check out both paths by the time the rest of you get there."

"But that's—!" Lily started to say. Going further in without the party was dangerous. It would have been one thing for a rogue or someone with stealth skills, but Seth had neither. Trent had decided they didn't need one, since if there were any traps or ambushes, they could just send her in to set them off, then deal with the aftermath.

Seth turned, giving Lily a side-long look. Seth never really said much to her, but it was clear in that moment that he wanted to, and whatever he had wanted to convey wasn't appreciation for her concern.

Lily lowered her gaze reflexively. The last thing she wanted to do was start an argument here in the middle of the labyrinth. For now, it was better that she keep her mouth shut, lest she antagonize her party.

With that, Seth disappeared into the doorway, alone, leaving the others to wait as Lily shuffled towards them.

When she reached the middle of the room, however, a strange feeling prodded in her mind. Something suddenly felt…off, and it was in that moment that she realized where she was, and apprehension soon seized her body.

Trent, however, was not sympathetic to the suddenly urgent look on her face, and quickly started towards her.

"Wait! This is—!" she tried to squeak out an explanation, but was quickly cut off when he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, all but throwing her towards the doorway.

"Shut the fuck up! Do as you're told!" he growled. "You're only here for one reason, now do your fucking job and keep your disgusting mouth closed! You make this whole place smell like a trash heap every time you open it!"

He was about to kick her again when suddenly, a shudder ripped through the dungeon. Shortly thereafter, Seth's screams echoed through the tunnel, and he appeared there, out of breath.

"What the hell, man?!" Trent jogged over just as Seth all but collapsed into Evan's arms. "What was that?"

"B—…b—…" Seth tried to speak, but his lungs were all out of air.

Trent snarled, "Out with it!"

"B—…barghest!"

The word clung to the air, and everything fell silent. There wasn't an adventurer alive that didn't know what a barghest was; an evil beast whose very presence was an omen of death.

Lily's legs gave out from beneath her. It was a barghest that had killed her friends; killed Diana!

"HEY" Trent's voice rang out angrily, "Get your ass up! You're tanking that thing for us!"

Trent stomped over, grabbing her by the arm, but this time, there was no use. Lily's horror at their situation had overcome her, and her body no longer listened to her, crumpling back into the ground.

"Damnit!" Trent kicked her as she fell back to the ground. Then again, and again, each blow accompanied by another expletive.

"Trent!" Lily could hear Gina's voice pierce the air.

Evan's voice shuddered, "I don't think we can take that thing. Barghests are magical beasts, it could probably cleave her flesh just as easily as it could ours. We need to get out of here."

Trent was clearly furious, but Evan was right. Barghests were B-Rank monsters, not something a D-Rank party would stand even a remote chance at defeating, meat shield or not. However…

A cruel look settled on Trent's face, and he turned to look down at Lily again. "In that case…" Again, he grabbed her by the arm, his strength lifting her up before tossing her towards the doorway. "You stay right there, Spooks! The least you can do is buy us time to run away!"

Time seemed to slow down for Lily at that moment. She fell to the ground at the mouth of the doorway and looked around, seeing her party bolt for the opposite side of the room—back towards the way they originally came. Not a single one of them turned to look back.

And just like that, they were gone, and Lily was alone. But not for much longer…

Already, she could hear the creature's footsteps as it ran along the corridor behind her, as well as the familiar battle-howl it made when it was hunting.

Lily tried to stand up, but it was no use. Though she couldn't feel pain, her body was still susceptible to damage, and Trent's merciless kicks had managed to strike a fragile point in her hip.

Still, she had to try to get away. If she could get to one of the barrels, maybe she could hide in it!

Her legs refused to heed her, however, so she dug her fingernails into the earth, dragging her broken form towards what she hoped was safety.

Closer and closer, inch by inch, until finally, her hand rested against the wooden barrel.

Just as she thought she might be saved, however, the sound of metal clinking against metal made her freeze and turn her head.

There, standing over her, was a gigantic lupine creature, its hair as black as the night sky and its eyes like burning embers in a buried campfire. Several sets of long, silver chains wrapped around the length of its body, the ends floating and gyrating in the air around it.

The creature was easily the size of a small horse, and it towered now over her, a low growl escaping from between its saliva-drenched lips. To this creature, it didn't matter if she was undead. Flesh was flesh, and there was a hunger in its eyes the likes of which dwarfed her own.

This was it, then. She couldn't run, she couldn't hide, and even if she'd still had her magic, she certainly couldn't fight something like this. Not on her own. If only she'd been able to warn them before.

'No…' Lily thought to herself, 'there's no use now. And they probably wouldn't have listened to me anyway…'

She lowered her gaze from the wolf-like creature. This was the end. Truly, this time. No one was going to save her, and anyone that would have cared to was long gone by now.

Why…? Why did it have to turn out like this? What kind of terrible thing had she done in her past life that this was her punishment? She'd lost everything: her home, her old life, her best friend. It had even taken her body, and now…it was about to take the last thing she had: her hope. And for what? To die here in this dark and lonely place? To be food for a monster she could never hope to overcome? What was it all for, if this was how it ended?

This world, this place that she was brought to against her will, was so…unfair. Ugly. Despicable. She resented it with every fiber of her being, and if in that moment she'd had the power to tear it all down forever, there would have been no hesitation.

Lily felt something gather at the corner of her eye and drip down her cheek. She reached up, feeling the wet line trailing down her skin. Zombies didn't have tear ducts, they couldn't cry; so how…?

But Lily wasn't afforded the time to think about it, and by the time she saw the flash of the creature's claws, it was all over. For the third time, the world went black…